Congress takes first step on automaker bailout - Yahoo! News:
"U.S. automakers say they are urgently trying to overhaul their businesses to meet a global demand for fuel efficient products, like better performing gasoline engines, electric cars and more hybrids. But industry executives say they may never get there unless the bailout is approved. They add that the shock of any collapse will shake the economy. If the auto industry comes under severe pressure, GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said in a television interview on Sunday, 'the impact on the whole U.S. economy will be devastating.' All three companies have rejected reorganizing under bankruptcy protection."
Must be nice to just reject going bankrupt. Wish I could do that. Run a business into the ground and just expect the taxpayer to bail you out. ENOUGH! GM fucked up! This state of affairs is not out of the blue. It has been predicted for YEARS. And they invested more and more into SUVs, Hummers, Cadillacs while ignoring their workers. Fail, fail, fail. Set up transition funds for the workers and that is IT!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Clinton to accept offer of secretary of state job | World news | The Guardian:
"Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops."
Well that didn't take long. So much for "change". Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers (potentially), Hillary Clinton (potentially), Joe Lieberman is still around for some unknown reason...WTF? Why is everyone letting Obama off the hook here? We did NOT vote for this! I think it was pretty clear that we wanted a CHANGE, not just a re-shuffling of the same players.
This is not good.
"Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops."
Well that didn't take long. So much for "change". Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers (potentially), Hillary Clinton (potentially), Joe Lieberman is still around for some unknown reason...WTF? Why is everyone letting Obama off the hook here? We did NOT vote for this! I think it was pretty clear that we wanted a CHANGE, not just a re-shuffling of the same players.
This is not good.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Portfolio.com: The End by Michael Lewis:
'That’s when Eisman finally got it. Here he’d been making these side bets with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank on the fate of the BBB tranche without fully understanding why those firms were so eager to make the bets. Now he saw. There weren’t enough Americans with shitty credit taking out loans to satisfy investors’ appetite for the end product. The firms used Eisman’s bet to synthesize more of them. Here, then, was the difference between fantasy finance and fantasy football: When a fantasy player drafts Peyton Manning, he doesn’t create a second Peyton Manning to inflate the league’s stats. But when Eisman bought a credit-default swap, he enabled Deutsche Bank to create another bond identical in every respect but one to the original. The only difference was that there was no actual homebuyer or borrower. The only assets backing the bonds were the side bets Eisman and others made with firms like Goldman Sachs. Eisman, in effect, was paying to Goldman the interest on a subprime mortgage. In fact, there was no mortgage at all. “They weren’t satisfied getting lots of unqualified borrowers to borrow money to buy a house they couldn’t afford,” Eisman says. “They were creating them out of whole cloth. One hundred times over! That’s why the losses are so much greater than the loans. But that’s when I realized they needed us to keep the machine running. I was like, This is allowed?”'
Essential exposé of the financial meltdown. It is way worse than you think.
via kottke
'That’s when Eisman finally got it. Here he’d been making these side bets with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank on the fate of the BBB tranche without fully understanding why those firms were so eager to make the bets. Now he saw. There weren’t enough Americans with shitty credit taking out loans to satisfy investors’ appetite for the end product. The firms used Eisman’s bet to synthesize more of them. Here, then, was the difference between fantasy finance and fantasy football: When a fantasy player drafts Peyton Manning, he doesn’t create a second Peyton Manning to inflate the league’s stats. But when Eisman bought a credit-default swap, he enabled Deutsche Bank to create another bond identical in every respect but one to the original. The only difference was that there was no actual homebuyer or borrower. The only assets backing the bonds were the side bets Eisman and others made with firms like Goldman Sachs. Eisman, in effect, was paying to Goldman the interest on a subprime mortgage. In fact, there was no mortgage at all. “They weren’t satisfied getting lots of unqualified borrowers to borrow money to buy a house they couldn’t afford,” Eisman says. “They were creating them out of whole cloth. One hundred times over! That’s why the losses are so much greater than the loans. But that’s when I realized they needed us to keep the machine running. I was like, This is allowed?”'
