And think of the vomit!

Think of foreign policy as a ladder, and you are the person in charge of your country (or at least their foreign relations). Each rung is a new action you can take to influence the behavior of other countries.

The first step is formal communications. That’s easy, you’re probably on that step with just about every other nation. The next few rings are all other friendly diplomatic steps, things like opening embassies, making trade agreements, non-aggression pacts, etc.

Now let’s say a neighboring country is doing something you don’t like. Your nation’s grievance with them will fall into one of a few broad categories: they are a threat to your security, they are a threat to your interests, or they are a threat to your honor (meaning your international reputation). Whatever the reason, your job is to change their behavior and none of the previous steps on the ladder have worked, so now you climb higher.

The next rungs are less friendly, but are still diplomatic. These are things like denouncements, cessation of trade, tariffs, and sanctions. At the very top of this set of rungs, you close your embassy and demand they close theirs. You break off most communication. Finally, you tell the whole world why they have wronged you.

Now you’ve done everything you can diplomatically, but their behavior is still a threat to your security, interest, or honor. How do you change their behavior? There are more rungs on the ladder.

Going all the way back to Sun Tzu, generals have known that their job was to take over when the diplomats failed. This doesn’t mean that total war is immediate or inevitable. The military could conduct raids, surgical strikes, or enforce an embargo. Warfare is simply the top rungs of the ladder of foreign policy. Some nations climb it more quickly or willingly than others, but war exists on the same spectrum as diplomacy.

George Lucas gonna George Lucas.

Mace Windu getting killed was the turning point and point of no return for the three film character arc of Anakin Skywalker. That’s a long way from “needlessly”. Sure the character didn’t have to be killed, but the impact of him being betrayed and killed was enormous. The plot of the third film (and the entire prequel trilogy) culminated with his death scene.

I heard about her video on fucking NPR. Seriously.

All Things Considered did a little piece talking about how long form video essays are becoming more popular, but they concluded by saying that she did a bang-up job and had some good insights.

It’s not a standing ovation, but having NPR run a story on your video and compliment your coverage is pretty damn skippy.

Here’s a joke for you: A man is ROWING down a RIVER. He gets to the waterfall, and when the goes over the edge he yells “RADIO!!!”

So did I just disrespect you and waste your time, or do I get a pass because it’s so random and it subverts your expectations of how a joke could be structured?

Being weird, or quirky, or SuBveRtInG eXpEcTatiONs doesn’t give anybody a pass for their creations not working on a basic level.

Yeah, and there would have been a bunch of punchlines throughout.

Storytelling of any kind is about setups and payoffs. The comic has two actual, decent setups and zero payoffs. In fact all of the praise for the comic comes from people (including you) who explicitly said what made them laugh was what they "imagined*.

It’s the creator’s job to actually provide a good payoff at the end. Yes, threads can be left hanging. Yes, things can be left to the imagination. But in this case specifically both of those strategies are abused to the point that the only way this comic is even passable is if readers are extremely charitable and provide their own ending.

Yeah, I’ve seen all of Flying Circus and all of their movies.

Monty Python did absurdist stuff, but they didn’t violate core principles of timing and surprise. Jokes recurred or dragged at times without overstaying their welcome.

A piece of absurdist humor still needs to be humorous. Being weird doesn’t absolve something from being boring or pointless.

Yep, it’s definitely that and not the fact that this is a dogshit comic.

Nosiree.

The core of humor is doing something unexpected. “Willy Wonka makes turnips” is unexpected. The same is true with “Charlie doesn’t like what Willy Wonka makes”.

The problem is that both of those things are telegraphed really early, thus defusing any surprise they could have delivered. By the last frame we expect Charlie to have a bad time at Willy Wonka’s factory, and he does.

This comic is making animal noises into a microphone and Chuck Berry wants to slap the shit out of it.

“Subverting expectations” is like jazz.

A good jazz musician knows the rules of music. They choose which ones to bend and which ones to break. When a couple of rules are broken here and there it’s pleasurable and exciting.

When too many rules are broken, it’s Yoko Ono.

It’s technically possible to do that after committing any crime, but under super specific circumstances and it’s a far cry from a “get out of jail free” card.

If you’re legitimately, actually insane when you commit a crime you’ll get sent to a mental hospital instead of prison. The catch is that the hospital will only release you if you’re mentally healthy. That can mean that a person who uses the insanity plea may spend more time in the hospital than they would have in prison.

Proof that if a system or technology exists, nerds will try to run Doom on it.

Down in front!

Unless you need a lot of information right fucking now

Yeah, so if they’re boring, they shouldn’t be causing a panic attack now should they?

Emails serve a purpose, but so do phone calls. People getting crippled by fear at the thought of having a real time conversation and then expecting everyone to make huge accomodations for their fucking fragility are ridiculous.

If a person is genuinely that anxiety-riddled they can’t function in society and I will gladly have my tax dollars pay for their disability benefits. Everyone else needs to put their big kid undies on and be able to stand and deliver on time sensitive problems.

Yeah, having to think at a reasonable pace and be presentable on the job are such unreasonable expectations. We had better slow all business communication to a crawl regardless of urgency to make sure little snookums doesn’t have to wear a clean shirt or put on pants.

For fucks sake…

Millennial who grew up on online chat here.

If you want to be treated like an adult, act like an adult. That means making and taking calls without hesitation when the need arises.

Don’t be a baby, it’s a conversation. If you can’t understand what someone said, say “I beg your pardon” or “can you repeat that, please”.

That, and slapping a fixed price on a staple product the business sells. Even with normal two percent inflation eventually there’s going to be disappointment when the price has to be raised.