The Slap Chop: It's not just a product, it's a way of life.
"(Vince, of Sham-Wow & Slap Chop fame) Shlomi told cops he paid (former South Beach prom queen Sasha) Harris about $1000 in cash after she 'propositioned him for straight sex.' Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly 'bit his tongue and would not let go.' Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue." [more]
Monday, March 30, 2009
It's confirmed; there are no more heroes.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
I bring to you ... Random Fact of the Day!!
The slipcovers on DVDs, that often feature redundant spec info & artwork, are called "o-rings."
O-rings.
This has been your Random Fact of the Day.
Book Recommendation
Do you want to know why Josh and I are at each others' throats all the time about politics?
Then you need to read Richard Brownstein's The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.
The book was released in late 2007, so it doesn't discuss the 2008 elections very much (only in a "what-if" sense). Brownstein is a former chief political correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and, while most of the historical chapters are correct (I have a quibble with some of his ideas about the 1940s and 1950s), the chapters on ideological polarization since the 1960s and the conservative takeover of Congress in 1994 seem to be very persuasive.
He basically argues that the population has "sorted itself out" to where liberals and conservatives are easily identifiable and show similar cultural traits. In many cases, these people dominate their state, making most states non-competitive in the presidential elections. 2008 shot that out of the water, but it did so when a president ran on a "nonpartisan" platform of promising to end the mess in Washington. Of course, he didn't do that (and you can blame it on whichever party you want to, it really makes no difference for this argument) and if it doesn't change soon Brownstein's thesis will come back into play for 2010.
A really good book and a very clear description of the changes in American politics in the last 20 years.
Oh shit moment #4080
"Ebola hemorrhagic fever, seen mostly only in Africa, is one of the world's most feared diseases. It begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Days later, some victims begin bleeding through the nose, mouth and eyes. Depending on the strain of virus, it can kill up to 90 percent of victims." [more]
Friday, March 27, 2009
Osbournes Reloaded
Seriously?! A variety show? In 2009? Are we learning nothing from these harsh economic timesTM?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Brooklyn - Week One
After I arrived in Brooklyn last Sunday, Buck informed me that he had a bet with one of his co-workers. His co-worker was convinced that I, being a new to this city, would have contact with the police during my first week. Not that I was going to knock over a liquor store or whatnot, just that I'd do something that conflicts with the many, many, laws that New York City uses to keep 9 million people in line on the daily. Considering that I drive an old BMW with Tennessee license plates, that would make me an extra special target. Especially with New York's alternate-side-of-the-street parking, wherein one day a week for about an hour and a half you have to move your car to allow the street sweepers to clean the gutters. (It has to be an uphill battle because these streets are filthy.) Well, I've been here a week and I'm clean, so Buck wins the bet. Since that's over, I'm going out today and robbing a newsstand, just on principle.
I think I need a cowboy hat to wear when I go out and maybe some boots and a big fuckin' belt buckle. I didn't expect to be the type to represent the South, but for some reason this place makes me want to act like a redneck for shits and giggles. "Howdy, y'all. Hey, pardner, where's the nearest train station? Much obliged, fella. Have a good 'un."
Before Saturday, I have never seen anyone stand in the middle of four lanes of traffic and look a) completely unconcerned that tons of metal are hurtling directly at them and b) offended that oncoming cars are honking at them. This person did not appear to be a standard crazy homeless person. She looked like she has a home and a job and possibly even offspring, which is good news for the next generation.
At some point I fully expect to have some ridiculous experience that defines life in the capitol of the world, but the first week has been fairly standard. I haven't done a damn thing except watch a few NCAA tournament games and go out drinking a couple of times.
Jake and I did trek to Philadelphia for a show Friday, which was kind of an adventure. It took probably an hour and a half to get across the Verrazano and Goethels Bridges into New Jersey, which for reference is roughly the same distance as from ETSU to the Super Wal-Mart on State of Franklin. It was rush hour and that's a fucking lie of a term. While in New Jersey we had to turn around in a mall parking lot which had a traffic light at a little intersection and being a hillbilly unaccustomed to the idea of a fucking traffic light in a goddamn mall parking lot, I wound up running the fuck out of the red light and was almost t-boned by a bus. We survived the trip and ate genuine Philly Cheesesteaks at Pat's King of Steaks, which was worth the trip in freezing cold weather in a car that doesn't have a heater.
