The humor in here is so stupid, so out there, that it becomes funny. WIll Farrell just seems to have the ability to do that, time and again.
This is, in many respects, a very typical Will Farrell movie, being so ridiculous and over the top, that you can't help but laugh. It really is just a grossly exaggerated version of the truth, with all of the political gimmicks and backstabbing and sexual scandals and so on. You get the feeling that, in essence, it is an exaggeration of the truth.
Will Farrell plays the part of Cam Brady, a four term Democratic congressman on the verge of obtaining a fifth term in an uncontested election, when all of a sudden, and most unexpectedly, he finds himself challenged by an unknown Republican who has never held or even run for office before. The Republican is Marty Huggins, who is played very well by Zach Galifianakis, and he is a quiet, unassuming man, but a nerdy screw-up with a past history of showing hilarious weaknesses that Brady desperately seeks to expose. Brady clearly has superior experience and just seems more natural, and so he seems destined to win easily against the overly nice Huggins, who seems clearly in over his head.
***Spoiler Alert***
Brady should win easily, but a couple of things happen to intervene. First, he is his own worst enemy, and his own lewd, hilariously arrogant, and overtly sexual behavior gets exposed, and he begins to pay the political price. He finds himself in trouble after making a very inappropriate and explicitly sexual call to the wrong household, and this is found out by the general public.
Secondly, to have an actual opponent, and one that gets the backing of the Motch brothers (the fictional equivalent to the infamous and real-life Koch brothers, who played such a huge role in the actual 2012 election), who hire a political hitman, in effect (Tim Wattley, played by Dylan McDermott) to turn Huggins into a finely tuned and well oiled political machine. The race is on.
Before the Motch brothers and Wattley enter the picture, however, Brady takes the liberty of introducing Huggins, who naively plays along, happy to oblige. Huggins assumes that there exists civility between the rivals, but he is in for a nasty surprise, of course. Brady takes the opportunity that he has been given like a gift, and naturally and skillfully makes Huggins look like a complete ass. It is clear that is in way over his head, and he seems to know this as he walks back to his car in disgrace, fighting back the tears. That is when he meets Tim Wattley, the ultimate dirty tactics campaign manager, who is going to prep him for a real dirty campaign, and going to take the overconfident Brady by surprise in the process.
It starts off with a debate. Brady is, of course, completely confident and natural, being the experienced incumbent in his element, and having a well-rehearsed line for everything. When Huggins tries to talk some smack to him in the beginning, he shows just how amateurish he is at this, saying that Brady's face "looks like a butt". Brady is initially surprised that he had actually tried, but rather amused, and then really lays into him, almost bringing the overwhelmed Huggins to tears. As the debate commences, Brady clearly believes that he has set the tempo for the debate.
But he is wrong. After giving an overly polished and obviously rehearsed answer to the first question about bringing jobs to North Carolina, Huggins gets the chance to respond, and he just lays into Brady, pointing out that he did not actually answer the question, and exposes his opponent's political gimmickry, suggesting that the voters deserve better. Brady is clearly completely taken aback, and it becomes clear that he has completely underestimated his opponent, as he gets his ass kicked in the debate. This almost made me wonder when this movie was made, since it seemed to follow Obama's poor performance in the first debate earlier this year.
Brady is so mad afterwards, that he chases after Huggins in a crowded room. Huggins is trying to walk away quickly, and Brady is so angry, that he aims to punch Huggins. But Huggins ducks, and Brady's fist connects instead with a baby (this was one of the famous scenes that they kept showing in the trailers for the movie). Later on, in a similar scene, Brady tries to punch Huggins yet again, and misses again, this time hitting a small dog.
From that point on, it becomes a real political race, one that prominently displays the very worst that politics tends to bring out. They engage in a makeshift contest on how to outdo one another in the race. They will go to any lengths, no holds barred, to make the other look ridiculous and stupid. It's all about the points, and the election not only becomes a statistical dead heat, but receives national attention. What makes the movie all the more hilarious is Brady's tendency to think that he will connect with the male voters in showing how much of a real man he is by showing off about his affairs - and specifically, he aims for Huggins's wife, who falls under Brady's spell, not knowing that he is filming it, and that the video will become very public very quickly.
