Sigh. About time to report your cards as stolen and get yourselves some new numbers. Perhaps I'll make a habit out of this every few years until they come up with some effective legislation that involves a punishment of more than passing glance at obvious cases of fraud.
I feel that one reason nothing has happened is because lawmakers have teams of people who take care of problems for them if they themselves are the victims of fraud. If they had to take care of things themselves, this would come to a screeching halt in record time. These people ruin lives and plans. It's time to treat them accordingly by ruining their lives for a change.
#1
"If they had to take care of things themselves, this would come to a screeching halt in record time"
That thought is right in line with my position on taxes - make lawmakers fill out, on their own, their tax returns. Maybe then the things would get simplified to where one can actually fill it out without (unintentionally) violating the law.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will question Awami League chief and former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed in connection with a graft case filed against her and six others on Sept. 2. ACC Deputy Director Morshed Alam has sought the courts permission to interrogate the former premier who was detained on July 16 on extortion charges. ACC Secretary Mukhlesur Rahman said the former prime minister would be questioned as per the law.
The anti-graft body filed the case with police accusing Hasina and others of receiving kickbacks for allowing a foreign company to set up a 100-megawatt power plant in Khulna. The former prime minister and six others in her government received 30 million taka as commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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An arrest warrant was issued yesterday against Sheikh Rehana, sister of detained Awami League (AL) chief Sheikh Hasina, along with an order to attach all her properties in connection with a Tk 2.99 crore extortion case.
After scrutinising the case docket and other relevant documents, Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah accepted the charge sheet of the case and passed the order.
The court issued the order following a prayer submitted by the investigation officer (IO) of the case showing Rehana fugitive.
Meanwhile, while commenting on the order, Sheikh Rehana, who is currently in the US, told BBC Radio Bangla Service, "I'm really disappointed and disheartened at such a false case against me &0151; the arrest warrant and the attachment of my wealth. What's the reason for this? This is just to humiliate me and this is evil-intentioned."
Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading Pvt Ltd, filed the case on June 13 against former prime minister Hasina and her cousin Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim with Gulshan Police Station, accusing them of extorting Tk 2.99 crore from him.
Rehana's name was later included in the charge sheet as the IO found her involvement in the extortion during investigation. The other two accused, Hasina and Sheikh Selim, were arrested earlier and are currently detained in different prisons.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Forty-four out of 573 cases filed against high-profile corrupt suspects and their relatives have been disposed of during the present caretaker government's nine-month tenure.
Chairman of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on serious crimes Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin hoped to complete trial of rest of the cases before the government hands over power to an elected government. "Primarily, it took time to deal with the cases due to shortage of skilled manpower for investigations. Army personnel who are helping us were also not that efficient," Matin told reporters during a briefing at the communications ministry yesterday. "Performance in the coming months will be better as our men are now more experienced and competent," Matin, also the communications adviser, said.
The Anti-Corruption Commission, National Board of Revenue and police filed 372 cases while others lodged 201 cases against the corrupt suspects whose names were published in five phases. A total of 131 cases are now under trial while investigations are in progress in 285 other cases, the NCC chief said. Inquiry is on in 88 cases while preliminary inquiry is being done in 25 other cases.
Names of 50 corrupt suspects came in the first list, 51 in the second, 39 in the third, 35 in the first part of fourth list and two in a special list.
About 100 big shots have so far been apprehended during crackdown on corrupt politicians, ministers and businessmen. High-profile people who have been awarded punishments in 44 cases include former ministers Nazmul Huda, Mohammad Nasim, Shahjahan Siraj, Amanullah Aman, Anwar Hossain Monju and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, ex-lawmakers Naser Rahman, Ali Asgar Lobi, and Nadim Mostafa, Rajshahi Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia Harris Chowdhury and businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun.
