More on Big Time Dick Cheney

I have never read anything by this Harold Meyerson
but this is a great anaylsis of the VPOTUS. Even more scary than Cheney as VP is the fact that Bush is one heart beat away from running the country.

Better off?

Maybe before the election we should ask Iraqis if they are better off today than they were 4 years ago.

NY Times takes a shot at Ashcroft

Worst AG ever...

By Tim

It will feel so good...

just say it


By Tim

Edwards is the pick

Sen. John Edwards has been the pick of this site and now appears to also be the pick of the American people to be the next VPOTUS!!! Edwards will bring charisma, new ideas and star power to this campaign. Lets all hope Kerry makes the right pick!!

The Texas Miracle continues

I wonder if Rod Paige will mention that the Texas high school graduation rate is the worst in nation when he speaks at the RNC? When I lived in New Orleans, I was troubled by the awful public schools but I understood that the state had little money and most of that was being skimmed by the politicians. However, here in Texas, money abounds. What happened to the Texas Miracle ? Was it just another lie? Were children left behind?

The solution, as always, must be to cut taxes.

By Tim

Yankees fans get it right

Dick "F Bomb" Cheney went to the capital of F Bombs last night by visiting the Bronx Bombers. In keeping with the bipartisan spirit that Dick like to show when his picture was shown on the jumbotron the crowd BOOed so hard that team officials took the pic down. Way to go Yanks fans!!!!

Regan finally gets his due

It's about time that people finally recognize the vast importance of the man by erecting a monument comensurate with his greatness.

By Tim (Ah'ma keepin' tha flags at half mast til tha day Clinton dahs)

Who owns Hitler?

Media Matters For America calls attention to the fact that Fox commentators simultaneously criticize Kerry for an ad mentioning Hitler that an organization unrelated to the Kerry campaign never ran while at the same time admiring the Bush campaign's juxtaposition of Al Gore and Hitler in Bush's latest video.


Media Matters For America

By Tim (king of the run-on sentence)

Speakers

Tim and I had an interesting debate earlier over who should be given prime-time speaking slots at the Dem. Convention this year. So far it looks like Clinton will be the first night and Ted Kennedy the second. VP and Kerry go on 3rd and 4th. So Clinton I think makes sense but neither of us were very happy about Kennedy. He is too much of a bogeyman for the right etc. So our thought was that they should invite Illinois Senate Candidate Obama to speak. Anyone have other suggestions of people you would like to see speak or as VP?

Open Thread...

By: Colin

Bush going "back-door"

In just his latest screwing of the U.S. soldiers Bush and Dick "f-yourself" Cheney have decided to use a back door draft. They are calling up at around 6,000 inactive reserves. For those of you who don't know, when you sign up for the military no matter what you say you sign up for an 8 year hitch. The first 4 years you are required to be active. After that period you can either stay active or "retire" which gives you two choices 1. active reserves or 2. inactive reserves. Active reserves are the weekend warriors that are already being overly used by the Administration. The second group are inactive reserves. These are soldiers who have been discharged and don't want to be in the military anymore. If Bush wants to reinstate the draft then reinstate the draft don't go back door and draft those that have already fulfilled their promised service.

I am and always have been in favor of a mandatory 2 years of service for every man and woman by the time they are 25. No loopholes no nothing. EVERYONE serves! Of course the repubs would never go for this because it would mean that the rich kids would have to fight next to the poor black kids who have no choice but to go to war.

Posted by: Colin

Washington Redskins preview

Colin's a Jets fan and, now you know I'm a 'Skins fan. As you may know, the Redskins are coming off of their fourth straight off-season championship. The key to the Redskins success has been to import numerous coaching messiahs (Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and the original walking on water man himself, Joe Gibbs). I don't know how this season will turn out, but I am more excited than I have been in a long time at the prospect of seeing Gibbs personally beat the he# out of the Tuna in Big D.

ESPN.com - Offseason Overview: Washington Redskins

By Tim

Welcome

I would like to welcome our new guest Blogger Tim Rak! Tim and I went to Law School together and neither of us want to be a lawyer. He currently lives in H-town and spends his days fighting the man. I hope to have a weekly review of the news debate/discussion on Fridays with Tim. So lets give a big Hawaiian Shirt Friday hello to Tiiiiiim RAAAAAAAK!!!

Greetings

Not content to append my comments anonymously to Colin's posts, I now have the power to create my own posts. Let the poor spelling and grammar begin!