This is a good, laugh out loud movie. it is at times so outrageous, so ridiculous, that you can't help but laugh. It is a good escape from whatever pressures you may find yourself under, if you just want to forget about everything for an hour and a half or so, and get a chance for a good laugh.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Around The Bend November 19, 2012
The Republicans are licking their wounds after the election, which is popularly perceived as a loss for them, since Romney lost in what was an electoral landslide. They also lost ground on both the House and the Senate, and so the perception, at least, is that they lost overall. So, they are tying to distance themselves a bit from Romney (see the link below), and some of the traditionally more hardline positions that they have taken, which have proven to have scared off possible voters - particularly minority voters. The minority voters were really the weak link among Republican candidates, and Romney's finger pointing last week did not help at all.
Upon further reflection, many Republicans are beginning to see that their would be limited success at best by remaining hardline with certain positions, especially regarding immigration, since Hispanics seem to be growing into a real force as a voting contingent nationally. So, they are looking for the party to take a softer stance, and not at least appear as intolerant as they at times seemed during the course of this past election.
In the meantime, Republicans in Congress seem slightly more conciliatory, and at least appear to be more willing to work with President Obama in hammering out a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" that is looming for early next year.
Here is the link to an article by The Week's Editorial Staff of "The Week" titled "Why Republicans Want Mitt Romney To Take A Hike":
http://news.yahoo.com/why-republicans-want-mitt-romney-hike-064500727.html
Here is a link to another interesting article about the present predicament that the GOP finds itself in, titled "Republicans: GOP needs to get with the times", by Kasie Hunt of the Associated press
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/11/18/republicans-gop-needs-get-with-the-times/svir1zqVuTQjzy0HBTSdJI/story.html
Around the World
Middle East
Israel - The big news that seems to be dominating the world lately is the emerging war between Israel and the Palestinians. Some are saying that this is, in effect, Israel's warm up to Iran, but let's see what happens. Remember that in the 2006 war, Israel was expected to walk all over Lebanon. Instead, they seemed to expose their vulnerabilities and limitations, much like the United States did in showing off their strengths in Iraq. Egypt is trying to get a truce between the warring factions, but the violence continues, of course. For now, both sides seem intent on flexing their muscles and showing off their capabilities.
Israel - The 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has called for an immediate end to strikes following the death of 18 Palestinian civilians after Israel launched an attack.
Syria - The rebels fighting the government of President Assad have now got embassies in France.
Europe
France - In fairness, since I have put my neck out in favor of healthcare reforms in this country, as well as even outright socialized medicine, as they have in western Europe, here is evidence that not everybody in those nations is entirely thrilled with the system. In France, doctors went on strike in Paris, to protest government attempts to rein in their pay. No system works perfectly, obviously. However, I still maintain that the countries that do not leave tens of millions of people uninsured, and which has costs so high that many people cannot afford basic medical care that they in fact need, seems better and fairer than what we have here in the United States.
http://news.yahoo.com/french-doctors-protest-over-cost-control-efforts-200617095--finance.html
France - The popularity of new President Hollande continues to decline for a sixth consecutive month. The issues that he is facing, and that obviously much of France feels he is not handling too well, are high unemployment and a sagging economy, much like the rest of the world, including the United States, seems to be dealing with as well.
Croatia - Two Croatian generals accused of war crimes against Serbians during the 1990's, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were released. Their is celbration and jubiliation, and red carpet was laid out for them as their plane returned back to Croatia from the Human Rights court in the Hague, Netherlands.
United Kingdom - Labour leader Ed Miliband claimed that Britain is "sleepwalking" into an exit out of the European Union.
Latin America & Caribbean
Uruguay - A proposed law regarding marijuana is being presented before the Congress that would legalize marijuana in that country. It would create a National Cannabis Institute to regulate the production and distribution of marijuana. Adults would be allowed to possess up to 40 grams, and could own up to six plants on their own. Individuals could join together with up to fifteen other people to own up to 90 plants at a time. The market for marijuana would remain run by the state, for the most part.
http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-law-introduced-uruguay-congress-210440802.html
http://news.yahoo.com/uruguays-marijuana-proposal-compared-us-states-221547106.html
Jamaica - The nation is preparing to abolish a flogging law dating back to the days of slavery, allowing flogging and whipping, although the punishment has not been administered since 2004.
http://news.yahoo.com/jamaica-abolish-slavery-era-flogging-law-000438949.html
Venezuela - A suspected drug lord was turned over to neighboring Columbia, where he is wanted.
Cuba - Power has finally returned to Santiago, on the eastern end of Cuba, three weeks after Hurricane Sandy did so much damage to the city.
