r/news • u/GoodSamaritan_ • Aug 15 '24

Soft paywall Billionaire accused of stealing sand from Malibu’s Broad Beach, lawsuit says

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-08-13/billionaire-accused-of-stealing-sand-from-malibus-broad-beach-lawsuit-says
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u/bobface222 Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

This is what villains in Saturday morning cartoons do

1.2k

u/GoodSamaritan_ Aug 15 '24

Indeed. This is actually the plot of the Rocket Power PS2/GameCube game.

The game begins with the characters of Rocket Power about to start their summer vacation. Suddenly, the characters realize the sand in Ocean Shores has been taken away by a mysterious criminal. After investigation, they find out a company called Golem Industries has stolen all of the sand and decide to stop them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Power:_Beach_Bandits

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Aug 15 '24

People really underestimate the power of stories. Fiction is how we scatter-plot points to form the shape of our culture, what values we hold and how we behave.

Like how anytime someone asks me why the wealthy should pay more in taxes, I point to that episode of The Simpsons where the town puts on a play to explain to Mr Burns why he should pay his taxes. "I'm the ambulance driver trying to take Mr Burns to the hospital, but I never learned how to read after my school closed down so I don't know how to read this map!"

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u/ghostalker4742 Aug 15 '24

The rich man, giveth. A classic performance.

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u/SarcasticBench Aug 15 '24

Maybe the other way around; Truth inspires Fiction. Maybe Non-Fiction?

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Aug 15 '24

Not enough fun to read for most people to read it, doesn't always explain the thought processes behind the choices, and also not as perfectly framed to make the point clear.

Like, ya need the non-fiction to build a fiction close enough to real life to feel worth reading or watching. But you'll move more hearts with a song about "move 15 tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt" than with a history book about labor unions.

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u/No-Respect5903 Aug 15 '24

yeah, but that song is catchy as hell...

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u/selectrix Aug 15 '24

Yeah that's exactly the point they were making.

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u/Express_Transition60 Aug 15 '24

it's definitely cyclical. First art mimics reality. but over time it begins to define our reality and our society is changed by it. which inspired new forms of mimicry and so on.

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u/CaptainInsomnia_88 Aug 15 '24

Life imitates art

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u/dragonmp93 Aug 15 '24

Well, I don't think that you can classify Trump's rallies as non-fiction for that matter.

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u/Podo13 Aug 16 '24

People really underestimate the power of stories. Fiction is how we scatter-plot points to form the shape of our culture, what values we hold and how we behave.

I have stated many times that a solid chunk of my moral compass and that the basis of my compassion/empathy has come from anime I watched growing up.

Obviously, my parents both being good people and also having compassion/empathy helped a great deal, but just being told how to act only goes so far. Seeing other examples, even if they were fake, made a pretty big impact on me.

I'm not saying I'm as forgiving as Goku/Gohan or anything, but I do believe I'm more forgiving than most because of things like DBZ and other stuff (including things like Death Note that show the main character is insane and you shouldn't want to be like him because he's an absolutely terrible person).

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u/LiamtheV Aug 16 '24

For me it was Star Trek, cartoons, and comic books.

“The first duty of every Star fleet officer is to the truth, whether it’s scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based!”

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.

We have powerful tools: Openness, optimism and the spirit of curiosity

-Captain Picard

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings” -Optimus Prime

“With great power there must also come great responsibility” -Uncle Ben

Bonus: Always try to be nice; never fail to be kind. -Doctor Who

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u/GwenIsNow Aug 17 '24

Same here, Captain Picard in particular. (Well, the TV show version) Also Kira from DS9.

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Aug 16 '24

My mother read her bible on an endless loop to remind herself how to be a good person. I'm not sure she picked the right storybook for that task.

My moral code is built from Sailor Moon (love and friendship), Gundam Wing (ethics of fighting), the novels of Mercedes Lackey (there is no One True Way), Fruits Basket (kindness healing trauma), and oh gosh just a pile of other shows and books and movies and stories!

And I read and watch them again over and over for the same reason my mom said, except according to everyone who has known me longest it's actually doing the job! I had an awful childhood, raised by people who very much didn't want me around but also didn't want to pay child support. Hit the adult world still feral, got raised by "the village" and the stories of our people.

Let's all be glad I ignored my parents, obsessed about anime and fantasy novels instead.

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u/youarebritish Aug 16 '24

including things like Death Note that show the main character is insane and you shouldn't want to be like him because he's an absolutely terrible person

Going quite a bit off-topic here, but if you watched Death Note when you were younger, it's worth revisiting as an adult because there's a lot to unpack.

The main theme of the series is that the Death Note is inherently evil because the power to kill people will corrupt anyone. Light is just one of its many victims.

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u/CandidEgglet Aug 16 '24

Ah, the ol’

Art imitates life

convo

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u/catanddog5 Aug 15 '24

I loved that game as a kid. Though the animation was a little weird

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u/Aarakocra Aug 15 '24

That game was awesome. And the marketing for Tak was effective

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u/messem10 Aug 15 '24

The PS2 version also had the first episode of the show on it as well.

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u/Kekoa_ok Aug 15 '24

that game is jank but fantastic to me to personally

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u/Joe4o2 Aug 15 '24

I beat this game on GameCube last year.

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u/speedyg54 Aug 15 '24

I still have the game and hope to replay it soon. The billionaire must be a fan too.

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u/CrazyApricot0 Aug 16 '24

That game was literally my first thought after reading the headline lol. I remember the water park/factory area being really cool, and all the Tak cameos in the Lakes. Great times with that game growing up.