Friday, July 31, 2009
Thanks to Lynnie
You Know It's Bad When.....
... Larry Flynt makes more sense then the President....
President Obama:
You have proven to be a great campaigner. You have yet to demonstrate your ability to govern. Who needs the Republicans? They don’t know what compromise is. They’re just out to derail your presidency. Bitch slap ’em at every opportunity and put them in their place. They lost; you didn’t.
As for disloyal Democrats, you need to yank the carpet out from under them. Remind them that their survival is dependent upon yours. Don’t pull punches, Mr. President. You need some gonads, and if you don’t have any, as Hillary would say, you’d better grow some.
You have failed to keep many campaign promises. You’ve ignored civil-liberty violations such as warrantless wiretapping. You passed a stimulus package that is obviously full of pork for Democrats. You handed over billions more in taxpayer dollars to crooked bankers. You listened to the very people who created our economic meltdown, the Mutt and Jeff team of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. You’ve let the insurance lobbyists hijack health-care reform to the detriment of every man, woman, and child in America.
You must say what you mean and mean what you say. Closing Guantanamo means just that. You could do it right now, Mr. President. You don’t have to wait until January. You can place terrorist suspects in the federal correctional system without creating any risk to our citizens.
You’re a nice guy. Everybody likes nice guys. Sometimes they finish last. You don’t want that, and neither do those of us who voted you in.
The American people have placed their future in your hands. For heaven’s sake don’t let them down. Don’t let yourself down.
Larry Flynt Publisher, Hustler magazine
Sean and Faith from the Bar B Q
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Good Post from Walt...
So I made a list, and thought I'd share a few of them. Maybe some of you will share my confusion.
1. I've never really understood why plenty of smart people think the United States still needs thousands of nuclear weapons (or ever did). I'm familiar with the abstract theology of nuclear weapons policy and I don't favor total nuclear disarmament, but the case for an arsenal of more than a few hundred weapons eludes me. See here or here for convincing arguments to this effect.
2. I'm still puzzled by why Americans are so willing to spend money on ambitious overseas adventures, and yet so reluctant to pay taxes for roads, bridges, better schools, and health care here in the United States. My fellow Americans, where's your sense of entitlement? And frankly, I’m also surprised that the U.S. armed forces haven't put up more resistance to the seemingly open-ended missions they keep getting handed by ambitious politicians. I can think of various reasons why they remain willing to make these sacrifices (it's a volunteer force, there’s a long tradition of civilian authority, our soldiers, sailors and airman are dedicated patriots, the top brass are often chosen for their political malleability, etc.), but it still surprises me.
3. I don't understand why many people think invoking God is a compelling justification for their particular policy preferences, and why they assume that this move is a trump card that ends all discussion. The idea that Jehovah, Jesus, Allah, Odin, or Whomever gave some people permanent title to some patch of land, dictated how men and women should relate to each other for all eternity, or provided the incontestable answer to ANY public policy question is simply beyond me. Yet it remains a common feature of political discourse at home and abroad. Weird.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Unclear on the Concept: Hijab
Okay, as I understand it, the Hijab, when incorporating the face mask (as in the picture here) is to provide head to toe modesty.
Credit One To Patti
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
I Think We Know the Answer Now: UPDATED (see below)
Trevor's "hide-y" Spot
All the time in this house....
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And this, by the by, is NOT a slam at FOX. I just happened to see this screen capture. I would love to say FOX screws up, but truthfully, we don't watch FOX. Normally I am yelling about a picture on NBC or local news.
Monday, July 27, 2009
I Never Got These Guys
All of us (bar Sue) in Central Park
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Neppls in New York
Here is everyone in Times Sqaure in the first night. I think the crowds might have ovewhelmed them on the very night.
Friday, July 24, 2009
May God Take You Under His Wing...
Dr. Joel D. Weisman died at 66 on Saturday. Here is the obituary in the Los Angeles Times.
The Man Behind the New Jersey Take Down!!!
So we now find out who some one person got all this dirt on the New Jersey Politicians, the Rabbis AND the Jewish Organ Transplant Brokers.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Most AMAZING Corruption Case... Even for (wait for it)....New Jersey
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The Rabbis (from the "can't-push-a-button-on-the-Sabbath" group) were laundering money through charities in Israel and they took 10% off the top (my relatives, the Mormons, call that tithing).
