I am going to take part in the National Day of Unplugging. This is 24 hours where you turn off all electronic devices. It starts at sundown tonight and lasts until sundown tomorrow.
This shouldn’t really be a big deal, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be incredibly trying. We’ll see come 7:00.
Interesting idea. Doubt I’ll be turning off my phone though.
NYT Sunday Mag: Profile of David Simon and his upcoming HBO series “Treme” — Something to read over the weekend. (Via kfoody)
SXSW 2010: Opening remarks on privacy and publicity from Danah Boyd — SXSW is starting to post some video from their interactive sessions. Worth checking out if you dig that kind of stuff and couldn’t attend.
The first official trailer for Nimród Antal’s ‘Predators’
20th Century Fox has released the first official trailer for Robert Rodriguez & Nimród Antal’s ‘Predators’, the reboot/prequel to the original 1987 film ‘Predator’. Most of this footage was seen in the promotional video that was released late last week, but now we have the first teaser trailer for the film.
While the main plot of the film isn’t fully revealed in the trailer, it’s safe to say the plot is very obvious from this teaser trailer with a group of the world’s most dangerous killers being kidnapped and set free on a Predator game reserve. Watch this trailer since it’s pretty damn awesome.
‘Predators’ hits theaters on July 7th, 2010.
Sweet, it comes out the day before my birthday! I doubt the movie will be very good, but I’m all about summer popcorn action films. Too bad we’ll never see an Arnold cameo.
Ke$ha “Blah blah blah” — This is how I described Ke$ha to a friend in reference to her Twitter feed:
She’s like that one chick who friends you on MySpace, is apparently from your hometown, but you don’t remember her because she dropped out of high school. But you accepted her friend request anyway because she’s sorta hot in that Suicide Girl-meets-obnoxious-attention-whore way, and normally she’d be the person who makes you want to hate the Internet for her constant acts of pollution and destruction of the English language… BUT YOU JUST CAN’T STOP WATCHING. Really, it’s probably half because it doesn’t make sense, half because it’s funny as hell and half because you think you’ll end up reading her suicide note.
Warning: do not listen to this song at work. It will get you pumped and you will make bad, overconfident business decisions.
Aloe Blacc “I need a dollar” — File this under “songs for a recession.”
“Samurai Star Wars” by Steve Bialik — Such a cool series. Be sure to check his blog out as I’m not sure how many he’s done for this series.
Did you read about this? They’re eating rabbit and raw honey!
Food policy experts and human resource administrators are quick to point out that the overwhelming majority of the record 38 million Americans now using food stamps are their traditional recipients: the working poor, the elderly and single parents on welfare.
But they also note that recent changes made to the program as part of last year’s stimulus package, which relaxed the restrictions on able-bodied adults without dependents to collect food stamps, have made some young singles around the country eligible for the first time.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with this. If you qualify, then you should take advantage of the benefits. You’re not scamming the system, you’re using it. I don’t feel bad about the government helping people buy groceries, especially if these people have access to good food that’s actually healthy for them. It’s better than subsidizing fast food that contributes to the nation’s growing obesity problem and our rising healthcare costs.
I didn’t always have this view, however, and once had a real negative view of social welfare. My thoughts on such policies have gotten much more progressive over time, because while the fiscal conservative in me doesn’t view it as an essential government function, I think that you can’t ignore the human aspect of the situation. People need to eat and places to stay. If we want to create a better society, then we need to provide services that can help with social mobility.
Now, a lot of social services could be streamlined, reformed, etc., and many of them have been politicized as collective-bargaining unit voting blocks, but nothing’s ideal about the whole situation.
So, what radically changed my view of food stamps?
I’d highly recommend reading Megan Cottrell’s essay on why the rise of food stamp use (in response to this Nov. 2009 NYTimes article) is a victory, not a cause for alarm.
The beauty of food stamps is in their simplicity: you can only buy food. Everyone needs food. No matter how much you loathe parents for being lazy, good-for-nothing, welfare-sucking pigs, no one wants children to starve. (I say this gingerly –- perhaps there is someone out there that wants children to starve, and they are likely to write a comment on this very blog). You can’t buy alcohol with food stamps. You can’t buy drugs. You can’t even buy toilet paper. You can only buy food.
