Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Professor John A. Tures, LaGrange College says Sarah Palin Is Nothing like Katniss from 'The Hunger Games'
His lists of distinctions are somewhat arguable. For one thing, he makes some that I already mentioned and make no or little difference to the thesis. He also makes a number of errors of fact.
For example, Point 7 is false. The Palin family, like a lot of other Alaskans, hunt to supplement their food. Point 1 is also arguable In fact (spoiler alert) Katniss and her companion do propose to "quit" by committing suicide on camera. In any case, Palin did not so much quit the governorship of Alaska as give up an office that her political enemies had already made untenable with phony ethics charges.
I am not convinced.
My argument here.
His lists of distinctions are somewhat arguable. For one thing, he makes some that I already mentioned and make no or little difference to the thesis. He also makes a number of errors of fact.
For example, Point 7 is false. The Palin family, like a lot of other Alaskans, hunt to supplement their food. Point 1 is also arguable In fact (spoiler alert) Katniss and her companion do propose to "quit" by committing suicide on camera. In any case, Palin did not so much quit the governorship of Alaska as give up an office that her political enemies had already made untenable with phony ethics charges.
I am not convinced.
My argument here.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Russian Ire Helps Romney Politically
Whether he has stumbled into it or has done so by deliberate design, Mitt Romney has struck political gold by causing the Russians to be angry with him. Next to being a sworn enemy of Darth Vader, Sauron, and Voldemort, nothing could be better for his chances of being president.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
'The Hunger Games' -- Why Katniss is like Sarah Palin
"The Hunger Games," the smash hit film about a future oppressive government that forces teenagers to fight to the death, is heavy with allegory and political subtext. But what allegory and subtext depends on the eye of the beholder.
Monday, March 26, 2012
'Mad Men' Returns, with the Winds of Change A-blowing
After a long hiatus, "Mad Men," the TV show about advertising men who behave badly and the people they have sex with has returned with a two-hour episode. It is after Memorial Day, apparently 1966 and the winds of change are blowing.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
'The Hunger Games' -- in Which Teenagers Fight to the Death
In the future, the nation of Panam is divided into the Capital, where people live lives that would disgust an 18th century French aristo, and the 12 districts where the rest live as if the Great Depression had never stopped
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
'Etch A Sketch' Gaffe Damages Mitt Romney's Candidacy
Mitt Romney communications director Eric Fehrnstrom was trying to remind reporters of a political truism when he made the ill-advised and ill-timed remark comparing his candidate to an Etch A Sketch when asked whether Romney was going too far to the right.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Romney Teaches Entitlement Addled Coed About the Pursuit of Happiness
Mitt Romney, while campaigning at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., encountered a heckler that politicians who tack to the right dream about. A college age girl informed him that her pursuit of happiness would be facilitated with free birth control.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
'John Carter' a Glorious Movie of an Edgar Rice Burroughs' Classic
Before "Star Wars" and myriad of imitators, there were the Mars books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "John Carter," the movie version of the first book in the series, "A Princess of Mars," is a joy at last to see on the big screen.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Why Not a Sarah Palin-Barack Obama Debate?
After noting how the Obama campaign used her in an ad as if she were a political candidate, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin challenged the president to a debate, "anywhere, anytime" according to The Hill.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Does MSNBC's Chris Matthews Really Think that Roman Catholics, Mormons Are 'Cultists?'
Chris Matthews seems to have managed to smear both the Roman Catholic Church and the Mormon Church by suggesting that both of them are "cults." He also likened nominating Mitt Romney to outsourcing the election to India, according to Real Clear Politics.
Why Did 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Outperform 'Game Change?
Big Hollywood is reporting that while "Game Change" premiered to 2.1 million viewers on its first airing, with an accumulated viewership of 3.6 million viewers for four airings, it fell short of the first episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska," which debuted to 5 million viewers.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Obama's Sagging Poll Numbers Spell Grave Peril
The Washington Post reports that the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll reveals a sharp drop in President Obama's approval rating, especially in regards to the economy and energy issues. The Weekly Standard adds that includes women.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
I had a most irritating Friday afternoon and evening. On our way to see "John Carter" we were rear ended by a fool who clearly did not see where she was going. The car, oddly, has no visible damage. The same cannot be said about me. I spent several hour in agony in the ER as the muscles in my lower back did a cossack squat dance. Fortunately nothing is broken and I have pain meds in abundance for the next few days. But Friday is a day I would like a do over on.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Thursday, March 08, 2012
'Terra Nova' was Deservedly Cancelled
When the news was announced that "Terra Nova" had been cancelled, it was hardly a surprise. What seemed like a promising premise, a colony set on Earth during the age of the dinosaurs, had been pretty much ruined by bad execution.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Monday, March 05, 2012
Suing Movie Theaters Over High Concession Prices the Wrong Approach
Most people who go to the movies have noted that the prices of concessions are confiscatory. According to the Daily Caller, a man in Michigan wants to do something about it. So he has duly filed a law suit against a local AMC theater.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
John Nolte has seen "Game Change" and doesn't like it one bit.
HBO has not produced an "Avatar"-style piece of propaganda. That's chicken feed. This is "hook-nosed, money-grubbing Jew" propaganda. This is "over-sexualized 'negro' eying white women" propaganda. This is "gold-toothed, greasy smiling Mexican bandito" propaganda. HBO has aimed its flame thrower and fired in order to strip Governor Palin of her humanity and to reveal to the world - just in time after Super Tuesday! - the true awfulness of this hideous, grasping, Jesus-freaking alien who threatens The One.
Limbaugh Apologizes as a Gentleman; Bill Maher Refuses
Addendum: Kristen Powers on liberal war on women.
Addendum: Kristen Powers on liberal war on women.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Friday, March 02, 2012
'Awake,' a Show of Parallel Lives Starring Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs
"Awake," a new drama on NBC, starring Jason Isaacs as Detective Michael Britten, is a cop show with a strange twist. Its principle character is alternatively living in two parallel worlds that has a horrible automobile accident as a point of departure.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Team Palin Pushback Against 'Game Change' Proves to Be Effective
Team Sarah Palin is engaged in an unprecedented push back against "Game Change," the HBO film that purports to tell the story of the 2008 presidential campaign from her perspective. First, a group of Palin advisers condemned the film according to CNN.
Paul Spudis says that Neil deGrasse Tyson's idea of double NASA's budget is, at best, insufficient. What is needed is a clear and believable goal -- like returning to the Moon.