I thought I couldn’t be impressed by computer-aided special effects.
I thought I had seen it all. I was wrong. (Quicktime Movie — takes a while to load — to truly appreciate, make sure your sound is on)
Is Gene Kelly rolling in his grave?
The Toynbee Mystery
Signs like this one were first spotted in New York and Philadephia in 1996. They appear to be plastic and baked into the street or sidewalk.
The plaques make reference to Stanley Kubrick’s "2001" (and perhaps "2010"), but what do they mean?
Some publicity was generated about the bizarre plaques, and it turns out that these signs appear throughout the mid-Atlantic (e.g., Baltimore, Washington, etc.) and (how bizarre) Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.
Read more about the the Toynbee Mystery and see if these signs are in your neighborhood.
Payolagate – Number Three
Another undisclosing White House shill . . .
Even Magalang sez: "This is getting ridiculous". No, honey. It’s standard operating procedure.
More Torture Bedtime Stories for Neo-cons
Hey, kids! Press "play" on your recording of Lee Greenwood’s "Proud to be an American" and snuggle up to this wonderful story:
Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man’s face with fake menstrual blood . . .
I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free . . .
"I have really struggled with this because the detainees, their families and much of the world will think this is a religious war based on some of the techniques used, even though it is not the case," the author, former Army Sgt. Erik R. Saar, 29, told AP.
And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me . . .
The man closed his eyes and began to pray, Saar writes.
The female interrogator wanted to "break him," Saar adds, describing how she removed her uniform top to expose a tight-fitting T-shirt and began taunting the detainee, touching her breasts, rubbing them against the prisoner’s back and commenting on his apparent erection.
The detainee looked up and spat in her face, the manuscript recounts.
The interrogator left the room to ask a Muslim linguist how she could break the prisoner’s reliance on God. The linguist told her to tell the detainee that she was menstruating, touch him, then make sure to turn off the water in his cell so he couldn’t wash.
And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today . . .
Strict interpretation of Islamic law forbids physical contact with women other than a man’s wife or family, and with any menstruating women, who are considered unclean.
"The concept was to make the detainee feel that after talking to her he was unclean and was unable to go before his God in prayer and gain strength," says the draft, stamped "Secret."
The interrogator used ink from a red pen to fool the detainee, Saar writes.
"She then started to place her hands in her pants as she walked behind the detainee," he says. "As she circled around him he could see that she was taking her hand out of her pants. When it became visible the detainee saw what appeared to be red blood on her hand. She said, ‘Who sent you to Arizona?’ He then glared at her with a piercing look of hatred.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land . . .
"She then wiped the red ink on his face. He shouted at the top of his lungs, spat at her and lunged forward" — so fiercely that he broke loose from one ankle shackle.
"He began to cry like a baby," the draft says, noting the interrogator left saying, "Have a fun night in your cell without any water to clean yourself."
God Bless the U.S.A.!!!
The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. — Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881)
When Right-Wing Bloggers Don’t Bother To Fact Check . . .
. . . you get a lot of sound and fury and well, egg-on-faces:
Last week, the University of Oregon asked one of its employees to remove a yellow "Support the Troops" sticker from the state-owned truck he drives.
Since then, it has been taking the heat from talk radio hosts and Internet bloggers who picked up the story and added several surprising twists.
"Magnetic yellow ribbons that say `Support The Troops’ have been surreptitiously banned by the administration at the University of Oregon," according to one blog.
"We have the University of Oregon telling employees that they can’t display yellow ribbon stickers that say support the troops," another reports.
None of which is true, UO President Dave Frohnmayer said. People are free to express their opinions on campus, he said.
"I’ve heard that we reprimanded the employee, that we’re banning free speech on campus," he said. "We would never dream of telling people what they can have on their private cars or what buttons they can wear."
Read the whole thing.
Will those who overstepped and hyped the yellow ribbon story admit that they overstepped and hyped it?
Can they admit that they shouldn’t have urged people to bother the University of Oregon until their facts were accurate?
Or will they dodge, weave, obfuscate, and unapologeticly out-Rather Dan Rather? I think we all know.
"Conservatives — our agenda outweighs accuracy and truth."
Hat tip: Lizard Queen
Undoubtedly
I think the experts are right . . . don’t you? Hat tip: Wonkette
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Even though it is not opening for another five months, many are eagerly awaiting the premiere of "Star Wars III: The Return of the Who-Gives-A-Shit". (Actually, it is "Return of the Sith").
But Jeff Tweiten in Seattle, Washington is going a bit too far. He’s lining up for a ticket now. He’s even got a couch in front of the movie theater where he (apprently) spends his days waiting for the box office to open several months from now.
A little sad. A little interesting. But with a twist: he’s blogging about it.
Eyes On The Prize
About 20 years ago, I (like millions of others) saw an extraordinary documentary called "Eyes On The Prize". Shown in multiple parts over several days, the documentary is without a doubt THE documentary chronicling the United States civil rights movement. I have long wondered what happened to film, expecting it to show up on DVD one of these days.
