It's Complicated: Finally A Funny Rom/Com

While I may not be the demographic for romcoms, I do like them when they are done right. Unfortunately, today's films are usually pretty dreadful, with the year not seeing a single one so far. JLo's latest Opus made me want to vomit and Sex and The City has gotten some of the worst reviews for any movie this year. Carrie Bradshaw comes across like a spoiled brat in the picture, bored of being rich and married. Oh the horror. When Big buys her a large TV for the bedroom so they can watch old movies together, she pitches a fit that its not jewelery. Big should leave her. And then there is Meryl Strep, one of the finest actors ever. She was spectacular in Julie and Julia and she is no less fabulous here as Jane, the divorced bakery owner fuming over two new loves; her ex husband Jake (Alec Baldwin) and architect Adam (Steve Martin). With Jake she has a past and shares three kids (all played by no name but talented young adults), with Adam she has common ground and the sense of a new beginning. Who she will choose is never clear as are your sympathies for who she should pick. Some will side one, some the other. This is what makes this a truly great movie and a very funny one as well. Unbelievably the best performance is given by John Krazinski as Fiance to one of Jane's kids Harley. Better known as Jim from the Office, Krazinski is absolutely perfect in the role and shows he has a real chance to be a huge star in films. When you upstart three greats from the industry, you know you are going on to greater things. Nancy Meyers does a credible job as director, he real skills stem more from her sharp script and ability to get great performances from her cast. Having only seen the okay What Women Want she had done ten years ago, I am curious to go back and maybe watch The Holiday which sounds amusing. If it anything like this, it could be a worth a go.

4 out of 5 stars

PontyPool: Terrible Name Great Zombie Flick

I love zombie movies. Sure, there's a lot of terrible ones out there but recently I have found quite a few that rock such as the Swedish flick Dead Snow, Romero's Diary of the Dead, and Breck Eisner's better than expected The Crazies. But now comes this small, smart Canadian import PontyPool. Stephen McHattie, a great character actor plays Massey, the new DJ at some small radio station in Ontario. His Producer Syndney Briar (Lisa Houle) and assistant Laurel Ann (Georgina Reilly) are the main three characters who occupy the radio station where almost the entire movie takes place. As the movie progresses, locals call in to report an uprising at a local Doctor office. We never see anything more than what the three main characters do, which sets the stage for a deep sense of unease. As the zombie hoard becomes more and more menacing, the small station becomes very claustrophobic. The flock mentality found in the zombies is reminiscent of Stephen King's zombie thriller Cell, which makes me wonder what would have happened had that movie movie gotten made with Eli Roth directing. Rats. How the virus is spread I won't ruin here but it is truly an original idea, full of philosophical and real world implications. How would you protect yourself from a spreading virus that cannot be contained? It's a scary thought. The acting is top notch, the script witty and the tension real. I highly recommend this one

4 out of 5 stars

Whoops Apocolypse

If it's this late and I'm posting something serious must be going on. As reported earlier, all the world needed right now was the right spark and new world war could start. That may just have happened tonight. Israeli warships have boarded and taken over a Turkish ship bent on running the blockade of Gaza for Humanitarian reasons. The ship was attacked in international waters making it technically an act of piracy and war. What will happen to the remaining five ships is unknown but it would seem likely that none of them will ever reach Gaza should they continue. Relations between the two countries has been tense over the Gaza situation which unfortunately Israel is in the right. Rocket attacks cannot be tolerated coming from Gaza and any means to stop it is within their rights no matter how cruel it may be to the people. If they don't like it, make the terrorists stop. They have the power to do it. Humanitarian aid can never be given to people who hate you. Feeding your enemy is a path to ruin. However, Israel attack in international waters is a problem. Considering the Turkish PM walked angrily off stage leaving Simon Peres bewildered just three days ago does not bode well for the situation. I find myself in a similar bind with siding with my Jewish friends over my Turkish ones (I have both). Turk protesters attempted to storm the Israeli embassy and all bets are off for what might happen next. Maybe, hopefully, nothing. But I really doubt it. A terrorist attack right now, somewhere with a large Jewish body count, could inflame the situation out of control everywhere. Be warned.

Want To Know Why This Country Is Failing? Look In The Mirror America

Situations arising over the last few weeks are of considerable importance. I have been media watching since I was old enough to read some decades ago, and never, I repeat NEVER, have I seen such stupidity on a regular basis. The crisis in The Gulf of Mexico is shocking in it's ineptitude. And while George Bush gets a heap of blame for causing EVERYTHING that is no going on by deregulating all areas of business under his reign, Obama must get some of it as well for not fixing it the minute he got into office. The government industry in charge of regulating the oil industry is woefully corrupt and ineffective. Just about everyone in the organization needs to be fired, along with most of the FBI, DEA, ATF, FCC, FDA and a host of other tax wastes that don't seem to be doing us any good. Why waste money on government jobs that don't work? As of this writing, the oil still flows and might do so until August. If it does, the Gulf will become a giant dead zone and millions are going to be unemployed or out of business due to this catastrophe. And the people there STILL BELIEVE IN DRILL BABY DRILL. Overwhelmingly. WTF? If you can't see with your own eyes how destructive something is, how it destroys your lifestyle, then there is no hope for mankind. NONE. And this is just the tip of how stupid we have become.
In California right now the Republican challenger to incumbent Barbara Boxer is quite possibly the worst candidate ever in the history of politics, Carly Fiorina. Worse than Bush you ask? YES I say emphatically. How is that possible? Bush made have had his flaws but he makes this bitch look retarded. She was the former head of Hewitt Packard who was once investigated for illegal wiretapping of her board room to find out leaked info. Under her tenure, the profit of HP dropped 70%, stock plummeted by half, and was listed as one of the top twenty worst CEO's in America history, something Bush never got and he was a horrible businessman. What assholes are supporting this moron? Repubs, and the increasingly scary tea party movement (fringe Republicans) who can be officially labeled as Nazi retards now. In Nevada, Sue Lowden is running a strong campaign against incumbent, and somewhat shmucky, Harry Reid. Her idea for health care reform? Barter with your doctor for chicken dinners for care. Right. Take an idea that may have worked a hundred years ago and flout it as new. That is the Republican way after all.
And now the tea party has King Moron Rand Paul, son of the much more stable Ron Paul. Rand Paul has suggested that government shouldn't allow business to discriminate against blacks, gays, whatever they want because that limits their freedoms. He also called the attacks on BP as uncalled for as it was an accident and this hurts business. Hurts. Really. I hope it puts them out of business you dick. He's also anti-gay, anti-abortion, pro drug war. In other words, an idiot.
If you should happen to overhear anybody saying anything good about any of these morons, get a two by four and hot them over the head repeatedly. These fools are killing us. I feel like James Carville when he screamed to the president recently, "We're dying down here." We are dying here and there seems like less and less hope each and every day. Bad things are a foot and I for one will not forget what some of these fools have done when the Great Collapse comes. They're the first to go.
Tensions are running sky high on the Korean Peninsula as well as Iran, Israel and even Pakistan. One wrong move and WW3 is entirely possible. One fought with nuclear weapons. We on the east coast may be alright depending on the severity of a possible confrontation. The west coast on the other hand is definitely at ground zero. The chances of war are rising each and every day. And with morons running free everywhere, our time might be up.
Fight the power. End the Republican/Democratic party stranglehold. Vote for independent parties not connected to big business. And stay away from the tea party. They could be the most dangerous of all.