Essential exposé of the financial meltdown. It is way worse than you think.
via kottke
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Obama captures historic White House win - Yahoo! News:
"Obama led a Democratic electoral landslide that also expanded the party's majorities in both chambers of Congress and firmly repudiated eight years of Bush's leadership. The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King. The announcement of Obama's win on U.S. television networks set off celebrations by supporters around the country, from Times Square in New York to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King's home church.
'This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night,' said U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights march in the 1960s."
One of the encouraging aspects of Obama's historic victory is that even though it is obviously historic because of his race, the reason he won had nothing to do with it. But I think as time goes by, his race will become very significant and a very, very positive thing for America. And it helps that he seems to be a serious, thoughtful, INTELLIGENT person! Now the task will be to hold his feet to the fire and push him to make the changes he seemed to run away from in his campaign. I am still very leery of the advisors he had throughout the campaign and the rumors of possible cabinet and staff members, most of whom I do not like.
So while I am pleased in his victory, and hopeful for positive things to come for us and our country, I am very cautious and guarded. This is a good first step to rectifying the past 8 years. But it is one step of a long and arduous journey ahead of us.
"Obama led a Democratic electoral landslide that also expanded the party's majorities in both chambers of Congress and firmly repudiated eight years of Bush's leadership. The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King. The announcement of Obama's win on U.S. television networks set off celebrations by supporters around the country, from Times Square in New York to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King's home church.
'This is a great night. This is an unbelievable night,' said U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten by police in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights march in the 1960s."
One of the encouraging aspects of Obama's historic victory is that even though it is obviously historic because of his race, the reason he won had nothing to do with it. But I think as time goes by, his race will become very significant and a very, very positive thing for America. And it helps that he seems to be a serious, thoughtful, INTELLIGENT person! Now the task will be to hold his feet to the fire and push him to make the changes he seemed to run away from in his campaign. I am still very leery of the advisors he had throughout the campaign and the rumors of possible cabinet and staff members, most of whom I do not like.
So while I am pleased in his victory, and hopeful for positive things to come for us and our country, I am very cautious and guarded. This is a good first step to rectifying the past 8 years. But it is one step of a long and arduous journey ahead of us.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)**
There is an extended scene early in the film where Dr. Pretorious is trying to convince Dr. Frankenstein to work with him to create a woman monster, and he brings out these jars filled with miniature human beings and the whole sequence is just way WAY out of place in the film. Really brings everything to a screeching halt and ruins the tone of the entire picture for me. Boris Karloff has more to do here and he is, again, very good, and the images and camera work are exceptional, but the film as a whole is not up to the original.
There is an extended scene early in the film where Dr. Pretorious is trying to convince Dr. Frankenstein to work with him to create a woman monster, and he brings out these jars filled with miniature human beings and the whole sequence is just way WAY out of place in the film. Really brings everything to a screeching halt and ruins the tone of the entire picture for me. Boris Karloff has more to do here and he is, again, very good, and the images and camera work are exceptional, but the film as a whole is not up to the original.
Transcript of second McCain, Obama debate - CNN.com:
"Brokaw: There are lots of issues that we are going to be dealing with here tonight. And we have a question from Langdon (ph) in Ballston Spa, New York, and that's about huge unfunded obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs that will soon eat up all of the revenue that's in place and then go into a deficit position. Since the rules are pretty loose here, I'm going to add my own to this one. Instead of having a discussion, let me ask you as a coda to that. Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis."
I think it is about time we lose this idea of having "journalists" and TV anchorpersons moderate these "debates". Brokaw is an idiot. And a dangerous one at that because for some reason, people think he knows what he is talking about and look upon him as some sort of elder statesman. First of all he links Social Security and Medicare as if they are the same thing. No. They are fundamentally different and not at all alike. Secondly, Social Security is completely solvent and not projected to draw down on its assets until 2041. Got that? There has never been a time in its history when it was in as strong a financial position as it is now. What has everyone worried is the huge deficits we keep racking up year after year. And yet, we are able to pull $750B for Wall Street without too much trouble, $800B for the Iraq War ON TOP OF the regular appropriations for "defense" to the tune of $400B+ per year. "Entitlements" are not the problem. The problem is we lack the political will to spend our money wisely and appropriately. And McCain has no clue about it and Obama is willfully obtuse about it.