By Tim

Krugman sums it up

Paul Krugman a columnist for the NY Times writes a scathing summation of what has happened in Iraq. Here is his final conclusion:

"Let's say the obvious. By making Iraq a playground for right-wing economic theorists, an employment agency for friends and family, and a source of lucrative contracts for corporate donors, the administration did terrorist recruiters a very big favor."

Sad but true!

NY Times Poll

NY Times/CBS has a new poll out. The horse race number are the even but the really interesting number is that Bush's approval numbers are at an all time low and that 40% of people poll say they don't know enough about Kerry to approve or disapprove. This means that the 60 million spent by Bush to bash Kerry was wasted money and Kerry gets to show people who he is at the convention. So basically Kerry is tied based on people hating bush and once they see who Kerry is and what he stands for then he should really take off.

Supreme Court Bucks Bush

The Supreme Court in 2 decisions yesterday handed the Bush administration its largest defeat in their long lasting attack on our civil liberties. The administration has been holding U.S. and foreign born person in detention centers without charge or trial for the last two years. The Court allowed the doctrine of enemy combnatants to remain in tact but those deemed enemy combatants now have the right to have their status adjudicated in front of a court with an attorney. The Court did not go as far as I would have like but this is a significant set back for the Bush terror war ON U.S.. citizens. BTW I actually agree with Scalia in his dissent in which he said that they would have to charge U.S. citizens with either treason or another crime or let them go. The cases are discussed in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Chicken neck strikes again

This is from the Hamster!

Darling of the Right, Ann Coulter, on traitors in the country:

COLMES: Are all the American people that don't support him [President George W. Bush] dumb?

COULTER: No. I think, as I indicated in my last book, they're traitors.

This is why we have to keep up the fight and make sure nut cases like chicken neck never get power again.

JETS update

I also know that none of you care about the JETS but here is a preview of the season. They are looking good!

Bush and Hitler

This may be the only time that I give you this link but you need to go to the Bush/Cheney website and watch the video that they are posting there. It is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen.

M's make a trade

I know none of you guys care but my beloved Mariners, who suck this year, have traded their best pitcher for prospects. We got a up and coming catcher and other prospects including an outfielder. They needed to get rid of Garcia but I am left wondering if they should not have waited until the trading deadline and see if we could get more. Oh well... There is always next year.

The film is working

Just talked to my first non-democrat who has seen Fahrenheit 9/11 and she now wants a voter registration form so she can vote against Bush!! Keep getting your repub friends to the theater!!

Number #1

'Fahrenheit 9/11' is this first documentary ever to be the number 1 movie at the box office. The movie brought in 21.8 million over its first 3 days and beat all other major studio films. This is even more amazing when you consider that it open on 868 screens. CNN reports "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in 868 theaters, a wide release for a documentary but narrow compared to big Hollywood flicks. The film averaged $25,115 a theater, compared to $7,190 in 2,726 cinemas for "White Chicks." 9/11 is also now the largest grossing documentary ever. It has already beat the previous number 1 "Bowling for Columbine". Looks like Moore won this battle with the right wing and Disney.

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Review

Fahrenheit 9/11 as many have said is really two movie and so I am I going to review the first half and then review the second half. If you are a conservative/repub. and don't want to see "Bush Bashing" I recommend you avoid the first hour but you must see the second hour in order to see the Iraq that we don't see on t.v.. Ok to the review

FIRST HALF



The first half of the movie is a typical Moore film. The movie opens with the thought that maybe the last 4 years were all a dream and Bush had not stolen the election in 2004. Sadly, it was not and Moore goes on to give his point of view why the election was stolen. This is based on the fact that Bush is backed by the elite both in this country and in the middle east, primarily Saudi Arabia. Moore spends too much time trying to get us to understand the link and hammer it home. This I felt was a little heavy handed. I mean, seriously, who did not already know that Bush was in the pocket of the Saudi oil interests. The first half all focuses on Bush missing all the clue leading up to 9/11 and basically being on vacation through most of his presidency. It is very funny to watch Bush try to look Presidential while really having no clue what was going on. If you are a progressive or Democrat you will find this funny and be nodding your head in agreement and shaking your head in disbelief alternatively. It is well worth watching and very funny but it not nearly as effective as the 2nd half.

