The GreatMoose, dropping great piles of wisdom

So, been gone awhile...again.

2011-05-17T08:39:00.000-05:00

But, I've got some cool stuff to share with you over the next few days. First, new TV shows!

OK, so I rarely get very excited about new TV shows unless they are on cable channels (HBO, FX, etc...), but there's a pair of shows coming to NBC that look amazing.

First and most importantly, we have Awake. I won't tell you what it's about until after you watch the trailer:

It literally had me tear up about 2/3 of the way through. This show looks WAAAAY too good to be on network TV, much less on NBC.

Second, we have Grimm. This one looks kind of like Supernatural with a larger budget.

Still, could be pretty cool if done right.

My Friends, THIS is the power of the internet

2010-12-08T23:00:00.003-06:00

In response to several companies buckling to pressure from the government to help censor WikiLeaks, Mastercard, paypal, and a host of others have come under attack by hackers (labelled "Anonymous" (as in a proper-noun) by the media, which is hilarious. They truly do NOT understand technology). It's a long story, but a picture is worth a thousand words:

Folks, this is a big deal. "The internet" has had enough of the "government", and they are fighting back. Sure, Julian Assange is a colossal douchecanoe, but I can't fault what he's doing with WikiLeaks. It's time to call .gov on it's BS. Truly, we live in interesting times.

christmas blog

2010-12-07T22:58:00.001-06:00

Merry Plaid Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Did you ever...

2010-12-02T14:46:00.002-06:00

Did you ever think you would see these words in print:

However, as the LA Times noted, the new rules are "unclear" on whether TSA agents can touch children's genitals.

Truly, we live in interesting times.

One Man Beats The TSA

2010-11-22T22:59:00.004-06:00

And it is GLORIOUS.

If all this is true, it's very clever asking them if he was being detained or free to go. Once they try to say he is detained or must submit to a search as mandatory, it becomes an instant bright-line rule under the 4th amendment that there must be probable cause, and they don't have it. You don't treat citizens at the airport the same way you treat prisoners going to and from cell block.

REMEMBER KIDS: The 10 MOST important words when dealing with ANY law-enforcement types (yes, even TSA rent-a-cops) are: "Am I being detained or am I free to go?" LEARN IT, LOVE IT, LIVE IT.

Also, a good excuse to post this:

Whoa. New Sucker Punch Trailer

2010-11-04T20:31:00.002-05:00

Lots more info in this trailer, some sense of the plot (what little there appears to be) and a whole lot more awesome.

This pleases me.

And Edwards Is GONE!!!

2010-11-02T21:33:00.001-05:00

Flores: 61%
Edwards: 38%

Booyah, SUCKAH! It's been a long time comin'.

So, there's like, and election or something today...

2010-11-02T13:16:00.007-05:00

And the best news so far: 538 has Edwards at a 4% chance of WINNING!

I almost don't care about the rest, it's just time for that sleazebag Edwards to go. More as I feel like it. Wish I could locate Pepe again...

Some words of wisdom from good ole Samuel Clemens:

"Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason." - Mark Twain

It is not possible to speak more true than that. It is undeniable.

Well. How about THAT?

2010-10-22T22:46:00.008-05:00

THE RANGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

They absolutely beat the Yankees like a pack of rented mules. It was farking GLORIOUS. If you haven't watched the series, even if you don't like baseball, you REALLY missed out. It was just so uplifting to watch our boys from Texas put those @$^#&% Yankees in their place. So to commemorate the event, I will share a collection of photos in relation to the series. Enjoy.

The Most Whacked-Out Trailer I've Seen In A While

2010-10-07T08:21:00.002-05:00

And the movie couldn't look any cooler. Sucker Punch is by Zack Snyder (you know, the dude that drenched us in blood and testosterone with 300). Seriously, how friggin' sweet does that look? Nazis, blimps, giant samurai with gatling guns? I'm in.

Jon Stewart Rips Obama A New One

2010-09-22T09:59:00.003-05:00

Now THIS is change I can believe in!

EDIT: Darn it! won't embed. Click here for the good stuff!

Question for Financial Folks: Infinite Banking

2010-08-28T23:21:00.003-05:00

I won't go into everything, but if you know what "Infinite Banking" is, I have a question: Is it really worth it?

See, our financial advisor is pushing it pretty hard, even had Nelson Nash come to pimp it. I've done a ton of research, and frankly, I don't get it. I mean, I completely understand the theory and the practice, but I really don't understand why people would choose it over a decent savings account or a low or 0% loan (while having the cash to pay it off). For example:

Example 1: Using CASH for purchase. $10000 account earning 5%.

I take out the $10000 and make purchase. It is no longer earning 5%. So, after 1 year, I have lost $500 in interest, correct? Well, lets say at the end of the year I put back the $10000 + $500 ($10500). So, it was as if I never took money out in the first place because I added $500 out of my pocket to make up for the lost interest. The opportunity cost of using the money was 5%, but I made it up by "charging myself" 5%. Following? Ok.

-This transaction cost $500 out-of-pocket and I have $10500.

Example 2: Commercial loan. $10000 at 5% interest.

I take a 5% loan from a bank and leave my $10000 in the bank, still earning 5% interest. At the end of the year, I pay off the loan in full for $10000 + an additional out pocket $500. My bank acoount earned $500, but the loan interest cost me $500. The opportunity cost of using this method was 0, but the interest cost of using this money was 5%.

-This transaction cost $500 out-of-pocket and I have $10500.

Example 3 (Infinite Banking): Policy loan for $10000, current loan rate 5%.

I take a 5% loan from my policy and make my $10000 of cash value collateral, still earning 5% interest + dividends. At the end of the year, I pay off the loan in full for $10000 plus an additional out of pocket $500 to free up my collateral. My cash value earned $500, but the loan interest cost me $500. The opportunity cost of using this money was 0, but the interest cost that I needed to pay free up my collateral was 5%.

-This transaction cost $500 out-of-pocket and I have $10500.

So why would I pay all the fees and whatnot for front-loading an IB system when I could do the first two options much easier? I know that IB technically has some tax shelter properties, but I'm thinking the HYOOOOGE fees in the startup kinda kill any tax advantages offered. What am I missing?

Subaru Forester On A TANK RANGE!

2010-08-25T22:25:00.002-05:00

As some of you know, back in December I got a Subaru Forester to replace my well-used Mazda Protege. I've always wanted a Subaru, and I really missed the Jeep I had in high-school and college, so I was pretty pumped to get my Forester. I'll post some pics of it later. Anyway, came across this on the Subaru Forester owners forum. Apparently, there's a Fozzie club in the Ukraine that takes their vehicles out to a TANK test range and drives them around!

I want to go to there.

NEWSFLASH! Obama's "Having a great time on vacation"

2010-08-25T16:29:00.002-05:00

Our long national nightmare is over! Obama is having a great time on vacation (number 8 this year, I think). And praise allah, he's also eating well!

Kenworth said she’d been asked not to talk about what the Obamas ordered, but “the whole table got lobster tempura with island corn succotash and lemon vinaigrette” in addition to their individual entrees.

Can muslims eat shellfish?

Ba-ZING!

So, To Start Things Off (Again)...ZOMBIES!!!

2010-08-24T21:37:00.002-05:00

So, you all know I'm a huge fan of all things zombie, and also a huge fan of all things Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist), so I was so excited I almost peed when I found out the AMC had hired Mr. Darabont to do television adaptation of the absolutely brilliant "Walking Dead" comic book. This thing looks PERFECT, and if anybody can pull of the atmosphere of despair and hopelessness, it's Frank. Looking forward to this.

Well, um...I'm back?...Yeah, I'm back.

2010-08-24T21:18:00.004-05:00

It seems that when you have a child, life kind of gets in the way of "lesser" things. Ergo, blogging "went away for a while". But REJOICE! For The GreatMoose has in fact returned. I don't have much planned at the moment, but I think we'll be OK. So, stay tuned, I've had a thought or two that I may share with you. Hope everybody is well!

On The Woodshed Beating Tonight

2010-03-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

Just one thing to say:

We've secretly replaced St. Mary's with a high school girls basketball team. Let's see if anyone notices...

SIC' EM BEARS!!!! Elite Eight, biatches!!!

The Health Care Bill: What It Means

2010-03-21T22:17:00.006-05:00

The farking bill passed.

I'm going to attempt to cut through all the BS and TRY to assemble what I think the bill's passage will mean. This will be a work in progress, so check back.

Takes effect January 1st, 2014.

1. You may be able to find a cheaper policy from an out of state insurance company that is currently barred from encroaching on your state's monopolized health insurance system.

2. Depending on your income, your policy may also be partially subsidized.

3. If you make a lot of money (not sure where the balance point will be), you may see your costs rise - particularly for an unlimited plan (not sure what that actually is). Had there been a public option in the bill - or even the right to buy into Medicare - a solid basic option would have likely been available to you at lower cost.

4. It supposedly will cost $940,000,000,000.

5. Your taxes will rise.

Yoinked from Consumerist:

-Insurance for families of four making up to $88,000 (or 400% of the federal poverty level) will be subsidized.

-Medicaid is being expanded to cover those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that would be approx. $29,000.

-Families earning over $250,000 will see an increase in the amount of money the pay to Medicare from their paychecks.

-Insurance companies that provide high-end health plans (those valued at over $8,500 for an individual or $23,000 for families) will see a significant tax increase.

-You will be required to have health insurance or be fined either $750 or 2% of your income. A compromise package, passed at the same time as the Senate bill, would change those numbers to $695 or 2.5% of your income.

-Companies with more than 50 employees will be required to provide coverage or pay $750 per employee that relies on government subsidies for their insurance. The compromise package ups this to $2,000 per employee.

-Any woman wishing to use federally subsidized coverage for an abortion -- except in the case of rape, incest or danger to the mother's life -- will have to pay out of pocket or seek private insurance.

-Parents will be permitted to keep their children on their health care plans until age 26.

UPDATE: Reuters has a good list of everything in the bill.

The Most Farking Amazing Farking Hockey Game I've Ever Farking Seen!