"Brokaw: There are lots of issues that we are going to be dealing with here tonight. And we have a question from Langdon (ph) in Ballston Spa, New York, and that's about huge unfunded obligations for Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs that will soon eat up all of the revenue that's in place and then go into a deficit position. Since the rules are pretty loose here, I'm going to add my own to this one. Instead of having a discussion, let me ask you as a coda to that. Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis."
I think it is about time we lose this idea of having "journalists" and TV anchorpersons moderate these "debates". Brokaw is an idiot. And a dangerous one at that because for some reason, people think he knows what he is talking about and look upon him as some sort of elder statesman. First of all he links Social Security and Medicare as if they are the same thing. No. They are fundamentally different and not at all alike. Secondly, Social Security is completely solvent and not projected to draw down on its assets until 2041. Got that? There has never been a time in its history when it was in as strong a financial position as it is now. What has everyone worried is the huge deficits we keep racking up year after year. And yet, we are able to pull $750B for Wall Street without too much trouble, $800B for the Iraq War ON TOP OF the regular appropriations for "defense" to the tune of $400B+ per year. "Entitlements" are not the problem. The problem is we lack the political will to spend our money wisely and appropriately. And McCain has no clue about it and Obama is willfully obtuse about it.
Monday, October 06, 2008
The Wolf Man (1941)**
Doesn't hold up and not just because many of the scenes have become cliché. Lon Chaney Jr. just cannot act and he is very distracting. There's a pervasive feeling to the film that it's existence was just an attempt to create another Universal monster franchise and it shows.
Doesn't hold up and not just because many of the scenes have become cliché. Lon Chaney Jr. just cannot act and he is very distracting. There's a pervasive feeling to the film that it's existence was just an attempt to create another Universal monster franchise and it shows.
Frankenstein (1931)****
The film has achieved iconic/archetypal status of course, but it's not unearned. Whale's compositions, his use of dolly shots, some masterful cinematography and a career-defining performance by Boris Karloff make re-viewing always interesting and enjoyable.
The film has achieved iconic/archetypal status of course, but it's not unearned. Whale's compositions, his use of dolly shots, some masterful cinematography and a career-defining performance by Boris Karloff make re-viewing always interesting and enjoyable.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
How Credit Default Swaps Became a Timebomb | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com:
"By the mid-'90s, JPMorgan's books were loaded with tens of billions of dollars in loans to corporations and foreign governments, and by federal law it had to keep huge amounts of capital in reserve in case any of them went bad. But what if JPMorgan could create a device that would protect it if those loans defaulted, and free up that capital? What the bankers hit on was a sort of insurance policy: a third party would assume the risk of the debt going sour, and in exchange would receive regular payments from the bank, similar to insurance premiums. JPMorgan would then get to remove the risk from its books and free up the reserves. The scheme was called a 'credit default swap'..."
And it should have been (and possibly may have been) illegal. It is also called a Ponzi scheme. And the sheer gall of these persons now running to the taxpayer to cover their risk is beyond comprehension. In a fair world, they would be facing criminal charges for fraud at the very least. But we all know this world is many things but fair is not even in the ballpark.
"By the mid-'90s, JPMorgan's books were loaded with tens of billions of dollars in loans to corporations and foreign governments, and by federal law it had to keep huge amounts of capital in reserve in case any of them went bad. But what if JPMorgan could create a device that would protect it if those loans defaulted, and free up that capital? What the bankers hit on was a sort of insurance policy: a third party would assume the risk of the debt going sour, and in exchange would receive regular payments from the bank, similar to insurance premiums. JPMorgan would then get to remove the risk from its books and free up the reserves. The scheme was called a 'credit default swap'..."
And it should have been (and possibly may have been) illegal. It is also called a Ponzi scheme. And the sheer gall of these persons now running to the taxpayer to cover their risk is beyond comprehension. In a fair world, they would be facing criminal charges for fraud at the very least. But we all know this world is many things but fair is not even in the ballpark.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1 - Army Times:
"In the meantime, they’ll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it. They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack."
