Note: This review also appears at Blogcritics.org
As stated in an earlier review of this movie M Night Shyamalan is one of the few directors, if not the only director, in Hollywood whose movies are a draw simply because of him. Most of his movies, except for The Sixth Sense downplayed the leading actors, and instead focused on the director. Not since Alfred Hitchcock has there been a director with that sort of following.
In his latest film, The Village, Shyamalan delivers a movie that continues in his tradition of creepiness.
In the opening scene we see a father, distraught over the casket of a loved one, his young son who died of an apparent illness. In the background from reading the date on the headstone we learn that the year is 1897.
 | The village they live in is surrounded by woods in which "Those who we do not speak of" live. The monsters are attracted by the color red, and scared away with yellow. When a red flower is seen, people quickly pluck it and bury it, to hide it away from the monsters. The people of the village live in fear of these hardly seen, though often heard monsters. They never enter the forest, for that is the land of the beasts. The beings in the forest therefore do not enter the village. That is the conditions of the truce between the villagers and the monsters. |
The village is a sort of utopian society. There is no money, and everyone works together to grow food, build houses, and keep the village going. We are told through the movie that they came here to get away from the harshness of the towns. Most every house has a locked box, where reminders of their past are locked away, to remind those who originally came to the village why they moved here.
Lucius Hunt, played by Joaquin Phoenix offers to go into the towns to get medicine so that the people like the young boy whose funeral we saw at the beginning of the film, won't have to die due to lack of health care. He asks the elders for permission to enter the woods, and they refuse.
Ivy Walker, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, the blind daughter of lead elder Edward Walker, played William Hurt, is the love interest of Lucius. Though blind, her connection to Lucius is so strong that she sees a color emanate from him. Her father is the only other one she can "see".
The monsters in the woods soon appear to be less willing to value the truce, as one morning most of the village livestock are found skinned alive, and red slashes are found on the doors to the houses.
When a tragedy happens, Edward grants permission for Ivy to enter the woods to go to the towns to get medicine, which sets up a confrontation and conclusion where everything is explained, and nothing is as it seems.
This movie, shot in Pennsylvania, is a beautifully shot piece of work. The look is very agrarian and pioneer, like something out of a history book about Jamestown or Plymouth Rock. The lack of red in the movie and prevalence of yellow give the whole town a sort of toned down earth tone look to it.
Though taking place in 1897 the town has a sort of pre-industrial look to it. We see no items or references to turn of the century America. It appears as if their utopian society is part Quaker, part Shaker, and part Amish.
The star of the film is Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of director Ron Howard, who gives an Oscar caliber performance. Her face at times appears young and childlike, reflecting the innocence of the town she lives in. Other times she appears much older and hardened, secure of herself in times when she needs to be tough.
The other characters, even Phoenix, are there mainly for the support and the story develops around her. She becomes a catalyst for the story to move forward, and her character becomes a metaphor for the entire village; living in isolation, blind to the outside world.
One thing about Shyamalan, which is both a blessing and a curse, is that his movies are getting known to have twist or surprise endings. People have come to expect that and are disappointed when the twist doesn't measure up to their expectations of the movie.
The weakness in the movie is that it is marketed as a horror movie, which it is not. Though there are occasional scares and places to make you jump, the movie is more about how the villagers view themselves and the outside world.
There are two major plot twists in the film. Though not entirely shocking, they are framed in such a way that you only see a little bit at a time over many long minutes. This gives you a little view at a time, like trying to guess what a wrapped present is. First you shake, then you pull the wrapping away a bit at a time until the whole thing is exposed. Sometimes you guess right from the start, and sometimes even those little peeks don't give you the full answer until you have the whole thing unwrapped.
Originally titled The Woods the name was changed to shift focus back onto the center point of the story, the village. Rightfully so, because this movie isn’t about what lurks in the woods, or what is beyond that place that we are comfortable, but is about how we sometimes lock ourselves in. To protect us from what see as real threats and what we think may real hurt us. And sometimes those same fears are different to different people.
Four out of Five Stars.
 Liberals scolded for not paying attention during economics |
I like how Democrats and other socialist types are tyring to talk down the fabulous economy.
Over at Blogcritics liberal Kool-Aid drinker, Mac Diva, has an intersting take on how the economy is crappy....based on 2002 numbers. However, with neither the economy nor the war on terrorism going well, the GOP may feel it needs to resort to its old dirty tricks. Yeah, and I am skinny. Based on my middle school weight. Take a look, and smak her down. No click link because I don't want to give her the satisfaction of a trackback. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/07/30/161145.php |
But it is not bad. economic futures are strong, Consumer confidence is up, and unemployment is around the same as it was in July 1996.
Michael Moore's treasonous film, F 9/11 is a grave and gathering storm against this country. If there ever was something which was actually dangerous to the security of this country, than this is it.
Sure he has a right to shit in a bucket and call it a "documentary", but when that documentary is used by our enemies as propaganda against us, than I call that treasonous.
HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. director Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" was shown on prime time Cuban state-run television on Thursday after playing to packed cinemas for a week.In a country with a deep-seated distrust of U.S. governments, the film has generated widespread public interest and added to a recent barrage of official criticism of President Bush
What happens when our enemies and islamofascists we are fighting to destroy get copies of this film, show it during a break from practicing strapping bombs to themselves, and get their beliefs validated?
When there is another attack on this country, and perhaps millions die, I'll blame Michael Moore long before I blame any President we have.
Photo courtesy of CounterPunch
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The Democrats have chosen their man. Through a 45 minute speech Kerry spoke rather well. He mentioned Vietnam about 20 times, and spoke more about that then his 20 year career in the Senate. I wonder why? Most of his speech was very general about foreign affairs. He said he will make sure the troops get all the supplies they need (He did once vote for that before voting against it), said he will make sure the CIA gets all the tools they need to fight terror (how does proposing cutting the CIA fit into that). He said he will make America Stronger at Home, and Safer in the World. He said a lot of things which contradicted each other, as usual he was on o both sides of many issues. He railed against pre-emtive war in Iraq, but then implied that we should have acted pre-emptively before 9/11. |
All those foreign affairs issues got minor applauses from the delegates, proving that the red meat Dems really don't see foreign affairs as a priority. The only major applauses really came when he directly attacked Bush when he said that he would not mislead this country into war.
The true love from the Dem hardcoores for Kerry came during the domestic agenda section of the speech where he called for (did he?) national healthcare, tax rollbacks hikes for the rich while repeatedly saying "Help is on the way".
Well, if help is on the way, I don't need it. I'm doing just fine. In fact I am far better than I was when George Bush took office. I was laid off then, and barely getting by. Now, I have a great job, own my own home and am living the American dream of prosperity and security.
