Listening to the propaganda that passes for information supplied by candidates and/or commentators is always instructive - at least in learning what is being promoted or demoted.
For a few weeks the only GOP ad for US Senate available in East Tennessee was Bob Corker's mom saying he was a good boy. I'm glad he at least got that endorsement as the primary voting approaches. Now they have added two more spots, one where he says he went with a church group to help build houses and another where a group of unidentified Chattanooga residents express their belief that he was the best mayor they ever had.
Oddly absent from TV despite a decent campaign chest is Van Hilleary -- odd because back when the districts were reorganized in the 90s, Hamblen somehow became part of the 4th District and helped get Van into congress. (Now we're back in the 1st District again.) Yet, apart from a few signs on the roadways, there's not much Van Visibility here.
(NOTE: He just started an ad this afternoon - and like the rest of this post shows, he too joins the battle cry against the current GOP's failure to "secure borders", adds that he will stop their deficit spending, and most strangely adds he will "battle Hillary Clinton every step of the way." How lame to continue to try and trade on the Clinton name, which he does twice in this ad. Though I know there are some Conservatives in this town who place her on the Axis of Evil.)
Ed Bryant has started his TV ads recently, and he echoes the comments he made several years back when he appeared on my radio show - chiefly, that his proudest moment as a congressman was presenting the Clinton impeachment papers to the Senate from the House.
There's been so much more presence on the internet, via all their respective campaign blogs. You can read large amounts of nitpicking and name-calling and you can watch their game of King of the Conservative Hill as it happens. I wonder how many average votes bother with any of that? Seems more the playing field for the Already Committed or the Commentators.
I do find it most amusing they all three proclaim they'll secure our borders from terrorists. Doesn't that mean their fellow Conservative GOP office holders have failed at that job?
It isn't a surprise to hear the Democrat challenger for the Senate, Harold Ford Jr, claim that the current officeholders have failed - that's what I expect from the Other Side.
Borders and immigration are definitely The Issue in this county, judging by the late-June rally that brought out a massive armed law enforcement brigade. (Pics and posts here) And all the attention and actions reinforce this belief that the current officeholders are letting bajillions of anti-American immigrants take over from Texas to Canada.
I often read the Volunteer Voters site or Knox Views to keep up with an ever-growing list of who's endorsing who for what, and again, it looks like right now the battlefield is a binary one.
There are so many GOP and Democrat choices in the upcoming primary for the 1st Congressional District, that it is pretty much a county by county kind of race. One Democrat hopeful is current Morristown City Councilman Rick Trent. Since no Dems have held the 1st District since the 1800s, I doubt there will be anything other than a token opposition to whoever wins the GOP race. It's getting name recognition outside of one county that will determine the winner.
Rick writes on his promo flier: "It's not hard to see that our country is going in the wrong direction. Escalating national debt, the Iraq War, high energy costs and the loss of American jobs are just a few of the issues I would like to tackle as your representative in Washington. If you feel like I do, then together we can get America back on track."
On the GOP side, as I said, the most prominent issue in campaign statements is Broken Borders, Broken Borders, and Broken Borders.
So what I'm hearing loud and clear from both parties is it's time to end the Failure of Current Policies. That claim can be a campaign constant no matter the year, or the race, or the location. But admitting Failure within the GOP seems a tactic that the Democrats should be using to their advantage in 2006.
But since polls rate approval of Congress lower than a bug's belly, then that must mean all parties are running on a Anyone Would Be Better Than What We Got bandwagon.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Saturday, July 08, 2006
From The Internet Tubes
Since the last post was a peek into the oddities stashed and stored in huge-antical Web Tubes (1), I happened to have the time to collect some more news and videos which tend to create a unique mixture of surprise and dread.
First, GoldenAppleCorp (of AT) wagged a finger at me warning me away for dissing David Hasselhoff, and today I just happened to find the newest video from The Hoff, a remake of a 1975 tune called "Jump In My Car." Is it just me, or does the international fame and resilience of this guy portend a future political career? The video features him wearing a T-Shirt declaring Don't Hassel the Hoff, but it was the dancing that gave me the heebie-jeebies. View the Hoff's latest here.
In other music news, this comment about a new album from Justin Timberlake indicates, as a friend told me, a train wreck is ahead:
"The first single from the upcoming Justin Timberlake album, "SexyBack," features a pounding bass beat and electronic sounds, and does not include the falsetto singing that has become Timberlake's trademark. He said, however, that "The best way I can describe that song is say David Bowie and David Byrne decided to do a cover of James Brown's Sex Machine," Timberlake told reporters."
To which I say - Ewwwww! Clean-up on Aisle 12!!!!
To mark the 60th b-day for Our President, the Nintendo company gave him an early gift - a new Nintendo DS Lite, including a copy of the game Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. The letter from Nintendo accompanying the gift emphasizes the Decider need not be an expert gamer to give it a go.
The advertising giant that is NASCAR found a new client. True, the sponsorship is only on the local track circuit, but who would have ever have foreseen a combo between Scientology and NASCAR? Yes, the Dianetics Racing Team has arrived.
Never, ever, EVER underestimate what is possible in the Web. I said NEVER. One intrepid seeker has successfully traded One Red Paper Clip for a house.
Footnotes
1. I feel like David Foster Wallace making a footnote, but this is for those who missed Alaska Senator Ted Stevens explanation of the internet, here 'tis -- "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 oÂ’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially. They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It'’s not a truck. It'’s a series of tubes."
Visual representations are here. See also, "The Coot-Off".
First, GoldenAppleCorp (of AT) wagged a finger at me warning me away for dissing David Hasselhoff, and today I just happened to find the newest video from The Hoff, a remake of a 1975 tune called "Jump In My Car." Is it just me, or does the international fame and resilience of this guy portend a future political career? The video features him wearing a T-Shirt declaring Don't Hassel the Hoff, but it was the dancing that gave me the heebie-jeebies. View the Hoff's latest here.
In other music news, this comment about a new album from Justin Timberlake indicates, as a friend told me, a train wreck is ahead:
"The first single from the upcoming Justin Timberlake album, "SexyBack," features a pounding bass beat and electronic sounds, and does not include the falsetto singing that has become Timberlake's trademark. He said, however, that "The best way I can describe that song is say David Bowie and David Byrne decided to do a cover of James Brown's Sex Machine," Timberlake told reporters."
To which I say - Ewwwww! Clean-up on Aisle 12!!!!
To mark the 60th b-day for Our President, the Nintendo company gave him an early gift - a new Nintendo DS Lite, including a copy of the game Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. The letter from Nintendo accompanying the gift emphasizes the Decider need not be an expert gamer to give it a go.
The advertising giant that is NASCAR found a new client. True, the sponsorship is only on the local track circuit, but who would have ever have foreseen a combo between Scientology and NASCAR? Yes, the Dianetics Racing Team has arrived.
Never, ever, EVER underestimate what is possible in the Web. I said NEVER. One intrepid seeker has successfully traded One Red Paper Clip for a house.
Footnotes
1. I feel like David Foster Wallace making a footnote, but this is for those who missed Alaska Senator Ted Stevens explanation of the internet, here 'tis -- "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 oÂ’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially. They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It'’s not a truck. It'’s a series of tubes."
Visual representations are here. See also, "The Coot-Off".
Friday, July 07, 2006
Is That A Hattori Hanzo Sword?
So what would happen when a 9 mm bullet meets a samurai sword?
This happens.
This happens.
That Darn Coulter!
A post today at KnoxViews from R. Neal about Ann Coulter makes some of the same points to ponder which I too think most people just don't quite get.
Yes, I'm sticking to my guns about what I said here and here.
The comments on Neal's post mention, as most debates about Coulter do, that Michael Moore is the Left version of Coulter's Right field rants. (Some other Lefties get mentioned too)
But I have yet to hear or read where Moore makes death threats. Coulter does.
Her dangerous fringe followers seem to shovel cash at her like addicts hit meth - both are dead ends.
SayUncle and Les Jones are weighing in with their views too in the comments, and what pops out most quickly is that the range of opinions are expressed without any of the insanely pointless and hate-filled threats of Coulter.
That's all - a good read I just wanted to point out.
Oh, and maybe enough rational humans on the Right or Left or Center or Anywhere Else will express a desire to remove even the tiniest molecule of credibiltiy within a thousand miles of Coulter. Sure she has a right to her opinion, but to provide it more weight than a fart is a critical error.
Yes, I'm sticking to my guns about what I said here and here.
The comments on Neal's post mention, as most debates about Coulter do, that Michael Moore is the Left version of Coulter's Right field rants. (Some other Lefties get mentioned too)
But I have yet to hear or read where Moore makes death threats. Coulter does.
Her dangerous fringe followers seem to shovel cash at her like addicts hit meth - both are dead ends.
SayUncle and Les Jones are weighing in with their views too in the comments, and what pops out most quickly is that the range of opinions are expressed without any of the insanely pointless and hate-filled threats of Coulter.
That's all - a good read I just wanted to point out.
Oh, and maybe enough rational humans on the Right or Left or Center or Anywhere Else will express a desire to remove even the tiniest molecule of credibiltiy within a thousand miles of Coulter. Sure she has a right to her opinion, but to provide it more weight than a fart is a critical error.
Camera Obscura - Pirates, Hills Have Eyes, UltraViolet, A Scanner Darkly
I know it seems like an incredible, star-filled lifestyle to write and report on the movies and the often-unseen traps that surround celebrity. And it is. But there is also the seamy, dank underbelly of cinema, the hours and months spent in dark rooms watching movies that no one liked and no one should have made. Someone eventually has to come into the emptied-out palaces to clean up the leavings from "champagne wishes and caviar dreams". Makes for some nasty, crusty cleanup.
Reality shifts are commonplace, most critics or writers get lost in the media mazes and never find their way out. A good example is The Pickle at the Knox News Sentinel - she drools so much over Johnny Depp she taints any objective review of the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" and simply drowns. The paper is soggy.
Will the average moviegoer swim alongside the continuing piratey adventures? Yeah, likely. But whether or not you'll like the movie depends on the skills of the swimmer to keep up with the roiling seas of plots and romance.
Here in this weekly roundup. I track the castaways, the shipwrecks, and attempt to chart the murky movie waters for fellow travelers who seek forgotten treasures or ghost ships and sail outside the shipping lanes. Some movies survive with spectacular skill, some smash against the waves and founder with spectacular doom.
Enough introductions - we're already underway.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the remake of Wes Craven's 1977 horror classic "The Hills Have Eyes" sailed into an alternate reality of the mutated nuclear family which takes revenge on the "normals" by feasting on flesh. The original ultra low-budget thriller almost seems like a seedy newsreel, with some tedious time ticking past until the mutant family forces brutal retaliation for a lost tourist family. The remake gets you there quicker, and also ramps up the blood and violence with terrific style. As in the original, Pacificism is manipulated by horror and fear and turns to primal rage.
Unlike most remakes, filmmaker Alexander Aja, born the year after the original came out, actually gets it right. He transfers intact all the ideas of the original and adds new details and has stunning make-up and effects work so the mutant cannibal family looks as real as the rocky barren landscape. DVD extras show the brilliant and somewhat hi-tech work the KNB EFX group did and will likely help inspire the next generation of movie magicians.
And a big hint here - note the movie is about the attack by mutant cannibals - that sound like a kid's movie to you? It isn't.
Some other news Horror fans will like - Eli Roth is at work on a sequel to "Hostel" and has been signed to direct Stephen King's recent zombie thriller "Cell".