Investigations into corruption charges are on against former premiers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, now staying in sub-jails in the capital. Matin said 60 to 62 task forces are currently working across the country. The number of task forces needs to be increased, he felt.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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Sector Commanders Forum, a platform of sector commanders of the Liberation War, has demanded that the caretaker government ban 'anti- independence' forces like Jamaat-e-Islami from taking part in elections. It also demanded trial of the leaders of Jamaat and other forces which had opposed the Liberation War.
The demands were made at a post Eid-ul-Fitr and Durga Puja reunion of freedom fighters at city hotel on Tuesday. Six sector commanders who made the demand also vowed not to attend any state function on the coming Victory Day if anti-liberation forces are invited there.
Five of the 11 sector commanders are dead. The reunion was attended by four sector commanders and two others who could not attend expressed solidarity with them. The four are Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, Lt Col (retd) Kazi Nuruzzaman, Air Vice Marshal (ret) A K Khandker, Gen (retd) Mustafizur Rahman, Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-ur-Rashid . The other two backed the demands are Maj (ret) Rafiqul Islam and Col (ret) Abu Osman Chowdhury. A number of freedom fighters were present at the function.
The forum opposed the government decision to enrol Biharis (stranded Pakistanis) as voters. It decided to hold a convention in the capital prior of the Victory Day to mobilise public support for its demands. "It is very unfortunate to enrol stranded Pakistanis as voters as they still believe in Pakistan," Shafiullah said at the function. "Most of the Biharis were involved in the killing of Bangladeshis during the Liberation War, he pointed out.
CR Dutta said," It is unfortunate that freedom fighters are now divided We should remain united if we want to bring anti-liberation forces to trial."
Nuruzzaman said," Pro-liberation forces will have to go power to try those who had opposed the Liberation War."
Shawkat Ali urged the freedom fighters to get united.
The forum would submit memorandums containing their demands to the president, chief adviser and army chief.
This article starring:
Jamaat-e-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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'Socialismo' in Cuba will start to fall apart the day after Fidel is buried. Bush wants to give it a shove. He's right.
WASHINGTON - President Bush, seizing on Fidel Castro's fading health as a chance for rare change, will ask other nations today to help Cuba become a free society one day by committing money and political capital to the cause. In a speech at the State Department - his first stand-alone address on Cuba in four years - Bush will look to the day when Castro is gone. Bush will describe a nation in which Cuban people choose a representative government and enjoy basic freedoms, with support from a broad international coalition.
For now, though, Castro is still the island's unchallenged leader, as he has been for almost 50 years. And he remains a nemesis to Bush, whom he accuses of being obsessed with Cuba and of threatening humanity with nuclear war. At age 81, Castro is ailing and rarely seen in public. But life has changed little on the island under the authority of his brother, 76-year-old Raul Castro, his hand-chosen successor for decades.
Bush will propose at least three initiatives: the creation of an international "freedom fund" to help Cuba's potential rebuilding of its country one day; a US licensing of private groups to provide Internet access to Cuban students; and an invitation to Cuban youth to join a scholarship program.
The latter two offerings help the Bush administration underscore the kind of real-life limitations that Cubans now face - from blocked Internet access to restricted information about their leaders to denial of legal protections. The international fund is to speed up societal transformation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why don't they set up a government in exile in Florida and start a fund to help Free Cuba when Castro dies?
#2
All bets are off if Raul tries to set up another socialist dynasty. Zero aid. No aid, as in, "Not one thin dime". Zip, nada, zilch, bupkus unless Cuba holds verifiable free elections. Anything less and they can go screw themselves whistle.
#3
This is definitely one program that should be 'out sourced'. We could export the 'Ddemocratic' government of Miami to provide the infrastructure they need, along with the preestablished preapproved bank accounts to match. They can even take the Donk election officials from West Palm as well.
This tells me, no one in the beltway has a PLAN. So, I guess the only people who probably do are the Columbian and Mexican cartels. Then we're going to be given the line - who know that would happen?
