Sunday, November 28, 2004
Still kickin'
I am somewhat touched to see that even during a horribly long absence, my four dedicated readers continue to check this page daily. Thank you, sirs. And madams, as the case may be, though I doubt it.
Went home Tuesday and spent the weekend in Virginia. Very nice, as always.
Movies: National Treasure is very so-so. Hard to recall the last time I saw such a purely mediocre movie. It has puzzles, but not good ones; suspense, but not breathtaking suspense; and action, but not very frenetic. The characters are cookie-cutter and uninvolving (when they're not actively annoying, vis the young hackerish dude who has little to do but stand around and say dumb things in a way that may endear him to two or three Gen-Y'ers). The puzzles are solved practically the moment they're introduced; the audience never gets a chance to chew over any of them and try to bring their own analytical skill to bear -- everything about each successive clue to the location of the treasure is neatly (and correctly) explained within moments of its discovery. The clues come, and are dispensed with, with a chugging regularity that quickly becomes tedious; can't they just get to the treasure already? And there are no red herrings, no dead ends that aren't immediately blown away by the awesome deductive ability and preternatural historical knowledge of Nic Cage's protagonist. Cage himself seems to be phoning his performance in; there's no hint of the barely-leashed maniacal energy, the sense of fun that made Con Air or The Rock such a hoot to watch.
The action scenes are unremarkable retreads. I actually found myself longing for Michael Bay; the movie may have been half as intelligent as it is (and as it is, it's no flick for brainiacs), but at least Bay would have been throwing Army tanks at us, or dropping passenger aircraft around the heroes while they dodged machinegun fire. Nothing original, nothing inspired, but at least way over the top. As underdone as the "puzzles" part of the movie is, it cries out for furious, non-stop action; but that cry goes not only unanswered but wholly unnoticed by Jon Turtletaub.
I thought it was going to be like Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it sort of is. It's like the first five minutes of Raiders, before anything exciting happens, stretched out over two hours.
SPOILER: The treasure, when found, turns out to contain, among other things, "scrolls from the library of Alexandria" -- a treasure ripped from the Clive Cussler novel Treasure. Come on, people.
The Incredibles, meanwhile, which I saw for the second time this weekend, is still wonderful. Give this movie your money.
HALF-LIFE 2. Good sweet grief... has there ever been a better action game?
Nope.
|
Went home Tuesday and spent the weekend in Virginia. Very nice, as always.
Movies: National Treasure is very so-so. Hard to recall the last time I saw such a purely mediocre movie. It has puzzles, but not good ones; suspense, but not breathtaking suspense; and action, but not very frenetic. The characters are cookie-cutter and uninvolving (when they're not actively annoying, vis the young hackerish dude who has little to do but stand around and say dumb things in a way that may endear him to two or three Gen-Y'ers). The puzzles are solved practically the moment they're introduced; the audience never gets a chance to chew over any of them and try to bring their own analytical skill to bear -- everything about each successive clue to the location of the treasure is neatly (and correctly) explained within moments of its discovery. The clues come, and are dispensed with, with a chugging regularity that quickly becomes tedious; can't they just get to the treasure already? And there are no red herrings, no dead ends that aren't immediately blown away by the awesome deductive ability and preternatural historical knowledge of Nic Cage's protagonist. Cage himself seems to be phoning his performance in; there's no hint of the barely-leashed maniacal energy, the sense of fun that made Con Air or The Rock such a hoot to watch.
The action scenes are unremarkable retreads. I actually found myself longing for Michael Bay; the movie may have been half as intelligent as it is (and as it is, it's no flick for brainiacs), but at least Bay would have been throwing Army tanks at us, or dropping passenger aircraft around the heroes while they dodged machinegun fire. Nothing original, nothing inspired, but at least way over the top. As underdone as the "puzzles" part of the movie is, it cries out for furious, non-stop action; but that cry goes not only unanswered but wholly unnoticed by Jon Turtletaub.
I thought it was going to be like Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it sort of is. It's like the first five minutes of Raiders, before anything exciting happens, stretched out over two hours.
SPOILER: The treasure, when found, turns out to contain, among other things, "scrolls from the library of Alexandria" -- a treasure ripped from the Clive Cussler novel Treasure. Come on, people.
The Incredibles, meanwhile, which I saw for the second time this weekend, is still wonderful. Give this movie your money.