Given the opening sea-going metaphors, the easiest and most cynical review I could provide for the DVD release of the science-fiction thriller "UltraViolet" starring model/actress Milla Jovovich is -- wait for it -- "Thar she blows!!!"
Writer/director Kurt Wimmer showed great technical skill in the highly derivative sci-fi "Equilibrium", and he really pushes the tech edge in "UltraViolet". Shot with high-def Sony cameras, coating the existing backgrounds of modern-day Shanghai with green screens, the movie is jaw-dropping eye candy.
The plot is inconsequential as the opening nearly 10 minute exposition by Jovovich tries to explain that somehow in the future a disease makes people into semi-vampires and she's a widow and the future is weird. Yeah, that takes about ten minutes for her to say. For true gut-crunching surreal nonsense, try watching the movie with her full-length commentary.
The violent killer that is usually referred to simply as "V" by her pals, poses with swords and guns which she has nanotechnologically loaded into infinity on her clothes. All kinds of throwaway tech is here, and the movie grabs bits of anime and goth and comics and blurs it all together in a day-glo Uber-Revlon Para Para commercial for .... I don't know what.
Wimmer has tech skill, no doubt. Now all he needs is a writer. And some actors.
Lost at sea now, mired in a strange silent fogbank we see on the horizon that the adaptation of Phillip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly" opens this weekend in limited release and should be in a theater near you in coming weeks.
The movie is fully faithful to the drug-zapped madness of Dick's book. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover narcotics agent on the trail of a new drug, Substance D, and wears a constantly shifting visual exterior body mask while on the job. Off the job, he's a fellow drug addict with his friends (superb casting of Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson). Then he gets assigned to track a new suspect - himself. He lives his undercover life and then goes to work and watches himself.
Director Richard Linklater has made the movie in a new rotoscoping animation, which adds to the cognitive dissonance of the story and the addictions and a world hidden within a world. There is no romantic vision of the addict onboard this ghost ship. There is despair and deep black comedy as all slowly sink into the abyss.
As critic J. Hoberman noted in his review, fellow sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem said of Dick - he was a writer who "does not so much play the part of a guide through his phantasmagoric worlds as he gives the impression of one lost in their labyrinth."
Fractured time and space and reality are hallmarks of his work. In the novel "Time Out of Joint," the lead character literally sees through the fake world he is in when the Ice Cream Stand at a local park dwindles to a piece of paper with the words "Ice Cream Stand" written on it.
Our voyage is not over, but we've reached a windless beach. The Cap'n says we'll sail again soon.
Reality shifts are commonplace, most critics or writers get lost in the media mazes and never find their way out. A good example is The Pickle at the Knox News Sentinel - she drools so much over Johnny Depp she taints any objective review of the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" and simply drowns. The paper is soggy.
Will the average moviegoer swim alongside the continuing piratey adventures? Yeah, likely. But whether or not you'll like the movie depends on the skills of the swimmer to keep up with the roiling seas of plots and romance.
Here in this weekly roundup. I track the castaways, the shipwrecks, and attempt to chart the murky movie waters for fellow travelers who seek forgotten treasures or ghost ships and sail outside the shipping lanes. Some movies survive with spectacular skill, some smash against the waves and founder with spectacular doom.
Enough introductions - we're already underway.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the remake of Wes Craven's 1977 horror classic "The Hills Have Eyes" sailed into an alternate reality of the mutated nuclear family which takes revenge on the "normals" by feasting on flesh. The original ultra low-budget thriller almost seems like a seedy newsreel, with some tedious time ticking past until the mutant family forces brutal retaliation for a lost tourist family. The remake gets you there quicker, and also ramps up the blood and violence with terrific style. As in the original, Pacificism is manipulated by horror and fear and turns to primal rage.
Unlike most remakes, filmmaker Alexander Aja, born the year after the original came out, actually gets it right. He transfers intact all the ideas of the original and adds new details and has stunning make-up and effects work so the mutant cannibal family looks as real as the rocky barren landscape. DVD extras show the brilliant and somewhat hi-tech work the KNB EFX group did and will likely help inspire the next generation of movie magicians.
And a big hint here - note the movie is about the attack by mutant cannibals - that sound like a kid's movie to you? It isn't.
Some other news Horror fans will like - Eli Roth is at work on a sequel to "Hostel" and has been signed to direct Stephen King's recent zombie thriller "Cell".
Given the opening sea-going metaphors, the easiest and most cynical review I could provide for the DVD release of the science-fiction thriller "UltraViolet" starring model/actress Milla Jovovich is -- wait for it -- "Thar she blows!!!"
Writer/director Kurt Wimmer showed great technical skill in the highly derivative sci-fi "Equilibrium", and he really pushes the tech edge in "UltraViolet". Shot with high-def Sony cameras, coating the existing backgrounds of modern-day Shanghai with green screens, the movie is jaw-dropping eye candy.
The plot is inconsequential as the opening nearly 10 minute exposition by Jovovich tries to explain that somehow in the future a disease makes people into semi-vampires and she's a widow and the future is weird. Yeah, that takes about ten minutes for her to say. For true gut-crunching surreal nonsense, try watching the movie with her full-length commentary.
The violent killer that is usually referred to simply as "V" by her pals, poses with swords and guns which she has nanotechnologically loaded into infinity on her clothes. All kinds of throwaway tech is here, and the movie grabs bits of anime and goth and comics and blurs it all together in a day-glo Uber-Revlon Para Para commercial for .... I don't know what.
Wimmer has tech skill, no doubt. Now all he needs is a writer. And some actors.
Lost at sea now, mired in a strange silent fogbank we see on the horizon that the adaptation of Phillip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly" opens this weekend in limited release and should be in a theater near you in coming weeks.
The movie is fully faithful to the drug-zapped madness of Dick's book. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover narcotics agent on the trail of a new drug, Substance D, and wears a constantly shifting visual exterior body mask while on the job. Off the job, he's a fellow drug addict with his friends (superb casting of Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson). Then he gets assigned to track a new suspect - himself. He lives his undercover life and then goes to work and watches himself.
Director Richard Linklater has made the movie in a new rotoscoping animation, which adds to the cognitive dissonance of the story and the addictions and a world hidden within a world. There is no romantic vision of the addict onboard this ghost ship. There is despair and deep black comedy as all slowly sink into the abyss.
As critic J. Hoberman noted in his review, fellow sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem said of Dick - he was a writer who "does not so much play the part of a guide through his phantasmagoric worlds as he gives the impression of one lost in their labyrinth."
Fractured time and space and reality are hallmarks of his work. In the novel "Time Out of Joint," the lead character literally sees through the fake world he is in when the Ice Cream Stand at a local park dwindles to a piece of paper with the words "Ice Cream Stand" written on it.
Our voyage is not over, but we've reached a windless beach. The Cap'n says we'll sail again soon.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Dollywood Diplomacy
The media mania that followed the diplomatic visit to Graceland from bona fide Elvis fan, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, accompanied by President Bush and even Priscilla herself is both a little surreal and also a possible new approach to exporting/exploiting American ideals.
I'm sure Prime Minister Koizumi, who released his own CD of Elvis hits, has also seen "Mystery Train," where the lives of foreign tourists intersect in a Memphis hotel on their various pilgrimages to Graceland.
Lloyd Garver provides a rock-solid idea on a new kind of diplomacy in his most recent editorial:
"Maybe this kind of diplomacy should be used more often. Let world leaders see both the silly and the awe-inspiring that make up America. There's bound to be some head of state who is just dying to see Dollywood.
"Take the leaders of Iran and North Korea. Maybe they're too embarrassed to admit it, but isn't it possible that they've always wanted to go to Disneyland or Disney World. What would it hurt to invite them for a tour? I'm sure they'll feel very indebted to us if we unilaterally say they don't have to wait in the long lines. And, cynically speaking, if they remain belligerent after several hours at the park, just make them go through that "Small World" ride a few dozen times. After hearing "It's A Small World After All" sung over and over, their minds will be so fried they'll agree to anything we ask of them."
Despite the fame of President Reagan's ballyhooed "tear down this wall", I think the real factors that brought down the Berlin Wall and dissolved the Soviet Union had far more to do with blue jeans and rock and roll -- it was the desire for American goods and style, a yearning for good times and not rations of toilet paper.
It's far more effective when troops arrive to distribute chocolate bars and toys and food and water, and when terrorists blow up families lined up to get those kinds of tangible goodies, then the message is clear and plain as to who the Good Guys are and who the Bad Guys are.
So maybe we should follow up the Graceland Summit (even coming so late in Koizumi's tenure) with a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Summit, a Dollywood Summit, a Bonnaroo Summit, a Universal Studios Tour Summit, and yes, why not a Stuckey's Summit?
The Mississippi Delta was shining
Like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war
I'm going to graceland
Graceland
In memphis tennessee
I'm going to graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to graceland
(NOTE: the picture above originated here.)
Ways the News Fails Us
Several comments on yesterday's post raise important questions, but answers are truly elusive. (And thanks to KnoxViews and Say Uncle for linking to the story.)
I too have heard much about large membership in the area for Klan and "other" extremist groups, but why are they tolerated here??
What type of brutish behavior could a disabled vet have presented to force police to taser him?? Was he threatening anyone? Will the same officials who called for this large deployment be the ones to investigate what occurred?
Other questions remain large - how much will all this deployment cost??
Is this town a smoldering fire awaiting violent eruption over racial issues?
If so, why is there little media attention paid to the issue?
As usual, the Knox media took no interest in the story, other than to report the official line, and no serious investigation or any followup has occurred. There was a brief mention on the FOX News program Hannity & Colmes, but they too simply smirked their way through this event in their "fair and balanced" format.
There are about 17 or 18 different nations which own and operate large companies in this county - Japan, Italy, Germany, and many more. Perhaps local officials wanted to present a fierce and hard opposition to the group who was protesting illegal immigration in order to assure all those investors that local government supports them and not the "others".
We certainly appear to be a community of conflicting viewpoints, and I am not endorsing conflict. But so much remains unspoken, and dissent seems to be forcibly repressed in an instant.
How ironic that a multi-county, state-supplied armed response is present but the most prominent comment is "Nothing to see here! Move along!"
I too have heard much about large membership in the area for Klan and "other" extremist groups, but why are they tolerated here??
What type of brutish behavior could a disabled vet have presented to force police to taser him?? Was he threatening anyone? Will the same officials who called for this large deployment be the ones to investigate what occurred?
Other questions remain large - how much will all this deployment cost??
Is this town a smoldering fire awaiting violent eruption over racial issues?
If so, why is there little media attention paid to the issue?
As usual, the Knox media took no interest in the story, other than to report the official line, and no serious investigation or any followup has occurred. There was a brief mention on the FOX News program Hannity & Colmes, but they too simply smirked their way through this event in their "fair and balanced" format.
There are about 17 or 18 different nations which own and operate large companies in this county - Japan, Italy, Germany, and many more. Perhaps local officials wanted to present a fierce and hard opposition to the group who was protesting illegal immigration in order to assure all those investors that local government supports them and not the "others".
We certainly appear to be a community of conflicting viewpoints, and I am not endorsing conflict. But so much remains unspoken, and dissent seems to be forcibly repressed in an instant.
How ironic that a multi-county, state-supplied armed response is present but the most prominent comment is "Nothing to see here! Move along!"
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Morristown Rally Was Surrounded, Voices Silenced
A staggering amount of armed law enforcement, including the city of Morristown's use of an armored half-track, some high-tech Homeland Security equipment, a Knox County EMA Mobile Command vehicle, a THP Mobile Command Unit, a THP helicopter and more all focused their attentions on a very small rally held in Morristown on June 24th to protest illegal immigration.