Prince of Persia: Who Wants To Have Fun At The Beach

This is not a movie for everyone. But if you are like me and love Hollywood extravaganzas then you might find this one as exciting as I did. Sure it's typical of a summer release in that it's big, loud and stupid, but that's half the fun. It's meant to be that. It's a cheeseburger and fries not fillet minion, but cheeseburgers rock as well. And this movie is definitely cheesy.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Dastan (Persian for champion or hero) a Parkor orphan, picked from the streets by a kind king after he witnesses an act of bravery in saving his young friend from a oncoming horse. He is raised a member of the ruling family and excels at warfare. After an assault on a neighboring city, Dastan becomes entangled with the surly Princess Tamina played with red hot chemistry by Gemma Arterton. The king gets murdered, Dastan is blamed and he and the princess escape to protect the weapon holding the Sands of Time. When used, time reverses itself. It is also what the bad guys have wanted all along. Sir Ben Kingsley is his usual awesome self as the king's brother and Alfred Molina steals every scene he is in as the weaselly Sheik Amar. The story is actually much better than I expected with things not playing out as I had thought, a rarity for me. The effects are also better than some of the reviewers have made them out to be. I saw much worse in Clash Of The Titans, especially the piss poor Medusa. That was shitty effects.
Also much has been made as to why they didn't use Persian actors for the main role rather than the white Jake G. First, no studio is stupid enough to open a multi million dollar movie with no star attached. One actress was supposed to play the part of the Princess but wasn't allowed due to pressure from Iran who wouldn't let her leave. Hard get the right actors when you live in one of the most repressive places on Earth. Second, Persians of that era were sometimes white. As a matter of fact, ten percent of the population had blue eyes, so casting a white guy isn't that much of stretch. The casting of four unknown white kids in the Last Airbender is another matter. You couldn't throw in one Asian. The guy directing is Indian for God's sake.
Anyway, this is a fun movie if you're looking for a good action film to pass away a hot summer day. Sure, it won't last any longer in your memory than a good ice cream cone will in your belly. But it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of eating it now does it?

3 and 1/2 stars out of 5

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

In my article yesterday, I talked somewhat erroneously about President Obama's problems with a job offering to a candidate named Joe Sestak. I reported that he dropped out of the race which was wrong. He actually won beating Arlen Specter. In a news interview he let slip that Obama offered him a job in return for getting out of the race. Since then, he has wisely clammed up and will not cooperate with authorities if charges are leveled. I stated also erroneously that I didn't think this would go anywhere. Boy, was I wrong. Incredibly, Republicans are crying Watergate and scandal not realizing I guess that almost all of them are guilty, more so than the President in a lot of ways. They are literally throwing their own death rattles. The old adage those who live in glass houses comes to mind. Bush nominated Harriet Myers to the Supreme Court as a quid pro quo. Cheney gave promises to Katherine Harris (which he didn't keep) but it's the same tit for tat going on now. If Obama goes down, everyone's going with him. Oddly though, there is zero chance of any charges being leveled against Obama, not only due to the reluctance of Sestak to cooperate, but the fact that technically he didn't do anything wrong. The job was never taken. The offer the word of one guy who will say nothing else. Not going anywhere. However, if the Justice Department looks in to it, they are also going to look into everybody else and then the Repubs be caught with their pants down then. Idiots. I am so tired of how they're screaming like babies about the smallest infraction while they continue to do the same things right out in the open.
Tensions still run high on the Korean Peninsula, with China now more open to some sort of punishment being handed down on the North. Time will tell.
All economic signs point to a disaster soon. Be warned.

