Crazy like a FOX

Some things for you guys to think about and look at.

-Michael Eisner said that the strike is "stupid" because the writers should take the money that's there now and not some money that might come about with the strike...how stupid does he think these people are? the point of investing is that you assume that the investment you are making might hurt a little now, but in the future will pay off well. Even I know that, and I barely passed Econ in school.

-More people are talking about the chants. Really, is this the best thing you can come up with? Joel Stein said something about it in his column, which if I have finally learned how to translate his columns from neurotic to english, is essentially in support of the strike. And is complaining about them too. I guess she was too busy coming up with clever little bon mots to actually read the script for South Of The Border (that's the talking dog/mexican roadtrip/dogfighting movie she's just getting ready to wrap. I think it's supposed to be the Michael Vick bio-pic)

-The writers are going to be out picketing en masse at Fox today. If you're in the area stop by, honk when you drive by, if you can wear red to show support.

-Variety has a story that is mostly speculation that the studios and networks might turn to British writers to fill the void created by the strike. I guess the founding fathers fought the revolution for nothing!

Also, just in case you're interested in where I'm getting this stuff check out:
Ken Levine's Blog A hilarious blog from one of the writers who is out on the picket line.
Deadline Hollywood Daily Very informative and pretty evenly balanced in reporting.

Strike While the Iron is HOT

I've spent the last couple days talking about this strike with just about everyone I know. So far I have basically heard two critiques.
The first is a general indictment of unions and strikes in general. If someone is anti-union then there really isn't much that I can write in here to convince them, as I've learned with my own parents.
The second one really pisses me off though. The second is mocking their picket line chants. Really? That's the best you can come up with? The reason you think they don't deserve to be compensated for their work is because they don't write a great CHANT.
Never mind that you watch their shows every week, and get completely wrapped up in the story.
Nevermind that they don't get a cent when you download the show they created, and get less than a dime for every DVD you buy, they make up a bad chant on the line, so they got what they deserved.
If that is the best critique that you can come up with, then I will offer a defense of the writers that befits such a statement:
They're on strike so they aren't allowed to write anything including chants.
Ridiculous? You're right. So is saying that a chant isn't good. If you don't believe in the strike that's fine. It's your right to have your own opinion and if we disagree thats ok. But if you are going to speak out against (or for that matter in favor of) the strike say something of substance.

Guilding the Lily

To begin, let me tell you something I once did that should make my bleeding liberal heart wilt with shame. In the grocery workers’ strike of 2003 I was a scab. I crossed the line and served people their lattes from the friendly confines of the Starbucks in a local Vons. In defense of this supposedly heinous act, however, let me offer a few points so you know the whole story.
1. A friend had just been hired as the Starbucks department manager at said Vons, and when a strike became imminant he was told that unless he could find a staff willing to cross the line he would have to be let go. I could help a friend, and get paid nearly twice what the Starbucks I already worked at was paying me. What would you do?
2. The traditional definition of a union is a group of skilled laborers who gather together to collectively bargain. It took me less than an hour to learn how to run a cash register. How much skilled labor really goes into this? And if there’s no skill to the labor, can they really be called a union?
3. If it’s not a union, am I really crossing a picket line?

Now that we’ve uncovered this terrible embarrassment from my past, lets look at the present. As I’m sure you may have guessed, today we’re going to be discussing the writers’ strike currently going on in Hollywood.

….I started this blog yesterday. I had about a thousand words. I scrapped all of it but the intro you just read, because I read a few new things last night and this morning. The brief gist of what I wrote originally is this:

-Unlike a grocery union, The Guild is a real union because what they do requires skill.
-The Guild wants to get more money from DVDs and to get any money from shows and content downloaded from iTunes, nbc.com, and other sites.
-DVDs now create the lion’s share of income for both films and television.
-Writers currently make about five cents per DVD. That’s less than 5% of 5% of the income from DVDs.

The first thing that I discovered (I found it here: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com, thanks to loyal reader Max for sending it to me), is that through backchannel discussions, the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers agreed to an 11th hour negotiation Sunday. The Guild was going to agree to forego ANY income from DVDs, in exchange for the Alliance coming up with a working plan to pay for internet programming and downloads. As the meeting was getting set to begin the Guild, as had been agreed, expressed a willingness to take the DVD issue off the table. The Alliance trashed what they had promised and said there would be no negotiation on the internet issue. At that point the Guild negotiators walked out and the potential strike became an imminant strike. Although this sort of tactic isn’t to be entirely unexpected from EITHER side, it stinks to high heaven. Up until this story was revealed yesterday, it seemed that the Guild had fired the first shot in the war. Now it appears that the Alliance set off a firecracker in order to draw the Guild out.