One thing I noticed when I came up to New Jersey with T.J. a few years ago for those Dead concerts was that they love road signs up here. Back home you're fully expected not to be retarded, which is quite the lofty expectation given the gene pool, but in these parts they give you a lot of helpful hints. My favorite so far are the "no left turn" signs at the end of merging ramps on the Interstate. In circumstances under which you making left turn would require being so drunk and/or stupid as to be unable to comprehend the sign, the authorities let you know: no left turn directly into oncoming, high-speed traffic.
I think today I'm going to the bank and maybe do some aimless wandering, but damned if it isn't still pretty goddamn cold here. I have a program on my PC that gives me weather updates and I still have Morristown listed on it, where it's currently 66 degrees and clear. Compared to 37 degrees here. Goddamn it.
RIP Abismo Negro
In the ongoing attempts to keep up with all manner of wrestling deaths, and to also reflect my love of the lucha to the libre, I am sad to report that Andrés González, who ushered in the character Abismo Negro, passed away on March 22, 2009. He was 37.
Near as I can tell, from the Spanish news article accompanying the news of his tragic demise, Abismo was on a transit bus (wonder if he was wearing his mask? ... there's no word one way or the other ...) when he demanded that the driver let him out. The driver saw Abismo as being agitated and in a "nervous crisis" ... a panic attack? Abismo was then apparently lost, as he texted his wife a message to that effect. Then, one thing leads to another, and boom! Authorities find Abismo Negro floating face down in a local river, dead.
Obviously, nefarious circumstances have NOT been ruled out.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Moving Still Fucking Sucks
In December, during his last trip to Morristown, Palumbo made a strong case for why I needed to get off my ass and move to Brooklyn. Jake and Buck were short a roommate, leaving a room available and I wouldn't be responsible for any deposits or whatnot, so it was the perfect opportunity. Just load up the necessities and go.
After combining my tax return with money I had put away over the preceding months I decided it was time to do it. I would rent a small cargo van and make the trip. I had planned to leave my car at my parents' house, since cars are a luxury and not a necessity in New York City. I also didn't know if my 1988 BMW 528e with going on three-hundred thousand miles would enjoy a 700 mile, 11 hour trip.
Problem is, I couldn't find anyone that rented a cargo van for a one-way trip from Morristown, Tennessee to Brooklyn, New York. You can rent full size trucks, but I didn't need and couldn't budget in an 18' U-Haul truck. At that point I concluded that my car was road-worthy enough to make it to Brooklyn because it has no major issues aside from a small oil leak. Change the oil and the air filter and it's ready to go.
The Weather Channel website has a useful feature for Interstate driving trips where you input various stops along your route and the time that you expect to be there and it gives you a forecast. At this point I'm about a week into March and planning on heading out on the 12th. As the 12th approaches, it begins to look like the 12th will be colder and rainier than previously announced, so I move the trip back three days to the 15th, which will be dryer and warmer. A key issue in not driving the BMW was initially that the heater core is busted and would cost around six-hundred American dollars to replace, mostly in labor costs as the heater core is behind the glove compartment in the dashboard.
I plan to head out around 3 AM on the 15th so that I arrive at mid-day. I'd stay up all night Friday the 13th until around 4 PM Saturday the 14th, just after the UNC-Florida State basketball game, sleep until 11 PM Saturday and head out around 3 AM. Unfortunately I had planned the time of the trip before the "spring forward" aspect of daylight savings time. I don't see particularly well when driving at night, and in order to minimize the amount of time driving in the dark, I decide to leave at 4 AM. I make this decision on Saturday at about 3 PM and decide to stay up for the rest of Saturday, get some sleep from 9 PM Saturday until 3 AM Sunday. It's also worth noting that I had only slept for about four hours on Thursday and had actually slept for about three hours Saturday morning. So when I left Morristown at 4:20 AM Sunday morning, I had only gotten about 11 hours sleep in the previous three days.
On Saturday I loaded up the BMW with as much as I could; clothes, some books, the PC, two guitars, various odds and ends. It was raining all day Saturday, but the forecast was still expecting the rain to clear out overnight. When Lewis Black says "meterologist" is Latin for "liar", he isn't joking. It was still raining when I woke up Sunday morning and the radar predicted that the storm system that had unexpectedly moved into eastern Tennessee from Louisiana would continue moving in a northeasterly direction along the I-81 corridor that I was planning to drive through. It rained, steady and hard, without stopping, from the time I left Morristown until I crossed into West Virginia some five hours later. In fact, I managed to travel a distance of nearly seven-hundred miles through seven states in approximately eight hours of daylight without actually seeing the sun. I didn't see the sun until a few hours after I arrived in Brooklyn.
