let's set the waybak machine for the 1980's to revisit one of our favorite sci-fi movie trilogies.
no, we're not talking about star trek ii, iii and iv (the wrath of kahn, the search for spock, and the voyage home, respectively), three really great films which involve a contiguous time line for three different, yet compelling, adventures.
we are instead thinking about the great back to the future franchise. the 25th anniversary of bttf is this year, and universal has released a special blu-ray disc box set of the movies to celebrate.
of course, several cable channels are re-running all three films to acknowledge the watershed mark of this ingenious story. and you can't peruse any sci-fi blogs without running across an essay about marty, doc, biff and jennifer jason leigh.
one of the most amusing, however, is found on gawker, where kristina lucarelli muses about 14 things that back to the future part 2 got right about living in the 21st century (and 5 that haven't).
kristina points out that when marty mcfly travels from 1985 to see his future self in 2015, steven spielberg and bob zemeckis correctly predicted such culture and scientific phenomenae as flat screen tvs, handheld electronic computer devices, obsession w/3d sequels, video conferencing and self-lacing sneakers. she also mentions that real flying cars and real hoverboards are actually in the works as you read this.
one of our favorite future faux-pas, however, is also mentioned: everybody faxes everything all the time. as soon as the 1990's rolled around w/the internet, we found this prediction of bttf ii to be quaint. also, unfortunately, the prospect of queen diana of england was sadly never realized, but who could blame zemeckis for getting that one wrong?
but hey, it's still a rousing great film, and the trilogy is one of the funniest every made. skippy had the pleasure of seeing all three back-to-back-to-back at the los angeles premiere of bttf iii at the (now defunct) cinerama dome.
in our clever, snarky way, we recently mentioned that ratings for both fox news and nascar were down double digits, and we labeled the post "is america getting smarter?"
several of our readers and friends pointed out that it was a false equivalency. personally, we just thought it was a joke, but our critics were absolutely correct, there is no reason or justification for assuming that nascar fans are a priori fox news watchers and visa versa.
we apologize for assuming, because when we assume, we make an ass out of us. or something.
so sean, kulkuri and jack k, you are absolutely right. (they also presented some cogent theories on why espn lost viewers for nascar.)
I got home from work last night, did this and that around the apartment, then went online. And that was when I first heard of that cowardly asshole of a Rand Paul supporter, Tim Profitt, stomping on Lauren Valle's head and giving her a concussion. I started to write a post about that, but these days, whenever I start to get so pissed off that I can't think straight, I stop whatever I'm doing.*
That's why I'm not going to bother with the story about Profitt wanting Valle to apologize to him for attacking his foot with her head. I'm not going to bother with the ridiculous Big Journalism reader who likened Valle to Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the Manson family woman who tried to assassinate Gerald Ford, either. And I'm definitely not going to paint Lauren Valle as some sort of martyr. I've seen the video of her holding that sign up a few feet away from Rand Paul -- by now, everyone has -- and as far as I'm concerned, she's a complete fucking idiot for doing that.
This is about what pissed me off so bad that I couldn't think straight last night, and that was seeing the video of Profitt stomping on Valle's head. And the way that footage looks to me, if it wasn't for that guy who was holding Valle down raising his hand and going "No, no, no" after Profitt did that, I'm almost positive he would have stomped her a second time, maybe even a third. Ooooo, what a BIG MANhe is.
Plain and simple: You, don't, do, that, here. EVER! Politics has nothing to do with this shit -- if it had been a male MoveOn activist stomping on the head of a female Tea Partier, I would have been just as blindly pissed off. This isn't Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Pol Pot's Cambodia, or Stalin's Russia. This is the United States of America. YOU, DON'T, DO, THAT, HERE. EVER!
That's all I have to say. I'm starting to go blind again...