The Kremlin has been accused of abandoning a commitment to market economics after it imposed Soviet-style price controls on basic food items in an attempt to shore up President Vladimir Putin's popularity.
Or an attempt to underline Vlad's accretion of absolute power, and a subtle hint that he can control the supply of food by fiat.
The state's extraordinary intervention in the market has been seen as a pre-election manouevre to assuage growing discontent among Russia's poor over soaring food prices.
The socialists in the newsroom don't even recognize "From each according to his ability, to each according to Vladimir's whim."
But analysts said that it also underscored the weakness of Russia's apparently mighty economy an achievement for which Mr Putin has claimed credit to almost universal adulation among his people. The Kremlin tried to portray the controls, which will see prices frozen on staples such as bread and milk at their October 15 levels, as a voluntary and patriotic gesture undertaken by Russia's food producers and retailers.
"Yes, yes, tovarich, you are feeling mighty patriotic right about now, nyet?
But analysts said that business leaders were coerced into making concessions that could do greater economic damage in the long term. "It is known for a fact that they were summoned to the Kremlin," said Masha Lipman, a political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Centre. "It's easy to imagine the conversation. They were told to fix prices voluntarily or else. And of course they will comply. Business in Russia always complies."
The cost of food has soared in Russia in recent months, with milk rising 9.2 per cent in September alone. In some regions, bread is reported to have doubled in price since the beginning of the year.
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#1
The Kremlin has been accused of abandoning a commitment to market economics after it imposed Soviet-style price controls on basic food items..
Cause we all know how well that worked the first time. Heh. YJCMTSU.
New Alert - Dear Putie, back in the 'good old days' of the 70s you could always make up the food shortages by buying American wheat which was significantly in overproduction. If you missed it, the government over here has shifted subsidies from wheat to corn for ethanol productions. In fact the price of food is starting to rise, much to the chagrin of poorer countries, as more and more acres are shifted in to fuel production. So, all you're going to do is shift the 'profit' from your own oil/fuel extraction operation to the 'loss' column to buy ever more expense food. Good luck.
#2
The first time I saw food lines in Russia was in a movie called "Moscow on the Hudson", with Robin Williams who plays a Russian who defects to the West. Really sad to think that the Russian people might going back to that.
#3
Used to take karate with a Russian guy. He always said that the most amazing thing he's ever seen was the first time he walked into an American grocery store.
China has launched its first lunar orbiter, on a planned year-long exploration mission to the Moon. The satellite, named Chang'e 1, took off from the Xichang Centre in south-west China's Sichuan province at 1800 local time (1000 GMT). The satellite is expected to enter lunar orbit in early November and start sending back pictures of the Moon's surface later that month.
Analysts say it is a key step towards China's aim of putting a man on the Moon by 2020, in the latest stage of an Asian space race with Japan and India. Earlier this month, a Japanese lunar probe entered orbit around the Moon. India is planning a lunar mission for April next year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe this launch will light a fire and get us off our asses and back to the moon.
The French parliament on Tuesday definitively adopted an immigration bill that has sparked angry debate for introducing DNA testing of foreigners who want to join relatives in France.
The Senate upper house approved the bill by 185 votes to 136 late Tuesday after it had scraped through earlier in the lower house. The bill was adopted in the National Assembly by 282 votes to 235, just past the minimum threshold of 259 votes.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has faced street protests and opposition even within his own camp over the bill, which imposes new conditions for immigrants to be reunited with their families. They include possible DNA tests to prove their kinship.
The opposition Socialists voted unanimously against the bill, saying it sets a dangerous precedent by resorting to genetics to determine who gets a place in France, instead of human rights principles.
Through thousands of military burials, Memorial Honor Detail volunteers at Riverside National Cemetery have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors of those being laid to rest.
The first fold, a narrator tells relatives, represents life, the second a belief in eternal life. The 11th fold celebrates Jewish war veterans and "glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."