2010-02-22T08:32:00.006-06:00

Last night. USA v. Canada. 5-3! Some are already calling the most awesome pile of awesome since the Miracle on Ice. It was non-stop butt-kicking, Ryan Miller is Teh Winnar (with 42 saves on 45 shots. HOLY FARK!!!). Canadian tears nourish my soul!

And on the 30 year anniversary of the Miracle On Ice, no less.

Well. Didn't See THAT Coming...

2010-02-15T11:59:00.002-06:00

So Baylor has a new President. I'll give you three guesses who it is.

Go on. GUESS.

Nope, that's not right.

Not that either.

Still wrong.

Duh, it's Ken Starr. Yes, THAT Ken Starr.

GUILTY!!!

2010-01-20T21:46:00.004-06:00

Justice For Kari

Don't drop the soap, scumbag.

Some Movies To Get Excited About This Year!

2010-01-05T13:48:00.007-06:00

Last year brought the awesome in the form of District 9, Avatar, Where The Wild Things Are and a host of others. Next year looks to be pretty astounding as well, but once again, WAAAAAY too many remakes/reboots. Oh well. Enjoy!

Probably the most anticipated of the bunch:

Probably MY most anticipated:

Kind of a surprise:

Never have I seen so much ass-kickery in one trailer before:

And the most wacked out (nut probably to COOLEST):

More to come!

I have no idea what's going on in this trailer, but it looks like deep-fried win:

ooooh, freaky...

Bourne-ish, but cool:

...Or Central Texas

2009-12-08T21:31:00.006-06:00

You see, The GreatMoose's sister-in-law Jodie, has just released a new album, and it's pretty dang good. She's been working on it for over a year, and it shows. It's quality stuff. You can order a physical CD here (or if you're local, get one from me), or you can buy it on iTunes or Amazon.

Give it a listen, catch a concert (she's on a regional tour thing), and/or grab a copy. It's good stuff. My personal favorites are "Let's Go Back" and "In The Waiting". We're so very proud of her!

Apparently, You Have To Go To Iceland For Good Music

2009-12-03T10:03:00.003-06:00

That's right, Iceland. See, there's this band called Sigur Ros, and they create these incredibly beautiful, very haunting songs. Some of thier songs are sung in Icelandic, and just because, the rest are sung in a language that the band completely made up. I can't tell the difference between the two, and it's really not important. The important part is the music. The style is unlike pretty much anything else, and not usually something I would enjoy. But thier stuff is incredible. The lead singer's high falsetto, the band's use of background noise, and thier musical integration is fascinating. Thier music is designed to provoke intense emotional reactions in listeners, and it works. It's not "easy" music by any means, it takes some work to listen to, but it's 100% worth it. Here's a video for one of my favorite songs of thiers, Glosoli:

And another version with Scripture added, that really adds something, I think.

That's the other thing: thier videos are works of art. there's another, called Hoppipolla, which is frickin' sweet. Love the old people going all childlike mayhem. For some reason, youtube can't embed it, so here's a link and then a crappy MTV embed:

Sigur Rós - New Music - More Music Videos

They also hold the title of most depressing song ever (even though you can't understand it).

Actually, maybe save Hoppipolla for last, since it's pretty happy.

Shooting At Ft. Hood

2009-11-05T15:06:00.010-06:00

Right in our back yard.

At least seven people are dead and 12 wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, the base's public affairs office told NBC News on Thursday.

So far, looks like 3 possible shooters. That dramatically lowers the chance of it being a crazy dude not wanting to redeploy. Not to jump the gun, but it's starting to sound "jihad-ish".

One shooter? PTSD.
Two shooters? Conspiracy.
Three shooters? This is going to get much nastier before it's over.

UPDATES

Killeen ISD says all Fort Hood schools are on lockdown.

Temple ISD is on a "soft" lockdown. Parents will be able to pick their children up at the normal times, though they may experience delays.

At 4:40, Dear Leader Obama is going to SPEAK. I feel better already.

12 killed, as many as 30 wounded.

III Corps Commander says all three shooters are soldiers...

Primary shooter's name: Malik Hassan. Interesting.

The other 2 people arrested have been released.

Hassan had been reported shot and killed, but his condition has been upgraded to "alive". This should be VERY interesting.

More as it develops...

AICN Reviews Where The Wild Things Are, And It Is Win

2009-10-12T08:43:00.003-05:00

Harry reviews it here. Some snippets:

...Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is a staggeringly brilliant encapsulation of the intent and contents of Sendak’s book, but more so… of childhood itself. The result is a film of immense and unquestionable power that has the power to shake you more than any of you are really expecting.

At a private moment, mere minutes after the screening, I found myself blubbering. I had no idea it was coming. It wasn’t just the movie. It was what the movie did to me. What it opened up. It made me remember the way I looked at my mother when I was 9 years old. When she was awesome. Before the divorce, the alcoholism and her tarnished image. It made me wish I could go back and spend time with that version of my mom. Introduce my wife to her. It made me miss her. And I haven’t missed her in years...

...Now. Should you take the kids to see WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE?

That depends. Honestly, I wouldn’t take a kid under the age of 7. Even then, you need to realize that you’re gonna need to be an awesome parent, when you take your kid. This is a brilliant movie. One that conjures a lot of emotions, your child will feel every last one and you should be there to answer any questions, to hug and to experience the film with them. AND if any of this makes you nervous. See the film first and make the call about whether or not your kid is ready for this.

For many audiences, this will be a difficult film. This isn’t an obvious version of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. In a world where we’ve seen films like Ron Howard’s GRINCH and that abysmal CAT IN THE HAT adaptation – there’s a possibility that kids and many audiences are numb to a genuine and beautiful film about the very tough and difficult realities of childhood...

...This is a children’s film, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a kids film. And TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a great kids movie. One, that every parent should watch with their kid. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE could be an incredible film for you and your child. It could help you to understand & remember what it means to be a child. Not to look down at them, but to admire them. Because we were all there at some point...

Vern's review is here. The scariest part of his review is what WTWTA could have been had Hollywood been allowed to get thier mitts on it. Praise allah for Spike Jonze.

How is it possible that this movie was made with the voices of James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper and Forest Whitaker instead of Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Snoop Dogg? Huh? Can we give Obama credit for this? It seems like a miracle to me. You know what the trailer would've been like: Starts out real dramatic, Harry Pottery orchestral score playing as the camera floats through a beautiful CGI ocean, onto an island, into a forest. The sound of giant feet plodding through dirt. The camera comes to the unmistakable shadow of a large, horned monster. Then...

"Wild thing. You make my heart sing. You make everything... groovy." The computer-animated wild thing leaps weightlessly in the air doing air guitar. Then a wacky record scratch and Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" comes on. And some sort of dated MATRIX reference maybe. Or American Idol. The wild things make little quips, puffs of smoke come out when they dart around waving their arms everywhere, and there's jokes about cell phone minutes or 401Ks or something. Ha ha, because why would a wild thing have a 401K. Funny stuff.

The teaser poster: white background. A wild thing standing with his arms folded like a lost member of Run DMC, wearing Snoopy Joe Cool sunglasses. Max next to him, similar pose, backwards baseball cap, skateboard in hand. Below that it says "BORN TO BE WILD."

You know this to be true. It's much, much more likely that that would happen than what we got from Spike Jonze. It's like that speech Dr. Nudity makes on Mars in WATCHMEN. Out of all the possibilites, for this to be the outcome is a miracle.

I can't wait to see this.

The Coolest Show You're Probably Missing

2009-10-07T10:40:00.006-05:00

Is on Fox, and it's called Glee. It's about a bunch of kids roped into a glee club that probably shouldn't be there, but the end result is incredible. It's like High School Musical in the REAL world. It's hilarious, and the music flat out ROCKS.

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (one of my favorite songs, always give me goosebumps*):

Glee - Don't Stop Believe
by Bugabookas

Seriously, how much did that kick @$$? Almost makes me wish I was back in high school, doing the whole choir/men's glee all over again. Awesome times.

Heart's "Alone" (TV Version-shorter)

*man, I miss the '80's...

40th Anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus

2009-10-05T09:15:00.003-05:00

In honor of the 40th anniversary of what turned out to be the funniest series ever aired, here's a few of my favorites:

The Parrot Sketch:

"He pining for the fjords!"

Dirt Hungarian Phrasebook:

"My hovercraft is full of eels!"

The Lumberjack Song:

Julia Stiles Is Freakin' Awesome

2009-09-04T09:17:00.003-05:00

Always been a big fan Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You, the Bourne Trilogy, etc...), and now she's gone and taken the awesome to a whole new level: She's brought the beat-down to all those smarmy, holier-than-thou, "Green" celebrities (I'm looking at YOU, Gwyneth, Katie, and Leo). She's launched a new "green" "fashion" line, and it's hilarious. Her commercial:

I love the dude's face when the guy with the "shants" comes out. Win. Her website, JuliaStilesStyles.com.

Ted Kennedy Sent To Meet His Maker; Meeting Does Not Go Well

2009-08-26T08:34:00.002-05:00

Ted "I Killed a Woman Once" Kennedy has died at age 77 from a brain tumor. Elected to the Senate in 1962, he's been drunk, er...serving ever since. Every one is wailing about "The End of Camelot!!", but I must tell you, I do not care. What is the farking fascination with the freaking Kennedy's? They're just ridiculously rich Massholes. Royalty they ain't. But it's sucha tragedy when one of them dies. Sorry, my snark is in full swing today. As momma always said, "If you can't say anything nice about someone, post a funny picture!" So, on to the pics!

Final Trailer For The Best Movie In Years

2009-08-13T22:26:00.003-05:00

There's so many different trailers out there for District 9 that a lot of people have no idea what they are going to see. And I must tell you, even if you DO have an idea, YOU DON'T. Simply put, it's absolutely stunning. Amazingly original, superbly directed (by a first-time director, no less), and incredibly acted (by a lot of first-time actors, no less), and shot for $30 million, it's an astonishing piece of filmmaking. And honestly, it's a FILM, not a movie. It's so well written, that even sci-fi HATERS will love it. Go see it. Now.

Oh Man, This Suuuucks...

