Politics

As I predicted, the reaction to Arizona's attempt to enforce federal immigration laws is over the top, and getting higher.

And Barrack Obama is the leading pole vaulter, as the post-racial president goes wildly racial.
What a dick.

And some court is still going to throw it out.

Go over to here and get a lecture from RW. It's worth it. Trust me.

And then go here for solid LMAO, courtesy of Brian.

My job today has been done.
Thank me later.

Losers Win

OK, so I broke down and saw a comic-based movie. Didn't have too much of a choice in matter, anyway, but I will admit to enjoying the hell out it.

The Losers is based on a early 70's comic written around some CIA commando force.

In the movie, the Losers are stuck in Bolivia after being double-crossed on a job gone wrong. A few twists and turns of the plot, but everything is rather predictable.

In Bolivia, they are befriended by another specialized somebody, Aisha (played by Zoe Saldana), who agrees to smuggle them back into the States in exchange for their services, which center around taking vengeance on the super secret operative boss who set them up.

The shoot-um-up stuff starts early, and doesn't let up. It's basically a string of gun fights and explosions tied together with a plot. I like the way this was put together. The action is not just fast, but comes at you and jumps around the battlefield in quick takes, almost like you were seeing images of action, instead of allowing your eyes to get focused on what was going on.It was quite annoying at the start, but got better as I allowed myself to appreciate the technique, to get my mind working as fast as my eyes so as to make sense of what I was watching.

But it was Aisha who got my motor humming for 90 minutes. Zoe Saldana, whom I was previously unfamiliar with, is just too smoldering sexy hot to ignore. Damn.

That girl knows how to keep my attention with a sultry combination of sexuality and kick ass.

She's awesome.

The movie is pretty good, but so much better cause she is in it.

More Health Care Talk

$1600.
That is how much my medical plan, through my employer, costs per month.
Doing the easy math, it roughly amounts to $10 per hour of my earnings that I do not receive in cash.
Thinking about it, and that medical care in this country is said to be about 17% of the economy, I'm easily paying for my own share, plus other's share as well.

If we go the route that we are currently headed, toward a government supplied health care system, I would be better off paying a national sales tax of over 30% to cover, and taking the costs through my employer home with me in earnings.

Health care expense is generally a generational thing, where the geezer folks rack up huge costs in an attempt to delay death while the younger generation that does most of the wealth creation and needing very little health care, by comparison, paying the frieght.

Basically, we who work provide for those who do not.
Nothing is going to change that. And, due to a wide range of reasons, it's kind of crazy to expect somebody to save up all their life for health care expenses in their old age. So, going to a 'pay your own way, individually' system isn't going to work.

So, what's the answer?

I'm thinking a form of national sales tax. I think this is what Canada does, but I'm not sure.
This tax will go to fund a health care system that everybody will be paying in to. Nobody would be exempt, but those who have means would still be able to get the higher end stuff through paying out of pocket.

As a precaution, a sort of check on quality and availability, anybody who serves in political office or works for the government, or is an appointee or whatever, would be disqualified from seeking care outside of the common system.

Your thoughts?

Nickleback Comes To Hollywood

Have you ever pondered the number of cord combinations to be made with a guitar? I haven't either, but I remember reading about it somewhere how that there were only a finite number of ways to 'mix it up', so to speak, before creative redundancy would set in, and take with it the future of modern music.
More specifically: "someday rock n roll would cease to rock or roll" was the general gist of the article.

This gist, though interesting, is pretty much threatened with the success of Nickleback.
But that is another bitch for another day.

And this brings me to Julia Roberts, because Julia Roberts is the Nickleback of Hollywood. With every movie she makes, you are left saying "I've seen this shit before" because you have. You've seen the same story in her last movie, based around her previous character, who is a lot like the next role she'll take on in her next film that is just a borrowed plot from her previous one.
And is just one reason why I do not bother to investigate the possibility of seeing any more Julia flicks. I've already seen them all. That is enough. And it helps that I'm not dating anymore.