Cuba - Once again, the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to condemn the longstanding US commercial and economic embargo of the Communist nation.
Mexico - The former mayor of a Mexican town, Maria Santos Gorrostieta, was found beaten to death, days after being reported missing.
Mexico - A group of Latin American leaders declared that the decriminalization of marijuana in two US states will have important ramifications on the "war on drugs". Many Latin American nations have been frustrated with the American support of the "war on drugs". The four leaders (Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica) called for a study to determine the likely impact. Guatemala's President has called for the worldwide legalization of drugs.
"LatAm leaders call for review of US legal pot vote" by E. Eduardo Castillo and Michael Weissenstein of the Associated Press:
http://news.yahoo.com/latam-leaders-call-review-us-legal-pot-vote-175137504--politics.html
Panama - A recent boom in development has put considerable strain on the efforts to protect wetlands inside Panama.
http://news.yahoo.com/development-boom-puts-pressure-panama-wetlands-141847580--finance.html
Asia
Southeast Asia - Leaders of several Southeast Asian nations met n Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and have come to an agreement to launch a declaration of human rights. Their are critics, including the United States, which claims that the declaration leaves huge, gaping loopholes that will, in effect, not close out the possibility of human rights abuses.
Malaysia/Burma - President Obama, fresh from his election victory earlier this month, has taken a trip to this nation that finds itself in the midst of transition from military dictatorship to greater freedom. Critics, however, suggested that Obama's visit came too soon, before further concessions from the military governors to loosen the reins a bit more. But already, companies that have long stayed far away are now seeping into the country, and critics are mad. It reminds me, actually, of the situation in South Africa in the early nineties, when President FW DeKlerk conceded that apartheid had failed, then legalized the ANC and other political opposition groups long banned in the country, then freed Nelson Mandela and commenced negotiations for a new distribution of power. The long economic sanctions were dropped by the Bush administration in office at the time, although critics inside and outside of South Africa wanted more concessions from the white minority government before allowing more companies in the country. Obama rejected the notion that his visit showed support of the regime or was tantamount to a premature gift and would allow the military dictatorship to slow the progress, and the President will allegedly push for further human rights in the country, members of his team claimed. But he wanted to extend "the hand of friendship" to the traditionally isolated nation.
Japan - The opposition Liberal Democratic Party continues to hold a lead over the ruling party, as December elections loom.
Africa
Nigeria - An oil spill by an Exxon tanker has spread for about 20 miles from it's point of origin, along the Nigerian Delta.
Sierra Leone - There was an election here on Saturday, and the results seem to have been peaceful. Given the recent warring in this nation, the success of these elections were hailed as a model by some for the rest of Africa.
Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since the end of the bloody civil war ending white minority rule in the country (then named Rhodesia), and long since having turned to a dictator himself, now wants to the capital city of the country to no longer be Harare, but Zvimba, which happens to be President Mogabe's home district. The new capital city will evidently be modeled on the affluent part of Johannesburg in neighboring South Africa called Sandton. Zvimba, wghich receives considerable govenrment funding, already can boast some of the most modernized infrastructure in the nation, with some of the best paved roads, and homes that have electricity.
http://www.africareview.com/News/Zimbabwe-to-relocate-capital-city-to-Mugabes-home-town/-/979180/1622496/-/w61na5z/-/index.html
Democratic Republic of the Congo - Rebels in the eastern portion of the nation have advanced to within a few kilometers of Goma, a provincial capital. The rebels, called the M23, claim they have no plans to take the city, although civilians remain fearful of their presence so close by.
Kenya - Six people died after a crowded minibus was hit by a grenade in Nairobi, the nation's capital, one of a series of attacks blamed on Somali militants.
North Africa - A plan to provide 15% of Europe's power needs has run into complications and difficulties, as two big backers have backed out. Also, Spain has expressed some reservations about some of the power plants being located in Morocco, a traditional enemy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20357167
Sports
NFL
The early games today included some wild ones, including three games that went into overtime. In each of the three, the team that was favored had to come from far behind to win it. The Dallas Cowboys got off to a very sluggish start in the first half of their home game against the Cleveland Browns, spotting them a 13-0 lead. But they fought back and took a lead briefly in the 4th quarter, only to see the Browns score late to reclaim the lead. But the Cowboys managed to get in field goal position, and tied the game with 3 seconds left, forcing overtime. In OT, Dallas managed to win with another field goal, as both teams had gotten possession of the ball. Dallas won, 23-20.