Next I read in the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) that all the major networks and studios, with the exception of Sony Pictures have begun sending out suspension notices, stating that there will be no more funding given to production companies is going to cease. In essence this means that now even the people who AREN’T striking (the assistants, secretaries, etc) are being locked out. People who aren’t even members of the Guild are now losing their source of income, even if they were going to continue working.

In addition, the studios are telling the show-runners (basically the head writer for a show, who in addition to writing the show also has an executive producer credit) that if they do not continue their duties as producer that there will be legal ramifications. This is forcing the show runners to either defy their guild, which could lead to future issues with the Guild when this is all settled, or face a potential law suit.

Finally, also in the Times I read an opinion piece by Marshall Herskovitz, one of the creators of Thirtysomething and My So-called Life, detailing a tangential issue that I hadn’t even known about. It’s what’s called Finsyn (Financial Independence and Syndication), a ruling issued by the FCC in 1995 that took control of the shows out of the hands of independent production companies, and handed them over to the networks. This ruling took control of shows away from the creators, and handed it over to the networks that broadcast them. This laid the groundwork for the issues that have become so divisive in these negotiations…way to go FCC!

These issues have far reaching ramifications. First and most importantly, if this strike goes on much longer just what the hell am I going to watch Tuesdays at 9 (House), Wednesdays at 8 and 10 (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money respectively)? I can’t very well watch Dancing With The Stars every night! Second, how am I going to get a job when I finish school in six weeks if the writers are on strike? And finally, and this looks out for you my readers, as well as myself, how much worse are we going to let the programming we watch get? If we let the studios and networks dictate everything, pretty soon every show is going be a cheap derivitive of Heroes, Lost, ER, or Law & Order.

I encourage all of my readers (all 6 of you!) to support this strike. Write letters to the networks and studios letting them know that you support the strike and you want fair compensation for the people who sweat and toil to create your entertainment. When you drive past the studios honk in support of the picketers. If you’ve got time go down there and walk with them.

Whenever possible I will be updating you daily on what’s going on with the strike, and letting you know how you can help. Get these guys back to work so I can get to work and move out of my parent’s house.

Slacker Chic

What is it about L.A. that turns people into slackers?

When I was a freshman in college my roommate and I would get dressed up in suits and aviator shades, (or as we called them, Asshole Glasses.) every Thursday and act like assholes. We weren’t trying to be dicks to people, but there was just something about dressing well that made us feel superior to the frat boys in their Abercrombie faux vintage tees and distressed cargo pants. Those Thursdays were, of course, just a college version of playing dress up, when you used to put on dad’s shoes and suit coat and pretend like you were a grown up, but it was something that carried over to the rest of my week, and the rest of my wardrobe. I was broke 90% of the time, but I still managed to look nice. I actually IRONED my shirts every morning. My general uniform was a button down shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of beat up old dress shoes, but I took the time to shine them once a week so they stayed nice. I spent some time getting ready every morning, whether I had a job interview, class, or was just going to the caf for a cup of coffee and a bagel. Not to be conceited, but I looked GOOD.

Since I’ve moved back to L.A. I’ve seemed to find the height of fashion to be a wrinkled black t-shirt and the same pair of dirty cargo shorts that I’ve been wearing all week. And it’s not just me. In L.A. people don’t dress like they do elsewhere. Here if you want to look good, you’re supposed to look like you’re trying not to look good. The dirtier your jeans look, the cooler you are. The more wrinkled your shirt is, the less you care, and hence the hipper you are.

All of this is coming from Saturday when I had to put on a suit to go to a wedding. I got my hair cut, my suit pressed, bought a new tie, and even ironed my shirt. And good goddamn if I didn’t look better than I’ve looked in a long time.

Maybe this slacker chic comes from living in a city that is so obssessed with image. A reaction to the fact that we live in the same place as people who have personal shoppers, who get tuxedos and dresses for free, simply because they are going to a place where they might be on TV, or will get photographed for a magazine. We want to seem aloof, because we don’t want people to think we’re affected by where we are.