2009-08-06T16:47:00.004-05:00

John Hughes has died.

The genius that gave us The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, National Lampoons Vacation, and countless others has died of a heart attack in Manhattan. He was 59. Over on AICN, Massawyrm has written a great eulogy for Mr. Hughes.

Everyone of his characters - no matter how brazen, no matter how popular, and no matter how lucky with the opposite sex they were - was absolutely terrified of being found out, disliked or humiliated. Their fears were our fears. And in his opus THE BREAKFAST CLUB, he took what was on the surface a popcorn comedy about school kids stuck in detention and showcased a microcosm of the terror and detachment we all felt (or feel) and let us all know that it was all okay…because we were not alone. Not even close.

And that went for every single one of his characters save one: his super hero. His teenage James Bond. Ferris Bueller. Of course rather than the ability to fly or super strength or invulnerability to bullets, Ferris had a power that made him a god amongst high school students. Self confidence...

...After all, if you can convince a snooty/snotty waiter that you are Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago, how hard can high school really be?

Mr. Hughes' films are one of the main reasons I love movies so much today. They are true classics. He will be deeply missed.

The More Things Change...

2009-07-28T20:52:00.001-05:00

The more they stay the same.

Saw this and thought it was really funny. The Coke logo did have a couple of small changes over the years, but they were extremely minor. Funnier this way, too.

My Gift To You

2009-07-22T15:26:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah. That's right.

Don't Ever Go To This Site

2009-07-21T21:26:00.001-05:00

Ever. Seriously.

Wow. I Need To Travel More...

2009-07-21T21:16:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting, been really busy. Anyway, saw this on the tubes, and really thought y'all would enjoy it. The Most Alien Landscapes on Earth. Some incredible photography. Oh, and I've actually been to #9 (didn't see THAT, though). A teaser:

Major Iran Update

2009-06-22T08:44:00.002-05:00

Huge happenings over the weekend:

21st of June.

Two major events happened today:

- Grand Ayatollah Montazeri went directly against Ayatollah Khamenei's wishes and declared a 3-day mourning period in Iran, while Khamenei had ordered mosques to avoid making ceremonies in the memory of the fallen victims of governmental violence.

- The Guardian Council admitted that in 50 cities, there were in fact more vote recorded than there are registered voters and said they were looking into the situation. Seeing as the GC is under direct control of Khamenei, this is very likely an attempt at damage control from people who have yet to grasp how deep the schism in Iran is. This could be an attempt to ultimately blame Ahmadinejad for the irregularities and throw him under the bus in order to save their skin, which would be a sign they don't fully realize yet what is happening.

- Aside from that, as expected there were clashes all over Iran, but subsided since the 20th. The Iranian Government went on the offensive, kicking out a BBC correspondent and attacking Western countries for what they see as meddling in Iranian internal affairs. Tomorrow Mousavi has called for a general strike all over Iran. It seems that business activity that the already paralyzed country will be stopped completely.

From the 19th to the 20th of June. post-Khamenei speech.

If anyone doubted this is a Revolution and that this was bigger than the election, there is no such doubt anymore. While Khameini directly called for them to stop, the population took the street more numerous than ever. This is direct defiance to the Supreme Leader. Here are the major events that happened between the end of Khamenei's speech and midnight on Saturday.

- Before the protest even began, heavily armed men were waiting for the dissidents, planning to prevent them from reaching the rally point. It didn't take long for the peaceful protests to turn into full-fledged riots. Security forces had also closed off the Tehran university to prevent students from leaving to protest or entering to take shelter. Basij, some security forces and what is suspected to be members of the Revolutionary Guard assaulted the protesters. The protesters fought back while chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Down with Khamenei". The security forces used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse the protesters. While the tear gas was partly successful, the water cannons were mostly useless, as they were quickly over ran by the protesters.

- A lot of eyewitnesses report that the Basij now fighting appear to be barely older than teenagers, most of them between 16 and 20, taking a real pleasure in the violence. Others report that up to hundreds of both security forces and Basij were injured in the last series of clashes. The Basij forces are using pvc tubes filled with concretes, bats, even knives and are assaulting people everywhere, down to metro stations.

- A bomb exploded at the Khomeini Shrine, killing one and injuring at least two. Most believe that the government is in fact behind it. Khamenei was a major figure of the previous Revolution, and they used a similar tactics then, destroying buildings and blaming it on the Shah in order to turn the population against him. The State television is of course blaming Mousavi for it and calling for a harsher treatment of the protesters. This is also very convenient for the Regime, has Mousavi said he would take refuge there if he feared for his safety, but now all access is blocked.

- In return, the harsher the treatment of protesters by the security forces, the harsher the rhetoric and reaction of the protesters. They are calling for the death of the regime, the death of Khamenei, the death of their oppressors and that they will avenge them. Once the gun shots started, the protesters went wild, beating down security forces and basij forces they caught to a pulp, while the Basij and security forces are showing absolutely no restraint, even less than they previously had.

- There are many reports that the security forces and Basij still ever present in hospitals and clinics. Basij are kidnapping some of those injured, while the security forces is identifying those participating in the protest. In order to arrest protesters, security forces raided the Khomeini Hospital in order to arrest injured protesters. There are rumours that Basij forces have hijacked ambulances and use them as a trap to brutally assault already injured protesters seeking help, or shoot at them. Iranian journalists, Reformist intellectuals and feminists are still being arrested and rounded up to prevent from reporting the news or reaching out.

- As the protests grew, extreme measures started to used by those trying to repress the Iranians asking for freedom. Gun shots were first fired in the air, but it did not take long for them to be fired at the protesters. A liquid was dropped from helicopters, creating severe skin burns on protesters. We are unsure what the liquid was. They are also openly opening fire on the crowds, 40 to 60 people at least were killed in a single day, and scores more injured according to protesters. There are also reports that Revolutionary Guard Helicopters dropped firearms crates to 500 Basij fighters, as they are more willing than government forces to use them on civilians.

- The protesters are fighting back, taking over anti-riot trucks and burning them, attacking Basij bases and burning another one to the ground. There are report that a security forces truck was actually blown up by the protesters. In many instances, government forces have been force to fled under the constant assault of the people. Another report mentioned a security forces post was burning as well.

- The Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital in Tehran has confirmed at least 40 dead as well as 200 injured. Other sources report that hundreds of security forces and hundreds of basij fighters were injured as well.

- At night the protesters joined each others on the roofs in Tehran, shouting "Allah-u Ackbar", "Margh Bar Khamenei" and chanting "I will welcome death, I will welcome death, but no subjugation, but no subjugation". None of the rhetoric is addressed to Ahmadinejad anymore, all of it is directed to Khamenei and the regime. Many of the popular chants throughout the day were "I will kill those who killed my brother/sister", "Death to the Government", "Death to Khamenei" and "Seyed Ali Pinoshe, Iran won't be Chile".

- China has been censoring all news coming from Iran. Obama's restraint has been useless, as the Iranian government has shown a video of him with a false translation where Obama declared his support for the protesters, and that they should keep on protesting.

- Mousavi gave a speech and declared that if he is arrested, then the whole nation should strike. He also told the people that he is ready for martyrdom.

- There are unconfirmed reports that the Army is now refusing to follow orders and will not attack the protesters. The newest strategy from the government seems to be arming the Basij, dressing them in riot gear, team them up with IRG soldiers, and try to prevent massive rallies and keep them localized instead, as they are easier to stop spreading.

Istill don't think people realize the hugeness of all this. This is one of the most hardline Islamic countries attemtping to overthrow thier Islamic dictators.

The Fighting Keyboardists

2009-06-18T13:30:00.008-05:00

Concerning the interweb support for the Iranian revolution, I felt it necessary to list the different regiments, and the function of each.

The 101st Chairborne Infantry Division - (A catch all for most interweb units) - "Duty, Honor, 127.0.0.1"

The 1337th Fighting Keyboards Mechanized Division (providing proxies, DDoSing sites, and such)- "From dev/null We Stab At Thee"

Special Forces who are simply Anonymous (The ones on the ground in Iran twittering) - "Alone, Unarmed, Unafraid"

32nd Mechanized Heavy Farktillary Division - "Baffle them with brilliance, or bombard them with bullshiat."

501st Hacktivists division (hacking sites) - "What's that on our webp... OH GOD, MY EYES! KILL IT WITH FIRE!"

The Irregular Internet Militia - Everybody else

58008th SAC Squadron, - tasked with moving and lifting the 101st Chairborne Division as part of 1st Joint Task Conundrum.

The 404th Logistical Support Battalion (proxies) - "We Hide With Pride So Others May Be Found"

Special Investigations: Tatsuma Unit - "Because isn't kosher."

I am a proud member of both the 1337th AND the 32nd. Sort of an inter-service thing.
We're currently working on unit patches, I'll post them when available.

It Has A Name: The Green Revolution

2009-06-15T16:24:00.008-05:00

So the revolution has a name now: The Green Revolution. The GreatMoose offers his solidarity to these folks. Wish there was more I could do. When I get home, I may try to see if I can support the hacking attacks 4chan has broiled up. If nothing else, I'll make a Proxy server that Iranians can use to bypass the government blocks and filters. If you'd like to help try this: http://www.pagereboot.com/ie/ , and then put in the target site you'd like to help overload. Here's some suggestions:

http://www.khamenei.ir/
http://presstv.ir/
http://irna.ir/
http://www.president.ir/ (Ahmedinejad's site)
http://police.ir/

Set that to reboot that page as much as possible and help bring down the gov't servers. If you'd like to set up a proxy server for iranian citizens to use, go here: http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens/

Anyway,

There's some SERIOUSLY disturbing tweets out there, one of them from Change_for_Iran:

"it's worth taking the risk, we're going. I won't be able to update until I'm back. again thanks for your kind support and wish us luck"

And no one has heard from him since. That was several hours ago. Persianwiki is still around, talking about how plainclothes Basij (milita members, brownshirts, if you will) are massing near a basij station, waiting for something...

we only want freedom - we are peaceful - we have no life no future in IRI without freedom - #Iranelection 39 minutes ago from web
we are all tired - no sleep for 3 days - one of us is injured from baton - waiting for doctor #Iranelection 44 minutes ago from web
it is very hard here - we are under big pressure and risk - we are being tracked on twitter - #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
thanks to all people following us and trusting us. we are trying to give you correct info - #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
more than 100 students missing from Tehran Uni dorms - reports of several dead from last night #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
unconfirmed - up to 7 dead in Azadi sq today #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web

pedestrians avoid military baraks off Pasdaran St - something is going to happen from there - #Iranelection about 1 hour ago from web
large number of plain clothes with bikes hiding in military barraks off Pasdaran - dont know what they are planning - #Iranelectionabout 1 hour ago from web

The tweets from this morning and the Tehran University attack were extremely unnerving. people crying out for help on twitter as they are being attacked... and follow along.