The Houston Texans boasted the NFL's best record going into this weekend, along with the Atlanta Falcons, at 8-1. In the meantime, their opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars, entered this weekend with the worst record in the league, tied with the Kansas City Chiefs at 1-8. So, you think it might be a blowout, right? Wrong. The Jaguars gave the Texans all that they could handle, and seemed to have the game in hand in the fourth quarter, up by double digits. But the Texans fought back, and managed to force overtime. They scored a field goal on a long drive to open up the overtime, but the Jaguars drove for a field goal in response, extending the game. But then, the Texans were able to score a touchdown off of a screen pass from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson, who had a career day, catching 14 passes for 273 yards. Schaub, in the meantime, had an unbelievable game as well, tossing five touchdown passes, and completing 43 passes, both personal and team records. His total was 527 yards total passing, tying him with Warren Moon in 1990 when he played for the "other" Houston team of the time, the Oilers, against Kansas City for second most in NFL history. Former Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin holds the all-time record with 554 yards in a single game in 1951. Houston is now 9-1 with the win.
The other overtime game featured one hot team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, against one of the coldest teams in the league, their division rival Carolina Panthers. The Panthers seemed to have Tampa Bay on the ropes, but for the fourth time this season, they blew a fourth quarter lead (they held an eight point lead deep in the fourth, to the final seconds). But Tampa forced overtime, where Josh Freeman threw a game clinching touchdown pass of 15 yards to Dallas Clark, securing their fifth consecutive win.
The Atlanta Falcons tried to bounce back from their first loss of the season, as they hosted the Arizona Cardinals yesterday. But the Cardinals came to play, and were dominating Atlanta at some point, holding a 13-0 advantage. But the Falcons came back to edge them out, 23-19, to keep pace with the Houston Texans for the best record in the league, at 9-1. Another hot NFC South team, the New Orleans Saints, beat up on the Raiders in Oakland, jumping out ahead early, and going on to win convincingly, 38-17. They have now reached .500, after an 0-4 start to the season.
Green Bay were losing to the Lions for much of the game, but they managed to pull off the win inside of the final two minutes, with Rodgers hitting Cobb for what proved to be the game winner, keeping their winning streak intact. Otherwise, the Jets finally broke their streak by soundly defeating the Rams in St. Louis, while the Bengals trounced the Chiefs in Kansas City. The Washington Redskins made sure the Eagles still have plenty of headaches, absolutely ripping them apart, 31-6. New England tied a record for most points in franchise history, dismantling the Colts, 59-24. Denver held off the Chargers, 30-23, and strengthened their hand for the playoffs. In the night game, the Ravens outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, winning a defensive slug fest, 13-10 (not surprising when it comes to these two teams), and extending their division lead now to two games. These two teams play again in two weeks, this time in Baltimore. The Ravens have won three in a row against Pittsburgh.
It seems that quite a few teams seem to have complete control in their division, with four current division leaders holding advantages of at least three games. All but one are in the AFC, as Denver, Houston, and New England all enjoy comfortable margins. The Falcons in the NFC also enjoy a sizable lead. The Ravens may be on their way to a comfortable division win, especially if they defeat Pittsburgh again in two weeks. They hold a two game lead. All the other divisions seem closer, although San Fransisco can gain ground on Seattle if they pull out the victory against the Chicago Bears tonight.
MLS
The Galaxy lost yesterday to Seattle, 2-1 but still managed to defeat them in the series by virtue of having won the first game, 3-0, in order to advance to the final, where they will meet the Houston Dynamo. Houston tied DC United on Sunday, but advanced since they won the first game, 3-1. The Galaxy will be looking to repeat as league champions, as they hope to successfully defend their crown.
Tennis
The Czech Republic pulled off a rare feat, as the men won the Davis Cup, as they defeated Spain, 3-2, just after the Czech women had won their Davis Cup championship.
Upon further reflection, many Republicans are beginning to see that their would be limited success at best by remaining hardline with certain positions, especially regarding immigration, since Hispanics seem to be growing into a real force as a voting contingent nationally. So, they are looking for the party to take a softer stance, and not at least appear as intolerant as they at times seemed during the course of this past election.
In the meantime, Republicans in Congress seem slightly more conciliatory, and at least appear to be more willing to work with President Obama in hammering out a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" that is looming for early next year.