County Commissioner Tom Lowe had received permission for this rally, and local news and area bloggers all reported on the event noting the tasering of a disabled vet charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Lowe and others have a website to document what actually happened that day citing the immense amount of intimidation they felt aimed in their direction. And despite fears of the local MPD that dangerous protestors would attend - it seems "they" did not attend, though some folks with actual tattoos were there.
Below are some pictures taken by event organizers, which show a huge armed law enforcement presence completely surrounding a cordoned off section of the county courthouse lawn -- and I can only imagine how large the cost of this deployment may actually be. Will the city charge the county for the cost? Will the state charge city or county?
Commissioner Lowe writes on the website there was a:
" ... a massive planned '“Over-Kill and overwhelming mass of “Homeland Security Toys'…..including an $ 800,000 Homeland Security Mobile Command Center with Satellite Communications & Digital Imaging, Critical Response Half-Track Tank, S.W.A.T. Teams in full body armor with loaded M-16 Rifles, Fire Trucks with unrolled hoses, K-9 Dog, Tenn. Highway Patrol (THP) Riot Squads ..."
The website has far more information to review. While you or I may disagree or agree with the viewpoints the participants attending this event wanted to express, it certainly appears their voices were silenced before they could even speak. Perhaps I am simply unaware of how dangerous this community has become, since we now need an armored urban police vehicle to maintain order.
Above pic shows the new armored vehicle
More pics here.
County Commissioner Tom Lowe had received permission for this rally, and local news and area bloggers all reported on the event noting the tasering of a disabled vet charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Lowe and others have a website to document what actually happened that day citing the immense amount of intimidation they felt aimed in their direction. And despite fears of the local MPD that dangerous protestors would attend - it seems "they" did not attend, though some folks with actual tattoos were there.
Below are some pictures taken by event organizers, which show a huge armed law enforcement presence completely surrounding a cordoned off section of the county courthouse lawn -- and I can only imagine how large the cost of this deployment may actually be. Will the city charge the county for the cost? Will the state charge city or county?
Commissioner Lowe writes on the website there was a:
" ... a massive planned '“Over-Kill and overwhelming mass of “Homeland Security Toys'…..including an $ 800,000 Homeland Security Mobile Command Center with Satellite Communications & Digital Imaging, Critical Response Half-Track Tank, S.W.A.T. Teams in full body armor with loaded M-16 Rifles, Fire Trucks with unrolled hoses, K-9 Dog, Tenn. Highway Patrol (THP) Riot Squads ..."
The website has far more information to review. While you or I may disagree or agree with the viewpoints the participants attending this event wanted to express, it certainly appears their voices were silenced before they could even speak. Perhaps I am simply unaware of how dangerous this community has become, since we now need an armored urban police vehicle to maintain order.
Above pic shows the new armored vehicle
More pics here.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Consuming Mass Quantities
As Beldar Conehead used to say, "time to consume mass quantities".
And in the somewhat narrow (yet large) world of Competitive Eating, li'l Takeru Kobayashi has just claimed his sixth consecutive win at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, gobbling down a new record of 53.75 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Takeru, from Japan, has owned this 4th of July contest easily for the last six years - in his first win, they actually had to start making up new placards on the spot as they had never had anyone eat more than 40 of the wieners. And he only weighs 160 pounds.
The event began in 1916 when Jim Mullen won the contest by eating 13 hot dogs.
The event has been aired live on ESPN for the last few years and many were expecting an California dude named Joey Chestnut who set a new record for an American, devouring 52 of Nathan's Famous dogs. But it wasn't enough to best Takeru.
Takeru also has a record of eating 17.7 pounds of pan-seared cow brains to win $25,000.
There are records aplenty among the Eaters - take Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, who hold the female record for Nathan's at 37 dogs, the previous overall record for an American.
The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) has a large menu of events and records to peruse, should you hunger for more information on this .... uh ... sport.
I was somewhat impressed as well with the achievement of Kate Stelnick, a 115-pound sophomore in college who, in 2005 devoured what's known as Ye Olde 96er at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in 2 hours and 54 minutes - making her the first person to ever down the burger in less than the 3-hour time limit set by Denny's Pub.
That's 8 pounds of burger, 12 slices of cheese, an onion, half a head of lettuce, copious condiments, and a special bun which brings the total weight of this puppy to 11 pounds.
So remember, you'd have a heck of a long long way to go to match these Mass Quantity Consumers no matter how much you overeat on this particular holiday.
The Revolution of Independence
The concept of Independence from Tyranny remains as revolutionary an idea today as when the founders of this nation declared their independence in 1776.
So much history and so many events are murky or forgotten, but a rather comprehensive account can be found at the American Revolution Home Page.
Some facts from that site include:
So much history and so many events are murky or forgotten, but a rather comprehensive account can be found at the American Revolution Home Page.
Some facts from that site include:
The Americans of 1776 had the highest standard of living and lowest taxes in the Western World. Farmers, lawyers and business owners in the Colonies were thriving, with some plantation owners and merchants making the equivalent of $500,000 a year. Times were good for many others too. (The vast majority of business owners and professionals were white males.) The British wanted a slice of the cash flow and tried to tax the Colonists. They resisted violently, convinced that their prosperity and their liberty were at stake.
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There were two Boston tea parties. Everyone knows how 50 or 60 "Sons of Liberty," disguised as Mohawks, protested the 3 cents per pound British tax on tea by dumping chests of the popular drink into Boston Harbor on Dec. 16, 1773. Fewer know that the improper Bostonians repeated the performance on March 7, 1774. The two tea parties cost the British around $3 million in modern money.
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By 1779, as many as one in seven Americans in Washington's army was black. At first, Washington was hesitant about enlisting blacks. But when he heard they had fought well at Bunker Hill, he changed his mind. The all-black First Rhode Island Regiment - composed of 33 freedmen and 92 slaves who were promised freedom if they served until the end of the war - distinguished itself in the Battle of Newport. Later, they were all but wiped out in a British attack.
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There were women in the Continental Army, even a few who saw combat. Probably the best known is Mary Ludwig Hays, nicknamed "Molly Pitcher." She replaced her wounded husband at his cannon during the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. Another wife of an artillery man, Margaret Corbin, was badly wounded serving in her husband's gun crew at the Battle of Harlem heights in 1776. Thousands of other woman served in Washington's army as cooks or nurses.
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By 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British than with Washington. There were no less than 21 regiments (estimated to total 6500 to 8000 men) of loyalists in the British army. Washington reported a field army of 3468. About a third of Americans opposed the Revolution.
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At Yorktown, the victory that won the war, Frenchmen outnumbered Americans almost three to one. Washington had 11,000 men engaged in the battle, while the French had at least 29,000 soldiers and sailors. the 37 French ships-of-the-line played a crucial role in trapping the 8700-strong British army and winning the engagement.
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In one key respect Jefferson used Natural Law instead of natural-rights theory, substituting "the pursuit of happiness" for "property" in the trinity of inalienable rights. In this change, derived from the Swiss legal philosopher Emerich de Vattel, he emphasized public duty rather than (as the language seems to indicate) personal choice, for natural law theory is that happiness is attainable only by diligent cultivation of civic virtue. Two passages in Jefferson's draft were rejected by the Congress -- an intemperate reference to the English people and a scathing denunciation of the slave trade. The document was otherwise adopted without significant change, and formal signing by 56 members of Congress began on Aug. 2, 1776.
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And if you wish to celebrate by blasting away with fireworks, you can simply click on this link, then crank up the volume and click away with your mouse for endless and non-flammable explosive fun.
As for me, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
(NOTE: Apparently I should add Give Me A Spellcheck)
As for me, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
(NOTE: Apparently I should add Give Me A Spellcheck)
Monday, July 03, 2006
Bloggers Under Military Watch
I received an email this weekend which detailed a relatively new program as part of the apparently endless War on Terror, which says that the U.S. Dept. of Defense has decided that blogs and bloggers are now under watch.
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has received funding to begin a study of blogs in order to:
"Dr. Brian E. Ulicny, senior scientist, and Dr. Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass. said ... 'It can be challenging for information analysts to tell what'’s important in blogs unless you analyze patterns.'
"Patterns include the content of the blogs as well as what hyperlinks are contained within the blog."
This new program is part of an overall program created since 9-11 which has been dubbed "Transformation".
Of course, there is much understandable wisdom in a philosophy of action aimed at modernizing military operations, and in the last year or so, a serious effort has been made to target blogs and bloggers to provide information which may be incomplete or, in their minds, incorrect.
The concept is large in scope and is steadily working to provide levels of modernization involving everything from MREs to nanotechnologies.
"Drawing quite a bit of attention from onlookers, Staff Sgt. Robert Atkinson, of Natick's Future Warrior Concepts Lab, represented what soldiers may look like several decades from now.
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has received funding to begin a study of blogs in order to:
"Dr. Brian E. Ulicny, senior scientist, and Dr. Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass. said ... 'It can be challenging for information analysts to tell what'’s important in blogs unless you analyze patterns.'
"Patterns include the content of the blogs as well as what hyperlinks are contained within the blog."
This new program is part of an overall program created since 9-11 which has been dubbed "Transformation".
Of course, there is much understandable wisdom in a philosophy of action aimed at modernizing military operations, and in the last year or so, a serious effort has been made to target blogs and bloggers to provide information which may be incomplete or, in their minds, incorrect.
The concept is large in scope and is steadily working to provide levels of modernization involving everything from MREs to nanotechnologies.
"Drawing quite a bit of attention from onlookers, Staff Sgt. Robert Atkinson, of Natick's Future Warrior Concepts Lab, represented what soldiers may look like several decades from now.
Wearing a black padded suit and black helmet, he said, "I've been called everything from Darth Vader to RoboCop and the character from the Halo video games."
The prototype suit, though generations away in development, is a visionary project of the Future Force Warrior project and the Future Combat System program.
The helmet system for the suit will have a tiny computer system and monitor that will keep soldiers in contact with commanders; it also will have thermal night vision goggles.
But most amazing, Atkinson said, researchers are looking to use "nanotechnology" on the uniform to give soldiers superhuman strength. Electrical impulses sent to the human muscles will provide soldiers with extra strength, he said."
I'm all for a prepared military so we don't have to hear about celebrities like Cher raising money for armor for personnel or reports of equipment lacking in proper defenses.
What I am less sure about is the trolling of blogs for data collection.
Reality Me has a post about this topic today as well and comes to the same question I had - couldn't they just use Technorati for such informational opportunities? At least the information about the program is easily available to those who bother to seek it out. (hat tip to CSW for the info)
The Most Popular Blog Post In The World
Of all the blogs and blog topics in the world, I have inadvertently stumbled upon the most sought after information in all the internets. My initial discovery I simply dismissed as one of those momentary oddities, like the brief popularity of that web site that featured semi-clothed Barbie dolls engaged in lascivious activities, or like the video of that nerdy guy providing a history of white people dancing, or the omnipresent pleas from some Nigerian businessman e-spamming every inbox in the world.
It isn't some petition demanding Congress promote or prevent some heinous legislation. It isn't a picture of some celebrity giving birth in a Third World nation under the watchful protection of an army of Scientologists under orders to create a three-acre Zone of Silence during said childbirth.
It isn't the surreptitious download from a cell phone camera of a nameless student/employee/elected official caught in the act of a private and/or personal nature. It isn't even the latest conspiratorial scoop from pundits of the Instant variety. Or even just plain porn.
The evidence supplied by the statistics provided by the Site Meter application here reveals that nearly all of eastern and southern Australia, much of the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Uzbekistan, India, Madagascar, Japan, Canada and all 50 states and additional territories of our great nation all point to a ravenous hunger for one thing and one thing only - pictures of Cats That Look Like Hitler.