Aside from spending five hours driving a heavily loaded car through a pouring rain, wishing badly that it would stop raining and warm up, the trip itself was uneventful. I made it to Brooklyn in one piece, loaded on coffee and energy drinks, and I'm still in the process of preparing myself for the adventure of living in Brooklyn. We'll see how this goes.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Financial news: Companies that might be soon for the dirt nap
Of bankruptcy, closure, and all that.
The recent news about Six Flags caught my eye. One reason is that I have a season pass to Carowinds, and I'm very interested in keeping an eye on my investments. Not like that snazzy new computer I bought at Circuit City with the five year warranty ... HAW! Joke's on me!
But one of the things that interested me about the article linked above was the segment somewhere in the middle about companies that have recently filed for Chapter 11. Along with the aforementioned Circuit City - closing its doors for good as of last weekend - there were some very interesting names on that list. And in the interest of the ever shifting tides of internet reporting, where articles are here today, gone tomorrow, I'm going to list those out, but feel free to check out the original article.
- Magna Entertainment, whose operations include Baltimore's famous Pimlico racetrack that hosts the vaunted Preakness race;
- RV maker Monaco Coach (they make an RV called the Beaver);
- Engagement ring chain Robbins Brothers (apparetnly, ain't no one getting married, which is funny, because recently I've seen two news bytes on the set about how no one's getting divorced in these harsh economic times);
- Joe's Sports & Outdoor (never heard of 'em);
- Ritz Camera Centers, which operates under such names as Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras, Inkley's and The Camera Shops;
- Philadelphia Newspapers, the parent company of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News;
- General Motors' Saab subsidiary;
- Trump Entertainment, casino & resorts;
- Peanut Corp. of America, the company at the heart of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and may have killed 9 people;
- Midway Games Inc., of "Mortal Kombat" fame;
- S&K Famous Brands menswear;
- Bruno's Supermarkets (never heard of 'em);
- Housewares and jewelry retailer Fortunoff;
- Spectrum Brands, whose products include Rayovac batteries and Remington razors;
- Cardboard box materials producer Smurfit-Stone;
- Chicago-based suitmaker Hartmarx Corp.;
- Minnesota's largest newspaper, the Star Tribune;
- Black Angus Steakhouse;
- Technology giant Nortel Networks;
- Goody's clothing store, which will probably have already been shut down by the time you read this;
- Gottschalks retailers;
- LyondellBasell Chemical Industries;
- China and crystal maker Waterford Wedgwood;
- and, also listed in the article, is the late Circuit City.
What stands out when I review this list? The remarkable number of companies that deal in what I'd call frivolous consumption items. Two gambling spots, several jewelers, crystal and housewears manufacturers, suitmakers & retailers, and that RV company ... those account for well over half of the list. Seems that conspicuous consumption is down; if I didn't know better - and this dips way farther into the deep end of the conspiracy & paranoia pool - I'd swear the upper class were stockpiling and saving in preparation for a pending class war.
On that list, however, are some companies that are quite lamented, once news of their financial situation has come to light. On that list: Midway Games; Goody's, where I was able to pick up some work clothes when the only other option was (pbbbt) Old Navy (pbbbt) (which has actually become conspicuous by the absence of their ads on the television, which were at one point inescapable and mindnumbing as fuck); and of course, Circuit City's demise sucks, as they were a nice alternative to Best Buy, if I was looking for an item and Best Buy didn't have it in stock.
Of special note is that peanut place, since their position on the Chapter 11 list is due not necessarily to the harsh economic times, but to their own unique fucked-uppedness. Kill 9 people, go out of business; sounds pretty "cause and effect" to me.
Now, for a juxtaposition, I dug out an old article that I'd saved for myself to use when charting the wave of the recent financial downturn. The article - 15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009 - put Six Flags on the list.
Read the article for further info, but here for the sake of convenience do I post the companies listed:
Rite Aid - Claire's Stores - Chrysler - Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group - Realogy Corp - Station Casinos - Loehmann's Capital Corp - Sbarro - Six Flags - Blockbuster - - Krispy Kreme - Landry's Restaurants - Sirius Satellite Radio - Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings - BearingPoint
One thing that came to mind while reading this article was, how is this line of reporting good for consumers, good for the businesses, and good for the economy all the way around? Yes, it's important to notify investors of potential pitfalls, but say I'm Joe Average (but you can call me by my middle name, Above, HAW!) and I read that a company is in a slump. That seems to (however erroneously) telegraph that the writing's on the wall for that company, and in these days of companies shuttering their doors, I'm probably going to seek alternative, and presumably more stable, businesses into whose goods I can put my money. It's like when you're a kid & you hear that Mountain Dew makes you sterile; you're going to at least consider drinking Mello Yello instead.