Stuff So Stupid Your Head Might Explode

Proving once again mankind is too stupid to live come these plethora of stories designed to make you want to take a gun and start shooting indiscriminately about your house. In what can only be described as the true meaning of asking for it, the NYC city council has approved a new mosque. What's so bad about that you ask? Am I a racist? A fool? No the new mosque is going to built at Ground Zero. That's right, the scene of the worst attack in modern history (albeit I am one who questions the actual story, it still doesn't excuse the sheer insensitivity of this action) is getting a reminder from the people who caused it. I don't about you but if my grandfather was killed in WW2 (he wasn't), I wouldn't want a Nazi memorabilia store right next door to his grave. The level of anger was understandably volatile. Not only is that mosque going to have shelf life measured in days, the lives of the council members may well be in danger as well. These people are dealing with open, raw emotions that there is no line that some may cross. If they wanted to start a race war, this is great way to begin it. This is only get to worse until I hope smarter heads prevail. Yes, unity and peace are ultimate goals to achieve but to try to do say with a slap to the face of one side of the other is never going to work. This will get ugly. Morons.
Meanwhile the Neroistic Republicans met with Obama and were shocked, SHOCKED, that he was angry with them for being nothing more than doorstop on government. The Republicans are destroying the country by convincing people of things that aren't and doing nothing to fix anything no matter how good the idea. One dick Senator Pat Roberts of Kentucky actual said the Pres should calm down and not take things so seriously. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? The world is burning and this asshole is just fiddling around (thus the Nero reference). The tea party is voluntarily putting these kind of douchebags into office. Way to go stupid. Another schmuck from the corn belt Mike Johanns of Neb (R) said Obama is trying too much too fast and that he should slow down a bit. Yeah, idiot, we've got all the time in the world. Both of the pro-life, anti evolution mouth breathers need to take a jump from a high roof. The world would be better off. And a shout out for any idiot who voted for them, you can go next.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any dumber the League of Anti Obama Conspiracies have a new one claiming a federal law had been broken when Obama promised a person running for the senate a spot in his administration if he dropped out of the race against Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. He did drop out of the race but never took the job, pretty much ending any real story right them. But the increasingly unstable website World Net Daily is calling for an investigation which will never happen because countless sitting politicians have done exactly what is illegal many many times in the past. Just ask Michelle Bachman or Katherine Harris especially. This happens all the time, illegal or not and there is zero chance of any investigation that will net half of Congress. Not Going To Happen. EVER.
War is looming in many places including a possible mid east war (unlikely at the moment) or North Korea, a crisis becoming more severe by the minute. South Korea lost track of the Northern Subs today, making everyone on the peninsula very uneasy. Hillary Clinton is presenting evidence to China today. Once false move here and we could be in trouble. North Korea has missiles that can reach Hawaii and Alaska. That may be a blessing if Sarah Palin is at Ground Zero though.

Final Fantasy 13 Better Than The Naysayers Say

Try saying that headline three times without screwing it up. I have played every Final Fantasy available to the American markets and a few Japanese imports that only I and a few lucky others were able to get. Sure it was in Japanese but it was surprisingly easy to figure out what was going on in those early text driven games. Now comes a new Final Fantasy, a epic sprawling Role Player that looks more movie than video game and in there lies the only real flaw.
For those not familiar with the series, this is the most popular RPG series ever. The graphics are as always jaw dropping. It sucks I don't have HD because the game is HD ready and in that format you might weep at the beauty unfolds in front of you. The story is somewhat confusing, as all of these Final Fantasy's usually are. You and a ragtag group try to protect their planet from some sort civil war going on between the citizens of Cocoon and the denizens of Pulse. Early on, your team becomes infected and are treated as pariahs, outcasts to Pulse. You team up to fight both Cocoon shock troops who want you dead for more nefarious reasons than your infection and the creatures of Pulse who are sometimes gigantic and unkillable. One such creature which resembles a cross between a turtle and an elephant towers over your team like a skyscraper. One stomp and your whole team dies. Luckily they slowly wonder around the landscape and are easily avoidable. While you do have to fight a couple of these later, they are much easier than their freeroaming counterparts.
The story presents an engaging back story on each of our heroes (six in all) slowly and in Lost style, which explains why each is fighting for what. The graphics here are movie quality and even on non HD awe inspiring. One scene involving fireworks was really something. But these cut scenes were also what some people HATED about this game. At times they ran a little long, were very romantic (pre-teen boys would be like yucky) in parts, and showed some action scenes that would have been much more to play than watch. A video game is different from TV in that it is an interactive sport not passive, so when you watching a cut scene of something actiony and cool you want to be doing the action not staring at it wondering why all the cool stuff your character never gets to do. Also missing is an sort of exploration. The story is very linear which also doesn't exactly demand replayability. Once your see the story that's it. You could go back and try with a different team of characters but other than that, that's it. There are no new shops, and side quests are limited to a large new expanse you reach after hour 25. Worse, most of these you won't be able to do until after the game is finished because some of the monsters will kill you in one shot, elephant turtle style. But there are lots of cool items to find and upgrade and the control you have of your characters experience levels is a lot of fun and easy to use. The best part of this game is the game play. The AI in this game is the best I've ever seen, I usually hate team games because the AI usually has your NPC's act like drunken retards. I've actually killed NPC's in some games just for pissing me off like waking in front of me when I'm shooting or just running off for no apparent reason other than to make me want to throw my controller at the wall. That is not the case here. Your battle system requires you to class each character with one of three slots such as fighter, mage, cleric, etc. Once chosen, each character, yours included, will do a specific set of orders every time you attack. If you're hurt, the cleric heals you, fighters and mages attack, synegrists cast protect spells and so on. And as your experience with each monster grows, so do your attacks, using whatever the monster is weakest at. All this is done by the computer so no wasting lots of time honing each attack as the AI does it for you. It's quite a time saver. Overall this is a great game. It's receiving hatred from a younger generation not brought up on FF who don't like the streamlined feel of it. I loved it and would recommend it highly to any RPG fans.