A single complaint lodged against the words for the 11th fold recently prompted the National Cemetery Administration to ban the entire recital at all 125 national cemeteries.
A spokesman in Washington said the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details and declined to release the directive banning the flag-folding recital, saying it was "an internal working document not meant for public distribution."
#3
Just ask the next of kin if they want it left out of the ceremony, and conduct it according to their wishes. If somebody else is offended, in either direction, too bad.
#5
Another outstanding example of the Perpetually Aggrieved™ mindset...
Or, the Tyranny of the Strategically Thin-Skinned.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/25/2007 11:28 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, it looks like Federal Bureacracy Bullshit...
Mike Nacincik, the spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, said the new policy, which was outlined in a Sept. 27 memo, is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.
He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government approved. After the complaint made its way through government channels, Steve Muro, director of field operations, wrote the new policy.
Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.
"We are looking at consistency," Nacincik said. "We think that's important."
As for comments that the edict is an attack on religious beliefs, Nacincik said, "People are going to have their own views on that."
When my father (USMC) passed away and was cremated, we didn't have any ceremony per his request but did receive a flag. When my father in law (USMC) was buried we had the flag folded by a couple of Marines but didn't have this. We wouldn't have had a problem with it, but I've never heard of it.
#7
When my father (WWII AAF vet) passed away, they had the American Legion honor guard do the flag/gun salute. I received the flag (as oldest son and only veteran). I don't think they said anything when the flag was being folded. Dad was not buried in a national cemetery, though.
On the other hand, now that I am aware of this, I definitely plan to tell my family that I WANT this added to my ceremony. Even if I get buried in a national cemetery.
#8
"an internal working document not meant for public distribution."
These bureaucrat bastards don't realize who pays their salary...
Of course someone will release the document over the web,and the only working done on the document will be when the janitorial staff empties the waste basket containing such a document, and takes it to the dumpster inback of "Bureaucrat's Paradise" - some ignominius stone ediface known as your local Federal Building.
"A single complaint lodged against the words for the 11th fold recently prompted the National Cemetery Administration to ban the entire recital at all 125 national cemeteries."
Can we find the "single" complainer, and drop him off in an unstable part of the Sunni Triangle in Iraq? But, since the surge has been so successful, that may be a little tough to find and unstable part....
#9
I want to add ... The final rites for anyone, especially a brave soldier who died in service to this country are so intimate and private that this ban is criminal and unconstitutional. Any sanctions against such a recitation should be brought with a demand for the firing of any Federal Procecutor who procecutes such a case. I think jury nullification is proper here , and impeachment of any judge who upholds such a conviction. This act of reciting this is an option, and should remain so. It is at the very soul of this nation, and any Federal Totalitarian Bureaucrat who would dare stop this should be ostracized and shunned in his community.
#11
Its a simple case of someones being offended outweighs someone else's practice of religion.
FYI, in the Legion, I've done funeral detail, and as such we CAN do this since we are not part of the government. It all depends onthe family's request.
#12
the Tyranny of the Strategically Thin-Skinned Skinless.
There, fixed that for ya, Dave D. It being a sandpaper world and all that.
Any sanctions against such a recitation should be brought with a demand for the firing of any Federal Procecutor who procecutes such a case. I think jury nullification is proper here , and impeachment of any judge who upholds such a conviction. This act of reciting this is an option, and should remain so. It is at the very soul of this nation, and any Federal Totalitarian Bureaucrat who would dare stop this should be ostracized and shunned in his community.
Word, BigEd. This goes to the very core of respecting our fallen fighters. If we lose that respector worse, willingly abandon itall hope is lost for America.
#13
the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details
I bet they can't produce the name of the person who made the complaint because no such person exists or it was from some group with an agenda rather than an individual. I'd be willing to bet that ol' Mikey just made up the complaint so that he could advance his own agenda.
I hope someone demands to know who made this complaint and exactly what the complaint said.
