Welcome to the very first Friday Forum, a hopefully-regular thread for talking about the week we've just had in this lovely world of ours. I'll kick it off by sharing a few news items (and my thoughts on them), and you can join in by talking about the stuff I raise, or other things that you've noticed.
Please remember that, when it comes to the state of the world, not everyone will agree with you. You're free to state, discuss, and defend your viewpoint (provided it does not violate the Constitution), but please don't use that fact to attack others.
Fandom News
(Link)
The trailer for The Dark Tower dropped on Wednesday, and I have to say I like the look of it. It doesn't seem to focus on the horror aspects of, say, The Drawing of the Three or Song of Susannah, which pleases me (as someone who read the Dark Tower series as fantasy and doesn't want to read anything else by Stephen King).
It looks like they're drawing mostly from The Gunslinger and The Waste Lands, though future trailers may alter that balance. It's not a straight adaptation of the books - but this is the Dark Tower series, which is rife with alternate universes. (Also, rumour says that Roland has the Horn of Eld - see the end of this post if you don't mind spoilers on what that actually means...)
Silly News
(Link)
Prince Philip, the Queen's husband (and Duke of Edinburgh), has stepped down from his royal duties at the age of 95. (Well, technically he's announced that he will in the autumn, at 96... whatever.) You might think that isn't particularly silly, but, uh, the BBC decided to commemorate the decision with an article on the numerous offensive "quips" he's made over the years (see link, above). So now you, too, can wince along with the British at the thought of the Queen's husband telling Malala Yousafzai that "[Children] go to school because their parents don't want them in the house"...!
Serious News
(Britain & America)
In a continuing swing towards the Right, Britain's Conservatives have done very well in local elections, while Twitter Personality and President Donald J. Trump has pushed his replacement for Obamacare through Congress.
The UK vote is very worrying, seeing as we're in the run-up for the snap general election Theresa May called (for the very cynical and blatant reason that she wants to reduce the number of people arguing with her). Quite what left-wing opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is thinking about this is unclear. He should be thinking that he shot himself in the foot by supporting said snap election, but who knows?
Stateside, the biggest issue with Trump's replacement (per Kaitlyn) is that it simultaneously gives insurers the ability to raise premiums based on pre-existing conditions, and removes the prohibition against counting domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. So yeah, if you go into hospital after your boyfriend breaks your arm, your insurance company can ask you to prove that he wasn't already beating you before you took out your policy. For the people!
There's good news on both stories, too. UKIP - the far-right nationalist party of the UK - were absolutely hammered in the local elections, and the Trump presidency originally thought getting his bill through Congress would be easy compared to getting the Senate to accept it. Given that it only narrowly passed Congress after weeks of wrangling means there's still a long fight against it ahead.
But in general: I do not like it, Sam I Am.
Not News
^_^
hS
