Friday, October 29, 2010

Things That Make You Go BOOM!

Woke up this morning to a string of bomb threats around the planet. It seems there is some kind of semi dry run of bombs in the mail happening out of Yemen. From now only one actually explosive device has been confirmed with one other possibility and at least one dummy device found in Dubai on a plane from Yemen. One flight headed to NY's JFK airport was actually escorted by fighter jets to it's destination. That must be fun to see out the plane window... Look mommy jets! Thank God nothing actually exploded... Today.


This was a good reminder that we can't let our guard down. The President spoke today and said  "We must remain vigilant against terror", of course it's his Administration that has taken the word "terrorist" out of official use. But he is right, by leaving Iraq unstable, giving a timeline for leaving Afghanistan, and declaring Al Qaeda is "no longer a threat to the US",  they are going to work extra hard to show us that we are still a target. Today's events might just be the beginning. 




As the 9/11 anniversary rapidly comes to the ten year mark, we have to remember they started this fight and we have to be one to finish it!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

...And The New Batman Movie Title Is?

"The Dark Night Rises"... OK so not mind blowing, but it's growing on me already and I just learned it ten minutes ago, from the LA Times. I do appreciate putting some thought into the titles, it's better than Batman 3 or "Batman Forever". Chris Nolan has done great things for the Batman franchise, and I have high hopes for what will no doubtingly be Christian Bale's last time dawning the cape and cowl. Other news in the article was Nolan putting the squash on "The Riddler" being the big bad for the movie. Last week Nolan was started the search for a female lead, obviously Bats is gonna need a new love interest and the rumor is she'll have claws.

In Supernews Zack Snyder has been talking about not having a centralized villain at all in the new "Man of Steel" movie. I'm not sure how that will play out with the fanboys, but that would mean you would get some good Supes does in some good old fashioned bad guys. While you could probably go that route with Batman as well, coming off of the late Heath Ledger's "Joker", Batman is gonna need one hell of a fight to have the third measure up to the Second.

One last thing, because you didn't feel sick enough hearing the news that George Lucas is going to re-release all 6 "Star Wars" movies in 3D, he has also announced the next "Indiana Jones" flick will also require the stupid glasses. Sorry to wreck your day...


Monday, October 25, 2010

I Can't See The Light

By now most of you are probably sick of being bombarded with tree huggers telling you to switch out the evil incandescent light bulbs in your house for compact florescent (cfl) ones. This is just part of the "Climate Change" scam being perpetrated on the American people. CFL's have been touted as a cheap efficient replacement for incandescents, but how do they really stack up? Not so good.

Now CFL's do use less power than the old fashioned bulbs, but the power saved doesn't cover the other cost. One being lifespan. Now the CFL;s will tell you they have a lifespan of 3 years or better, but I have never seen a CFL last more than six months, while the old fashioned bulbs last for around a year or in one case of a bulb in a fire station in Livermore CA. that has been on for 110 years, go see it for yourself at Fire Station #6, 4550 East Ave. Livermore, CA.

Then there are the dangers, yes there are dangers to both types of bulbs. The old fashioned bulbs are made of fragile thin glass that can break fairly easy. Broken glass is sharp and there is a chance of being cut. The CFL's have the same issue, with one added issue, mercury. Yep CFL's have a small but still dangerous amount of the liquid metal mercury which is poisonous. The EPA has special guidelines to clean the CFL's when they break. It is time consuming and labor intensive. One woman was quoted over two thousand dollars in profession clean up of a CFL.

Last you are supposed to go through your house and throw away all the existing bulbs in your house and replace them. Isn't that kind of absurd? Then there's the talk about the Govt banning the old bulbs, forcing you to put the mercury bulbs in your house. Oh and you can't just toss those quick to die CFL's in your home trash. Most states have strict rules on disposing of mercury and if they catch you tossing the poisonous bulbs you are looking at a stiff fine. I'll stick with Thomas A. Edison, thank you very much.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Iron Man 2 & America

When Iron Man 2  hit theaters I was in Israel and though there was a theater in Jerusalem I didn't have the money to waste on movies. Shortly after I got back the cheap "$1" theater near my house got Iron Man 2 and finally saw it. Jump to a few weeks ago when I was visiting with friends for another friend's wedding and we popped Iron Man 2 into his BluRay player.

