Books, movies, politics, and whatever I want

Archive for March, 2012

Human Achievement Hour: March 31 8:30 pm

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

Remember to celebrate Human Achievement Hour tonight at 8:30pm

Friday B-Movie Pick: Scoop

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Scoop

Woody Allen’s latest movie. I was a bit hestitant about watching this after the horribly bad Curse of the Jade Scorpion, but I figured at worst, Scarlett Johansson might provide some decent eye candy, which she does BTW. I was pleasantly surprised that this flick was much better than the last effort I saw by the Woodman, but then that bar wasn’t set very high. At least he didn’t cast himself as the romantic lead in this one, instead taking the role of the helpful elder, sort like your goofy uncle who alway avoided those ‘respectible’ jobs. Hugh Jackman supplies the eye candy for those who aren’t into curvy blonde females. You won’t be studying this one in film school, unless you are doing a theis on Woody Allen, but this one was worth the rental and home made popcorn.

Friday B-Movie Archive

A Heartbeat from the Oval Office

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Joe Biden, our current Vice-President and the anti-Dick Cheney, has managed to prove his level of competence once again.

Yup, this guy is more of a bullet proof vest than Dan Quayle ever was.

“Californian to Texan” translation guide.

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Doug Ross put together this handy translation guide because of the large number of jobs leaving California and relocating to Texas.

CALIFORNIA TEXAS
Arsenal of Weapons Gun Collection
Delicate Wetlands Swamp
Undocumented Worker Illegal Alien
Cruelty-Free Materials Synthetic Fiber
Assault and Battery Attitude Adjustment
Heavily Armed Well-protected
Narrow-minded Righteous
Taxes or Your Fair Share Coerced Theft
Commonsense Gun Control Gun Confiscation Plot
Illegal Hazardous Explosives Fireworks for Stump Removal
Nonviable Tissue Mass Unborn Baby
Equal Access to Opportunity Socialism
Multicultural Community High Crime Area
Fairness or Social Progress Marxism
Upper Class or “The Rich “ Self-Employed
Progressive, Change Big Government Scheme
Homeless or Disadvantaged Bums or Welfare Leeches
Sniper Rifle Scoped Deer Rifle
Investment For the Future Higher Taxes
Healthcare Reform Socialized Medicine
Extremist, Judgmental, or Hater Conservative
Truants Homeschoolers
Victim or Oppressed Criminal or Lazy Good-For-Nothing
High Capacity Magazine Standard Capacity Magazine
Religious Zealot Church-going
Reintroduced Wolves Sheep and Deer Killers
Fair Trade Coffee Overpriced Yuppie Coffee
Exploiters or “The Rich “ Employed or Land Owner
The Gun Lobby NRA Members
Assault Weapon Semi-Auto (Grandpa’s M1 Carbine)
Fiscal Stimulus New Taxes and Higher Taxes
Mandated Eco-Friendly Lighting Chinese Mercury-Laden Light Bulbs

HT to AoSHQ

Monday Book Pick: The Steampunk Detective

Monday, March 26th, 2012

The Steampunk Detective by Darrel Pitt

A light hearted hat tip to Sherlock Holmes, with a thinly disgusied WWI vet operating in a Steampunk 1920s. The author includes characters and references from multiple sources of the Holmes era, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The detective’s young ward, an orphaned high wire artist, is a references to Bob Kane’s best known character’s first sidekick. There have been a bunch of books lately that float on sea of historical and literary references, ranging from the extremely well done (the Anno Dracula) series, to bizarre shock lit (The Adventures of Ned the Seal). The Steampunk Detective falls somewhere in the middle of that. This book can be read by young teens (or younger), where the other two would not be a good choice for young audience.

Monday Book Pick Archive

Sunday SciFi: New Star Trek: Phase 2 trailer

Sunday, March 25th, 2012

If you haven’t seen Star Trek Phase 2 yet, check it out!

Inserting reality into Obama’s spin on Solyndra

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

“It is true that “Republicans and Democrats” approved a green energy loan guarantee program. But “Republicans and Democrats” did not approve this loan guarantee program. As FactCheck.org reminds us, the program under which Solyndra was handed $500 million in taxpayer money was authorized in the Obama/Reid/Pelosi partisan “stimulus” bill of 2009. Zero House Republicans voted for that law. Also, a previous Solyndra loan application was explicitly rejected by Bush-era actuaries because of its inherent soundness problems. Some of Obama’s bookkeepers continued to warn against its approval, but they were overruled by the White House political team because the president’s allies were determined to make the company the “poster child” of his green vision. That’s also why Obama ignored internal worries and held a big presidential photo-op at Solyndra’s (now-defunct) factory. The list goes on: Obama DOE officials sat in on Solyndra board meetings. One of Solyndra’s top investors, George Kaiser — who just happened to be a major Obama campaign donor — also just happened to make a flurry of White House visits right before the doomed loan was given the thumbs-up. Kaiser and the White House claimed they didn’t discuss Solyndra during those meetings. They lied. We also know that even after Solyndra defaulted on its initial loan, Obama’s Energy Department conveniently restructured the loan terms, assuring that investors like George Kaiser would be first in line to get paid if (when) the company went belly-up. Obama owns this mess, and he knows it. But he’s obfuscating and dissembling to save his own skin.”

Guy Benson writing at Townhall.com.  Read the whole thing.

Danish Broadcasting Corporation Show Host Analyzes Obama’s Rhetoric

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Given his Harvard Law Degree, he should notice that his speech writers have gotten really, really lazy.
It also could be that he has noticed, but just doesn’t care. Our Dear Leader is probably more worried about when his next golf game is coming up.

HT to AoSHQ

Quote of the Day

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

“Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples’ money,
except when it comes to questions of national survival when they
prefer to be generous with other people’s freedom and security.”

William F. Buckley Jr, 1925-2008

How to enable the start menu in Windows 8

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

This requires the use of regedit. Pretty straightforward though.

Originally posted at Urbin Technology.