Here is the link to an article by The Week's Editorial Staff of "The Week" titled "Why Republicans Want Mitt Romney To Take A Hike":
http://news.yahoo.com/why-republicans-want-mitt-romney-hike-064500727.html
Here is a link to another interesting article about the present predicament that the GOP finds itself in, titled "Republicans: GOP needs to get with the times", by Kasie Hunt of the Associated press
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/11/18/republicans-gop-needs-get-with-the-times/svir1zqVuTQjzy0HBTSdJI/story.html
Around the World
Middle East
Israel - The big news that seems to be dominating the world lately is the emerging war between Israel and the Palestinians. Some are saying that this is, in effect, Israel's warm up to Iran, but let's see what happens. Remember that in the 2006 war, Israel was expected to walk all over Lebanon. Instead, they seemed to expose their vulnerabilities and limitations, much like the United States did in showing off their strengths in Iraq. Egypt is trying to get a truce between the warring factions, but the violence continues, of course. For now, both sides seem intent on flexing their muscles and showing off their capabilities.
Israel - The 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has called for an immediate end to strikes following the death of 18 Palestinian civilians after Israel launched an attack.
Syria - The rebels fighting the government of President Assad have now got embassies in France.
Europe
France - In fairness, since I have put my neck out in favor of healthcare reforms in this country, as well as even outright socialized medicine, as they have in western Europe, here is evidence that not everybody in those nations is entirely thrilled with the system. In France, doctors went on strike in Paris, to protest government attempts to rein in their pay. No system works perfectly, obviously. However, I still maintain that the countries that do not leave tens of millions of people uninsured, and which has costs so high that many people cannot afford basic medical care that they in fact need, seems better and fairer than what we have here in the United States.
http://news.yahoo.com/french-doctors-protest-over-cost-control-efforts-200617095--finance.html
France - The popularity of new President Hollande continues to decline for a sixth consecutive month. The issues that he is facing, and that obviously much of France feels he is not handling too well, are high unemployment and a sagging economy, much like the rest of the world, including the United States, seems to be dealing with as well.
Croatia - Two Croatian generals accused of war crimes against Serbians during the 1990's, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were released. Their is celbration and jubiliation, and red carpet was laid out for them as their plane returned back to Croatia from the Human Rights court in the Hague, Netherlands.
United Kingdom - Labour leader Ed Miliband claimed that Britain is "sleepwalking" into an exit out of the European Union.
Latin America & Caribbean
Uruguay - A proposed law regarding marijuana is being presented before the Congress that would legalize marijuana in that country. It would create a National Cannabis Institute to regulate the production and distribution of marijuana. Adults would be allowed to possess up to 40 grams, and could own up to six plants on their own. Individuals could join together with up to fifteen other people to own up to 90 plants at a time. The market for marijuana would remain run by the state, for the most part.
http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-law-introduced-uruguay-congress-210440802.html
http://news.yahoo.com/uruguays-marijuana-proposal-compared-us-states-221547106.html
Jamaica - The nation is preparing to abolish a flogging law dating back to the days of slavery, allowing flogging and whipping, although the punishment has not been administered since 2004.
http://news.yahoo.com/jamaica-abolish-slavery-era-flogging-law-000438949.html
Venezuela - A suspected drug lord was turned over to neighboring Columbia, where he is wanted.
Cuba - Power has finally returned to Santiago, on the eastern end of Cuba, three weeks after Hurricane Sandy did so much damage to the city.
Cuba - Once again, the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to condemn the longstanding US commercial and economic embargo of the Communist nation.
Mexico - The former mayor of a Mexican town, Maria Santos Gorrostieta, was found beaten to death, days after being reported missing.
Mexico - A group of Latin American leaders declared that the decriminalization of marijuana in two US states will have important ramifications on the "war on drugs". Many Latin American nations have been frustrated with the American support of the "war on drugs". The four leaders (Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica) called for a study to determine the likely impact. Guatemala's President has called for the worldwide legalization of drugs.
"LatAm leaders call for review of US legal pot vote" by E. Eduardo Castillo and Michael Weissenstein of the Associated Press:
http://news.yahoo.com/latam-leaders-call-review-us-legal-pot-vote-175137504--politics.html
Panama - A recent boom in development has put considerable strain on the efforts to protect wetlands inside Panama.
http://news.yahoo.com/development-boom-puts-pressure-panama-wetlands-141847580--finance.html
Asia
Southeast Asia - Leaders of several Southeast Asian nations met n Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and have come to an agreement to launch a declaration of human rights. Their are critics, including the United States, which claims that the declaration leaves huge, gaping loopholes that will, in effect, not close out the possibility of human rights abuses.