Overall it was a good movie, almost as good as the first and that's a tough thing for sequels. Like the first there were many scenes that went from science to science fiction and that I don't mind. It's a movie after all and if you can't let the mind wander into fantasy at the movies then it's probably not a great movie. The acting was good, RDJr. has really made an amazing comeback from the drug addled days of his youth and emerged as a captivating and enjoyable presence at the movies. The surrounding cast also does well, I am not a fan of Gwenneth Paltrow, I usually don't see movies she's in and when I do I'm not happy, this is the exception that proves the rule. Don Cheadle was a good replacement for Terrance Howard, Rourke makes for a good villain even with the dumb accent though Sam Rockwell was mediocre at best. He hasn't done a good movie since HGTTG.

There is one part that got me thinking and here comes the tie into politics. Early in the movie Tony Stark is brought before a congressional committee and is told to turn over his property to the government, and in today's America that doesn't seem to far off. A couple of post back I touched on scandal during hurricane katrina where police and military were going door to door and collecting legally owned firearms from the good people of Louisiana. Then there is the Obama Administration which continually brings up mandatory govt service.

Much like Tony Stark said no and one of my post a couple back, we to have to say no! No to the suspension of the 2nd Amendment when the wind blows and no to the Obama Admin's call for mandatory service. Most of all we need to say NO to the govt takeover of all the different private industries in our great nation. The lesson we can take away from Iron Man is that the answers to our biggest problems lie in the people, not the government. To borrow a line from the Iron Man movie; That's how dad did it and that's how America does it!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Defending a Democrat? Yes!

For some time now I have been watching Juan Williams as a commentator on Fox News, very little have I ever agreed with anything he has said and I have never read or heard anything he has done for NPR (national public radio). NPR in my eyes has always been an outlet for hard left wing diatribe and overt socialist commentary. The idea that the taxpayers are forced to support such an idealogical organization has always been a bit disturbing. but now that NPR has fired Williams for "controversial" statements he made about muslims on The Factor I am in full de-fund mode.


First for the sake of clarity here is Williams' statement; "I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." I guess honesty is not the best policy at NPR.  


NPR said in it's statement that Williams' remarks; “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.” So being open and honest is inconsistent with NPR's standards? What exactly are they saying here? It seems freedom of speech and expression are not welcome at a station that is being partially funded by taxpayer dollars. It's time to stop paying for NPR's rhetoric. The First Amendment is for everyone, right or left, black or white, Jew or Gentile, right or wrong.


Maybe Fox News should offer Williams a full time job? Fox News seems to be the only news outlet that can live up to their mission statement, "Fair and Balanced".


UPDATE:
NPR now says Williams was fired for going on conservative TV - "Williams' presence on the largely conservative and often contentious prime-time talk shows of Fox News has long been a sore point with NPR News executives." (linked to NPR).


UPDATE II:
Fox just signed Williams to a $2Mil job!


  

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Party of No!

For a while now President Obama has been calling the Republican Party the "party of no". He blames the GOP for all the negativeness that surrounds his administration. I would like to clear a few things up, and I believe most of the party would agree. We are the party of no and we are damed proud of it. Let me explain...


In February 2009 the unemployment rate in the US was 8.2%. Obama told us if we didn't pass his trillion dollar stimulus plan it would go up to 8.6%. We said no. Congress passed the stimulus and by December 2009 the rate was at an astounding 10%. Do we know for sure the rate wouldn't have gone up anyway, no, but we never will.


In January 2009 the "Big 3" American Auto Companies were on the verge of bankruptcy. Obama says let's bail out the auto industry. We said no. Congress OK'd the bailout and promptly GM and Chrysler took the money and went bankrupt. The bankruptcy caused the break up of both companies the majority of Chrysler being bough out by Italian auto co. Fiat and the majority of GM being sucked up by the Federal Govt. itself. Both companies are still struggling to stay in the black and still owe taxpayers a lot of money. Ford, by the way did not take the bailout, did not go bankrupt, restructured the company, has been making a profit and paying off it's loans.


April 2009, Obama and Congress announce massive healthcare reform, with the govt. taking over one sixth of the US economy and federalizing US healthcare. Obama said you could keep your plan and your doctor. He said this would make thing fair and affordable. We said no. Congress passed a 2000+ page Healthcare monstrosity that not only causes premiums to skyrocket across the country but forces doctors out of their practices, regulates admissions to collages and even creates a "Civilian Ready Force" run my the Surgeon General (who by the way is not an actual general), as you saw here a couple posts back.


Earlier this year Obama introduced Cap & Trade, which would drastically change both power and environmental regulations in the US. In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase. Not to mention the "Smart Grid" power technology that would allow the govt. to regulate when you use the AC/Heating in your own house. We said no. Thank God, congress couldn't get that passed, yet. But they are still trying.


On January 1st 2010 the Bush tax cuts are due to expire. This will be the largest tax increase in US history! Obama talked about the "Rich not needing another tax cut". But this is not a cut, it is an increase. We said no, to all of the increases. Congress had talked briefly on only letting the tax cuts expire for the upper class while keeping the middle and lower class cuts intact. But then put off the vote to a later date. Well 82 days left and still no sign of a vote.