Why would I change quarterbacks at halftime when I am up?
Introducing John Kerry tonight is Vanessa Kerry. Is it me, or does she look kinda like Odo from Deep Space 9?
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From Yahoo News:
Bl(A)ck Tea members joined with anti-war groups in a march that began in Copley Square shortly after noon and quickly grew into the largest demonstration since thousands of anti-war and anti-abortion protesters greeted delegates on Sunday as they arrived in the city.The crowd, estimated at around 400 people, looped through the city's Financial District before heading toward the FleetCenter. They were accompanied by about 100 police officers wearing helmets and carrying shields. Seven protesters with hoods tied themselves to a police barricade.
When they arrived outside the fenced-in demonstration zone near the FleetCenter, the protesters set fire to a two-faced effigy — one side showing Bush, the other Kerry. As it burned, the protesters stomped on the puppet, while others burned copies of Bush's autobiography.
Burning Bush and Kerry in effigy, and burning books. Hmm. Didn't Hitler do that too?
I guess the Neocons aren't "Hitler". It appears that the hippy, American hating, punks who are demonstrating the Democrats for not being liberal enough are the true Fascists.
The French speaking candidate for President, John Le'Kerry's idea is to "make healthcare affordable and available for everyone" In case you aren't up on your liberal doublespeak, that means, "Universal Healthcare".
One of the most socialized healthcare systems in the world is in France, where unemployment continually hovers at around 12% due to the oppressive anti-business tax system to pay for gold fillings for everyone.
To keep costs down, hospitals cut corners, and are generally not innovative.
Look what happened last year during a
heatwave in France:
French hospitals could not cope with a repeat of the heatwave which killed almost 15,000 people last summer, a prominent doctor said on Thursday.Patrick Pelloux, an emergency doctor who led attacks on the government over its handling of the 2003 heatwave, said there were not enough hospital beds or staff available.
An official report blamed the heat-related deaths on poor organization, a lack of communication and key staff being away on holiday.
The government's plan, to be active from June 1 to October 1 each year, includes a new weather and health alert service, a database of people at risk from heat-related illness and a response plan for hospitals and voluntary aid workers.
Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in May a special committee had been set up to ensure emergency units received an extra $600 million set aside over five years. But Pelloux said funding was still insufficient.
"If there is no real willingness to make the public hospitals more dynamic in all sectors, we will again see disasters and important bottlenecks in emergency services," Pelloux said.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's conservative government is trying to reform France's expensive health care system, long hailed as one of the world's best.
Under the heatwave plan, a "heat risk" map updated at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. will be sent to the media, along with advice and recommendations from the Health Ministry.
Douste-Blazy has also said he aims to increase overtime to ensure experienced staff are always available.
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15,000 people? As a percentage of the population, that would mean about 75,000 dead over here.
But 15,000; That's more than died in the "alleged illegal" war in Iraq. It seems like France's Liberal Socialism has killed more people than any Neocon in this country has. |  "Pickin grapes for $45 Euros an hour sure is sweet!!" |
I'm somewhat Old School. I remember when tables in webpages were fascinating, and frames were commonly used in web-site.
In fact, my first web browser was Mosaic .9 Alpha. It fit on one Double Sided, double density disk, and ran on my Win 3.1 machine. In 1994. I am an old bastard in on-line years, so I'll smack ya down ya whippersnappers!!
I remember Multi-User-Dungeons, and text only chat. Even before AIM was cool there was something even better; IRC.
I uesed to chat on IRC's EFFNET all the time. I was a mod at #Penn_State, and chatted with my buddies of LimeJuice, PsuBrat, and Becah.
I miss them, and recently I cam across a project that PsuBrat is involved with.
Take a look at her Fan Pages
John Kerry must think he is JFK. JFK was skipper of a PT boat in WW II; John Kerry was skipper of a swiftboat in Vietnam.
Now this book comes out:
Man, I've seen better makeup on a corpse
I'm sorry. I couldn't do it last night. I couldn't make my self watch the Prell Girl talk about whatever the hell he talked about. Though I heard his 20 year old daughter introduced him,. She's kinda cute, and that would have been the high point of the evening.
From what I hear he did his basic Two Americas speech, the one where he says there are two Americas. One where rich trial lawyers and gold digging liberals from Boston live in mansions while blaming the rich for all trouble in the world. Yeah, that one.
Instead I watched "Sex And the City", and I realized that Carrie is a stupid bitch. In last night's episode she broke up with Mr. Big (aka John) because he wouldn't commit to calling her "the one". He broke her heart
Then I remember twice when she was dating Aiden a few years later and SHE wouldn't commit to marriage. She broke HIS heart.
What a fickle pain in the ass. Samantha was the only one who was consistent.
I was browsing Moxie, and I saw this hilarious picture which asks the question about fake photos, John Kerry, and Vietnam.
This is a crazy abuse of power. I get annoyed with cell phone talkers like the rest of this, but this story is crazy:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A college student who took a cell phone call from her mother in a movie theater was pepper sprayed by an officer and charged with disorderly conduct, along with her boyfriend.He asked Harris and her boyfriend, Terrell "KC" Tolson, 25, to leave. He pushed Harris in the hallway, then pepper sprayed both of them in the lobby, the couple said. Neither Harris nor Tolson has a criminal record.
Police denied their account, saying Harris refused to end her cell phone conversation, yelled at the Douglas and refused to leave the theater. Her boyfriend also refused to leave and threatened the officer, police said.
Witnesses said the pair did nothing wrong.
Marcia Gray, a 49-year-old Tampa accountant, was in the lobby when the couple were pepper sprayed.
"The man turned and asked the officer why he was making them leave and the cop just maced him in the face," Gray said. "They weren't yelling or touching him. The man bent over and the girl asked why he maced her boyfriend. Then the cop maced her, and she dropped her soda.
I tend to believe cops when things go down, but with numerous witnesses saying they did nothing, I think this cop was wrong.
If he did mace them without merit, he should be immediately fired.
Day two is mercifully in the bank. Not much happened. Some 14 year old future Clinton intern said Bush and Cheney need a timeout, how cute. Thank God 14 year old Democrats can't vote. (Except in Chicago where even dead Democrats can vote)
Howard Dean used every fiber of his self-control to not start screaming uncontrollably. He also urged people to not vote for third candidates, because after all, the DNC is not really in favor of Democracy.
Ted Kennedy, in a true drunken stupor stumpled through his speech, having trouble with the word "suburban", I guess since there aren't as many liquor stores in the suburbs, he can't say that word.
The headliner, Teresa Heinz Kerry, did her best to prove that her husband was not the most boring public speak, but she was. She succeeded excellently.