HALF-LIFE 2. Good sweet grief... has there ever been a better action game?
Nope.
Friday, November 12, 2004
An old cancer
Well, well; via Instapundit, news that the nazis will run for President in '08.
Their press release:
That anyone in this day and age could harbor anything but loathing for the nazi party and all it stands for is a sign of the how deep the darkness of human nature can go. That there are still people today who deny the Holocaust ever happened (and are then defended by Noam Chomsky for saying so) is a sure indicator that some people would rather hate than think, rather belong to something than be right, rather ascribe their misery to hidden puppeteers pulling their financial and political strings than to their own lack of industry, or intellectual integrity, or whatever. The only good thing that can come of the nazi candidacy would be its total repudiation by American voters... but then, there are bound to be at least a few thousand of these inbred nutjobs who will actually vote for the goose-steppers, and that will be enough to encourage them to go on with their vile efforts.
(And yes, I am using rhetoric here very similar to what's been leveled against Bush supporters in recent days, and perhaps there is an element of the schoolyard here, where those who are bullied in turn pick on the next most vulnerable. Not that I believe at all that conservative ideals or values are anything like those of the nazis, but I do understand a bit better, I think, the superheated invective being directed at us with little or no evidence of rational thought behind it. Some things are so patently wrong that any attempt to articulate why becomes an exercise in futility. But then, I don't think I've ever felt that way about Democrats; even at the height of the anti-Clinton hysteria that swept our movement in the Nineties, I could articulate reasons why he should be impeached. Not terribly good reasons, in the eyes of some, but compelling to me.)
But @rassmers take note of the nazi's worst crime: the co-opting of the Waterfall/Kallas campaign motto:
|
Their press release:
NS greetings, we would like to proudly announce our intention to field National Socialist Movement candidates in the 2008 Presidential Race. These probable Candidates would be for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States of America. We will announce the names of these individuals, along with our Public Proclamation in 2007, and perhaps others running for Public Office within the National Socialist Movement.Set aside for a moment the infelicities of grammar and spelling; those things aren't nearly as amusing when children are lining up with their parents for the gas chamber. Set aside also the fact that the only people who draw as much nazi ire as Democrats are the Republicans. (And the Jews, of course; but then, the major parties are just tools of ZOG to keep us down, don'tcha know?) Set aside even the frisson of fear that ripples the back at reading "Hail Victory!" from a self-styled nazi "commander"; that fear is what these bastards are counting on.
No openly National Socialist Candidate has ran for the Presidency of the United States, since Commander George Lincoln Rockwell planned on doing so, prior to his assassination in the 1960's. The National Socialist Movement hear by declares its intention to change that, and give the American People a probable choice when they go to the ballot booths in 2008.
The American People deserve far better than to have to make an ill informed choice between the lesser of two evils. Let them vote National Socialist in 2008.
A vote for National Socialism on Election Day is a vote for the White Race.
Hail Victory!
Commander Jeff Schoep/ National Director:
National Socialist Movement
That anyone in this day and age could harbor anything but loathing for the nazi party and all it stands for is a sign of the how deep the darkness of human nature can go. That there are still people today who deny the Holocaust ever happened (and are then defended by Noam Chomsky for saying so) is a sure indicator that some people would rather hate than think, rather belong to something than be right, rather ascribe their misery to hidden puppeteers pulling their financial and political strings than to their own lack of industry, or intellectual integrity, or whatever. The only good thing that can come of the nazi candidacy would be its total repudiation by American voters... but then, there are bound to be at least a few thousand of these inbred nutjobs who will actually vote for the goose-steppers, and that will be enough to encourage them to go on with their vile efforts.
(And yes, I am using rhetoric here very similar to what's been leveled against Bush supporters in recent days, and perhaps there is an element of the schoolyard here, where those who are bullied in turn pick on the next most vulnerable. Not that I believe at all that conservative ideals or values are anything like those of the nazis, but I do understand a bit better, I think, the superheated invective being directed at us with little or no evidence of rational thought behind it. Some things are so patently wrong that any attempt to articulate why becomes an exercise in futility. But then, I don't think I've ever felt that way about Democrats; even at the height of the anti-Clinton hysteria that swept our movement in the Nineties, I could articulate reasons why he should be impeached. Not terribly good reasons, in the eyes of some, but compelling to me.)
