Oh..How the "One" has fallen

"I am noticing that each of your plans to save money involves spending even more money."

If SNL is calling out Barry maybe other media outlets will follow, we can only hope. Wait that sounds familiar. Hope

Foss' Dune

Some concept art from the never-completed 1970s movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune, painted by famed space artist Chris Foss. You may not know the name, but you'll recognize the art style instantly.

NCIS in Kookville

Here is an example of why the religious right is often just as deluded and demented as the hard left.

This nutball actually goes on a multi-page rant against a television show called NCIS, saying it is "anti-military," then further claiming it undermines American culture and is "discouraging our young men from enlisting to protect this country from global terror." Good grief.

Look, I don't even watch the series. Mrs Jar(egg)head loves it, however, and because we have an open-concept home, I will often catch portions of it in passing, or while I'm in the kitchen concocting my latest Master Chef creation. I'll admit the show is a bit silly, but it's fiction; that's kind of the point. And it can often be quite funny, as well. Mark Harmon plays the quintessential retired Marine Gunny. The character is gruff, faux-irascible, witty, and hard working -- pretty much paralleling every Gunny I served under during my time in the Corps. But here's what Christboy has to say about Mr Harmon:

[A] shell of a man whose puzzling performances are robotic, devoid of hope and irritating.

Everybody's entitled to their opinion, and this guy doesn't like the character -- or the man, apparently. Fine and dandy. But here's where it really gets one step beyond:

We once had tv shows like the Rockford Files to turn to each week. This was a fabulous educational experience, with James Garner pursuing thrilling, authentic-feeling adventures while living in a trailer on a gorgeous California beach. He was strong and tough and wise and got beaten down a bit. There was an inexpensive taco shack a short walk away. He fought thieves, dirty land developers, the “syndicate,” drug smugglers and corrupt politicians but always had time to rescue a beautiful lady. The police, hardworking and underpaid, were always heroes in the end, too. Rockford’s father Rocky, superbly brought to life by veteran actor Noah Beery Jr., was a fantastic parental figure and even though this show didn’t air on Sundays, I liked to imagine they all went to church on that day.

A "fabulous educational experience"? "Authentic-feeling"? Seriously?

If this were on The Onion, it'd make some sense as a spoof article and be worth a laugh or two. Unfortunately, however, it's on a site called "Christwire," and it's depressingly serious.

Before any Christians out there get on their high-horses, I'm not claiming this guy represents all Christians, and I'm not saying that he's not entitled to voice his opinion. He's an extreme right headcase, and I realize as much. But groups of people like this are making it increasingly difficult to attract a more diverse voting base to the conservative side of the fence, abetting the defections of "undecided" voters in general elections. When that happens, we end up with infantile leftists such as Obama in the White House. And that path leads us as a society to a place we don't want to go.

Many of the right wing talk show hosts push absolute solidarity and hard-liner attitudes as the way to resurrect the Republican party as a conservative bastion. I disagree. One of the past strengths of the GOP was its inclusiveness. If you start pounding the pulpit and making irrelevant things like gay marriage a touchstone issue of the party, you start to alienate people who might otherwise have voted with you.

My wife and I have several gay friends. With her working for the school district, we could hardly avoid it even if we wanted to, as the percentage of homosexuals in teaching -- and especially in administration -- is quite high compared to most other professions. And we all get along quite well. In fact, several of the parties we've hosted recently have consisted of over 50% of gay couples. Many of them (but not all) are conservatives, and are very traditional in most of their social and economic views. They don't want to vote for a guy with a red star on his forehead any more than I do. But if radical right elements, like those represented by Christboy above, start to "take the party back to its roots," you'll end up severely limiting the choices of people who don't fit the Bible-thumping mold, since they won't feel welcome in the GOP. Neither, for that matter, would I feel welcome. There are far more important issues facing this country than whether Jane and Jill are sleeping together. If it offends you morally, so be it. Be offended. But don't make it a cornerstone of the party platform, or we'll end up with an increasingly incompetent parade of politically-left neophytes in Washington.

If in doubt, recite this to yourself: it is not the government's role to legislate morality. Whether fetuses have souls or homosexuals will burn in brimstone is meaningless next to the possibility that the entire country will be gutted by despotic leftism. I assure you that given the choice between Mao Tse-tung's "purging" of 50 million people or having a hardworking neighbor who happens to prefer the company of his own sex, every Chinaman alive -- and those who no longer are -- would heartily pitch in the help Twinkletoes move into his new home.

Anyone who reads this site for any length of time knows that I'm pretty far to the right of center on most issues. In fact, I've received emails (always anonymous and always vulgar) which labeled me "barbarian" or "nazi" on more than one occasion. My preferred choice in the last election certainly wasn't McCain. But if the conservatives keep infighting about issues that make no real difference in the governance of the country, we'll lose it entirely. Are you really telling me it was worth it to keep Guiliani down because he's pro-choice, and then end up with Obama in the Oval Office?

Priorities, ladies and gentlemen. We're losing them, and we won't find them again in staid passion plays or burned-out abortion clinics. I'm sure this little screed would (and will) earn me the "neo-con" appellation from quite a few on the right; that's fine, I'll live with that as long as the mutual goal is accomplished. First, win the battle. Then worry about the war.