SECOND HALF



I would make this 10 Tikis if I could but Molly set up the code and I have no clue how to change it. After about an hour of seeing Bush look like a boob and stealing elections the war in Iraq happens. Moore almost completely disappears from the movie. No more quippy voiceovers or silly music. What appears is frightened kids fighting a war they don't understand, Iraqi and American mothers who lost their children and scenes of abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The most powerful story is that of a mother from Flint, MI who goes from a supporter of the war to losing her son in a blackhawk crash and not understanding why we are there and why her son will never come home. This is very powerful and in my theater it was silent except for muffled crying. I wish I could better explain the power of the second half of this film but it really has to be seen. Go see it!!

Time for him to go

Time for Zell Miller to stop calling himself a Democrat. If you speak at the Repub convention you can't call yourself a Democrat.

Update

Bill Cohen served honorably as the Defense Secretary under Bill Clinton as a Republican. He never wrote a book bashing his party and never spoke at the Democratic convention. His President called and asked him to serve and he answered the call. Zell Miller on the other hand is a traitor to his party and should be given the boot. Here is more reasons why Zell should not be allowed to call himself a Democrat in the Houston Chron.

CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll out

The horserace is even at 48% Bush 47% Kerry which is nothing new. What is new is that for the first time ever the majority of the public is against the war and thinks that it was a mistake. This is HUGE!! Bush is running as a war President and had staked his whole failed Presidency on the war in Iraq and the country has turned on him! Here are the raw numbers.

More fun with Cheney

Cheney in probably the most classless move told Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy to "go F yourself"!! Now what provoked this harsh response you might ask... Leahy said "hello"... HELLO!!! He also told Leahy that he was a "bad Catholic". If this is what sets VPOTUS off I sure hope he does not read this blog because he would be dropping the F-bombs if not the A-bomb on me like crazy.

Cheney Coup

To update you on the coup staged by VPOTUS Cheney on 9/11 Daily Kos has clips from the 9/11 report. I have not been able to determine where Cheney fits in the military chain of command or if he has the power to order military actions without approval of the POTUS. I think it is clear that Cheney made the decision to shoot down planes by himself and that this is why he and Shrub testified together with the 9/11 commission. Bush did not know what happened and needed Cheney there to fill him in and make sure their stories matched. No wonder commissioners walked out on the bogus meeting.

F-1

I know no one really cares about F-1 but my buddy Tim is a huge fan and in fact went all the way to Indy to watch suped-up go-karts drive around. Slate.com has a article about the only person who ever wins in F-1, Michael Schumacher, so I thought I would post this for him.

This line from the article pretty much sums up why F-1 sucks...

"Schumacher has transformed F1 from a sport to a technology war."

CNN/Gallup Poll

There is supposed to be a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll out today. I will post the results as soon as they are out.

More Molly

As promised here is Molly Ivins latest piece. She is talking about voting machines and how Diabold etc are run by repubs who want to deliver this election to Bush. Given the stolen election of 2000 we can't let them do it again.

FEC promotes censorship

I lifted this from Daily Kos who lifted it from The Thorn Papers.

[Promoted from the Diaries - MB] *reprint from The Thorn Papers*

It was only a matter of time, but there's a move under way now to ban commercials for Fahrenheit 9/11 from the airwaves after July 30. From The Hill:


Michael Moore may be prevented from advertising his controversial new movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11," on television or radio after July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today accepts the legal advice of its general counsel.
At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moore's film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law.

In a draft advisory opinion placed on the FEC's agenda for today's meeting, the agency's general counsel states that political documentary filmmakers may not air television or radio ads referring to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.


If it's any consolation, and it should be, regardless of the low ball tactics being employed by the FEC to curtail freedom of artistic expression, by July 30 there will be no need whatsoever to advertise F911. In fact, my guess is that the record-breaking box office receipts we will undoubtedly see this weekend (mark my words, consider them an official prediction), hundreds of more theaters nationwide (maybe even here?) will be showing the film. If it is half as powerful as the trailer, or as the reviews have indicated thus far, word of mouth will carry it from there. Still, I think it may be a good thing to let the FEC know how you feel about this act of political censorship.

FEC: (800) 424-9530

Light 'em up.

More on Moore

Per a loyal readers suggestion I am going to post reviews and articles about Fahrenheit 9/11. I will update this post as more come across the web. If you have any please feel free to put them in the comments and I will post them here. Only 33 hours till I see it!!

