Thursday, March 31, 2005

Stab the Scarab

If you liked the cinematic masterpiece Bubba Ho-Tep, you'll love the flash game "Stab the Scarab". I'm currently ranked #1 rank with 21 kills.
A Big Ole Sword

For all of you Braveheart fans out there, even those of you who like historical accuracy in your movies, you might want to go see this. Apparently, William Wallace's sword is going on tour. Wallace, a national hero in Scottland, wasn't quite like the character in the movie, but was an interesting guy, all the same. Info sites here, here, here, here, and here.
I Guess the Contention is That MLK Condoned Voter Fraud....or Maybe He Just Didn't Like Photo IDs

Story here, from Neal Boortz, about a ridiculous situation in Georgia, where a law that requires a photo ID to vote is being called racism and equated to "spitting on the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr" by one black legislator.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

The King Drive In

The King, in Russelville Alabama, is one of my favorite places to see a movie. I stumbled across this site while looking up good ole Jimmy Collier from Mallet. I remember seeing "Dances With Wolves" there way back when. At that time, the drive-in was bordered on 2 sides with cow pastures, and during the buffalo scenes you could see, hear, and SMELL the buffalo.

Ferlotta and I see a couple of movies there every Summer, and I'm sure this year will be no exception. The movies are always double features (often having a kids' flick tacked on first for a triple feature), and the films are usually A-listers.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Neal Boortz Sounds Off

One of the few (2 or 3 maybe) radio talk show hosts with whom I'd like to have dinner is Neal Boortz. In his article here, he says what I've been saying all along. Essentially, the Conservative movement is being sabotaged by stoopid politicians pandering to the misguided religious right.

I stole this link from Tobermory, our (hopefully) future neighbor. Check out her site, it's the best newsblog I've found.
Michelle Malkin Gets it Right

Here's an article byMichelle Malkin, one of our favorite columnists (and not just 'cuz she's a Pinay), commenting on the abysmal coverage of the Terri Shiavo case, and the poor use of polling in this case. I'm of the opinion that a large amount of the polling data generated is generated and/or interpreted with the intention of generating a particular outcome.

As Mark Twain supposedly said (Benjamin Disraeli actually used it first, according to Twain's autobiography) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
Fuel For a Fire

I'm surprised that the changing over from BC and AD to BCE and CE as an effort to remove the religious aspect of the Gregorian calendar, hasn't become a bigger issue before. I remember having a conversation about this back in 1987 with Harry Wallace, my high school U.S. History teacher. He said he was convinced that this would be as big a "scandal" as the whole "history book banned for secular humanism" debacle. Mr. Wallace was a great teacher, without a doubt the best I had in high school, and I hated to hear that he retired. Of course, as a conscientious teacher and a proud American, he probably had a hard time putting up with the Board of Education that administered the Florence City Schools. He's a yellow-dog democrat, but let's not hold his blind part loyalty against him (no more than if he were a fanatic republican).

And, while we're talking about education, here's an interesting link:

Top Ten Most Embarrassing Moment in the History of the Textbook

And here's a cool link for more than you ever wanted to know about calendars...

Friday, March 25, 2005

Revisionist History Bit of the Day

If you like the "Old Negro Leagues" and/or Ken Burns films, you've gotta see this. It's long past time that NASA has a "Blackstronaut Memorial Day". Just another scam perpetrated by the Man, to keep a brother down. For those of you who are overly afflicted with a need to be offended, please realize that this is a spoof. That goes doubly for you, Jan...and all you Canadiens/Canadians, too.
Of Course, We Should Hang This Guy

Article here, complete with a photo of Jeremy Hinzman, the deserter and asylum-seeker (note, not alleged deserter, as with the case of this guy).

Because of an assortment of orthopedic injuries, I was never allowed to serve in the military. As a non-veteran, I try to avoid forming and voicing opinions on military service, as I have no knowledge base on which to draw. However, I do believe that deserters should be punished severely. Our military has been turning into yet another entitlement program (In my job I treat military patients and veterans, so I know at least a little about this) as opposed to it's original purpose (killing people and breaking things).