She also goes on to explain it’s one of the few government-run programs that has a low rate of error and fraud. I think complaining about government waste is legitimate — and we should be angry about it — but I’d say look elsewhere. The Federal government spent $56 billion in FY2009 on the food stamp program, but that is only 1.6% of the $3.52 TRILLION Federal budget.
What scares me is that our country is in such bad shape that we need to spend $56 billion just to feed our own people for a year (just 10% of that figure is spent on administration, which is really low). Compare this to the amount of aid the United States pledged to Haiti: $466 million. We spend 120 times more money feeding ourselves.
Last year, 38.2 million people in the United States were on food stamps. That’s four times the amount of people that live in Haiti. That’s larger than the entire population of California.
The good news though about food stamps is that they actually encourage people to work more and increases household income.* So, for all the people that say food stamps only make people lazy, that claim doesn’t hold water.
One of the hipsters described in the original article responded in a thoughtful piece and made a great point:
The comments both attacking and defending people like me reflect the insecurities and fears we all harbor in a nation where, in a time of corporate bailouts and “Too Big To Fail,” even upper-middle-class people struggle to put food on the table.
Maybe we shouldn’t freak out over food stamps being used by hipsters to eat some organic greens. Instead of demonizing people who are legitimately poor as part of the dissolving middle class as we try to help them not starve, maybe we should get pissed about the $700 billion we spent bailing out banks that wrecked our economy to begin with.
Since my job involves burying my head in Illinois state politics, not national politics, I really had no idea what those terms meant and how they applied to the national healthcare debate and votes in D.C.
So, I asked my friend Eric Naing, who is interning for Open Congress, for a primer and he explained it rather thoroughly in language that I could understand. Here’s what’s going on:
The Senate passed H.R. 3590 a while back with 60 votes, defeating the Republican filibuster.
Next, the House will vote to pass H.R. 3590 and a set of amendments in one vote at the same time using a method called “deem and pass,” requiring a simple majority.
Then, the Senate will vote on the set of amendments using reconciliation.
OK, so what is “deem and pass” and what is “reconciliation,” you might be asking, and how do they matter?
The “deem and pass” matter is considered controversial because it allows the House to consider the bill and amendments in one vote, even though the amendments have not yet passed out of the Senate.
And this leads into the second controversy, “reconciliation,” which is typically only used for budget votes in the Senate to be passed with a simple majority (51/100) to prevent a filibuster override from the Republicans that would need 60 votes.
There is some talk that if all of this happens, gets passed, etc., a bunch of lawsuits could be filed to overturn parts or all of the bill. It gets murky because the bill passed with 60 votes, but the amendments only with 51 votes. The contention being that the amendments don’t deal with the budget, therefore would be ineligible for passage using reconciliation.
The Republicans’ best hope is that the Senate parliamentarian will say the amendments don’t qualify for budget reconciliation. However, the parliamentarian only serves as an adviser to the Senate chair, who is Vice President Joe Biden. It should be noted though that the Vice President usually defers to the parliamentarian.
So, how does the parliamentarian decide if reconciliation can be used? The Byrd Rule is consulted and something would be considered ineligible for reconciliation if:
Part number 5 is what you see opponents making a fuss over, and rightfully so. But the fun doesn’t just end with the parliamentarian’s advice and the chair’s ruling. It actually gets even more dicey:
Any senator may raise a procedural objection to a provision believed to be extraneous, which will then be ruled on by the Presiding Officer, customarily on the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian. A vote of 60 senators is required to overturn the ruling. The Presiding Officer need not necessarily follow the advice of the Parliamentarian, and the Parliamentarian can be replaced by the Senate Majority Leader. However, this hasn’t been done since 1975.
Got all that? Great, now you can watch CSPAN on Sunday and see how this all plays out in the House.