It also doesn’t help that the paparazzi show us pictures of Brad Pitt doing yardwork in a dirty pair of workman’s pants and a sweaty old t-shirt. But let’s be honest about a few things. First, you can put Brad Pitt in a fat woman’s mumu, and he’s still gonna look like a stud. Second, Brad looks better when he’s in his Oscar De La Renta tux. Finally, YOU aren’t Brad Pitt.

I’m not saying there isn’t a place for your ratty shorts, your favorite college tee, your jeans with holes so big they’re more space than substance. But lets use them like Brad does. Wear them when you’re working in the yard, on your car, whatever. My favorite shorts are a hideous red, yellow and blue plaid. They’re comfortable, lightweight, and bright enough to light Vegas for a week. But I vow, starting today, to wear them only when golfing, or when I plan not to leave the house. I vow to start shaving everyday...ok that's not true, I really hate shaving, but I vow not to let it get beyond a 5 o'clock shadow. I vow to start wearing clean clothes EVERY day, not just MONday.

September 12th

I think it's really morbid when people post about what they were doing on 9/11/01 on 9/11/07. So I waited until today to do it. It's been 6 years now since it happened, and I still remember everything with incredible detail and clarity. It was our generation's Kennedy Assassination.

Six years ago I was waiting for classes to start, which wasn't until late late September at Columbia. So I was still working my summer job clerking for a personal injury attorney in downtown Chicago. Although I'd had other office jobs, this was the first job I had where I felt like it was important. Like what I did on this job mattered. I was appearing before the bench, arguing motions (granted, they were only continuance requests, but still. The court reporter was writing down what I said.) I was typing up briefs. They gave me a pager, and paid my cell bill. For the first time I had a job that depended on my wits and brains and ability to make people like me, something that couldn't be done by a trained monkey.

So on Tuesday morning, I was on the train on my way to Daley Plaza (the county court building in Chicago, a 36 story behemoth in the middle of the loop. Third tallest building in the city. And this is a city with two of the tallest buildings in the country, just to give you a sense of scale. You've probably seen it. It's the one with the giant Picasso statue out front.) I had a brief that I'd been working on at home the night before that needed to be turned into a judge first thing in the morning. The el stop was right outside the courthouse, so when I had things to drop off I just went there before i even went to the office. So i go upstairs drop off the file, flirt with the chubby girl who was the judge's clerk, so she'd take care of my shit quickly. I'm going back downstairs, and I step off the elevator and there's a sherrif's deputy posted at either end of the elevator bank herding everyone out, saying there's an emergency, and the building is being evacuated. So I head to the door, thinking, that's weird, but not particularly worried or scared.

I leave the court building and head to the deli that's on the first floor of my office's building. I go inside and get a muffin and a cup of coffee, and I'm sitting there listening to some god awful easy listening station. I hear the DJ come on and say something about an explosion at the pentagon. Then they go back to playing Michael Bolton or something ridiculous like that. I ask the counter girl if she knew what they were talking about, and she says, "I dunno, some explosion or something" thank you. very helpful.

Anyways, I go up to my office, and the secretary says, "CJ, your mom called like 5 times. She needs to talk to you." So I go back to my desk and call my mom and she's FREAKING out. "OH MY GOD!! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK" I'm saying mom, calm down. There was an explosion at the pentagon, but i'm sure it was an accident. A mistake of some kind. And she's shouting about how they blew up New York and they're going to Chicago and LA next. I get her somewhat calmed down and go into my boss's office to turn on the TV.

Holy Shit...we ARE under attack. As I stare at the towers pouring geysers of smoke and fire into the air I'm thinking jesus christ. What the hell is going on? and tom brokaw is talking but at this point we still don't know who or what did this or how it happened. and then i'm think oh shit. THIS is the next biggest city in the country and they've already got DC and NY and whats next is chicago cuz they're going to head west and hit chicago and then LA and oh shit my whole family is in LA and fuck everyone else i care about in the world is in chicago and jesus christ i'm downtown right now and i'm close to all three of the tallest buildings in the city and fuck i have to get out of the loop

....deep breath...

first things first. Call the boss and make sure he knows what's going on. Deb can you call David? David, look you know what's going on? ... OK, good, so, we're all kinda freaked out here, and we want to leave. We're not too comfortable being downtown with everything that's happened? ... So I'll call the clients and tell them not to come in. ... Well are you coming in? ... Then why the hell should we stay. ... No I'm calling the clients and telling them we're not going to be here. ... Call me later today and let me know if we're going to open the office tomorrow morning.