#14
They need to tell the National Cemetary Administration to go f*ck themselves, pardon my profanity.
The family of the fallen will decide what is done and said. And the honor guard can be issued live rounds to deal with anyone that complains. Then the complainers can have their PC funeral themselves.
If you want a civil war, just keep PC harassment of people that have dedicated their lives to protecting this country and its core values.
/steam blowoff
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/25/2007 16:05 Comments ||
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#15
At my friend Troy's funeral, when the honor guard presented the flag he said "God Bless America and God Bless the US Air Force" Not a dry eye.
#16
I have my mother's flag. She was a Navy WAVE during WWII. I don't exactly remember the words I heard, but they were about duty, honor, courage, and dedication. Mom wasn't buried in a national cemetary, either - neither was my dad, also a veteran. My wife, or my children, shall decide what is said at my funeral, and I hope it includes such words as those spoken of my mother.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/25/2007 21:59 Comments ||
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It doesn't matter how many Oscar winners are in front of or behind the camera audiences are proving to be conscientious objectors when it comes to this fall's surge of antiwar and anti-Bush films.
Both "In the Valley of Elah" and, more recently, "Rendition" drew minuscule crowds upon their release, which doesn't bode well for the ongoing stream of films critical of the Iraq war and the Bush administration's wider war on terror.
"Rendition," which features three Oscar winners in key roles, grossed $4.1 million over the weekend in 2,250 screens for a ninth-place finish. A re-release of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" beat it, and it's 14 years old.
"Rendition" follows an Egyptian-American who gets kidnapped by U.S. authorities who think he's a terrorist. Reese Witherspoon plays the man's wife, Meryl Streep dials up her dark side as the official who keeps his disappearance a secret and Alan Arkin is a senior senator with the power to influence the case. Meanwhile, the man is shipped off to an unnamed North African country, where he is tortured for information.
"Elah" boasts Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon, another Oscar-winning triumvirate, under professionally red-hot director Paul Haggis, who won his own Oscar for "Crash." Mr. Haggis' drama focuses on the disappearance of an Iraq war veteran upon his return home.
Beyond the fiction features, the anti-Iraq war documentary "No End in Sight" (box office: $1.4 million) couldn't capture the indie crowd, beating a swift retreat to DVD next Tuesday despite glowing reviews.
Brandon Gray, president and publisher of www.boxofficemojo.com, says audiences seek out movies for inspiration, for laughter and to be moved. "Many of these recent dramas fail on all those fronts," Mr. Gray says. "They're too heavy handed in their presentation."
"Rendition" director Gavin Hood who wrote and directed "Tsotsi," winner of the 2006 best foreign language film Oscar has been quoted as saying he doesn't want his new film to preach. But audiences who can't figure out where he stands on the rendition policy must have dozed off after the opening credits.
The current crop of antiwar films simply don't offer new insights into the Iraq conflict, Mr. Gray says. "You might hear this stuff from the commentators or on the Internet," he says. "It's not that interesting to see it fictionalized."
"The Kingdom," a more ambivalent film, which shows U.S. forces smiting a terrorist cell, has pulled in a more respectable $43 million (so far). " 'The Kingdom' looked like 'CSI: Riyadh.' It danced around the issues," Mr. Gray says.
Hollywood shouldn't soft-pedal its beliefs, he argues. "You really can't try to take on subject matter like this and appeal to all views at the same time," he says. "They act like they're saying something when they're actually not saying anything."
A film that took a principled stand, particularly against terrorism, might fare better with audiences, Mr. Gray says.
Films with bold perspectives also spark op-ed flurries which can lead to more ticket buyers, says Dan Vancini, movies editor with Amazon.com. "Then, you'll get your audience in who already resonates with the message," Mr. Vancini says, though he adds such free publicity isn't always a good thing.
As witness the films named here: they certainly were mentioned around the left end of the blogosphere, and they tanked like Air America.
