Sunday, April 30, 2006
Crockett and Tubbs Redux
TVLand is running a “Miami Vice” marathon all weekend, and the wife is hooked on it. I never got into watching the show, but the music was always good.
In honor of the two pastel-wearin’, pistol-packing police, I present this week’s hit by Phil Collins, In The Air Tonight.
Right-click to save, and the lyrics are below the fold, as usual.
The Great American Spend-A-Lot
Count Me In
Sounds like a great idea to me.
On Monday May 1st, while Latino activists are encouraging other Latinos to walk out on their jobs and boycott spending in any Southland businesses, we want you to do the exact opposite. SPEND, SPEND, AND SPEND!
To reward you and your financial patriotism, KFI AM 640 and the John and Ken show will be reimbursing you for your legal citizen-spending spree.
On Monday May 1st, fax or email a copy of a receipt for something you purchased on May 1st 2006 and it will go into a drawing. Twice an hour during their show (3-7PM) John and Ken will go into the special “winds of change booth” that will blow the receipts around allowing John and Ken to choose just one.
The winners will be reimbursed up to $640 per receipt.
Fax RECEIPTS To (818) 260-9968
OR
Email To Promotions@KFIAM640.comSo put your money where your mouth is in The Great American Spend-a-Lot!
I’ll be faxing like a mad man tomorrow.
Liberals and Conservatives
I was out mowing the grass, and was doing my appropriate mental wandering (as I do when mowing), and some things were coming into my head where conservatives and liberals are concerned. Please don’t mind if I rattle some of these off.
1. Liberals believe that human beings are animals with larger-than-average brains. Conservatives believe that we are above the animals.
--I have come to the conclusion that this is an inescapable truth, and it is borne out in the animal-rights refuge that is the hard left. Vegetarianism, the anti-animal testing lobby, the environmentalist movement......all are products of the belief that we (humanity), our civilization, our constructions, art, literature, communication, and scientific advancement are no more important or meaningful then two bonobo’s rubbing their vaginas together in some African jungle. It also shows in the way liberals/leftists view social systems and international relationships. Because of an open rejection of moral systems (religion), the belief that all people accept the “Leave us alone, and we will leave you alone” idea is rampant in the Left. Unfortunately, rational, post-animalistic belief systems like Islamofascism and Communism don’t prove out that belief.
2. LIberals believe that moral systems are inherently wrong. Conservatives believe in ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
--Since we are animals, we inhabit nature, and actions done within that sphere are neither right or wrong. The only proper action is that which helps the ‘herd’. There are no predators, no prey, and everyone is equal and amoral. This belief is the basis of Chamberlain’s Munich, the protests of International ANSWER, and the academic elites’ stances on everything. That is why leftists can equate Hitler’s genocide and Bush’s War on Terror. Both are equally wrong, because both leaders are designating a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Never mind that Hitler was insane, murderous, and that the Jewish people in Germany had done nothing to threaten Germany, Bush, by designating the attackers of the WTC and the Pentagon as ‘evil’, is the same as Hitler. No attack can justify moral outrage, because that gives credence to the belief that one side is ‘wrong’ and one side is ‘right’. Liberal thought says that the assigning of those conditions is destructive, even if the terms fit.
3. Since liberals believe that we are all animals, and that there is no right and wrong, that people are inherently selfish, and must be forced to maintain society. Conservatives believe that people have an inherent right to liberty, as constrained by law.
--Laws, to leftists and liberals, are tools that enforce maintenence of society, and nothing more. Society exists to maintain the human condition and care for every person....hence the socialistic programs of universal health care and public education, public welfare and ownership of production by the state. Since people will not, of their own volition, take care of their fellow man (animals do not make it a habit of helping their wounded, save the ‘special’ animals, like elephants and humpback whales, who are accorded special status by the Left), they must be forced to by law or state-enforced mandate. Economic systems must, according to leberal and leftist thought, be designed primarily to protect the physical and emotional well-being of the people that exist under them. Anything else is not in concert with the needs of humanity. Any ability for individuals to act against this mindset must be minimalized. Freedom of choice (unless it is a choice to maintain the leftist agenda) is not acceptable, and it is the only time where state-applied force is allowed.
4. States and/or societies that do not accept the social standard of the leftist mindset are inherently flawed, and must be viewed as outside the law.