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And, honest to god (little g), as well as this corruption, they stumbled on Rabbis who were buying kidneys from poor Israelis there for $10,000 and selling them here for $160,000. AND THAT ISN'T THE BIG STORY.
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Really, an FBI guy said this was really really corrupt. Even for New Jersey (like there is a totally different level of corruption).
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This is how long it has been since I listened to the radio
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Close Eyes... I don't know....
How far we (Americans) have moved in my lifetime
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
An Odd Suggestion from Netflix
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I don't know if you have NetFlix, but I assume many of you do. If not, you understand how the whole "suggestion" thing works.
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You see a video, rate it, and based on that rating (and other previous ratings) NetFlix makes a suggestion for the next movie. Normally this works like this (for example) ...
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Gavin loves the Miley Cyrus movie, gives it 5 stars. NetFlix, based on their extensive knowledge of Gavin's taste and previous titles, recommends the Jonas Brothers Movie or Queer Eye for the Straight Guys Series 2.
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Well, Eddie and I watched "Charlie Wilson's War" the other night, and liked it more than we thought we would. In fact I gave it a 4 (a normalish score for a Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, but pretty high for that guy from Forrest Gump).
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I expected the other recommendations it made from this. Numbers 2 - 4 were "Micheal Clayton (which I loved), Good Night and Good Luck (which I loved) and The Good Shepard (which I will rent). But the top referral from my rating of Charlie Wilson's War....
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Moose and Squirrel?????
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Problem with our Government: Gerrymandering
I have said it before and I will say it now - Gerrymandering is ruining our country and will quite possibly cause our government to fail entirely unless we do something.
Why are we there and letting this happen?
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This is Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl Bergdahl from Idaho, and he is being held captive by the Taliban. So we should tell the Taliban to get out of a certain area and nuke it. Tell them to let him go or we will continue to nuke areas.
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Look, we are destroying their country little by little anyway - for no reason. We told the Taliban they could stay in power if they kicked out Al Qaeda. They didn't so we drove the Taliban out of power and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan.
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So why are we still there?
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Granted, we are doing good in setting up schools and trying to put in democracy, but is that our job? Is it worth our lives? It is worth putting Pfc. Bergdahl through this? And I say this knowing that, in the past, they have NEVER LET ANYONE GO. They put a video out of his neck being cut. So nuke 'em.
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Nuke and get the F out. We didn't care what Afghanistan did until Al Qaeda and we shouldn't now. Tell the Afghans that if Terror Camps open, we will (small scale of course) nuke them as we find them. Maybe we give you warning, maybe we don't, but we are done screwing around.
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Let's go build schools and roads and water systems where people don't freaking hate us. There are plenty of really poor areas in Bangladesh, Laos, Bolivia, Botswana, Liberia where they would love to have US people bringing in schools and roads. So why the hell are we getting stuck in the sink hole of Afghanistan. We accomplished what we said we were going to. Declare victory and leave.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
(500) Days of Summer is a Love Letter.... to LA
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But for me, what was surprising was that, in addition to a story about love (as opposed to a Love Story - it says it right inthe beginning) is that the movie is a love letter to Los Angeles.
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And you know how much that means to Scooter. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an frustrated architect in love with Summer (the woman, Zooey Deschenel - not the season). It is, perhaps, an exercise in frustration, although I say it differently.
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But come on!!! LA looks amazing, the UCLA band is in it and I lerve Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all grown up from 3rd Rock from the Sun.
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Anyway, I liked it and it was fun and sad and made me cry....
Friday, July 17, 2009
Holland Taylor is GREAT in Person
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In the case of the cast below, Buck Henry comes to mind. He is a lot older and less funny than you want him to be.
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Holland Taylor.
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We sat 3rd row and watched "Mother" in a TINY theater for a very very limited run. It was a 75 minute show, that was very good, but very little story. More a New Year's Eve dinner shared with family.
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But Holland Taylor... Kids, Holland Taylor actually looks better in person than she does in Two and a Half Men. Impossible! And she was freakin' razor sharp in her delivery.
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It was a GREAT evening!!! (Albeit, kind of a not much of a show.).