(I was even compelled to followup with a second post.)
Certainly I was befuddled (but in a nice way) to realize that millions of people made time to view or link to Cats In Sinks, or The Daily Kitten, or just submitted pictures of Stuff on Cats.
But, dear reader, I am at an utter and complete loss to understand A.) why anyone would want to put tiny nazi clothes on a cat, B.) take pictures of it and C.) find that the majority of the civilized world which does not adorn their cats thusly STILL want to see images of cats thus adorned.
Since my first link to said page in mid-June, traffic here has been beyond the ken of mortal man. Naturally, I am most grateful for each and every visit. But no Technorati tag nor diatribe of the evils of Ann Coulter or the NYTimes or even detailed accounts of Brittney Spears baby-dropping can touch the importance, the insatiable desire, the relentless onslaught of web seekers for felines in the clothes of a brutal military regime.
So if you are a blogger who wonders if or when or how readers will seek your posts with rabid determination, then your choice is obvious:
The Holy Grail is made of Cats.
It isn't some petition demanding Congress promote or prevent some heinous legislation. It isn't a picture of some celebrity giving birth in a Third World nation under the watchful protection of an army of Scientologists under orders to create a three-acre Zone of Silence during said childbirth.
It isn't the surreptitious download from a cell phone camera of a nameless student/employee/elected official caught in the act of a private and/or personal nature. It isn't even the latest conspiratorial scoop from pundits of the Instant variety. Or even just plain porn.
The evidence supplied by the statistics provided by the Site Meter application here reveals that nearly all of eastern and southern Australia, much of the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Uzbekistan, India, Madagascar, Japan, Canada and all 50 states and additional territories of our great nation all point to a ravenous hunger for one thing and one thing only - pictures of Cats That Look Like Hitler.
(I was even compelled to followup with a second post.)
Certainly I was befuddled (but in a nice way) to realize that millions of people made time to view or link to Cats In Sinks, or The Daily Kitten, or just submitted pictures of Stuff on Cats.
But, dear reader, I am at an utter and complete loss to understand A.) why anyone would want to put tiny nazi clothes on a cat, B.) take pictures of it and C.) find that the majority of the civilized world which does not adorn their cats thusly STILL want to see images of cats thus adorned.
Since my first link to said page in mid-June, traffic here has been beyond the ken of mortal man. Naturally, I am most grateful for each and every visit. But no Technorati tag nor diatribe of the evils of Ann Coulter or the NYTimes or even detailed accounts of Brittney Spears baby-dropping can touch the importance, the insatiable desire, the relentless onslaught of web seekers for felines in the clothes of a brutal military regime.
So if you are a blogger who wonders if or when or how readers will seek your posts with rabid determination, then your choice is obvious:
The Holy Grail is made of Cats.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Camera Obscura - Superdickery, Asian Conflicts and The Silver Surfer
With all the attention being paid to a new "Superman" movie, there are certain notions which most reviewers have abandoned regarding the Caped One which I am happy to provide even if it tarnishes the shine on this American Icon.
It seems most reviews and media praise want to forget how overdone this storyline has become. First, I keep noticing comments that there seems to be overtones of a religious nature - um, folks, isn't that really, really obvious?? - a being with unheard of abilities arrives on Earth; his true nature is withheld during his childhood years until he realizes He Was Sent Here For a Purpose; his real Father urges him to Help Those In Need on Earth; His earthly Mom gives him constant encouragement and his friends don't seem to comprehend his Real Identity; He feels somewhat isolated from the mass populace even though His help is needed; many folks feel compelled to attack and hurt Him, etc etc.
Add to this that the story of this Hero has been on radio, television and in movies for about 60 years or more. Finding new tales to tell is a tall order. Early reviews indicate this newest version is quite entertaining - is this a sign viewers have a need for a Hero who is actually Heroic? Probably.
There has always been a certain cheesy quality to the Man of Steel comics - and one web site (provided to me some time ago by the legendary Cinema Monkey) which is absolutely hilarious - Superman is a Dick defines the aforementioned "cheese". Using only the actual comic book covers from decades past, yeah, ol' Supes has had kind of a mean and tricky side. You'll find much to entertain you at Superdickery.com.
There are pages and pages of examples on the website, plus a host of many other wildly hilarious comic book covers that leave you wondering just what the heck the publishers and writers were actually trying to say. (click on the image for a larger view)
Some other comic books news for you this Friday -- one that has me hopeful is that one of my favorite characters might finally get his moment in the spotlight. Rumors are flying the next "Fantastic Four" movie will focus on the Intergalactic Surfer Dude - yes, FF 2 will feature none other than the Silver Surfer.
Cinema Monkey was also kind enough to point me to the vast world of comic book blogging via the offerings at Marvel Comics Blogs. Tons of nerd-filled pleasure/debates/news. And I did note with some satisfaction that Marvel's Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada has one titled "Cup Of Blog." I guess he knew "Cup of Joe" was taken, heh heh.
Some sad news to report today too - despite our mutual admiration for Asian Cinema, GoldenAppleCorp at Atomic Tumor took my advice and watched the horror movie "Pulse" (the American remake is out this summer) and GAC says - it was boring and made no sense. Aww, hate to hear that, but in all honesty, about half the people I encouraged to see it said the same, though the other half agreed with me that it was a well-made, disturbing example of the horrors of existential loneliness. (yeah, I know, soooooo many people like stuff like that in a movie).
Maybe my preference simply reveals I live a tenuous existence at the edge of the abyss of Complete Existential Dread with the ghost of Samuel Beckett whispering in my ear.
Using mostly shadows or the offscreen implication of weirdness, I think the movie scored a bullseye on the freaky/disturbing scale. Others say - made no sense, never was scary. I think it's one of those cases where the movie fired up my imagination via minimalistic methods and left others wondering what was the point of all that??
GAC recommended I watch "Volcano High" which I did this week. I liked it okay, especially the way it was filmed and the way images and characters collided in a story (one also kind of hard to decipher) about a new kid at school with amazing powers and the struggle for Power between students and teachers. Now, since this was a movie made in Korea, the plot twist of New Teachers with Super Fighting Abilities arriving to challenge and chastise both students and teachers made me consider the film as a bit of a metaphor for the current political climate in North and South Korea.
But, ya' know GAC, I liked "Pulse" better, as well as "Battle Royale", but still, I did like "Volcano High" - it sort of reminded me of the anime series "Cromartie High School" - a surreal and nearly slapstick action story.
Atomic T. himself expressed much excitement for the 2nd season debut of "The Venture Brothers" on Adult Swim - man was it good. I'll never miss an episode. Newbies can catch-up by getting Season One which is out on DVD. It's just so funny and very imaginative in the ways it plays with the conventions of television cartoons. It's like Jonny Quest meets Mad Magazine. Catch it on Sunday nights on Cartoon Network.
For horror movie news - would ya believe it - more and more horror remakes are ahead, including Rob Zombie's new version of "Halloween," and another take at "Aliens vs Predator," Brad Pitt's planned Zombie movie, plus more Romero zombies on the way and in general a heaping abundance of all things horror movie at ESplatter.com.
Next week, an exclusive peek at the DVD "The Garden" starring Lance Henricksen from Anchor Bay, AND a book review of "Comfort and Joi, by author Joseph Dougherty, which chronicles the career of the mostly unknown actress Joi Lansing, who was featured in "Singing In The Rain," Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" and grade-Z 1960s horror schlock like "Hillbillys In A Haunted House."
It seems most reviews and media praise want to forget how overdone this storyline has become. First, I keep noticing comments that there seems to be overtones of a religious nature - um, folks, isn't that really, really obvious?? - a being with unheard of abilities arrives on Earth; his true nature is withheld during his childhood years until he realizes He Was Sent Here For a Purpose; his real Father urges him to Help Those In Need on Earth; His earthly Mom gives him constant encouragement and his friends don't seem to comprehend his Real Identity; He feels somewhat isolated from the mass populace even though His help is needed; many folks feel compelled to attack and hurt Him, etc etc.
Add to this that the story of this Hero has been on radio, television and in movies for about 60 years or more. Finding new tales to tell is a tall order. Early reviews indicate this newest version is quite entertaining - is this a sign viewers have a need for a Hero who is actually Heroic? Probably.
There has always been a certain cheesy quality to the Man of Steel comics - and one web site (provided to me some time ago by the legendary Cinema Monkey) which is absolutely hilarious - Superman is a Dick defines the aforementioned "cheese". Using only the actual comic book covers from decades past, yeah, ol' Supes has had kind of a mean and tricky side. You'll find much to entertain you at Superdickery.com.
There are pages and pages of examples on the website, plus a host of many other wildly hilarious comic book covers that leave you wondering just what the heck the publishers and writers were actually trying to say. (click on the image for a larger view)
Some other comic books news for you this Friday -- one that has me hopeful is that one of my favorite characters might finally get his moment in the spotlight. Rumors are flying the next "Fantastic Four" movie will focus on the Intergalactic Surfer Dude - yes, FF 2 will feature none other than the Silver Surfer.
Cinema Monkey was also kind enough to point me to the vast world of comic book blogging via the offerings at Marvel Comics Blogs. Tons of nerd-filled pleasure/debates/news. And I did note with some satisfaction that Marvel's Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada has one titled "Cup Of Blog." I guess he knew "Cup of Joe" was taken, heh heh.
Some sad news to report today too - despite our mutual admiration for Asian Cinema, GoldenAppleCorp at Atomic Tumor took my advice and watched the horror movie "Pulse" (the American remake is out this summer) and GAC says - it was boring and made no sense. Aww, hate to hear that, but in all honesty, about half the people I encouraged to see it said the same, though the other half agreed with me that it was a well-made, disturbing example of the horrors of existential loneliness. (yeah, I know, soooooo many people like stuff like that in a movie).
Maybe my preference simply reveals I live a tenuous existence at the edge of the abyss of Complete Existential Dread with the ghost of Samuel Beckett whispering in my ear.
Using mostly shadows or the offscreen implication of weirdness, I think the movie scored a bullseye on the freaky/disturbing scale. Others say - made no sense, never was scary. I think it's one of those cases where the movie fired up my imagination via minimalistic methods and left others wondering what was the point of all that??
GAC recommended I watch "Volcano High" which I did this week. I liked it okay, especially the way it was filmed and the way images and characters collided in a story (one also kind of hard to decipher) about a new kid at school with amazing powers and the struggle for Power between students and teachers. Now, since this was a movie made in Korea, the plot twist of New Teachers with Super Fighting Abilities arriving to challenge and chastise both students and teachers made me consider the film as a bit of a metaphor for the current political climate in North and South Korea.
But, ya' know GAC, I liked "Pulse" better, as well as "Battle Royale", but still, I did like "Volcano High" - it sort of reminded me of the anime series "Cromartie High School" - a surreal and nearly slapstick action story.
Atomic T. himself expressed much excitement for the 2nd season debut of "The Venture Brothers" on Adult Swim - man was it good. I'll never miss an episode. Newbies can catch-up by getting Season One which is out on DVD. It's just so funny and very imaginative in the ways it plays with the conventions of television cartoons. It's like Jonny Quest meets Mad Magazine. Catch it on Sunday nights on Cartoon Network.
For horror movie news - would ya believe it - more and more horror remakes are ahead, including Rob Zombie's new version of "Halloween," and another take at "Aliens vs Predator," Brad Pitt's planned Zombie movie, plus more Romero zombies on the way and in general a heaping abundance of all things horror movie at ESplatter.com.