4 and 1/2 stars out of 5

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH

There are so many fucked up things going on right now I don't know where to start. Obama is looking more and more warmongerish (AAAAAAAAA says Peter Griffin. Watch the 420 episode to get the joke) with deployment of possibly Five aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf, more than at any time since the first Gulf War. I hate to break it to him, but his Generals are either incredibly stupid or have some ace up their sleeve no one knows about it. I'm more inclined to believe the former as military intelligence over the last fifteen years has been pretty bad. You'd have to go back To Stormin Norman to find a credible general. His attack on the Revolutionary Guard was really interesting. I recommend it to people interested in game theory. Since then we've had numnuts like Colin "There really are WMD's" Powell and General Betrayus, oops I mean, Petrayus. What the public fails to realize is that the Iranians are NOT Iraq whose sanctions crippled it's ability to do much of anything. Iran has a very good military and state of the art missiles better than we have. That's right. Better than we have. Why? Because this country is much more interested in making worthless planes and ships that aren't needed in order to keep worthless government jobs going. We are decades behind in missile technology. The Iranians are almost certain to have Russian Sunburns which are hypersonic missiles capable of a high payload explosive, including nuclear. They cannot be stopped by conventional tech. Unless we have some new fangled way of stopping these, they will sink an aircraft carrier in minutes. The Straights of Hormutz (sic) could be a bloodbath. As if that wasn't bad enough, a North Korean torpedo sunk a South Korean warship this week, apparently ordered by Kim Jong Ill. While there is zero chance of a military attack at this point, subversive measures such as cell phone and propaganda drops are being planned.
Couple this with Obama apparently unwilling, or more likely, unable to do anything about the continuing oil spill in the Gulf. Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that we live under fascist rule, a CBS nightly news crew was recently filming on the Gulf Shore. While filming, a Coast Guard vessel (an orginization that needs to be shaken up starting with their idiotic top dogs) accosted the film crew telling them they couldn't be there. Only problem was, it wasn't the Coast guard doing the ordering. It was BP mercs. The only Coast Guard guy was doing the driving while armed guard roamed the deck barking orders to American citizens. I would remind everyone that BP is a foreign company who has no authority to tell anyone dick in this country. Yet there they were threatening the crew to get lost. Worse, CBS didn't see anything wrong with this picture. WHAT KIND OF FUCKED UP NEWS ORGANIZATION ARE YOU? This is why I never watch CBS news. Corporations run the show. It's even on tape and most people go eh whatever. Sorry I'm not sheep. BP is fucking us. Any asshole that goes to get gas at BP or at Exxon Mobile should be shunned.
If you're a home owner beware a new government run, totally legal way to get screwed of your house. In order to raise revenue in an increasingly difficult economy, states have began to sell off government debt to private loan sharks. The debt here being taxes owed, water bill not paid, garbage pick up bills, anything government owned and run. So while cable, gas and electric don't apply, all others do.
In Baltimore, Vicky Valentine (love the name) lost her home she owned since 1984 due to a 364$ unpaid water bill. 364$. Having a rough time in this shitty economy, she found herself behind on her water bill. The bill was sold to a private company who then charged loan shark rates driving the bill up 3600$. Unable to pay anything close to that, they foreclosed on her house. This is becoming increasingly possible in something called a tax sale where tax collections are given to people like JP Morgan who then fuck the owner over and steal their house. I don't about you, but I would have stockpiled weapons and killed any fucker who came for the keys. I think the same response for any no knock police raid. I'm waiting for the day they enter the wrong house and a bloodbath ensues.
Halliburton has been accused for years of substandard water for our troops and a new study does not dispute that. Any service man should try to stay as far away from non bottled water in war zones if at all possible. The water is not pure and can lead to serious diseases. Our troops deserve better. They are putting their lives on the line for us. I certainly don't agree with any war over the past few decades put the blame lies on the elite not the grunts.
So it goes.

MacGruber: 80's Action Spoof Rauchy Fun

For all of you out there reading this, I hope you have found interesting my expose on the health care system. Coming soon will be the possibility of war with Iran arriving this fall, houses stolen from owners legally by the government, unsafe drinking water being given to our troops, the failure and success of the new banking bill and a dozen other things to make your head explode. Today thought, it's Friday. It's the weekend. And if you want to see a film that will make you forget all about everything I just wrote, MacGruber is for you.
Loosely based on a 90 second skit from SNL, MacGruber is nonstop humor, most of which is very funny. Will Forte is MacGruber, a Maguiver wannabe, drawn back into the military because of his ahem "superior" skills. Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) is set to blow up the State of The Union address with a stolen nuclear missile and Macgruber is the only one to stop him. In full Colonel Troutman mode, Power Booth plays Colonel Faith, totally straight and is the only person in the entire film to do so. The beginning is a direct shout out to Stallone and Rambo 2 so the Troutman image is very deliberate. Had Richard Crenna still been alive I'd bet he would have been offered the part.
After his team is wiped out in the funniest possible way, Macgruber teams with love interest Vicky St Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and Lt. Piper (Ryan Phillippe) to lead the attack. What follows is plenty of great sight gags, more male nudity than you want and some female nudity you really don't want either. Trust me. You'll be as horrified as I was when you see it. Don't want to ruin the surprise more than that although I do wish there was a way to unsee something like this. Just thinking about it makes me ill. On top of all that is probably the most disturbing, yet hilarious, love making scene ever. You can actually see Kristen Wiig trying to shield her face from the actual sweat coming off his fuzzy, fuzzy body. Ugh.
This movie has no surprises plot line wise but you going to see this for the gags. One of the best jokes is every time an explosion occurs, you also hear a large cat growl. This was actually used in an old Steven Segal movie (Under Siege 2?) which was unintentionally funny then and really funny now.
It's a stupid movie. The plot sucks. But it's really funny. GROSS GROSS GROSS. But funny nonetheless. It's going to bomb at the theater I expect. There was one other guy at the showing I went to today. But it will do gangbusters on video. If your looking to escape, and in today's world who isn't, give this movie a whirl. Just be prepared to see things you really really wish you hadn't.