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Another Schiavo Bit

From Bagnews, a much-older photo of Terri Shiavo and her husband. More story here.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

"King Solomon Could Not Have Adjudicated More Wisely"

Guess the movie I quoted in the title, and win a prize.

Anyway, I believe that the federal judge, James Whittemore, made the right decision in the most recent Terri Shiavo case. The Florida Supremes (touring without the Florida Diana Ross) also refused to rehear the case.

I do sympathize with Mrs. Shiavo's parents. But they, and the mass of pseudo-Conservative Constitution-Haters, are wrong. The Republican party may find their momentum decreased as a result of its members' role in this debacle.

The Slate has some interesting facts here about Terri and her care.

A person who describes themselves as "A Florida law blogger" is here, and this seems to be the best resource I've found for raw data regarding this case. Scroll down to the timeline.

A couple of what could only be called "interesting" Terri Shiavo links follow.
Read and view these skeptically, as these folks have an agenda which is not hampered with intellectual honesty. There have likely been liars, nutjobs, and scumbags on both sides of the issue, but the "Save Terri" ones are easier for me to spot.

Armed Females of America
Terrisfight.org (the address is actually .net, hmmmmm)
Yeah....What He Said....

I've argued with some of you for years about how the dollar being weak isn't necessarily a death knell for our economy, especially those of us like me, who spend money with malice and forethought.

A little story here.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Saturday a Fun Day

Mike and Cassondra came up to visit us on Saturday, and mass amounts of duck, pig, and "tomatoes and dumplings" were consumed. Veronica really enjoyed spending time with her Nenong and Nenang (we'll be posting pictures shortly to Veronica's Blog).

As a part of the lovely day, we watched "Sky Craptain and the World of Tommorrow", which, as I'm sure you've heard, was one of the biggest box office disappointments of 2004. If I had been watching it alone, I certainly would have stopped doing so quite early. As it was, seeing it with friends and family, it was quite fun. Jude Law and Gynneth Paltrow had all the chemistry of oil and water, and Carrot Top would have only been a slightly worse pick for the role of "Sky Captain". All that said, the CGI effects/CGI sets were incredible (albeit unnecessarily "noir"), and I'm thinking that a lot more sci-fi flicks are going to be using this technololgy.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Decisions, Decisions...

Hello all! It has been too long since my last post, but as you might imagine, there has been a lot to keep me busy.


The thing that pulled me back into blogging today, though, is the massive amount of wasted time and idiocy going on in our Congressional office buildings. The baseball steroid hearings are being held in blatant disregard of any sane person's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. The Congressmen are in session less than 2 dozen hours a week anyway, and wasting time with these hearings is.....a waste. The Spoof must've had a unique coverage opportunity.

The brouhaha over the pulling of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube is also showcasing misbehavior amongst our elected officials. I'm not going to blather on about it "yet", as I'm waiting to see what happens next, but suffice it to say that more than one person has disqualified themself from receiving my vote in the future.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Basil Seed Drink

When not watching the History Channels' series of "Why the Japanese deserved to be nuked" specials, I've been doing a bit of cooking. The difficult question of what to serve with tom kah kai (one of several spellings for coconut milk-based chicken soup with galangan root, cilantro, red peppers, mushrooms, and other junk), pork and cilantro dumplings, and wasabi-chicken burritos has finally been answered...Ferlie and I dared each other to try this drink, which is labelled "Basil Seed Drink". It tastes very much like what I imagine that Green Slime toy of my youth would've tasted, only with sweet, slimy basil seeds added. If you can work up the stomach to try it, it's pretty good with spicy pseudo-Asian food, but I wouldn't try it with ribs.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

The Limeys hide it no better than Dan Rather did.

I'm sure that it's no surprise to any of you, but media bias is everywhere. The Sun points out a slip by a BBC reporter/entertainer/propagandist here.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Do Not Try This At Home

Ferlie has been breast feeding Veronica, and it is going well, as evidenced by Veronica's explosive growth. Fortunately, we did not hire this lady, who was recommended by Hatch, as our lactation consultant.