...or they may be called upon to do whatever the President tells them to do in accordance with his position as commander in chief! This is the first time since the Civil War that the US military has been deployed in the USA not in response to any disaster. Incredible. And who's to say the Wall Street meltdown won't provide a convenient excuse to suspend the election indefinitely? With a brigade at his disposal, Bush could remain in office for quite a while.
"In the meantime, they’ll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it. They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack."
...or they may be called upon to do whatever the President tells them to do in accordance with his position as commander in chief! This is the first time since the Civil War that the US military has been deployed in the USA not in response to any disaster. Incredible. And who's to say the Wall Street meltdown won't provide a convenient excuse to suspend the election indefinitely? With a brigade at his disposal, Bush could remain in office for quite a while.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Study links oil prices to investor speculation - Yahoo! News:
"'We have clear evidence the fund flow pushed prices up and the fund flow pushed prices down,' said Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management, calling the amount of money moving into oil futures markets by large institutional investors in the early part of the year 'way off the scale.' Masters said its analysis shows investors 'began a massive stampede for the exits' on July 15 and that this caused the price decline. 'These large financial players have become the primary source of the dramatic and damaging volatility seen in oil prices,' concluded the report."
So the rush to open up ANWR and offshore drilling will serve just one purpose: enrich the oil companies even further. And at the same time though, it will WEAKEN our reserve of oil for the future and increase our national security risk.
"'We have clear evidence the fund flow pushed prices up and the fund flow pushed prices down,' said Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management, calling the amount of money moving into oil futures markets by large institutional investors in the early part of the year 'way off the scale.' Masters said its analysis shows investors 'began a massive stampede for the exits' on July 15 and that this caused the price decline. 'These large financial players have become the primary source of the dramatic and damaging volatility seen in oil prices,' concluded the report."
So the rush to open up ANWR and offshore drilling will serve just one purpose: enrich the oil companies even further. And at the same time though, it will WEAKEN our reserve of oil for the future and increase our national security risk.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com:
"Propaganda thrives -- predominates -- in our democracy for many reasons, the principal reason being that we don't have the sort of journalist class devoted to exposing it. Anyone who wants to contest that should examine the empirical data above, or more convincingly, just look at what the Bush administration has easily gotten away with over the last eight years -- the systematic deceit, the radicalism, the corruption, the crimes."
I hope to God I am wrong, but I'm afraid this election is over. In 2000 I thought there was no way a smart, thoughtful, kind of annoying person like Al Gore could lose to an obviously unqualified, barely coherent George W. Bush. In 2004 after 4 years of complete and abject disaster, I thought there was no way a smart, intelligent, war veteran like John Kerry could lose to the architect of the disaster. Now comes 2008.
Until McCain announced the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, I thought there was no way a smart, intelligent, thoughtful black man like Barack Obama could lose to an unhinged, disaster-in-waiting, sell-out like John McCain. But what I witnessed last Wednesday night and throughout the past few days has me nearly convinced that the Republicans have hit upon the magic formula once again. Do anything and everything to win at all costs. Why? Because it WORKS! They have absolutely NOTHING to run on. So just mock the other side. Say the vacuous magic words ("small town values", "POW", "God Bless America", "faith") over and over again, repeat lie after lie about the other guy endlessly. Sarah Palin is their mystery celebrity with the made to order dysfunctional family that "everyone can relate to". Remember how W was "the guy you'd like to have a beer with" because he wasn't smarter than you? Palin is the gal you'd like to hang out with because she's cute and knows how to hunt wolves from a helicopter. Just like us!
Don't laugh. This stuff works like a charm. Get ready for President McCain.
"Propaganda thrives -- predominates -- in our democracy for many reasons, the principal reason being that we don't have the sort of journalist class devoted to exposing it. Anyone who wants to contest that should examine the empirical data above, or more convincingly, just look at what the Bush administration has easily gotten away with over the last eight years -- the systematic deceit, the radicalism, the corruption, the crimes."