“Boardwalk Empire” trailer — This played in front of the first episode of HBO’s “The Pacific.” I couldn’t help but get excited. Martin Scorsese bringing a vision of the Prohibition era in Atlantic City that stars Steve Buscemi? Sounds like a great idea to me. Just check out the sets and costuming! Plus, you’ve got this as the only bit of dialogue from the trailer:
“All I want is an opportunity.”
“This is America, ain’t it? Who the fuck’s stopping you?”
Nothing should stop you from checking out this show. Here’s a snip from the show’s description:
The undisputed ruler of Atlantic City is the town’s Treasurer, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, (Steve Buscemi) a political fixer and backroom dealer who is equal parts politician and gangster and equally comfortable in either role. Because of its strategic location on the seaboard, the town is a hub of activity for rum-runners, minutes from Philadelphia, hours from New York City and less than a day’s drive from Chicago. And Nucky Thompson takes full advantage.
Pomplamoose cover of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” — Quite enjoyable, even if you didn’t enjoy the original version. Also, definitely check out the rest of Pomplamoose’s music videos.
While I had a great Germany strategy, it’s going to need revisiting in light of my advocacy of the “no-Russia” rule for the first round. Still, I feel one element of the German strategy should carry over to its Axis partner:
ONLY ATTACK ONE COUNTRY.
Germany cannot defeat Russia while trying to invade Africa and hold off the United States. Frankly, it’s got too many fronts to defend and not enough money to maintain proper troop levels and wage war effectively. Like all things: pick one thing you’re good at and stick to it.
Japan has to do this, too. It’s really tempting to take Alaska on the first move. Even if the U.K. sends over help to prevent this, Japan can still win that battle. The purpose of this move is to distract the American player on round one from spending a lot of its resources and devoting all of its units to the Atlantic theater by moving some attention to the Pacific theater, where Japan enjoys a comfortable advantage.
All in all, this seems like a great play. It buys Germany some time. It’s an easy kill. Etc. But it’s absolutely destructive to Japan’s long-term health and that’s evident by the end of round one and into round two.
What ends up happening is that Japan gets crushed in Asia. And Asia is the key to attacking Russia — Japan’s one opponent it should be focusing on. Japan ends up squandering air force units in the sea while it really needs offensive units on the mainland.
A good Japanese game rolls over Russia and takes them head on and moves to Moscow ASAP.
The Pacific might’ve been key in the real war, but it’s an irrelevant and resource-wasting strategy for Japan to pursue.
Tonight my friend and I decided to work on the opening round of Axis & Allies, not playing against each other, but rather taking each country’s turn and analyzing the best moves together.
Much like chess, opening moves are crucial. However, unlike chess I always thought the variable outcome of battles (as determined by dice rolls) made the game very unlike chess, where your move will always have a desired outcome, there is a finite outcome from your move.
But as the two of us bantered over Russia’s first turn (they’re the first to move in the game), we realized a rather powerful strategy for the country.
I won’t get into details about what this is, but we’ve both agreed that in future games with our other friends that neither of us will ever be Russia, nor will we provide the Russian player with any advice.
Our conclusion: Russia is way overpowered in round 1 and no matter what Germany does, Germany can fall in probably 3-4 turns.
It’s for this reason that many Axis & Allies veterans and in competitions play with the much-discussed “No Russian moves on the first round” rule. Frankly, I think it’s appropriate and needed to even make the game worth playing if all players are familiar with the strategy.
Typically, I strongly dislike going against the written rules of the game, but I totally get why one would do it.
Other forums have suggested letting the Axis powers “level up” by allowing them upgrades or extra cash in the first round to balance the game. I think that’s a bit extreme, creating a unit-wide unbalanced scenario throughout the entire game. Simply having Russia sit out the first round probably makes the most sense.
Still, I’ve yet to try a “no-Russia” game. If the game dramatically changes to a much fairer fight, then I’ll probably be a strong advocate for it.
My friend and I were a bit disappointed to learn how strong and overpowering Russia is on the first turn after our discovery. Frankly, we didn’t even want to play through the second round because it was really apparent how badly things were going to go for Germany.
