I can’t say I have ever been a fan of women’s sports. Aside from watching my daughters play basketball or run track, I usually stay away from that side of the sports world. Recently, though, as I have mentioned in other columns, I have found myself paying attention to the women’s volleyball team from Penn State. [Read more →]
Extreme is easy; after all, it’s all downhill. And being extreme in Iran — well, who wouldn’t? It’s one of those perfect petri dishes for the reactionary way of life and thought.
Like Ireland and Israel and Serbia and Darfur and too many others, Iran is a place where it is historically easy for revenge to be permanently affixed to a lot of darn good reasons and then acted out ad infinitum. Saddle up your fatwa to a dogma and go blow shit up.
But, it’s not happening that way with the anti-government protestors in Iran, the Green Movement. They seem to be thinking carefully and tactically and even brilliantly about who they are and what they want the world to know about them. Under a vicious crackdown, they are coming up with new and devastatingly human ways to reach into the heart of a world that has moved on.
The latest? Iranian men are wearing headscarves.
10. Instead of being on the ‘Naughty’ or ‘Nice’ list, you’re on his list of ‘Jerk Faces’
9. He smears milk and cookies all over your drapes
8. Your biggest gift is Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue
7. He had all the reindeer leave you little gifts on the roof
6. Instead of just coals in your stocking, he puts in hot coals
5. He leaves you a note that says, “You better watch out! You better not cry! And you better not let me catch you alone, you bastard!”
4. You’re being stalked by killer elves
3. Instead of toys, he leaves you a bagful of ashes and soot
2. As he drives out of sight, instead of exclaiming, “Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!” he yells “Bite me!”
1. Rather than visiting a gas station restroom, he just sits on your chimney
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
You’re a studio exec and you have a little movie about Sherlock Holmes directed by Guy Ritchie (coming off the hat trick from hell of RockNRolla, Swept Away, and Revolver), and suddenly it dawns on you, “This stars Robert Downey Jr.” You know, Iron Man! The guy who made blackface cool again in Tropic Thunder! Clearly this is something that can be exploited. So you give the flick a big Christmas release and then start exploring product tie-ins…which is tough because it’s set in Victorian England and the only logical pairing is with Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips (plus possibly their partner, Pudgie’s Famous Chicken). But you just know there’s more money to be made, so you settle on…this. [Read more →]
I watched the making of the new Guy Ritchie film Sherlock Holmes on cable TV last night. As a long time fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, I came to the conclusion that this is not my Sherlock Holmes.
The film appears to be an action-packed, kind of cartoonish movie. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Doctor Watson, Ritchie presents the two as a Victorian-era Batman and Robin.
In this era of massive federal spending and even larger deficits no revenue-generating option can be taken off the table. And none can have any greater potential than taxing that nefarious scoundrel named Kris Kringle, alias Santa Claus. Quite fortunately, a myriad of upcoming legislation will enable us to do just that and much more. [Read more →]
I’ve really gotta stop reading the HuffPo. Did anyone else see “Supreme Court to Hand Government to Republicans, Again: This Time, Forever.” by Paul Abrams today? Man, does that piece ever make your blood boil, or what?
Following up on my earier post about the court martial of three Navy SEALs who are accused of roughing up a known, brutal terrorist in Iraq, I’m pleased to report that there are a good number of people who are also outraged over the criminal charges against the SEALs.
One outraged American is Bill Bruhmuller, a retired Navy SEAL Master Chief Petty Officer.
I’ve been busy basking in the tanning bed glow of my latest television obsession, Jersey Shore on MTV. The brain trust on Jersey Shore is all about alcohol fueled sex, one night stands, and boyfriends who are married. And while I’ve been waiting for poor Snooki to get punched in the face by some a-hole on tonight’s episode, MTV has been quietly airing a show that portrays life far away from the drunken antics in New Jersey. Teen Mom is as sobering as it gets. [Read more →]
As you may already know, Chris Henry, a 26-year old wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, passed away this morning at 6:36 AM. Yesterday, Henry was involved in what North Carolina police termed a “domestic situation.” Following his fiancée’s departure from a home in North Carolina, Chris Henry jumped into the bed of the pickup truck she was driving and then — somehow — fell from the bed of the truck.
I don’t know how many of you have been following Ronald Bailey’s wonderful posts about the Copenhagen Climate Conference ( Pt1, Pt2, and Pt3) over at reason.com, but he’s been doing an awesome job. I’ve really enjoyed reading his coverage, and I just finished reading his latest installment (Pt3.) last night.
What is it about the CIA that makes liberals and Democrats lose their common sense?
Arthur Herman asks this important question in his long piece in Commentary Magazine.
November 12, 2009
I dream I am preparing for my wedding and I must make chocolates the way Jacques Pepin made them on his television show. I excuse myself to “do something,” but I don’t want anyone to know exactly what for fear I will be ridiculed. I go to the store to purchase expensive chocolate plus nuts, cornflakes, and other things to immerse. I am late for the store van, and there is hardly enough room for me. I have to climb over rows of tiny people to get to one seat in the back.
This piece of hackery is most often heard in business settings, but I’m afraid it has even crept into the hallowed halls of academe, where one is as likely to hear Latin freakery such as sui generis.* [Read more →]
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“How the hell do I top this?” Orson Welles (Christian McKay) asks after his triumphant performance of Julius Caesar. Of course he would, but this account of the Mercury Theater’s innovative version of Julius Caesar is fascinating on its own. The film captures the behind-the-scenes dramas of the production and the proclivities of the brilliant and egomaniacal Welles, as well as the colorful actors that Welles directed. The cast is strong, the directing crisp and the story is a good one. [Read more →]
… those who know me will say that’s something I don’t do very well, or often enough. But I am trying to do better this month, with a little help from my church.
During the Advent season, First Presbyterian Church of Midland is hosting ‘Come to the Quiet,’ Wednesday evenings at 6:30, in the chapel on the corner of Texas and A streets. [Read more →]
I know you’ve all heard about the calamity which is about to descend upon the human race. The visions of death and destruction are downright Biblical. The seas will rise, the plants will die, the four horsemen of the apocalypse will reap a mighty harvest of flesh and bones. It’s the coming of man-made global warming!
Right this moment a group of carbon criminals are getting away with murder. Where?
In Copenhagen, of course.
The U.N. estimates that 40,500 tones of carbon dioxide will be pumped into the atmosphere during the climate conference. And this doesn’t include the amount emitted personally by the participants.
Let’s hope when they finally enact carbon limitations that they include a ban on such events in the future. It’s a provision that even the global warming deniers might support.
The History Channel. Well, yes. If you love the apocalypse and Nazis, then you probably watch it a lot. Oh, and there’s also Pawn Stars. This weekend however they did something which had nothing to do with Nostradamus or death camps: they broadcast a weird, Beatnik-y concert performance entitled ‘The People Speak’, based on readings from Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States. [Read more →]