But @rassmers take note of the nazi's worst crime: the co-opting of the Waterfall/Kallas campaign motto:
The American People deserve far better than to have to make an ill informed choice between the lesser of two evils. Let them vote National Socialist in 2008.Indeed... why settle for the LESSER of two evils?
Should we call Family Services?
There's a website where people upload pictures of themselves saying how sorry they are that the US was myopic, intolerant, uneducated, and just plain stupid enough to reelect George Bush.
Example:
Uh... whose?
|
Example:
Uh... whose?
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Watching the world wake up from history
Fifteen years ago tonight, we watched the wall come down.
The symbol of the division between east and west; the wall of shame and grief that had cost many brave people their lives, and that had riven a great city long after the evil that had occasioned it was gone; the Berlin Wall, intractable, immovable, implacable...
...fell.
Fell under the hammers and crowbars and jubilant stomping feet of the newly freed.
Fell under the cyclopean spotlight of world attention.
Fell under the unrelenting assault of the free world.
We watched in our dorm suite at the University of Virginia; a handful of boys from all over the nation, who had grown up with the wall a grim, though distant, reality; a reality as solid as the moon, and as permanent. We'd heard Reagan tell Mr. Gorbachev to tear down this wall, but we never believed we would live to see it happen, or to see it happen without a shot fired against its ugly bulk.
We watched and were transfixed by the images of the celebration: the crowds, the cheering, the laughter and the dancing, the tearful reunions long dreamed of. We shared the elation. We were giddy, laughing and cheering with equal measures of joy and astonishment. It happened. It really happened!
And we saw the last dying spasms of a fear we had known our entire lives; the certain knowledge that each night as we lay down to sleep, we might be awakened by a flash of light and a brief, painless hint of overpressure. We prayed in our youth: God, if it happens, spare me: don't let me survive that flash to die of radiation poisoning days or weeks later, vomiting out my own guts. Let death be quick.
That fear fell, for me, that night when the wall fell.
That Monday, I went to my Introduction to International Politics 101 class, a course taught by Kenneth Thompson, a gentleman in every sense of the word, who taught us to question dogmatic assertions of the rightness and wrongness of any side of international conflicts, and in whose class I learned the principles of the balance of power of nations. During the first class after the wall fell, Dr. Thompson and all his teaching assistants gathered at the front of the auditorium in Wilson Hall and told us that there was no roadmap for the territory we had just entered, that all bets were off... but that the principles we had been taught would still be valuable in guiding us in the future. They were right on both counts.
And they were as giddy as we were.
That night, we were not Americans or Germans or British or French; we were citizens of the free world, watching the liberation of people long imprisoned. We stood on the threshold of freedom to greet them and to bid them welcome, at last.
Fifteen years ago tonight.
|
The symbol of the division between east and west; the wall of shame and grief that had cost many brave people their lives, and that had riven a great city long after the evil that had occasioned it was gone; the Berlin Wall, intractable, immovable, implacable...
...fell.
Fell under the hammers and crowbars and jubilant stomping feet of the newly freed.
Fell under the cyclopean spotlight of world attention.
Fell under the unrelenting assault of the free world.
We watched in our dorm suite at the University of Virginia; a handful of boys from all over the nation, who had grown up with the wall a grim, though distant, reality; a reality as solid as the moon, and as permanent. We'd heard Reagan tell Mr. Gorbachev to tear down this wall, but we never believed we would live to see it happen, or to see it happen without a shot fired against its ugly bulk.
We watched and were transfixed by the images of the celebration: the crowds, the cheering, the laughter and the dancing, the tearful reunions long dreamed of. We shared the elation. We were giddy, laughing and cheering with equal measures of joy and astonishment. It happened. It really happened!
And we saw the last dying spasms of a fear we had known our entire lives; the certain knowledge that each night as we lay down to sleep, we might be awakened by a flash of light and a brief, painless hint of overpressure. We prayed in our youth: God, if it happens, spare me: don't let me survive that flash to die of radiation poisoning days or weeks later, vomiting out my own guts. Let death be quick.
That fear fell, for me, that night when the wall fell.