--Liberals protested the OIF for a variety of reasons. A few were genuinely concerned about people killing people....a belief I can understand but think was out-of-touch with the reality of the situation. Most, however, fell into one of two sects:
A: Those that thought that the United States and her allies were trying to start a war of expansion and domination
B: Those that thought that Iraq should be left alone to it’s evils.
Those individuals and organizations (ANSWER, the World Worker’s Party, etc.) that made up Sect A in this example saw a greater threat to the world in the United States attempting to overthrow murderous tyrants and set whole populations free than in allowing expansionistic governments and fascists to skirmish, plot, plan, and attack the United States. Why? Because the belief system of the West, to the liberals, is destructive to the Leftist Model. Individual liberty gives the individual the right and choice to work for personal gain and advancement. That is not helpful to the society as a whole, according to the liberals and leftists. There will be ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, and classes will be created...that is not acceptable to leftist thought. Note that there were, and are, few protests of Cambodia, the Soviet Empire, China’s massacres, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
Now, for Sect B, they show the steadfast belief that no moral code can be considered above or greater than another. All are inherently wrong. Therefore, the forces of liberation (the removal of Saddam Hussein’s government) are not acceptable because they are simply representative of another moral code. Add to that the beliefs of Sect A, and you get the standard anti-Christian mantra we see all too often. Not so much anti-religion (that exists in leftist thought), but anti-Christianity, because Christianity is of the West, and must be considered in that light.
5. Liberals do not favor technological advancement for advancement’s sake; it must be to serve the emotional and physical needs of those in the acceptable societies.
--Most anti-tech groups are leftists. Those that are pro-tech believe that technology, and funding for technology, must be directed in such a way as to equalize the standards of living between all people. Hence, the SDI is not a correct use of technology, but giving nuclear technology to North Korea is OK, because it levels the playing field. The United States possession of WMD’s is wrong, but we are not allowed to remove them from other governments, even if they pose a threat to us. Genetically-altered grains are abhorent, but we are beholden to feed the world. We aren’t to drill in ANWR, but the Chinese are not mentioned as they aid in the subjugation of Sudanese in order to gain access to large oil fields. I think you see the differences....
OK....you all can comment on this. Am I wrong? Right? Tell me!
Now Playing
That Val Prieto guy sure is cool.
I’m blatantly ripping-off this list from Val’s website, but it’s because I want everyone to run out and see The Lost City.
Showtimes below the break.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
United 93
Hollywood succeeds.
I just got back from seeing United 93. I figure, that if for no other reason, it was worth going to see the movie because ten cents on every dollar from the gross of the movie would go toward the memorial for the victims of 9/11. That alone is a good enough reason. So I shot an e-mail to Lee from Right Thinking and invited him to come with me. Little did I know that he was already en route, and he even just posted his own review of the movie.
I had to think about this post a lot before sitting down to write it. I even thought about getting a good night of sleep before writing it, because like most incidents of events in life that excite you, your sense of judgment tends to get a little bit skewed. With that said, I’m sitting here writing, and this will be posted tonight, a little over an hour after getting home from the movie.
There’s a good reason for everyone in the United States, if not the free world, to see United 93. The movie itself summarizes in the macro why we are fighting against Islam and the entire Middle Eastern culture at this point in time. Soon after 9/11, everything from the hijacking of the planes to the international relations of the United States were examined in the micro sense, and to most academics, authors, journalists, and left wingers, the United States was wrong in our actions and the events of 9/11 were just a delayed payback for our atrocities, packed into a one hour period. That is a theme that has been regurgitated over and over for the past five years, and most of America has forgotten exactly why we’re in a war against terror.
United 93 brings the argument for the war against terror back to the macro, and out of the micro. Instead of wondering if we could have avoided a conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq by merely talking about it over tea and cookies, the movie gives a face – filled with more emotion than you could ever image – to terrorism. Terrorism as a whole is depicted in the emotions and the actions of the hijackers, and the passengers and crew who fought back and stood their ground hold the United States and our allies in the light that should be shone across the globe. Instead of standing back and waiting to die, the passengers on United 93 fought back and died knowing that they stood up to the face of evil and beat it before it beat them. I can’t think of anything that illuminates what the men and women who put their lives on the line everyday – whether stationed in the middle of a hot desert or working undercover or in uniform in a smoggy city – are prepared to do when faced with the same sort of evil.