Hey, I didn't know that Kerry was in Vietnam! Apparently so! I guess the other 500 times they mentioned it tonight, I didn't hear it, so it's news to me!
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This almost deserves to be a caption contest.
Tonight there are many good speakers. Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt and the followingn three names of note:
First is Chris Heinz, Stepson of John Kerry. Stupid prick. If I wasn't going to boycott Heinz Ketchup, now I am. If this guy says anything about Bush or Republicans, let the boycott begin.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, Wife of John Kerry. Fitting she goes before The Swimmer on the slate, since she hates him. How fitting a flip flopper married a flip flopper.
| And in my mind, Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts is the headliner. In order to experience the convention as Ted does I will drink an entire bottle of Banker's Club Gin, and then drive my car into the lake. |
"I said two olives in my martini, dammit!!"
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I like how the party of Jackasses continually tries to masquerade as a centrist party. With special guest stars of Michael Moore, Al Gore, Al Sharpton, and Howard Dean, I can hardly call them a big tent party.
Where are Zell Milller and Joe Lieberman?
Last night the old farts and hag Jackasses came out to party. Al Gore, after taking some Prozac, came out and kept talking about the 'selection' of 2000; always making jokes, but still bringing it up none the same.
The Peanut Farmer stumbled out, with increasing speech patterns like Jesse Jackson, and spun yarns on how his administration was the great foreign policy administration where stagflation was a great thing, and shit didn't stink.
Hillary was out, and it occurred to me, that she shrieks at everything. Even if she were a funeral director, he voice would still shriek during every sentence.
Then the big guy came out, to thunderous applause; Bill Clinton was back. I have to admit, this guy is good. He is a much better public speaker than Bush, and makes John Kerry look like the alternate for a middle school debate team.
As usual Bill told his usual half truths about "tax cuts for the wealthy" and how Bush was destroying the environment by repealing the environmental initiatives that Clinton waited until the last 30 days in office to implement, or how 80,000 cops will be jobless because of the expiring unfunded mandate that Clinton pushed through while he was in office.
And of course, the one million jobs lost. Wait, I thought it was two? Hmm, I guess through a recount they found an extra one million jobs which bush didn't lose.
I am watching that shitbird redneck Bill Clinton speak right now about all sorts of bullshit. I have not seen so much twisting of truths since that time I read a transcript from one of The Prell Girl's court appearances.
Bill is spinning all sorts of lies, too many of them to go into right now. But he is spinning them faster than FDR in his grave that the Jackass party has turned so wacko.
Fitting right now I smell a skunk outside my window; it appears that God has a sense of humor. Skunk outside my window, Clinton speaking.
Moxie pointed out that Planned Parenthood has designed a shirt, which they sell on their web-site which allows women who have had abortions to share their life experiences with others.
Small and tight fitting, it barely covers your small, flat stomach which once carried a small human.
If you want to see the ad campaign going along with the shirt, expand this entry: (the advertisement may frighten small children and Muslims)
Click-it to see-it BIG
I wanted to share a few pics of my garden as of today, July 26th (where has the summer gone?)
In this first photo you'll see our pumpkin plants as well as our tomatoe plants.
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In this second photo you can see my yummy Silver Queen, almost ready for pickin!!
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In between blogging and working, I had Moxie take me on her private jet up to the Dem convention. While there I saw the Democratic Convention 2004 mascots.
Take a look:
I really don't talk to strangers. Despite the fact that I am an adult, and more than capable of taking care of myself, I still don't like to talk to people I don't know. It's not because I think they are going to try to lure me into their car with promises of beer and hot dogs, but because I'd rather not waste my time with people I'll never see again.
Also, most strangers are assholes. Especially when you are driving. I remember once I was giving some a driving lesson. We were stopped at a stop sign, waiting to turn, and the people behind us where screaming obscenities at us for not moving fast enough. I turned out the window that they should shut the hell up. And then it happened. My driving student accidentially put the car in reverse and backed right into the mean stranger's truck. Needless to say, we were both a little embarassed.
Then last night upon returning from the Philles game my wife and I stopped to get some coffee at a food store, and while we were waiting in line, this former hippy tried to talk to me.
"We have a mass murderer in the Whitehouse, and the papers are still talking about Clinton". She said this pointing to a story about Sandy Burgler's pant stuffing antics.
I just nodded and tried to ignore said hippy. She was in a wheelly cart, probably because George Bush personally stole her ability to walk, so I cut her some slack. I was tired, and didn't want to point out that the only people George Bush killed in mass quantities were the bad guys; terrorists and islamofascists.
I don't like to talk to strangers, I keep my politics to myself (except here), I'd love to go around to random strangers and ask why John Kerry and John Edwards like to cuddle, or why Hillary Clinton screams when she talks, or that Al Gore has tottaly gone insane, or many other things which stick to rules of common sense.
Ikea: Swedish for overpriced crap
We went to Ikea this weekend. What a crappy place. We went to the housewares section, and I think the things; from spatulas to ashtrays, to wall clocks, look liked they came from a dollar store liquidation. Really overpriced junk. And talk about frightening experiences. While there we are not shoppers, but "visitors", and the people who work there aren't associates, they are "Co-Workers". Someone suggested we go to Ikea, as we would like it. I think not. I have my own style, and it isn't in the style of wanna be So-Ho beat poet. |  |
From Cnet.com
According to an advertisement already running on the Dish Network Web site, subscribers to the satellite TV system will get access to 61 commercial-free radio stations. Some customers have already reported tapping into the service.The relationship could provide a significant boost to Sirius, which--like rival service XM Satellite Radio--has occasionally found it a difficult task to persuade consumers to spend $150 or more on new satellite receiver hardware for their automobiles, and then pay the monthly $12.95 for the radio subscription.
To date, Sirius has attracted about 400,000 subscribers. The Dish Network, which is owned by EchoStar Communications, has about 9.7 million. Roughly 85 percent of those customers will now have access to the Sirius music channels without paying any additional fee, a Sirius representative said.
I love my Dish, and despite the cable comercials which would lead you to believe that if you sneeze you lose your signal, I love it, and I only lose my signal during those apocalyptic summer rains.
One thing which I never was fond of was the music channels offered by Dish. I thought there was a good selection, but the music on those channels was a little dry.
Now with the addition of nearly 70 new music channels courtesy of Sirius, I can now get my music fix. It is also a good move for Sirius, as it shows their music offerings to people who would not normally be exposed to Sirius, or would be thinking of purchasing vival XM's package.
So, it looks like John Edwards is playing up his superhero role. Lawyer; defender of the little guy, defeating evil corporate America. Protecting you and I from hot cups of McDonald's coffee!!
Able to bankrupt family doctors with a single suit. Raising health care costs for you and I!
