If Ben Did What I think he Did.........

"I have to fulfill a promise to an old friend" I hope Desmond kicked his lying ass. I really hope Penny is ok, after all it took for Des to get to her. How many times now has Ben gotten beaten by someone? He better not have, is all I am saying. But Faraday's Mom did say the island was not done with Des, so......That is all.

My Oscar Picks!

Um, since I have only seen Slumdog and the Dark Knight I feel I have as much knowledge on the matter as that host who replaced Ebert on At the Movies. The Dark Knight was only nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger and some other minor stuff so it doesn't really count. Since Madea Goes Wherever wasn't nominated, here are my choices. So for Best Picture: Slumdog! I loved the color, the soundtrack, the actors and did I mention Frida Pinto? The way the story is told through flashbacks is totally amazing. I also dug the host of Indian Millionaire, he was cool as was the Lieutenant in the police scenes. This is the first movie since American Beauty where I had no idea going in what it was about and walked out feeling really, really good.

Best Director: Danny Boyle, who did masterful work with Sunshine, Trainspotting (Begbie!), a movie I did not see, but heard is awesome; Millions, and 28 Days Later (liked the sequel better though, Begbie!).

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger! I didn't see any of the other nominees' movies and I really liked him in Brokeback. That's it. I saw nothing else and I hate wrestling wife beaters of teenage fantasy Guess models. So fuck that guy, and his face hasn't been beaten in enough. Should be fun.

I give up.

Yep, I am sure the top cartoon has absolutely nothing to do with the racist caricature that the cowards have been putting forth for decades. I had a much angrier post in mind but what's the point? They will always be this way and no amount of derision or understanding will change that. A major newspaper showing a shooting of a monkey (Obama is the face of the stimulus package) by two white cops. It is hopeless. It really is. Yes, I am aware an ape was shot yesterday for ripping the hands off of a poor woman. Plausible deniability.

BATTIER!!!!!!!!

Oh man. I read, over the space of the last two days, a pretty good (but very long) article on Chris Battier of the (who knew?) Houston Rockets. I hate to say it, but I am starting to have a grudging respect for him now. He seems to be a defensive stopper and........ah fuck it. I still can't get out of my head the memory of that douchebag my friends and I used to play outdoor basketball with who screamed the title of the post anytime he was near the ball or shooting or breathing. He wore his baseball cap while playing, backwards naturally. I don't think I played enough with him to engender my total annoyance turning into a hard pick where hard feelings are had, but man was he a tool. I am sure one of those tools who never was closer than a thousand miles to Duke but rooted for them anyway as he had to settle for Michigan Tech. The Notre Dame of college basketball, I tell you.

But any way, Battier speaks about how since he was bi-racial the White kids at his school didn't know what to do with him and the Black kids in the hood thought he played White. The article then kind of illustrates that is still kind of the way it is for him in the NBA now. I almost felt, something like pity and understanding. But then I realize he probably makes over 10 mil. a year and can probably spend the whole off season in Jamaica crying his eyes out while having almost no stats, whatsoever. He should have went to Kentucky and then I would probably emphathize more and I would be screaming his name as I took it hard to the hoop, with my hat on backwards.

Generalissimo

No comment really, I just have a vision that Gracie's Abuela will mistake me in a similar way whenever I visit El Salvador.

It Isn't Right Black or White.

I am watching Henry Louis Gates' "African American Lives" right now on PBS. It is a show that traces Black peoples' genealogy throughout their history. He is a preeminent Black historian who just found out he is essentially half white. He is so disappointed at this news. "I have the blues", he laments, "And can I still have the blues?". Because, you see, he is half white and feels he has lost something of himself. He even wonders if he will get only half reparations. Damn fool. Not so much for this show, but for an article I read in Time a few weeks ago. That lame "10 Questions from readers" thing they do. One of the questions was, "Is it right for African-Americans to use the N-Word?" He replies that he has heard Black people saying it since he was young and doesn't have a problem with Black people saying that word. Not offensive at all. But not when a non-Black person uses it. Then it is offensive. Stupid ass. I have heard the arguments, it is like gay people calling themselves faggots and the like, takes away the stigma and all that. Fuck that, I cringe when I hear Black people saying it just as much as when a White person says it. We should be beyond that and it makes people sound really fucking ignorant whenever it is said. Not that I give two shits, but it is also a common lament among the casual racists I have been around for them to complain that, "They can use that word, why can't we?" That should be enough right there. And this guy is the "preeminent" African American historian of our times.

