Saturday, April 29, 2006

Review of "United 93"

Over at Ace of Spades, there's a commentor review of "United 93". My guess is he's pretty much speaking for most of us:

I just got back from United 93. I went alone, following my plan to the letter.

My plan was to have 2 drinks before the showing as a bracer for what was to come. I had 4. (Crown Royal if it matters.)


I knew what was coming. I know how the movie ends. It's not enough.

45 minutes in, after everyone on screen knows it's a high jack, my jaw clenched.

50 minutes in, jaw still clenched, I start to mutter "MFer's, those MF'ers" under my breath.

60 minutes in, I start to tear up, along with the clenched jaw and MFer's under my breath.

70 minutes to the end the movie, I am sobbing. Not tearing up...sobbing. Not uncontrollably, just clenched jaw, MFing, sobbing.

You need to be ready for this movie. You need to see this movie.


Wow.

Friday, April 28, 2006

On the May Day "Boycott"

Can I just say how ridiculously stupid the whole idea is? If you're just now coming out of your cave (or your mother's basement) and have no idea what I'm talking about, a quick recap:

"Pro-immigration" activists (read: pro-ILLEGAL immigration apologists) are planning on staging a massive "boycott" on Monday to demand amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens living in this country. The idea is for supporters to stay home, not go to school (illegal), not go to work (easy way to get fired, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll sue), not sell anything (easy way to lose money, but don't worry, I'm sure the gov't will bail you out), and not buy anything for a day (you'll just buy it tomorrow, moron).

Apparently nobody involved in this has a functioning brain stem. I'll explain:

1) They're advocating breaking the law (not sending kids to school)
2) They're risking losing their jobs
3) They're supporting other people breaking the law
4) They're intentionally trying to hurt our economy. Not the best way to win over Joe and Jane Sixpack.
5) If a participant doesn't buy a ladder on Monday, he'll just go buy it on Tuesday. So, he's still spending the same money.
6) This is same logical fallacy that the folks that advocate "boycotting" gas stations for a day fall into. If they don't buy it today, they'll just buy it tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm really curious as to what reaction LULAC et al are expecting us normal citizens to have. I certainly don't support them anymore than did before (which was ZERO), adn anybody they hurt in the process is likely to lose sympathy for them.

Brain-deadness makes me sad.

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged to be a movie

The Good: It's a great story with some incredible insights.
The Bad: It's being made by Hollywood, which no doubt missed the point of the book entirely.
The Ugly: It's going to star Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for cripes sakes!

Here's a comment I read over at libertas that sums up my fears pretty well:

First off, “Atlas Shrugged” can not be made into a single movie any more than “The Lord of the Rings” could.
So with a lot of luck, perhaps we’ll get the highly abridged, Reader’s Digest version of the book. Without luck,
we’ll get the comic book version. And with bad luck, we’ll get the anti-version ala Paul Verhoeven’s take on Starship Troopers, which was a slap in the face to the original.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Battlestar Galactica SpinOff Series Confirmed

It's called "Caprica" and it takes place 50 years before the current series. Which means we get to see the orgins of the Cylons, the bgenning of the first war, and maybe even the Cylon homeworld! Here's the excerpt from the press release:

SCI FI CHANNEL UNVEILS POWERHOUSE DEVELOPMENT SLATE

Unprecedented Commitment to Original Programming With Top Tier Creative Talent Including Jesse Alexander, Freddie Prinze Jr., Eric McCormack

NEW YORK SCI FI Channel's Mark Stern, EVP, Original Programming, announced today an aggressive slate of original scripted dramas, miniseries, alternative reality and late night series for the Channel. Already established as an industry leader with highly acclaimed and award-winning shows such as 'Battlestar Galactica,' SCI FI Channel's latest slate of high profile projects showcases top industry luminaries and offers imaginative, broad appeal entertainment.

Scripted Series

'CAPRICA'

From executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick ('Battlestar Galactica'), writer Remi Aubuchon ('24') and NBC Universal Television Studio, this new series is set over a half a century before the events that play out in 'Battlestar Galactica.' The people of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but where high-technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better. But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot - a Cylon. Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the 'Battlestar Galactica') 'Caprica' weaves corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga.



And an article on it.

So Say We All!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Bob Shieffer's Freudian Slip

Was watching CBS news tonight (I have no idea why), and right before the 5:40 break, Bob was mentioning Sec Def Rumsfield. Well, he refers to him as "Rumsfail...er Rumsfeld". Nice shooting, there, Bob-O. What a hack.

College Textbooks: The Scam That Got Away

My friend Justin over at Econometics has an interesting post on "new editions" of required textbooks, and how the used textbook market is largely useless to students nowadays. Where else but US colleges can you have a sanctioned, EXPECTED scam perpetrated on people that can normally ill afford it (other than gasoline, but that's another topic)? A professor may issue a single WORD or graph change, and BAM! You've got a new [i]required[/i] edition of the book, rendering the older (but perfectly valid) edition useless. Now, not all professors do this, not by a long shot. But the fact that it DOES happen is freakin' ridiculous.

Monday, April 24, 2006

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words



Bigger

Huzzah!

For more on the whole UCSC kerfluffle, check out Michelle.

Man's House Swallows Him Whole

Dude walks into his kitchen and the floor opens up and sucks him underground. Holy crap.

t was like a scene from a horror film: A 27-year-old man plummeted into a gaping hole that suddenly opened beneath a house, trapping him beneath foundation rubble and killing him.