3 out of 5 stars

Why There Are No Cures Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about why no new cures were being found. Today, Newsweek has put out in clear detail the reasons why. It is just as I has expected. No money exists to find such discoveries. Worse, it has a five point redundancy plan to make SURE a cure is never found. First, you have to discover a new molecule or pathway that inhibits or destroys a diseases ability to replicate. With a system built on finding new discoveries only, no money exists for already established patents that, once found, were promptly dumped in the waste bin of science. It would be like Columbus discovering the New World, leaving, and never telling anyone it ever existed or how to get there. There is also no financial reason for a scientist to look for a cure as he will receive nothing in return for it, at least in the short term. Should you be lucky enough to discover this new molecule (which we'll shall name Impossibilium or Imp for short) and prove its worth on your own time (no company is having its workers "waste" their time on non profit work), the real fun begins. Next you have to get funding from the NIH (National Institute of Health) for lab work which you wont get. Their funding is tied up in hundreds of worthless patents that have little chance of success. While I would agree that science will always be hit or miss, but closer inspection would reveal some of these patents tries as ridiculous and unlikely for success. Next you need an institution or university to help patent Imp which is probably the least complex of these five steps as there are lots of places that might give you funding. All of that depends on the patent office, which brings us to part four. Now your in hell. Anyone working with government officials, websites, etc. knows how bad it can be. Our patent office is no exception. They may decide to reject you for no other reason that because, although a lot of this is due to a complete lack of even basic science by the patent offices. It would be like Edison sending his patents to Larry the Cable Guy for approval. Plus, as I have seen personally, the government will blackmail you whenever possible to enrich their own pockets. The patent offices, if they say yes, may ask for millions in up front dollars which few small start up could afford. If after all that, and Imp is still viable, you now need investors. Investors wont show unless you can prove that Imp works with few side effects. You can't prove that Imp has few side effects without start up money. Catch 22. And now Imp is dead after all that. Years spent, millions wasted, all for nothing. This happens every day.
The chances for a FDA approved patent on a new cure for anything is 0.6%. 0.6% THAT'S TERRIBLE! A5G27 is being reported as being a possible cure for cancer. 90% of cancers. But no research is being done due to what I have said above. Hats off to Michael J Fox for his Parkinson's research and the Myelin Repair Foundation (MS) for not following the NIH model and are trying something else for a much needed cure in these horrible diseases. Also a big thumbs up to Obama for including in the new health bill that would give new money to companies looking for cures rather than death slowed.
A word of warning about the stock market. It dropped 376 points today and will probably continue its slide. The bottom is about to fall out. Look out for the wise.

Why Health Care Is Screwed

This is a combination of idiocy from the President all the way down to your average Joe. Fascist America wants to keep it as is because they don't give a rat's ass about the poor (here poor being anybody below 250,000 dollars). They make a fortune off our deaths, as prolonged as they can make it, filling us up with useless tests and pointless medication. Haven't you noticed that no cures for anything have been discovered in decades. How is that possible? Easy. They aren't looking. I'm serious. There's no profit in cures so no one looks. The budget for these projects is only in tens of millions, while advertising and CEO salaries are in the BILLIONS. With a fucking B. There will NEVER be cures for anything with this business model, one readily replicated world wide by Big Pharma. Cures are non existent and will continue to be as long as decisions are made by private companies. Health Care is a right not a privilege. Any Republican who disagrees with this can stop showing up for Church next week because I'm pretty sure Jesus would have had a very different perspective on the matter.
A teacher was recently admonished for using Michael Moore's SICKO to demonstrate powers of persuasion. One student Celeste Finkenbine, 18 of St Louis complained so loudly that the homework was terminated and the teacher may be facing administrative discipline. Her parents, die hard Republicans, stood by here and America dies a little more. First, show your teachers some respect. Her parents should be ashamed. Second, this idea of the non-argument is done. No more I'm right, you're wrong nonsense. Debate it and see who's right. Most won't do this because their argument is so weak it would never withstand scrutiny. The Right CONSTANTLY does this and I'm sick of it. You want to be right, prove it. WITH FACTS. Good luck.
A recent ABC story told the heartfelt, uplifting story of a kid born hydrochephliac (No brain) and Dandy Walker Syndrome (affects the central nervous system). His med bills are astronomical but guess what? The family gets state and Federal aid. In the millions. Paid for by me and you. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Look, I feel bad but we simply don't have millions to be throwing away on anyone, kid or not, who will never function in society without all sorts of aid. Where do they think this money comes from? I'll bet money if you ask these people they're also behind lower taxes and cutting of spending. Just not to the projects they want though or they'll be holy hell. People will NEVER make rational decisions concerning taxes and money because they won't by human nature. The recent gridlock in California exposes that. Taxes can't be raised because they have to be voted in by the people. Guess what? Five tax increases have gotten shot down. And now, California is drowning in debt. Mind you that California like every state should be cutting their bloated budgets but that's not happening. So basically we're drowning, everyone is scrambling to get in the last boat which is also full of water. My feet are wet.

Chocolate is Thai Flavored Goodness

I love Thai Cinema. Sure the women's voices can be a little shrill (trust me) and they don't have hundred of millions dollars for production values but that matters not. If you like martial arts movies these films are to die for. Tony Jaa exploded on the scene a few years back and I literley own every movie he's ever done. These includes some very poor early attempts that resemble bad 70's Hong Kong chop socky. But it was from these early movies that names like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan emerged. And now comes a new name in kick butting, Jeeja Yanin. And she's a girl. A tiny, thin girl. But trust me, you wouldn't want to mess with her.
Auditioning for the awesome Thai film Born To Fight (Buy it tomorrow on Amazon), director Prachya Pinkaew of Ong Bak fame found this slight, really bendy girl who was also one hell of an actress. And boy did he have a part for her.
In Chocolate she plays Zen, a half Japanese/ Thai girl with autism. She has lightning fast reflexes, super hearing and the ability to mimic any fighting style she sees. When her Mom gets cancer, she beats the holy hell out of anybody who gets in her way to collect money from the bad guys to save her mom. Like typical Thai cinema, the beginning may be slow, but unlike their Oriental counterparts, it's to establish a real connection with their characters. In Born to Fight, the first half of the movie introduces the sports and gym athletes so when they are forced to attack the invading hordes of bad guys their skills are clearly defined as are their motives. Plus, the second half of any of these movies is near non stop action. Chocolate is as well with fighting taking place in a warehouse, on the side of a building and an ice factory. Originally the film was going to show footage from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and then use a split screen to show how well she mimics them. Unfortunately, they were cut out due to copyrights they couldn't get. They are still hinted at in the movie with Bruce Lee moves being used in the ice factory and Jackie Chan in the warehouse but only a real affectionado will get the similarity.
I usually hate autistic characters on the screen. They come across as brattish and difficult (like in real life), but Jeeja does a great job making us care about this person. Only Hoffman and Hanks have really sold us on autistic characters before making her performance even more astounding. I just ordered the sequel which looks even more awesome. I'll review it soon.