There will be blood.

And probably tears too. I just ordered this a few days ago off of Amazon in it's graphic novel form. I gave up on the whole WW2 aliens book after the second novel because I am too busy with school and they were starting to get monotonous. I enjoyed the historical aspects, but the aliens were too human and too easily outwitted.

This fairly new comic is apparently going to be made into a movie in the next year. It deals with this group of government modified, weaponized and armored pets that are able to speak and kick a ton of ass. But basically it seems to be The Incredible Journey with Ultra Violence. I have a bad feeling it is not going to end well in the non spoiler reviews I have read, as it deals with these poor guys just wanting to get home. Whatever home is to them as they are all former pets and all have the distinct personalities of their species. Meaning, I think, that the cat will be a dick, the rabbit is just clueless, and the puppy just.....wants to be "gud", and return to his human kids. All while the Armed Forces are trying to destroy them to prevent the knowledge of their existence getting out.

Ramble on.

This is my lame "quick thoughts" post. I was clueless to the fact that raging wildfires were such an issue in Australia. Also, a policy there that is basically GTFO or "Good Luck Suckers". That picture above warms my cold, dead heart. But the cynic in me mews that it is probably just Photoshop. Speaking of which, baseball. Nice job, omnipotent union. Awesome, Bud Selig. So I guess the past 10 years didn't happen, huh? Baseball being a numbers game, and all that. The "Game" seems very broken and nobody wants to do anything to clean it up.  I am just waiting for the other (Ken Griffey) shoe to drop as the defenders are losing players to point to as clean. I know! I know! No one was. Not the stars, not the fringe hanging by their fingernails guys, no one. It was an epidemic. How's not having a salary cap working out for you? That is so awesome that the rest of the league is a farm team for the Yankees and Mets. Hard caps mean competitive balance, but why make your sport better, idiots.
I was reading Simmons' last column, and it was pretty good, and yes this is the worst winter ever for Wisconsin sports. No Packers in the playoffs (get used to that, a 3-4 defense with no personnel for it? Really?). Badger football is a joke and will continue to be as long as we have the most overrated coach's minion keeping us in that exciting 1950 style of offense. But what happened to my Bo? I think it maybe has to do with the fact that usually there is a superman (Tucker, Harris, that dude from Australia)surrounded by "hard working", "gritty", "strong motor" guys and that makes for an awesome team. We have plenty of the latter, but Landry is just not an offensive go-to guy, mainly a great defender. But as I was reading the "Sports Guy" list the NBA untradeables, I realized I had no idea who most of these guys were. Maybe it has to do with not having cable. Maybe I soured after the Mavs got totally jobbed in the Finals in '05, and the referee cover up from last year. Maybe I still have a hangover from Lord Football. I was reading the list and I kept having to go to the links to see what team they were on. Like this Granger dude from Indiana, where did he come from to average almost 30 a game? Oh, I didn't even know Jermaine O'Neal(sucker puncher) was no longer on the Pacers, or now for that matter, the Raptors as of today. I haven't seen a Bucks game since they used to be shown locally three years ago. It sucks for me, I know, as the NBA seems to be pretty great now with some unbelievable stars. I also may have to eat my prediction that Kevin Love is going to be fail. He is putting up pretty good numbers in a very hard NBA position.
I really wanted to watch the NC/Duke game. I had to hold my nose and pick root for NC as I watched "Gamecast". I hate Roy Williams and loved how his loaded Kansas teams always underachieved. But there is no way I would ever go for the Notre Dame of college basketball. I am picking Oklahoma to win in the tournament, I hope that they face NC at some point. Would be an excellent game.