Malaysia/Burma - President Obama, fresh from his election victory earlier this month, has taken a trip to this nation that finds itself in the midst of transition from military dictatorship to greater freedom. Critics, however, suggested that Obama's visit came too soon, before further concessions from the military governors to loosen the reins a bit more. But already, companies that have long stayed far away are now seeping into the country, and critics are mad. It reminds me, actually, of the situation in South Africa in the early nineties, when President FW DeKlerk conceded that apartheid had failed, then legalized the ANC and other political opposition groups long banned in the country, then freed Nelson Mandela and commenced negotiations for a new distribution of power. The long economic sanctions were dropped by the Bush administration in office at the time, although critics inside and outside of South Africa wanted more concessions from the white minority government before allowing more companies in the country. Obama rejected the notion that his visit showed support of the regime or was tantamount to a premature gift and would allow the military dictatorship to slow the progress, and the President will allegedly push for further human rights in the country, members of his team claimed. But he wanted to extend "the hand of friendship" to the traditionally isolated nation.
Japan - The opposition Liberal Democratic Party continues to hold a lead over the ruling party, as December elections loom.
Africa
Nigeria - An oil spill by an Exxon tanker has spread for about 20 miles from it's point of origin, along the Nigerian Delta.
Sierra Leone - There was an election here on Saturday, and the results seem to have been peaceful. Given the recent warring in this nation, the success of these elections were hailed as a model by some for the rest of Africa.
Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since the end of the bloody civil war ending white minority rule in the country (then named Rhodesia), and long since having turned to a dictator himself, now wants to the capital city of the country to no longer be Harare, but Zvimba, which happens to be President Mogabe's home district. The new capital city will evidently be modeled on the affluent part of Johannesburg in neighboring South Africa called Sandton. Zvimba, wghich receives considerable govenrment funding, already can boast some of the most modernized infrastructure in the nation, with some of the best paved roads, and homes that have electricity.
http://www.africareview.com/News/Zimbabwe-to-relocate-capital-city-to-Mugabes-home-town/-/979180/1622496/-/w61na5z/-/index.html
Democratic Republic of the Congo - Rebels in the eastern portion of the nation have advanced to within a few kilometers of Goma, a provincial capital. The rebels, called the M23, claim they have no plans to take the city, although civilians remain fearful of their presence so close by.
Kenya - Six people died after a crowded minibus was hit by a grenade in Nairobi, the nation's capital, one of a series of attacks blamed on Somali militants.
North Africa - A plan to provide 15% of Europe's power needs has run into complications and difficulties, as two big backers have backed out. Also, Spain has expressed some reservations about some of the power plants being located in Morocco, a traditional enemy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20357167
Sports
NFL
The early games today included some wild ones, including three games that went into overtime. In each of the three, the team that was favored had to come from far behind to win it. The Dallas Cowboys got off to a very sluggish start in the first half of their home game against the Cleveland Browns, spotting them a 13-0 lead. But they fought back and took a lead briefly in the 4th quarter, only to see the Browns score late to reclaim the lead. But the Cowboys managed to get in field goal position, and tied the game with 3 seconds left, forcing overtime. In OT, Dallas managed to win with another field goal, as both teams had gotten possession of the ball. Dallas won, 23-20.
The Houston Texans boasted the NFL's best record going into this weekend, along with the Atlanta Falcons, at 8-1. In the meantime, their opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars, entered this weekend with the worst record in the league, tied with the Kansas City Chiefs at 1-8. So, you think it might be a blowout, right? Wrong. The Jaguars gave the Texans all that they could handle, and seemed to have the game in hand in the fourth quarter, up by double digits. But the Texans fought back, and managed to force overtime. They scored a field goal on a long drive to open up the overtime, but the Jaguars drove for a field goal in response, extending the game. But then, the Texans were able to score a touchdown off of a screen pass from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson, who had a career day, catching 14 passes for 273 yards. Schaub, in the meantime, had an unbelievable game as well, tossing five touchdown passes, and completing 43 passes, both personal and team records. His total was 527 yards total passing, tying him with Warren Moon in 1990 when he played for the "other" Houston team of the time, the Oilers, against Kansas City for second most in NFL history. Former Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin holds the all-time record with 554 yards in a single game in 1951. Houston is now 9-1 with the win.