Hi, is this Mrs. Thompson? ... Hi ma'am this is Charles in David K's office, we spoke last week? ...yes ma'am, well I was calling to let you know that we are closing down the office today in response to the tragedy in New York. ... Yes ma'am it's incredible. I have the TV in the office on it. ... Yes ma'am we'll call you later this week to reschedule your appointment with Mr. K. ... You too, ma'am.

Hi, Mrs. Washington? ... Yes, ma'am, it's Charles from Mr. K.'s office. ... Well I'm actually calling to reschedule ma'am. Yes, in response to the tragedy...the one in New York? ... Turn on any of the big channels ma'am. ... yes it's terrible. ... Yes, ma'am we're actually leaving the office to get out of the downtown area for the rest of the day. ... Yes ma'am God bless you too, and you be careful as well.

As I'm hanging up the phone one of the building security guys with his vaguely military looking jacket busts into our office shouting about an evacuation, everybody out of the building. At this point we're calm in my office and we leave in an orderly manner.

Twenty-five minutes later I'm finally on a train, and it's insane. Except for the el platforms, the whole loop was empty. You only saw people if they were headed to the trains. I later found out that the city had evacuated the whole loop in case there was an attack on chicago.

I'd never been on an el train that quiet. small pockets of people asking what other people knew. I had my headphones on and a Johnny Cash album in my discman, which was just surreal, hearing that gravelly voice, while looking at these people on a morning of nationwide mourning.

After that I made my way back to my apartment where I found Nick and Riley and a few cases of beer. We spent the rest of the day on the couch drinking beer, occassionally commenting on the fact that we'd feel much safer if Peter Jennings was the President, and Riley calling friends and family every half hour trying to find out any news about his old high school friend who worked in the north tower.

I can't remember what I did last friday, but this day is permanently burned in.

My thoughts and prayers are still with the loved ones who lost or were lost, and with the country.

amen.

Rules of The Road

I spend a lot of my time here in LA on the road, and as such I have observed a few things that seem to be common truths with most of the people on the roads. If you just follow these simple rules, you won't find me yelling at you when I finally get to somewhere I can pass your dumb, slow-drivin ass.

IF YOU ARE IN THE FUCKING FAST LANE, YOU HAVE TO DRIVE FASTER THAN 65!!!! You stupid asshole, if you want to only drive the speed limit, thats fine, and kudos to you for having the forsight and planning ability to leave on time. However, please understand that some of us may be be running a little late, traffic might be worse than expected, or for whatever reason, we HAVE TO MOVE FASTER THAN YOU!!!!!!!!!! And, in many cases, the slow traffic is YOUR FAULT anyways!!! So, if you refuse to drive in the 75-80 range, get the fuck over to the right.

Also, if you are at a light with an unprotected left, PULL INTO THE FUCKING INTERSECTION!! If you just pull forward ten feet, you not only will still be safe, but you will also allow TWO more people to go. So don't be an asshole, just pull forward. Its not that hard. Just tap the tall skinny pedal on the right. You can do it. Come on.

When it's raining, you don't have to slow down to 35 mph. You can keep going a relatively decent speed. It's not 1967 when the roads were made of tar and all the oil would float to the surface. The roads are concrete...and you know those little grooves in the road? they're there to sluice away the excess water so you don't hydroplane. you can keep driving at a good clip, and if you feel yourself start to hydroplane, just take your foot off the gas. you'll get your car under control and make it.

Don't pace the cars next to you. if you're in the fast lane go slightly faster than the car to your right. same if you're in the middle. if you pace people, others can't pass you, and sometimes they need to.

Pay attention to whats going on around you. Check your review and side mirrors often, at least a few times a minute. If you see someone coming up behind you fast, or riding your ass, move over to the right so they can pass. They're not supposed to pass on the right, so you need to move over for them to pass.

