Benazir Bhutto R.I.P.

As we modern Americans struggle with the concept of having a woman President, Pakistan has already had a woman leader. Since Benazir Bhutto left Pakistan that country has gone down a rabbit hole of radicalism, dictatorship, and tyranny. Todays assassination should come as no shock at all. I doubt that Benazir Bhutto would be shocked at todays events. Unlike many so-called leaders she was willing to risk her life to help her people. While other so-called leaders make lofty pronouncements on how we will fight this or that, she went into the den of thieves herself, knowing how long the odds were. In the poem Beowulf, not the stupid movie, the hero, after many years is faced with having to defend his people again. Even though he has many warriors with him, all abandon him to face the evil alone. He too dies, but in his death a legend is born.

There are many powerful warriors in this world, who day by day stand by and do nothing while evil is left to foment. We will stick with Musharef because we, above all, want stability, failing to realize that he offers nothing of the kind. Strongmen are not strong. Nations that need strongmen are weaklings wallowing in turmoil, on the edge of anarchy, revolution, or oblivion. I would cast off this military tyrant. Better to be rid of him than stupidly cling to him hoping for the best.

Yet even with todays tragedy we must not falter. Human beings have seen so much tragedy and will continue to see such days. We will go on and things will get better. In the darkest days of WWI or WWII things seemed mighty bleak, with body counts in the tens of thousands a month coming to our papers and rumors of extermination camps or mass gas attacks in the trenches, and oddly shaped mushroom clouds over irradiated cities. But we muddled through and will continue. We are a tough lot, human beings, we will come through all the trials and tribulations.

In ten thousand years we will be facing other problems, and tragedy and triumphs. We will still be muddling through then too.

More of my plea to you to give Obama a chance

Lets talk qualifications. I know that the political hacks would like you to think Obama is a light weight. Let us see how much of a light weight he is:

Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a former goat herder and lady from Kansas who both met at the University of Hawaii. His father and mother divorced and his father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old. I know this is not qualifications but a bit of human interest.

Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.

Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.

He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

This is not the life of a light weight. Bush had the life of a light weight.

Let us now look at the life of Rudy:

Rudy was born in 1944. His father was not a former goat herder nor did his father got to Harvard. Harold Giuliani had trouble holding a job and had been convicted of felony assault and robbery and served time in Sing Sing: after his release he served as a Mafia enforcer for his brother-in-law Leo D'Avanzo, who ran an organized crime operation involved in loan sharking and gambling at a restaurant in Brooklyn.

Rudy Giuliani started his political life as a Democrat. He has said that he admired the Kennedy family, and volunteered for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968. He also worked as a Democratic party committeeman on Long Island in the mid-1960s, and voted for George McGovern for president in 1972.

His war service: Giuliani did not serve in the military during the Vietnam War. He applied for a deferment but was rejected. In 1969, MacMahon college wrote a letter to Giuliani's draft board, asking that he be reclassified as 2-A, civilian occupation deferment, because Giuliani, who was a law clerk for MacMahon, was an essential employee. He received a student deferment, like Bush, Chenney and all the others guys who were too busy to fight.

How about his conservative credentials: Giuliani's mother maintained in 1988 that, "He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them. He's definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn't. He still feels very sorry for the poor."

Politically Incorrect Santa 2007

Ho Ho Ho!

Well boys and girls it is time for me to get in my slay and travel hither and thither to give out loot to you all. My slay is not a user of petrochemicals either. Heads up for reindeer poop though. So what do I say to you this year?

You people continue to astonish me. The world is so screwed up and still you want me to give you stuff. Well I admire the pugnacious attitude of entitlement you all seem to be born with. So I will auger in and send you what I can.

Can I ask for something too? Santa is not supposed to ask for anything. I guess I am sick of being the "HO" in HO HO HO. I was looking at all the fat old guys that play me on tv or in the shopping malls. I'd really like them all to loose about 20 pounds. No reason to die of hypertension while pretending to be me. I am so old that I sometimes forget what I was like when I was alive.

I'm Greek you know. I was born in Patara in the 3rd century. Since Patara is in Turkey I guess I am sort of a Grecian~Turk. My mother and father both died in an epidemic. After that I sold what I had and became a priest. I eventually was made the bishop of Myra.

Then the Roman Emperor Diocletian came to power and we Christians were hunted down and either imprisoned and tortured or killed outright. I was picked up by the Romans and imprisoned for a time, along with most of the other bishops. I did not have much fun being tortured by the Romans either. Then Diocletian died and eventually I got out and in AD 325 attended the Council of Nicaea. I died in AD 343.

Of course being a Saint I could not just lounge about being dead. They opened up my coffin and found it to be full of juices; yes I know the "yuck" factor is pretty high. But they thought the stuff had healing powers. Sorry but drinking gunk from a coffin is not something I would do but then again I am dead.

Anyhow after a terrible long count of years here I am all fat and white. I'd like to see some swarthy Turk sitting on a chair in a mall in middle America getting his picture taken with the little kids.