{*: That, by the way, is also one big reason why I no longer really want to blog over at skippy's place -- the last few posts I wrote over here, before deleting a whole slew of posts I'd written for him, contained some of the ugliest shit in them that I've ever written. I have no wish to repeat that behavior, but all the same, this is the biggest venue I have where I can speak my mind. So I did...}
probably not. but a couple of indicators might suggest that they're getting bored w/the "real murika" stuff, apparently:
fox news dominated the cable news landscape in third quarter of 2010 and had the top 11 programs in cable news for the month of september, though the network was down -21% in total viewers and down -26% in younger viewers compared to sept. 2009 (total day, mon-sun) - tvnewser
but wait, there's more!
nascar's chase for the sprint cup moved from abc to espn this year, but tv viewers haven't followed.
ratings for the first four chase races in 2010 were down 27 percent compared with last year. the decline is enough of a concern that top espn and nascar executives met in charlotte last weekend to come up with ways to reverse the trend.
it's a drop-off that has caught network and property executives off guard, and it has led them to analyze viewership patterns to pinpoint reasons for the decline.
as of last week, no one had a clear answer.
"the simple fact is that people just are not tuning in," said julie sobieski, espn's vice president of programming and acquisitions. "we're looking at everything to find out why." - nascar.com
tonight we pay homage to a remarkable little guy...who touched hearts worldwide...who left the sporting world far too early. goodbye, paul. we love you.
as we mentioned earlier today in miscellany (below), a moveon.org member was beated and stomped on @ the kentucky senatorial debate yesterday. there has been much movement on the story since then:
greg sargent reports that the stomper has been identified as rand paul bourbon county coordinator tim profitt. the lexington police have released this statement:
today, october 26, 2010, detectives identified the suspect, involved in the assault, as tim profitt. mr. profitt is currently being served with a criminal summons ordering him to appear before a fayette county district court judge.
the washpost update reports that the paul campaign has fired profitt, even tho profitt has "apologized" for the incident.
tim profitt w/rand paul, in happier times
the moveon member, lauren valle, was hospitalized briefly, and released with diagnosis of a concussion and sprained arm.
meanwhile, barefoot and progressive points out that a full-page ad supporting rand paul in the herald leader contains (among others) the endorsement of tim profitt, the man identified as the stomper.
those darn teabaggers! w/joe miller's "security squad" unlawfully detaining a reporter (w/handcuffs!), and christine o'donnell's staff pushing a reporter down into a chair, it's becoming more clear just exactly what the baggers stand for (and what color their shirts are)!
(thx and a tip o'the kangaroo tail to memeorandum for the majority of the links!)
the advocate finds that the white house wants to make nice w/teh gays, if by "making nice," we mean "shut up and smile if you know what's good for you" --
the advocate has obtained a copy of an email sent from brian bond, deputy director of the white house office of public engagement and the de facto lgbt liaison, to the meeting’s participants, who include: allison herwitt and joe solmonese of the human rights campaign; shane larson of the stonewall democrats; winnie stachelberg of the center for american progress; aubrey sarvis of the servicemembers legal defense network; r. clarke cooper of the log cabin republicans; alex nicholson and jarrod chlapowski of servicemembers united; nathaniel frank, dadt expert formerly of the palm center; jim kessler of the third way.
the email notes that the meeting has been moved from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and then warns participants to stick strictly to a discussion about legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and to steer clear of any mention of the current courts cases now being litigated.
bond writes:
“obviously this meeting has gotten out. we are expecting the content of the conversation today to be off the record and to help us figure out how to move forward with the lame duck session.
also as previously mentioned, there can be no discussion of current court cases or legal strategy or counsel’s office will end the meeting. the focus is repeal and the lame duck session. this is also a non-partisan meeting where we want everyone’s help.”
ask anything you want, as long as you don't ask anything we don't want.
for those stories the corporate owned media might not have mentioned this morning...