UPDATED EARLIER POST. Also, I've changed the color scheme to Iranian green as a show of support.

UPDATED: Major Happenings In Iran

2009-06-15T09:12:00.014-05:00

In short, Iran may be in the beginning of new revolution. They held elections three days ago, and it appears that they were rigged (that nutbag Ahmedinedjad won, even though Mousavi was projected to win). So, there's massive protests all over the country right now. What we know:

Iranian elections were held.
Results seemed really sketchy. Like Florida 2000, but in the entire country except for California and New York sketchy.
The "losers" called for a re-election.
The Big Boss Men in charge said "We'll take a look at it *wink*"
Citizens of all ages threatened to protest.
Gov't said "If you protest, we'll shoot you"
Citizens protested.
Everything was tense, but peaceful.
Eventually a few people got shot, at least 1 dead.
Protesters beat the shooters to death (allegedly).
Other "losers" will give speeches tonight to support the rally.

Amazingly enough, twitter is actually the best place for current info, mainly by a couple of guys: Change_for_Iran, persiankiwi, and StopAhmedi.

You can follow along with stuff here: http://iran.twazzup.com/

The wikipedia entry has a lot of helpful info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Iranian_election_protests

More as I know it. This is a big deal, folks.

There's talk of this picture winning the Pulitzer prize:

It's a protester helping protect an injured riot cop. Wow.

EDIT: Major Update, lots of info

One confirmed dead as police start shooting protestors. here's a REALLY LONG but incredibly useful breakdown of what's going on:

Suppression of Dissent - The Players

Currently, there are two or three groups who are suppressing the students on the ground that you'll read about throughout this thread:

1. The Basij (confirmed)
2. Ansar Hizbullah (confirmed, which I will refer to as Ansar)
3. Lebanese Hizbullah (unconfirmed but highly probable in the mind of Persians, many different independent reports and video point that wa; I will refer to them as Hizbullah)

- The Basij are your regular paramilitary organization. They are the armed hand of the clerics. The Basij are a legal group, officially a student union, and are legally under direct orders of the Revolutionary Guard. Their main raison d'être is to quell dissent. They are the ones who go and crack skulls, force people to participate in pro-regime demonstrations, and generally try to stop any demonstrations from even starting. They are basically located throughout the country, in every mosque, every university, every social club you can think of. They function in a way very similar to the brown shirts.

They were the ones who first started the crackdown after the election but it wasn't enough. While they are violent and repressive, they are still Persian and attacking fellow citizens. A beating is one thing, mass killings another.

- Another group was working with them, who are even more extreme, is Ansar. There is a lot of cross-membership between the Basij and Ansar, though not all members are members of the other group and vice-versa. The vast majority of Ansar are Persians (either Basij or ex-military), though a lot of Arab recruits come from Lebanon and train with them under supervision of the Revolutionary Guard. They are not a legal group, they are considered pretty much a vigilante group, but they pledge loyalty directly to the Supreme Leader and most people believe that they are under his control. They are currently helping the Basij to control the riots, but due to the fact that they are Persians and in lower numbers than the Basij, they are not that active.

- (the following paragraph includes some speculation based on reports from ground zero) Hizbullah flew in a lot of their members in Iran, most likely a good deal even before the elections in case there were trouble. They are the ones who speak Arabs and are unleashing the biggest level of violence on the Persians so far. Another wave arrived recently and there is chatter that yet another wave of Hizbullah reinforcements are coming in from Lebanon as we speak. According to Iranians on the ground, they are the ones riding motorcycles, beating men women and children indiscriminately and firing live ammunitions at students.

The Lebanese Hizbullah is a direct offshoot (and under direct control) of the Iranian Hizbullah (itself under direct control of the Supreme Leader) and cooperates closely with Ansar though Ansar occupies itself only with Iran's domestic policies, while Hizbullah occupies itself only with Iran's foreign policy unless there is a crisis like right now. However, Hizbullah has been called to stop violent riots in Iran in the past.

What will happen

Unless the army decides to intervene in the favor of the Council and to stop the (what now looks like) early beginnings of the new Revolution, Ansar & Hizbullah members will be the ones doing the brunt of the killing and repression with Basij as a support while also protecting government buildings and try to do crowd control. The police seems to have for the most part disbanded in centers like Tehran according to all reports, including international media. If the police decides to come back, they will focus less on protection and crowd control, so the Basij will start to crack more skulls).

Currently, this is what is happening.

Timeline
note: I built this through both articles and twitter feeds, so I do not claim that this is a 100% factually correct representation of reality, but this is the general narrative.

- When the first spontaneous riots erupted, the first wave the Iranian Riot Police was called in, and short after the Basij also took the scene. The RP concentrated mostly around public buildings and streets while the Basij took position around student groups, especiallly universities.

- As things got more out of hand, more and more Basij troops were called in, as the police started dispersing. The riot police are less inclined (or, rather I should say the Basij are more inclined) to use violence so they retreated and leaving the place to the

- With the second wave of Basij also came Ansar Hizbullah members. This is the point where firearms started being used. There are reports of a few murders but it was mostly fired in the air or on walls in order to scare away protesters in University dorms.

- It's around the time of the second wave that the first reports and videos of an important number of non-Persian thugs shouting in Arabic and violently beating people with chains, clubs and electric batons (similar to cattle prods). The end of the second wave came right before the beginning of the current manifestation. Things were getting quieter with only sporadic reports of dissenters being assaulted. Important to note: at this time. the Supreme Leader has authorized these militias to use live ammunition against the crowd if things get out of hand (source: BBC)

- - This brings us to the third wave, which just began around 12:30PM for those of us on the East Coast. According to all reports, plainclothes militia have opened fire on civilians protesting peacefully. Chaos erupted in the streets, with reports of fighting all over Tehran and spreading over Iran. Pictures of people shot, some to death, surfaced and were published in the mainstream media. Things very are ugly and this is spreading in other cities as well. Violent and murderous repression has started. At least a twenty people have been killed so far. Things will spiral down fast, and very soon.

There is a major crackdown on students, especially those with connections to the outside world going on right now. Some people report that the students are fighting back in some areas. Telephones are being bugged and everyone twittering and sending videos outside of Iran are being rounded up. ISPs were shut down, government hackers are threatening people who twitter, and some of them have vanished in the last 24 hours.

Later, the people started to fight back. First, they took over and burned down a Basij base, killing its commander. Later, a Basij shot a young man in the face in front of their HQ, at which point a policeman went to confront them. The Basij beat the policeman, at which point students stormed the compound, throwing molotov cocktails, burning it to the ground. This is very big.

Tomorrow (or today as of the 16th of June)

Supporters of Moussavi have a manifestation planned for 5pm, Tehran time. Roughly the same number or more is expected to attend. Plenty of twitter chat about dressing in black.

The pro-Ahmadinejad crowd however are planning a counter-demonstration at the very same place the supporters are supposed to gather at 3pm. Most agree that basically they are simply going to gather for a confrontation. Basij from all over the country are moving to Tehran and supporters are being bused from all over the country.

A major showdown is expected to unfold

The Supreme Leader has also called for a 10-day inquiry into the claims of fraud, but it has been widely dismissed as cosmetic. The Revolution lives on.

Demands from the protesters

1. Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leader
2. Dismissal of Ahmadinejad for his illegal acts
3. Temporary appointment of Ayatollah Montazeri as the Supreme Leader
4. Recognition of Mousavi as the President
5. Forming the Cabinet by Mousavi to prepare for revising the Constitution
6. unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners
7. Dissolution of all organs of repression, public or secret.

Who is Grand Ayatollah Montazeri?

Ayatollah Montazeri is a pro-Democracy, pro-Human Rights Ayatollah who was at one point on the short list of possible successors of Khomeini, but became marginalized as he adopted what was seen as a too pro-Western, pro-Democracy stance.

Since the beginning of the Revolution, he has been one of the fiercest critics of the Regime, and one of the biggest proponents of women and civil rights for ALL Iranians, including much-maligned minorities like the Baha'is. In fact he goes further than the protections afforded to them under Sharia.

He is also a big critic of Ahmadinejad and has been seen for years as the best hope for Iran if he ever was to come to power, something that was unthinkable a mere week ago.

Big things are afoot.

UPDATE: Lots of reports of gunfire, and a growing internet war with the Iranian government. The gov't is hacking all non-pro-ahmedinejad sites, but the protesters are using twitter to get people to hack the gov't sites. Pretty amazing stuff. The dsiplays of solidarity from around the world are incredibly moving. Will post some images shortly. Titterer "persiankiwi" has made CNN, there's protests all over the globe (New York, LA, Paris, Toronto, Dubai, and many others). this is really happening, folks. It's not every day you get to see a people free themselves from thier oppressors (of course, if your in the US, you won't really notice it all, since NO ONE IS FARKING CARRYING IT!!!) I hate our media.

I'll be posting personal thoughts here:

1. Twitter is politically significant, and 4Chan is helping with the fight? I think hell just froze over.
2. I REALLY hate our media.
3. This is what happens when a people truly care about thier freedom.
4. I wonder if America will ever be at that point again?
5. Inconsequential as it is, I'll never look at the Iranian people the same way again. Seeing a civil war erupt in near real time via twitter and other sites, seeing up to the minute coverage and the inner thoughts that could never get reported on MSM coverage, and seeing pleas for help from real people (not talking pundits) has completely changed my mind.