And then, consider a company like Six Flags - where increasingly disgruntled employees are in charge of vehicular amusements whizzing 100s of feet in the air at speeds unsafe for any sudden stops or derailments? If I know THAT company is laying off staff, I'm even less inclined to go there with my dollar. Thus, less money goes into the company, and they slide even further into debt, bankruptcy, and ultimately liquidation. Competition dwindles, and then the bulk of interests in particular business avenues only rest on the shoulders of very few businesses that cater to the consumer. Should the economic hardships continue, what then happens to those companies left standing, when and if even they fail to bring the financial chops to the table?
Interesting post-script to the Circuit City thing: Here we are, a week removed from the closure of their doors. A quick trip through the doors of Best Buy, right across the street in beautiful Greenville, revealed absolutely shit-all in the way of their DVD selection ... unless of course your interest is solely in what films have come out in the last 5 years. My first reaction was, "I wonder if Circuit ... City ... has a ... copy ... um, yeah ... noooo ...," and I shuffled out the door, mumbling to myself about the rebellion of the middle class & lamenting that I can't find a single copy of "Let the Right One In."
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A legitimate question
So I was wondering...
Asher Roth. Why?
(I refuse to use the music tag for this post for a reason)
Monday, March 09, 2009
I watched the Watchmen
And here’s what I thought about it. Assume spoilers.
Look at any review for the "Watchmen" film that was just released, and you’re definitely going to find some very familiar themes, especially regarding the movement of the comic to a film medium. Long has this story been considered beyond the capability of film translation; credit this to its deep narrative, its focus, its shifts in thematic approach, or just its subject matter, i.e. no one wants to see their superheroes sullied with human fallibilities. At least, that was the thinking in 1985.
I sat in the audience at a showing of "Watchmen" last Saturday, and I have to say that I’m divided on what to think of the film itself, but I will go on record as saying that "Watchmen" will, at some point in the future when a bit of hindsight can lend some clarity to how the film is viewed, be one of the most important films when discussing literature-to-film adaptation. Minus some very marked departures from the graphic work, mostly in the ways of dismissed or minimized subplots, the movie was a very faithful adaptation, and I dare say that this is probably as good as any filmmaker could do, given the weighty subject matter.
I do want to discuss two major differences between the film and the comic that I have issue with. I preface these comments with the admission that I’m by no means a fanboy who picks apart every difference between film and written word, and I’m not going on some tirade or call to arms a posse for Zach Snyder’s head on a stake. Yes, the ending of the film is different from that of the book (and really, would a giant squid monster have made any more sense than if they just pinned all of these shenanigans on Dr. Manhattan?). Yes, the film sacrifices some of the subtleties of the book, while at the same time adding subtleties to its overall message. But these things are to be expected when filming literature; seriously, Frankenstein the book was very different from Frankenstein the 1931 Karloff film.
The birth of Rorschach, a very poignant moment in the Watchmen story, is mishandled, in my opinion. It’s understated, but someone who’s read the story may pick up on the difference right away. In the book, Rorschach is handling a family’s kidnapping case, when he stumbles upon the kidnapper’s home; here, he finds that the stolen child has been murdered, and her body has been disposed of by way of dismemberment and her parts have been fed to the kidnapper’s dogs. When the kidnapper intrudes on Rorschach’s investigation, Rorschach in turn is confronted by the indecency that man is capable of, and the indignation with which man views life, innocence and justice. The film actually goes one up on the written work during the buildup of Rorschach’s point of no return; the criminal first expresses faux innocence (“I didn’t do nothing”), then anger that Rorschach killed his dogs, then he confesses his crime and demands to be turned over to the police (from whom, at the tipping point, the kidnapper realizes would grant him a leniency that Rorschach will not), before finally laying blame for his actions to "an illness ... I’m sick," a common tactic of many criminals who seek to shift responsibility of their behaviors away from themselves.