Next week, an exclusive peek at the DVD "The Garden" starring Lance Henricksen from Anchor Bay, AND a book review of "Comfort and Joi, by author Joseph Dougherty, which chronicles the career of the mostly unknown actress Joi Lansing, who was featured in "Singing In The Rain," Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" and grade-Z 1960s horror schlock like "Hillbillys In A Haunted House."
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Being Polite
I listened to a professor of language and media this afternoon on Fresh Air on the public radio station attempting to explain the differences and difficulties in today's political discourse. So, to say that sentence again in the way some of you might read it - I was listening to a liberal talking about useless liberal college agendas on a liberal radio network.
He made a fine point that after all these years since American encountered the Bunker family on "All In The Family", our political debate today most often is characterized and shaped by media as an easy-to-follow, endless Archie vs Meathead argument, where the point seems to be focused on outrage at the Left or Right and that most of us hearing or seeing the argument have really already got solid views on whatever topic is being "discussed". Most of us know it's enterainment-based and simplistic. To constantly narrow the views one has thru a limited prism of Left and Right is a ever-limiting and distorting of Reality.
Talk show stars, like Rush or Coulter or Hannity or Boortz or Franken or Carville, are just members of our extended family whose eccentricities are indulged out of politeness on our part; rodeo clowns of distraction who served a limited and defined function.
Here's a fine post today from Huck in Nashville that pretty much explains as well why people who believe in the Church of Rush Limbaugh aren't in the mainstream - or even a sidestream - well, really they are kinda just extreme. Nice one, Huck.
He made a fine point that after all these years since American encountered the Bunker family on "All In The Family", our political debate today most often is characterized and shaped by media as an easy-to-follow, endless Archie vs Meathead argument, where the point seems to be focused on outrage at the Left or Right and that most of us hearing or seeing the argument have really already got solid views on whatever topic is being "discussed". Most of us know it's enterainment-based and simplistic. To constantly narrow the views one has thru a limited prism of Left and Right is a ever-limiting and distorting of Reality.
Talk show stars, like Rush or Coulter or Hannity or Boortz or Franken or Carville, are just members of our extended family whose eccentricities are indulged out of politeness on our part; rodeo clowns of distraction who served a limited and defined function.
Here's a fine post today from Huck in Nashville that pretty much explains as well why people who believe in the Church of Rush Limbaugh aren't in the mainstream - or even a sidestream - well, really they are kinda just extreme. Nice one, Huck.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Poor Frist
Poor Senator Frist.
Asked why the public has a low approval rating for the GOP and Congress in general, the Senator blamed CNN. (via TGW and Enclave)
The dang ol' commie media doesn't focus on the Great Works accomplished under his gentle, guiding hand. They don't report the legislation that really matters.
I wonder if he means the Senate resolution he sponsored last week - a daring statement of congratulations for the cities of Bristol, TN and Bristol, VA for existing for 150 years.
Asked why the public has a low approval rating for the GOP and Congress in general, the Senator blamed CNN. (via TGW and Enclave)
The dang ol' commie media doesn't focus on the Great Works accomplished under his gentle, guiding hand. They don't report the legislation that really matters.
I wonder if he means the Senate resolution he sponsored last week - a daring statement of congratulations for the cities of Bristol, TN and Bristol, VA for existing for 150 years.
It Must Be An Election Year
Score and goal to Volunteer Voters for pointing to a fine quote in reference to the failed attempt to change the Constitution and add flag burning as a Constitutional Crime.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
John Stuart Mill
Kleinheider knows what he's talking about:
"This is, quite frankly, a stupid debate."
Not to mention the preferred method for disposing of a flag that has become worn out or damage is burning it. Yeesh.
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
John Stuart Mill
Kleinheider knows what he's talking about:
"This is, quite frankly, a stupid debate."
Not to mention the preferred method for disposing of a flag that has become worn out or damage is burning it. Yeesh.
Inside a Maze of Secrets
Attempting to understand the shuck and jive political game of blaming the media for all ills in America, as well as the dizzying maze of innuendo and accusation flowing from the President and Vice President and their supporters who cry "treason!!" at the drop of a hat is like looking at one of M.C. Escher's surreal staircases.
God only knows why I bother to puzzle the maze out - it seems that Facts are merely blank ciphers formatted to fit the needs of the moment. The hysteria regarding the NYTimes report about U.S. efforts to trace terrorists via banking activity has been prodigious, Facts less so.
Glenn Greenwald points out what many others have as well - there is no clear sign the NYTimes report could be seen as aiding terrorists. Should such proof be presented, I will happily retract any criticisms - in other words, "treason" needs some evidence beyond the reporting of a commonly discussed policy.
"... all anyone has to do to realize the sheer falsity of those claims is to compare the "treasonous" articles in question to prior public statements and documents from the Bush administration. Terrorists already knew that we were attempting to eavesdrop on their telephone calls because the Bush administration repeatedly talked about our surveillance programs. And, for the same reason, terrorists already knew that we were monitoring banking transactions -- including specifically those effectuated through SWIFT. And yet we are subjected to an increasingly frenzied lynch mob insisting that reporters have committed treason without their ever really being challenged by the media itself over these factually false claims.
None of this has to do with anger over "helping the terrorists." The articles in question so plainly do nothing of the sort. The anger that is unleashed by the media doing its job is the by-product of a belief that the Bush administration should be able to act in complete secrecy, with no checks or oversight of any kind. "
Others in the press and on TV have likewise wondered just what specifics did the NYTimes story provide that were secret? And the Talking Point Repeaters seldom curse The Wall Street Journal for their coverage - so one wonders if its just anger from the White House aimed at the NYTimes.
Vice President Cheney's comments addressing surveillance programs contained a very revealing comment:
"What is doubly disturbing for me is, not only have they gone forward with these stories but they've been rewarded for it, for example in the case of the terrorists surveillance program by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for outstanding journalism. i think that is a disgrace."
Wait a minute. Is this the NSA program that was at first denied to exist, then denied by phone companies and then argued by Administration officials before courts that lawsuits seeking information about it should be dropped due to the need for secrecy?
Too often in the news business, government officials at every level will respond to certain questions that dig deep with this kind of "trust us" or "without secrecy others can harm us" defense.
Given the emormous and historic level of power now gathered in the office of the president, an outspoken and assertive press is the public's last line of authority which can question and examine the policies and programs and what they mean.
That is not treason - it is a function of a free press.
Al Gore A Streetwise Pimp??
Would anyone have expected Al Gore to present himself as a comedy foil to the robot Bender from "Futurama"? He does just that in this ad to promote his movie "An Inconvenient Truth."
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Had Me Laughing All Day
What had me laughing all day?
Was it Rush Limbaugh having to explain to Customs Agents why he had a bottle of Viagra with someone else's name on it as he returned from the Dominican Republic? Was it that the DR is known as a "sex tourism" favorite?
Was it the fact that Tom Cruise couldn't sell his photos of his wee new child for the price he wanted?
Maybe the kinky mix of lingerie and gun holsters? (via Boing Boing)
No, it was this picture, which Brittney posted at NiT. Just what the hell is that logo supposed to represent? Take your time and look, I'll wait.
Now also funny was the ad copy to go with the logo --
"First a massive invasion, not at ground level but at pole level, wall level, everywhere: a curious, subtle but definitely amorous message.
Oh, yeah,that had me laughing all day.
Was it Rush Limbaugh having to explain to Customs Agents why he had a bottle of Viagra with someone else's name on it as he returned from the Dominican Republic? Was it that the DR is known as a "sex tourism" favorite?
Was it the fact that Tom Cruise couldn't sell his photos of his wee new child for the price he wanted?
Maybe the kinky mix of lingerie and gun holsters? (via Boing Boing)
No, it was this picture, which Brittney posted at NiT. Just what the hell is that logo supposed to represent? Take your time and look, I'll wait.
Now also funny was the ad copy to go with the logo --
"First a massive invasion, not at ground level but at pole level, wall level, everywhere: a curious, subtle but definitely amorous message.
Oh, yeah,that had me laughing all day.
Immigration Challenges
Once again a comment left on the previous post has stirred a few thoughts which I think are very pertinent to the concerns about legal and illegal immigration. The comment simply put was "do local bosses profit from illegal immigration?"
I'd say yes, definitely. For example. there are many locations thru Hamblen County, and around the country, where landlords charge the highest amounts possible to legal and illegal immigrants - $100 or $200 per person, and anywhere from 6 to 10 people in a two-bedroom apartment.
For years, many East Tennessee farming operations used what was called "migrant/seasonal" work. But I've not heard that term used much anymore.
Some years back, when the current Koch Foods was Burnett Produce, the facility was raided several times and illegals rounded-up, and perhaps one or two Supervisors were arrested on charges related to providing fake documents to the workers. More recently, Koch employees successfully created their own union at the plant. That has prompted some to predict the company will close it's operations there in the near future.
Under President Bush, the only label that applies to efforts at finding and punishing those who profit from illegal immigration is the label of Failure.
"Over the course of five-and-a-half years, the administration has quietly (and, I believe, intentionally) failed to enforce our existing immigration laws. An employer who willfully hired illegals was 19 times more likely to be sanctioned under Bill Clinton than George Bush. Illegal border crossings have increased under Bush, and the value of illegal drug trade across our southern border has risen to a whopping $65 billion dollars in 2005, dwarfing that of oil, Mexico’s largest legitimate industry of $28 billion, and more than tripling the $20 billion Mexicans working in the U.S. sent to their families in Mexico last year."
Read more of this assessment at the National Review Online.
The political profits are being sought as well by candidates for the open Tennessee Senate seat. Former congressman Ed Bryant is front and center on this topic, stating that illegal immigration is the Number One issue on voter's minds.
"On illegal immigration, Bryant said he worries that President George W. Bush's plan to put National Guard troops at the Mexico border will not be sufficient. Bryant pledged to try to amend a law that prevents the use of active military people to enforce civilian law."
via Blogging for Bryant.
Since we are hardly a border state, wouldn't local resources be best used to discover and hold accountable those employers and agencies that hire illegals?
I'd say yes, definitely. For example. there are many locations thru Hamblen County, and around the country, where landlords charge the highest amounts possible to legal and illegal immigrants - $100 or $200 per person, and anywhere from 6 to 10 people in a two-bedroom apartment.
For years, many East Tennessee farming operations used what was called "migrant/seasonal" work. But I've not heard that term used much anymore.
Some years back, when the current Koch Foods was Burnett Produce, the facility was raided several times and illegals rounded-up, and perhaps one or two Supervisors were arrested on charges related to providing fake documents to the workers. More recently, Koch employees successfully created their own union at the plant. That has prompted some to predict the company will close it's operations there in the near future.
Under President Bush, the only label that applies to efforts at finding and punishing those who profit from illegal immigration is the label of Failure.
"Over the course of five-and-a-half years, the administration has quietly (and, I believe, intentionally) failed to enforce our existing immigration laws. An employer who willfully hired illegals was 19 times more likely to be sanctioned under Bill Clinton than George Bush. Illegal border crossings have increased under Bush, and the value of illegal drug trade across our southern border has risen to a whopping $65 billion dollars in 2005, dwarfing that of oil, Mexico’s largest legitimate industry of $28 billion, and more than tripling the $20 billion Mexicans working in the U.S. sent to their families in Mexico last year."
Read more of this assessment at the National Review Online.
The political profits are being sought as well by candidates for the open Tennessee Senate seat. Former congressman Ed Bryant is front and center on this topic, stating that illegal immigration is the Number One issue on voter's minds.
