Movies, Taxes and World-Building

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Well, what’s to say today?  I was talking to some family and we were discussing this and that and I said that I wanted to see “Project Hail Mary.”  And some knew about it and some had heard a little bit.  Well, I think I talked them into getting together and going to see it.  Now I plan to see it this week with Camera Girl.  She’s not the biggest sff fan by any stretch of the imagination.  When I brough her to see the original Star Wars film she was not particularly impressed.  And come to think of it, she’s never been impressed by any sci fi or fantasy movie (or book) I ever gave her.  Well, I take that back.  She read “The Hobbit” back in 1975 and liked it.  But that was it.  When I told her to read the “Lord of the Rings,” she laughed in my face.  So, she may not be the most willing audience for this movie.  But since one of the characters is a puppet I’m guessing there may be an appeal there to her love of animals.  So, I’m going to see the same movie in the theater twice?  I think this may be the first time I’ve ever done that.  Well, I’m sure it won’t kill me.

The other thing I’m doing next week is go see an accountant about how to pay my taxes on the royalties from my book.  I have an inordinate fear of the Infernal Revenue Service.  I think they’re a malevolent force causing pain and suffering for ordinary people at every turn.  So, I’m going to find out what the process is for this kind of capital gain.  I don’t think I have to pay quarterly but you never know so I’m not taking any chances.  Also, I think there is a way to write off expenses like advertising and marketing so if I can find out whether it’s worth it I may even break even on this whole experiment (maybe!!!).

A friend was asking me about the sequel to the “The Sniper.”  He had particular questions about the back story for some of the characters like Connors and Cutter.  I said I’d love to tell him some of the details of their back stories but I still haven’t made them up yet.  I think he was a little shocked that these important facts didn’t actually exist yet.  Maybe even betrayed for investing in a story that was sort of a Potemkin Village.  But I feel justified in pushing out the corners of my little universe as the spirit moves me.  Although I will admit I’ve decided to do some outlining of the world, at least from a 35,000-foot height.  I need to decide what stories will grow out of the eucatastrophe I set off in the first book.  I mean, you don’t sink the White House, Capitol and Pentagon into the Earth’s crust without taking advantage of the elbow room that provides for political and social upheaval on a grand scale.

Project Hail Mary Box Office Update: $616,588,738

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Well, it’s official, Project Hail Mary is a moneymaker for Amazon.  The info says it cost $200 million to produce.  Even if they spent another $100 million to advertise (which they wouldn’t have to because, of course, they’re Amazon!) that still puts them in the black.  And this is all in advance of what they’ll make streaming the movie on their own platform after the end of the theatrical run.

Box Office Data

Well, well, well.  So people will go to the movies if you give them something that isn’t woke slop.  If you give them entertaining story telling they’ll pay you money to watch it.  Shocking.  Wake up Disney.  Amazon is eating your lunch, you fools.

A Big Win by the Supreme Court

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The big news this week is the Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.  A racially gerrymandered district in Louisiana was challenged on the basis that creating a black district for racial reasons was unconstitutional.  The Court agreed and found that district’s creation unconstitutional.

This ruling is quite important because it has the potential of eliminating something like twelve districts in the Deep South that in addition to being majority black are also exclusively Democrat in their choice of elected officials.  That is an enormous switch in the balance of power in the House of Representatives.  The question remains to be seen how quickly can these states redraw the districts.  If they can do this in time for the 2026 federal elections it would massively increase the Republicans’ chances of retaining a majority in the House.

In addition, going into the 2028 presidential election it would allow other states to adjust their districts strictly by partisan advantage and so the number of seats nationwide would be even larger.  Some estimates of as many as twenty-four Democrat controlled seats disappearing are out there.

The severity of this problem has the Democrats in an uproar and they have been talking about getting the government back in their hands as soon as possible and eliminating the filibuster rule to increase the number of seats in the Supreme Court to overturn this decision.  Now, that is going to have to wait at least until 2028 since Trump wouldn’t sign such a bill and overriding his veto would require many more senate seats than anyone imagines them to get in 2026.

In the short term this situation is something of a game changer.  This has the potential of eliminating a whole industry centered around finding racial inequity around every redistricting action across the country and forcing jurisdictions to prove they are not disenfranchising every racial and ethnic minority under the sun.

On a personal note, I find this decision incredibly encouraging.  The present Supreme Court despite Chief Justice Roberts’ social justice leanings has done amazing work in dismantling the unconstitutional decisions that have come down over the last half century.  Eliminating reverse discrimination and knocking out the Roe v. Wade decision are huge wins for conservatives and constitutionalists alike.  And, God willing, they’ll continue on in this vein and eliminate the Gay Marriage decision and several other overreaches that past courts have unjustly burdened this country with.

The next two things that I’m hoping for is the reversal of Oglethorpe (gay marriage) and the reestablishment of unfettered freedom of association for Americans.  As a charter member of the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, I’m hoping to see the day when a men’s club will not have to admit women just because girls’ feelings are hurt when men get to escape from them for a few hours of screech-free relaxation.  If the Bill of Rights still exists as part of the Constitution, then the First Amendment protects our rights to assemble and express our preferences by associating and not associating with people according to our commonalities and differences.  Let’s hope these gains continue.