I know I look sort of Talibanish and would probably have homeland security after my ass should I show up in a mall dressed like this but some times I just gotta be ME.

Merry Christmas

Neogiating with terrorists...

President Ronald Reagen covertly approved of the sale of American-made BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles to Iran in exchange for 9 hostages held in Lebanon. One hostage was released.

After a botched delivery of HAWK missiles, and a disastrous London meeting between Robert McFarlane and Iranian arms broker Ghorbanifar (at which Ghorbanifar threatened his American interlocutor by saying that there would be "fire back on your interests"), Arrow Air Flight 1285, a plane containing nearly 250 American servicemen, crashed in Newfoundland on December 12, 1985. On the day of the crash, responsibility was claimed by Islamic Jihad.

Robert McFarlane resigned in December 1985. He was replaced by Admiral John Poindexter (recently a member of the Bush Administration). On the day of McFarlane's resignation, Oliver North(A FOX NEWS contributor), a military aide to the United States National Security Council (NSC), proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran. This time, there were two new ideas. Instead of selling arms through Israel, the sale was to be direct. Second, the proceeds from the sale would go to the Contras at a markup. Oliver North wanted a $15 million markup, while contracted Iranian arms broker Manucher Ghorbanifar added a 41% markup of his own. Other members of the NSC were in favor of North's plan. John Poindexter authorized the plan, and it went into effect.

At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar. In February 1986, 1000 TOW missiles were shipped to Iran. From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts.

In September of 1985 1 more hostage was released. Then 3 more Americans were taken to replace him.

So what happened to the money from the sale of all those missiles to Iran? The money funded insurgents in Nicaragua. A paramilitary organization that the people of the United States had forbidden the executive to help.

After the Press had done its job, and Congress begrudgingly limped along the facts came out.

Domestically, the scandal tarnished President Reagan's popularity as his approval ratings saw "the largest single drop for any U.S. president in history", from 67% to 46% in November 1986, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll Reagan survived the scandal however and by December 1988 Gallup poll "recording a 63% approval rating."

The 250 US service personal are still dead. My fifth grade friend among them. Reagans botched backroom dealing with terrorists killed them. And his sending Marines to Beriut Lebanon got 256 of them blown up by a suicide bomber in the largest terrorist attack on Americans to that date. To get the bad guys back we shelled the hills outside the city from an old WWII battleship. They made big creators but didn't do much more. To me Reagan is a sham. His legacy is a sham. The Germans knocked down the Berlin wall, not Reagan. And the Russians took down the Communists not Reagan. His is a legacy of fraud.

The Review of I Am Legend

Did you ever see the movie "Robinson Crusoe on Mars"? In this movie an astronaut crashes on Mars and spend years alone trying to survive. Every once in a while flying saucers come by but they only are in the sky. Then he meets this Indian-type alien and they go up north. Then the production company saw the bill and decided that they had to end the movie really quick so the did. The whole movie is kind of neat but the end is like watching the build up to the last battle of Star Wars to cut from the X-wings leaving Yavin to the end credits. "What the?" is all that can be said.

So it is for this movie. I liked it all the way up until the end. I know the story ends with the main character having a terminal moment. However they had already taken liberties with this story so they could have taken some more.

1: Vampire dude seemed to want his woman back. This was never clarified.
2: Vampire dude seemed to want to hunt Neville like Neville hunted him. This was not really explored.
3: Lady-Vamp gets cured only to be blown to bits. This was stupid.
4: "Hide in this furnace duct until I blow myself up." This was not the line but the how the lady and her son got off the island, with the bridges blown up and tunnels flooded, is never explored either. for that matter how did the lady and her son end up on Manhattan? Since the bridges were blown and tunnels flooded?

If you want to see I am Legend, at least a better version go and rent "28 Days Later". It is a much better tale told in a more authentic way.

Why do we like thinking about being stuck after the Apocalypse? I love these types of movies since it brings for a pioneering spirit. How would I survive in such times? It is too bad that all such stories have to revolve around monsters and zombies, mutants, or other such creepy crawlies. Someone should do a film in a less b-movie format where people actually have to face such a life without the creeps. I think it might actually be worse since, at the very least, the mutants ad some adventure.

This flick gets a solid, mushy 5

My thoughts on campaign 2008...so far...

After many a month of ridiculous media hype the actual election year of 2008 is finally going to materialize. If you listened to the TV you would think that 2008 was already here. After watching CNN I kept wanting to write 08' on my checks.

But now there is less than 30 days until next year. So I will now start to blog about what I think should happen. Who I think should be President.

There is no doubt in my mind as of today. Barack Obama is the man for the Job. He is the only candidate that clearly speaks upon issues in a way I agree with. He is a good talker too. The idea that he is too young is nonsense. I remember one young man who saved the world from nuclear war before he got killed. As for being a black guy. Only the KKK should give a damn about that in this day and age. Who cares. I'd vote for him if he was purple.