I have had many different cars in the 10 years since I got my license. Some of them were little gutless wonder 4 bangers, and some were 8 cylinder beasts. In not a single one of them have I EVER had trouble getting up to 65 on the on-ramp to the freeway. The point of an on-ramp is to allow you to get your speed about equal to that of the flow of traffic. Next time you are going 45 when you are getting into the flow of traffic, I'm going to throw a shake on your windshield.

If you too obey these simple rules of the road, the whole world will be a happier, more harmonious place.

brand new

This is my brand new blog. As a general rule it will always be hilarious, always be enlightening, and generally be short. life in the greater Los Angeles area will be the general grist for the mill here, although the occassional foray into politics, art/media criticism, and of course that special area of expertise for bloggers, pointless blathering and self-indulgent whining. Below are a few older things, that I've posted here to get you all started. If there's anything you'd like me to tackle just let me know.

ENJOY!

The New American Lexicon (Part 1)

I've been finding new words like a mad man, and so i thought i would start an installment plan to allow all of you, my valued and beloved readers the opprotunity to share in this verdant verbal feast. Each word will have a story about where it came from, a definition, and an example of usage. Each entry will have a few new words that have something in common, which I am going to call Assosciatives, even though I don't think that is really a word. Add it to the lexicon. For instance: In this, installment one of an ongoing series, are words that sound kinda gay, but really, they aren't i swear.

1. Fag Along- While spending some time with a friend, we were commenting on the fact that all his brother's friends were gay men. My friend said that it was like his brother was a fag hag. I pointed out that a fag hag is a straight woman who hangs out with gay men, which is clearly not what the brother was. After a few attempts at a new word for the straight man with a majority of gay friends, I hit upon the term "fag along", which has it's root in the phrase "tag along", or one who follows a group.
Fag Along- (n) A straight man who hangs out mostly with gay men, attending gay functions, parades, clubs etc, but with no interest in a sexual liasion.
"Hi my name is Andy, and this is my friend Eric. I know Eric is cute, but leave him alone guys, he's my fag along."

2. Broner-I can't take credit for creating this one. This one was used in an episode of Californication recently. Hank is talking to his agent about what it's called when a man makes physical contact with another man, and feels a little "tingle" down there. After a while he comes up with broner.
Broner- (n) An unintentional erection caused by another man. Not sexual in nature.
"So my girlfriend got me a massage this weekend, and it was great, but while the guy was working on the knots in my shoulder I got a little bit of a broner. Kinda awkward dude."

3. Bromantic- A couple of weeks ago a friend and I were hanging out at my place, watching movies, drinking wine, shooting pool, and swimming. At one point I turned to him and said, "ya know, if you were a beautiful woman, this would be a totally romantic night....But you're not a girl, so tonight is more.....bromantic."
Bromantic- (Adj) A descriptive term for a night spent with one or more male friends during which typical "date" activities (of a non sexual nature)are partaken. i.e. Dinner, movies, drinks, etc.
"Last night Dan and I went to this really cool little lounge bar and drank martinis. It was totally bromantic until we met these two girls."

I am giving you these words and I hope you use them. Just please, if anyone asks you where you got it, direct them to this blog. I'd like to increase my reader base in the hope that i can turn this into a money making endeavour and stop whoring myself.

Some Upcoming Assosciatives:
Sexual Terms (Things that make the donkey punch look like missionary)
New Drinks
New Drinking Lingo
Business Place double entendres
...
AND MANY MORE!!! STAY TUNED!

Teenage Commutin Ninja Turtles

Is it just me or does the President's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence seem retarded, even for a guy who thinks that the words "decider" and "strategery" make sense in common speech?

I understand that this is a power specifically granted the president in the Constitution, and I suppose we should be glad it is there, since he usually ignores that silly old piece of paper anyway...at least THIS TIME he didn't just make up a new power for himself, unlike when he ignored that silly ol' fourth amendment about unlawful search and seizure (warrentless wiretapping), or when he began to issue "signing statements" effectively nullifying parts of the law that may prove bothersome later, or when he decided that the only African groups that would get AIDS aid (see how i used the same word twice to mean different things? Clever, eh? And, unlike the President, it actually made sense when I did it.) were those that preached abstinence only, since any form of contraception is against the will of the Lord God (Who needs that dumb First Amendment? We weren't using it anyway.). Apparently God wants African babies to be born with AIDS. That'll teach them to be born to poor people. Maybe next time they'll find a nice family in Newport Beach, or Westlake Village to have them...sorry, that went on a little longer than I intended, but there are just so many great things to say about the way this administration has used the Constitution as fish wrapping...