I hope to God I am wrong, but I'm afraid this election is over. In 2000 I thought there was no way a smart, thoughtful, kind of annoying person like Al Gore could lose to an obviously unqualified, barely coherent George W. Bush. In 2004 after 4 years of complete and abject disaster, I thought there was no way a smart, intelligent, war veteran like John Kerry could lose to the architect of the disaster. Now comes 2008.
Until McCain announced the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, I thought there was no way a smart, intelligent, thoughtful black man like Barack Obama could lose to an unhinged, disaster-in-waiting, sell-out like John McCain. But what I witnessed last Wednesday night and throughout the past few days has me nearly convinced that the Republicans have hit upon the magic formula once again. Do anything and everything to win at all costs. Why? Because it WORKS! They have absolutely NOTHING to run on. So just mock the other side. Say the vacuous magic words ("small town values", "POW", "God Bless America", "faith") over and over again, repeat lie after lie about the other guy endlessly. Sarah Palin is their mystery celebrity with the made to order dysfunctional family that "everyone can relate to". Remember how W was "the guy you'd like to have a beer with" because he wasn't smarter than you? Palin is the gal you'd like to hang out with because she's cute and knows how to hunt wolves from a helicopter. Just like us!
Don't laugh. This stuff works like a charm. Get ready for President McCain.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Alaska Lawmakers to Seek Subpoenas in Palin Inquiry - NYTimes.com:
"“I’m happy to comply, to cooperate,” Ms. Palin told the Anchorage television station KTUU in late July. “I have absolutely nothing to hide, no problem with an independent investigation.”
"In early August she said, “We are very, very open to answering any questions anybody has of me or my administrators.”
"But on Aug. 29, the day that Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, named Ms. Palin to his ticket, her lawyer, Mr. Van Flein, sent a letter to the state-appointed investigator asserting that, though he would cooperate with the Legislature’s inquiry, the accusations should be investigated by the state personnel board.
"According to the letter, obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Van Flein argued that state law made the personnel board “properly vested with primary jurisdiction.”
"Ms. Palin took the extraordinary step Tuesday of filing an ethics complaint against herself, making the matter fall within the bailiwick of the personnel board. Mr. Van Flein then asked the Legislature to drop its inquiry.
"The three members of the personnel board are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The proceedings of the board are conducted in secret, in contrast with the public deliberations of the Legislature."
It appears that there is something that the McCain/Palin campaign is trying desperately to hide. This may or may not be it, but the extreme reaction to even the most basic of questions regarding almost any information about Ms. Palin's background is quite surprising to say the least.
In another article about Ms. Palin's religious background: "Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Ms. Palin had been baptized Roman Catholic as an infant, but declined to comment further.“We’re not going to get into discussing her religion,” she said."
Oh really? Why is that? Why is Sarah Palin's religion off limits and Barack Obama's isn't? And why is Ms. Palin being shuttled off to Alaska for a while away from national media scrutiny? There's something very strange going on and I am hopeful that journalists are now sufficiently outraged by the horrific police state of the RNC, the sophomoric and mocking tone of the speeches and the constant blaming of "the media" for every fault, to actually find out what is behind it.
"“I’m happy to comply, to cooperate,” Ms. Palin told the Anchorage television station KTUU in late July. “I have absolutely nothing to hide, no problem with an independent investigation.”
"In early August she said, “We are very, very open to answering any questions anybody has of me or my administrators.”
"But on Aug. 29, the day that Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, named Ms. Palin to his ticket, her lawyer, Mr. Van Flein, sent a letter to the state-appointed investigator asserting that, though he would cooperate with the Legislature’s inquiry, the accusations should be investigated by the state personnel board.
"According to the letter, obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Van Flein argued that state law made the personnel board “properly vested with primary jurisdiction.”
"Ms. Palin took the extraordinary step Tuesday of filing an ethics complaint against herself, making the matter fall within the bailiwick of the personnel board. Mr. Van Flein then asked the Legislature to drop its inquiry.
"The three members of the personnel board are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The proceedings of the board are conducted in secret, in contrast with the public deliberations of the Legislature."
It appears that there is something that the McCain/Palin campaign is trying desperately to hide. This may or may not be it, but the extreme reaction to even the most basic of questions regarding almost any information about Ms. Palin's background is quite surprising to say the least.