I haven’t heard much about United 93 this weekend (it’s the opening weekend), and I don’t think I will. Or at least from the media, that is. As far as they’re concerned, this movie could die before anyone hears anything about it. And that’s because this movie will fill anyone who see’s it with the same rage, anger, and sense of national pride that we all felt when we saw that plane hit the first tower. That’s not the kind of reaction you want when you make a living hoping the United States loses everything it touches.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Pass Me Your Wallet
That’s a lot of digits.
In the event you wanted to know, the total public outstanding debt as of Monday was $8,353,429,000,000 dollars. I can tell you a lot about the law, but virtually nothing about math, so I’m just going to make up a number: a trazillion. We’re in debt about $8 trazillion dollars. I think this calls for a Ronald Reagan quote:
Are you entitled to the fruits of your labor or does government have some presumptive right to spend and spend and spend?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Take Your Vote and Shove It
Politics Suck.
Being a conservative these days really sucks. Those of us who are true conservatives feel like we live in an underground safe house waiting for the day that we can surface after the radiation has died-down. I voted for GWB, and would probably vote for him again, although I’d still hate his massive spending and failure to bomb the living shit out of the middle east. Cynical Nation said it best, “You know what? President Bush spends much of his time these days doing a more credible Inspector Clouseau than Steve Martin, but every now and then he gets something extraordinarily right. Unfortunately, it’s usually something he should have done years earlier.” You hit the nail on the head, buddy.
The same goes for Hollywood - every once in a while, they get it right. I’m going to go see United 93 sometime within the next six months to a year, and it actually looks like it’ll be a decent movie. Even Hollywood can’t screw this up - a bunch of dirty terrorists hijack a U.S. passenger plane, and a group of heroic red-blooded American’s band together to take it back and prevent the inbreeds from carrying out their plan. For one, this reminds everyone that 9/11 (remember that event?) happened, and second, it serves as a reminder of why we need to turn the middle east into a parking lot. I believe that when people see what terrorists do, and sit in suspense as they see them on screen, it’ll bring back some of the rage and some of the national pride that we had as a nation before partisanship took over.
The second movie I want to see is The Lost City. I wrote about it in this post, so click over if you want to get the inside scoop. In summary, Andy Garcia made a movie based on a book about a club owner who was forced to leave Cuba after Castro’s communist regime took over. The once beautiful island is set to film as a socialist dictatorship took over and turned it into an oppressive state. If I could find where the movie is playing around Orange County or Los Angeles, I’d be there in a hot second.
Last, but definitely not least, I want to see Over The Hedge. It’s a CGI animation a la Finding Nemo, which I also found to be absolutely hilarious. What I’ve discovered is that animated movies are great because I don’t have to put up with a bunch of annoying actors and actresses who take themselves way too seriously, and end up ruining the movie going experience with their antics at press junkets. Just give me my entertainment, damn it, and keep your weird lifestyles to yourselves.
And in closing, here are my recommendations for the California primary election on June 6th, 2006:
Prop 81 - NO
Prop 82 - NO
Governor - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Lieutenant Governor - Tom McClintock
Secretary of State - Gail Lightfoot
Controller - Tony Strickland
Treasurer - Marian Smithson
Attorney General - Charles Poochigian
Insurance Commissioner - Dale Ogden
You can make your own choices for the Board of Equalization seats. It’s a safe bet that going Republican or Libertarian will do the trick. Babies will come and eat your mom if you vote for Democrats or the infamous Peace and Freedom party, which is just another name for a bunch of pinko commies.
Farkin’ amazing!
Found on FARK was a link to this nifty page, with 450 common problems solved using freeware.
That’s software for FREE, yo.
Feel free to drool…
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
More math
If A=B and B=C, doesn’t that make A=C?
Because if ‘A’ is equal to ‘scientific validity of Intelligent Design’ and ‘B’ is equal to ‘scientific validity of Astrology’, as one of the leading proponents of ID has testified, what happens to the equation when scientists manage to define ‘C’ as ’vast quantities of purest bullshit‘?
Anyone?
Monday, April 24, 2006
Bagpipe Band Stuff…..
can be seen HERE....if you’re curious.
Iraq is a QUAGMIRE!!
Then what does that say about California?
War-torn Iraq has about 26 million residents, a peaceful California perhaps now 35 million. The former is a violent and impoverished landscape, the latter said to be paradise on Earth. But how you envision either place to some degree depends on the eye of the beholder, and is predicated on what the daily media appear to make of each.