How did he do so well as a trial lawyer? Well, expand this entry and find out!
I can hear Queen singing now:
Flash....ah ha....
Defender of the Universe!!
There are some things in life you don't want to know what they are made of; Hot Dogs, Pepper Pot soup, cottage cheese.
Right now I am eating some cottage cheese, which amounts basically to the stuff you throw out when your carton of milk is way past its expiration date. Which makes me wonder if cottage cheese is basically milk gone bad, why does it have an expiration date?
Beer and wine are basically grape juice and bread juice gone bad. Add a little bit of yeast and allow to ferment, and viola! You have a lovely beverage.
When I was in high school there was this kid who would buy apple cider and allow it to "age" till it was hard, and he had a very inexpensive intoxicant.
| This picture was taken last summer when I decided it would be cool to shave my head like my father. This picture really creeps my wife out. She sees what I will become. |
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My dad started shaving his head a few years ago when I was still in college, right after I returned from the Outback Bowl. Being in a college band ( I played Sousaphone) we decided to shave letters into our heads and spell things. We decided to spell Nittany Lions. I was the "N" in Nittany
After the game, we shaved the letters off to make us as bald as, well, we were bald. When I returned to chilly snowy Pennsylvania, my mostly bald father asked what it was like to be totally bald with a shaved head. I told him I would shave what was left of his hair if he wanted to find out, and the ledgend of Cue Ball Tom Sr. was born.
I was watching a show on the old Soviet olympic teams and I saw about how if a kid showed talent in a patricular sport he was basically forced into being on the olympic team. As with most opressive government controlled regimes most careers were chosen by central planning.
I consider myself lucky that I get to work in field I enjoy, with people I enjoy, and for an employer which is top notch.
I've had my fair share of nasty jobs, and I am amazed that we live in a country that allows you to totally choose your profession (unless it's the oldest profession ;0 )
But we can do what we want to do, and become anything that we want to be. Look at John Edwards he was the son of a mill worker (mill supervisor), and has worked hard and became a very successful trial lawyer. Bill Gates dropped out of college to form Microsoft.
The computer I am typing this on was originally thought of by two hippies who got their start building black boxes to cheat the phone company out of long distance charges.
What a country!!
From News reports:
Of coure the French Canadians hate us. Well I hate French Canadians. What have they contributed to society? Now I think they are just mad that they haven't won the Stanley Cup in like 15 years. hehe. Now I didn't go around calling them evil when the Toronto Blue whatsits won the World Series a few years back. And then they beat my team. But, to call us evil? That's a strong word. Espcially if you count how many movie stars are Canadian. If it werent' for us people like Adam Sandler would be doing public access somewhere in Quebec.
|  Dr. Evil, darkhorse Presidental candidate. |
Here is the improved "Pets of The Nap Room" page.
Now with comments goodness.
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This is Boots, the Main Coon Cat of mine. He sleeps 28 hours a day (go figure), most of the time wherever I am at. When I try to work he flops his furry 20 pound frame on my desk and geneally gets hair into everything.
Just today I tried to make some photocopies only to see that in addition to copying the material, I copied some errant cat hair |
Over here on the right is Nittany, named after my alma mater. She is quarter the size of Boots, but makes up for it in the ability to sneak out of the house whenever the door is open for more than a nano second. She can be upstairs sleeping on her bed (yes she has her very own queen sized bed) and be outside in the time it takes you to let the dog out |  |
 | This is Oreo. I don't know where she got this name, but she is as sweet as the cookie. She is a mutt, and God only knows what she is, but it must be part terrier becasue she barks at every damned thing. Bugs, the cats, birds. If it exists, it was barked at by her. |
I gotta go. Oreo is barking at something.
When I use my Zippo to light my hand rolled Gurkha, I often think of the many tricks that can be done (though not by me) with these versatile lighters.
I found this web-site called Lighter Tricks which features how-to's and videos on doing Zippo tricks.
They have easy, medium, and had tricks. I tried the easiest trick the twist and roll and all I managed to do is set my jeans on fire.
From UPI Reports:
Iraqi security reportedly discovered three missiles carrying nuclear heads concealed in a concrete trench northwest of Baghdad, official sources said Wednesday.
The official daily al-Sabah quoted the sources as saying the missiles were discovered in trenches near the city of Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"The three missiles were discovered by chance when the Iraqi security forces captured former Baath party official Khoder al-Douri who revealed during interrogation the location of the missiles saying they carried nuclear heads," the sources said.
They pointed out that the missiles were actually discovered in the trenches lying under six meters of concrete and designed in a way to unable sophisticated sensors from discovering nuclear radiation.
Let's see the Democrat buttheads try to explain this one away.
I just heard news about a proposal to ban smoking in all indoor workplaces in Pennsylvania, including bars and restaurants. It is being pushed forward by state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County. To tell you the truth, I'm getting sick of writing about this crap.
From the Pittsburgh Channel:
A state lawmaker says the time has come to ban smoking at all workplaces in Pennsylvania, including bars and restaurants.
State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, says he will push for legislation simlar to that of California, New York, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida and Massachusetts, where the law is already in place.
"It's not a question of if it will happen, it's a question of when," Greg Hartley, assistant director of Smokefree Pennsylvania, told reporter Kelly Frey in a Channel 4 Action News report from October 2003. "We think it will happen soon."Secondhand smoke causes 53,000 deaths a year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Rumblings surfaced early last year about a possible smoking ban at Allegheny County bars and restuarants. The noise was quieted by the state's Clean Indoor Air Act, passed in 1998, which establishes no-smoking sections in restaurants but prohibits most local governments from further restricting smokers.
Some eateries have voluntarily extinguished smoking. A Web site, NoSmokeDining.org, lists about 100 smoke-free restaurants in Allegheny and surrounding counties
I believe this to be an intrusion on our lives by an ever increasingly powerful government. I think that the free market should decide which establishments are smoke-free, or that allow smoking.
To me it is all about freedom of choice. There is the freedom of the owners of bars and restaurants to allow their customers have a smoke with thier meal or with their drink. If they want to be smoke-free, that’s their choice as well. A customer should also be able to choose a place to go when they don’t want to be around smoke, or one which allows them to smoke.
The government says this is all to protect your health. They have your best interests at heart. Well, there are a lot of things which are bad for you. Eating too much, eating fattening foods, drinking alcohol, and not exercising are just a few. Are they next?
The government cites obesity as a major health problem now. Is the government going to now tell a restaurateur what food he can sell? Or tell me what I can eat? Or force me to exercise? Twenty years ago the thought of a state-wide smoking ban would have seemed crazy so who knows anymore.