new jellyfish tells tale of global warming. - a new species of jellyfish found off israel’s coast the summer poses no threat to bathers but should serve warning to the countries bordering the mediterranean sea about the dangers posed by global warming and damage to the environment - media line
can the military go green with jet fuel? the f-15 eagle is the latest jet fighter to receive the alternative fuels treatment, flying october 22 on a 50-50 blend of conventional jet fuel and an alternative—in this case made from specially processed animal fat: beef tallow bio-jet fuel - scientific american
water champion. - maude barlow, longtime chairwoman of the council of canadians, is a hero to the left, a tireless campaigner for social justice, environmental causes and globalization issues - edmonton journal
cruise ships cutting fumes. - black smoke trails from the carnival fantasy as the crew fires its diesels to set out of charleston harbor. the smoke and its stink are a focus of neighborhood and environmentalist concerns about pollution from cruise ships - charleston post and courier
apple snails are slowly creeping our way. - dumping specimens from an aquarium, whether it's the apple snail or the northern snakehead, is a reckless act that can have serious consequences - nola picayune
ensure what you buy doesn't harm the lives of others. - british retailers are increasingly aware of the hidden costs of cruel and unsustainable practices in food and clothing industries. conscientious shoppers have driven those changes. the same pressure must be applied to wood and paper products - london guardian
jane goodall on hope, inspiration and oilsands. - we have to find answers to three problems that seem insoluble. one is the sheer growth of human populations. two is crippling poverty where people destroy the environment and cut down trees to grow a bit more food. and thirdly, our unsustainable lifestyle. all of us in this room have more than we need - calgary herald
cop10: a meet to save life on earth? - the next time someone asks you what biodiversity is, try this: "it's about your life, life on this planet, and about what we're doing to this planet with our eyes open." - japan times
conservationist warns next big extinction will be man's fault. - richard leakey, one of the world's most famous paleoanthropologists and a conservationist, will speak in houston on thursday at the progressive forum, to discuss the possibility that human proliferation will cause the next great extinction - houston chronicle
severe drought afflicts brazilian amazon. - the brazilian government has announced $13.5m in emergency aid for amazon regions hit by the worst drought in decades. environmental groups say severe droughts are likely to become more frequent in the amazon as a result of global warming, putting further strain on the rainforest - bbc
what’s eating lake erie? - by surface area, the great lakes comprise the largest body of fresh water in the world. but for the past few years a green toxic algae has been blooming in one of the great lakes - lake erie. scientists now say it's just one of a number of toxic algae threatening the lake - living on earth
altered shoreline raises future risk. - a sea wall to hold back the rising waters of puget sound could be the next major alteration in the long history of olympia’s changing downtown shoreline. - olympia olympian
call for scotland to ditch its 'addiction' to oil and coal. - jonathon porritt, a former high-level government adviser and a star of the environment world, has condemned the scottish government for backing new oil and coal developments which will produce huge amounts of climate pollution - glasgow herald
'overpopulation of tehran will cause ecological ruin.' - tehran’s population is several times higher than its ecological capacity, resulting in ailments to residents from pollution, an environmental consultant warned. tehran has an ecological capacity for three million residents but now about ten million people are living in the metropolis, he warned - tehran times
syncrude to pay $3m in penalties for dead ducks. - syncrude canada will have to pay a total of $3 million in penalties for causing the deaths of 1,600 ducks in a tailings pond at its northern alberta oilsands mine - canadian press
cost of drinking water going up. - central 0hio residents will pay more for their cities to remove pollutants from their drinking water. new health standards from the u.s. environmental protection agency that take effect in 2012 and 2013 call for tighter limits on two types of water contaminants that build up in water mains and pipes - columbus dispatch
"as i went through security, who should i see but the dalai lama being frisked by a tsa employee," he said. "now that's what i call misguided concern." - larry gerston
as for me, since everybody seems to be asking each other this, no, i wouldn't have fired juan williams, because i would never have hired juan williams in the first place. he makes alan colmes look like alexander fucking cockburn.
and if you've ever had fucking cockburn you know how painful that can be.
among various countries, especially in the middle east. just imagine these actions taken on americans...why are iraqi lives any different? they are humans too?
what have we become? why are we turning a blind eye to the horrifying reality?
a grim picture of the us and britain's legacy in iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of american military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.
almost 400,000 secret us army field reports have been passed to the guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website wikileaks.
....the new logs detail how:
• us authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.
• a us helicopter gunship involved in a notorious baghdad incident had previously killed iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• more than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. us and uk officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities. - the guardian
a 19-year old ucsb student was killed today off the coast near vandenberg air force base by what is reported to be a great white.
based on the initial investigation, lucas mckaine ransom (dob 12/05/90) of romoland, ca was boogie boarding on the break line about 100 yards off the beach with his friend when a shark suddenly pulled ransom under the water. ransom suffered a massive wound to his left leg and appeared to die shortly thereafter. - edhat
horrifying end to a bright life just beginning. our condolences to lucas' friends and family.
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