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Is a Red-Hot Ticket

Will Michael Moore change presidential history with film?

Conservatives mobilizing to counter Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

Unruly Scorn Leaves Room for Restraint, but Not a Lot

'Fahrenheit' turns on box office heat

More to come...

Sportsguy hits the big time

Bill Simmons is known around the ESPN.com circles as the Sportsguy and is one of the best sports/slice of life writers out there. He sadly cut back his writing for ESPN in order to write for Jimmy Kimmel Live. He has now come back to ESPN and they have given him his own web page!!! I highly recommend!!

MA Senate Seat Safe

When Kerry wins the election we no longer have to worry about losing the Senate seat in MA. Normally these seats are filled by an appointment by the governor. MA's Gov. is Mitt Romney who is a republican from Utah and presumably would have appointed a Repub. until democracy took over and the MA Senate has approved plan to hold a special election for the seat vacated when Kerry wins. Good news all around.

Mission Accomplished????

Today there were coordinated attacks in multiple cities in Iraq and have killed at least 80 including 3 U.S. soldiers. A sad day all around. Plus there was a bombing outside the hotel Shrub will be staying at in Turkey. Are we just reaping what we are sowing?

Fahrenheit 9/11 Update

Michael Moore lost his battle to make the movie pg-13 so that the kids who will be fighting this war in Iraq when they are 18 can see why we went. He did however get a good review in the NY Times. I am going to see the movie on Friday and will tell you all about it on Monday.

Big media and Bush

I am a huge fan of Molly Ivins and will frequently post her writings here. If you have not seen it you really need to see the Cspan coverage of last years book sellers convention which had a "discussion" with Al Franken, Molly Ivins and Bill O'Reilly. It was reality TV at its best. Molly has been exposing Bush since he was gov. of TX and I hope she keeps it up because the people will finally see the truth and send him back to Crawford in Nov.

New blog and more Bush follies

I would like to introduce you to a blog I recently discovered that is very funny and provides great news... it is called Wonkette. Highly satirical and pokes fun at everyone. I love it.

The Wonkette and The Washington Post pointed out another Bush Admin. mistake. It turns out that the Admin thought that Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi (Al Qaeda) was Lt. Col. Hikmat Shakir Ahmad (Iraqi Army) and claimed that the latter was both in Al Qaeda and Iraq's army. Sadly the Admin. could not tell the difference between the two names and used it as a justification for going to war and tying Iraq to Al Qaeda. I would love to keep a tally of all the mistakes that this Regime has made but I would spend all day writing this blog just to keep up. If you want to check out some of them go to bushlies.com. It is time for regime change at home!!!

Cheney lies again again...

This is from The Washington Post:

No Longer So 'Well Confirmed'

Noted without comment.

June 17, 2004. Vice President Cheney talking to CNBC's Gloria Borger.

Borger: "Well, let's go to MohamedAtta for a minute, because you mentioned him as well. You have said in the past that it was, quote, 'pretty well confirmed.' "

Cheney: "No, I never said that."

Borger: "Okay."

Cheney: "Never said that."

Borger: "I think that is . . . "

Cheney: "Absolutely not. What I said was the Czech intelligence service reported after 9/11 that Atta had been in Prague on April 9th of 2001, where he allegedly met with an Iraqi intelligence official. We have never been able to confirm that nor have we been able to knock it down."

On Dec. 9, 2001. Cheney talking to NBC's Tim Russert.

Cheney: "Well, what we now have that's developed since you and I last talked, Tim, of course, was that report that -- it's been pretty well confirmed that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack. Now, what the purpose of that was, what transpired between them, we simply don't know at this point, but that's clearly an avenue that we want to pursue."

Can you tell...

I was watching The Daily Show last night and Jon Stewart was interviewing the writer of a book that connects Iraq with Al Qaeda and Stewart basically ripped the guy. His most interesting question is one that I will now pose to the readers of this blog. The Bush Doctrine says that we can and must attack any country that meets 3-4 criteria. Now I am going to give you those criteria and if you can tell me what country I am talking about then you win a prize.

1) Sponsors/harbors/supports terrorist
2) Has weapons of mass destruction
3) Has had anti-American rhetoric from leaders
4) Commits human rights abuses against its own people

What country is this?