Hey Barack, they don't want to play with you. It will never work, Judd Gregg did a Night of the Long Knives on you. To quote the original in Manhunter, "Do you see?" Well, look what has happened every, single, time the Administration has put their hand out in peace. I have said before that they would rather have us eating out of used tins by the train tracks than have a Democrat save the day or have their failed ideology challenged. Teh Repugs keep proving that they take their orders from Rush, and good on them, I guess. They lost, big time, in the elections and they don't seem to realize that, and never will. Only the donkey party willingly plays the battered wife in these scenarios. Can't look like the hostile left, donchaknow. The people want to try something different. The conservatives got every single wish they ever wanted (save for that whole privatization of social security thing, thank Jesus) for the past eight years. That seemed to work well. It will just mean they will never be anything but a facsimile of the Traitors in Defense of Slavery as far as being a strictly regional party. Yes, that's it, just put a black or Indian face in front of the ugly. They really think it is just that easy, don't they? That is telling. But I think Obama is learning, and hopefully is a bit more muscular in his approach from now on. And yes, let's keep throwing money at the banks, and then nationalize. Don't do it now, it might look socialist. Oh noes!!!111!!
Yay! The U.S. is now not the only one with a Lieberman problem. Actually, he is a racist asshole. Loyalty oaths, good stuff. And the kids just love him! Great job, Likud. You won and there it goes, forget peace. I can't wait 'til the natural demographics really make the "only democracy in the Middle East" fun and easy to defend. What are you going to do? Ethnic cleanse through illegal settlements which make an eventual Palestinian state impossible but ensures that the "democracy" continues to remain a Jewish state? Continue the Apartheid? Or horrors I know, actually give equal rights to the Arabs within? I don't know, but make sure you definitely kill another 1000 civilians before the next election again. That showed the Wogs and I am sure created no more "So called Terrorists". (Thanks Helen Thomas, nice question about the nukes, too.)
So, this ends my Old Lady Columnist stream of consciousness post, in honor of Keta Steebs of the Door County Advocate. Mrs. Charles White just celebrated her 75th birthday with three generations this past week. I keep hearing about this "Global Warming", but then why is it so cold?
Update: There is a video. How cool is that?

Even if Universal Health Care is at stake, still not cool.

Daschle, and every other nominee, pay your fucking taxes. I know, it was some obscure thing involving a driver and such, but Jesus Christ. I rip on Joe the Plumber for it and now at least two nominees have been caught up. What happened to "No Drama"? Obama is trying to save the country with a new New Deal and this shit just distracts, but it works on the average voter and taxpayer. You have just given the idiot party the greatest talking point evah, at the worst time, "Just like a liberal, don't pay your own taxes while raising every one else's". Fuck man, that is just stupid.
Update: He gone.
Update II: How about Dr. Howard Dean, or are we still pissing our pants about the Scream? I know he is not such the cozy guy that Daschle is with the legislators, and he only formulated a strategy that made for solid majorities in the House and Senate, but he might know something about health care, also. Daschle had conflict of interest issues all over the place with the company he last worked for, anyway. You think the Repugs would not have brought that up once or twice?

The obligatory.......

Ok, I am a bit conflicted here. Jessica Simpson is now "fat". Even though that is considered pretty normal to us, to celebrity standards it is not. Here is where my issue comes in. Jessica Simpson is pretty much known for nothing except being stupid, having large breasts, and a great body. She is not a singer as evidenced by her having to cross over to country music after having failed the impossible heights of pop. She is not an actress, by any means, as I once had to sit through "Employee of the Month". So what is she now? If a celebrity gets famous from and trades on her body, and obviously wants to continue to remain in the public eye, how is it tasteless to then question her use anymore as a member of that clique when she no longer conforms to that ideal? She wants it both ways. I wholly understand that most any 18-30 year old "hot chick" you see probably could not be that way unless there is a grueling regimen that may borderline on an eating disorder. But that is what the market demands, right? So, why should we celebrate her new found "freedom" to look however she wants? Yes, young girls have impossible role models and that is horrible and sends the wrong message, but she has been marketed to that message, big time. Do we seriously think she would ever have got her foot in the door with her modest talents if she looked as she does now? Basically what I mean is, there are scads of more talented people out there who don't get half the chances that Simpson has, primarily because they are not (as they don't possess a lecherous ex-preacher for a dad) going to make that deal with the devil. This is the inverse of my old theory called the Aniston Paradox: The more famous one becomes, the more skinny they will be as their star rises. It just doesn't work the other way, and I don't know whether that is good or bad as far as selling celebrity is concerned. And expect her to be dumped by the "star" QB at any time now as that is certainly not what he signed up for. She is about 20 years too young to already have the "trophy wife out to pasture" look. What is especially funny is that she is now decrying the critics who are calling her on this but in six months, like Jennifer Love-Hewitt when she was "fat" last year, will be tiny once again to conform to the same standards she now laments.