In another article about Ms. Palin's religious background: "Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Ms. Palin had been baptized Roman Catholic as an infant, but declined to comment further.“We’re not going to get into discussing her religion,” she said."
Oh really? Why is that? Why is Sarah Palin's religion off limits and Barack Obama's isn't? And why is Ms. Palin being shuttled off to Alaska for a while away from national media scrutiny? There's something very strange going on and I am hopeful that journalists are now sufficiently outraged by the horrific police state of the RNC, the sophomoric and mocking tone of the speeches and the constant blaming of "the media" for every fault, to actually find out what is behind it.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ending Tyranny - John Lewis Gaddis - The American Interest Magazine:
"Suddenly, it seemed, there might be an opportunity to speed up history: The Taliban had collapsed, after all, with only a slight push. So Bush and his advisers began planning to fight a war against terrorism by democratizing the Middle East, the one part of the world where that system had not yet taken root. Toppling a few more tyrants might be all that it would take to get this process going."
Despite being factually inaccurate (the Taliban did not collapse and Bush and his advisers began planning to invade Iraq in early 2001), these statements are so wholly clueless and wholly arrogant and incredibly and cruelly naive as to defy belief. Yes, let's just topple a few more tyrants and get this whole "process" started shall we? It's such a grand game isn't it? My we are such wonderful people!
"Suddenly, it seemed, there might be an opportunity to speed up history: The Taliban had collapsed, after all, with only a slight push. So Bush and his advisers began planning to fight a war against terrorism by democratizing the Middle East, the one part of the world where that system had not yet taken root. Toppling a few more tyrants might be all that it would take to get this process going."
Despite being factually inaccurate (the Taliban did not collapse and Bush and his advisers began planning to invade Iraq in early 2001), these statements are so wholly clueless and wholly arrogant and incredibly and cruelly naive as to defy belief. Yes, let's just topple a few more tyrants and get this whole "process" started shall we? It's such a grand game isn't it? My we are such wonderful people!
Bush Lets War Widow Punch His Arm Once | The Onion:
"In an unprecedented gesture of apology, President Bush allowed widow Mary Holt, 32, to punch him once on the left arm Monday as retribution for the death of her husband, Marine Pfc. David Holt, who was killed in a 2007 roadside bomb explosion outside Fallujah."
"In an unprecedented gesture of apology, President Bush allowed widow Mary Holt, 32, to punch him once on the left arm Monday as retribution for the death of her husband, Marine Pfc. David Holt, who was killed in a 2007 roadside bomb explosion outside Fallujah."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)****
On the surface, a breezy, colorful, sexy romp around northeastern Spain by gorgeous, wealthy people. It's also a perceptive character study and rumination on some of the mysteries of the human condition: our need for meaning and how love cannot be that meaning.
On the surface, a breezy, colorful, sexy romp around northeastern Spain by gorgeous, wealthy people. It's also a perceptive character study and rumination on some of the mysteries of the human condition: our need for meaning and how love cannot be that meaning.
Sam Phillips - Don't Do Anything (2008)**
A disappointing trend is afoot. In a vein way too similar to Aimee Mann, Ms. Phillips latest effort sounds WAY to much like her last 3 albums and each song sounds incredibly similar to each other. Now granted, these songs are intelligent, thoughtful, well-written, emotionally powerful but I defy you to listen to them in one sitting! I may bump the rating up a bit once I make it through them all but right now, she's lucky to have 2 stars.
A disappointing trend is afoot. In a vein way too similar to Aimee Mann, Ms. Phillips latest effort sounds WAY to much like her last 3 albums and each song sounds incredibly similar to each other. Now granted, these songs are intelligent, thoughtful, well-written, emotionally powerful but I defy you to listen to them in one sitting! I may bump the rating up a bit once I make it through them all but right now, she's lucky to have 2 stars.
McClatchy Washington Bureau | Rice warns Moscow about its bomber runs off Alaska:
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday ruled out accelerating Georgia's admission to NATO in response to the Russian invasion. But she warned Moscow that it is playing 'a very dangerous game' by resuming Cold War-era strategic bomber patrols close to the Alaskan coast. 'Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it wishes to deliver a message and that's its military power,' Rice told reporters en route to an emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers set for Tuesday. 'That's not the way to deal in the 21st century.'"