Back to my main point, I understand that the President has the power to commute or pardon any sentence he feels like, and I even think that it's a good thing the President can do that. But really. Scooter Libby? Scooter Libby, who didn't even serve a single DAY in prison or jail? To quote Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, "...Even Paris Hilton had to go to jail." Paris Hilton went and served her time, and Libby doesn't have to do anything but pay a fine? Are you really telling me that driving on a suspended license is a worse offense than Perjury, Obstruction of Justice, and what, when you get right down to it, amounts to TREASON (Outting a covert CIA operative.)? If that's the case, why don't you issue post-humous (that means they're already dead Mr. President) pardons or commutations to Benedict Arnold and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? They all committed treason too.

My point is not that the President shouldn't exercise this power. He should, it's a good thing. But he should start with people who ACTUALLY deserve it. Start with people who have actually served some time, and maybe learned a lesson or two. Instead, he uses it to let his buddy play a get out of jail free card.

In regard to the commutation, Barack Obama said, "The decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and it's ideology above the law." Typically, this is the point of a Presidency when the administration starts to worry about the legacy they leave behind, and how they will be remembered. I believe that's at least part of the reason that President Bush pushed for the Immigration reform bill. He wanted people to have some positive things to look at from his time in office. But apparently, now that the bill has been defeated, he doesn't care about his legacy anymore, and is just doing whatever he pleases with the time left to him.

I suppose the real reason this bothers me, when you get right down to it, is that some sub-concious part of me wanted to believe that, (Even though I disagree with the man's politics, and he's shown me time and again that he doesn't.) he still had some sort of integrity, more out of hope that the office, if not the man, would have less of a stain.

But after freeing Scooter Libby, any last shred or vestage of faith I had in this president has been blown away.

Hopefully he can make it through these final months of his abortion of a presidency without fucking up too badly.

(P.S.: Teenage Commutin Ninja Turtles is a reference to the fact that Dick Cheney kinda looks like a turtle. An evil one. Don't believe me? Go to: http://www.iflipflop.com/cheney_short_of_breath.jpg He really does look like an evil turtle doesn't he?)
(P.P.S.: And just as a fun reminder, George W. Bush looks like a chimp. Don't believe me? Go to: http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/l/7/bush_chimp.jpg Now you can never doubt me again.)

Iraq Z

So I'm a little confused about the whole iraq situation.

before i go any further let me, in the interest of full disclosure say:
I am a liberal. Not a crazy, tree hugging one, but i definitely lean more to the liberal side of the political spectrum.
On the one hand, i think it is the job of the government to take care of ALL people, not just the wealthy, but i also don't think that people should just be given a hand out. if the government is giving you money to help you survive, you need to be making every effort to find a source of income for yourself.
I believe that there is such a thing as global warming, I think that a big cause of it is big gas guzzling cars, but I DO drive an SUV. I carpool everywhere I can, try to walk whenever possible, etc, but still, my car gets really bad gas mileage.
I believe in a woman's right to choose, but i don't think abortion should be some sort of last chance birth control. if you're gonna bone, get a condom, on the pill, patch or shot, whatever...to paraphrase President Clinton's view on abortion, it should be Safe, Legal, and Rare.
Just to make sure that no one accuses me of being some goddamn treehugging commie hippie liberal, I wanted to lay those facts out there. I am definitely middle of the road, politically.

Now that i've got that out of the way, I just really don't understand the foreign policy of this country. I know that the president is the only person who has the constitutional right/responsibility to set a foreign policy, but congress and the courts DO have checks and balances for a reason. mostly to keep a president from becoming a psycho autocratic ruler who can just do whatever he wants. but congress and the courts haven't been using those checks and things are just going frickin HAYWIRE.

in november the country issued a clear mandate to the government. we do not support the war in iraq. That mandate was certainly more clear cut than the one President Bush claimed after the 2004 election (that would be his "clear mandate" of a whopping .1% victory) The majority of democratic congress people who were elected ran on not much other than that. but they haven't done anything to put a check on the president's war. they have had a few chances now to try to change the course of events in iraq, and in each case they have backed down.

and just to put this out there, i am completely torn on the issue of the war. On the one hand, I never supported the war, I thought that "wmd" was complete bullshit, but now that we have completely FUCKED this country (a sovereign nation that never attacked us, by the way) I feel like we have a responsibility to help fix it. but clearly, what we have been doing to try to fix it isn't working. more people die every day, (not always americans, but contrary to what you hear on the TV, turns out Iraqis are human beings too.) and it has become increasingly clear that what we are doing IS NOT WORKING. So we need to try SOMETHING else. I can't say WHAT else we should. I don't have access to any of the information that is necessary to make an informed decision on how to fix things. but other people, Congress, the military, the cabinet, and the president himself, DO. It is all of their responsibility to try to fix this mess somehow.