I am totally against this proposed law. It has nothing to do with my personal views on smoking; it has to do with my view on the role of government in trying to protect us from every little thing they view as dangerous. From seatbelts, to cell phones while driving, to cigar and cigarette smoke.
Here comes the nanny-state.
Learn more about what liberty is by visiting Consent of the Governed.
I was reminded of this drinking song that any woman named Sarah will no doubt be annoyed if you point it out.
"Sarah, Sarah, sitting in a Chevrolet. All day long she sits and shifts. All day long she shifts and sits. Sara, Sara, sitting in a Chevrolet."
"Sarah, Sarah, sipping on a bottle of Schlitz. All day long she sips her Schlitz. All day long her Schlitz she sips. Sara, Sara, sipping on a bottle of Schlitz."
"Sarah, Sarah, working in a sheet slitting plant. All day long she slits those sheets.All day long those sheets she slits. Sarah, Sarah, working in a sheet slitting plant."
This is perhaps the funniest thing I've ever seen. It's the My Land Cartoon featuring John Kerry and George Bush.
I think this would make Star Trek much better:
This is some scary stuff:
According to a shower survey sponsored by VertiSpa, 42 percent urinate while bathing, certainly pissing off the 58 percent who don't.
That's not the only stat splashed from the shower study. The average shower is 101 degrees Fahrenheit and uses nearly 50 gallons of water.
-- 52 percent of Americans sing in the shower, with "Singin' In The Rain" being the top tune.
-- 53 percent of people shower in the morning, while 29 percent wait until evening.
-- Finally, the scariest stat of all: 7 percent of Americans claim they never bathe at all.
Look at it this way. When I go to Penn State games, the stadium holds about 110,000 people. That means about half of them pee in the shower and about 7,000 NEVER take a shower. That is some pretty scarys shit. Unless you live in France. Then it's quite normal.
 Yum, tastes like chicken! |
Over the weekend Boots and Nittany both helped control the mouse population by chasing and killing 4 mice. With all the rains here the mouse have been coming into the house like hippies away from a bath.
While watching Monster with the missus we heard a noise, a sqeaking noise. Shortly thereafter Nittany came walking into the living room with a dead mouse in her mouth. After calming my wife down, I went and found Boots with another dead mouse. Yeah them. The following morning Boots captured another 2 mice. All babies, all cute, and all dead. Thank God for cats. |
Also, did you know that you can only get 10 sausage biscuits at a time from McDonald's drive thru? I only know this because I like to keep several in the freezer for days when I have to leave the house early. It's proably because Michael Moore was buying hundreds at a time and they were running out of sausage, so they had to limit it to us regular folks.
Thanks Michael.
I went over to Al Jazeera, and visited their letters section. I am not going to comment much except to say that if you don't believe now that many Muslims hate Jews, then I don't know what I can do to prove it to you.
Dr.Kareem,
But there is still more to it than has been revealed by Mr. Moore. While michael moore did his best to expose this vicious group, he has however, conveniently (intentionally?) ignored/skipped the one most important character that is the epic center of this entire scenario, the Jews.
More than any individual, group or a corporation the real beneficiaries in this so called “war on terror” and the invasion of Iraq is Israel and the Jews, the masterminds. Bush and party are just the executioners. Mr. Moore has completely and conveniently shifted the entire blame on the bush administration and successfully moved the responsibility off.
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When Hitler massacred the Jews they did nothing because they are cowards. The Palestinians are fighting even though they don't have tanks, fighter planes, or sophisticated killing machines, they use their bodies.
Millions of Palestinians were displaced, and killed by the Israeli soldiers with the support of the U.S. The Israelis are cowards hiding behind the back of the U.S., without the aid of the U.S. they are capable of nothing.
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Kim DuToit mentioned in a post on his site that he is voting for Republicans, reluctantly, but is more alligned to the Constitution party.
Short of reading the platforms of the dozen or so major and minor parties, I went to Politics 1 to find out about the political parties of the United States.
I feel similar to Kim, but my leanings are more Libertarian. I believe in more liberty, and more basic freedoms than what the Republican party stands for.
Lurch continues his crusade to talk down the great economy. Stump speech after stump speech Kerry talks about how we are giving tax cuts at the expense of a growing economy and that we are spending ourselves into oblivion.
But little reported earlier this week comes this great news, as reported by Reuters:
WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government posted a larger-than-expected budget surplus in June, propped up by higher quarterly business tax receipts, a government report released on Tuesday showed.
In the Treasury Department's monthly budget statement, June income outpaced spending by $19.14 billion, slightly less than the government's June 2003 surplus of $21.23 billion.
"What we are seeing is the impact of a good economy, the impact of extraordinarily strong corporate profits, and likely the impact of more people being caught in the alternative minimum tax," Drew Matus, financial markets economist at Lehman Brothers in New York, said in response to the report.
"Surprisingly strong receipts are really helping out a great deal here. There is no reason to suspect, given the employment growth we have seen, that this trend will change any time soon," he said.
Corporate income tax inflows grew 38 percent in June, when quarterly tax statements are normally filed, compared to June 2003. Individual tax receipts were nearly 9 percent higher.
Read that last paragraph closely. Income tax inflows from business grew 38% and individual inflows grew 9%. Wha' Happaned? If you listen to John Kerry you would assume that tax cuts would starve the government of needed funds and eliminate food from the mouths of poor children.
But as predicted, and as happened two previous times taxes were cut (Reagan and Kennedy), money coming into the treasury has actually increased!
If that isn't proof positive that tax cuts spur economic growth, and that growth in the economy happens best when the government gets out of the way, then I don't know what is.
Let's see Lurch talk about this crappy economy now.
If you want, read this at Blogcritics
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Light blogging today. End of year reports are due soon. (leave it to my unspecified employer to make end of year in July)
So while I am eating my cucumber and onion sandwich I will show you a picture of the devastation from yesterday's tornado which hit Pennsylvania. |  |
Well it looks like the world has come to an end in Harrisburg. Several tornados have been reported touching down. Trees are down, people are rushing to red cross shelters.
What I want to know is the following:
Why do tornados sound like freight trains. During the wall-to-wall news coverage this afternoon people called in to channel 8 in Lancaster, from their basements, saying they heard what sounded like freight trains overhead. Now I can understand the parallel to a train. Wind is loud, and from what I remember from The Wizzard of Oz tornados ARE LOUD.
But why do they sound like freight trains? Why not a passenger train, or a commuter train? What is wrong with them? Are freight trains super ominous?
I myself think of tornados when I hear freight trains. When I see an enormous freight train go by I often explain it to others as sounding like a tornado.
Boots is my buddy, and I thought I'd share a few pics as I am pretty busy today.
 | My job is pretty tough, especially when I have to try to work around this fool sitting on my desk ALL DAY |
Boots is my Maine Coon. He is very big and is my buddy. Unlike Nittany who is more a baby, Boots likes to follow me around and being wherever I am.