"On illegal immigration, Bryant said he worries that President George W. Bush's plan to put National Guard troops at the Mexico border will not be sufficient. Bryant pledged to try to amend a law that prevents the use of active military people to enforce civilian law."
via Blogging for Bryant.
Since we are hardly a border state, wouldn't local resources be best used to discover and hold accountable those employers and agencies that hire illegals?
Monday, June 26, 2006
Protest Draws Law Enforcement to Hamblen Co.
After checking with a few sources about a local protest against illegal immigrants in Hamblen County, a few details are quite disturbing -
- Armed officers on the Courthouse Roof (reported in the local newspaper print editions)
- Nearly 100 law enforcement officers on site (who pays for that?)
- Videotaping all those in attendance
- Tasering a disabled vet who wanted to bring a flagpole with the American flag onto the site
- A helicopter buzzing the crowd
Like others, I don't think much of the anti-immigration stand, but they did have a permit and this IS still a free nation (isn't it?).
Video footage here and R. Neal has more details here (via KnoxViews)
UPDATE: To clarify the point about armed officers on the roof of the courthouse, it was reported in the Sunday, June 25th edition of the Citizen Tribune, in an article titled "Opponents of Illegal Immigration Rally in Hamblen":
"Everyone was searched, and a THP videographer and still photographer documented the event. Two men equipped with high-powered binoculars - and presumably, hihg-powered rifles - were stationed on top of the courthouse annex."
I don't think the word "sniper" quite fits the armed officers on the roof, and after re-reading the article, I cannot verify they were even there.
- Armed officers on the Courthouse Roof (reported in the local newspaper print editions)
- Nearly 100 law enforcement officers on site (who pays for that?)
- Videotaping all those in attendance
- Tasering a disabled vet who wanted to bring a flagpole with the American flag onto the site
- A helicopter buzzing the crowd
Like others, I don't think much of the anti-immigration stand, but they did have a permit and this IS still a free nation (isn't it?).
Video footage here and R. Neal has more details here (via KnoxViews)
UPDATE: To clarify the point about armed officers on the roof of the courthouse, it was reported in the Sunday, June 25th edition of the Citizen Tribune, in an article titled "Opponents of Illegal Immigration Rally in Hamblen":
"Everyone was searched, and a THP videographer and still photographer documented the event. Two men equipped with high-powered binoculars - and presumably, hihg-powered rifles - were stationed on top of the courthouse annex."
I don't think the word "sniper" quite fits the armed officers on the roof, and after re-reading the article, I cannot verify they were even there.
Fear Of Fat In Formative Years
I'm so old I can tell you that as an elementary and high school student, we used to walk across the street from school to a soft drink machine daily. It helped remove that nasty slick taste of weird milk from little plastic boxes. Oh and we had phys-ed class at least 3 times a week right thru our senior year. And even then there were kids who were overweight.
By the late 1980s, most schools had soft drinks for sale in the schools and some even had a little McDonald's franchise in the cafeteria. I guess phys-ed died out around the time Big Hair Rock Music came to prominence.
And every boy (and some girls) always had pocketknives but this was all pre-Columbine. Schools are now known as "gun free zones" - which doesn't stop a kid from bringing a gun to school - and police patrol the corridors. I guess I got out just in time.
Now in addition to gun fears we have Fat Fears.
So schools, like the ones in Greene County, are ditching soft drinks and will sell juice and water. I wonder if the "free" water fountains in schools of my youth are also a fading memory?
But along with the Fat Fear there are the Funding Fears:
"When the proposed wellness policy came up for discussion, Armstrong said he had been receiving calls about how adoption of the new wellness policy might affect the income the four high schools receive from contracts with soft-drink manufacturers that have been granted exclusive rights to sell their products in the high schools.
He noted that during the school year that just ended, Chuckey-Doak High School alone received $30,068 as its share of proceeds from the sale of Coca-Cola products at C-DHS.
More can be read in the article here.
And apparently the No Child Left Behind laws require eliminating soft drinks and snack machines. Maybe the kids will have to go back to running to nearby stores and back to get their exercise.
I'm just glad I left the school years behind and I have no kids who have so many fears and fat to contend with. And I don't have to attend Special Committees who meet and empower each other and get to use fantastical words like "wellness." I still have no idea what the heck a "wellness" is, unless it means to have the qualities of a well.
I wonder if the kids in the next generation will have to meet a Fat Quotient to go along with their Grade Points.
The picture below arrives via a web page dedicated to Tales Of Obese Kids Around the World.
By the late 1980s, most schools had soft drinks for sale in the schools and some even had a little McDonald's franchise in the cafeteria. I guess phys-ed died out around the time Big Hair Rock Music came to prominence.
And every boy (and some girls) always had pocketknives but this was all pre-Columbine. Schools are now known as "gun free zones" - which doesn't stop a kid from bringing a gun to school - and police patrol the corridors. I guess I got out just in time.
Now in addition to gun fears we have Fat Fears.
So schools, like the ones in Greene County, are ditching soft drinks and will sell juice and water. I wonder if the "free" water fountains in schools of my youth are also a fading memory?
But along with the Fat Fear there are the Funding Fears:
"When the proposed wellness policy came up for discussion, Armstrong said he had been receiving calls about how adoption of the new wellness policy might affect the income the four high schools receive from contracts with soft-drink manufacturers that have been granted exclusive rights to sell their products in the high schools.
He noted that during the school year that just ended, Chuckey-Doak High School alone received $30,068 as its share of proceeds from the sale of Coca-Cola products at C-DHS.
He also noted that C-DHS had received four athletic scoreboards paid for by Coca-Cola. The soft-drink maker, he said, also pays for maintenance of the scoreboards.
Armstrong said school principals were concerned that they might not derive as much income from the sale of juices, flavored-water beverages, and healthful snacks as they had from sales of soft-drinks, candy and other less-healthful snacks from machines.
More can be read in the article here.
And apparently the No Child Left Behind laws require eliminating soft drinks and snack machines. Maybe the kids will have to go back to running to nearby stores and back to get their exercise.
I'm just glad I left the school years behind and I have no kids who have so many fears and fat to contend with. And I don't have to attend Special Committees who meet and empower each other and get to use fantastical words like "wellness." I still have no idea what the heck a "wellness" is, unless it means to have the qualities of a well.
I wonder if the kids in the next generation will have to meet a Fat Quotient to go along with their Grade Points.
The picture below arrives via a web page dedicated to Tales Of Obese Kids Around the World.
Ann Coulter Republicans Part 2
UPDATE: Big thanks to juliepatchouli for providing an eye-opening link to what the legendary internets leader, Betty Bowers, has to say about Coulter's ruthless hatred for the families of the murdered Americans. See Julie's post.
------
Thanks to an anonymous commenter yesterday I have found a nifty little spot on the internets where neo-cons and Coulter fans gather and talk about how she makes them hot and drooly -- yes, drooly.
"Ann Coulter is smart and good looking, I don't know if she can cook or not, but if she can, as Homer Simpson says, uuhhuuhuuhuuhuuhuuhhh, (droll drool drool)"
I love that one - she is a woman, so her best attributes are being smart, good looking and making food for the Man in her life. Haw! I'm sure she dreams of such a paradise. Maybe her fans desire a posable Action Figure. The li'l oasis for the Coulter fans and neo-cons is here - and by the way, I am glad you found my humble but loveable blog - all readers all welcome as are your comments, though you may be held responsible for what you say.
The ire raised at yesterday's little experiment revealed some of these neo-cons have no grasp of irony or humor, though they have learned to insult like a pro (like Coulter, who is professional insulter) And one of the folks at Tounge Tied made a hilarious observation based on ... well, I have no idea what they based their viewpoint on.
"Oh, that's just Joe Powell and his rantings. He's in a petulant and perpetual snit 'cause the Dems have been on the outside for so long...they're gonna show the evil reactionaries, come this November, damnit!"
I often encounter this perspective from hard core Party Faithful. The truth is I have never been and never will be a member of a political party. It is far more sensible to examine politicos and candidates on their own merits, as both Parties, in my opinion, suffer from too much self-annointed power madness.
And a more-than-casual-reader will find praise given to politicians on both sides of the current system, and more than that, the reader will find a fierce support for independent appraisal and thinking and the rock-solid Truth that government and parties will never solve problems but the individual always will.
What you will not find on this blog is support for the Bush administration and its policies. Prior to 9-11 and after, the administration has charted a course challenging the Constitution at nearly every level, a large amount of cronyism and a willingness to permanently damage anyone who might offer dissent.
And there is the reality that the press and the public have bought into the Big Lie about war in the Mideast.
The reality is - for 16 years, by air or by ground the U.S. and the U.K. military have been engaged in combat in Iraq. We tend to view it as three wars - the first in 1990 to "defend" Kuwait, the No-Fly Zone patrols which lasted from 1991 til 2003, and the current warfare which began in March of 2003.
The key players have remained the same - Rumsfeld and Cheney and their loyal staff, and of course the Bush family.
Last week PBS aired an episode of "Frontline" which pointed to this tremendous shift in presidential and vice presidential powers.
I know most people already are aware of the shift and change in national policy and they don't like it. Not only are polls revealing that disapproval, the public has an even lower opinion of Congress since they have failed in their jobs of checking and balancing the powers of government.
Also hilarously wrong were the Tounge Tied crew claiming my post yesterday was "vulgar". That's just a lie, but you will find plenty of swearing in the "anonymous" comments. The proposal is that she is a Bad Person, but her views are Gospel Truth. (Does that mean she has Truthiness?) This seems to be a popular mode of thought among neo-cons and the Bush Administration - the ends always justify the means.
Lies and distortion have served the neo-cons well. And truly, I'm happy they have found a common set of talking points and values - big government knows best and all who disagree are, as Coulter has claimed, the creators of "Slander" and "Treason" and are all "Godless". It is mindlessly simplistic to blame every Evil since Eden on the Democrat Party. Read enough Coulter and you'll discover Eve was a Democrat Party Chair and Satan was a Vietnam War Protestor.
Painting every Fear with one Face, Coulter and her supporters have followed in the footsteps of the "Two-Minute Hate" from Orwell's "1984" as she appears on TV wailing against the Evil of Them, the Others, who, though powerless, are constantly creating new Evils to Hate:
"Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds, uncontrollable exclamations of rage were breaking out from half the people in the room. The self-satisfied sheep-like face on the screen, and the terrifying power of the Eurasian army behind it, were too much to be borne: besides the sight or even the thought of Goldstein produced fear and anger automatically. He was an object of hatred more constant than either Eurasia or Eastasia, since when Oceania was at war with one of these Powers it was generally at peace with the other. But what was strange was that although Goldstein was hated and despised by everybody, although every day and a thousand times a day, on platforms, on the telescreen, in newspapers, in books, his theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed, held up to the general gaze for the pitiful rubbish that they were - in spite of all this, his influence never seemed to grow less. Always there were fresh dupes waiting to be seduced by him. A day never passed when spies and saboteurs acting under his directions were not unmasked by the Thought Police."
------
Thanks to an anonymous commenter yesterday I have found a nifty little spot on the internets where neo-cons and Coulter fans gather and talk about how she makes them hot and drooly -- yes, drooly.
"Ann Coulter is smart and good looking, I don't know if she can cook or not, but if she can, as Homer Simpson says, uuhhuuhuuhuuhuuhuuhhh, (droll drool drool)"
I love that one - she is a woman, so her best attributes are being smart, good looking and making food for the Man in her life. Haw! I'm sure she dreams of such a paradise. Maybe her fans desire a posable Action Figure. The li'l oasis for the Coulter fans and neo-cons is here - and by the way, I am glad you found my humble but loveable blog - all readers all welcome as are your comments, though you may be held responsible for what you say.