Keep fighting folks, and stay as safe as you can. You're making history.

5. The following pictures don't look like Kent State, or Tienemen Square. They look like regime change.

This Picasa Web Album has tons of stuff in it; http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bahramks/RiotsInTehran#

Absolutely incredible images here: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html. If you want to see the whole story in pictures, go there.

Just In Case You're Still Confused...

2009-06-12T14:25:00.004-05:00

...about the DTV switch that happens TONIGHT, here's a handy flowchart from our friends at Consumerist.com:

Hope that helps. You've only had 3 years to prepare, so I know you might be caught off guard. Of course, none of my regular reader* will have this problem.

*No, that's not a missprint.

Jon Stewart On The GM/Chrysler Bag Of Fail

2009-05-22T10:01:00.002-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Be a F@#king Person - Dealer or No Dealer

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Indeed.

A Short Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-05-20T09:46:00.006-05:00

Was digging through some old music the other day, and came across what in retrospect would be quite possibly the best rock song of my high school days. Granted, in the mid-90's there was a LOT of good rock: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, REM, Radiohead, real U2, and a host of others. One that gets overlooked a lot (but is enjoying a resurgence recently) is Weezer. Thier "blue album" is one of the best rock albums front-to-back ever produced. Buddy Holly, Say It Ain't So, The World Has Turned and Left Me Here, and finally Undone - The Sweater Song all contribute to what is a fantastic pure rock album. So with that, I give you:

Weezer |MTV Music

This was filmed in one unbroken take, and directed by Spike Jonze (the director of the upcoming Where The Wild Things Are). He's pretty dang good.

Enjoy!

Encore: Here's Buddy Holly, just for funsies:

Weezer |MTV Music

And the Pork and Beans video, featuring spoofs (sort of) of some of the best viral videos of the past couple years. If you're an internet junkie, you'll love it.

Weezer |MTV Music

First Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

Happy first Mother's Day to the best mommy in the world!

Super Creepy Trailer For Disctrict 9

2009-05-01T08:18:00.002-05:00

Almost two years ago, I brought you a swett little short film called Alive In Joburg, about a group of aliens that arrive here, and are almost immediately relegated to living in ghettos and slums. Here's the original:

Well, now the director is releasing a FULL length motion picture version titled District 9. The first trailer has been released over at apple.com, you can view it here. When there's an embed available, I'll put it up. Pretty cool, right?

The Hairdo Grows Some Cajones

2009-04-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

This is a big, hairy deal:

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas."

A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Via Drudge. This is what many of us have been waiting for for YEARS. Telling Washington to shove it. Awe. Some.

Pure Win.

2009-04-07T11:08:00.001-05:00

As you may or may not know, Jack (from the david crowder band) is a friend of ours. So when we saw this mockumentary that was all about Jack, we were extremely excited. Enjoy:

"One the one hand, Jack needs to see a doctor..."

And Now For Something Completely Different...

2009-03-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

Won't be taking Molly to see THIS one, but don't that look like the coolest thing since sliced bread? It'll be released as Apocolypse Meow in the US (probably so the delicate flowers don't get thier feelings hurt by the use of the "S" word. GASP!)

Looks like Tom Clancy's Peter Cottontail, right? Seriously, does that not look awesome?

You Will Believe!

2009-03-26T08:22:00.010-05:00

Now the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are is out. And it rocks my face off. Had NO idea what to expect when I clicked play, and found what may be my favorite trailer of the year (as good as Benjamin Button). Do yourself a favor and give it a watch. You won't be sorry.

Many different trailer sizes and qualities here.

I've watched that 7 times now, and it brings a tear to my eye every time. Gawd, i'm such a girl.

I can't WAIT to get the DVD for Molly. Oh, anybody know the song in the trailer?

EDIT: Found the song: Arcade Fire-Wake Up. Just listened to the whole song. Wow. That's is one friggin' fantastic song. There's several different versions of it, even one with David Freaking Bowie! Sweet.

BIG HAIRY UPDATE!!! Oh. Yeah.

2009-03-18T16:09:00.003-05:00

Poster for Where The Wild Things Are.

Now with MOAR PICS!

Loved this as a kid.

Unimportant Update

2009-03-12T15:35:00.002-05:00

Was going back through some of the AMVs I'd made on YouTube, and noticed that they've made several of them available in High Quality (HQ) versions, with much improved visuals. They used the original uncompressed files I sent, and kept the quality. Pretty cool. You have to load each video, and then click on the "HQ" button on the bottom-right of the view screen. It allows you to see a lot more of the detail in videos (but also brings out the flubs I made!) Here's a link to my YouTube channel, and you can see which ones are HQ available.

Letter To GM. Priceless.

2009-03-07T09:50:00.002-06:00

This one I personally verified on snopes. For the win:

Letter To GM

Letter To General Motors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors

- followed by a response from our son, Gregory Knox:

Dear Employee,

Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.....................As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.

Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Gregory Knox,

In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout for the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America for me.

You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream".

The dream is over!

The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities and that still the masses will line up to buy our products

Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier ones for 3 decades now throughout the Midwest and what I've seen over the years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Mr Clark, the president of General Motors, states:

There is widespread sentiment in this country, our government and especially in the media that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It is not.

You're right, it's not JUST management, how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour week

How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift and for being too productive (mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?

How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:

over the last few years we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.

What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!?

Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?

The K car vs. the Accord?

The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?

Do I need to go on?

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades.

Time to pay for your sins, Detroit .

I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems, but despite what people like George Bush and Troy Clark would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day and something else would happen. Where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up. That is how a free market system works. It does work if we would let it work!

But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work; that we need the government to step in and "save us". Save us, hell we're nationalizing and unfortunately too many of this once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what's really happening but they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams yeah THAT'S important.

Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?...

How can that be???

Let's see - -

Fuel efficient -

Listening to customers -

Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul -

Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming 4 decades ago -

Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans -

Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy" -

Efficient front and back offices -

Non union environment -

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know in their hearts

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into. My children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way). I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them through.

Radical concept, huh?

Am I there for them in the wings? Of course but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government.

Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.

Bad news people, it's coming whether we like it or not.

The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away" I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the vote count was tallied "we might not do it in a year or in four"! Where was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for the office

Stop trying to put off the inevitable!

That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000!

People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits!

That job driving that forklift for the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year!

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home!

Let the market correct itself people, it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what is has and doesn't live beyond its means and gets back to basics and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world and probably turns back to God.

Sorry, don't cut my head off. I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news"

Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005

The First Star Trek 11 To Get Me 'Stimulated'

2009-03-06T10:13:00.003-06:00

Let the stimulus flow over you...

Not bad, eh?

Jon Stewart Beats CNBC Like A Rented Mule

2009-03-05T16:58:00.001-06:00

Good Lord.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Now THAT'S a good, old-fashioned, behind-the-woodshed, paint-yer-backside-red beatin'.

WHOA.

2009-03-03T10:17:00.003-06:00

When I first heard they were making a new Terminator film, I was like: "Eh, OK. Couldn't be any worse than the last one." Then I heard McG was directing. I thought, "Oh, maybe it can." Then the first trailer leaked. I was all "Hmm, maybe this won't be TOO bad." Well, now the second theatrical trailer has leaked. Now I'm all "OMGWTFBBQ! That was a bag full of win and awesome!"

Here it is in all it's HD glory: Terminator: Salvation

Now THAT's a trailer, my friends.

Has The Revolution Begun?

2009-02-19T08:18:00.004-06:00

Now that we are all being stimulated up the wazoo (yeee-ouch!), a few state governors are starting to think this may not be such a grand idea. They're considering NOT accepting the "stimulus" money. How AWESOME is that? I've heard it's 10 states for sure, possibly as many as 20, but the article I found only mentions 6 (Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho). One other story I heard on the radio is that New Hampshire and a few others aren't accepting any money AT ALL, but I can't find a source. If this is all true, this could truly be someting amazing: the States finally standing up to the Federal government and saying "NO." That would change the face of our nation. And check out what The Hair himself said:

"My concern is there's going to be commitments attached to it that are a mile long," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who considered rejecting some of the money but decided Wednesday to accept it. "We need the freedom to pick and choose. And we need the freedom to say 'No thanks."'

Of course, he later accepted the money, but for The Hair to even consider something like that is nothing short of a miracle.

Once Again, Calvin & Hobbes Knows All

2009-02-11T08:16:00.006-06:00

Thought this was particularly poignant today.

Keep in mind, it was written 15 years ago. Calvin and Hobbes, the Fount of All Knowledge.

Oh, and came across this, which really touched me (now that I've got a little moose of my own):

Thought that was really cute, especially seeing as apparently Calvin and Susie had a little girl. Sorry, there's something in my eye...

We've Got Babee!

2009-01-20T11:39:00.004-06:00

Some pictures of Molly Moose to entertain and delight:

The Wait is Over!!!

2009-01-15T04:50:00.002-06:00

At 3:37 on january 15, the Greatmoose and MissSpeech welcomed thier new daughter, Molly Ann into the world. She is 8 pounds, 8oz., and is 20 inches long. More to come!

Little Moose On The Way!!!

2009-01-14T13:42:00.001-06:00

Well, MissSpeech was admitted to the hospital this morning, and we should have a new little moose sometime tonight! Stay tuned...

Anytime, Baby

2009-01-09T11:40:00.002-06:00

Well, the official due date for the GreatMoose's and MissSpeech's first offspring is tomorrow, but we are certainly on constant baby watch right now. I'm eyeballing MissSpeech like she's a ticking timebomb. Pretty excited, fairly nervous. Figured the above F-14 patch was as good a graphic as any. I'll keep you posted on the situation. Carpe Infantum!