Sadly, that day may never happen. Much of the archival footage in the film is copyright protected which places limits on the film. No, I don’t fully understand the copyright laws either, but the bottom line is that this important film documentary may simply . . . vanish. In fact, copyright restrictions have prevented the film from being shown anywhere in the past ten years. much less being reduced to video or DVD.
I actually home-videotaped the entire documentary back in the 1980’s (it was one of the first things I ever videotaped — VCRs being the "TiVo" of the time), but God knows where that tape is now, and what condition it is in.
Anyway, copyright reform advocates hav joined forces with civil rights organizations for a little bit of civil disobedience (in the spirit of the film itself). Using 21st century technology, they are making the first part of the documentary available, and asking people to hold public screenings in contravention (perhaps) of copyright laws.
Read more about it here, and if you DO have a chance to see even the first part of this documentary in your area, don’t pass it up.
Never Tired Of Being Wrong
According to a July 28th, 2000 article in USA Today, back in 1978 when President Bush was running for congress in Texas, "he predicted Social Security would go broke in 10 years and said the system should give people ‘the chance to invest money the way they feel’ is best." (Source)
And back in 1999, he again said that Social Security would go broke in 10 years. (Link)
We should believe him now . . . . uh . . . . why?
Another $80 Billion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration plans to announce as early as Tuesday that it will seek about $80 billion in new funding for military operations this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration and congressional sources said on Monday.
The new supplemental budget request would come on top of the $25 billion in emergency spending already approved for the current fiscal year, and will push total 2005 funding for military operations and equipment close to a record $105 billion, the sources said on Monday.
(Link)
Buyer’s Remorse?
I’m sure everyone has seen how Bush’s approval rating continues to drop, as does support for his little Iraqi thing. But this has gotta sting.
A Zogby poll relased today finds a higher percentage of Americans saying that they are ashamed that Mr. Bush is their president; three-in-ten (31%) Americans now hold that view, as compared to one-in-four (26%) a month ago.
That’s right — "ashamed". And such a jump from just one month ago. Ouch.
“What the . . . (trailing off)?!?”
Plugged In is a magazine and website that reviews movies, television and music from a Christian perspective. It’s a James Dobson venture, and has been popularized recently when it reviewed the Spongebob Squarepants movie and suggested that Spongebob was gay.
On a curious lark, I wondered what Plugged In thought about the movie "Kinsey". Now, I haven’t seen this movie, but I know who Kinsey was, and what the subject matter of the movie is about (a sex researcher and the priggish tightwads who disliked him). Anyway, as you might expect, the reviewer at Plugged In didn’t care for "Kinsey" too much. In fact, his head exploded. I’m sure the irony of his review was lost on him.
I don’t have a problem with the service that Plugged In provides. I mean, if you are a parent, and your kid is going to some movie you never heard of, you might want to know what your child is going to see. And in that sense, Plugged In lets you know, and provides a service.
But is it necessary to be so dogmatic, and . . . well . . . persnickity? Yeah — I said it . . . "persnickity"!
For example, it seems that every movie review informs you of the number and content of dirty words. As in "this movie had four uses of the word ‘h—‘, two ‘d—‘s, and one rather loud use of the s-word."
Naturally, this led me to wonder: Do the Plugged In reviewers actually sit there in dark movie theaters and keep tally of dirty words? Maybe they had special writing pads made up so they can just put a tick mark next to a dirty word everytime it is uttered.
Here’s a real-life example regarding the language used in a recent blockbuster movie:
Startled, Mr. Incredible blurts, "What the …," then trails off before finishing. Interjections of "oh my god" and "jeez" pop out of characters’ mouths two or three times.
"What the . . . ?" (trailing off) is offensive to someone? Jeez, that’s going a bit overboard, ain’t it?
My advice to the Plugged In people is to keep on doing what you are doing, but come off your high horse just a little. You can inform your readers that there is, say, moderately foul language . . . without giving the box scores.
This Seems Unnecessarily Complicated
Outsourcing McDonald’s Drive-Thru?
At the McDonald’s drive-thru in Hermiston, Oregon (a small farming town in Eastern Oregon, we’re told), your order is taken by someone 1,300 miles away in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The order is then conveyed back to a computer screen in the McDonald’s kitchen in Hermiston, Oregon, who make your McMeal as only they can.
Coming to your McDonald’s soon? Maybe! Read more . . . .
Queer President for the Straight Country
Now that we know what to look for, Salon notes that clues to Lincoln’s gayness can be found in other biographies as well.
Example: "He was always … writing poetry." (Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald, Page 33)
"[T]hey noted … how affectionate he was to kittens and other pets." (Lincoln, Page 55)
"To settle a dispute over which company should have a certain campground, Lincoln wrestled with Lorenzo D. Thompson. In their first feel-outs of each other, Lincoln called, ‘Boys, this is the most powerful man I ever had hold of.’ " (Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, Page 29)