That Monday, I went to my Introduction to International Politics 101 class, a course taught by Kenneth Thompson, a gentleman in every sense of the word, who taught us to question dogmatic assertions of the rightness and wrongness of any side of international conflicts, and in whose class I learned the principles of the balance of power of nations. During the first class after the wall fell, Dr. Thompson and all his teaching assistants gathered at the front of the auditorium in Wilson Hall and told us that there was no roadmap for the territory we had just entered, that all bets were off... but that the principles we had been taught would still be valuable in guiding us in the future. They were right on both counts.
And they were as giddy as we were.
That night, we were not Americans or Germans or British or French; we were citizens of the free world, watching the liberation of people long imprisoned. We stood on the threshold of freedom to greet them and to bid them welcome, at last.
Fifteen years ago tonight.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Good grief...
... what is it with Adult Swim tonight?
Apparently, the funniest thing the writers of tonight's shows -- whatever they are, I can't be bothered to check, but they aren't Harvey Birdman or ATHF -- is "My human father put his penis in my shark mother." This seems to have struck them as hysterically funny, because they're repeating it about every 10 seconds.
This bodes ill, methinks.
At least maybe I'll be able to get to bed earlier Sunday nights, if Adult Swim continues this level of suckage.
|
Apparently, the funniest thing the writers of tonight's shows -- whatever they are, I can't be bothered to check, but they aren't Harvey Birdman or ATHF -- is "My human father put his penis in my shark mother." This seems to have struck them as hysterically funny, because they're repeating it about every 10 seconds.
This bodes ill, methinks.
At least maybe I'll be able to get to bed earlier Sunday nights, if Adult Swim continues this level of suckage.
That others may be free
It's begun in Fallujah.
I had a dream last night in which I had enlisted in the Navy. I was being told to report for boot camp in Charleston, SC... and was going to have to leave immediately. I was hurriedly telling everyone good-bye and wondering exactly where and when I was supposed to report, because nobody had given me written orders.
(Several details in the above should have tipped me off that I was dreaming, but alas, dream-logic is impervious to doubt.)
I was starting to understand what I'd let myself in for: months, perhaps years, without seeing my family or friends; regimentation of my life down to the minutest details; loss of the freedom that a young man takes for granted, to go where he wants, when he wants, to do the things he wants. I was losing all that and in return I was going to be put under pressures I could not begin to imagine; physically, mentally, emotionally. And there was the possibility, of course, that life itself was drawing to a close; even in peacetime, naval personnel die in training and during the course of such "normal" evolutions as underway replenishment or carrier landings.
As the dream drew to a close (and I drew closer to boot camp), a ray of hope dawned; I remembered that I was over 30, a physical wreck, and patently unfit for military duty. How the recruiter had managed to overlook these foibles, I couldn't begin to imagine; but the DI's wouldn't. I was headed for either reprieve or death in training.
When I woke up, I felt a tremendous rush of relief. I'm not in the Navy, not in any branch of military service. If I want to, I can go home at any time to see my family; after work tomorrow, if I feel like going to the movies or out to eat, I will. I am free.
And following on that relief, guilt; because there are thousands of men and women who have sacrificed those little freedoms so I can enjoy them.
Many have died in recent months; and more will be dying in the days ahead, as they fight to bring peace and freedom to people who have never known it.
There are no words for my gratitude to them. May God be between them and harm, in all the empty places they walk.
|
I had a dream last night in which I had enlisted in the Navy. I was being told to report for boot camp in Charleston, SC... and was going to have to leave immediately. I was hurriedly telling everyone good-bye and wondering exactly where and when I was supposed to report, because nobody had given me written orders.
(Several details in the above should have tipped me off that I was dreaming, but alas, dream-logic is impervious to doubt.)
I was starting to understand what I'd let myself in for: months, perhaps years, without seeing my family or friends; regimentation of my life down to the minutest details; loss of the freedom that a young man takes for granted, to go where he wants, when he wants, to do the things he wants. I was losing all that and in return I was going to be put under pressures I could not begin to imagine; physically, mentally, emotionally. And there was the possibility, of course, that life itself was drawing to a close; even in peacetime, naval personnel die in training and during the course of such "normal" evolutions as underway replenishment or carrier landings.
As the dream drew to a close (and I drew closer to boot camp), a ray of hope dawned; I remembered that I was over 30, a physical wreck, and patently unfit for military duty. How the recruiter had managed to overlook these foibles, I couldn't begin to imagine; but the DI's wouldn't. I was headed for either reprieve or death in training.