4 out of 5 stars

Viva La Revolution

Thus it begins. As told in previous posts, civilization runs a gamut from order to chaos. The last few steps are apathy, anger, revolution, anarchy. The first signs of revolution are now being seen on a world wide basis. Greece is still in the midst of its greatest financial crisis and their solution is to drastically cut salaries, raise taxes and fire numerous people. Some of the perks are ridiculous such as retirement at 54, but most of what they get are actually less than US government workers. People have responded with a a big fuck you to the government with rioting that has killed 3 people so far. A 24 hour total strike of all workers has been called for the 20th. Iceland has responded with actually arresting several bank managers for their participation in its country fiscal disaster. This is not something seen anywhere else. In Ireland, people tried to storm their Parliament(awesome guys). Pissed about the bank bailouts, much like Greece and soon Spain, they stated clearly that they were tired of bailing out the elite by spending cuts and layoffs to those that could least afford it. How long before we see that here. Not long I suspect if current legislation keeps going the way it is. The Fed stands to gain much more power to "regulate" business which we all know are one and the same. The only ones regulated through these new laws would be ones who refuse to play ball with our new crime syndicate posing as government.
What should we do? Prepare for the worst. First, anybody out there thinking stricter gun laws will help us should be shanghaied off to China to see how protests work there. In two words: they don't. With our stormtroopers cops no longer here to protect and serve, it is up to us to do what we can to survive. Do not fall for the anti assault weapon nonsense. If anyone asks why would you need one, turn on the news, point and laugh. If they still don't see it, there's no help for them. When the government comes for them, they're the ones that will be the first to go. Way to go schmuck. The same thing happened in Nazi Germany before Jews were hauled off to the ghettos and the camps. No one then thought it could ever happen. Well it did. And it could happen again. There are dozens of holding facilities all over the country bought and paid for with your tax dollars. Nice to know that I helped contribute to my own demise.
Obama's budget shows how out of control the spending is in this country and all going to things that don;t matter to 99% of us. Defense,Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Health Care, Immigration and our Legal system all need MAJOR overhauls. There is little to no chance this is going happen. We've pushed tough decisions for so long that now the answers are going to be unbearable. The only way is to start all over. This civilization NEEDS to fail at this point for us to have any hope for survival. It appears that exactly where it is heading. Most of won't survive the upcoming chaos that will soon envelope the planet. A war is coming. And it will be fought here. The police and the soldiers may no longer be on your side. Their weapons and training will be better than ours in which case Guerrilla warfare will become the new norm. It will suck. I hope it doesn't come to this but all signs point to something very bad happening by the end of the summer. Be warned

Economics 101

This country is getting dumber by the second. Recent events, including last weeks perilous drop of over 1000 points in the Dow, point to a coming crash again. As nothing has been done to fix the problems, bubbles are forming back in the stock market, derivatives and gold. The Dow is rising way to fast for its own good. As no one seems to know why last week's drop happened, here are some ideas.
First, there was no fat finger as was previously noted. No one used a b instead of a m when writing out reports. This was readily apparent to anyone who looked as accused culprit Citibank only did 6 billion in trades all day, a low number and in no way capable of a billion dollar mistake. So what happened? Market Manipulation is possible. Betting against these funds using derivatives is an exceedingly dangerous prospect. Someone with billions could effectively crash the market and reap a fortune beating against it. It's the equivalent of someone burning down their house and their neighbors and collecting insurance in both. As intrinsic interest does not lie with making these bets, they should be made illegal. It is possible that someone bet against P and G whose stocks tumbled by 50% in minutes last week and reaped a fortune off of derivatives as a result. As these trades have never been made public, we really don't have any way of knowing.
The other possible outcome is outside influence. Cyber terrorism is hot right now as you can crash a system half a world away and not leave your living room. Regular attacks are being done by China, North Korea and the Middle East on American interests on a daily basis. Our preparation is not good enough , experts have warned. If someone did hack into the system, a stock market crash would be a possibility. Unknown to most, the stock market is almost completely controlled by computers now. A hacker could reap havoc upon such a system. Perhaps last week that's what happened. If it did, the government would never tell us as it would create a panic within our financial markets that could ultimately destroy us economically. If no one thought their money was safe, they take it out en mass like an old Depression era run on the banks. The effects would be catastrophic.
So where does that leave us? Screwed as usual. The stock market is a fixed casino where all but the wealthiest are using a stacked deck. You and I a destined to lose to protect the losses from those above us. Who in their right mind would walk into a casino where there was a 100% chance of loss? No one. Yet we do it everyday in the stock market. Smart money is In CD's or ING accounts, both of which pay a guaranteed 5% rate.
Notice the tea party isn't screaming about any of this. Why? Because the tea party is the lunatic fringe of the R party. Their frustrations are real , but they are going about it the wrong way. The way to fix things isn't by electing more conservative Repubs. It's by electing people with no party affiliation or RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. The cow towing to the Christian right has to stop for the good for all mankind. I'm tired of people like Rev. Reeker, a noted anti-gay activist, who was caught with a male hooker. The hypocracy must end and we must fix what is broken. Will it happen? Probably not. But we must try for the good of everyone. So for the next election remember, none of the above should be your vote. Otherwise, get ready to wear that swastika really proud, dem or rep, the next time you do.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