There are many other examples I can give. But I will leave it here. We will keep saying to to government takeovers of the private sector, no to massive spending that has put our posterity in debt for generations, and we will keep saying to to the job killing, dollar killing Obama Administrations as long as it takes till our Country is back on top where it belongs. Till then I am proudly saying NO!    

Monday, October 18, 2010

Obama Blocks 2 From My Gun Collection

The Republic Of Korea (ROK) has a huge stockpile of old American rifles M1 Garand and M1 Carbines that they want to sell back to the United States. First off let me point out that we didn't give those guns to them, we loaned them the guns for use during the war and for a couple decades following. So they are trying to sell us back our own weapons. They should just be giving them to us. But I am willing to let them make a few bucks, I mean we give ROK millions of dollars every year anyway. So moving right along, where do I send the money?

Not going to happen, why you ask angrily? Well the Obama/Clinton State Department has decided that, let me quote now; "Obama/Clinton State Department has reportedly denied the 'import' of these rifles from Korea on the theory that they might 'fall into the wrong hands' here in the US. The stories also report that the Korean plan was to sell them in bulk to importers who were then going to resell them in the US." I have wanted each of these guns for years, but the thousand dollar price tag has kept me far away. Adding 857,470 rifles (770,160 M1 Carbines and 87,310 M1 Garands) to the mix would bottom out the price and would make them affordable for all who want to own a little piece of history.

Just in case you are wondering, both the Garand and the Carbine are top loaded and hold eight rounds which make them one hundred percent legal to own in the US. They do not fall into the "Assault Rifle" ban of 2004. One thing that worries me is if the guns are returned to the Govt. without us paying, the Obama Administration might melt them down. Let's go ahead with the sale and these guns home where they belong in the hands of the people!

FEMA Camps? Healthcare Bill Weirdness?

I have been reading and reading about the "FEMA Camps" and it's pretty freaky stuff. Things like EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000- allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision. I found lots of these orders that would essentially give complete control of all people, resources and vehicles (public or private) to the federal govt. Orders that some claim are all on the books and ready to be implemented should an emergency arise. The H1N1 flu scare saw govt and media exploit the facts to scare people into lining up for the swine flu vaccine that was not widely tested and saw HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius shield both the government and vaccine makers from lawsuits for problems arising with the vaccine. In the aftermath of hurricane katrina we saw military and law enforcement disarm people trying to protect themselves and their homes from looters. I have also read that the "Black Helicopters" you have probably heard some talk about are FEMA controlled, in one video from a supposed camp the camera pans up to what looks like a black helicopter with no marking flying around the camera crew.

Now I don't know if FEMA is building camps, seems far fetched. But I can point out some wried things in the Healthcare bill starting with something PrezBo said during a campaign speech; "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." - Barack Hussein Obama, 2008 campaign. Here's a little snippet from the Healthcare Bill, yes HEALTHCARE; 


"H. R. 3590-496 (Page 496) SEC. 5210. ESTABLISHING A READY RESERVE CORPS. 
Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 203. COMMISSIONED CORPS AND READY RESERVE CORPS. "(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-
"(1) IN GENERAL.-
There shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and a Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.
"(2) REQUIREMENT.-All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. 
"(3) APPOINTMENT.
-Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

"(4) ACTIVE DUTY.-Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall at all times be subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General, including active duty for the purpose of training."


Now, I ask you...currently we have the regular Army, the Marines, The Navy, the Air Force, the National Guard, state and local police, state troopers, first responders, firefighters, EMT, rescue workers of all kinds and in all locations. So what exactly does Mr. Obama need a private "ready reserve corps" who are hand-picked by him and report directly to him for?


There is plenty of strangeness in the "Healthcare Bill" all I can say is read it for yourself. But make sure you've got some time on your hands cause the sucker is two thousand pages! I have probably read three hundred pages and it feels like my brain is gonna melt. Good Luck.
Or you can get it for your E-Book for a buck.


Saturday, October 16, 2010

Who's the "S"?

I don't know if you are all aware, but I am a huge Superman fan. From the comics, cartoons, TV, movies and even books. Superman has been merged with American culture over the last fifty plus years. Becoming the basis for books, music and even terminology. Everyone's heard some sort of reference and who hasn't tied a towel around their neck and zipped around their house pretending to fly.

