He lived long and we prospered.

Star Trek was a major influence on me in my formative years, giving a view of morality, politics, and tolerance which have informed my life since then, along with many other influences. Nimoy's Spock was a big part of that.

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy. 

 
Spock: Do not grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many, outweigh...

Kirk: The needs of the few.

Spock: Or the one.

Sad "State of Affairs"

I tried to slog through the premiere of "State of Affairs" on the DVR last night, but it was impossible to make it through. I enjoy "The Blacklist" (James Spader is AMAZING in that show), and this one is holding the same time slot for a few months. I watched about a third of it, and it's descent into jingoist pro-unfettered intelligence community powers  finally got to me.

Wrapping oneself in the flag
couldn't get any more literal . . . .

Such propaganda, embodied in "24"'s pro-torture plot lines, is part of what is making the surrender of our freedoms possible. The "ticking time bomb" urgency that says any means can be used to "save lives" (or corporate assets) is morally disgusting and ethically repugnant. Yet "24" style scenarios were presented in Congressional hearings as justification for "enhanced interrogation" techniques like water-boarding. These are fictional (and poorly conceived, however stylish they may look) television shows,
NOT documentaries. Having another show to mine this territory is terrible. We cannot protect the principles of freedom and limits on law enforcement which this country was founded on by forsaking them. And shows like "State of Affairs" soften up the American citizenry for just such an end.

I hope this show dies a quick and merciful death, though not at the hands of the C. I. A. assassins it tries to make heroes out of.

Maurice Sendak Goes Where the Wild Things Are

(Via the New York Times)

Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche, died on Tuesday in Danbury, Conn. He was 83 Ridgand lived inefield, Conn.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 2
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

So True:

(Via Savage Chickens)

Always ahead of the curve!

(Via Ebert) This was in

1994! I got my first computer two years later. It's pathetic the lack of awareness these paragons of the media show.

Corporate news flexes its muscle

I just found out that Keith Olbermann's Countdown was canceled tonight, apparently just before going on the air. With two years remaining of a four year contract, the new MSNBC/Comcast corporate masters abruptly terminated their top rated commentator.

People are batting back and forth about whether Keith was a pompous jerk or the great left hope, but I will say this: I have one less reason to turn on the tube with him absent from the airwaves. He was always an interesting guy, never shy about speaking truth to power, and I appreciated his willingness to use his bully pulpit to rail about injustice and unfairness.

I loved his commentaries during his father's health problems leading to his death. Olbermann showed a truly human side of himself, and more than once brought tears to my eyes. His sharing during that time was classic television. He stood up for the victims of bush's Katrina policy, against our insane wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the people savaged by Arizona's transplant debacle, against the Republican (and Democratic) obstructionists, and for the gays and lesbians in the military. He called 'em like he saw 'em, and he took the idiots who are selling our country down the river to task for their greed and hypocrisy.

I hope the future holds more for this master of the righteous rant. I will miss his voice. We'll see in the next few days just what the rationale for this was, but to my way of thinking, as long as money controls the airwaves, voices for truth and reason will have a difficult time being heard.

The new way to "debate"

I watched Rachel Maddow attempt to interview Art Robinson on her show the other night, and this was the clearest example of the technique that a lot of the new Republican party (also know as the Tea Party) uses to divert direct questions about who is backing them and what they believe. The strange and bewildering evidence is here:



The utterly arrogant and despicable way this man demeans some very legitimate questions from Rachel, and acts as if he is a victim, rather than a blowhard asshole. He acts offended that Rachel would ask questions about statements he has published in the past, as if it has NOTHING TO DO with what he will do if he is elected. He seems to believe that critical analysis of his record is an attack, rather than a simple presentation of the truth. As Rachel says, he seems not to know what the word sarcasm means. I guess scientists like Robinson don't have to understand the words they fling at others.

We are going to see a lot of this crap, and it is what is putting any attempt at discourse in America into the toilet. I hope Robinson winds up where he belongs: on the garbage heap of history.

Quote for the Day (Martyred Rock Star Division)

If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace. - John Lennon

Happy birthday, John

"At the Movies" to air last show today:

(Via blogs.vocalo.org)

The longest running and most respected movie-review show in television history will tape its final broadcast today for airing this weekend. And when it’s over, the imaginary balcony that Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert first opened in 1975 will be closed forever.

This show was one of the schools that taught me how to watch movies; not just as a passive experience, but as an active, critical experience. starting with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, it was a fixture of my television viewing, and after some rocky transitions, the last seasons with Michael Phillips and Tony Scott were outstanding. The fact that the hosts often were at odds over this or that film made watching a pleasure, and their humor echoed the rivalry/friendship that Gene and Roger displayed for many years.

Taking over its Saturday night timeslot the following week will be “On the Red Carpet,” a syndicated celebrity news show, co-hosted by a former Miss USA and a former correspondent for “Extra,” offering viewers “front row access to premieres, award shows and special events, movie star interviews and more.”

Ah, just what the world needs! Another celebrity obsessed bit of pablum. This is an example of the bleakness of our American culture as it stands today. Oh well, I know what I won't be watching on Saturday evenings.

Goodbye, "At the Movies".