When I come down in the morning he follows me trilling, chirping and meowing in his tiny voice.
Cute Boots.
Fat Michael Moore, like the rest of us, is a mere mortal. Despite the seemingly supernatural eating powers, he will die like the rest of us. And I was asked to respond on how he may die.
Every superhero or villain has a weakness. Superman had kryptonite, Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable was weakened by water. Michael Moore's weakness, believe it or not, is the ordinary bottle of mustard.
For as many bratwursts and franks as this fatso eats, he must eat them sans condiments. Enough mustard, and Moore will perish. During his first run in with mustard, it wasn't pretty. Since he is a liberal, he doesn't believe in paying for food, so before last year's Oscar celebration dinner he broke into the kitchen. Not being able to read, having been schooled in the Michigan public school system he was unaware that the jar he was about to break open contained the yellow poison.
But sooner or later, hunger for the tangy condiment will take over, and he will consume much to much for him, and he will leave the plane of Earth, and join the choir invisible |  Photo courtesy of Fark.com |
I found this while surfing around, it's called W Ketchup. No, it's not for W Bush, but for "Washington". Seems fishy, but it's better than buying Ketchup from Heinz.
 | Now I know Heinz is a non-partisan company, but as long as that annoying little first lady wanna be Theresa HEINZ Kerry keeps using her hyphenated name, I will no longer buy Heinz. W Ketchup is totally made in the United States. All ingredients are American, processing, bottling, and even the packaging are all 100% made in America. Now that is a ketchup I can support. Oh, and after you douse your freedom fries with W Ketchup, you can cool down with Star Spangled Ice Cream You can buy W ketchup here |
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Frantically trying to obtain the release of a captive Filipino truck driver with the clock ticking down, the Philippines (search) said Tuesday it would withdraw its tiny peacekeeping force from Iraq as soon as it can.
Great, thanks guys. By kowtowing to the terrorists who are threatening to behead their guy they are endangering the whole world. Pulling out their 50 troops because of threats by sub-humans sends the message to the terrorists that their way works, that kidnapping innocents and slicing their heads off is a method which works.
A Filipino pullout will only endanger the world and mean a greater chance of acts of terrorism here and abroad. But tell that to the asshat a(peace)ment protestors who say we should leave Iraq as soon as possible. I guess they won't get it until either they get a job, and can no longer go smelly and protest all day, or a nuke blows up a major US city.
Apparently racial themed blogger, Mac Diva, believes me to be racist
But that is nothing for her. She thinks anyone who disagrees with her on items of race are all Klu Klux Klanspersons. (is that a new word?)
Apparently she thinks that the GOP is a whites only club. I pointed out that there are many people of color in the Bush administration, while John Kerry has ZERO of significance in his campaign.
My dad, who is a libertarian told me last night that he is going to vote for some third party asshole. Probalby the Libertarian, whomever that is. He says that even though he doesn't like Kerry, and calls Edwards a scumbag, he fears this mythical "Christian Coalition" influence on Bush. I tell him to list me the things which the Christian Coalition has done to make his life miserable, and then list the things which liberals have done to make his life miserable.
Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian party candidate for President, says this on his web-site
The War in Iraq is a failure, and the U.S. government should never have waged it. As your president, one of my first tasks will be to begin the orderly process of bringing our troops home as quickly as can safely be accomplished.
...It was because of American troops in Saudi Arabia, lethal sanctions on Iraq, support for states in serious violation of International Law, and siding with Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians to the tune of more than $3 billion per year in taxpayers' funds that terrorist leaders were able to recruit those individuals who caused 3,000 Americans to pay the ultimate price on September 11, 2001.
Mr Badnarik is nothing more than a blame America first isolationist. Now I am also a right leaning libertarian, but I realize that in an important state such as my dear old Pennsylvania, I know that every vote like the one my dad wants to make is against Bush. Just like I know every vote for Nader is basically a vote for Bush. Protest voted don't to anything except vote for everything you stand for. I don't think he realizes that the Libertarian part yis also against the war on grounds only Ayn Rand would understand.
In case you don't know why you need to vote for Bush, here are 40 Reasons to vote for Bush, courtesy of Right Wing News
Yesterday was a beautiful warm sunny day, so naturally I had the sunroof open. Trouble was, I never closed it when I went to bed last night. Around 3 AM we had a tremendous thunderstorm. It rained buckets for about 2 hours. All I could do is lay in bed and think.
"I should have closed my sunroof."
Over at IMAO, Frank talks about Official items of IMAO.
Well due to request by my readers, here is the official get to know Tom official stuff:
Official gun of The Nap Room:
Glock 17
Official beer of The Nap Room:
Yuengling Premium
Official highball of The Nap Room
Gin and Tonic
Official snack food of The Nap Room:
Middleswarth BBQ potato chips
Official vice of The Nap Room
Gurkha Cigars
Official nemisis of The Nap Room
Mac Diva
Official blog of The Nap Room
IMAO
Official female blog of The Nap Room
Rachel Lucas
Official talk show of The Nap Room
Glenn Beck
Official terrorism policy of The Nap Room
Kill em all, let Allah sort em out
Official Party of The Nap Room:
Republican
Official Presidential candidate of The Nap Room
President George W. Bush
nuff said
I refer to liberals and people who are against individual liberty and for massive government programs at the expense of higher taxes communists. To me socialsm and communism are not far from one another.
Need proof? Check out this dictionary.com definition:
Socialism: The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.
also
Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
How does that definition differ from the definition of Communism?
Communism: A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
Kings ate lots of meat and fattening food, but I love fresh garden veggies.
Fresh from the garden today are a fine assortment of veggies. We have Cukes, potatoes, beans, Kolirabi, and red beets.
Add to that additional cukes which I pickled this morning and you have an outstanding supper.
President Bush right now is in Kutztown, about an hour from where I live. I am listening to his townhall meeting on the local radio station.
He is talking to people; business owners, families, and other citizens who have gained from the tax cuts which have stimulated the economy. One man who talked to Bush during his speech, a self-employed "wealthy" man was able to invest into his business, increase productivity, and hire several more employees.
Many people who are 'rich' (at least according to John Kerry's definition) are actually wealthy because of the businsses they own. What is defined as their wealth, is actually the wealth of their company. John Kerry wants to "roll back" those tax cuts. Doing so will inhibit those business owners from reinvesting in their companies. No longer will they have money to buy new equipment, modernize, hire more employees and stay cometitive.
All Kerry knows of wealth is the sliver spoon lifestyle he was born into. He married twice into extreme wealth, and believes that all rich people are idle socialites like himself.