Washington Post Poll

The Washington Post has come out with a new poll on the presidential election and it is looking good for our hero JFK. He is leading by either 4 point in a 3 way race and 8 in a two way race. This is all before he names the VP and the convention and after a week long love fest over Reagan. (when are the flags going back to full mast...sooon I hope). All of this is good news. Plus coming out of the convention we can expect a 10-15% bounce. Which means JFK could be leading by almost 20% by the end of July. Add to this the spiral of violence and torture in Iraq and we just may pull this off.

BTW Bush also has an approval rating below 50%. No President has ever been re-elected with an approval rating south of 50% at this time in the election year.

Commenting

I have received many questions regarding commenting on this blog. My Blog Guru Molly is looking into different options to make this easier but right now I recommend commenting as anonymous and then typing your name at the beginning of the comment. Thank you for your understanding!

Great Expectations

Great Expectations stars Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by Alfonso Cuarón.



I must also mention that Chris Cooper plays Uncle Joe and played it perfectly.

This is a modern day adaptation of the classic Dickens book which I am currently reading. Since I have not finished the book I will not make acomparisonn between the two and review the movie on its own. The story starts in the Gulf of Florida where a young Finn finds the mysterious criminal played by Robert De Niro who he helps to escape. He then meets the love of his life Estella when he and Joe go to an old mansion to do yard work. The owner is Ms. Nora Dinsmoor played by Anne Bancroft.

Having not read the book I do not know how closely this story follows the book but I found the story to be very compelling especially when one thinks about the title. Finn had great expectations that if he became famous and rich then Estalla would be his when in fact by achieving his "goals" he drives Estella into another man's arms. It is only when he returns home that he finds the love with Estella that he sought all along.

I really enjoyed this film but it is not going to get 4 Tikis and this is why. The director went nuts. In order to prove that Finn's great expectations of riches drove the decisions in his life Alfonso Cuarón dressed everyone in green and or had green in the back ground. It is an interesting construct at first but becomes strained and distracting as the movie advances. So therefore since he was being too cutesy he get 3 Tikis. Othewise it was a very good movie and I am looking forward to reading the book. I will review the book after I finish.

Reunion

As I reported on Friday I went to my 10 year High School reunion this past weekend. I went to Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, OK. I have a great affection for my high school and its mission. Therefore, it was wonderful to reconnect with that community.

On Friday we had a cocktail party at the school and had a tour. I must admit that initially it was very strange to be back at school with the people I had not seen in the last 10yrs. However after an hour and a few drinks I relaxed and had a great time. I met up with some great old friends and really reconnected. We took a tour of the campus and it is amazing how the school has changed for the better. A brand new science and theater building. New AP classes and programs. A total upgrade in both the educational and sports facilities and programs.

After the official cocktail party we went to a bar in Tulsa and had a more informal reunion. Sadly I had to go home and let out the dog and missed the post post party where apparently some who must not be named ended up "hanging out" all night. You know who you are!!

Saturday we had a Mass at 4:30 at the chapel on campus. Father Dan was the officant and gave an amazing homily. After communion there was a memorial to the two classmates that have died since graduation. Rusty Keithline died in a tornado and Karla Smith took her own life after a prolonged battle with bi-polar disorder. Rusty's dad gave a very moving speech about being a father and remembrances of Rusty's life. Karla's twin brother Kevin gave an amazing speech honoring Karla's life and battle with bi-polar disorder. The audience was moved to tears many times during both speeches and were pleased to get a chance to honor these two wonderful people who were taken from this world far too soon. Please click on Karla's name above to learn more about Karla and bi-polar disorder.

Saturday night there was a dinner at the OK aquarium. The food really sucked and there needed to be a dj or something. Other than that it was fun. Basically another cocktail party but there was more people there. Overall I had a great weekend. Caught up with people I had lost contact with and made some new contacts in Tulsa. I would go into more detail re: who was who etc but lets be honest you guys don't really care. If you want to know just e-mail me.

$$$

Bush has spent over $152,000,000.00 by the end of May. This is while running over 75% of his ads as negative ads. What has it bought him... He is trailing in every poll and is favorable unfavorable ratings are terrible. He only has $68,000,000.00 left on hand as of the beginning of June and is going to get swamped in news coverage with the VP pick and the Democratic Convention. Things are looking good!

Who gave Cheney the authority?