We looked at Germany’s best options against Russia, and frankly it’s not pretty and barely a fair fight with long-term consequences that ravages Germany from round one onward. Even with Japan on its best game with lots of luck, the statistics just didn’t work.
I hate Russia.
“Treme” trailer — Looks like HBO finally decided to allow embedding! So, check it out if you were too lazy to click through before.
dbsw:
Hutts and Recreation (Parks & Rec Opening Parody)
(via caseyayers)
If there was a comedy like “Parks & Rec” set in the Star Wars universe, then I’m pretty sure it’d be better than any of the prequels.
It’s tough to really get any details from this trailer, which is a bunch of scenes from the show and no dialogue whatsoever, but I’m just excited to see a bunch of actors back from “The Wire” in it.
Sorry that it’s not embedded, but you can blame HBO for taking down all the “illegal” versions of the trailer on YouTube.
[insert rant about stupidity of studios preventing fans from freely promoting their stuff]
Sadly, “Burn Notice” has ended for the season and it’ll be a while before “Glee,” “Breaking Bad” and “V” return, but I’ve managed to find a few other shows to get addicted to:
I want to see the To Be Continued! A LiveJournal commenter thinks Gaga and Beyonce will head for Mexico and do “Alejandro.” It’s slower than her other hits, but could be a good middle part if this were a trilogy.
I’d love to see “Monster” just because it could continue the exploitation feel of two women teaming up (with erotic undertones, because of course they must cat-fight, then kiss and make up) to take down the man who scorned them. Now too bad David Carradine had to go and pleasure himself to death. You know he’d beg for a cameo, even if there’s no room for any other stars.
Only one complaint: Nobody puts Beyonce in the corner. OK, that metaphor-allusion’s kind of a stretch, but that’s exactly how I felt when I saw her sing one of my favorite parts (5:35) while trying to drive the “Pu**y Wagon.” You can’t bust out “Boy, the way you blowin’ up my phone won’t make me leave no faster…” in such a confined space, even if it does make me want to buy a Polaroid camera!
I completely agree on wanting to see a follow-up to this storyline and “Alejandro” is a great track to play into that. The question is if Beyonce will come back for at least a cameo.
Another thing I didn’t notice before: Gaga wears Diet Coke cans in her hair in the prison as curlers. This made me laugh.
Also, I took a look at the scrolling credits at the end in 1080p HD and they are real credits, much like the type you would have at the end of a film. So, it’s pretty clear the intent is to showcase a short film that happens to be a music video.
Sure enough, it’s ambitious, however, it’s also dripping with unapologetically blatant product placement. But maybe this is the way pop music is going now? Music videos often are costly to make and studios probably get very little return on them (if any) and product placements surely help reduce the cost.
Or maybe Lady Gaga’s just continuing to race toward the edges of producing pop music (and by extention, pop art) that’s completely about selling out. Obviously, her fans support this.
The real interesting question though is if anyone will follow and copycat Gaga’s mass-commercialization ideas. In an industry that’s hurting, I kind of think music will almost have to take note of her playbook.
Some other links:
Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé - “Telephone”
— So many things going on here. I guess it’s best summed up in a bulleted list? (Also, the video might be NOT SAFE FOR WORK if your workplace frowns upon women dancing in spiked out lingerie):
Overall, it’s OK, but I don’t like it as much as “Bad Romance,” which I thought was her best video to date. She clearly wanted to do a short film homage rather than a music video.
A few things on this.
I have figured out how to stream a majority of TV shows I’ve downloaded to my XBOX 360 to display on my TV. This is great! After upgrading my router and my desktop’s network card, this is a real possibility that’s done quite well for me.
But the larger issue here for me is watching things in real time. I like seeing shows I love like “Mad Men” in real time. Sadly, this isn’t possible with my current cable TV package, as it doesn’t have AMC.
Also, I like true HD quality for TV shows. Having a DVR that’s HD is great. The detail is wonderful the majority of the time and watching sports LIVE in true HD is a definite plus.