TV Tunes

Television theme songs for every show ever put on TV. Well, maybe not every show, but pretty darn close. There's a buttload of 'em, for certain.

Aint Foolin!

Friday Timewaster

Be the deaf, dumb and blind kid.

Dumping a little chlorine in the gene pool

Justice:

A 15-year-old boy who was killed by his father in an execution style killing spent the last moments of his life pleading, "No, Daddy! No!"

Jamar Pinkney Jr. was shot in the head Monday by his 37-year-old father, Jamar Pinkney Sr., who allegedly made the teen strip his clothes off and kneel in a vacant lot before he was killed by a single bullet.

Sounds horrific, no? Ah, but there's more to the story: the teenager had been sexually molesting his three year-old sister. Things look a bit different now, don't they?

"No individual has the right to exact the death penalty on another no matter how reprehensible the behavior," prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. "That is why we have laws."

That is incorrect, Ms Worthy. We have laws to control people who would not otherwise "do the right thing" of their own volition. I would argue that in this case the father did exactly what he was supposed to do as a father: he took the responsibility to preemptively remove his own bad seed from the gene pool before it could reproduce. Rather than put him in prison, we should be giving him Father of the Year.

Home Improvement

The Derb on home ownership.

We are the Gov't and we are here to help!

Two teaspoons of mercury were found in the road that leads into an apartment complex. It cost local, state, and the federal governments $50,000 to clean up less than an ounce of this catastrophe. Read the EPA report here.

For the record I once worked on EPA contracts as a contractor. If they would have used a contractor on the Emergency Responders contract list the cost would have been half that!

Here in Oregon I would have just scooped it up in a sample tube and gave it to a local prospector to use!

This is a picture of the clean up crew:


The use of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) will soon be mandatory in the United States. And CFLs contain what? That is correct boys and girls MERCURY.

Just imagine the cost for you to clean up a broken light bulb. And your home owners insurance will not cover it; ever since Brockovich and her mold issue the insurance companies have added addition exemption for the word "environmental contaminants".

Who is the Real Racist?

Jesse Jackson Plays Race Card Again:

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

Dance Monkey Dance

The NFL wants players to tattle on each other about concussions. Note that the players aren't whining about it; the article clearly shows that they accept it as a part of a very physical game. It's lawyers and politicians doing the whining -- as usual.

So, while it is unfortunate that some players will indeed suffer permanent brain damage from playing in the NFL, let's keep this in perspective: they're getting paid a great deal of money to play a game. Millions of soldiers and policemen take much greater risks every day, and for a helluva lot less pay. Any player who is worried enough about it should quit the game and go find something productive to do for a living. I'm sure there are plenty of volunteers to fill his shoes.

And Congress needs to STFU about it. They also need to find something productive to do for a living.

J.J. Abrams Star Trek DVD Interview

Video Game - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

As well all know on this blog you can never have enough Star Trek!

With that said here is the latest scoop on Star Trek 2.

And for those hard to buy for trekkies, here is a Christmas gift sure to win them over, new limited edition USB.

AutoFetch

Pay Attention to Mr Rogers

__
(Hat-tip to Robert S.)

iDroid

Darwin swings...

and misses! Better luck next time, Chuck.

With a 300lb lion in the offing, the couple visiting the safari park could at least console themselves that they had the protection of their car.

They watched in glee as the big cat padded up to their white Toyota.

Then fascination turned to terror as the creature calmly took the rear-door handle between its teeth ... and pulled it open.

"Hey guys, I finally got one o' these lunch boxes open! Come and get it!"



"&#@%! What a gyp!"

At the start of the trail, visitors are warned to lock windows and doors

Which, being idiots, they decided didn't apply to them. If there were any justice here, the car would have died when the driver stepped on the gas. Heh... "died." Get it? Knee-slapper.

How to get your kid's ass kicked

Is Little Johnny feeling his teen oats and making himself a real pain in your backside lately? Return the favor: compliment him on the intimidating "moustache," slap this jacket on his back, then shove him out of the car in front of the football locker rooms.

Exotic Idiot

Some 73-year old nitwit in Florida (is that redundant?) has wrecked millions of dollars worth of exotic cars in the last three years. Where did he make his money, you ask? He owns an insurance company.

Personally, I can forgive him all the wrecks except one: the Yenko. For that he should be drawn and quartered.

Wonderland

Tim Burton's version of the classic story is coming to the screen in March of 2010. I like very little of what comes out of Hollywood nowadays, but with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, how can it not be good? Click on The Depp to view a trailer.

When LLAMAS!!! Attack...

Assault with a deadly llama:

"That sapsucker just went crazy," Steele said Thursday before heading into a doctor’s appointment. "He run into me and knocked me down, and then he grabbed my leg with his mouth and went to jerking on me."

On the way [to the hospital], Steele called his wife... At first, the wife said, she couldn’t understand what her husband was saying. It sounded as if he said he had been attacked by a lawn mower.

"I thought he said lawn mower," she said. "He said, 'No, I got attacked by a llama..."

That's right, a crazed attack llama! Don't be dissin' the llamas.

Welcome cellmate my name is Bubba.

William “Cold Cash” Jefferson sentenced to 13 years!

… U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said he found Jefferson’s conduct “a cancer on the body politic.”