The Pop-ulist Movement

This ad always makes me laugh at how stupid the Americans are. It really doesn't matter which side of this issue you are on... it is amazingly stupid regardless.

Even thought I love them, I am absolutely fine with a tax on snacks and drinks that are bad for us. As long as their is a restriction that the tax can only be a certain percentage of the actual cost of the item is and can NEVER go above that. I do not want a case of the government getting a taste of the easy money and coming back for more of an easy fix like they do with cigarettes.

I think cigarettes are unfairly taxed. The tax on tobacco products should be lowered to a similar percentage (maybe a little higher) and never allowed to be raised. If the taxes were lowered on them, the smokers would buy more anyway and the money would keep on coming. I believe in everyone's right to lead an unhealthy lifestyle.

What makes this ad so damn funny/offensive is this line...

taxes have never made anyone healthy


You've got to love such simpleminded thinking. Of course, taxes don't make people healthy.... money to cover the cost of affordable/quality healthcare does!!!!

Now that they brought it up, taxes never stopped crime or fires either! We shouldn't be taxed for police and fire protection.

They should tell the truth. This ad wasn't brought to you by Americans Against Food Taxes... It was brought to you by Morons Who Think You're One Too.

Beer with me a moment

I've been following the ongoing drama of Henry Louis Gates versus the white establishment.... also known as The Man without much real interest. Until President Obama took sides during a press conference and diminished himself just a tad. This is the man that is supposed to remain calm and collected during tense times and yet can't manage to keep a semblance of objectivity on the matter. Granted, I expected him to come down on one side or the other; and since Professor Gates is a friend, I was sure which side that might be. Unfortunately, the president can't afford the luxury of publicly taking sides. This situation was really not something requiring presidential input... especially at this stage. Being president means knowing when to hold your tongue or parse your words, and remembering the power your opinion might have.

He saved himself by admitting his error and setting up the, now famous, beer summit to help ease the tension between the arresting officer and the professor. Well done, President Mouth.

Which leads me to my opinion... Which I can give because I am not the president. Does anyone besides me see this whole drama as more about ego/pride and ego/testosterone than race? I understand the historical and social aspects behind Professor Gate's view of how things went down; I also understand the high risk of being a policeman. Still, it all seemed to be a case of Don't you know who I am! How dare you! versus If you keep giving me lip, I'm gonna haul your ass downtown!

I believe that not all policemen are racists. I do believe that they are in a high-stress job that often gives them a very short fuse when dealing with those that they are supposed to be serving and protecting. This might not have been the case with officer Crowley as I was not there.

I also believe that Professor Gates, as a black man, has lived his life with the reality of racism and is right to be suspect of authority (we all should be but he has far more reason to). Being confronted by such authority in his own home would make his fuse just as short.

Can't this be a case of short fuses rather than race? Maybe I am naive to hope that this was the case.

And that's the way it was...

I am truly saddened to hear that Walter Cronkite has died. He was one of the giants in television journalism and with good reason.

He was the voice of news during my childhood and set the standard for all of those that followed him.

My deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans.

They can kiss my shiny metal ass!

I was so excited about the return of Futurama until now. Fox has decided to hire all new actors to voice the characters rather than pay the original cast what they are worth.

I hope that Mark Evanier is correct in his belief that Fox is announcing this to convince the actors to take a lesser deal.

If it does comes to pass, I will not watch a single episode.

Movie Magic

Yesterday was a great day! It was the first day of a 6 day vacation from the drudgery of the workplace and the arrival day of Only Child's internet friend from Iowa. The highlight of the day was attending the opening night of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The record-breaking midnight showings ($22 million) was impressive but more of an indication of fan excitement rather than quality.

Being an avid fan of all things Potter, we had been waiting a long time for this movie.... and it was worth the wait. Inititially, I was worried about the fact that David Yates was going to direct the remaining movies, as I felt that the 5th installment was the weakest of the lot. I was happily surprised to find this installment to be as great an adaptation as the Prisoner of Azkaban.

It was a nice mix of teen-age romantic comedy, drama and tragedy. The young stars have grown into fine actors and gave outstanding performances, but I felt that the best performances were by Gambon, Rickman and Broadbent.

Even as a fan of the books, I found all of the changes worked well and was not too annoyed with the loss of the big aurors vs. deatheaters battle and funeral.

I would urge everyone to go see it, but I don't think anyone will need my seal of approval.

LeveRAGE

I recorded the entire first season of TNT's Leverage on my DVR but found out too late that there was a problem and episode 12 did not record. By the time I found out, they were not replaying the episodes. I set the DVR to record all episodes and waited... finally, the episode was replayed this week. Unfortunately, there was some NASCAR race on and it ran over just long enough to cut off the last few minutes of the episode.

Damn it!

Thanks for listening to my rant.

In spite of my anger/frustration, I recommend you watch the 2nd season premiere on Wednesday, July 15th.

Happy 4th!!!

Here are some fireworks for your enjoyment....

Now if she'd only promise to never speak in public

On Friday, Sarah Palin announced her resignation as governor of Alaska with 18 months left in her term.

This was a nice start. Now, if we could get her to move further away... maybe Guam; not that I have anything against Guam.

I would say Good Riddance, but something tells me that she will not go away.

One can hope.