The ire raised at yesterday's little experiment revealed some of these neo-cons have no grasp of irony or humor, though they have learned to insult like a pro (like Coulter, who is professional insulter) And one of the folks at Tounge Tied made a hilarious observation based on ... well, I have no idea what they based their viewpoint on.
"Oh, that's just Joe Powell and his rantings. He's in a petulant and perpetual snit 'cause the Dems have been on the outside for so long...they're gonna show the evil reactionaries, come this November, damnit!"
I often encounter this perspective from hard core Party Faithful. The truth is I have never been and never will be a member of a political party. It is far more sensible to examine politicos and candidates on their own merits, as both Parties, in my opinion, suffer from too much self-annointed power madness.
And a more-than-casual-reader will find praise given to politicians on both sides of the current system, and more than that, the reader will find a fierce support for independent appraisal and thinking and the rock-solid Truth that government and parties will never solve problems but the individual always will.
What you will not find on this blog is support for the Bush administration and its policies. Prior to 9-11 and after, the administration has charted a course challenging the Constitution at nearly every level, a large amount of cronyism and a willingness to permanently damage anyone who might offer dissent.
And there is the reality that the press and the public have bought into the Big Lie about war in the Mideast.
The reality is - for 16 years, by air or by ground the U.S. and the U.K. military have been engaged in combat in Iraq. We tend to view it as three wars - the first in 1990 to "defend" Kuwait, the No-Fly Zone patrols which lasted from 1991 til 2003, and the current warfare which began in March of 2003.
The key players have remained the same - Rumsfeld and Cheney and their loyal staff, and of course the Bush family.
Last week PBS aired an episode of "Frontline" which pointed to this tremendous shift in presidential and vice presidential powers.
I know most people already are aware of the shift and change in national policy and they don't like it. Not only are polls revealing that disapproval, the public has an even lower opinion of Congress since they have failed in their jobs of checking and balancing the powers of government.
Also hilarously wrong were the Tounge Tied crew claiming my post yesterday was "vulgar". That's just a lie, but you will find plenty of swearing in the "anonymous" comments. The proposal is that she is a Bad Person, but her views are Gospel Truth. (Does that mean she has Truthiness?) This seems to be a popular mode of thought among neo-cons and the Bush Administration - the ends always justify the means.
Lies and distortion have served the neo-cons well. And truly, I'm happy they have found a common set of talking points and values - big government knows best and all who disagree are, as Coulter has claimed, the creators of "Slander" and "Treason" and are all "Godless". It is mindlessly simplistic to blame every Evil since Eden on the Democrat Party. Read enough Coulter and you'll discover Eve was a Democrat Party Chair and Satan was a Vietnam War Protestor.
Painting every Fear with one Face, Coulter and her supporters have followed in the footsteps of the "Two-Minute Hate" from Orwell's "1984" as she appears on TV wailing against the Evil of Them, the Others, who, though powerless, are constantly creating new Evils to Hate:
"Before the Hate had proceeded for thirty seconds, uncontrollable exclamations of rage were breaking out from half the people in the room. The self-satisfied sheep-like face on the screen, and the terrifying power of the Eurasian army behind it, were too much to be borne: besides the sight or even the thought of Goldstein produced fear and anger automatically. He was an object of hatred more constant than either Eurasia or Eastasia, since when Oceania was at war with one of these Powers it was generally at peace with the other. But what was strange was that although Goldstein was hated and despised by everybody, although every day and a thousand times a day, on platforms, on the telescreen, in newspapers, in books, his theories were refuted, smashed, ridiculed, held up to the general gaze for the pitiful rubbish that they were - in spite of all this, his influence never seemed to grow less. Always there were fresh dupes waiting to be seduced by him. A day never passed when spies and saboteurs acting under his directions were not unmasked by the Thought Police."
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Are You An Ann Coulter Republican?
It's time.
You are either for her or against her. Since Ann Coulter has found much money for painting the political world in her two-tone dialectics, then it's time to paint her and her supporters with the same brush.
"The question, "Are you an Ann Coulter Republican?" should confront every Republican running for every office in the land, from President to dog catcher. Every Democratic candidate should accuse his or her opponent of being in favor of poisoning Supreme Court Justices and killing Congressmen. At every opportunity, every Republican should be made to answer: "Do you agree with Ann Coulter that the 9/11 widows are witches and harpies?" And George W. Bush, Tony Snow, Dick Cheney, Laura Bush and Barney (the only lapdog with a good excuse) should be confronted with these questions as well."
More of the article here.
No middle ground for those of you who devour her bile as Truth - either you are with her hateful, mindless group or you're opposed to her.
Period.
The End.
You are either for her or against her. Since Ann Coulter has found much money for painting the political world in her two-tone dialectics, then it's time to paint her and her supporters with the same brush.
"The question, "Are you an Ann Coulter Republican?" should confront every Republican running for every office in the land, from President to dog catcher. Every Democratic candidate should accuse his or her opponent of being in favor of poisoning Supreme Court Justices and killing Congressmen. At every opportunity, every Republican should be made to answer: "Do you agree with Ann Coulter that the 9/11 widows are witches and harpies?" And George W. Bush, Tony Snow, Dick Cheney, Laura Bush and Barney (the only lapdog with a good excuse) should be confronted with these questions as well."
More of the article here.
No middle ground for those of you who devour her bile as Truth - either you are with her hateful, mindless group or you're opposed to her.
Period.
The End.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Monkey Gangs Grab Own Flags
Who knew a monkey could contract patriotic fever? Well, it's really World Soccer Cup fever.
The report also mentions that the Monkey Gangs number 120. And whenever I have the chance to use words like Monkey Gangs, I will.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Camera Obscura - New Star Trek, Petulia, and The Best Movie Posters Ever
It isn't often a TV series gets so big it outlives its maker, takes on the movies, gets remade again and again, has its own postage stamp, line of books and collectibles, and becomes almost a modern myth, but Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" does all that and more.
I'll give you some insight into what's new in the Trek world, point to some classic movies now on DVD,provide a sneak peek at a Superman-ish hero poised to land in the U.S., and give you a chance to select the best movie poster ever - all in today's humble offering.
My sister was the first Trekkie I knew - and she was there at the beginning. She had 8 by 10 glossy black and white photos on her wall from NBC of Kirk and Spock and Chekov, copies of scripts from the show and more, all while the show was still in its first run in the 1960s. Someone gave her (or me, I cannot recall exactly) a model of the Enterprise spaceship, which somehow got lost or tossed over the years. That really makes me angry when I think of that - it would be a rare prize these days. And thanks to the vast resource of the internets, I located a site that has many details on all the history behind the props used as the spaceship - and a major attraction on the page - a way for you to order your own Enterprise model. Just go here. And you're welcome.
Over the years I made friends with deeply loyal and committed fans - one of them provided me a link to this page, where you can read about J. Michael Straczynski's ("Babylon 5" creator) pitch to studios on a re-invention of classic Trek which has the fans worked up. It is a must-read for fans or the curious. The internets is humming away too talking about the possibility that Matt Damon may play a young Kirk in a movie from J.J. Abrams ("Lost", "Alias").
A very interesting, well-made and continuing Trek series following the adventures of the Starship Exeter, all made by fans which took years to complete and is continuing to provide "new" episodes, can be found here. That's bona fide devotion, people.
I think I hit my tipping point about Trek one Christmas, circa 1993, when I saw a Christmas tree decorated with Trek ornaments. I knew then the fans had become much, much more than fans - they were an economic and religious force to be reckoned with and they continue to expand faster than Wal-Mart.
William Shatner is not just an actor, he is an Icon of America, all thanks to the repeated broadcasts and the simple but powerful writing of Roddenberry and many other fine science fiction writers. Forget John Ford/John Wayne - no fans or groups ever did so much to keep and uplift an actor.
Since we're on the 1960s, two of my favorite movies from that decade got new DVD treatments this week - a tragic romance and a satire beyond compare.
Tragedy and love set in San Francisco starring the beautiful Julie Christie can be found in "Petulia." The movie blends in the madness of the late 1960s and the madness of love as Petulia gets involved with a doctor named Archie, expertly played by George C. Scott - the pair go to the Fillmore and dance to the Grateful Dead - as they sort through their troubled lives and attempt to comfort each other. Director Richard Lester and cinematographer Nicholas Roeg made a masterpiece, in this terrific snapshot of the 1960s. The DVD is long overdue and if you haven't seen it, you are in for a real tearjerker and a brilliant movie.
I love the poster for this movie (this is one of several made for the movie), which I mention since, at the end of this post, you'll find a link to a great collection of movie posters and your input can round out the top 100.
The other movie that landed on DVD is the hilarious creation of writers Evelyn Waugh and Terry Southern called "The Loved One". The movie starts as a satire of business and funerals and becomes a shotgun blast of offbeat humor with a cast of Hollywood's most famous names. Man, were the 1960s surreal and strange. When else would you find a poet in a Hollywood cemetery and Liberace and Rod Steiger filling out the background?
Newscoma has a fine post about the top 100 movie posters of all time.
I think too many of the posters in the listing are new, and given the hundreds of thousands of movies made, they could have done better. I was glad to see mention made of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" poster and of course "Jaws" and "Alien" are on the list.
I have just two of many suggestions I could make to the list, starting with:
And another fine one:
Go and add your faves to the list.
Finally - as Superman is about to return to theatres, moviegoers in India and beyond have Krrish. Somehow, I don't see that name catching on quiet as well.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Return of The Cats That Look Like Hitler
Pointing out places with the goofiest crap on the internets has its rewards, judging by the hundreds (if not thousands) of people who've visited this humble but lovable blog in the last week in search of Cats That Look Like Hitler.
I doubt the searchers have spent much more time actually reading what has been written here on all kinds of topics, despite any attempts to offer news or analysis of modern America. Well, the times are worse than tough so why not have some mindless fun - just chalk all this down to my amazement at the world I inhabit.
Yes, I've ranted plenty over the cons of neo-cons, but did that bring me mention on the Air America blog? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler did.
Viral ads, illegal immigration, corruption, bribes, waste, war - does that bring attention? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler does.
Do posts about loopy and meaningless Senate votes bring attention from Senate offices? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler does.
I confess to an attraction to writing about the odd and the weird along with any thoughts about how strangled the Constitution and Civil Rights have become, how deeply misguided Americans are wallowing in revenge and hate and loooooooove of money. But weird wins the contest by a huge margin. I've even become acquainted with the miniature universe of Catbloggers, and two weeks ago I'd never heard of it.
As any writer does, I hunger for readers and spotlights and links to this page. Like Faulkner or Chandler, millions more people will see the movie The Big Sleep than bother to read the books either man sacrificed and slaved to create.
But, dang - is a search for funny kitty pics outweigh most any use the internets has??
Survey says - YES!!
If I had known, I'd have written about and posted pics of Illegal Immigrant Cats Who Might Be Gay Nazis a long time ago.
Oh - and just in case - more Cats That Look Like Hitler:
I doubt the searchers have spent much more time actually reading what has been written here on all kinds of topics, despite any attempts to offer news or analysis of modern America. Well, the times are worse than tough so why not have some mindless fun - just chalk all this down to my amazement at the world I inhabit.
Yes, I've ranted plenty over the cons of neo-cons, but did that bring me mention on the Air America blog? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler did.
Viral ads, illegal immigration, corruption, bribes, waste, war - does that bring attention? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler does.
Do posts about loopy and meaningless Senate votes bring attention from Senate offices? Nope. Cats That Look Like Hitler does.