Such may be the strategy of splattermeister Brian De Palma, director of "Redacted." Scheduled for a December release, the low budget/no stars movie is based on real events involving American soldiers who raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then killed her family. Mr. De Palma has been complaining publicly that disturbing photos, which run at the end of the film showing dead and dying Iraqis have, ironically, been redacted by the distributor, Magnolia Pictures. (The faces are blacked out for legal reasons, the studio says.) The Drudge Report picked up on the controversy generally not bad for business.
Hollywood's antiwar drive continues Nov. 9 with "Lions for Lambs," in which Tom Cruise, Miss Streep and Robert Redford spar over matters of patriotism and war. And "Grace is Gone" follows a father (John Cusack, no shrinking violet when it comes to his anti-administration rhetoric off-screen) who can't bear to tell his children their soldier-mother died in Iraq.
Mr. Vancini predicts "Lambs" could fare well thanks to its starry cast. "They have a word-of-mouth following," he says, particularly Mr. Cruise.
Mr. Gray remains skeptical, citing a lack of clarity from early peeks at the film. " 'Lions' will be an interesting test," Mr. Gray says. "Is it simply them sitting in rooms giving speeches? That's what it looks like," he says. In other words, ignorant, whiny, pessimistic leftist rants, screen written by political hacks and portrayed by egotistical partisan actors, aren't selling. Hollywood blames America for not appreciating their brilliance.
#1
And any Rantburgundian who didn't see this coming, please put up your hand... No, we will not line up and plunk down our movie ticket dollars to have our country slimed, our military family members defamed and our efforts to fight terrorists belittled, and all the glowing reviews from your media buds will not make us toddle down to the multiplex to watch your damned movie.
At least the Hollywierd 'tards can comfort themselves with the thought of how well their anti-war wankfests will play on foreign movie screens. And all their media syncophants will coo and ahh and tell them how brave they are, speaking "trooth to power"! (I need to rinse out my mouth after saying that phrase out loud!)
How many of the movie-making in-crowd will pay attention to this quote "Brandon Gray, president and publisher of www.boxofficemojo.com, says audiences seek out movies for inspiration, for laughter and to be moved."
Based on past performace, I'd reckon none of them. I don't think they realize that we have other things to watch, games to play and books to read.
On that note, can I put in another plug for my own book "To Truckee's Trail"? Now, that would make a movie, showing Americans to be decent, competant and brave!
#2
Hollywood shouldn't soft-pedal its beliefs, he argues
As Samuel Goldwyn famously said, "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."
If I want preachin' I'll go to church. I want entertainment. There's more creativity and imagination in many vid games today than in all of Hollyweird.
#5
Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Gavin Hood
Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, Paul Haggis
Brian De Palma, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, John Cusack
Thanks for the No Watch List. See you all on Hollywood Squares 2008!
Posted by: ed ||
10/25/2007 10:36 Comments ||
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#6
> There's more creativity and imagination in many vid games today than in all of Hollyweird.
Of course there is! Why do people disparage games so much?
#7
Some pollster called us the other day, wanting to learn about our cinema watching. Did not seem to believe it when we said we had not been to any movies at the theatre in over a year. (I am not sure, but 'Team America' may have been the last one.)
The most successful (commercial or artistic) movies from the Vietnam era were not overtly anti-war or anti-military, though many were kind of mixed (e.g. 'Apocalypse Now'). That's probably appropriate, since war always sucks, even when the alternative sucks worse.
#8
I really and truly hope that the people working on the HALO movie get it right. If they get a decent cast and script, stick to the story, it'll rake in literally tons of money. It's also an inspiring story of fighting against the odds and not giving up.