When I woke up, I felt a tremendous rush of relief. I'm not in the Navy, not in any branch of military service. If I want to, I can go home at any time to see my family; after work tomorrow, if I feel like going to the movies or out to eat, I will. I am free.
And following on that relief, guilt; because there are thousands of men and women who have sacrificed those little freedoms so I can enjoy them.
Many have died in recent months; and more will be dying in the days ahead, as they fight to bring peace and freedom to people who have never known it.
There are no words for my gratitude to them. May God be between them and harm, in all the empty places they walk.
The Incredibles
Saw The Incredibles this weekend.
It is the best Pixar movie yet, and that's saying something.
It's the first Pixar movie I want to see again before it leaves theaters.
Just a couple of quick comments:
1. A familiarity with comic-book tropes and superhero lore is helpful but not essential to enjoyment of the movie. Particularly helpful, perhaps, would be some knowledge of the Fantastic Four, the superhero family upon which the Parrs are at least partially based (Reed Richards=Elastigirl, Sue Storm=Violet, Thing=Bob, and even the baby... ah, but no spoilers, please.)
EDIT: Also, there are definite echoes of WATCHMEN in The Incredibles. Those who have read it will understand.
2. It's nice to see a movie that acknowledges that people are different and some are more talented than others. A theme of the movie is that if everyone is special, then no one is. This is not developed in an elitist or condescending way, but rather the film encourages its viewers to reach their full potential and not keep their gifts under wraps.
The Incredibles satisfies on every level; it's funny, thrilling, sad, and joyful. See it.
|
It is the best Pixar movie yet, and that's saying something.
It's the first Pixar movie I want to see again before it leaves theaters.
Just a couple of quick comments:
1. A familiarity with comic-book tropes and superhero lore is helpful but not essential to enjoyment of the movie. Particularly helpful, perhaps, would be some knowledge of the Fantastic Four, the superhero family upon which the Parrs are at least partially based (Reed Richards=Elastigirl, Sue Storm=Violet, Thing=Bob, and even the baby... ah, but no spoilers, please.)
EDIT: Also, there are definite echoes of WATCHMEN in The Incredibles. Those who have read it will understand.
2. It's nice to see a movie that acknowledges that people are different and some are more talented than others. A theme of the movie is that if everyone is special, then no one is. This is not developed in an elitist or condescending way, but rather the film encourages its viewers to reach their full potential and not keep their gifts under wraps.
The Incredibles satisfies on every level; it's funny, thrilling, sad, and joyful. See it.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
The Joan Baez Minstrel Show
Folk singer Joan Baez was in C'ville Wednesday night. Reason's science correspondent Ronald Bailey was there. Apparently, there was some commiseration between Baez and her audience about Kerry's loss to Bush... and then things got weird.
Not that Baez should be pilloried; her own words condemn her sufficiently that no one else need try. And despite the wild applause Bailey reports from the crowd, I'm sure a great many of them were suitably squicked by her bizarre departure from reality. But the whole incident is emblematic of the hysterical self-marginalization of some elements on the American Left, which in the aftermath of losing one single presidential election are acting as if the sky were falling, as if there will be no more dawns, as if Bush were preparing to unleash the hordes of Mordor upon the world. To them, and to the many people who are actually (seriously?) calling for secession from the United States (like Moby) or other such batty solutions to the intractable problem that the democratic process sometimes produces results you don't like, I say:
Get a grip.
Please.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
|
...Joan stopped singing and announced that she had "multiple personalities." One of her multiple personalities is that of a fifteen year old poor black girl named Alice from Turkey Scratch, Arkansas. Baez decided to share with us Alice's views on the election. Amazed and horrified I watched a rich, famous, extremely white folksinger perform what can only be described as bit of minstrelsy—only the painted on blackface was missing. Alice, the black teenager from Arkansas Baez was pretending to be, spoke in a dialect so broad and thick that it would put Uncle Remus and Amos and Andyto shame. Baez' monologue was filled with phrases like, "I'se g'win ta" to do this that or the other and dropping all final "g's." Baez as Alice made statements like, "de prezident, he be a racist," and "de prezident, he got a bug fer killin'." Finally, since Bush won the election with 58.7 million votes to Kerry's 55.1 million, Alice observed, "Seems lak haf' de country be plumb crazy." Since Baez was reading Alice's notes, it is evident that she thinks that Arkansas' public schools don't teach black children to write standard English.Imagine Charlie Daniels doing something like that. He'd've been pilloried by now.
