Robocop & Detroit - Fiction meets Reality

Did the 1987 movie predict the future of Detroit?

I have been following the problems in Detroit. It is a fact that they are filing for bankruptcy and the fact that the city is broke! Detroit used to be the highest median household incomes and now ranks 66th out of 68. There used to be over 2 million people living in Detroit at the height of the cities population; now, the population has declined severely and is around 700,000. There are abandoned neighborhoods, houses in shambles, and abandoned skyscrapers. I have included several videos to show the truth and the comparison to the movie. It is sad times in Detroit Motor City!

Police ignore calls to the abandoned neighborhoods. The abandoned neighborhoods have lost several homes and fields replaced the once home and property.  This is just one example, there are many more.

Detroit is a city that is dying on the vine. Home prices less that $500 is common place. One home is only $50. The lowest price a home sold was for $1. Yes, $1 dollar. The abandoned skyscrapers that once had bustling businesses.

Detroit had 5000 Police officers and now have less than 2800. They are stretched to the limits of breaking. There are promises of a "Pot of money", but no one can find it.



Detroit also has the most crime and highest murder rate in the nation. It is as if Detroit has become a third-world city in the heart of America.




Plot:
In the near future (freaky 1987 to 2013 = a mere 26 years), Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and unchecked crime (both of which are happening today!). The mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) enters into a contract with the city to run the police force. OCP plans to demolish "Old Detroit" and redevelop it as a high-end utopia called "Delta City." To address the city's crime, OCP tests several projects to engineer robotic law enforcement. During a presentation of a project spearheaded by the senior president, Dick Jones (Ronny Cox), the ED-209 enforcement droid malfunctions and kills a junior executive. With Delta City's construction scheduled to begin within months, the OCP Chairman (Dan O'Herlihy) immediately advances an alternative put forth by an ambitious, middle-ranking executive named Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer). Morton calls his cyborg project "RoboCop."

Now onto the comparison to the 1987 Robocop movie and some clips from the franchise.The Robocop trailer.

Crime running rampant in the streets and not a single cop to be found.

Robocop scene when Detroit went bankrupt in the movie (Robocop 2).



Was the 1987 movie Robocop a foreshadowing to the future of Detroit? Is the movie's fictional tale of crime, abandoned area, and bankruptcy becoming a reality? Will a Robocop Detroit be a reality and not a fictional movie? You decide.

Philosophical Zombie

I have always been fascinated with philosophical arguments and I found the Zombie one of the most interesting, actually I love it!

A philosophical zombie or p-zombie in the philosophy of mind and perception is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks concious experience, qualia, or sentience. When a zombie is poked with a sharp object, for example, it does not feel any pain though it behaves exactly as if it does feel pain (it may say "ouch" and recoil from the stimulus, or tell us that it is in intense pain).
The notion of a philosophical zombie is used mainly in intended to support arguments (often called "zombie arguments") against forms of physicalism such as materialism, behaviorism, and funtionalism. 

So, since a zombie is defined as physiologically indistinguishable from human beings, even logically, do they really feel pain?
Or does the zombie mimic the pain that it once knew when human? Almost like a motor response without actual pain.
We all know they hunger for brains and if they have no logic, then how do they know they want to consume brains? Also they are known to eat raw flesh.
"Braaaaiiins...braaaaiiiins...braaaaaiiiins..." they chant as they slowly approach the “normies” or better known as us humans. But how do they know this if they have no thoughts?
In some cultures such as Hati and West Africa, in the religion of Vodou Zombies are normal. They know that they can raise such creatures.

Some zombie conspiracies I have heard: 
The Chinese Cover-up: So far the Chinese have been able to cover up their Zombie outbreak but there have been leaks getting to the news media, and as fast as it gets out the government cuts the lines of communications. My sources close to our government have told me that the Chinese Government has been working for some time on re-animating humans in hopes of making a super soldier. And it’s not just China.  Many countries are doing the same thing. The USA, our own government might be doing the same? You decide?
There is a thought that the CDC is working on a drug to create zombies then decrease our population. It is called the, “Zombie Virus.” 

