Rambo as US foreign policy, etc.

Hey y'all,
The NYT movie critic A.O. Scott has a cool, little 3 minute video looking back at Rambo. Despite what Scott says, I still think it's wack that, in many ways, this mid-1980s film has come to reflect contemporary neo-con thinking regarding foreign policy. The final seen in this little video clip speaks volumes.

Also, am I the only one a little bit concerned that Obama is pushing a strategy for us to throw our military resources into full-scale war in Afghanistan and Pakistan? That plan certainly did wonderous things for the Soviets... Is Obama setting himself up for future failure?

Finally, for a few stellar guffaws, I highly recommend checking out several of these "Get Your War On" video clips. The comics are fabulous, and these cartoons are likewise grand.

Jah rule; rasta.
- Rog

Well after months of plotting... it happened. Last night was Matt's surprise 30th b-day party. (His actual birthday is Oct. 2). We were able to trick him and he had no idea until he opened the door and everyone yelled surprise! Wish you guys could have been there. Attached is my gift to Matt : ) Enjoy! Some of you make appearances in it. It's only about 15 minutes long. Love ya.

Awesome New Sound

Hey all,

I know I fall into the category of "off the f'-in planet" but I am still reading and like now sometimes contributing. So for my quick reinstatement into the blogging world check out this guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEcckX1kHWI&feature=user

Not sure if he's legit but definately has some cool beats.

Love to ya,

Tom

Happy Halloween

In case anyone's looking for a Halloween costume: Enjoy.

Trying to understand

Hey there Tamo (and hey to anyone else, if you too happen to be reading clandestinely),

In a Judith Warner blog-posting on the NYTimes, she referenced an article by a psycologist in Virginia who does reaserch on morality and emotion titled "What Makes People Vote Republican."

It makes some rather interesting points about liberals' inability to empathize with conservative viewpoints, and it also makes reference to how conservatives' "moral clarity" presents a black/white, good/evil world-view that helps them tap into (manipulate) people's deepest fears. Intersting stuff, me thinks.

Grrr...

This country blows my mind.  I wish we felt outrage at ignorance and lies.  What's got me fired up now?  The reprehensible ad running claiming Obama wanted to teach little kids about sex, when in fact the bill he voted for instead allowed teachers to instruct kids about what inappropriate touches are.  How disgusting, immoral, debased, and wretched can Republicans get?  Honestly, I don't know the answer to that.  What's more disheartening is that the nation isn't rising like a tide of intelligent citizens to castigate and shame purveyors of ads like this out of our nation.

What do I think of Palin?  She thinks the earth is 6,000 years old...guess what I think of her?  She believes God wants us in Iraq and wants a new pipeline in Alaska.  She asked about banning books at the Wasilla library, and the librarian who refused was fired a few months later.  She can't answer a straight question (see the new interview with Charlie Gibson).  She wants to prevent American females from the making the choice she proudly proclaims her own daughter was able to make.  She wants to drill in ANWR, even after admitting that such a move wouldn't be a solution, merely a palliative measure.  She's a hypocrite, who claims to believe that gov't should get out of the way and let private citizens improve their communities, yet also mocks Obama's service in such a role (while at the same time praising in her role in, you guessed in, government).

If McCain and Palin win, we might honestly move to British Columbia because America will have signaled it's officially done moving forward.  Anyone want to go in on a house in Vancouver?

UPDATE: Holy hell.  Add to all this the fact that she doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is (watch the Gibson interview clip).  What?  WHAT?!  People seriously believe this person should be next in-line behind the oldest presidential candidate ever?  My brain hurts.

Merry Patriots Day, friends.

Behold, a reading from the Book of (NY) Times.

Blogging with Myself...?

Hey there y'all,
I might be the only person still looking at this blog anymore, but Billy Idol and I thought this recent commentary by conservative author David Frum was particularly interesting.

In a surprising (to me) turn, Frum concludes "Equality in itself never can be or should be a conservative goal. But inequality taken to extremes can overwhelm conservative ideals of self-reliance, limited government and national unity. It can delegitimize commerce and business and invite destructive protectionism and overregulation. Inequality, in short, is a conservative issue too. We must develop a positive agenda that integrates the right kind of egalitarianism with our conservative principles of liberty."

It's nice to see a conservative advocate for a greater balance of equality/inequality, even if he seemingly only does so to boost higher Republican ballot returns.

What do you think? ...as Roger Waters asked in The Wall, "Is there Anybody Out There?"

A donde mis perros @?

Hey there Team!
It's been far too long since we've been chatting-up on the blog (only 2 posts in as many months?!) There's too much going on -- from the heavenly start of the new football seasons [college & pro] to the coming elections -- for us to be silent here.

With the 2 conventions behind us and only 2 months until the election, I'd like to see/hear some thoughts from y'all. As a biased Democrat, I LOVED the Denver Convention - literally getting weepy several times with inspiration and excitement. The Republican Convention was markedly different, but devilishly smart and effective on several fronts. Much of it made my stomach spin (esp. Mitt and parts from Rudy), but interesting.