Not that Baez should be pilloried; her own words condemn her sufficiently that no one else need try. And despite the wild applause Bailey reports from the crowd, I'm sure a great many of them were suitably squicked by her bizarre departure from reality. But the whole incident is emblematic of the hysterical self-marginalization of some elements on the American Left, which in the aftermath of losing one single presidential election are acting as if the sky were falling, as if there will be no more dawns, as if Bush were preparing to unleash the hordes of Mordor upon the world. To them, and to the many people who are actually (seriously?) calling for secession from the United States (like Moby) or other such batty solutions to the intractable problem that the democratic process sometimes produces results you don't like, I say:
Get a grip.
Please.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
The Big Tease
The Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith teaser trailer is up in various places. Look around, you can find it.
My favorite images:
Anakin's bionic fist clamps around Obi-Wan's neck.
Obi-Wan is forced to the floor...
... by a very irate-looking Anakin.
Substitute May 19, 2005 for Kerry's concession speech in the list of Things That Can't Come Soon Enough.
The teaser trailer, meanwhile, will be shown on various TV shows (most notably Access Hollywood, and also MTV's TRL, IIRC, LOL!) tonight, and this weekend you can catch it when you go see The Incredibles. I was going to see The Incredibles anyway; seeing the teaser in the process would just be sweet, sweet frosting on the cake.
|
My favorite images:
Anakin's bionic fist clamps around Obi-Wan's neck.
Obi-Wan is forced to the floor...
... by a very irate-looking Anakin.
Substitute May 19, 2005 for Kerry's concession speech in the list of Things That Can't Come Soon Enough.
The teaser trailer, meanwhile, will be shown on various TV shows (most notably Access Hollywood, and also MTV's TRL, IIRC, LOL!) tonight, and this weekend you can catch it when you go see The Incredibles. I was going to see The Incredibles anyway; seeing the teaser in the process would just be sweet, sweet frosting on the cake.
A new civil war?
Moby wants to secede.
Moby goes on to try bribing the red states with farm animals.
Moby offers to bring the material wealth of the blue states to Canada as a sort of transnational dowry:
You know, when the red states tried to secede, back in the 1860's, the blue states invaded us to keep us in the Union. Back then, they had all the heavy industry and military bases.
Things have changed.
So once the Second Civil War is over, and the Red States have triumphed over the Blue (a contest that I predict will last approximately 24.7 minutes), I guess we'll have Blue Staters (call 'em Bluenecks) tooling around with Birkenstock racks in the rear windows of their Volvos, with bumper stickers reading KERRY CONCEDED, I DIDN'T and THE NORTH WILL RISE AGAIN.
It'd almost be worth it to see that.
|
can someone remind me why secession is not an option at this point? i mean let's be realistic, we live in a divided country. can't we have the breakaway republics of 'north-east-istan' and 'pacific-stan'? wouldn't the red states be happier without us?You can leave, but don't think you're going to force us to keep trading with you, or that we're going to let you back in.
we could still travel freely and trade freely with them, but can't we just leave?
Moby goes on to try bribing the red states with farm animals.
will you let us secede if we buy each and every person in the rest of the united states a donkey? you'd like to have your own friendly donkey, wouldn't you?I'm not sure what this is supposed to do for us... here in the south, we've had cars for a good couple of decades now, along with various other newfangled contraptions like "tractors" and "combines" and big metal things that actually tie hay into bundles so you don't have to walk around the field with a pitchfork all day. I reckon Moby might be worried that we won't know what to do when them horseless carriages and suchlike start sputterin' and stop workin', but I've heard tell of a few of them rednecks as is right handy with advanced Yankee technology like the internal combustion engine.
Moby offers to bring the material wealth of the blue states to Canada as a sort of transnational dowry:
the benefits to you: ...money. cold hard cash. the red states in the u.s might have the voting power, but guess who has the money? yup, your friendly neighborhood blue states.How rich are you going to be, Moby, when Americans -- sorry, Redstaters -- stop buying the monotonous compilations of parasitic sampling you call your "albums"? Without us, you might have to get a job.
so when/if you accept our offer you will instantly become the richest country in the world! that sounds pretty good, right?