Can you imagine it? You're walkin' through your house and then "YOINK!", you're gone. Wowzers.

Man Gets So Many Tickets He Crashes DMV Computer

An interesting way to avoid paying tickets: Get more of 'em.

Queensland, Australia's worst driver has racked up a surprising number of moving violations without losing his license. Over the past five years, Phillip Charles Mounfield earned 121 driving license demerit points from 75 tickets worth A$10,000 in fines. Under normal circumstances, a driver has his license suspended for three months if 12 points are accumulated within three years. Mounfield's infractions, however, were so numerous and rapid that the system could not keep up.


I like it.

New Blog/Media Source

Michelle Malkin has started another blog as the "world’s first, full-service conservative Internet broadcast network."


It's pretty awesome:

Go to the “About” page to find out why we launched this new venture (blame, or rather, credit, goes in part to Al Gore and Bill Maher for helping to inspire the company).

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Star Wars: The Case for the Empire

This is really old (like 4 years old), but is still one of my favorite articles on the web. Enjoy.

An excerpt:

There will be talk of the Force and the Dark Side and the epic morality of George Lucas's series. But the truth is that from the beginning, Lucas confused the good guys with the bad. The deep lesson of Star Wars is that the Empire is good.


And this:

...Count Dooku, leads a separatist movement of planets that want to secede from the Republic...
The Republic, of course, is eager to quash these separatists, but they never make a compelling case--or any case, for that matter--as to why, if they are such a freedom-loving regime, these planets should not be allowed to check out of the Republic and take control of their own destinies.


Just some fun geekery.

Father of 64 Jailed for Raping Daughters

That's right, 64. He got 32 years in prison and 24 lashes with a cane.

[He was] sentenced after he pleaded guilty to five charges of rape and admitted to another 34 charges...


Here's the even more troubling part:

the man said he was a qualified religious teacher. During a religious class, he told his wives and daughters that, according to the Koran, he had complete ownership over his children as a father, including the right to have sex with them.


Now, I know all religions have thier crazies, but Islam seems to have more than its fair share of loonies. I'm curious why that is.

David Hasselhoff: Liberator of the Oppressed

Hasselhoff is the man.

He's using old Baywatch episodes to "expose" (tee-hee, a little pun) oppressed women to FREEDOM. Huzzah.

He enthuses, "They're sitting there oppressed. They can't vote, can't do anything! "Then they go, 'This is the world! Why can't I go out there.' They pull back their burkas and they've got blonde hair."


We need more Hasselhoff. I'm just sayin'.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Michelle Malkin Under Attack by the "Party of Tolerance"

Somebody left the door to the moon-bat cage open, and now the unhinged loony-lefties are attacking Michelle Malkin. "Party of Tolerance" indeed.

Warning: Harsh language and racial slurs from the "Party of Minorities".

Monday, April 17, 2006

Official: Tom Cruise is a Nut Bar

From Drudge:

TOM CHEWS: Tom Cruise yesterday revealed his latest bizarre mission..to eat his new baby's placenta...

Mmmmm. Placenta. The other other white meat.
The Story.

UPDATE:

Via Ace

From the BBC:

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has played down reports that he plans to eat the placenta of his new baby.
The War of the Worlds star was quoted in GQ magazine saying he thought the placenta and umbilical cord would be "very nutritious".

But in a subsequent interview with Diane Sawyer on US television, he made light of the comments.

"Yeah, we're going to do that - a whole family thing. Isn't that normal and natural? No, we're not eating it."



Apparently, he is also endowed with SUPERPOWERS!!!1one!

The Top Gun star also insisted he "sensed" fianc?e Katie was pregnant before she told him.

The actor, who recently also claimed he has the power to cure drug addicts, has even been carrying out his own medical scans on the foetus after buying himself an ultrasound machine.

Scott Adams on Respecting Others' Beliefs

Abso-frickin'-lutely brilliant:

Dilbert Blog

People keep telling me that I should respect the beliefs of others. That sounds entirely reasonable, at least until you think about it. The problem is in knowing where to draw the line. I can understand why, for example, Presbyterians should respect the beliefs of Methodists. They’re practically the same thing.

But what about those Heaven’s Gate guys who believed they should kill themselves so their souls could follow a comet? Am I obligated to respect those beliefs too? How about the people who give away all of their possessions because they have determined the exact date that the world will end? Do I respect their opinions up to the predicted end-time and then, after it passes, keep on respecting their opinion while they are begging the neighbors to give back their crap?


He's absolutely right. At some point, common sense must prevail, and failing that one would hope that a sense of self-preservation would prevail.

Friday, April 14, 2006

On Comedy Central's censoring of South Park featuring Mohammed

Via Ace and Michelle Malkin:

New Comedy Central logos!

My favorite:

Sometimes you just want a sandwich...

Man kills woman over sandwich

He dropped a microwave on her, stomped on her chest, beat her head against the ground, but DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL HER.

"It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose," police quoted Fordyce as saying.

Hooo-kay...

Greetings! Welcome to my blog.

Welcome to my blog. Here you will find rantings on politics, movies, books, firearms, oddities, pithy sayings, random musings, and various other sillyness...es. Some will be funny, some will be thought-provoking, some will be offensive, most will be lame. In other words, no one should probably read it.