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People who annoy are many; New Jersey Drivers, people who have bullet stickers on their cars, and Notre Dame fans. But people who really get my blood boiling are those supporters of government rights over private rights who desire to ban smoking in every single place on Earth.
I see no problem with a business, be it a restaurant or bar, allowing smoking, or not allowing smoking. If a business owner wants to allow smoking, it is his decision. If he doesn't want smoking, that is also his decision. On the same token it is my decision as a customer to decide where they want to shop and eat. But it is doubly true for owners and members of private clubs. These are only open to members and cater to certain groups. VFW's, American Legions, gun clubs, and other social clubs all fit the bill. But there are certain people who won't stop at banning smoking in publc places. From the the Boston Herald
Bill LaRaia, a retired Quincy EMT, said he's paid dues to a private club for 25 years. ``For you to tell me I can't go in there and have a cigarette - that's a disgrace.'' The issue pits private clubs against some restaurant and pub operators, who support the smoking ban expansion. Operators said they stand to lose business to private clubs. "`We feel if you're not going to allow people to smoke in a public place, why should they be allowed to go smoke in a private club?'' said Bill Damon, with Darcy's Pub. A state law went into effect this week banning smoking in public places, including offices, restaurants and bars, though not in members-only clubs or cigar bars. Under Scheele's local proposal, smoking would also be banned at private clubs in Quincy as of July 18. He has the authority to enact such health-related regulations under state law, said Monica Conyngham, the city solicitor. ``I don't think the state went far enough,'' Scheele said in an interview before the hearing. ``As long as we have scientific evidence that second-hand smoke does cause health problems we can impose it. (Private clubs) have employees, too, that should be protected.'' |
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The anti-freedom patrol has a two part strategy to rid public places of smoking. First they ban smoking in public places like bars and restaurants. Then they pit the owners of those establishment against those of private clubs. Then it becomes a fairness issue.
That strategy shows the shallowness of their anti-choice crusade. When they go to ban smoking in establishments they say it will not effect the bottom line of the business. But if it isn't hitting the bottom line, then why are the owners of the bars and restaurants who are effected so determined to make sure that policy effects people who run private clubs?
The policy makers and do-gooders in this world cite how dangerous smoke is, and want it banned, but they are sure happy to feed at the trough of tax revenue and settlement money taken from these tobacco companies. I say if it is so damned dangerous, don't take any money from it!! Why would you want to benefit from such a dangerous and deadly product?
To me it is all a choice of freedom. There is the freedom of the owners of establishments who wish to allow smoking. If they want to allow their customers have a smoke after dinner or with a drink, that is their choice. As a customer I have the right to choose a place that doesn't allow smoking when I don't want to be around smoke, and allows it when I want to smoke my Cohiba myself.
Look at it like alcohol. If I don't feel like a drink with my steak, I will go to Hoss's near my house. If I want a beer or fine liquor, I will go to Greggory's. It is my choice. No one is forcing either place to be drink free or not. The market decides, and both places prosper.
People cite health over smoker's rights. I say that right now it's smoke, soon, it will be drink. If I go to a bar and drink a few drinks I am more dangerous to people health (by driving home) than I would be by smoking a double corona. So by so actively banning smoking, it stats the slipperly slope of total prohabition of almost any behavior some do-gooder deems dangerous.
Much to the surprise of many liberal, pro-government types out there the government can't regulate all danger out of our lives. With freedom comes a little bit of risk. As a mature adult, I have the ability to choose for myself what I want to do with my life. That includes choosing to indulge in a legal, taxed product or even an illegal untaxed product. (but that is another post)
If I owned a bar or restaurant, I should be able to choose what type of establishment I want to have. Then the free market will decide. If I could make more money by not allowing smoking, then smoke free it is. But the market should decide about this legal product.
To the Democrats, the war in Iraq is an election year problem. It is a way to make Bush look bad. They are so hungry for power that they would sacrifice our international security just to get it. Just take a look at what Carl Levin, D-Michigan, said at a presser regarding CIA pre-war intelligence:
"You'll be astounded by the mistakes of the CIA," Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, a member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee and ranking Democrat on Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters during a news conference Thursday.
The report will be "full of ineptitude" and failures on the part of the CIA, Levin told FOX News this week. "It's obvious there were exaggerations by the CIA and failures of the CIA" when it came to Iraq and intelligence surrounding why the United States used military force to oust Saddam Hussein, Levin added. The Michigan senator has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration's actions in Iraq
You have got to wonder a little bit why they would release this document 4 months before an election? Could it be they want to hurt President Bush over this? It appears as though the Abu Grab prison photo scandal isn't hurting Bush, so they need something to try to get him on. The thing is, the head of the CIA, George Tenet has already announced his 'retirement' from the CIA, so it looks as if that problem may have been preemptively solved.
In this blog post in 1884, nothing happened.
I had a meeting today and it was a little boring. All they did was report out stuff, and really didn't do much work, as I would have liked to have seen since I drove 2 hours to go to this meeting.
On the plus side, it was over in only 2 hours, so I stopped by the Cigars International store and picked up a box of Sherpas and ate a delicious French Surrender Monkey sandwich accompanied by a wonderful ESB which would have been better if it weren't served so damned cold.
You gotta read this post over at Bad News Hughes.
I've had my share of wierd roomates. You don't go to college and not meet weird people.
There was this one guy named Jim G. He loved to say the word "cock". He was impeccably clean, and loved to listen to heavy industrial music. He told me how he would warm up Wesson vegetable oil to masturbate with. He was an art major.
Then there was Chuck C. He was a good enough guy who'se nickname was Chewey for reasons I can't explain. He often had male friends over at the apartment to have some beers. Whenever they would go to the bathroom, he would dump his beer into the plant or down the sink and act like he was just finishing pounding it as the came out of the restroom. He never had any women over, though always seemed to "hook up" when we were out of town. He was a music major, you do the math.
My first roomate was this big black dude from Harrisburg. He put me in a headlock and threw me across the room because I touched one of his Hess Toy Trucks.
I then moved into a room with a guy named Kevin who loved to play "Fade to Black" by Metalica at 4 in the morning much to the chagrin of our other roomate Jason, a devout Baptist.
I've had enough roomates to tell you that people are fucked up. I am the only normal one that sits on my ass, watches TV and goes to bed a respectable hour.
John Edwards is a trial lawyer, and having made his money by suing companies and doctors you know he loves laywers. They look at ways to drive the cost of doing business up. Here in Pennsylvania there are often attempts at reforming medical malpractice law, but the strong lawyer lobby stops that. Whenever a company, hospital, or doctor are successfully sued, they pass that cost on to you. Part of the cost of everything you buy from coffee at McDonald's to a flu shot at your doctor's office goes in a kiddy to pay off these leaches when they sue.