Since We're In The Market For A New Car

2008-12-12T11:33:00.000-06:00

Hopefully The Movie Is As Good As The Trailer

2008-12-08T21:12:00.002-06:00

I gotta say, whoever is cutting the trailers for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button seriously knows what he's doing. There's currently 9 different trailers out there now, but two of the best ones are actually the TV spots (which are usually pretty lame compared to the theatrical trailers). Specifically, spot #3 and #6, which unfortunately Paramount is not letting people embed for blogging, so you'll have to go to YouTube to see them. For real, these are two of the best cut trailers I've seen in a looooong time. From the visual cues to the background music, these things are great, and have got me jonesing to see this during Christmas. Here's the links:

TV Spot #6

TV Spot #3

The story is based of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, about a man who grows physically younger with every year and how it affects his life. I'll be surprised if Brad Pitt doesn't walk away with the Oscar for it (unless Heath Ledger gets it for The Dark Knight).

The GreatMoose Reviews Hancock

2008-12-02T09:32:00.004-06:00

Well, I promised I'd try to post more movie and DVD reviews, so here I am keeping that promise. Got lots of reviews coming down the pike, as it were. Today's review is for the Will Smith "superhero" movie, Hancock. And let me start by saying that if you think you know anything about this movie (provided you haven't seen it, of course), you don't. It's not at all what I thought it was going to be, and that's both good and bad.

The bad is that I thought it was going to be a satirical look at superheros, like what they would REALLY be like in the real world. Ans the first half-hour of the film is pretty much that. Hancock (his first name is John. Get it? John Hancock?!) is an alcoholic bum, who also happens to be the worlds only superhero. He's a complete douchenozzle to boot. His "help" usually winds up causing far more damage than the original crime would have. One day, he saves a PR rep named Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), who makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better. So he has Hancock go to jail for a while until the city realizes it needs him. It doesn't take long before the skyrocketing crime rates cause the mayor to ask Hancock for help. So, up until this point it looks pretty much like I thought it would be, and executing it fairly well, I might add. Then the movie changes.

I won't spoil the GIANT FARKING PLOT TWIST here, but dang, I did NOT see that coming. The movies completely changes gears, and becomes an extremely effective drama film. Now, a lot of people have given the movie crap for this rather abrupt change, but I think that stems from most people expecting exactly what I was: a funny, satirical, kinds dark look at superheros. That's not what we got, and I, for one am extremely grateful. Although it feels pretty rushed, the second half of the movie is pure gold. The climax is one of the most emotional gut punches I've seen in an action movie in years, maybe EVER.

The music in the film also changes along with the movie, the first half being fun and kind rough, the second half being one of the best scores I've heard in a while. "Hancock's Theme" (or whatever it's called) is especially powerful. I'd like to get the soundtrack for that one song.

If you rent or buy (but don't download it, you sinners!) the movie, get the UNRATED cut, it's got about 10 extra minutes of footage, and REALLY helps pull the movie together and sets up more insight into the rest of the film. So far the movie has made over $620 million worldwide, so here's hoping for a follow-up (it really needs one, I think.)

Anyway, give it a watch and let me know what you think.

The GreatDroppings Score of Glory:

Press The YouTube...FOR GLORY!!!

2008-11-24T19:50:00.006-06:00

I meant to post this earlier this week, but I got busy. I've started to really take a shine to How I Met You Mother. I first I didn't think much of the show, but it's really starting to grow on me. Case in point: The funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long time:

SO much funny here. Neil Patrick Harris' facial expressions when the building displays its "features" are priceless. And of course, "Press it! Press it...FOR GLORY!!!" I laughed till I stopped.

New Star Trek Trailer Kicks All Kinds Of @$$

2008-11-18T10:48:00.004-06:00

High def trailer here. The best part is: Trekkies HATE it.

I've never been a huge Star Trek fan. I do enjoy a lot of it, but most of time I found it waaaay to sterile and utopian. I DID enjoy Star Trek II and VI (movies) and Deep Space 9, but most of the other stuff was kind of "meh". But this trailer of the new Star Trek reboot movie is what I need to like Star Trek again. Make it grittier. Make it less "perfect". Make it FUN. The trekkies (hardcore trek fans) HATE that.

Dear Trek nerds,

This movie is not for you. It's an attempt to make Star Trek interesting again for people who don't know or care what a "nacelle" is. This movie is for MissSpeech, or any one else who hates sci-fi BECAUSE OF STAR TREK.

I hope this movie is successful, just to spite you.

Love,

The GreatMoose

Obama Shows Some Potential

2008-11-18T09:06:00.005-06:00

Ugh, it almost made me vomit to say that, but The Chosen One has done something (or will do, hopefully) something right. He's come out in favor of Net Neutrality. Now, you might be thinking, "GreatMoose, why in the name of Posiedon's Crusty Beard would I care?" Well, the answer citizen, is that without Net Neutrality, we could potentially wind up with internet access (arguably the most important utility we have) looking something like this:

So, now you're thinking, "GreatMoose, I still don't care." Well, you should. Your blog with those pictures of your new baby? Sorry, no one will ever see it, unless you pony up the dough. Your favorite obscure website with funny movies or comics? Buh-bye. That little e-store that only you know about (but has some KILLER deals on shoes/DVDs/bling)? Be like it never existed in the first place. Unless they pay up, that is. You see where I'm going with this?

Essentially what net Neutrality does is codify into law something that has been understood amoung Internet Service Providers since the internet (thanks, Al Gore!) began: The ISPs carry eachothers' data, and don't play favorites. It's a freedom of information thing, and it's important.

Seriously, look at that picture again and think about it. How scary is THAT?

Upcoming WWII Russian front Anime

2008-11-14T09:14:00.002-06:00

It's called Pervoi Otryad or First Squad, and it apparently takes palce on the Russian front during World War II. No idea what it's actually about, but it sure looks cool. Could do with out the techno music, though. Glad to see some more WWII anime, there's not a whole lot out there.

Behold! The New Enterprise!

2008-11-11T21:37:00.001-06:00

The first image of the new Star Trek reboot has been leaked! And it is win. Behold:

The Sweet Land Of Liberty Valance

2008-11-10T21:00:00.002-06:00

Denny Crane & Guns from Alex Hall on Vimeo.

Saw this at Legacy tonight. Booyah.

This Photo Explains A Lot

2008-11-06T11:26:00.002-06:00

I don't care who you are or who you voted for, that's pretty cool.

Well, Damn. Michael Crichton Dead At 66.

2008-11-05T12:43:00.004-06:00

Seems as if the author of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, and many others has died of cancer. That sucks.

His bibliography:

The Andromeda Strain (1969)
The Terminal Man (1972)
The Great Train Robbery (1975)
Eaters of the Dead (1976)
Congo (1980)
Sphere (1987)
Jurassic Park (1990)
Rising Sun (1992)
Disclosure (1994)
The Lost World (1995)
Airframe (1996)
Twister: The Original Screenplay (1996)
Timeline (1999)
Prey (2002)
State Of Fear (2004)
Next (2006)

Some quotes:

"A day is like a whole life. You start out doing one thing, but end up doing something else, plan to run an errand, but never get there... And at the end of your life, your whole existence has that same haphazard quality, too. Your whole life has the same shape as a single day."
-- Michael Crichton

"Our planet is four and a half billion years old. There has been life on this planet for nearly that long. Three point eight billion years. The first bacteria. And, later, the first multicellular animals, then the first complex creatures, in the sea, on the land. Then the great sweeping ages of animals - the amphibians, the dinosaurs, the mammals, each lasting millions upon millions of years. Great dynasties of creatures arising, flourishing, dying away. All this happening against a background of continuous and violent upheaval, mountain ranges thrust up and eroded away, cometary impacts, volcanic eruptions, oceans rising and falling, whole continents moving . . . Endless constant and violent change... The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us."

-- Michael Crichton, "Jurassic Park

And very appropriate for this elections season:

"All major changes are like death. You can't see to the other side until you are there."-- Michael Crichton, "Jurassic Park"

FREEDOM!! (not really!)

2008-11-05T11:22:00.001-06:00

Election Droppings Post

2008-11-05T08:17:00.004-06:00

I'll update this thread periodically with thoughts on what happened last night, and what it might mean for America. First, even though I didn't vote for him, I'm kinda proud of Obama. He's done what I never thought I'd see. Here's hoping that he can put to bed the whole "racist America" thing. Maybe now african-americans won't feel so put upon. I mean, Obama's supposed to be the one that's going to change everything for them, so if he doesn't pull it off, it's not whitey's fault. MissSpeech gave that little insight this morning (she's so smart). I'll say this: until he does something unconstitutional and/or morally wrong, I will support him. He is our President, and deserve a certain amount of respect. But the GreatMoose will be watching.

Heck, maybe it's a good thing. He's made a whole bunch of people very happy, and honestly, democratic presidents don't really bother me. What bothers me is the democrat controlled congress. THAT's a problem. Hopefully it'll get fixed in 2010. It's been said that the best government for the US is a democrat president and republican congress, and I tend to believe that. Remember, Republicans are usually better when we're NOT in power. We're more cohesive, have better ideas, and get more done.

On checking the various websites this morning, I came across this cartoon. It struck me pretty hard, but I think it has a great message:

It's going to be OK, folks. Let's see what this guy can do.

Another good one:

Well, It's Pretty Much Done

2008-11-04T20:57:00.002-06:00

Obama has it pretty much locked up. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the GOP over the next few years.

It Is President Voting Time Day! For Great Democracy!

2008-11-04T09:43:00.005-06:00

This is one of my favorite days of the year (well, 4 years, but who's counting?). I love Election day, even with all its warts, it's pretty dang fun. I'll be following the results all day, and be posting here if anything of note happens. In the meantime, here's some sites to keep you occupied:

Five Thirty-Eight: a site that keeps track of all the numbers, and statistically analyzes them for you.

RealClearPolitics: All the hard info you'll ever need for the election.

Fark: Where the elite meet to talk about something or other...

I've added an RSS feed from 538.com so you can watch the results as they develop.

Oh, AND GO VOTE! Or the terrorists win.

24 Season 7 Trailer Is Out!

2008-10-29T13:48:00.001-05:00

And it looks like complete and utter WIN:

"I will kill you and...you'll stay dead." Wow.

MTV Does Something Useful

2008-10-29T09:00:00.010-05:00

For the first time in a decade, MTV has become associated with music videos again. Their new site, MTVMusic.com, has every music video ever made (supposedly). That is dang cool news right there. So far they've had every single video I've searched, and all of them are available in fullscreen display if you want. Prepare to waste a whole bunch of time!