You know, when the red states tried to secede, back in the 1860's, the blue states invaded us to keep us in the Union. Back then, they had all the heavy industry and military bases.
Things have changed.
So once the Second Civil War is over, and the Red States have triumphed over the Blue (a contest that I predict will last approximately 24.7 minutes), I guess we'll have Blue Staters (call 'em Bluenecks) tooling around with Birkenstock racks in the rear windows of their Volvos, with bumper stickers reading KERRY CONCEDED, I DIDN'T and THE NORTH WILL RISE AGAIN.
It'd almost be worth it to see that.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Now bring on the others.
When I wrote this, I was very much afraid that the last item on the list was also going to be the last one I got... if it ever came at all.
Next: HL2!
|
Next: HL2!
Random musing
Just a thought, given the early exit polls yesterday that gave Kerry a huge lead over Bush, and how Kerry's going to have to talk about them now:
"I actually did win the election... before I lost it."
Must... resist... gloat... of death!
Seriously, I'm glad he's done the right thing and conceded. I hope the rest of the Democratic party is as reasonable, but given their attempt to spin a 3.5 million popular vote margin into some sort of "narrow" victory or "slim" margin, I don't hope much.
|
"I actually did win the election... before I lost it."
Must... resist... gloat... of death!
Seriously, I'm glad he's done the right thing and conceded. I hope the rest of the Democratic party is as reasonable, but given their attempt to spin a 3.5 million popular vote margin into some sort of "narrow" victory or "slim" margin, I don't hope much.
The more likely scenario...
From a commenter on DailyKos:
|
The entire progressive/democrat/GOTV machine is in place to launch the largest grass roots impeachment movement in history. It's there. We've got it. The evidence is a mile high. No business as usual. Impeach Bush! Impeach Cheney! Impeach Ashcroft! And Impeach Rumsfeld First!Please, my progressive friends, ignore idiots like this. For the sake of our nation and our future, keep your heads about yourselves. Be a voice of reason, the loyal opposition. We need you to be sane.
Letter to John Kerry
Senator Kerry:
As of this writing, political experts from both sides project that President Bush will win reelection, defeating you despite the best efforts of your supporters, your staff, and yourself. The race has been hardfought and at times extremely bitter.
However, it is entirely possible that the margin of victory will be so slim that some in your party will urge you to continue to seek the presidency through legal action. Perhaps this will seem an attractive option to you. After all, you have invested so much of your work, your wealth, and yourself in the campaign.
Though I disagree with you on most political issues, I believe you are an honorable man. You have served our nation for over thirty years, in the military and in government. Now I ask you to serve it one last time, in a way that will doubtless go against your every instinct.
In the election of 2000, Al Gore faced the same choice you now must make. Presented with the option of accepting defeat -- and the end of all his political aspirations -- by a razor-thin margin, or challenging that defeat in court, he chose to fight... and his choice has had horrible effects on our nation. Thousands of people who thought themselves disenfranchised, on no greater evidence than telephone push-polls that suggested to disappointed partisans that their vote may not have been correctly counted, have lost faith in the process by which we choose leaders. Cynicism and bitterness arising from the false perception of some "illegitimacy" of the Bush Administration have disillusioned many thousands of youth -- whose disillusionment you and your Democratic colleagues tried to turn to your own advantage. And in this election, foreign powers have sent observers to monitor our elections -- truly a bitter and unwelcome irony.
We have not yet recuperated from the effects of Al Gore's political opportunism. Because the American people's confidence in their electoral system may be irretrievably damaged by another series of lawsuits aimed at reversing the clear intention of the electorate, I ask you to perform this one last service to your country:
Concede.
In doing so, you will be preserving the dignity both of yourself and your nation. You will also be taking a tremendous step in healing the partisan political rift that has divided us for the last four years. And you will be putting our enemies on notice that we are indeed one nation, indivisible.
And you will be clothing yourself in honor for your emeritus years; years in which you, like former presidents and presidential candidates before you, may yet do great service to our Republic.
With great respect and admiration,
Stephen Tilson
UPDATE: Thank you, Senator. You've done the right thing.
|
As of this writing, political experts from both sides project that President Bush will win reelection, defeating you despite the best efforts of your supporters, your staff, and yourself. The race has been hardfought and at times extremely bitter.