The newest thing in legal fashion is suing gun manufactureres. If some punk has an illegal firearm, and takes it to a shopping center and kills a dozen people, lawyers like John Edwards want to be able to sue the producer of that gun.
NBC’S TIM RUSSERT: “There is legislation pending which would limit the liability of gun manufacturers. The lawyers are very much opposed to that. Where do you come down on it?”
SEN. EDWARDS: “Oh, I’m opposed to that, but it has nothing to do with the lawyers. I mean, why should we pick a particular class of Americans and say, ‘We’re not going to hold you responsible’? I mean, you and I are held responsible for what we do. Doctors, as we just talked about, are held responsible for what they do. Lawyers should be held responsible for what they do. Exactly the same thing is true of gun manufacturers.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 11/9/03)
Yeah, it has nothing to do with lawyers. Right John. And I believe in Santa. I don't think gun manufacturers should be unaccountable if a gun malfunctions and causes harm, but why should a gun manufacturer be held responsible for someone who uses the gun in a harmful and illegal way? Do we sue Chevy when someone gets drunk and slams into a mini-van of kids going to a church picnic?
John Edwards is no friend of the gun owner, and neither is John Kerry. Edwards' take on guns is that they are just another deep pocketed company which can be sued to build him another mansion.
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I have been too busy to blog some of the things I clip and save lately. However, this photograph is so telling I want to share it whether I get around to blogging the entry or not.
I wonder if she will say something smarmy about Kerry and his gun/flag photo?
Hmmm???
John Edwards was only tapped to be the Vice-President candidate to the presumed Democratic hopeful John Kerry and already the Ambulance chaser is using his celebrity status to promote products as old as the Democratic party platform of race baiting and class warefare.
Not much to say today. I went golfing today and watched Mystic River. It was a very good movie. I would of probably watched it sooner but Sean Penn and Tim Robbins's political bullhit turned me off from them. I probably would have watched it sooner if it weren't for that.
Anywho, in the meantime, I thought I'd share a few pictures.
 Here is Boots, the magical Maine Coon. He's my buddy who follows me every where I go, from room to room. He sits by the back door when I am outside, and sits on my desk when I try to work. |  This is Amber. She is the neighbor dog which lives at our house. She sleeps in our garage and plays with our other dog, Oreo. Sometimes when it's really hot, she stays in our house. Generally she is the neighborhood friendly stray. |
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For some reason I had weird dreams last night. Probably because I went to bed in a slightly inebriated state. In one of my dreams I was looking for this ol time shampoo my dad used to buy before he lost all his hair called "Gee your hair Smells Terrific" |
Remember this stuff?
The Socialist Pig Michael Moore's claptrap of a Goebbels type propaganda film, Fahrenheit 911 is getting rave reviews by the liberal likes of most film reviewers. But now New York Times economic columnist crackpot Paul Krugman is gooing over the film.
And for all its flaws, "Fahrenheit 9/11" performs an essential service. It would be a better movie if it didn't promote a few unproven conspiracy theories, but those theories aren't the reason why millions of people who aren't die-hard Bush-haters are flocking to see it. These people see the film to learn true stories they should have heard elsewhere, but didn't. Mr. Moore may not be considered respectable, but his film is a hit because the respectable media haven't been doing their job.
Even me with my liberal arts degree have an easy time debunking Kruggles. At the same time saying that the movie promotes unproven conspiracy theories, he says people see it to see truths. But the truths are so weakly laid out and implied that people who don't really follow the news will be lead down the path that the film maker muckadoo wants you to see. The one example that comes to mind is the implication that Bush himself let the Bin Laden family leave the US after 911. It was Richard Clark, not a Bush supporter. He even admits it in The Hill
The decision to approve the flights, Clarke admitted last week, had been his own. The request "didn't get any higher than me," he told The Hill.
"On 9-11, 9-12 and 9-13, many things didn't get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI," Clarke said of the plane flight carrying bin Laden's relatives.
"I take responsibility for it. I don't think it was a mistake, and I'd do it again," he added. The Saudis and bin Laden's relatives were flown from the U.S. out of fear for their safety following the terror attacks.
Kruggles also makes note of the fact that President Bush sat in that classroom for 7 minutes while we were under attack and read "My Pet Goat".
For example, audiences are shocked by the now-famous seven minutes, when George Bush knew the nation was under attack but continued reading "My Pet Goat" with a group of children. Nobody had told them that the tales of Mr. Bush's decisiveness and bravery on that day were pure fiction.
What in the name of God was he supposed to do, run screaming out of the room? He was there with a bunch of elementary school children. It would have been irresponsible and would have frightened the children if a scene were made. How many times in our own lives do we keep up appearances in front of children during traumatic times to shield them from hardships. It was his responsibility as Commander-In-Chief to keep up appearances for a few minutes as not to upset the children. There would be enough of that in coming days. In probably the only time that these children would probably ever meet the President, he didn't want their memory to be of him saying "We're all gonna die!!!"
Here's the best part of Kruggle's orgasm over this piece of shit movie:
Mr. Moore's greatest strength is a real empathy with working-class Americans that most journalists lack. Having stripped away Mr. Bush's common-man mask, he uses his film to make the case, in a way statistics never could, that Mr. Bush's policies favor a narrow elite at the expense of less fortunate Americans — sometimes, indeed, at the cost of their lives.
Empathy for working folks? HAAH. Just read some of what he says (while overseas) about these hard working Americans whom Krugman claims Moore cares so much for.
''They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet,"
'You're stuck with being connected to this country of mine, which is known for bringing sadness and misery to places around the globe.''
''The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win.''
Checkmate Krugman. Sad thing is that they actually pay you for your shit.
I got an intersting bit of spam in my inbox this morning. Apparently some sort of extraterrestial wants to exchange links, judging by the syntax:
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Hello, administration of naproom.mu.nu!
I am contacting you about cross linking. If you approve of the site, then the intention is to exchange links. What earthling talks like this anyways? |
So I ordered some Gurkha's from Cigars International. They shipped the same time as my Colibry lighter from there, which has yet to arrive. The difference is that my lighter is coming via the postal service and my cigars came UPS. In their drive for efficiency incompotence the Postal Service doesn't even have the tracking number data on their web-site yet.
But I only did just order the cigars and lighter yesterday, so I am not too upset at all. It just proves to me that most government run operations are pretty useless and can't get much done.
On the plus side my Gurkha tastes good and has given me a nice buzz. A great change from the Drew Estates I've been smoking.
I also went golfing last night again, and partnered with a nice older gentleman named George for the last 4 holes. He was very nice and gave me a few tips on my medium range wedge game.