Where does the VPOTUS fit in the military chain of command? According to the latest report from the 9/11 commission Cheney gave the order to shoot down commercial planes on 9/11. Does he have this authority? Even if the President told him to? As far as I know the VPOTUS' only job is to be the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate and break ties in the Senate. I don't believe that he has any authority to issue orders to shoot down planes. The Washington post has some good reporting on this issue. There is a reason the POTUS is the commander in chief is the he issues the ultimate orders. If we start having the VPOTUS or others saying that the POTUS told them to issue orders with no way of verifying those orders then who is really in control?

BTW POTUS = President of the United States.

Etiquette

For years I have had an on going debate re: etiquette and revolving doors. Do I as a guys 1) let the woman go first and push the door quickly from behind or 2) Go first and push hard so that the woman only has to walk. I know that this may seem to be a silly question but it is one that is driving me nuts. So I did an internet search. I came up with a site call haypenny.com. A writer asked my very question but they dodged it. AAARRRGGHHH!!! So then I went on Etiquettegirls.com and they say guy goes first in order to do the work of turning the door. So armed with one answer I wanted a second opinion and found Boston.com, the home page of the Boston Globe, and my answer has been backed up! So there you have it!! After years on internal debate the answer is that I go first.... Now what am I going to do with my time? :-( Do we really ever want the answers to our own personal great questions?

Mission Accomplished?!?!?

Very funny cartoon in Gadflyer.

Veepstakes

Lots of interesting articles are coming out about who Kerry is going to pick so I thought I would weigh in with my own opinions. Ted Rall has an interesting article re: the McCain courting. I understand his point but I believe that Democrats are of two minds this year. On one hand is the desire to elect a progressive/liberal who will take charge of the party and have us stand for something again. On the other hand is the Anybody But Bush camp which really only cares about not having W. in office anymore. I started out in with the 1st group and whole heartdly through my support behind the only credible progressive, Howard Dean. With his loss in the primaries I came to realize that the ABB camp was going to win out. Therefore, if that is the way you are going to go the McCain made a lot of sense. Moderates and Repubs love him and Dems would vote for Kerry anyway. You would not get the Progressive changes that many of us wanted but at least W. was out. Ok now that that is out of the way lets look at real potential VPs.

John Edwards - This would be my pick at this point. He is moderate, good looking, great speaker, very warm and likeable. They contrast between the Edwards and Cheney in the debate would be a huge positive for us. Edwards the up beat good looking southerner v. the most dour person in the gov. Plus, Edwards might bring North Carolina. His downside is only a 1 term senator and the good work of protecting the little people as a plaintiffs lawyer.

Dick Gephardt - So boring. Might bring MO. Would bring Labor but they are going to be with us anyway. He was a leader in the party for a long time but basically lost us the election in 2002 by basically agreeing with Bush on everything.

Tom Vilsak - Gov of Iowa. Need I say more.

Bill Richardson - Gov. of NM - I think he would be great. Gov of a swing state, Hispanic, former Ambassador to the U.N. Has foreign policy experience and leadership experience. However, said he doesn't want it. Damn!

Howard Dean - If there is a swing back to the progressive/change side this would be an interesting pick.. Ok lets face it it is not going to happen. Fun to dream though.

Ok so those are my thoughts.... My bet is the Kerry shocks us all and picks someone not overly talked about.

Slice of life

First of all I would like to mention that my firm won our 1st softball game last night. We won 12-7 over the TU law school team that had been in the finals of TU softball 3 years in a row!! I pitched like a champ but can't hit. Go Team!!

Secondly, and there will be more on this next week, my 10 year high school reunion is this weekend. DOH! For those that don't know, I graduated from Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Ok.
I loved going to school there and I credit BKHS and its mission with turning my life around and making all that I have achieved possible. Anyway, I will update you all later.

Lastly, I just bought my advance ticket to see Fahrenheit 9/11! I can't wait to see this movie. There will be a review after I see it on the 25th.

Cheney still at it

I highly recommend that you read The Daily Kos today. He has two interesting pieces. One is on Cheney and his inability to tell fact from fiction even in the face of a mountain of evidence. Just getting laughable at this point. I am waiting for Cheney to say that the world is flat or that the Sun revolves around the Earth. How does anyone take what this guy says seriously? I think it may be time to take him in for some psychological treatment or something.

The other interesting bit is a rumor about a possible Dean VP choice. As most of you know I was and am a HUGE Dean fan and would love to see him as VP. I don't think Kerry would do this b/c it would throw off the middle of the road image but it would be a ballsy choice. I will in a later post go into my VP choices.