The problem though is largely money and some months I’m barely home to enjoy watching TV as I’m on the road. I still prefer cable internet over DSL because it’s massively faster (even the fastest DSL doesn’t compare to the bottom-level cable rate) and Comcast just offers a whole lot more on the TV side. (We still don’t have AT&T U-verse in our area.)
So, I try to watch what I can for free, but it’s not always possible. And I’m not opposed to paying for things when I can, even if it’s through my cable service provider.
I love shows like “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “24,” “30 Rock,” “Community,” “Parks & Recreation” and “Burn Notice” enough to support them by being a cable subscriber. It might not be cheap or completely free to do so, but I’m fine with that.
Absolutely fantastic game tonight, even if it’s not over yet (we’ll be picking it up next week). As a challenge, I decided to take both Axis countries and face off against my three friends, each taking an Allied nation.
The opening round was quite crucial and I feel that it largely succeeded for me. As Germany, I used the tanks quite effectively, neutralized Britain’s naval forces in Italy, and concentrated my spending on only ground units. As Japan, I pulled a surprise maneuver and took Alaska. I daisy chained this invasion to take the Western United States on round two, and eliminated the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.
The Allies were definitely thrown off by the first two rounds. I was able to distract the U.S. from getting into the Atlantic naval game by hitting their homeland. This delayed help to Britain in their naval zone and allowed me to prevent them building effectively in it for three turns. Russia did pretty well though and played an extremely conservative game. However, it’s the Russia-Germany conflict that proved to be crucial element of the game.
I hadn’t expected Russia to build up a force of nine armor units, which decimated Eastern Europe. While I was able to retaliate and strike back and destroy his armor units, this cost me a lot of units myself and Germany never got back into the ground game.
This led to me having a path to attack Russia in Karelia, which I now believe is a mistake. Simply put: the moment Germany attacks Russia in Karelia, that’s when Germany overextends itself and starts to lose the game. Predictably, I wasn’t able to hold Karelia when the British liberated it and then that led to a subsequent invasion of Eastern Europe. Then the Americans got away with Western Europe and even took Southern Europe. Instantly, Germany was surrounded and doesn’t have as large a stack of infantry in Berlin as it could’ve had.
As it stands now, Japan’s still distracting the U.S. quite a bit, but also knocking on the door of Moscow with two factories pumping out tanks. I believe in two turns Moscow has an outside chance of falling. The question is if Germany can hold out for that long.
Looking back, I think Germany’s goal should be to expect to lose Finland/Norway and the Ukraine while holding the line with a strong block of infantry in Eastern Europe, maybe even landing their fighters there for defense, too, if it’s not risky. Additionally, Germany should seek to build 1-2 transports in Southern Europe and send over a tank or two infantry to just take territory in Africa and pester the British, maybe even diverting some American resources away from the northern Atlantic sea.
Another idea I’d also considered was getting German troops into Asia via transport and taking some easy territories that couldn’t be recaptured. This would give Germany a cash buffer in later turns when Western Europe falls.
I will say that the Russian strategy of buying four tanks on the first round worked very effectively and pushed Germany to stay defensive. Any German offensive tactics should be low-cost and done with the idea to delay invasion as long as possible while stockpiling infantry in Berlin.
Slowly, I’m developing a strategy for Germany, which I’d argue is the toughest nation to play in the game. I feel like the opener is strong, but the midgame is still really weak for them. They have no obvious moves and any territorial gains turn into weaknesses that spreads resources thin.
Going toe-to-toe with Russia is a mistake, even if they both mutually destroy each other, Germany still loses because the U.S. and Britain are ready to swoop in. Russia can afford to lose. Germany can’t.
Submitted by innocentlikerollercoasters
I’m slightly ashamed at how much this made me giggle.
AMAZING.
This is what Lady Gaga’s monsters do on Tumblr.
Finally, after many months of waiting, here is the trailer for my film Incredibly Small.
I’d like to especially thank Ingrid Michaelson, Capybara and Bishop Allen for graciously allowing me to use their music.
I would also kindly ask everyone to help spread the word: reblog the trailer, Tweet a link to it, post it on your Facebook, text message your ex-girlfriend and tell her about it. Anything you can do. This movie has taken up the last year and a half of my life and I can’t wait to get it out to you guys!