Maybe because they dont get it. Think in the mind of the neo-socialist who lives to control others. While a vid game may seem mindless, the gamers is an active participant in the process. The gamers get control. In effect, they are director, the actor and the producer of the story line. Movies are a passive entertainment in which youre stuck with what ever the system determines what is good for you. Thats why games seldom translate well into theater hits, theyve removed the core of the experience. Its also why the usual suspects are the types found disparaging the media cause in the end it gives others control over their environment. Of course, there's crap in any 'art' and vid's have their own, but it appears vid's have taken the lead in creativity and building market.
#10
Also in the named of what Robert Redford and similar who were not that bright from the start and later deteriorated their brain with alcohol and drugs think they are so much more intelligent than us than they have the right to show us the way?
In the name of what people with ten divorces, twenty affairs and one hundred "open your legs for a cast" think they hare so more moral than us they have the right to tell us what is right and wrong?
Boycott, any actor or ditrector who attampts to indoctriante you not only in the Irakl wars but on any issue.
#11
The Kingdom was about two-thirds of a decent movie. It was fine up to the point where it turned into Blackhawk Down, and even then it was OK in a Rambo sort of way.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/25/2007 11:39 Comments ||
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#12
Also Hollywood has come too late: with situation fastly improving in Irak antiwar movies will be far harder to sell than last year.
I also believe that the rejection of those movies is a sign public opinion is shifting opinion against the Democrats.
#13
Nearly all of today's Hollyweird has no concept of war so they make up $hit to fit their leftish agenda. They are not the people who go to war. If you look at who they support politically and who they back financially, it is clear what they are about. They tend towards Marxism and lean far to the left. They are America haters. If an honest war movie were made with a good story, it would most likely make a lot of money.
#15
Hollywood shouldn't soft-pedal its beliefs, he argues.
That's fine. Then it shouldn't bother them that I'll not pay for the privilege of having Hollywood's Beliefs shoved down my throat.
A possible solution to this would be that only our Hollywood friends all go see each others movies at about 300 grand a ticket, be happy in their insulated kiss-kiss little world, and spare the rest of us their "Hollywood beliefs"...
#16
#14 My son works in an accounting office for a major motion picture corp. (He tells his mother he plays piano in a wh$reh&use.)
The big shots almost don't care if US receipts are nothing. They make it up distributing the trash overseas.
See this, **very** enlightening, and it explains why a movie actually doens't need warm bodies in theaters to be profitful, or why hollyweird producers don't spend much of their OWN money to fund the movies, european taxepayers do...
#17
Here's a market opportunity for Mel Gibson or someone else. Once a pro-America movie is released and does good box office, there will be plenty of copy cats ready to line up for the lucre.
Guess I'll keep renting the oldies but goodies and watching TV shows on DVD, rather than going to the theater. Which is what I am sure a lot of other Rantburgundians are doing!
#19
..I know that there's at least three very good scripts about the the 'Thunder Run' into Baghdad that have been tossed because the studios are terrified that they'll make a movie where we win and then they'll get stuck with a turkey if everything goes to hell. Interesting that they have no such scruples with movies where WE are the bad guys - thinking that all it proves is that the only meme that the studios want to pursue is one where no matter what happens, we're evil.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/25/2007 13:34 Comments ||
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#20
Can't Hollywood take a hint from the success of movies like '300'? It went onto make over $200 Mil, and wasn't even pro-Iraq war, it was simply pro-Western.
I think we need a Southern/Mid-western answer to Hollywood. Acting, after all, is not rocket science. And if Hollywood won't make the movies America wants to see, then who will?
#21
Why do people care what Hollywood actors/actresses say or think? Their primary attributes are that they are, on average, better looking than ordinary people, and they are very good at pretending to be someone they are not. It does not make them smarter, better educated, or even worth listening to.
#23
There's the problem - its a monoculture. They critics, producers, actors, etc all hold nearly the same beleifs.
Thats why movies like "Predator" (which years later is stil lmaking money) dont get made anymore.