Thank you!

I would like to send out some props to Molly Bresnen for setting up this Blog for me. She rocks!! Thank you so much for all your help. Never would have done it without you.

My Hometown Comes Through

Some of you may not know this but I was born in the City of Brotherly Love A.K.A. Philly. I have no memory of Philly but it has become my favorite city in the world becasue today the Philadelphia Daily News became the first paper in the country to endorse a presidential candidate and if I may say so they made the right choice in John Kerry. They lay out a very compelling argument why we can't have 4 more years of the Bush Cheney Cabal. Well worth the read and much needed endorsement in a swing state.

NBA Finals

I basically hate the NBA. I think it is the most boring major sport out there and they should wait to show a game on tv until the last 2 minutes because that is the only time that they actually play. Yet I somehow get sucked into the Finals every year and this year was no different. I fully anticipated that the Lakers would roll and win in 5. I, like just about everyone else, was totally wrong. Lakers looked old and like a bunch of stars and not a team. The Pistons were less talented but played great as a team. This was just one more example of a trend in professional sports that I glad to see. It is no longer the owner that can buy the best talent that is winning the championships. If you look back over the championships recently it is teams that put together a bunch of has beens or low draft picks but play hard and play together that are winning championships. You might say... Colin, the Yanks won 4 Championships and they are the ultimate buy a championship team... To which I would say... You, The Yanks were a team back when they were wining, had guy like Paul O'Neill who just played hard every day. The other teams I would point out as evidence of this trend are Diamondbacks, Marlins, Panthers, Patroits, and Tampa Bay Lighting. Good to see team coming back.

BTW The owner of the Pistons is also owner of the NHL Champs and the WNBA Champs. Good year for that guy.

Bush Cheney lying again

For those of you following this blog know that I posted the other day that Cheney was at it again trying to tie Saddam and Al Qaeda together before the war. Maybe they should have conferred with the 9/11 commission before they tried to spread this lie again. They must hate it when the facts keep getting in the way.

Democrats willing to laugh

Why is it that Democrats can laugh at themselves and at other Democrats but if anyone makes fun of a republican they are labelled a traitor by the right? I have told and laugh at more Clinton, Dean, Kerry etc jokes than just about anyone but when I made fun of Bush the other day I got ripped on by a repubs friend. Just not right.

2003

Since I just started this blog I thought I would rate my top movies of last year.

1. American Splendor
2. Mystic River - till the last 5 minutes
3. Lost in Translation
4. Monster
5. LOTR - I know it is big budget but a great series
6. Fog of War
7. Seabiscuit
8. In America
9. Whale Rider
10. The Cooler

Brother Bear

Brother Bear

http://imdb.com/title/tt0328880/

Staring: Joaquin Phoenix and the Strange Brew Brothers

Disney cartoon that is an attempt to blend Pocohantas and the Lion King. It did not work. Just terrible. Only good part was the Strange Brew Brothers. They were just as funny as in "Strange Brew". I recomend you just see " Strange Brew" and avoid this movie all together.

Best Day

So once a year all the guys in my family get together to drink, talk about women, and b/s around. Each year one of the guys get to decide what we do and where we are going to do. This year we went to D.C. to rent a house boat. So I got in way too late and had to leave way too early on Monday. Even though this got back at Canon (my brother) for the crappy flights he always took I am not working the Priceline gig again. Just not worth the $50 I saved. UGGGHH!!!

So after getting in at near 1 am and not getting to the boat till 2 am we chatted till 4 am and then I slept on the floor. BTW am I ever not going to be the guy that sleeps on the floor. This is part of my problem. I am too nice and willing to sacrifice. I am off track... Back to the story... We then whet to Annapolis and hung out all day and drank. Pretty much all day. Canon and I drank 1 and a half handles of Jim Beam!! So much bourbon. My Dad and Step-Brother fought all day which is always a good time.

Sunday we went to Baltimore after Pat bitched all morning about having to do dishes. We then went in for lunch. When my lunch was deliveredIi nearly lost anything I might have eaten. Just takes me a long time to get used to not being on the boat. The highlight of Sunday was that Canon, while going 20 mph on the water, catbrained dad through the outside window. An annual tradition that just keeps getting better. After a lame fight with pat about taxes I went to bed and flew home.

Overall good weekend... Just didn't have enough in me on Sunday to finish off the 2nd handle. Sorry canon.

Cheney.... There you go again...