Dean made a movie. That’s pretty impressive. Even more so because, if this two minutes and thirty-nine seconds is any indication, it’s also incredibly good.
If you watch the trailer, then you’ll probably want to see the movie. I know I did.
Definitely the theme song for my week here in Springfield.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, “The King and I”, and “The Catcher in the Rye”
Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
CHORUS
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball,
Starkwether, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land,
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning since the world’s been turning.
We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on…
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire…
Kid Cudi - “Soundtrack to my life”
Probably the only way I’m getting through this morning before the drive to Springfield to stay in town for entirely too long.
Daft Punk obviously is on Team MCP.
(via mtiozia)
I morphed into this guy after seeing the new Tron Legacy trailer. It was that good.
(Don’t worry, I’m all better now)
Yeah. I’m actually jealous I don’t have a Tron Guy suit. I want to glow!
“Tron Legacy” trailer #2 — YES! FLYNN LIVES! LIGHTCYCLES! IDENTITY DISCS!
Can you tell I’m excited? Can you tell this movie defined my childhood?
Look at that CGI! Look at that amazing blue and red glow! Look at me using exclamation marks!
Make sure to check out the trailer in high definition, too.
Politics:
Economics and business:
Technology and science:
Education:
Media:
War on Terrorism:
All-new “Iron Man 2” trailer is out! — Can’t wait for this film. Also: WAR MACHINE! (Via fuen: mmoroca)
Here’s another dad doing this. He’s super good, and he’s just started a tumblr page of his own. Check it out at ONCE!
Awesome.
Not sure how I missed this last month, but the NYT went in-depth researching the complexity of the Tea Party (and Patriot) movement and did a rather good job of explaining where these people are coming from.
One thing that struck me and seems to be a common theme that I find when reading these profiles of those really throwing themselves into the whole Tea Party scene is how many of these people were never really involved in politics before. They didn’t vote, pay attention, know who their elected officials were, etc.
Is it any wonder then that so many are now in complete disarray and ignorant of the answer to the question of, “How did we get here?” It seems really obvious to me.
Politics is important and most of it is really boring, but it’s something that you actually need to pay attention to or else crazy stuff starts happening and you’re caught blindsided by it all.
And when that happens, it’s about the same time when you start watching Ron Paul videos, going nuts over the Federal Reserve and believing every conspiracy theorist out there while stockpiling MREs and ammunition.
And it’s around that point that I begin to laugh at the absurdity and stupidity of it all. It’s almost sort of cute.
Now, all of a sudden, these people are worried about the country they love and liberty being taken away? Where were they during their entire lives until this point? If you think American values are so important, why were you a part of the problem for so long? Are we really to believe that your newfound sense of patriotism is worth anything after decades of apathy? These people want to be put in charge of finding a solution?
It’s only after they’ve lost everything that they start caring. They didn’t care about this country while those beneath them suffered. They didn’t care about poverty, hunger, illiteracy, job loss, lack of healthcare coverage and civil liberties of those less fortunate than them on the socio-economic ladder. They weren’t champions for minority rights or defenders of the underprivileged.
Let’s call this Tea Party and Patriot movement what it really is: selfishness. It’s all about them and what they lost. It’s not about the common rights of all mankind. It’s not about equality. It’s definitely not about social justice. Instead, it’s all about shifting blame and pointing fingers when they should just be looking back in the mirror.
They say their want their America back. I say they’re the last ones to deserve it.
Related: The New Yorker: The rise of the Tea Party movement
Chelsea already mentioned this, but I feel like putting my two cents in, mainly because I’ve had a lot to drink and I get chatty when that happens.
I seriously loved Inglourious Basterds. I really did. But I think The Hurt Locker was a whole other level of filmmaking. I’ve never seen a film before that took me through such a gamut of emotions. I’ve also never seen a film where the tension made me physically nauseous. That doesn’t sound like it, but that’s a compliment. I really don’t have enough words to express how I felt about it, I’m still working on how to articulate that.
