I thought this was an Onion article at first.

[DeeBye]

Rush Limbaugh thinks the new Batman movie is a liberal conspiracy to influence the upcoming election because the villian's name is "Bane"

It turns out it's not an Onion article. Rush Limbaugh really did say that.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/0...n_campaign

This seriously had me laughing out loud. I wish we had insane political commentators that popular in Canada.

[Hammerskjold]

Rush Limbaugh thinks the new Batman movie is a liberal conspiracy to influence the upcoming election because the villian's name is "Bane"

It turns out it's not an Onion article. Rush Limbaugh really did say that.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/0...n_campaign

This seriously had me laughing out loud. I wish we had insane political commentators that popular in Canada.

Wha...

Ok set aside for a second that Rush is a gasbag who would say anything to get ratings and listeners. (Batman movie coming up, I hurd teh Batman is popular...I'll hitch my crazy wagon to this thing!)

It's just amazing that the level of precision and perfect timing these conspiracies tend to be.

Frankly, I'd be more inclined to believe that WB, paid a marketing team, who in turned paid another team, who in turn hired -another- team, who dropped off an anonymous tip to Rush's team, that there's a conspiracy afoot. (Enough of a distance that WB can claim plausible deniability of course.)

Which will happen on July 20th, on IMAX screens.

But the real head turner is, that WB exec who cooked up this plan, was not actually real. It was, an incepted idea that took place in a dream. Specifically, Rush's dream while he was coked up and playing ping pong with Charles Manson. (I'm not saying he did these things, I'm just asking if he did, do these things. I'm just asking questions here.)

But who was the dreamer behind the dream that told Rush this conspiracy then?

None other than this man!

[Occhidiangela]

Ok set aside for a second that Rush is a gasbag who would say anything to get ratings and listeners.

He's been successful at that for over twenty years. Why do you think that is?

A few years back, I would listen to his radio show now and again because some of the stuff he did was funny.

That hasn't been true for some years, so I did the following: I stopped listening even occasionally.

And my life was just fine.

He's not happy when people do that.

[shoju]

Rush Limbaugh, and all insane propoganda based i stretch the truth into fantasy to try and make the other side look bad types need to just go away. God, they are terrible sources of misinformation.

[kandrathe]

None other than this man!

I knew it!

http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/101-jim-carrey

It must be that "Toy Mountain" is a front organization.

In one scene, a beautiful woman dancing with Bruce Wayne, the tycoon who is secretly Batman, says there's "a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends (had) better batten down the hatches, because .... you're all gonna wonder how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."

Which could imply that Romney has a secret cave under his La Jolla mansion hiding some really cool cars.

[Dozer]

Obviously, George Clooney and his Hollywood Liberal Elites™ are behind this massive conspiracy:

[smegged]

Actually, if there's any conspiracy with the new Batman movie (and even the second movie) it's a conservative one.

It's implied in the movie that Bane is if not a communist, at least on the Left side of politics. And without spoiling the movie, there are many indications in the movie that left-wing idealism leads to chaos and societal ruin. Note that one of Bane's first targets is the Gotham City Stock Exchange (which looks so much like the NYSE - the home of capitalism - that it's clear Nolan wanted to evoke that link in the mind of the viewer). The Catwoman character and her arc also reinforces similar themes.

But then again, Rush Limbaugh probably thinks that feeding your children is a liberal conspiracy.

[shoju]

Hmmmm I saw the movie this weekend, and I didn't see it as having too much of a lean either way. I wont discuss more because it would indeed spoiling the movie, but I don't get the communist either.

Crazy? Tyrannical? Genius? Cunning?

Yes.

Commie?

Eh... I just didn't see it.

But back on point, Rush Limbaugh thinks that American companies who sell online shouldn't be allowed to sell internationally. I sadly don't know the exact "day" he said it, and it has been a while, but I would say it was sometime between 06-08, on his talk show, he assaulted American Companies who sell online internationally, because you just "Don't know who you are selling to."

I don't remember for sure, because for 8 years, while working at my previous employer, We had the...... "privilege" of listening to him every effing day. Ugh. Even after making such that remark (which should have infuriated my boss) we still listened....

I'm having uncontrollable ticks just thinking about that craziness.

[kandrathe]

But then again, Rush Limbaugh probably thinks that feeding your children is a liberal conspiracy.

Only if it's soy.

I'm having uncontrollable ticks just thinking about that craziness.

I'm pretty conservative and I can't listen to that buffoon. The whole of conservative versus progressive media is THE problem in US politics. Really???

Can't it taste great AND be less filling! Can't we just drink our beers, discuss things rationally and get along?

[shoju]

I would love to discuss things rationally. But I find that my rational side sometimes gets lost on the way to the discussion.

[Occhidiangela]

It's a movie based on a fantasy from the post WW II period.
Batman.
Fantasy.

Until people remember that, they'll put too much stock into make believe ... which is sorta the problem with Hollywood and TV having a disproportionate influence on the modern memes and narratives.

It's a comic book, fantasy, story.