Rorschach has none of this. In the film, he takes the hatchet that the kidnapper used on his victim and hacks away at the criminal’s skull. In the book, he cuffs the kidnapper to a permanent fixture in the home, gives the hatchet to the crook, and sets fire to the house around him; the idea is that, in order to save himself, the criminal will have to hack his own arm off, and therefore Rorschach has in essence given the kidnapper a better chance than the murdered child had. “Rorschach died that day.” But the former scenario lends a lot in the way of inconsistency to Rorschach’s character; Rorschach engages in point blank, first degree murder, putting him on no greater level than his felonious victim. The character of Rorschach, up to this point in the film, has been developed as being far greater a dispenser of justice than this scene makes him out to be; the scene in question is not the birth of Rorschach, but rather the birth of Mindless Punisher Clone Vigilante #4080 from the Image Comics Character Bible circa 1992-94. However, the Rorschach of the comic is the embodiment of true vigilantism: An individual imposing his own moral codes upon what he views as a lawless civilization, and, in dispensing said justice, he does not go beyond the bounds of what the law allows. Hence, criminals are injured, crippled, demoralized, deconstructed, and incapacitated, retired from their criminal careers in a method far better than apprehension and incarceration could impose. In the birth scene in the book, Rorschach merely apprehends the kidnapper; it’s the kidnapper who is responsible for his own demise, by not having the temerity to sever his own arm in an effort to save himself. This is the kind of ambiguous morality that is imposed by the killer in the film “Saw;” in fact, this entire scenario could be said to have inspired the main crux of the first film in that franchise, and, for this reason, could explain why this direction for the scene was excised.
On the subject of Rorschach himself, there comes a point in the film where Nite Owl, a former long-time partner of Rorschach’s, confronts Rorschach about his approach and outlook on life and those around him. In keeping with character, Nite Owl then apologizes for his outburst, an exchange which adds a nice nuance to the scene as it is a departure from the origin material. However, Rorschach again breaks from his heretofore established form and bonds with Nite Owl, referring to him as a good friend, commenting on Nite Owl’s integrity, and shaking his hand. The scene again paints Rorschach out of character; the theme of Rorschach’s character is his sharp juxtaposition with the character of Dr. Manhattan. The two represent very distinct polar ends of a spectrum of human identification. Dr. Manhattan, godlike in his abilities, omniscient and nigh-omnipotent, grows farther and farther removed from humanity with each passing moment; he laments his evolution into something more, but acknowledges that despite all of his power, he’s powerless to stop what he must become.
Rorschach, on the other hand, benefits from the least in powers and abilities from all the characters in the story. Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre, the Comedian: All have some ability, some skill, or some advanced device that sets them apart from the rest of society. Rorschach has none of these, save that he is the only character that obscures his whole face with a mask; when he refers to the mask as his “face,” he’s not far from true. But it’s this departure that puts him just as much at odds with humanity as Dr. Manhattan. Of course, Rorschach is far from godlike; in fact, he’s just as human, if not more so, than the poor meatbags that the heroes are defending and protecting. He’s the most like society, and yet he’s the farthest removed ... except, of course, for the most godlike.
Inconsistencies with the most iconic character of this epic tale aside, the film addresses the story’s main point quite well, i.e. what would superheroes in the real world be like? And the heroes are extreme examples of the society around them: Amoral, antisocial, asocial, developmentally or emotionally stunted, fetishists for violence or roleplay, narcissists, nihilists, and humiliatingly insecure without their powers, their masks, their costumes that they see as imbuing them with the permission to impose their moral codes on humanity under the guise of "justice."
The film lends voice to the social moorings of today quite well, despite being set in 1985 ... or maybe because it’s set in 1985. This is a point that I find missing in most reviews, be they positive or negative; it appears that the majority of reviewers find that the setting of 1985 is alienating, or that the Cold War is too anachronistic a topic to apply to our current understanding of the world around us, here in the much more enlightened twenty-first century. And yet, in this alternate 1985 America, the World Trade Center towers stand boldly in the background as Ozymandias holds a press conference. When Ozymandias unleashes the final part of his plan – the annihilation of millions in a concentrated worldwide attack – it is to bring the world together, not destroy it. He’s right when he says of himself, “I’m not some comic book villain.” No, he’s something much more: He’s a businessman. As the heroes survey the damage caused by Ozymandias’ machinations, and time has passed with the beast of war pacified, Veidt Industries – Ozymandias’ company – is handling the cleanup of the disaster. The only thing missing from this doomsday scenario are the American flag car decals, Haliburton, an invasion into a country that had no involvement in Ozymandias’ plan whatsoever, and young men and women dying in a desert over a lie. I wonder if Zach Snyder may be a member of the 9/11 Truth Movement?