We know now that Zack Snyder is helming the newest Superman movie, but the question on my mind and I bet many others is who is going th play the Man of Steel? With movies like Sucker PunchWatchmen300 and Dawn of the  Dead  under his belt I think The Man OF Steel (tentative title) has a lot of promise. I am linking all the potential names to a picture so you can get an idea of how they would fit in the tights, of course one of them is actually in them so no imagination necessary. 


Who has the stuff to play Superman? The Christopher Reeves standard was set at six foot four, blue eyes and somewhere in the two hundred and twenty pound range. Now I know that is a small window for the guys but to play a larger than life character like Superman you are going to have to be a big guy. The rumor mill is alive and well with names like Armie Hammer, the return of Brandon Routh, the Smallville lead Tom Welling and even Mad Men star Jon Hamm  (who has officially squashed the rumor by the way). While any of these guys minus Hamm, too short, could fill the red boots with ease, Routh and Welling are a longshot if any at all, Armie has the best shot of this bunch.


Let me throw some other names in the hat, these two have the chops and the fit that I think would be great for Supes. 


First everytime I see Jared Padaleki on Supernatural I think get that kid a haircut and he would be a great Superman. Second is Chuck star Zachary Levi. I know they do a good job of making Zach look like a nerd for his role but if you have seen the show recently you know Zach can turn on the action when he needs it. While Zach will need some contacts for the blue eyes, they both meet the Reeves standard and has proved their acting range on their respective shows, I've seen them funny, serious, thrilling and stoic. 


This may seem like overkill to the not so interested, but to the fans whoever wears the yellow, red and blue is a big deal. Think about this, for a short while years ago Nicholas Cage was on the top of the superman list, WTH?


Just in case you haven't seen 300, here you go, enjoy...


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Back To The Caprican Future?

So Back To The Future, one of my favorite moves, is twenty five years old and the new anniversary edition has footage of Eric Stolz (Caprica) in his five week run as Marty McFly. I knew Eric was the first choice but I had no clue there was film. Robert Zemeckis shot the five weeks with Stolz, but wasn't getting the laughs he wanted. He showed the footage to Spielberg and they decided to take the chance on a different lead actor. That was of course Michael J. Fox. Take a look at the Stolz McFly;



When the trilogy first came out on DVD I bought it. Everyone needs to see these movies. You can imagine how peeved I was when someone stole my copy. But I replaced it fast and watch them religiously. The only movie I watch more is Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I can't imagine what the movies would have been like with Stolz in the lead. If it truly wasn't funny then maybe it wouldn't have garnered such a huge following and who know what kind of cosmic changes that would lead to? I wouldn't want to live in a world without BTTF!



One of the highlights of the new Piranha 3D movie is Christopher Lloyd as the scientist who has all the answers about the evil fish. He's aged a bit but is still awesome. Also if you want I am gonna link this post to the Fox Foundation for research into Parkinson's Disease. http://www.michaeljfox.org/

Monday, October 11, 2010

Movie (and More Movies) Reviews

I saw a flurry of movies in the last couple days, five to be exact and I wanted to touch on a few things. Overall, they were all good, in their own ways, but some thing stood out and this is as good as any a place to talk it out.

First off the throw aways, "Vampires Suck" and "Piranha 3D". Now I know throw aways sounds bad, but I just mean they were exactly what you should be expecting. In the parody version of "Twilight" Vampires was as cheese packed as it could be and in the days of parodies like "Epic Movie" and "Scary Movie" it was exactly what you'd expect it to be. The acting was par and the jokes keep you awake, and that's pretty much it. Same goes for Piranha it's a remake of the late 70's cheeseball horror flick. Packed with nudity, face ripping gore and buckets of blood. Some would even say a distasteful amount of each.



Next is "Toy Story 3" and "Despicable Me" ( I know it rhymes shut up). TS3 was cookie cutter at best and formulaic to the extreme. We all know at tis point Disney is just putting these out to make a buck. Nothing new in the CGI department and the same characters made it a snooze fest for me. But the kids in the theater seemed to like it.  DM is pretty much the same except it throws in some butt and fart jokes along with some dark scenes that are barely appropriate for the target audience. But again it garnered some chuckles from me and the kids liked it.






Last is "Salt", the Angelina Jolie actioner. Let me get out of the way up front, I still think Angie is an attractive woman, she even gained a few pounds since "Wanted" and looks healthier. Beyond that Salt is a sold action flick with the good old Russians as the baddies. While I know Angie tends to lean center left this movie was surprisingly patriotic and America wasn't the ultimate villain. I can't say too much more without doing some major spoiler damage but I will say Salt keeps you guessing throughout and the twists are fun. Per the usual you have to suspend disbelief for the extremes of the action, but that's Hollywood. Overall it's exciting and keeps you involved beginning to end. I will be buying Salt in the near future.