Not
Real

Sadly, that idiot in Aurora forgot the basics.

A cheap version of Baghdad Bob.

[kandrathe]

Sadly, that idiot in Aurora forgot the basics.

It reminds me about a case that happened here many years ago -- it's so old my google fu has totally failed. Anyway, there was an awkward physics Ph.d student who was in love with a female classmate, and lacked the proper assets to attract this female. So, the awkward young physics genius set about attempting to kill off his competition, first by creating "accidental" looking fires at the handsome guys residence. After repeated failures, the handsome guy was getting suspicious that someone was out to kill him. Which was true. So he set up cameras, and traps to try to catch his anonymous arson. The boyfriend was eventually gassed to unconsciousness one night with a chlorine gas concoction made from bleach etc., but during the physics guys inspection (with a gas mask) he found his rival alive, so he bashed his brains in with a hammer. So much for subtle and accidental.

I knew of this guy obliquely as an acquaintance of a friend who had a weekly public D&D game. The physics guy was one of those types that was too weird and unsocialized to even engage with other weird and unsocialized types. In hindsight... Yes, there were alarms bells if only people knew what to look for -- but not many people can recognize mental illness. The odd thing about psychotics is that they can hold it together and appear pretty normal, until they snap. Even with the risks of mental illness we err of the side of freedom. I sometimes think some genius is just a controlled mental illness -- directing mental faculties in a positive direction ala. John Nash.

[LemmingofGlory]

Yes, there were alarms bells if only people knew what to look for -- but not many people can recognize mental illness. The odd thing about psychotics is that they can hold it together and appear pretty normal, until they snap. Even with the risks of mental illness we err of the side of freedom. I sometimes think some genius is just a controlled mental illness -- directing mental faculties in a positive direction ala. John Nash.

Resounding agreement on the point that mental illness is not something most people can recognize, and it makes matters worse that we make colloquial use of mental health terms. "OCD" is just being particular, "bipolar" is just mood swings, "depression" is just being sad, and "schizophrenic" is just a catch-all crazy grab-bag. There are a ton of awful and terrifying mental health conditions, and having a broad understanding of them is incredibly useful.

That being said, John Nash was schizophrenic. I don't get the impression that schizophrenia gives the brain any useful special powers. It's not his hallucinations were imparting knowledge to him. From what I understand, they just put a lot of pressure on him, and that served as motivation to work hard. But that's saying he already had the potential. I wouldn't want to call that a controlled mental illness so much as a mental illness with a positive externality. "The bad news is you're schizophrenic. The good news is you're REALLY industrious!" I wouldn't be surprised if this was common with schizophrenia, but most of the time the results aren't useful to anyone.

-Lemming

[kandrathe]

That being said, John Nash was schizophrenic. I don't get the impression that schizophrenia gives the brain any useful special powers. It's not his hallucinations were imparting knowledge to him. From what I understand, they just put a lot of pressure on him, and that served as motivation to work hard. But that's saying he already had the potential. I wouldn't want to call that a controlled mental illness so much as a mental illness with a positive externality. "The bad news is you're schizophrenic. The good news is you're REALLY industrious!" I wouldn't be surprised if this was common with schizophrenia, but most of the time the results aren't useful to anyone.

I'd agree. I wouldn't mind being like John Nash without the schizophrenia. I think one thing that helps to confuse people about mental illness is that many of us have what might be described as "mild pathologies", such as "mood swings", or some slightly OCD behaviors, or seasonal affective disorder. The more I look at how brains work, and how varied they are in human behavior, the more I believe that there is really no such thing as "Normal". What we have are more like boundaries that we think describe socially acceptable behavior -- and most of us bounce around inside that fence. In cases like Aurora, or Columbine, no one noticed they were out of the paddock until it was too late.

At the personal, and anecdotal level; Our school has described both our sons as "ADHD", but I'm trying to determine how much of their behavior is "ADHD" and how much of it is being a normal energetic 8 year old boy. Gee! They don't like to sit still for many hours per day couped up in a stuffy old building, whilst dreaming of how much fun they'll have at recess. My boys tests off the charts on everything (99.99%), and the younger one has been considered for the "gifted" program -- however they don't want him because sometimes he is like a squirrel who's just power slammed a Red Bull. Their brain differences are part in parcel of who they are, and as it is my job to socialize them. Our focus has been on helping them to reign in their behaviors that infuriate the people around them. We took them both to a very renowned clinic here in town who specializes in identifying and describing ADHD in children. The very best advice I got from the psychologist was that were we to emphasize what is easy for them, (using their intelligence) they'd definitely fit in with the small top .001% and excel -- quirks and all, but we'd risk them becoming lonely, unhappy, with few real friends. Or, we could ignore their giftedness (that part will take care of itself), and instead invest in the harder parts for them -- in socializing them, in helping them to make good friends, and be a good friend with real empathy and connections.

So here is the bottom line. My sons have all the potential to go down the path that leads to what results in a massacre, and it is our work with them now -- focusing on their social skills, that will prevent it, 10 or 20 years from now.