I can't really believe she said that. That has to be a misquote, huh? Does she have the memory of a goldfish?
"Since the flights resumed in August 2007, U.S. and Canadian fighters have intercepted the Russian bombers and escorted them away from the U.S. coast. U.S. officials have previously attached little real significance to the flights by the turboprop-powered Cold War relics, and defense officials said Monday recent flights did not provoke concerns within the Pentagon."
So who is really trying to make a mountain out of a molehile here? And just to be clear, Georgia invaded South Ossetia. Russia did not seek to "send a message" but was responding to a request for help from the Ossetians. Recall when the US forces repelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991? They didn't stop at the Iraqi border. What's the difference here?
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday ruled out accelerating Georgia's admission to NATO in response to the Russian invasion. But she warned Moscow that it is playing 'a very dangerous game' by resuming Cold War-era strategic bomber patrols close to the Alaskan coast. 'Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it wishes to deliver a message and that's its military power,' Rice told reporters en route to an emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers set for Tuesday. 'That's not the way to deal in the 21st century.'"
I can't really believe she said that. That has to be a misquote, huh? Does she have the memory of a goldfish?
"Since the flights resumed in August 2007, U.S. and Canadian fighters have intercepted the Russian bombers and escorted them away from the U.S. coast. U.S. officials have previously attached little real significance to the flights by the turboprop-powered Cold War relics, and defense officials said Monday recent flights did not provoke concerns within the Pentagon."
So who is really trying to make a mountain out of a molehile here? And just to be clear, Georgia invaded South Ossetia. Russia did not seek to "send a message" but was responding to a request for help from the Ossetians. Recall when the US forces repelled Iraq from Kuwait in 1991? They didn't stop at the Iraqi border. What's the difference here?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Dark Knight (2008)**
Not an enjoyable experience. I admired the cinematography, the stunts, the special effects up to a point. It does get repetitive especially in a 2.5 hour comic book movie. I just think the film takes itself way too seriously and is so unrelentingly dark and grim that the humongous gaping plot holes and ridiculousness gets to be too much to ignore. Plus the moral of the sordid tale is that absolute power must be given to certain individuals in order to protect us, but if they have it too long they will become the villain. And in such a twisted and heavily one-sided tale it makes all kinds of sense. In the real world though, it's poppycock.
Heath Ledger does turn in an interesting and mesmerizing performance, fully deserving of all the accolades. The role is big and juicy of course but he nails it. I am hopeful that Christopher Nolan is over his comic book phase and can get back to his "Memento" roots. I'm afraid with the success of this film though, he may be compelled to make another and complete the trilogy. Ugh.
Not an enjoyable experience. I admired the cinematography, the stunts, the special effects up to a point. It does get repetitive especially in a 2.5 hour comic book movie. I just think the film takes itself way too seriously and is so unrelentingly dark and grim that the humongous gaping plot holes and ridiculousness gets to be too much to ignore. Plus the moral of the sordid tale is that absolute power must be given to certain individuals in order to protect us, but if they have it too long they will become the villain. And in such a twisted and heavily one-sided tale it makes all kinds of sense. In the real world though, it's poppycock.
Heath Ledger does turn in an interesting and mesmerizing performance, fully deserving of all the accolades. The role is big and juicy of course but he nails it. I am hopeful that Christopher Nolan is over his comic book phase and can get back to his "Memento" roots. I'm afraid with the success of this film though, he may be compelled to make another and complete the trilogy. Ugh.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
YouTube - Hearing on Limits of Executive Power: Vincent Bugliosi
It's about time, but watch the whole thing. It appears this hearing is just a going-through-the-motions sort of affair. Nothing will be done about it by this Congress, but they want to be able to say they DID do something. Shameful. Mr. Bugliosi, thanks for trying.
It's about time, but watch the whole thing. It appears this hearing is just a going-through-the-motions sort of affair. Nothing will be done about it by this Congress, but they want to be able to say they DID do something. Shameful. Mr. Bugliosi, thanks for trying.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)