I know. I know. You're out there saying, "we have so much money. It's everywhere. It practically grows on trees. Why not spend spend spend." If this is your position please check yourself into the local funny farm because you are nuts. But most of you aren't. Our politicians however? They seem to follow this line or reasoning. Fuckers.
Our leaders have refused to make the tough decisions for so long, constantly passing it on to the next generation. Unfortunately for us, we've run out of generations to pass it on to. Our infrastructure is failing. The state on MA alone has numerous deficient bridges. roads and waterways. Our sewage system is dying as seen through the recent water main break that cut off a clean supply to over 2 million customers including the entire city of Boston. These will become more commonplace as we have no money now to fix these crumbling structures. Although if we have taken the trillions of dollars going to bailouts and worthless government programs (defense I'm looking at you), we could have had free health care, elimination of personal debt to millions, no mortgage crisis, new infrastructure and safe banks. Instead we got rich people getting richer and the poor told tough titty.
Tired of bail outs. Get set for the latest because we're bailing out Greece. Yes you read that right. 40 billion dollars of tax payer money is going to Greece. To a fix a problem that won't work by throwing money at it. Ron Paul, as well as many economists, have stated that this throwing of newly printed money will eventually lead to rapid inflation and runaway costs. And guess who going to be hurt worst by that. The Poor. We being led to slavery by our nose and nobody wants to stop it. Certainly not the corporations or the government (one and the same). I smell a real tea party soon.
If that wasn't bad enough, BP has proven to be even more incompetent at plugging their oil leak gushing millions of gallons of oil every few days. Their idea to stop it with a big casing has failed. Their next idea which is literally throwing everything and the kitchen sink at it has some worried that a failure could exacerbate the problem 12 fold. The only thing left will take months and has not been proven to work either. Damage to this could be in the hundred os billions, wiping out thousand of jobs some permanently. Drill Baby drill people can suck it. The cost to taxpayers will be of the chart. This could possibly break the bank for us. We better take BP with us.
War drums are still sounding with the US telling Pakistan that an attack traced back to them will lead to dire consequences. Israel is warning Iran and the world that an attack could be imminent by August if tough sanctions are not placed soon. The prospects for these sanction still seem a long way off and Israel is not known for patience. They have attacked Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007 to end their nuclear programs. There is no reason to suspect they won't do it again. Again whose tax dollars are going to support this war. Ours.
If are going to have make really tough choices soon or our civilization is toast. But one has to look at Greece and see what that may lead to. Wealth inequality has reached dangerous levels. With the police no longer to be trusted since being Incorporated into Homeland Security, we are truly on our own. Recent SWAT tactics show storm trooper like activity, shooting two harmless dogs in front of a seven year old because the father has less than a quarter of weed. Bastards. Not surprisingly, the Columbus Police department had received death threats since the video went viral. Coupled with the recent video of a an innocent Mexican immigrant being kicked repeatedly by cops we have to ask ourselves how safe we are with these morons protecting us.

Iron Man 2: Shell Head Returns With A Bang

I grew up reading Marvel comics. Spider Man, X Men and The Avengers were regularly bought and read by me. From the Avengers (an upcoming movie possibly directed by Joss Whedon) I discovered Iron Man. Tony Stark was a playboy, drunk at times, genius who's suit of armor keep him alive after a shrapnel wound in Vietnam. In the last film, they updated the orgin story to Afghanistan and Robert Downey Jr gave an excellent performance as a more witty version of the comic character.
As always, once the stupid orgin story is eliminated, the second film is almost always better, This one is no different. Downey is back as the drunken playboy, now slowly dying from radiation poisoning forcing him to drink some truly awful green sludge to stave off death. New villain Whiplash is excellently played by Mickey Roarke, a pissed off Russian with a need for vengeance on Stark. The scene as shown in the previews of Roarke on the Monaco Race track during the Grand Prix is as exciting as any super hero movie ever. As Whiplash cuts cars into pieces, you fear for Tony and what will happen even in the Iron Man armor. Nicely shot and well executed. Gweneth Paltrow is her usual beautiful self as new CEO Pepper Pots, Don Cheadle takes over (thankfully) as Rhodey and Scarlett Johansenn is perfect as Black Widow. Samuel Jackson's cameo as Nick Fury is really cool and sets up more for the upcoming Avengers film which should have The Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man in it. There is still a possibility of Ant Man played by Simon Pegg but the orgin film is still a long way off due to scheduling conflicts with the actor and director.
All in all this is a fun movie. Great music, witty script, quick improv by Downey, Mickey Roarke and the new Rhodey (along with the appearance of War Machine) make
this film a winner. Go see this soon.

4 out 5 stars

Triangle: A Great Horror Mind F#*K

I love renting straight to DVD releases. Sure some suck but surprisingly, most I've seen have been quite good. Dead Snow (Norwegian zombie movie), The Dead Hate The Living (made for 12 dollars, looks it, but has great gore and a terrific plot) and Grave Dancers (messed up ghost film) rate above many theater releases I've seen lately, especially drek like Jennifer's Body.
Now comes Triangle, a great horror mind warp that demands multiple viewings to truly understand it. Jess (Mellisa George of Alias fame) is going on a cruise with some friends of hers off the coast of Florida (actually Australia but whatever). The Bermuda Triangle awaits. A freak storm capsizes the boat and their only hope for survival is to catch a ride on an eerily empty cruise liner. Once aboard, time plays havoc with Jess as her crew mates are killed one by one, over and over again. She and the others question her sanity as a Groundhog Day scenario plays out and she keeps reliving the same thing over and over, but not always played out the same way as she struggles to escape.
The plot is very convoluted but it works because everything that happens is explained as to WHY it happened. A new piece of the puzzle keeps us glued as we, along with Jess, struggle to figure out what is going on. When you do discover the answer, its horrifying.
The directing is top notch from a mostly unheard of director (at least to me) but I will definitely keep an eye out for his next picture about the Black Death in England. Christopher Smith layers the suspense on as well as any A list director with several haunting sequences, including one of a mound of rotting corpses that will be burned in my memory forever. Brilliant.
The cast are mostly no names other than George but that takes nothing away from the cryptic storyline that unfolds like a sweet onion (no tears for this movie). It is haunting, thoughtful and has multiple references to the Shining such as Jess's house number being 237 and the use of an axe in a climatic, reoccurring scene. Clever without being overbearing. If you like horror, this is a must see.