(EDIT: The site is getting pounded like a rented mule right now, so if stuff won't load, just be patient.)

Here's a couple just to get you started. A classic:

Nirvana |MTV Music

And two from one of my new favorite bands, Paramore (Jodie probably knows these guys, they're from Franklin, TN. Y'know, Jodie even LOOKS kinda like Hayley Williams...SAME PERSON?!?! Perhaps...) The second one (That's What You Get) is featured on Rock Band II.

Paramore |MTV Music

And for Halloween:

Michael Jackson |MTV Music

Thank Goodness We Passed That Bailo...Oh, Wait

2008-10-09T15:39:00.004-05:00

Dow dropped 679 to below 9000. Thanks, "President" Bush and Congress!

Wait, wasn't this exactly what the "bailout" was supposed to avoid? I KNOW my government would NEVER lie to me, so what's going on?

Know what, I don't even care about the curse word. In a bad mood today. I know that stocks are essentially on sale right now, but still. We paid $850,000,000,000 for THIS?

You NEED This Website

2008-10-06T15:35:00.002-05:00

Both of my readers will find this website worth its e-weight in e-gold.

GetHuman.com

It's a list of what you'll need to press/say/don't say in order to talk to a human (or as close as most companies can get) when you call a customer service number.

The GreatMoose always watches out for you, doesn't he?

WWJD About The Bailout?

2008-10-01T11:41:00.001-05:00

Seemed appropriate.

Father Of The Year

2008-09-28T22:44:00.007-05:00

The Father Of The Year award has found a recipient.

Police responding to a call from the city's northwest side about 3:20 a.m. found 64-year-old Robert McNally on the hallway floor with his arm around the neck of 52-year-old David T. Meyers, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Meyers was naked except for a mask and latex gloves and had entered the home through a window near the girl's bedroom with rope, condoms and a knife. He was familiar with the home's layout because it belonged to a relative, police said.

The girl awoke and screamed when she saw the man in her room, police said. The father responded and struggled with the intruder while the girl's mother phoned 911.

In short, the FOTY choked the ever lovin' life outta this dude. That's farkin' hardcore.

Police did not anticipate any charges against McNally.

You know, if it DID go to trial, it would be a very short trial.

Judge: "What happened?"

FOTY: "Well, I heard my daughter scream and there was some buck-naked sack of human debris with rubbers, a knife, and a mask trying to get into her room. He seems to have been a convicted rapist."

Judge: "What did you do?"

FOTY: "I shut his ass off."

Judge: "Works for me. We're adjourned."

One sad thing is, no future husband/boyfriend is EVER going to be able to compare to Daddy in this girl's eyes.

Makes me think, this is why the Good Lord created the Remington 870.

A Few Things YOU Can Do With $700 Billion

2008-09-25T15:13:00.003-05:00

Outright buy 4,000,000 homes, assuming their average price is $250,000
Cut every single person on this planet a check for $104.09
Get half of the Democratic Party into a fundraiser for Barack Obama at the $28,500 admission price
Give $3,278 to every man, woman, and child in the US
140,000,000,000 subscriptions to TotalFark
Buy 438 pounds of rice for every single person in Africa
58,577,405,857 subscriptions to Vibe (hooray, Office Space!)
Buy the world a Coke: One 2-liter bottle per week for a year
Buy everyone in America 2200 McDonalds apple pies

Dave Ramsey Weighs In

2008-09-23T20:42:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, MissSpeech and I are YOOOGE Dave Ramsey fans (in fact, we've taught his Financial Peace courses a few times), and I was really curious what he had to say about all this bailout mess. Well, he didn't dissapoint. He has a LOT to say, and it pays to read (or hear) it all.

Start here.

The main article.

Download the whole rant here.

Some excerpts:

Economist Wesberry is saying that if we change that one rule and don't force them to market down to market and just let them hold on to all the stuff, and say just on sub-primes for this period of time you can change that rule -- a temporary change -- that'll free the market up. It's seized right now; it's frozen. This will thaw it out and get it going again. He says that'll solve 60% of the problem ... and I think he's right.

That one accounting rule is what made Merrill Lynch sell out. That one accounting rule is what's driving other ones into the dirt. Would you rather let them change their accounting rule or loan them $700 billion for us to buyout their bad paper?

I'd rather them work their own crap out than change the accounting rule.

...Call your Congressman. Call your Senator. Tell them to change the mark-to-market accounting law and to extend insurance but extend no loans. If they extend loans - if they borrow the money on the national debt in order for us to all go into the mortgage business a trillion dollars - you're going to fire their butts and send them home.

I've talked with several people today, and it's on the tables in Washington, but it's not something you're going to see on TV. If you'll let your Congressmen know you know about this and that you'll vote against them if they don't vote to change the mark-to-market law and you'll contribute your money to make sure they never serve in office again. That's what you need to tell them early and often.

If you're pissed, this is the time to step up and do something about it, America! You can stop this! It's be railroaded down your throat, but you can stop them if you call them in mass starting now. READY ... SET ... GO!

That, my friends, is an epic rant.

BOOYAH!

2008-09-23T19:57:00.002-05:00

The FBI is now investigating AIG, Lehman Bros, Freddie and Fannie for fraud.

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

It's about time. Somebody needs to burn for this.

Farker In Congress

2008-09-23T15:27:00.001-05:00

This was posted on Drudge today, and I LOL'd. It's a congressperson at the bailout hearings today.

Sarah Palin's Email HAX0R3D!!1!

2008-09-17T13:22:00.006-05:00

Friggin' figures. The day I decide to take a breather from politics, somebody hacks Sarah Palin's email account. This is a big deal.

If you want an easier to understand version, try Gawker.

Here's the story so far (fairly nitty-gritty):

THE INCIDENT

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

- Very recently an anonymous poster on /b/ claimed to have hacked Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account.

- Sarah Palin used the e-mail address gov.sarah@yahoo.com for public communication. Several media outlets have confirmed this fact prior to this "incident".

SOURCE: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/palin-email-privilege/
SOURCE: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/15-7

- The e-mail address that the poster hacked was gov.palin@yahoo.com. This second e-mail address, previously unknown publicly, was used for private communcations.

- Yahoo e-mail addresses, unlike .gov e-mail addresses, are not subject to archiving and oversight. This fact has led to controversy from several sources, including fellow Republicans, asking her to release e-mails from her Yahoo account.

- The anonymous poster apparently panicked, and released the password onto /b/.

- Several other posters on /b/ took screenshots of the Inbox and various e-mails.

- Some of the screenshots reference several people in Alaska state government. One of these people is Sean Parnell, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska. Parnell mentions KFQD Radio's Dan Fagan, to whom he gave an interview about Palin's ACES initiative. Lt. Gov. Parnell's e-mail address is verified via an Alaska Republican Central Committee contact listing.

SOURCE: http://gov.state.ak.us/aces/
SOURCE: http://www.alaskarepublicans.com/centralcommittee.aspx

- One of the screenshots references the Yahoo account fek9wnr, Todd Palin, Sarah's husband who is at the heart of the controversy over her use of Yahoo e-mail for public dealings. The fek9wnr account was verified as being Todd Palin via a public posting to an automotive enthusiast BBS from August 2006.

SOURCE: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/centurionconversions/message/2309

- Several photographs of her family were allegedly downloaded from the e-mail account.

- A scan of profiles.yahoo.com put gov.palin@yahoo.com's profile update date at 04/05/2008, long before any VP nod was apparent. If this were a fake, the perpetrator would've had to travel into the past and create an account or be very good at guessing who the VP candidate would be 5+ months later, not to mention faking an overwhelming amount of e-mails, photographs, verified private cellphone numbers, and other information.

- A good samaritan in the /b/ thread reset the password account with the intention of handing it over to Palin, a process known on /b/ as "white knighting". This locked everyone else out of the account. The "white knight" posted a screenshot to /b/ of his pending message to one of Palin's contacts about how to recover the account, but made the critical mistake of not blanking out the new password he set.

- Several other people in the /b/ thread then apparently logged in using this new password, and they all attempted to reset the password at once, causing a security trap at Yahoo to automatically put a 24-hour lockout on the account.

THE AFTERMATH:

- Sarah Palin was likely notified of the breach by morning, as she had then deleted both the gov.sarah@yahoo.com address (the one subject to the disclosure controversy in the media) as well as the gov.palin@yahoo.com address (the one that was hacked).

- The outright deletion of the accounts can be verified by attempting to pull up the public profile on both addresses, which both existed during the incident.

SOURCE: http://profiles.yahoo.com/gov.palin
SOURCE: http://profiles.yahoo.com/gov.sarah

- Both accounts were deleted simultaneously, thus linking the publicly-known e-mail address "gov.sarah" and the private e-mail address "gov.palin".

- This outright deletion may have the potential to be viewed as destruction of evidence, considering that the e-mails in the now-deleted accounts are the subject of several legal controversies.

SOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303210_pf.html

- Several ZIP, RAR, and 7Z compilations of the downloaded screenshots, contacts, and photos were made available by anonymous individuals.

- 4chan is actively (some say over-actively) banning and deleting any posts of the screenshots of Palin's account, contacts, or family photos.

- An anonymous poster to 420chan, using information from the e-mail account's contact list, attempted to call Bristol Palin's cellphone number using the AT&T phone relay service. Several others allegedly called the cellphone number itself and got Bristol's voicemail. These posts were quickly deleted by 420chan moderators.

- A poster on /b/ did a lookup on the cellphone number which returned this information:

Type: Cell Phone
Provider: Dobson Cellular Systems
Location: Palmer, AK

- An anonymous individual has uploaded some of the screenshots to a photobucket account.

SOURCE: http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/pp134/anoncrack/

- A poster in /r9k/ e-mailed the compilations to ABC News producer Eamon McNiff who he/she claims is a personal contact of his/hers.

- Someone submitted a summary to Digg. As of this writing it has only 12 diggs.

SOURCE: http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/The_Incident_Did_4Chan_Anon_Hack_Palin_s_Yahoo_Email

- As of right now the media related to the incident sits mostly confined to 4chan and rapidshare, and thus either deleted, censored or under the radar.