This pretty much sums up my thoughts. Of the films I saw, it was the best. Plus, it’s always great to watch an indie film take on the big Hollywood blockbusters and get the recognition it deserves. You don’t need a big name director, a big name movie star, an absurd amount of CGI and stupid 3-D glasses to do something terrific with film.
Mad Man on a typewriter — Illustration via The New York Times
Feel free to add your own.
This time, the soldiers were right. The film is a collection of scenes that are completely implausible — wrong in almost every respect. This time, it’s not just minor details that are wrong.
The essay is worth a read given the controversy surrounding the accuracy of the Oscar-nominated “The Hurt Locker.”
Related: check out this video about counter-IED teams in Afghanistan.
“Rubber Duck” by Florentijn Hofman — Click through to see more photos.
OK Go - “This Too Shall Pass” — Do you like Rube Goldberg machines? Then you’ll love this video. MTV News and Gizmodo also have some behind-the-scenes details about the video’s construction.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of a horseshoe — originally conceived in Springfield — the basic ‘shoe is a piece of Texas toast, with a hamburger on top (like an open-face sandwich), covered with French fries and then drenched in cheese sauce.
Yes, I’ve had it. In fact, I’ve had three in my lifetime from a few different places in Springfield. I’ve never felt the need to order them again. It’s about as appealing and tasty as you’d imagine. You could (and probably should) go your entire life without eating one and not miss a whole lot.
But the folks at the Fieldhouse Pizza & Pub apparently decided to take it to the next level and developed the deep-fried horseshoe. It’s basically a burrito with horseshoe ingredients that’s coated in white-cheese sauce after being done-up like a chimichanga. Who eats this crap?
“We were skeptical when we first put it on the menu,” said Fieldhouse co-owner Tom Hart, “but people keep coming back for it.”
Dear City of Springfield, Illinois: THIS IS WHY YOU’RE FAT!
This shouldn’t exist.
(Via @kathyrem)
I nearly forgot about this cover story from last October featuring Oliver and his project. Worth reading!
Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish — If you’ve got 20 minutes to spare, then give this video a watch. It’s astonishing how many people don’t know how to cook and how many children don’t know what basic vegetables are when shown them. Oliver makes a great case for fighting obesity, too: 10 percent of our national healthcare costs are related to obesity — and that’s set to double in the next decade.
My brother’s posted his architecture portfolio. Check it out!
(Also: maybe hire him?)
Darth Vader: Dandy Lord of the Sith
(Taken right before the Hoth Formal: A night under the snow.)
ARRR! (Via @Whet)
NYTimes Mag: Building a better teacher — Fantastic cover story today about the way good teachers teach and the struggle to teach teachers these techniques. It mostly focuses on Doug Lemov and his taxonomy work for Uncommon Schools.
WSJ: ‘Hurt Locker’ Momentum Might Damage ‘Avatar’s’ Chances — I’m not particularly interested in the speculation and I probably won’t even watch the Oscars (hey, that’s what Twitter’s for, amirite?), but I did find this illustration rather funny.
Sidenote: I haven’t cared much for the Oscars since they gave Best Picture to “Shakespeare in Love” over “Saving Private Ryan.” Absurd.
Abed as Don Draper - “Community” — This had me cracking up.
Roger Ebert has started “The Ebert Club,” which is a newsletter via e-mail that give members “value added” content from him on a periodic basis.
It’s only $4.99 for an entire year.
Ebert could easily charge ten times as much — because, let’s fact it, he’s that prolific of a writer and probably deserves that much — but he’s chosen to keep everything free and see who’s willing to pay a little extra for some extras.
You can read Ebert’s thoughts on making money online, but even he admits that he has no idea how to make money on the Internet that doesn’t involve pornography — or at least a silver-bullet solution.
Anyhow, if you enjoy great writing, then maybe you should consider tossing a few bucks Ebert’s way. Maybe if he’s successful enough other great writers will follow and we’ll get a chance to say, “Hey, I’ll toss a few bucks your way to keep you from starving.”