Wow, just wow.

Terminator: Salvation looks pretty cool. I am now totally EXCITED to see it as I am a fan of Giant Robots in totally indecipherable jump cuts. Whoops, that's Transformers. It really seems like Christian Bale is giving his all if this recording is any indication. Like next level shit. I really love the "Ah ta da ta da, like this, in the background." (If there would be video it would be awesome to see Bale mincing around like a ballerina), and the, "McG, do you have something to say to this prick?" And the worst director since Michael Bay, McG, is all like, "I didn't see it happen." Which only makes it worse. This may rival Pat O'Brien and his smooth voicemails ("Let's get some coke and a hooker..."). Patrick Bateman would be fucking terrified. This is like the time in football practice when I fumbled for like the eigth time in a row, and then laughed.
One last thing, since when is the NFL trying to be as legitimate as the NBA with regards to obvious officiating? I thought it was the "clean" one. Fuck, there was more objectivity over Gaza than what I saw last night. Maybe on the last play of the world's biggest game one should, I don't know, review whether or not there was a Goddamned fumble? Getting the ball on the 30 with 15 seconds left and the best wide receiver I have ever seen may have made it interesting, but no, let the Steelers run the clock out. Nothing to see here, move along folks.

I wish we didn't celebrate for different reasons.

Let's not forget our departing Vice President and last Republican Presidential candidate were against this holiday. Mailmen and bank tellers of the U.S. say a resounding "Fuck YOU!" Happy MLK day and there is, contrary to some, a ton to be done still.

One More Day.

A little late?

I was watching television last night, and since Dec. 20 thru Jan. 13 really are horrible, there was nothing on. But I found something so awesome I had to watch. It was "HOMELAND SECURITY!!" on ABC. It even had the overzealous female customs agent who repeated the "drugs fund terrorism" mantra that had me jumping in the air, fist pumping and screaming, "Fuck Yeah, America!".
The only problem I saw, however, was that it was about three years past all the bed pissing and cowering that saw G.W. get reelected. I think most people have kind of moved past all that since they no longer have a home for Osama to suicide bomb. But watching that was like the golden days of 2002 again. Maybe for the target audience, it will always be that time.

Reading Time.

Above is Kanye endorsed.
I should put these in the comments of the last post but I do not know HMlt. Long but interesting article that came out a couple of years ago by a professor from Harvard and one from the University of Chicago about the Lobby, which is not some monolithic thing, nor is it a strictly Jewish thing either. These guys then were destroyed academically, naturally. In terms of Israel, Likud I hate, which most Jews would agree with me on. It is just unfortunate in the last eight years their way of thinking has been encouraged and rewarded. The rest of the world isn't quite so cowed. But they are all anti-semites in Europe, right?

Also, here are some thoughts on the "Blacks made Prop 8 Happen" bullshit that I have heard more than once. You were up against it with the Mormons, people, not the Blacks. They did a lot better at organizing and this should be a learning experience for the next time.

Finally, in a lighter way, I found an article in the NYT about Tom Wolfe, one of my favorites, who pimped his ride. At age 75.

Mandela was a Terrorist, Remember?