The other candidates of note, Clinton, Edwards, Biden, etc are either too scripted or careful, or polished or just too dull. Except for Chris Dodd. I like Dodd too. But he is too old school and we need some real leadership and a fresh perspective. Obama is going to do that.

Obama is going to be a very good President and, so far, I will enjoy casting my vote for him.

Review of Beowulf

For at least 1300 years people have been thrilled with the retelling of the deeds of Beowulf. Then Robert Zemekis, a man I had really thought highly of, decided that all those 1300 years of story telling was wrong and he would set things right...

To paraphrase the great poet Seamus Heaney's retelling of Beowulf..I will now release my word-hord.

This movie is awful from the begining until the end. If this was the basis for the story of Beowulf then the story would have died a justifiable death long ago, along with all the other heavey handed piles of dung spewed out pie holes of many a bad author.

"I am BEOWULF!!! I have come to kill you monster!!!" the cockney english taxi driver bellows at the poorly rendered 3D characters around him. Compare this stupid, low brow idiocy with how Beowulf meets Hrothgar in the poem

"The man whose name was known for courage
the Geat leader, resolute in his helmet,
answered in return: "We are retainers
from Hygelac's band. Beowulf is my name.
If your lord and master, the most renowned
son of Halfdane, will hear me out
and graciously allow me to greet him in person,
I am ready and willing to report my errand."


This movie mercilessly destroys the poetry and drama of the greatest story to come out of Anglo Saxon England and does it in about 2 hours. The 3d graphics are poorly done, the main characters were done decently enough, but the secondary characters were done not much better than a video game. Golem, the bar for personal 3d characters, was not even approached. They all seemed weightless and puppet like.

The acting was god awuful too. The choice for Beowulf was pathetic. Not that I have anything against a good cockney accent, but not for Beowulf!!!!!! I am not sure what made the acting seem soooooo bad? I think it was a combination of the afore mentioned crappy CGI and bad choice for a lead.

The worst part of this Grendel-like abomination was the tossing of the old story onto the scrap pile. Why Hollywood idiots think they can change stuff like this for the better is beyond me. It is like changing the Passion of Christ, by adding in a back story how Judas was Jesus brother and was taken away to be raised by anti-christian wood elves.

I guess the shallow headed trogs of hollywood felt that more exposition was needed to justify Grendels actions. And the story only got worse as it went on. The faux dragon, as the son of Beowulf was just silly looking. I am really bashing this movie. Sorry about that. If you want to read the story please pick up a copy of Seamus Heany's translation. It is exiting, a quick read, and everything the movie is not.

I give this movie a 2

Review of Extended The Lord of the Rings "Fellowship"

After sitting through the additional footage I can now review this treasured movie. The original cut was the best. The extended movie adds a fair amount of clunkiness to the story and tips the hand of the story teller too much. The editor really helped in the presentation of the theatrical release. Performances gained power and the story gained mystery with the loss of the extra footage. Good editors ROCK!

Still if you like to see a realllllllly looooooong movie then this is for you. At 208 minutes this behemoth is the cave troll of movies. If you have never seen LOTR Fellowship please watch the original cut first. It is way better. Then go for the extended movie and see the extra bits and you will see what I mean. Lots of info is added up front and some back story is explained but therein lies the problem. Too much exposition. Less is more and more is usually less.

Best additional footage: none really, it all just detracts from the story and really hurts the pacing. This movie would not have been as well recieved if it had been shown with all this extra stuff put in.

This extended movie gets a 6 of of 10.

News from the front...

Today some of the colonists who attend the College of William and Mary started a fraternal organization called Phi Beta Kapa. The American colonies are quite peculiar in their insistance on what amounts to public education. Why some one from the lower classes should want to waste time at University is beyond imagination. All the Americans have to show for all the lower class learning is the highest literacy rate in the world.

This is very dangerous since part of maintaining social order is the control of information. To have too many people be able to read is a danger to the natural order of things. Ergo the current war and spread of democratic terrorists.

News from the war...

This photo was taken from one of our BBC embedded reporters of the 43rd regiment outside New York after forcing the insurgent to flee to White Plains.

After six weeks of offloading new troops the surge is now in place to deal with the problems associated with the rebellious and insurgent paramilitaries in America. The total number of troops is now over 32,000.

The battle was intense and the American insurgents were outmaneuvered and out fought by our heroic soldiers who are trying to save America from anarchy. The rebel leader, Washington, was forced to flee in the face of our advance. General Howe is now in command of New York City and has detachments in hot pursuit of Washington and his ragtag band of terrorists. We did suffer casualties when our gallent men were viciously attacked by thugs led by another rebel leader named Knowlton.

The surge is working! After the disaster of having to leave Boston to the insurgents in 1775, we now have a strong presense in America and it is only a matter of time now until the insurgents realise that resistance is useless.

The stallwart citizens of New York are pleased that red coats now patrol their streets.