Knowing your zombies: 
Slow zombies are described in detail by Max Brooks in The Zombie Survival Guide. In a basic sense, slow zombies are technically dead predators who are totally independent from a physiological need of any kind. They feel no pain, need nothing to fuel their bodies, and require only their intact brain to exist. While they do eat their prey, they do not need to, as their digestive system is completely inoperative and the flesh simply is forced out through the rectum as later "meals" push it out of the body, or the flesh stagnates and rots inside the Zombie. They are almost totally without intellect or reasoning skills (according to the Zombie Survival Guide, only a quarter of them can figure out how to use a ladder). And as named, their top speed is slower than a normal human's calm stride. As mentioned earlier, they are extremely durable, being able to survive and hunt for years if not killed by brain destruction. The Solanum Virus which kills a person, and infests an reanimates the corpse, takes between 12-48 hours, depending on how quickly the virus reaches the brain (it's been proven that a small bite which reaches no major blood vessels takes longer than the traditional model to produce a zombie). 
Slow Zombies normally do not climb and a chain-linked fence seems to be their kryptonite. 

Fast zombies are usually (but not always) humans still technically alive, but radically transformed mentally and physically by a mysterious viral infection. While they also feel no pain, without the concern for food or water (they do not need sleep), they inevitably die to thirst or hunger. While they are more durable than an ordinary human, this is because of constant adrenaline production, and deactivation of pain receptors, so injury and fatigue also do not concern them. They ultimate depend on all of their organ systems, and can be killed through blood loss, asphyxiation, or poisoning. Typically, the fast zombie transformation period is very fast - in 28 Days Later, it can be mere seconds. Fast Zombies can be excellent climbers (see Valve Zombies). 

Good luck out there my friends, good luck. And always remeber to aim for the head! Also remember, if you have a boat, Zombies can't swim.

FRIDAY THE 13th!

Are You Scared of Friday the 13th?


TGIF - Thank Goodness its Friday so here is a Happy Friday to you! Or Aloha Friday, That is, unless you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia. That's a big way of saying you are afraid of Friday the 13th, which is today.

The Skeptic's Dictionary defines friggatriskaidekaphobia as "a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th," and explains it this way:
"Friday is Frigga's Day. Frigga (Frigg) was an ancient Scandinavian fertility and love goddess, equivalent to the Roman Venus who had been worshiped on the sixth day of the week. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil — a gathering of thirteen — and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. Christians called Frigga a witch and Friday the witches' Sabbath."

Why Friday? Explanations include that Friday was the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Also Friday as an unlucky day dates back to the 14th century and "The Canterbury Tales." As for 13, the ancient Egyptian belief that the 13th stage of life is death is one reason cited, according to MacMillan Dictionary.

Another theory about the origin of the superstition traces the event to the arrest of the legendary Knights Templar. The Knights Templar were a monastic military order founded in Jerusalem in the year 1118. Their original mission was to guide and protect Christian pilgrims along the path from Europe to Jerusalem during the Crusades. Through this mission, the Templars developed a banking system to protect the finances of the traveling pilgrims, then expanded this system throughout their holdings in Europe. Over time, France's Philip IV amassed a debt to the Knights Templar for years of service.

So King Philip on October 13, 1307 set out charges against the Templars were of the highest accusations of heresy.

And in pop-culture we cannot mention Friday the 13th without mentioning the franchise jauggernaught movies with the same name. Friday the 13th, an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television show, novels, comic books, and tie‑in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings.


If you do suffer from this fear of Friday the 13th, then you are paraskevidekatriaphobic, according to MacMillan Dictionary. So how legitimate is the idea of bad luck on a Friday the 13th? Whether real or imagined, the day seems to bring some less-favorable results. I am sure the movies and folklore do not help in this matter. However, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, N.C., estimated that 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of Friday the 13th. Another related estimate from the center said businesses lose $800 million-$900 million on Friday the 13th because people will not fly or do business they would normally do.