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ps - We sat next to Anita Gillette and her friend and talked to her before the show. Anita Gillette was that "some piece of work.." Mona in Moonstruck!
PS - I am a bad giver-upper
Art House Movies v. Video Tape
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A Throwback or An Old Crank?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
How bad was coming back from MSP..
“Folks, as you can see…” by the by, whenever a pilot starts with “as you can see…” it’s gonna be bad. As bad goes this wasn’t “As you can see, we are going to hit the mountain.” Or “As you can see, we have this isn’t LAX.” But still it was “As you can see, we have to park here for a little while.” Probably about 45 minutes.
Now I have to take you way back to boarding. In the MiniApple, 4 people had to board early. These were a very old couple (let’s call them Ma and Pa Kettle) “leading” a two middle aged “blind” people. I know that air-quotes around blind might be rude, but the blind guy pulled magazines out of his bag and they both never picked up their white canes again.
So, here we are on the deck, waiting for take off. First, the "blind" guy won’t sit down and shut up. He is either in the row ahead of Ed, talking with Ma and Pa Kettle (fully looking at them) or taking one after another after another trip to the toiler (reminder – at my ear). And, in the toilet, blindy is LETTING LOOSE. It was so disgusting that the woman in 19B and I closed the door to the toilet, and marked it “Occupied” (you know as you raise the “toilet” sign and move it).
Meanwhile, Ed is having his own smell issue as the family in 16 B and C had a little screaming baby. The baby does stop screaming long enough to regurgitate her breakfast. Projectile vomit. I had to move the sign from occupied to vacant so they could get all the paper towels in the plane.
45 minutes later we were informed it would be another 15 minutes and so Old Mr. Blindy had time to drop another load before we took off.And don’t even ask me about the traffic jam getting into New York from Newark because we came in at 5PM on Sunday rather than 3:00PM.
Welcome Back My Little CRX
Now my first "new" car was a Honda CRX. I had the HF, which meant that it has a 1.1 Liter Engine, but the car was really light and so it moved just fine. It also got 45+ miles a gallon (once over 53 a gallon with a tail wind to Vegas. (Note, they came in Red or Blue. That was it unless you got a CRX-SI - and then there was a Black option.)
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I loved that car and should NEVER had gotten rid of it (traded in for a Rodeo - phffft!).
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But they are bring it back. Well, back-ish. This time it is a CR-Z (Zero emissions). The press photos look great, but I still see my little CRX underneath them all....
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Rib-Fest 2 in Mankato
I won't be able to eat for days.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Mascot of the Month: Thelma Ritter
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In All About Eve (1950), Joseph Mankiewicz, (finally giving Ritter name recognition in the credits), fashioned her role as the ex-vaudevillian turned ladie’s maid for Ritter’s gift for wariness tempered by her ability to express gruff affection with a look and a few words.
A Little Miracle on this Morning's Dog Walk
Anyone that has worn one, or unexpectedly come around the corner to face one, can attest to its utter lack of sexuality. It is a marvel of rubber, zippers and possibly whalebone (this was all before spandex) – but the one thing it was not was erotic.
Among other important women in my life, my mother and Lynn come to mind, they both ensure proper support for the proper situation. Nothing as drastic as the Jane Russel 18 hour Tourture Chamber - but they don't need it.
So I am walking Trevor to “Pets At Play” because the maid comes today (she, by the way, changes at our house into leggings and a t-shirt to clean in – but that is neither here nor there).
On our walk, we approach 2 women – I assume mid-20s woman and her mother, power walking towards us. Both power walk in a dizzying fashion; arms and legs akimbo and spastically reaching in random fashion which presupposes no understanding of velocity nor entropy. Trevor and I stand aside to let the moving sideshow passing.
The younger woman has no discernible buubies (to quote the housewives of New Jersey). Mother, however, is rather endowed – and I think an unfortunate produce of the 1960s burn your bra movement. Her shirt looks as if it contains the entire cast of West Side Story doing the Jets and Sharks dance number. They circle each other back and forth, jabbing with knives at unexpected times. Trevor was, understandably, fascinated – it looked like she had a bag of cats in there.
And here is the wonder of the morning. I bite my tongue BEFORE I yelled to the daughter, “For God’s sake, buy your mother a sports bra!”