They are more concerned wiht pushgin their view than entertaining. Due to the bubble they live in, with the adulating press and asskissing politicians, they think they have some sort of moral or philosphical standing when they do not. They just make movies, and when they get back to just making movies, they will succeed again.
#24
Mjh, we will never see a Southern/Mid-western replacement for Hollywood and the reason is weather. Limited rain means you can shoot year round. San Diego might make a suitable replacement.
In the future as we go all green screen this might change however.
#26
I liked Nightmare Before Christmas. It was bizarre, sickly funny, and had a message in there somewhere. Regardless of your sense of humor, it was more redeeming that the rest of the latest Hollywood crap put together.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/25/2007 19:07 Comments ||
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#27
The last time I went to a movie house was to see either Saving Private Ryan or Armageddon (whichever was made last).
Only went then because some movies you need to see the first time on a big screen.
I recently watched March of the Penguins on DVD (it was a gift).
Other than that - books are good.
I do wish they'd make some good movies again. But I am not holding my breath (blue not being my best color and all....).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/25/2007 19:34 Comments ||
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#28
last movie I saw was the redone 3:10 to Yuma - liked it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/25/2007 19:57 Comments ||
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#29
The last movie I went to in a movie theater was Disney's "Little Mermaid", with my then-five-year-old daughter (she's now 22). I'd rather watch a 60-year-old B&W movie with either decent acting or a good laugh than any of the crap coming out of hollyweird studios these days. The only thing that's NOT crap are the "kids" movies, and even some of them qualify. There's a reason there are 4000 books in this house...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/25/2007 22:12 Comments ||
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Researchers at North Carolina State University have produced the world's most powerful antimatter beam.
"Brace yourself for immediate disintegration!"
"There is a reactor in Munich, Germany, that has been generating those types of radiation beams for some time now, and our analysis of the data shows that we have exceeded what they have reported," Dr. Ayman Hawari, director of the Nuclear Reactor Program at North Carolina State, told the university's Web site.
"What happened to the kaboom?"
The beam, consisting of an intense burst of positrons, was generated at the school's PULSTAR campus nuclear reactor, which first went online in 1972.
"There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"
A positron is the "mirror image" of an electron it has the same weight and properties of the most basic atomic particle, but is positively rather than negatively charged. Theoretical physicists believe there are equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the universe, but few antimatter particles have been found "in the wild." North Carolina State researcher hope the positron beam will form the basis of antimatter-based instruments.
"Delays, delays, always with delays!"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/25/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm going to blow up Iran because it blocks my view of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/25/2007 6:40 Comments ||
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#6
I'm not really comfortable with scientists playing with antimatter; what if they destroy the Earth inadvertently? It's where I keep all my stuff (to quote the Tick)!
#7
To be honest, and to cut some slack to those guys, there's a remote, but quite real, possibility that I'll destroy Earth before them. If I keep getting fatter and fatter, eventually, I'll collapse under my own weight, transform into a black hole due to the gravity, and then suck out the whole solar system. I thought I had to let you know beforehand.
#14
a5089, glad to know you like the nigh-invulnerable arachnid. "The Tick" comic books are among some of the absolute funniest material to come out of all the Super-Hero garbage spewed by that industry. The animated series was all right but not allowed to nimbly run the ridgeline of copyright violation like the printed editions do.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will question Awami League chief and former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed in connection with a graft case filed against her and six others on Sept. 2. ACC Deputy Director Morshed Alam has sought the courts permission to interrogate the former premier who was detained on July 16 on extortion charges. ACC Secretary Mukhlesur Rahman said the former prime minister would be questioned as per the law.
Forty-four out of 573 cases filed against high-profile corrupt suspects and their relatives have been disposed of during the present caretaker government's nine-month tenure.
The Kremlin has been accused of abandoning a commitment to market economics after it imposed Soviet-style price controls on basic food items in an attempt to shore up President Vladimir Putin's popularity. 
Researchers at North Carolina State University have produced the world's most powerful antimatter beam.