 
People who consider themselves unlucky to begin with are more likely to believe in superstitions that are associated with bad luck.Their beliefs and behavior are likely to be part of a much bigger worldview," he said. "They will believe that luck is a magical force and that it can ruin their lives."

HAPPY FRIDAY the 13th everybody!

Hitler's Birthday Bash up in Smoke....

Smoke Bomb Shuts Down Hitler Birthday Party!

A party marking the birthday of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in a town outside Chicago was brought to an abrupt end by a smoke bomb attack, The Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

At Saturday's bash in Lyons, Illinois, about 60 people gathered to celebrate the 122nd anniversary of the murderous German leader's birth -- flying swastika banners even organizing a cake decorated with the words, "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler."

They also set out to celebrate the start of the American Civil War, according to party host Art Jones, of the America First Committee. A second cake marking the war's outbreak on April 12, 1861, had the logo: "The South Was Right. White Men Fight," Jones said.

But the early-evening party at P.J. Klem's Restaurant And Banquet Hall came to a swift end when a mystery man walked in, ordered a grilled cheese sandwich then set off a smoke bomb in a restroom, forcing an evacuation and the closure of the hall.

The man, who was carrying a backpack, was being sought by police -- but officers admitted the description of him was "very vague."

Nobody was injured and there was no serious damage to the restaurant. A spokesman for the premises said staff were unaware of the party's purpose when the booking was made -- although the group has rented the hall in previous years.

Cocaine Is a Hell of a Drug...

"COCAINE IS A HELL OF A DRUG" stated by the famous late great Rick "Superfreak" James!!!  



But here is to great times past - before the FDA was created... Thanks sis for finding this golden nugget of GREAT information and a great topic...



They FDA should re-consider some of the Greats from the past.

*Medications of Times Past*

Have you ever wondered why our great-grandparents all had such fond memories of their youth?  Well, I'm very surprised they remembered anything at all!  

Forget Tums & Tylenol.  Forget Aleeve or Benadryl. 

Look at the stuff they had way back then!

Bayer’s ‘Heroin’

A bottle of Bayer’s ‘Heroin’.

Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine.

It was also used to treat children suffering with a strong cough.

Coca Wine, anyone?

Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal  treatment. Which a variation of this type of Coca Wine - more Coca - Bourduex Wine is still around today. You might know it by today's name - Coca~Cola!

Mariani Wine.

Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous of the Coca wine of it's time.

Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time.

He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Vatican tested, Vatican Approved!

Maltine.

Produced by the Maltine Manufacturing Company of New York . 

It was suggested that you, a full grown adult should take a full glass with or after every meal. Children should only take half a glass. Those are some great tips, no wonder our grand parents fell asleep around 8 pm and early bird specials are around 4:30 pm.

A Paperweight:

A paperweight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne (Mannheim, Germany).They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine. Great ad campaign, I am on eBay at the moment looking for one of these gems!

Opium for Asthma:

       At 40% alcohol plus 3 grams of opium per tablet.

It didn't cure you... but you didn't care!

I wonder if you needed to be diagnosed with asthma or could you just say hey, I got asthma? Gimme Gimme bitches!

 

 

Cocaine Tablets (1900)

All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance.

Great to 'smooth' the voice! And what a voice you would have or don't remember having. I wonder if they started smoking this elixir? This is what led to the early greats having golden pipes and drug addictions, causing most to have a short-lived career.

Cocaine drops for toothache.

Very popular for children in 1885.

 Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children very happy! All is well when your kids are doped up. No fighting, no yelling, no screaming, just peace and quiet.

Opium for newborns?

            I'm sure this would make them sleep well.  

(not only the Opium, but also the 46% alcohol) I guess not much waking up in the middle of the night. It is no wonder the dad's could work harder, they got more sleep than us.

     It's no wonder they were called,

"The Good Old Days".

     And it's no wonder why the drug store was such a popular hang out for everyone!

From cradle to grave... everyone was STONED!!!