I really don't care about Julia, but only bring her up lead to a larger point.

And that is :I don't expect much from most actors or actresses. I've usually been fairly satisfied seeing the same type-cast actors playing the same type of character. I'm not that snobbish, I'm easy to please, and as to the finer points of cinema and acting... I'm just like 'yeah, whatever.'

But, I would like to believe that the human mind is deeper than a guitar, with a limitless supply of new ideas.
Even more so when there are seemingly limitless millions of dollars to chase the good ideas into fruition.
You know, all those good ideas that supposedly reside in the creative minds of the creatively blessed writers and producers, who's raison d'etre is to create stuff, put it up on a wide screen, and charge me $11 for the privilege of telling you if it sucked or not.?

Yeah, those ideas.

But no.
What we've had the last couple years is cartoons made into movies. Well, we are now out of cartoons and comic books. So now what?

I'll tell you what. It's remakes.
Yeah, that's it. They'll remake all the cool shit from the 70's and 80's for no other reason than to remake it.
So right now we have 'Last Of The Titans' now playing. This is just the most recent.
Coming soon, 'The Karate Kid'.

'Red Dawn' is also in the pipe.

Eventually 'Death Wish', 'Rosemary's Baby', 'Logan's Run', '10', 'Footloose' and even 'The Dirty Dozen' will show the utter bankruptcy of Hollywood's imagination.

Even 'Highlander' will show us there can be more than one as another set of sequels is part of the plan.

Stretch out the yellow tape.
Chalk the outline.
We're dead.
Move along. Nothing to see here.

Way to go, Hollywood.
Rock on.

Family Values

OK, here's the plan to save the welfare state:

First, we will do away with Social Security and Medicare (and whatever else gets dreamt up) and just replace the whole menu of handouts with the omnibus Generational Wealth Transfer Benefit.

Amanda had previously pointed out an accurate fact in that those who do not raise up children generally have more money than those who do the family thing. I think this needs to be taken into consideration when dispensing the Generational Wealth Transfer Benefit.
So, what we'll do is tie the benefit amounts to the number of children a person raises up for the workforce. The more you 'pay in' to the system, the more you get out of it.
Fair, right?

This will provide all future generations with a solid and viable welfare Generation Wealth Transfer State as breeding and child raising become investments in the future, and it only makes sense, doesn't it, to encourage the civic behavior you want, while discouraging the behavior, or lack of behavior, that leads to a drain on the system.

I kinda like the traditional wisdom aspect of the whole plan. Remember, when way back, the more kids you had, the easier your life got?
I wanna bring that back.
Putting the 'Values' back in 'Family Values'.

Sound good? if maybe just a little bit?

Just thinkin out loud...

More Of The Same

I'm all in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration, but this issue has long passed the debate point, and is now just dwelling in  political theater status.

Case in point:Yeah, it's in Arizona. Where else did you expect?

Arizona's House has passed the nation's toughest legislation against illegal immigrants, making it a state crime to be undocumented in the United States and compelling local law enforcement agencies to verify the status of anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

So, how the hell is a cop going to verify anybody's immigration status on a street corner? How will they know who to suspect? Anybody with an accent, maybe? Gee, and to think my Dad doesn't possess immigration papers, and never did, as is common I would guess with all birthright citizens. and would be at risk of being deported to a country he won't even acknowledge as being legitimate to him.

Besides being a bad idea, and unworkable, it's just screaming to lose a court challenge.

And that is the whole idea.

In an election year, you ramp up your base. This will piss off both sides, as either/or attempts to boost their turnout.

And ya know what?

It works every time.

Democracy is such a fools charade at times.

IF I Had An ipod...

===================================>>>>>>>>>>>

Evidently, at 5'8" and 175lbs, I'm way too thin to attend any of my high school class reunions.

Facebook Will Steal Your Soul

Whoa, it's been nearly a week already. Again.

OK, I'm gonna have to set Mafia Wars aside a little sooner and get back to what I'd really rather be doing more often.

 It's just that Mafia Wars is easier.