I confess to an attraction to writing about the odd and the weird along with any thoughts about how strangled the Constitution and Civil Rights have become, how deeply misguided Americans are wallowing in revenge and hate and loooooooove of money. But weird wins the contest by a huge margin. I've even become acquainted with the miniature universe of Catbloggers, and two weeks ago I'd never heard of it.
As any writer does, I hunger for readers and spotlights and links to this page. Like Faulkner or Chandler, millions more people will see the movie The Big Sleep than bother to read the books either man sacrificed and slaved to create.
But, dang - is a search for funny kitty pics outweigh most any use the internets has??
Survey says - YES!!
If I had known, I'd have written about and posted pics of Illegal Immigrant Cats Who Might Be Gay Nazis a long time ago.
Oh - and just in case - more Cats That Look Like Hitler:
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Happy Summer
There is a way to stay current on the all the astronomical adjustments needed to appreciate summertime fun at the Summer Solstice News page.
I know it's summer because it's hot and humid and the NBA finals just ended.
Before there were NBA finals in June (which began in June 1976 - yay Celtics), humans huddled around the giant rocks at Stonehenge (when Celtics meant something rather different).
Many humans still gather on the spot today (see image below from the BBC). Yay humans.
Yay astronomy and yay daylight for a long long time today. Yay.
I know it's summer because it's hot and humid and the NBA finals just ended.
Before there were NBA finals in June (which began in June 1976 - yay Celtics), humans huddled around the giant rocks at Stonehenge (when Celtics meant something rather different).
Many humans still gather on the spot today (see image below from the BBC). Yay humans.
Yay astronomy and yay daylight for a long long time today. Yay.
Oil Addiction, No - Style Addiction, Maybe
Despite a national plea from the President to end the "oil addiction" in America, county government (and I'm willing to speculate the same is true for city and state) seems to be addicted to big gas guzzling vehicles.
I love Mayor Ragsdale's responses to questions about the purchases of big expensive SUVs (via WATE-TV reports):
"County Mayor Mike Ragsdale first said, "I don't want to stand here and discuss cars."
And
"This vehicle is appropriate for the mayor of a major metropolitan county like Knox County and we consider it an entirely appropriate expenditure of public funds.
I suppose Knox residents should be grateful, since in Hamblen County, officials refuse to even release public records regarding mileage on vehicles paid for with tax dollars.
What type of vehicle is "entirely appropriate" for you? Me, I wanna new 2006 Mustang Convertible. Budget realities say my 1996 pickup at 26 mpg is best for me right now.
I love Mayor Ragsdale's responses to questions about the purchases of big expensive SUVs (via WATE-TV reports):
"County Mayor Mike Ragsdale first said, "I don't want to stand here and discuss cars."
And
"This vehicle is appropriate for the mayor of a major metropolitan county like Knox County and we consider it an entirely appropriate expenditure of public funds.
I suppose Knox residents should be grateful, since in Hamblen County, officials refuse to even release public records regarding mileage on vehicles paid for with tax dollars.
What type of vehicle is "entirely appropriate" for you? Me, I wanna new 2006 Mustang Convertible. Budget realities say my 1996 pickup at 26 mpg is best for me right now.
The Terrorism Index
Gathering the views of former government officials and other experts, both Democrat and Republican, some facinating information in the War on Terror emerges at Foreign Policy.com.
Some snippets from the article:
"These pessimistic public perceptions could easily be attributed to the high cost, in both treasure and lives, of counterterrorism efforts. After all, Americans are constantly being told by their elected leaders that their pessimism is wrong, that the war is being won. But they’re also told that another attack is inevitable. Which is it?"
-----
"Despite today’s highly politicized national security environment, the index results show striking consensus across political party lines. A bipartisan majority (84 percent) of the index’s experts say the United States is not winning the war on terror. Eighty-six percent of the index’s experts see a world today that is growing more dangerous for Americans. Overall, they agree that the U.S. government is falling short in its homeland security efforts. More than 8 in 10 expect an attack on the scale of 9/11 within a decade. These dark conclusions appear to stem from the experts’ belief that the U.S. national security apparatus is in serious disrepair. “Foreign-policy experts have never been in so much agreement about an administration’s performance abroad,” says Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and an index participant. “The reason is that it’s clear to nearly all that Bush and his team have had a totally unrealistic view of what they can accomplish with military force and threats of force."
Is the Military response the only plan we are constantly reinforcing?
How is the U.S. doing a rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq? Given the promises of funding reconstruction via a renewed oil economy in Iraq, information shows little has been accomplished.
"We installed a third of a billion dollars' worth of combustion turbines that can't be fueled."
Some snippets from the article:
"These pessimistic public perceptions could easily be attributed to the high cost, in both treasure and lives, of counterterrorism efforts. After all, Americans are constantly being told by their elected leaders that their pessimism is wrong, that the war is being won. But they’re also told that another attack is inevitable. Which is it?"
-----
"Despite today’s highly politicized national security environment, the index results show striking consensus across political party lines. A bipartisan majority (84 percent) of the index’s experts say the United States is not winning the war on terror. Eighty-six percent of the index’s experts see a world today that is growing more dangerous for Americans. Overall, they agree that the U.S. government is falling short in its homeland security efforts. More than 8 in 10 expect an attack on the scale of 9/11 within a decade. These dark conclusions appear to stem from the experts’ belief that the U.S. national security apparatus is in serious disrepair. “Foreign-policy experts have never been in so much agreement about an administration’s performance abroad,” says Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and an index participant. “The reason is that it’s clear to nearly all that Bush and his team have had a totally unrealistic view of what they can accomplish with military force and threats of force."
Is the Military response the only plan we are constantly reinforcing?
How is the U.S. doing a rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq? Given the promises of funding reconstruction via a renewed oil economy in Iraq, information shows little has been accomplished.
"We installed a third of a billion dollars' worth of combustion turbines that can't be fueled."
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
No Warrants Needed, Just Buy Phone Records
Serious head scratching followed the story today that law enforcement at every level - local, state and federal - have been buying up phone records via numerous private companies, with a $30 million dollar pricetag, though the AP story reports these companies don't charge law enforcement.
I mentioned this in January of this year.
And then the House approved legislation to make it a crime to sell such records without notifying the customer. That legislation disappeared. Poof! Gone.
Now law enforcement says they are simply making use of a legal business - of course it's legal because the legislation meant to outlaw it ... missing in action.
As Alice said in Wonderland, "Curiouser and curiouser!"
I mentioned this in January of this year.
And then the House approved legislation to make it a crime to sell such records without notifying the customer. That legislation disappeared. Poof! Gone.
Now law enforcement says they are simply making use of a legal business - of course it's legal because the legislation meant to outlaw it ... missing in action.
As Alice said in Wonderland, "Curiouser and curiouser!"
Senate Says No To Punishing Waste, Fraud
Billions of dollars lost in outright fraud or waste - and zero attempts to correct it or prevent it thanks to Senate Republicans.
The brain goes numb attempting to conceptualized how much waste and/or fraud can occur when the budgets are topping $400 billion. In a subcommittee hearing on June 13th, officials with the Dept. of Defense and State Dept. admitted they really could not say exactly how much money has been provided contractors and sub-contractors and sub-sub-contractors for private security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor how many companies had contracts, nor how many of those private forces had been wounded or killed, or if any had faced disciplinary problems. The hearings I watched on C-SPAN 2 were most informative - if only for the lack of information available.
TN Congressman John Duncan, member of the committee, said his constituents would be horrified to learn of the high levels of waste occuring as corporate giants like Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, KBR, etc etc were simply supplying invoices for costs with little description.
Congressman Henry Waxman is prepping info about the vast sums of tax dollars getting Hoovered-up by private contractors, which you can access here.
I know - just because Halliburton's contracts with the Fed are up 600% doesn't mean anything is wrong. Except that Rep. Waxman's report identifies 118 Fed contracts worth $745 billion as qualified members of the fake it/waste it/overcharge it club. Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Rita - all devour contracts worth billions.
Senator Byron Dorgan of N.D. attempted to add an ammendment to the current spending bill to require specifics on keeping contractors honest. Every Republican Senator voted against the bill which would halt any firm which:
" - Executes or attempts to execute a scheme or artifice to defraud the United States or the entity having jurisdiction over the area in which such activities occur.
- Falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact.
- Makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any materially false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry.
- Materially overvalues any good or service with the specific intent to excessively profit from the war or military action."
Sen. Dorgan offered many examples, including:
"Brand new $85,000 trucks that were left on the side of the road because of a flat tire and then subsequently burned. 25 tons, 50,000 pounds, of nails ordered by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the wrong size, that are laying in the sands of Iraq. 42,000 meals a day charged to the taxpayers by Halliburton and only 14,000 are actually served."
Sadly, the mass consumption of tax dollars battling a "last-throes" insurgency continues at astonishing rates, and oversight by Congress evaporates faster than a drop of water in a 5th-grade instructional movie about the cycle of condensation.
The brain goes numb attempting to conceptualized how much waste and/or fraud can occur when the budgets are topping $400 billion. In a subcommittee hearing on June 13th, officials with the Dept. of Defense and State Dept. admitted they really could not say exactly how much money has been provided contractors and sub-contractors and sub-sub-contractors for private security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor how many companies had contracts, nor how many of those private forces had been wounded or killed, or if any had faced disciplinary problems. The hearings I watched on C-SPAN 2 were most informative - if only for the lack of information available.
TN Congressman John Duncan, member of the committee, said his constituents would be horrified to learn of the high levels of waste occuring as corporate giants like Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, KBR, etc etc were simply supplying invoices for costs with little description.
Congressman Henry Waxman is prepping info about the vast sums of tax dollars getting Hoovered-up by private contractors, which you can access here.
I know - just because Halliburton's contracts with the Fed are up 600% doesn't mean anything is wrong. Except that Rep. Waxman's report identifies 118 Fed contracts worth $745 billion as qualified members of the fake it/waste it/overcharge it club. Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Rita - all devour contracts worth billions.
Senator Byron Dorgan of N.D. attempted to add an ammendment to the current spending bill to require specifics on keeping contractors honest. Every Republican Senator voted against the bill which would halt any firm which:
" - Executes or attempts to execute a scheme or artifice to defraud the United States or the entity having jurisdiction over the area in which such activities occur.
- Falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact.
- Makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any materially false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry.
- Materially overvalues any good or service with the specific intent to excessively profit from the war or military action."
Sen. Dorgan offered many examples, including:
"Brand new $85,000 trucks that were left on the side of the road because of a flat tire and then subsequently burned. 25 tons, 50,000 pounds, of nails ordered by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the wrong size, that are laying in the sands of Iraq. 42,000 meals a day charged to the taxpayers by Halliburton and only 14,000 are actually served."
After telling the amazing tale of the KBR Halliburton subsidiary ordering hand towels for soldiers embroidered with the "KBR" logo, to allow them to double the price of the towels, Dorgan told one Halliburton whistleblower's story of his company serving food date-stamped "expired" to American troops rather than throwing it away.
"[Halliburton was] serving food at a cafeteria in Iraq for the soldiers, and a man named Roy who was the supervisor in the food service kitchen said that the food was date-stamped 'expired,''' said Dorgan. "In other words, it had a date stamp, which meant the food wasn't good anymore, and he was told by superiors that it doesn't matter. Feed it to the troops. It doesn't matter that they had an expired date stamped -- feed it to the troops."Sadly, the mass consumption of tax dollars battling a "last-throes" insurgency continues at astonishing rates, and oversight by Congress evaporates faster than a drop of water in a 5th-grade instructional movie about the cycle of condensation.
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