For all the Obamatons saying she broke the law by using a personal email account to send gov't emails, here's a pro-tip: It isn't illegal under Alaska law. There's no law that was broken, no evidence of a cover up, nothing other than personal emails and draft documents that would be perfectly discoverable on the receiving end.

The idiots who did this are the ones who committed a crime - they violated federal law - the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030. That means that the Secret Service has jurisdiction here. That means prison time on conviction. That means that these morons are going to be in a world of hurt. Messing with Scientology is one thing. Invasion of privacy and CFAA charges are another.

Apparently, Bristol Palin keeps getting phone calls, too. Will watch with much interest.

UPDATE: Looks like WikiLeaks has a ton of corroborating evidence (if you can get it to load).

UPDATE II: Drudge, Foxnews, and CNN have it on thier sites.

McCain Camp responds:

"This is a shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law," campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. "The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these emails will destroy them. We will have no further comment."

The 5 Most Badass Presidents

2008-09-17T10:57:00.002-05:00

This post is a freakin' hoot. It details what Cracked.com takes to be the 5 greatest examples of badassery in US Presidential history. Interestingly, there's no one mentioned more recently than the 1960's. Says something, don't you think? Anyway, content warning for language, sexual innuendo, and all around testosterone dripping manliness. I think Andrew Jackson gets my vote for "Most Badass". Not just for his name, which in fact means "manly", but for this:

Andrew Jackson was the first president on whom an assassination attempt was made. A man named Richard Lawrence approached Jackson with two pistols both of which, for some reason, misfired. With the possibility of an assassination taken off the table, Jackson proceeded to beat Lawrence near death with his cane until Jackson's aides pulled him off the assassin.

No Politics Today (This One's For Dad)

2008-09-17T10:48:00.003-05:00

I gotta say, I'm already getting a little weary of "election stuff". I'm sure I'll get interested again soon, but for the time being, I taking a quick break from politics (for a couple of days).

So, I'll be posting a few things that have caught my fancy recently.

Last weekend, my dad (who is recovering from knee-replacement surgery) and I watched Katsushiro Otomo's masterpeice Steamboy. It's one of the best anime movies made, and rightfully deserves it's place as an animated masterpeice. It's simply beautiful to behold, has an entertaining and involved story, and characters that are simply a hoot (Scarlett's got to be my favorite). Anyway, in honor of my dad's first experience with anime, and the good time we had, I decided to post my favorite AMV of Steamboy, which sadly, I did not create. It's set to My Chemical Romance's Welcome To The Black Parade, which is just a fantastic song all around.

Ferguson Farking NAILS It

2008-09-11T08:48:00.003-05:00

Craig Ferguson has replaced The Moustache (John Stossel) as my man-crush. You see, Craig recently became a US citizen, and he loves this country. On his show last night, he laid out what is wrong with our media, our politics, and our public. This is solid, deep fried, sugar coated, GOLD:

"If [Walter Kronkite] were dead, he'd BE FURIOUS!"

And the money shot:

"Here is what I am saying to you: If you don't vote, you're a moron. "Not voting is a vote" - no it isn't!! Not voting is just being stupid. Voting is not sexy. Voting is not hip. It is not fashionable. It is not a movie. It is not a videogame. Frankly, voting is a pain in the ass. But here is a word, look it up, it's your duty to vote!"

And part 2:

YOU WILL WATCH EVERY SECOND OF THE VIDEO. You won't be sorry.

Homerun!

2008-09-04T08:26:00.002-05:00

Mrs. Palin's speech last night was spectacular. I won't repost the whole thing, but I think she scored some major points, adn really got some waning republicans fired up. My faovite part of the speech? This total pwnage:

"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Did I just get SCHOOLED on national TV?

And Sarah Keeps Gettin' Better...

2008-08-30T21:33:00.000-05:00

Take a look-see:

Wheee-ahhh!

My Friends, We've Got Ourselves A RACE!

2008-08-29T09:55:00.004-05:00

McCain picks Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska as his VP.

She's staunchly conservative, has 5 kids, hunts, fishes, and is all around pretty cool.

Even though it wasn't me, I have to admit: AWESOME choice.

An old white guy and a woman going up against a black dude and an old white guy. Now THAT's an American election for ya. This'll be interesting to watch. The dem's are already talking about her "lack of experience" as she's only been the Governor of Alaska for just over a year. What doesn't occur to them is 365 days is more than twice as long as the Obamessiah has been in the Senate (145 days). So maybe that's not a good argument. This will be so much fun to watch.

Some Thoughts On The Obamessiah's Oratory Last Night

2008-08-29T09:36:00.003-05:00

Great speeches do not a great president make. But apparently that's all people want these days. It was nothing but platitudes and unfulfillable promises. Such as:

More money for teachers:

Makes sense. You can obviously turn bad teachers into good ones by paying them more money...wait. Well, you can attract better teachers by offering more money....but the union won't let you fire the current teachers, so....wait. Anyway, it should be easy for the federal government to up their salaries since most teachers are federal employees.....uh, never mind.

Cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families:

Super. After all, we can't get rid of any of our wasteful spending, so we'll just tax the bejeezus out of the those nasty rich people. I mean, they didn't do anything to deserve their money anyway.

Make cars more affordable:

Because that pesky free-market thing just won't do!

Hope, change, changes, hopes, hopefully changing hopeful change:

I think I farted a rainbow.

This country deserves better than Obama OR McCain.

Sad News

2008-08-29T08:19:00.001-05:00

My friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I am NOT, in fact, John McCain's choice for Vice President.

I just wanted you to hear it from me first, so you're not suprised when he announces who he has picked. Thanks for all your support.

How Old Does This Make YOU Feel?

2008-08-19T16:03:00.003-05:00

Beloit College has published thier annual "Mindset List", a list of things the incomming class of college freshman "have always known." It's a really interesting insight into thier world, and a really tiring insight into mine and most of my readers (except ZACK! I kid, I kid). Anyway, here's the list (shamelessly ripped from thier site):

Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990.

For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.

Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.

Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.

They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.

GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.

Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.

Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.

Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce “tax revenue increases.”

Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.

Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.

All have had a relative--or known about a friend's relative--who died comfortably at home with Hospice.

As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.”

Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.

Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.

Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.

Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.

Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.

WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling. (Holy crap, has it been THAT long?)

Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.

The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.

Students have always been "Rocking the Vote.”

Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.

Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism. (For better or worse, right?)

We have always known that “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”

There have always been gay rabbis.

Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.

College grads have always been able to Teach for America.

IBM has never made typewriters.

Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.

McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.

They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.

There has always been Pearl Jam.

The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.

Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.

They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.

They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.

Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.

Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.

Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.

Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.

Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.

Their parents may have watched The American Gladiators on TV the day they were born.

Personal privacy has always been threatened.

Caller ID has always been available on phones.

Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.

The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.

They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”

Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.

Soft drink refills have always been free. (well, depends on where you eat)
They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”

Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.

Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.

The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.

The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.

98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.

Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.

Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.

Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.

There have always been charter schools.

Students always had Goosebumps.

Now, how old does that make you feel?

Michael Phelps Fun Facts

2008-08-13T14:00:00.004-05:00

In honor of the Almighty Phelps, the (admittedly not-as-Great-in-comparison)Moose brings you fun facts about Michael Phelps. Read, and be amazed:

Fact: Michael Phelps actually failed to swim the English Channel, but only because he kept swimming right past France.
Fact: Moses didn't part the Red Sea, it was Michael Phelps wake.
Fact: The whitewater kayaking team once trained in Michael Phelps wake. May they rest in peace.
Fact: A Michael Phelps flip-turn is the only phenomenon in the universe capable of canceling out the force of a Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick.
Fact: Michael Phelps once doggie-paddled up Niagra Falls
Fact: Michael Phelps doesn't get wet while swimming. The water 'just' avoids and moves around him to not get him upset.
Fact: Michael Phelps can walk on water, but he's too modest, so he swims instead.
Fact: Global warming is actually the planet's attempt at appeasing Michael Phelps by giving him more water to swim in.
Fact: Shamu is free to leave SeaWorld at anytime, but refuses to go back into open water due to a gambling debt in which he owes Michael Phelps $20.
Fact: A Michael Phelps flip turn produces 1.21 Gigawatts.
Fact: And if they increased the pool length by just 5 more meters he would reach the necessary 88 mph for time travel.
Fact: Michael Phelps can swim through pack ice. Take that, Shackleton.
FACT: Michael Phelps won a gold medal in the Phelps-athalon. That's where you swim the 400 meter freestyle, eat a 3000 calorie breakfast, and wrestle a crocodile. Simultaneously.
Fact: Cats actually like water. They're just too afraid of Michael Phelps to go in.
Fact: US food prices are up because Michael Phelps was training for the Olympics
Fact: Whales beach themselves to escape the humiliation of Michael Phelps outswimming them.
Fact: Failboat was caused by Michael Phelps.
Fact: The real reason Congress won't allow off-shore drilling is because Michael Phelps needs the entire U.S. coastline to swim his warm-up laps.

More to come, I'm sure.

That's Probably Not Good...

2008-08-08T10:37:00.002-05:00

Russia has invaded Georgia, a democratic country, and the two countries are now at war.

Via Reuters:

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russia sent forces into Georgia on Friday to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region and Georgia's pro-Western president said the two countries were at war...

...A senior Russian military commander said parts of Russia's 58th army were approaching the rebel capital, where fighting raged between Russian-backed separatists and Georgian forces sent in on Friday to seize it.

Seeing as this is the opening day of the Olympics, it will be interesting to see what the media decides to cover: a new war or the sporting event intended to promote peace between countries. Eh.

Dang It, I Was Wrong

2008-07-29T21:41:00.001-05:00

It appears I guessed incorrectly. Johnny Depp has signed to be The Madhatter in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.(reported here earlier) Oh well, it's a perfect fit for him.

A New Contender For Greatest Commercial EVAR

2008-07-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

I give you, MR. T!

Snickers TV Commercial - Get Some Nuts - video powered by Metacafe

For Snickers, no less. Enjoy the win.