Cause, ya know, somebody else already did all the work, and I all have to do is click on things that look cool, and watch cool stuff happen whenever I do.

Lazy. Yeah, that's what I am. But that's no revelation, either.

And while I'm on the topic of facebook...

How cool would it be if you were the son of some really cool spectacular dude  and you was just starting break out into a semi-spectacular dude of your own after living a whole (young) life trying to live up to what you think your super spectacular dad would be proud of if only he had lived to see you grow up but you tragically died in a freak movie stunt while completing your big breakout into spectacularness, leaving behind a world of heartbroken and heartsick fans and friends...

and years later your 'friend' request shows up in the in-boxes of people you went to high school with?

And if you were the recipient of this request, wouldn't it just creep you out a little bit?
I still don't know how to respond to this. I'm a fan of the dude. The person, I mean. (I liked his professional stuff,too)  He was cool. And I understand cult followings. At least a little bit, anyway.
But something inside tells me Brandon needs to rest in peace and respect, of which mine he has.
It would be different if somebody set up a 'fan' page. But this is not that.
This is a profile page.
As if he was reaching out from the grave, or something...
It ain't right.
Yes, I know about the cult following, and that of his dad's is near religeous in nature.
I wouldn't see the same issue if this was his dad's fanbase doing this. His dad was uber-international-intercontinetal-super-big, and some things are to be expected, if not accepted, when you were that big while struck down that young. It's about context, maybe?
I don't know.

I just know that something about this one just creeps me out a little.  I still haven't brought myself to see that final movie, that he didn't finish, that made him the star that lead to this cult following. Someday, when I can, I will.
I haven't yet deleted his 'friend' request,either. Maybe tomorrow.

A Plea For Civil Rights

Marching for right to bare breasts, women faced with sea of cameras

About two dozen women took a walk down Congress Street topless Saturday, attracting a large crowd as they tried to preach that partial female nudity is not worthy of attracting a crowd.

The point of the march was that a topless woman out in public should attract no more attention than a man walking around without a shirt on, said Ty MacDowell, 20, of Westbrook, who organized Saturday's event and promoted it on Facebook.

It's hard to disagree with that. This is the 2010's, you know, and 'gender equality' should not be throw away line. Sexism and Racism are two sides of the same coin, are they not?
No more racism or sexism. We are all the same. If we believe it as a society, we need to practice it. Enforce it, if need be.

But as the event got under way in Longfellow Square, the marchers were soon outnumbered by scores of onlookers -- mostly young men eagerly snapping away with cameras and cell phones.

MacDowell said she was surprised by the turnout of those interested less in challenging societal convention than in seeing partially undressed women.

Pigs.
Every damned one of them.
Disgusting sexist, perverted, male chauvinistic pigs.
It's a shame that after decades of gender norming curriculum in our schools that we are still raising a generation of young men who ogle the breasts of women.

This has got to stop.

MacDowell said she understood that for women, going topless in public "is not socially acceptable yet, and obviously there's going to be a reaction to something that breaks the norm"...

...MacDowell said many of the marchers encouraged her to continue her efforts to promote public toplessness, but she said she will try to avoid a repeat of what occurred Saturday.

The problem is that after the kids leave school, they enter their homes, where six-hours of gender norming education are quickly undone by the sexist, misogynistic attitudes of their fathers.

It is for this reason that changes to breast attitudes need to addressed on a more widespread level. I think this Ty Whatsername chick should take her movement national: Bare breasted marches in every city and town.

Men need to be taught the self discipline of not ogling, and the best way to learn unogling is to practice not ogling.

Of course, this also means that anything unogled must be first ogleable.
With this in mind, I propose that before any women can take part in these important, educational and necessary marches a pre-approval be attained to certify that her breasts meet appropriatly acceptable standards of ogleness. (A standard likely missing from the most recent educational attempt, if the images are any clue. We can do better. And we will, because women deserve better.)

Lets' move America forward to a more just society. It's important.

Why I Prefer Libertarianism

Yes, he's a sitting congressman, deciding things that affect your life.