However, it is entirely possible that the margin of victory will be so slim that some in your party will urge you to continue to seek the presidency through legal action. Perhaps this will seem an attractive option to you. After all, you have invested so much of your work, your wealth, and yourself in the campaign.
Though I disagree with you on most political issues, I believe you are an honorable man. You have served our nation for over thirty years, in the military and in government. Now I ask you to serve it one last time, in a way that will doubtless go against your every instinct.
In the election of 2000, Al Gore faced the same choice you now must make. Presented with the option of accepting defeat -- and the end of all his political aspirations -- by a razor-thin margin, or challenging that defeat in court, he chose to fight... and his choice has had horrible effects on our nation. Thousands of people who thought themselves disenfranchised, on no greater evidence than telephone push-polls that suggested to disappointed partisans that their vote may not have been correctly counted, have lost faith in the process by which we choose leaders. Cynicism and bitterness arising from the false perception of some "illegitimacy" of the Bush Administration have disillusioned many thousands of youth -- whose disillusionment you and your Democratic colleagues tried to turn to your own advantage. And in this election, foreign powers have sent observers to monitor our elections -- truly a bitter and unwelcome irony.
We have not yet recuperated from the effects of Al Gore's political opportunism. Because the American people's confidence in their electoral system may be irretrievably damaged by another series of lawsuits aimed at reversing the clear intention of the electorate, I ask you to perform this one last service to your country:
Concede.
In doing so, you will be preserving the dignity both of yourself and your nation. You will also be taking a tremendous step in healing the partisan political rift that has divided us for the last four years. And you will be putting our enemies on notice that we are indeed one nation, indivisible.
And you will be clothing yourself in honor for your emeritus years; years in which you, like former presidents and presidential candidates before you, may yet do great service to our Republic.
With great respect and admiration,
Stephen Tilson
UPDATE: Thank you, Senator. You've done the right thing.
Cautiously happy
Fox News Channel calls Ohio for George Bush, bringing his electoral vote total to 266.
I predict Bush 274, Kerry 264.
UPDATE: If the latest numbers on Iowa hold up, maybe it's 281-257.
|
I predict Bush 274, Kerry 264.
UPDATE: If the latest numbers on Iowa hold up, maybe it's 281-257.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
MoveOn.org: Voter fraud... by cookie
A report from Bradenton, Florida that MoveOn.org is giving cookies to anyone who says they voted for Kerry.
A long shot, perhaps, but consider the scenario:
1. Tired, hungry voter goes to the polls and votes for Bush.
2. On the way out, s/he is offered a nice refreshing cookie in exchange for the little white lie of saying s/he voted for Kerry. Remember, the voter is tired and hungry, and the cookie looks sooo good... what can it hurt?
3. Steps 1 and 2 are repeated a few hundred times, here and at different polls around the country.
4. MoveOn.org's "exit polls" show Kerry getting many more votes than he actually gets... whereupon MoveOn.org cries foul and further ingrains the meme of "Republican vote suppression." Some lawyer tries to take it to court, but the case is quietly dismissed in view of how the "poll" was conducted. We never hear about the dismissal... all we hear are MoveOn.org's allegations, and the meme replicates for the next election cycle.
Yes, it's got holes big enough to drive Michael Moore (or me) through, but I wouldn't put it past them.
|
A long shot, perhaps, but consider the scenario:
1. Tired, hungry voter goes to the polls and votes for Bush.
2. On the way out, s/he is offered a nice refreshing cookie in exchange for the little white lie of saying s/he voted for Kerry. Remember, the voter is tired and hungry, and the cookie looks sooo good... what can it hurt?
3. Steps 1 and 2 are repeated a few hundred times, here and at different polls around the country.
4. MoveOn.org's "exit polls" show Kerry getting many more votes than he actually gets... whereupon MoveOn.org cries foul and further ingrains the meme of "Republican vote suppression." Some lawyer tries to take it to court, but the case is quietly dismissed in view of how the "poll" was conducted. We never hear about the dismissal... all we hear are MoveOn.org's allegations, and the meme replicates for the next election cycle.
Yes, it's got holes big enough to drive Michael Moore (or me) through, but I wouldn't put it past them.