Not sure if that link thingy works. ">Cheney is once again trying to claim that Al Qaida and Iraq are linked. This is a claim that has been repeatedly disproven and flat out denied by Colin Powell. We need to stop letting Cheney and Bush flat out lie to us. Cheney has been trying to tell us this lie for nearly 3 years now and it is time that our press make him face tough questions regarding this claim and his other lies.

BTW when did Powell lose all of his integrity? Discuss.

House of Sand and Fog

House of Sand and Fog
Starring: Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly

Kingsley plays a very proud and private Iranian military officer in exile since the fall of the shaw. He has been working two jobs to attempt to lead the lavish lifestyle that his former position demands. He sees a way out when he finds an ad for a foreclosed home that is worth 4 times less than what he buys it for. Unfortunately this is the same home that Connelly was unrightfully evicted from for failure to pay an incorrect back tax bill.

Both want the house and want it for the right reasons. Both sides are right and deserve to have their interests looked after. It is a classic Shakespearean tragedy where no one wins in the end and all the lives involved are destroyed.

This was very well acted. I was skeptical of the casting of Connelly but she was able to pull it off. Ben Kingsley, who was nominated for the Oscar, basically played his stoic proud foreigner role. He is very good at this and was very well cast. The best acting was done by Shohreh Aghdashloo who played Kingsley's wife and was excellent.

Overall I think this was an excellent film and well worth full price.

Unforgiven

I will admit that I saw this movie when it came out at a drive in (yes they still have those) and thought it sucked. I did not want it to win the Oscar and could not understand what people liked about it. So after years of bagging on this movie I decided to get the DVD and give it another spin. Ok so I was wrong. Damn, I hate that. This was an excellent film. It was nominated in a pretty good year with its main competition being the Crying Game and Howard's End. Tough call but a good winner.

for those who have not seen it it is a western where the hero is a reformed murderer and drunk. I call him a quitter but that is just me. The story is really the apex of a three part story however the first and third part are never shown. They are told in scrolling form at the beginning and end of the film. I found this to be very effective and interesting construct. The films three main characters are Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Gene Hackman. Clint Eastwood, who I typically don't like, did a great job playing the beaten down ex-criminal who gets roped back into his former life.

Morgan Freeman was perfectly cast as Clint's former partner and almost an anti-conscience. Rather than trying to keep Clint on the new path of his life he keeps trying to get him to be with hookers and drink. I think that this was an attempt by the character to re-capture his youth which falls apart when he wounds one of the cowboys they are there to kill. He realizes the folly of his youth and tries to go back home. In an attempt to prove you can't go home again he is captured, beaten and killed.

The least complex and therefore less interesting character was Gene Hackman's. Basically the cop gone bad which Gene plays just like he has in all his movies. Has ever not played some sort of hard ass. The guy has one role and keeps playing it over and over. I hate that. This is why I respect actors like Ed Norton and Tom Hanks... they try different roles and are willing to fails. Anyway...

Overall a good movie and worth the rental.

Rating scale: I rate movie on what would I pay to see them. Did I mention I am poor. So here is the scale:
F - Full price
M - matinee
V - Would rent it
C - Wait till on Cable
D - Don't waste your time

Rating - F - Well worth full price at a theater.

Poppin My Cherry

This being my first post I feel I should explain just who I am what this is going to be about. So here goes. As the title explains it will be about sports, film and politics as viewed through my slightly skewed prism.

Film - I intend to post at least 3 film reviews and discussion points a week with links to information on the films. I am a poor mofo so I don't go to the cinema that much but thanks to netflix.com I get to watch more than my share of films. (BTW someone tell netflix that it should not take a week to get a DVD) I watch movies from all genres and will makes sure that the ones discussed are varied.

Sports - Being that I only has network TV I don't get to watch as much as I would like. but who does. Here are my teams: NY JETS, Seattle Mariners, Seattle SuperSonics, Dallas Stars, New Orleans voodoo, Baylor, OU, Tulane and Tony Stewart. However, I am open and will discuss any and all things sports.

Politics - I am a progressive and a yellow dog Democrat (Mom, this means I would vote for a yellow dog before a repub). I strongly believe that Bush and his Neo-con freak friends have driven this country into the ground and should all be thrown in jail for war crimes once they are removed from office. There will be lots of links which are political. I am open for disagreement and open discussion.

Ok that is about it. Enjoy!