Like I said earlier, this film warrants hearty discussion in the realm of film adaptations of literature. Sure, there’s the comic book movies like “Spider-Man” and “X-Men,” and “Batman” and “Superman,” all of which brought concepts and characters to the screen to be enjoyed in ways that were thought far out of reach. Those dealt in light, popcorn fare, with little to say on subjects beyond what we can get from any other horror, science fiction, action-adventure, or comedy film. “Watchmen” does something a lot more complicated, I believe; it takes a dense, introspective narrative from a medium that still struggles to this day to find a sense of legitimacy, adapts it to a different medium (and therefore to a different type of audience), and makes the message fit the time, such that all that was topical when the story came out is just as much an issue today.
Some of the film’s message could be difficult to grasp for those who haven’t read the story on which it’s based; those individuals should be in turn inspired to pick up the original story, get brought up to speed, then rewatch the film. The story is much more than “good guy vs. bad guy;” it’s “us vs. them,” with a scorecard that seems to change with each scene. In other words, it’s more like living in the real world.
Three count.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
I am truly saddened
I am completely shocked and appalled.
Someone who I knew from back home invited me to participate in a fantasy baseball league. It wasn't a formal invitation, it was actually quite secretive. Along the lines of "don't tell anyone I invited you, but sign up." You see, I always play through to the end of the baseball season when others usually drop off the face of the earth by the 8th week.
Well, I signed up. I don't want to go into anymore details than that, but suffice it to say that Grady would be proud.
Today, I was removed from the league.
Saddened. Truly saddened.
Oh well. Life goes on and we are still better.
For your consideration: Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq by Michael Scheuer
"When U.S. power is projected after the next attack by al-Qaeda inside the United States, the best way to honor the attack's casualties will be a military response that obliterates something that is prized by the enemy-not an improvised bier of flowers, silly placards, whining prayers, and flickering candles. America today would be a far more credible military power and a far safer place if, instead of endless, puerile bickering over what sort of monument should be built at the site of the World Trade Center, we had fire-bombed Kabul and Khandahar, demolished whatever ruins were left, and sown salt over the length and witch of both sites. That would have been a proper monument to the dead of 9/11, and one that would have made their surviving countrymen safer"
[This is the follow up book to Scheuer's Imperial Hubris and to say it's hawkish would be like calling Josef Stalin strict. To me the most interesting aspect of the book is that it's not really driven by Republican or Democrat politics. It's simply written from an America-First academic whose skills and world view were shaped by 22 years in the CIA as an analyst. Scheuer was the head of the bin-Laden desk at CIA until 1999 and recounts with as much specificity as is allowed the 12 times from 1998 to 1999 that his co-workers presented the military with opportunities to kill bin-Laden only to be denied by the Clinton Administration at every turn. The Bush Administration gets just as much derision though for its failure not only to wipe out the Taleban, and most of al-Qaeda's leadership in Tora Bora Afghanistan in 2001, but also for taking us to Iraq with the goal of occupation. Whether you agree with the author or not, his ideas are always worth thinking about. He is one of the authors of the much maligned CIA rendition program, and in favor of greatly diminishing our ties with Israel. I would recommend this book mostly because we are about to pump up the jam in Afghanistan. We will have about 50,000 troops there to try and accomplish something the Soviets couldn't do with 150,000. ]
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Gluttony.
Back in the day, Buck, The Reverend and myself used to joke about getting a pizza topped with little McDonalds hamburgers...kind of an inside joke, but basically a metaphor for un-necessary decadence.
Well, a Brooklyn hottie who's friends with the crew forwarded me This Is Why You're Fat.com
My favorite? Hands down, first item on Page 5...the pizza topped with Col. Sanders Gravy...while most of the other entries are far more ridiculous, this one wins because I would legitimately eat that shit. Possibly in the near future.
The Roots
I enjoy "The Roots" music. I saw recently where they are the band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I thought that was rather odd. Do you consider that the Roots has sold out? OR do you think it is a good move for the group?
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Freaky fucking fish found!
On today's Cryptozoological Corner:
"Its eyes can actually rotate within its 'skull,' so the transparency allows the wary swimmer to keep a literal eye on happenings above it, as well as to the sides and directly in front." [more]
I'm of the impression that the quotation marks around the word "skull" in that snippet are wholly unnecessary, because even a skull that's transparent is a skull, not a "skull."
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