What are y'all thinking here?
I thought this Paul Krugman op-ed was damn good.

I hope you are well. Much love, - Rog

Antikythera Mechanism

Amazing machine from over 100 years B.C...because you thought that the best the ancients could do was the abacus. Enjoy!

Straw Poll for Obamas running mate?

My Choices are: John Edwards
Va. Senator Jim Webb
Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr.
Check out these websites for the lesser known Jim Webb and Harold Ford Jr.
http://www.fordfortennessee.com
http://webb.senate.gov

Anyone have other candidate ideas for Barack or selections for John McCain? Does the vice presidential candidate really matter or not in your vote?

Lastly, for those who haven't seen Lions To Lambs and Charlie Wilson's War, I would recommend both for excellent political themes that will inform and provoke your thoughts.

Let Freedom Ring on this Independence Day Weekend!
Tom

Bumming on Obama

Anyone else bummed with Obama recently?  Specifically turning down public financing, his ridiculous attempt to rationalize it, and his probable vote for the FISA bill?

***UPDATE*** And now this? He's going to support Bush's faith-based initiatives and continue allowing them to discriminate based on religion?!  WTF.

So, that's what fatherhood is about?

Around 1:10 or so in this video of Obama speaking about fatherhood in 2007, he reveals that William was not the only man with a notion of what it means to be a good father.

As you all may recall, this feat of fatherhood was Part II of what was actually William's treatise on marriage. Now, all that's left is for Obama to reveal the all-important Part I. Since he's already married (whereas William, shockingly, was not), Obama's revision would go something like, "Man, I wanted to get married..."

Rebekah and I are doing well out here in Haverhill (pronounced HAY-vrull...to make it easy). Busy busy. Painting, landscaping, renovating, gardening, etc. Work is going well. This past Friday, we attended a workshop on Trauma and Attachment. It was very good.

Some weekend, we won't have any projects (YEAH RIGHT!!!), and I'll take a bunch of photos and do a slideshow on Kodak.com.

Take care, all. Happy father's day, Dad, Mr. T., Chris, Adam, and Vic!

Alanis

As most females in my generation , I've been a huge fan of Alanis' music.... I didn't know she was also funny ....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g

Survey Monkey

Hi All - Matt is doing a project for one of his classes. He has created a survey and needs respondents. If you have a chance, please click on this link and take his survey. Thanks!


From: Matthew Olliges [mailto:olligesm@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 10:30 PMTo: matto@tp1.com; olligesm@xavier.eduCc: Olliges, Kelly A.Subject: survey


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=lberatt6J2AQrHvULfQFaA_3d_3d

The Clock, the Clock, the Clock is on Fire!

Looks like it's already too late to "Save the Clock Tower!" Perhaps Doc Brown and Marty could go back in time and team up with Governor Arnie to put the freeze on those flames as soon as they started...

Crude Awakening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or-TyPACK-g

Great Essay

Just found an essay I love--it's on the Templeton Foundation's website, posted in a series of responses to the question, "Does science make belief in God obsolete?"  Steven Pinker's is spot-on, I think, and I'd like to hear anyone else's take.

100th Post

Hi, all:

Just back from Florida, and I come bearing technological good news.  I've discovered, as some of you may have already, Thunderbird, Mozilla's email client.  Why is it awesome?  Because I have all of my email accounts in one place now--for free.  This means my AU email, my .Mac email, and my two Yahoo email accounts are all in one place, so I don't need to spend a few minutes checking various webpages and programs.  Also, I have it set up to view this blog, so I know when new posts arrive.  If you're interested in doing all this for yourself, I'll be happy to walk you through it all (it took me a bit of time to track down the various how-tos around the web, but now I feel pretty comfortable with it all).

I'm looking forward to watching that vid from the post below and responding.

UPS deliver for Pandora?

David Brooks has an intersting op-ed in the NY Times about religion, brain-science, and the ways we perceive of ourselves and our place in the universe. His opinion is that science won't trump a belief in God, but will rather provide a strong challenge to the belief in the Bible as the word of God. Perhaps along somewhat similar lines, 'Lis sent a really great link to Bri with a short talk about a neurologist's enlightened Stroke of Insight. How does all of this relate? What do you guys think about all this?

Also, I've been wondering about the Christian "mystery of faith" as a means of explaning several"'why?'s" of the world. Admitedly and maybe a bit ironically, faith in Christianity has become a bit of a mystery for me. But I still cling to a spiritual notion of what I would call God (energy, the universe, something bigger than us, etc.) I can't explain why. It's just something I feel and think. I suppose that's the mystery of faith. But, why must the constant mystery that is the universe as I experience it include a God? Can't the mystery also be that God doesn't exist? After all, if God caused the Big Bang, what caused God? Can't the answer just be that its the mystery of existence without an answer? Very mysterious.