I have no internet access at the moment for some unknown reason and won't until they check it out in a week. In a library now. Lots of news out of the Middle East lately. Y'know, if South Africa would have had a lobby like Israel does, they would still have apartheid. ANC/Hamas, same Motherfucking thing. US, who hates the Palestinians (The Kaffir of Israel) for some reason, of course is one sided in the debate. I was in a country bordering South Africa during Apartheid and knew white South Africans. The shit they would say is exactly the same way Israel speaks of their majority "problem". Little wonder they were such great allies during that time. We want Democracy for all nations except when it does not coincide with our highly pro Israel bias. Juan Cole has the shit down pat, and will explain in a non enraged way, like I cannot do. 5000 Palestinians killed since 2001, 1.5 million Gazans denied medical care, food, or any sort of sensible living conditions. Collective punishment, is that legal? Hebron settlers attacking unarmed and innocent Palestinians. Fuck that shit. I don't want to hear shit about rocket attacks that have killed, at most, 50 Israelis since the second Intifada. If one had any sense of history they would see that crushing a civilian population is not the way to go. But Israel has not learned well from their past oppressors. Or maybe too well. Hopefully, someday we as a society can have a meaningful discussion about this without all of the usual cowardly canards thrown up meant to block debate.

Ho

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I love you all.

Suck. On. This.

Really, really great article by Glenn Greenwald at Salon. In it he argues that the same things that we condemn and look to hang people for, we use to "protect the Homeland". We have had worse threats than Islamic Terrorism in our history and I don't quite understand why we threw out our moral high ground for it. I know "24" and the like has made people believe if we just rip out one more fingernail we will stop that ticking bomb. Unfortunately, usually we end up with a lot of useless information since people will tell you anything after a bit of torture. War crimes are war crimes, they have always been committed throughout time to "protect you". Think every despot, tyrant, and Bog Roosh doesn't justify it the same way? I am not so naive to think this is a new phenomenon in our history but I don't think that we should continue a practice that only makes us look like what we are trying to destroy. Wait, what!?!! J. Lo and Skeletor might be getting divorced? Fuck, what was I talking about again?

These things actually exist?

OMG, OMG how could I have gone almost 15 years without hearing about this? I had heard of the "Where the South Won" books by Turtledove but I had no interest in that garbage. But aliens attacking, right in the middle of WWII by Turtledove? So that everyone has to bind together to fight reptilians? How come I had never heard of this? I am waiting my turn at the library as we speak for the first one. There are seven in the series. This is like a dream come true. But one question that I am wondering about; What of the German and Russian Holocausts and how are they addressed? I guess it doesn't matter when the aliens finally come. I can't wait. Very cool artwork that I stole from here.

They don't give out black belts to things that are stupid.

Is Arod Arod? Once again, the Packers have a chance to win the game at the end, with over two minutes left to go. I already knew what was coming, and of course I was not disappointed. For the second week in a row and fourth time this season. Rodgers throws an interception to seal the game. Seven games the Packers have a chance to come back, seven times they were unable to do it. Due to the ineptness that starts somewhere around ten minutes left in the fourth quarter. I am constantly bombarded by how great Aaron Rodgers stats are, but yet we are 5-9. I am constantly reminded that the defense constantly lets the team down, but the only starters in the Pro Bowl are Nick Collins and Charles Woodson, defensive players. I see Rodgers yelling at his receivers like that pussy Dan Marino. I see players fighting each other like teams that have been consistent losers for years. That is the future. I have come to be convinced that Rodgers is the Rodriguez of the NFL. Great stats when it doesn't matter, disappears completely when it does. I have been scoffed at with the sneer of, "Who threw the interception that kept us out of the Super Bowl?" while there is no mention of Plexico Burress making Al Harris his bitch and the offense running the ball only 13 times in -45 degree weather. The only thing I am waiting for now is the inevitable defeat in the final game of the season against the 0-15 Lions. There is no doubt that is going to happen. But I am sure the fan base will react with the same apathy and blind devotion to Daddy that they always do. A fan base that I once argued was the most football savvy in the league. I was wrong. They are only rooting for laundry.