Thats all...sorry if this was a bit long winded or less than clear and concise. it was brought up because i have a friend shipping out to Iraq in less than a week, and I thought by now we would be starting to bring people home, not sending more out.

Anyways, If you think i'm completely off base tell me. If you think i'm right tell me. Just please don't either a.) call me a terrorist, or french, or any of the other things you right wingers like to call anyone who disagrees with you, or b.) just say "fuck bush" or "pull the troops out yesterday" or anything you left wingers like to throw out when you don't have anything helpful to say. I'd love to have a logical, sensible dialogue with people about this issue, so let me know what you think.

What a tool...

you know you're a total tool when you spend 3 hours...yes hours... engrossed in history channel shows about star wars.

The first two hours was a show about the legends that star wars was based on. Of course most everyone (at least everyone who took rolland's rhet crit class) knows about the hero's journey, and that it was the basis for the star wars movies. but i did learn a few other interesting things:

-When Vader cuts off luke's hand, it was meant to symbolize the "mark of cain" (the mark God put on Cain after he murdered Abel) because it was a mark of the sins of the father, that were passed to the son. (in the case of star wars, Anakin's arrogant belief that he could face a sith lord as a mere padawan.)

-The word "mentor" comes from the oddessy, and was the name of the loyal servant to oddyseus who watched over and taught oddyseus' son while oddyseus was away.

-leia and padme represent "the feminine," which is the same thing that the davinci code talks about mary magdelene representing.

The last hour was a show about the technology of star wars, and what is actually feasible today. Most of it I watched and said "well, no shit...it's a fucking MOVIE. Of course it's not real." However:

-The suit that keeps vader alive is not only plausible, but is only a few years away from being common place.

-the ion engines that power the spaceships in starwars when they AREN'T at lightspeed are real...NASA uses them for deep space, unmanned probes. (Faster than light travel is still alas, only a dream.)

-Lightsabers are possible. thats right...FUCKING LIGHTSABERS ARE FUCKING POSSIBLE....They would actually be made of plasma, which is the fourth state of matter...yes, there's a 4th state of matter, not just liquid solid and gas like they told us in school, i'll explain it later if you'd like...at this point to make something like a lightsaber would take a warehouse full of equipment to run, as opposed to something that fits in your hand, but then again, the blackberry in my pocket has more computing power than the computers that it took a warehouse to house 60 years ago.

anyways, just in case any of you were unclear on just how dorky I am, this should settle it for you.

Waxing Philosophic In The Hills

So i know I am breaking at least a few man laws by doing this, but...

I was watching the hills last night on MTV, and I was so stoked that Heidi finally decided to ditch spencer. the guy is one GIANT bag of douche and a half. He cheated on her all the time, and even tried to hook up with one of her close friends.

Heidi is crazy hot, and the closest spencer ever came to doing anything remotely boyfriendy for her was when he tried to stick up for her to one of her co-workers...but even that turned into him trying to start a fight with the guy, and making fun of his sunglasses. Such a total douche.

So at the end of last week/the beginning of this week, she sent him packing. Cool. She's hot, she works the line at area, which is like a block from my best friends place, so i can totally hook it up. except then, at the end of the episode, she decides to give the guy a second chance.

Why do you girls do that? what is it about total douche bag cheating guys that you find attractive?

I know I know, this is a lot of ridiculousness considering it was brought on by The Hills, but I just can never understand that shit, and seeing it on that show distilled the whole process down to it's essence in one quick half hour. start of show: you're a cheating douche. end of the show: i'm sorry, it was all my fault.

Huh?

Can anyone explain this? (Other than the pat: "girl's like bad boys" or "girls like guys who treat them like shit" I mean explain WHY they like people who treat them like shit.)