Only an expert

Laurie Anderson with one of her latest:

"Toking" with Lawrence Welk

(Via WorldWideWadio)
Larry calls this a "modern spiritual." Well, I guess you could say that if you're a rastafarian. And the way she's bouncing on his lap makes me wonder what she's inspiring in him . . . .

This is taking reality TV too far:

(From Huffington Post)

NEW YORK — "The Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith is scheduled to have a colonoscopy Wednesday, with live reports planned as he undergoes the procedure at a New York hospital.

CBS says it will be the first time an anchor has had a colonoscopy live on network television.

Uh, can we hope this is not a trend, and it will also be the LAST time?

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass. Rube Goldberg is smiling!!!!

Okay---too cool not to post. How many takes do you think this took?

Classic stuff from "The Daily Show"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Apparent Trap
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

It's funny because it's true:

(Via Oliver Willis)

The terrorists Have got us right where they want us

(Via BBC News)

A US Airways flight was diverted to Philadelphia after a young Jewish man's prayer items triggered a bomb scare, Philadelphia police said.

The incident arose when the man used a phylactery, a small black box Orthodox Jews strap to their head as part of their prayer rituals, police said.

The man was not arrested and the plane landed without incident.

US airports are on high alert after a Nigerian man was held over an alleged bomb plot on a plane last month.

His device allegedly malfunctioned and he was quickly overpowered by passengers and crew on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The latest incident took place on a 50-seat regional jet originally bound for Louisville, Kentucky from New York's LaGuardia airport. It landed in Philadelphia at about 0900 local time (1400 GMT).

Phylacteries - called tefillin in Hebrew - are two small boxes of black leather, with straps attached to them.

Observant Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm as part of their morning prayers.

Another example of how the people who perpetrated 9/11 have accomplished exactly what they wanted—to terrify us into destroying ourselves.

Remember the old Twilight Zone episode, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," where aliens use the paranoia of the townspeople to make them turn on each other so they can watch at a safe distance? This is just what Osama Bin Laden and his lackeys envisioned in their attacks; making us so scared we see terrorists in every person who is a little different from us. In a society which supposedly prides itself on diversity, fear of the "other" can cripple us. It is already happening among the right wing tea-baggers who see our President as a "foreign" influence, bent on the destruction of our society.

By giving in to fear, those who preach of racial profiling and draconian justice are doing just what Osama and his punks want. In fact, they are NO DIFFERENT from the terrorists, it that they wish to undermine and destroy the American way of life.

Sir Real meets Madam Apple Juice:

(Via Metafilter)




This makes me happy in Paraguay!

A rant:

Looking for a job right now is like buying a lottery ticket. ANY job, even very minimal part time jobs, have 40 applicants. And I'm talking about where I live, which is a pretty small, rural location. I've been looking now for quite a while, and it is just getting worse.

So what's a fella to do? I just keep looking, sending off resumes and making calls. But, here's the deal: they keep saying on the various punditry shows that things MAY get worse. Dudes, things are already worse, they are going to get DIRE. It is so indicative of how isolated the commentating class is from what life is like out here in the real world. The bubble that surrounds the political animals of this nation (we know THEY haven't got a clue) has grown to encompass the various mass media types who shovel the manure on TV, in the papers, and in magazines.

And ya know, except for the times around elections, they really don't even pretend to listen to the general citizenry any more. Be they "journalists" or "elected officials", they are all the same. And we don't matter.

If I sound a bit bitter here, I am. I think these lyrics from the Rolling Stones' Salt of the Earth still apply:

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let's drink to the uncounted heads
Let's think of the wavering millions
Who need leaders but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

For George

A wonderful tribute to George Carlin, via illdoctrine:

North Coast weather can be dramatic

So our North coast weather kicked our asses again over the last week or so. First came the rains, and then the winds began . . . .

I understand some of the gusts exceeded eighty mph. I do know that living in the forest can be quite unnerving at times like this . . . .
We had just started to drop off to sleep, when we were shaken out of bed by a loud crash, and pictures on the walls and stuff on the shelves came falling to the floor.

A rather large branch had dealt our bedroom a glancing blow. We moved into the living room, and other branches and one small tree also fell quite close to our sleeping quarters, as these photos taken the next morning show.

This is a rather good sized redwood branch, which missed the back wall of our bedroom by inches.

By the next day the power was out, and our phone was also a fond memory. We were basically stuck on the coast, with the major and secondary roads all blocked by fallen trees and downed power lines. Our water is fed by an electric pump, so there was no water, and we were using buckets of rain water to flush our toilets. The power was out for us for three and a half days, and we just got the phone service back yesterday.

This is what it is like here. We are blessed with the beauty of the redwoods, cypresses, and pines, but they can turn into real danger when the rain and wind combine to bring them down. It is very humbling to know that we are a very small, even minor part of this great Northwest Nowhere. And as we sat in the dark, huddled around our wood stove, we were reminded just how fragile our infrastructure really is. No telephone, no television, no internet---just candles, books, and some cards and Scrabble for entertainment.

We lost power for a few days. In Iraq the people are lucky to have power and water for a few hours a day. I certainly gives me a bit to think about.