As a fifth-generation Californian, I deeply love this state, but still imagine what the reaction would be if the world awoke each morning to be told that once again there were six more murders, 27 rapes, 38 arsons, 180 robberies, and 360 instances of assault in California—yesterday, today, tomorrow, and every day. I wonder if the headlines would scream about “Nearly 200 poor Californians butchered again this month!”
VDH ROX!
RTWT.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
An unusual choice
My thoughts often take me to strange places, and one such journey earlier this afternoon got me thinking about a song that I had heard a lot of during the mid-80s. Driving beat, intriguing use of flutes, amusing double entendres in the lyrics.
But I wasn’t sure that it would be a good song for Sunday Share, so I let it play itself inside my head for a few measures (don’t you roll your eyes at me 
), and then went on to think about other things. A few minutes later, I was flipping through my collection as I occasionally do - picking one song, and then using the ‘Random Song’ directive a few times.
Lo and behold, that same song came up, not three ‘random choices’ deep.
Who am I to ignore Fate, eh?
So I willingly present a song from an 80’s musical stage show, ”One Night In Bangkok”, sung by Murray Head.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
If I Were President…
Every terrorist we killed would get a hot, greasy piece of bacon placed on their warm, dead body, and we would take a picture of it for publication purposes.
I still don’t know why we haven’t let a bunch of wild pigs loose in the Middle East. This politically correct bullcrap is getting us nowhere.
Forming a Government in Iraq
Omar at Iraq the Model has given a blow-by-blow of the Iraqi Parliment meeting.
There are a few things that are important about this first meeting. To begin, it is a major thing just to have this first official meeting....it isn’t for show, or to pat themselves on the back. This is a first real operational meeting of the government in Baghdad. Heap-big important.
As Omar noted, the Presidency of Iraq belongs to Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. His deputies are Aadil abdul Mahdi, a Sh’ia from the UIA party, and Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni from the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). This is a great thing, and it makes it evident that the people in the government recognize that Sh’ia dominance is neither possible nor desirable. The Kurds would never stand for it, both as a subjugated minoriy under Saddam and as Sunni Muslims themselves. If course, running roughshod over the Sunnis might be a temptation, but that would make Iraq a bloodier place than it is right now. The majority Sh’ia are doing right by Iraq....and for themselves, in the long run.
Secondly, note that they did not vote for Prime Minister. This is also as good thing. Ibrahim Jafari was the acting Prime Minister, but it was clear that the non-Sh’ia did not want him in there. Their desire to block his nomination is what was stalling the formation of the government to begin with. Now, with his rather mature act of stepping aside, the floor is open for other nominees that the parties will accept.
Obviously, with the closing of business today without the choosing of a new PM, the situation is that the Sunni and Kurds are distrustful of a Sh’ia having the PM position. Jawad al-Maliki is a Sh’ia nominee that was nominated by Talabani (a Kurd). Ah, politics! Having a Kurd inform the assembled about the nomination of a Sh’ia for the position is a pretty smooth political move. Since the PM holds most of the executive power, and since the mistrust I mentioned before exists, the session ended without a vote because they don’t want the perception of gridlock to be the idea presented to the Iraqi people, who risked hide and hair to vote them into office. They need time to sell representatives and members of Parliment on al-Maliki, and they need a resounding vote of confidence in his government.
That will get everything started and going in the right direction....and get the government more into the task of resolving the difficulties in Iraq. Why? Because if the central government gains the support and confidence of the people, then people like al-Sadr (and the other Iranian-backed clerics) will lose that same institutional support....support they had in 2003 and 2004. The government can turn and deal with them as threats, as opposed to allies, because the government will have the political clout and power to do so. And the people will support that.
Iran won’t, but the Iraqis will. That in and of itself will make Iraq more sovereign and will promote a further split between Iraqi and Iranian Sh’ia.
Comment freely.
Friday, April 21, 2006
101 Great Movies
Roger Ebert, the reasonably well-known film critic for newspapers and television, has re-released his list of the 101 Movies every person needs to see to have a reasonable working knowledge of the cinema of the 20th Century.
I don’t watch movies to discuss them with movie critics, though, and that probably explains why I haven’t seen them all.
List below the fold. Tell me what you think…
(UPDATE: I forgot to indicate which ones I had seen.)