Holly and I went to a midnight showing in town. Needless to say I'm a little tired right now, but that's nothing a little (lot) of coffee can't fix. The movie was really good. There are some minor omissions and minor changes, but the production of the movie was good. Of course, the acting was great - and Alan Rickman is still a BAMF.
In other news: gas is about tip $3.00 again for the first time in about a month to 45 days. My wallet and I are not looking forward to the implications.
Don't really have much else to write about.
Eh.
-rl
July 11, 2007
July 7, 2007
Saturday morning relaxination
This Saturday morning constitutes a total and complete day off that I haven't had in quite a long time. What is a bored blogger to do?
* Visit his hometown's website and recall the days he used to dream about redesigning Dodge Memorial Library.
* Catch up on the news with Google Reader and muse upon John McCain's cash pinch.
*Think about that pile of paperwork awaiting him at work.
* Read the Epic of Gilgamesh and parse its flood story - you know, the one that's just like the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible's, just a thousand years older.
* Cook up some spaghetti squash for dinner and eggs benedict for brunch.
* Listen to music.
Yup. That's what a young blogger is to do for now.
-rl
* Visit his hometown's website and recall the days he used to dream about redesigning Dodge Memorial Library.
* Catch up on the news with Google Reader and muse upon John McCain's cash pinch.
*
* Read the Epic of Gilgamesh and parse its flood story - you know, the one that's just like the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible's, just a thousand years older.
* Cook up some spaghetti squash for dinner and eggs benedict for brunch.
* Listen to music.
Yup. That's what a young blogger is to do for now.
-rl
July 6, 2007
Keith Olbermann is peeved. I am too. So should you.
The always well-spoken Keith Olbermann has words of justice for the President.
And as the sun goes whipping by...
(H/T to Donklephant for this gem)
An excerpt from the Times:
and
The article.
Good on ya, America! Who needs to know what radiation is when Britney Spears can save you! And DNA? Pfft. All we know is some dude got his DNA into Paris with night vision technology. The Earth revolves around the sun? Hogwash! You know, when Zeus created the Sun with Hercules holding up the Earth... in 168 hours (that's 7 days for all you non-mathy people out there.) But don't forget, there are 300 feet in 100 yards, and that's where you can find the end zone! Don't bother thinking about how hard the wind is blowing when you need to punt the ball on 4th and 25, either. How much for tickets? $15? Too much!
Okay... that snarky kvetching out of the way, here are my questions:
1. What was the sample size?
2. What were the demographics of the universe?
3. What was the average education level of the sample? (I suppose that ties in with 2.)
4. Um... what? How does this compare to 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago?
and finally...
5. Who is at fault for the dumbery of the Ameripublic?
Yay! Let's go to Mars and watch the Sun revolve around it, too!
-rl
An excerpt from the Times:
Dr. Miller's data reveal some yawning gaps in basic knowledge. American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.
and
He had firsthand experience with local school issues in the 1980's, when he was a young father living in DeKalb, Ill., and teaching at Northern Illinois University. The local school board was considering closing his children's school, and he attended some board meetings to get an idea of members' reasoning. It turned out they were spending far more time on issues like the cost of football tickets than they were on the budget and other classroom matters. "It was shocking," he said.
The article.
Good on ya, America! Who needs to know what radiation is when Britney Spears can save you! And DNA? Pfft. All we know is some dude got his DNA into Paris with night vision technology. The Earth revolves around the sun? Hogwash! You know, when Zeus created the Sun with Hercules holding up the Earth... in 168 hours (that's 7 days for all you non-mathy people out there.) But don't forget, there are 300 feet in 100 yards, and that's where you can find the end zone! Don't bother thinking about how hard the wind is blowing when you need to punt the ball on 4th and 25, either. How much for tickets? $15? Too much!
Okay... that snarky kvetching out of the way, here are my questions:
1. What was the sample size?
2. What were the demographics of the universe?
3. What was the average education level of the sample? (I suppose that ties in with 2.)
4. Um... what? How does this compare to 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago?
and finally...
5. Who is at fault for the dumbery of the Ameripublic?
Yay! Let's go to Mars and watch the Sun revolve around it, too!
-rl
July 5, 2007
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and justice of that estate
Blowing the cover of an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency can't even get you the time you were sentenced, some reduced knock-down rate since you were caught doing the Vice President's dirty work, as long as you are one of the President's Men. I've been wanting to write about this for a couple of days, but I've been feeling too disappointed in the whole damn system to bring myself to it.
Here's Libby: a man who $2,000 to the RNC and $1,000 to George W. Bush in 2000 and found himself inside a dark circle, one lined with Dick Cheney and cardboard cut-outs of Dick Cheney. (This reminds me: I had a dream last night about driving through some largish - er... large-ish? - French city with Holly and buying cheese... strange dream it was.) Was the fall man for one of the cardboard cutouts. (The word on the street has it that at least two other cutouts were in separate undisclosed underground lairs, asking for sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads. Oh, and the actual VP shot another donor in the face and had a 5426409840298567th heart attack.) BUT THAT'S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE! Libby got off! He got off on a sentence where it could be claimed that he had already gotten off! Talk about the taint in Washington! It went right to Libby's jail cell.
So the President commutes his sentence, so what? Isn't that the President'sRoyal er... Executive Privilege? Didn't Hickory Bill Clinton pardon Marc Rich right before leaving office in 2001? Didn't he manipulate the price of oil during the oil crunch of 1973/1974? Yep. And Clinton got him off... with the help of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. I won't touch Clinton's pardon's, though... those are just dirrrrty business.
What I've never understood is how the President, as the Executive, gets to play the role of the Judiciary in issuing pardons. Looking at Clinton's list, one must be absolutely befuddled to reason why these pardons occurred, beyond the "friend" aspect of them. But politics is no place for reason! And for that reason, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the people of that estate continue to walk free.
-rl
Here's Libby: a man who $2,000 to the RNC and $1,000 to George W. Bush in 2000 and found himself inside a dark circle, one lined with Dick Cheney and cardboard cut-outs of Dick Cheney. (This reminds me: I had a dream last night about driving through some largish - er... large-ish? - French city with Holly and buying cheese... strange dream it was.) Was the fall man for one of the cardboard cutouts. (The word on the street has it that at least two other cutouts were in separate undisclosed underground lairs, asking for sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads. Oh, and the actual VP shot another donor in the face and had a 5426409840298567th heart attack.) BUT THAT'S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE! Libby got off! He got off on a sentence where it could be claimed that he had already gotten off! Talk about the taint in Washington! It went right to Libby's jail cell.
So the President commutes his sentence, so what? Isn't that the President's
What I've never understood is how the President, as the Executive, gets to play the role of the Judiciary in issuing pardons. Looking at Clinton's list, one must be absolutely befuddled to reason why these pardons occurred, beyond the "friend" aspect of them. But politics is no place for reason! And for that reason, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the people of that estate continue to walk free.
-rl
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