4 and 1/2 out of 5

Suspect Nabbed. Guess What Religion He Was

A suspect in the Times Square failed bombing was arrested last night trying to board a plane to Dubai via JFK. Faisal Shahzah, a naturalized US citizen of Pakistani decsent, is the certain suspect at this time. Numnuts left a trail a blind man could follow and anyone suspecting false flag or domestic terorism will be sorely wrong. Acorrding to my sources, up to eight other suspects have been arrested. They are thought to be members of his extended family as raids took place throughout the tristate area in several locations. The snickers heard from MSM to bloggers about the Taliban connection (but not from this writter) have taken a new seriousness. Shahzah has been reported to have attended terrorist training camps in the region, but apparently their bomb making class needs a lot of work. The bomb was neevr going to work and if you're trying to not attract attention don't leave the car running and the flashers on.
I get the feeling that the government really wanted this to be domestic given the level of anti tea baggers and militia rhetoric still given out even after the suspect was nabbed by people such as Mayor Bloomberg. Note that the white man changing his shirt near the bomb scene was just that. But psychologically that video will now make everyone seem suspect in tne public mind. You have been conditioned to see terrorism everywhere. Swell.
Oddly enough, this failed attack falls back onto the failed undibombing last Christmas (these are the suckiest terrorists I've ever seen. Tim Mcveigh built a really good device. So did the Unibomber. I thought people from that region were supposed to be good at math.)Like that idiot, this guy should have been on the terror watch list as well. But no, God forbid we racially profile somebody who wants to kill us. Instead the government wants you seeing terrorists everywhere. The next time some white guy tries to change his shirt in midtown he's going to get gangtackled.
As expected in my previous post, this has led to a virtuosity of hatred toward Muslims on the various message boards. Oddly CNN's website was even worse than Fox news with one blogger posting "Where's the outrage?" over the sheer hatred being written twoard these people. Not that they don't somewhat desreve it but some of these posts are the most racist thing I've ever read. As expected the hatred is being channeled just like I expected. If more attacks continue like this, it's game over for Muslims in the country. They won't be safe from every pscho with an aganda out there and that will include the innocent people from that region who live here in peace.
The government better start doing a better job in stopping these would be criminals from taking out these attacks. We've given you enough power to do what needs to be done through warrentless snoops of everthing yet still you suck. It's almost like you don't want to find these people. Maybe that is the false flag in and of itself.
Stay vigilant people.

Times Square Failed Bomb A Bad Omen

As I am sure most of you had heard, Times Square was shut down Saturday night due to a bomb that failed to go off. This is extraordinarily bad. Why you ask? Because this could lead to a World War. Please you say! How could this one bomb, that didn't even go off, start a war? You think I'm on crack. Most people forget that one man, Gavic Princip started World War 1 AND World war 2. His assignation of Archduke Fredinand directly led to both world wars and the deatsh of millions of people. To start any way, one single domino needs to fall and the rest will topple. It's not as easy as it wounds as all the dominoes also have to line up perfectly. Unfortunately, that's exactly what is going on right now.
This country is pissed (just like Germany crica 1915 and 1936). If it is true that foreign terrorists, i.e. Muslims, are responsible for this, people are going to get even more angry. And lets say their threats are real and this is the precursor to a bigger operation (or a false flag operation), ANY Muslim living within the US will no longer be safe from the psychos that will kill them. Halliburton has built "transfer" centers (concentration camps) across the US. We know this because the federal government gave them around 600 million dollars to do it. Once we start attacking the Muslims, the rest of the world will inflame themselves and all bets are off at that point. The likely hood of another Mideast war is already at fever pitch. Iran and Israel are engaged in a brutal war of words and the gasoline has spread world wide. One match in the right spot and woooshhh there goes the world. A nuclear war is not off the table in this scenario although the targets would most likely be overseas and major US targets oly. If you live in Witchita, I don't think you have to worry. DC and New York on the other hand.
I would be willing to put money down that this will not be domestic terrorism or false flag. Why? It was amateurish. OK City was anything but amateurish and it seems logical that if it was a tea party member of anti abortion radical that Times Square wouldn't be their target. The city, location and bomb all point to a Muslim terrorist. The fact that it was 1 block from Viacom which owns Comedy Central (the South Park Mohammad uproar) cannot be discounted. The recent footage the news is showing about a suspect seems weak at best. Having seen it, I see no signs of distress, a need to get away, just a guy taking off a heavy shirt on a warm night. I doubt he's the guy.
As always, Muslims everywhere are taking credit for the bombing, including the Taliban, Somalia Rebels and Al Queda. Just about the only person not taking credit is Osama Bin Laden, but as he's been dead for nine years that might make it a little difficult.
This is a serious situation. If a major terrorist attack does happen within the next few weeks, its going to be a scary place for anybody who even looks Muslim. After 9/11, an Indian Seek was killed in a case of mistaken religion. Shmuck. The memories of Japaneses interment will be back, the world will hate us even more, and we'll be seeking the same amount of blood. Hezbollah will unleash its forces against Israel and possible new attacks within this country, possibly even a nuke smuggled via Venzelua into DC or New York City. If that happens, the world's gonna glow green. A nuclear war sits ahead of us, all because of this one stupid car bomb. No one better light any matches any time soon. Is that gas I smell?