The other overtime game featured one hot team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, against one of the coldest teams in the league, their division rival Carolina Panthers. The Panthers seemed to have Tampa Bay on the ropes, but for the fourth time this season, they blew a fourth quarter lead (they held an eight point lead deep in the fourth, to the final seconds). But Tampa forced overtime, where Josh Freeman threw a game clinching touchdown pass of 15 yards to Dallas Clark, securing their fifth consecutive win.
The Atlanta Falcons tried to bounce back from their first loss of the season, as they hosted the Arizona Cardinals yesterday. But the Cardinals came to play, and were dominating Atlanta at some point, holding a 13-0 advantage. But the Falcons came back to edge them out, 23-19, to keep pace with the Houston Texans for the best record in the league, at 9-1. Another hot NFC South team, the New Orleans Saints, beat up on the Raiders in Oakland, jumping out ahead early, and going on to win convincingly, 38-17. They have now reached .500, after an 0-4 start to the season.
Green Bay were losing to the Lions for much of the game, but they managed to pull off the win inside of the final two minutes, with Rodgers hitting Cobb for what proved to be the game winner, keeping their winning streak intact. Otherwise, the Jets finally broke their streak by soundly defeating the Rams in St. Louis, while the Bengals trounced the Chiefs in Kansas City. The Washington Redskins made sure the Eagles still have plenty of headaches, absolutely ripping them apart, 31-6. New England tied a record for most points in franchise history, dismantling the Colts, 59-24. Denver held off the Chargers, 30-23, and strengthened their hand for the playoffs. In the night game, the Ravens outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, winning a defensive slug fest, 13-10 (not surprising when it comes to these two teams), and extending their division lead now to two games. These two teams play again in two weeks, this time in Baltimore. The Ravens have won three in a row against Pittsburgh.
It seems that quite a few teams seem to have complete control in their division, with four current division leaders holding advantages of at least three games. All but one are in the AFC, as Denver, Houston, and New England all enjoy comfortable margins. The Falcons in the NFC also enjoy a sizable lead. The Ravens may be on their way to a comfortable division win, especially if they defeat Pittsburgh again in two weeks. They hold a two game lead. All the other divisions seem closer, although San Fransisco can gain ground on Seattle if they pull out the victory against the Chicago Bears tonight.
MLS
The Galaxy lost yesterday to Seattle, 2-1 but still managed to defeat them in the series by virtue of having won the first game, 3-0, in order to advance to the final, where they will meet the Houston Dynamo. Houston tied DC United on Sunday, but advanced since they won the first game, 3-1. The Galaxy will be looking to repeat as league champions, as they hope to successfully defend their crown.
Tennis
The Czech Republic pulled off a rare feat, as the men won the Davis Cup, as they defeated Spain, 3-2, just after the Czech women had won their Davis Cup championship.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Movie Review: Australia
I remember first seeing the promotion posters for "Australia". This was back when I took the train
This film is ambitious, tackling numerous themes all at once. It deals with the uncertainty of the possibility of attack, and possibly even invasion, by Japanese forces during World War II, shortly after Pearl Harbor. It also focuses on some of the rather extreme difficulties of the legendary Australian Outback, and trying to make a living in a remote and, frankly, mostly hostile landscape. It also focuses quite a bit on racism in Australia, and particularly the "White Australia" state-instituted policy that had aboriginal children separated from their mothers, in order to get a "proper" upbringing with traditional, white values. The working assumption was that white culture was superior, and that the aboriginal culture was so beneath "civilization", that it did not deserve to survive. Of course, the human toll for such a policy was tremendous.
All of that, and there is even a bit of a romance movie, as well. In fact, the romance seems to be the center of the movie, with all of the rest kind of revolving around it.
Yes, there are a lot of themes being juggled all at once.
It is a well done movie, to boot. With all those themes, you could probably guess that it is a long movie, and you'd be absolutely right! It's the better part of three hours long.
Yet, it is worth it. There is a little something for everyone in this film.
Set in northern Australia in the days of the Second World War, with the threat of a Japanese attack, and possible invasion, looming, the feel has an old, Outback feel to. The physical look of the place, as well as the rugged look of most of the men who live on the land, would not necessarily seem out of place in the old American west.
Hugh Jackman is Drover, a cattle rancher, if you will, in the employ of Lady Sarah Ashley, played well by Nicole Kidman, a British aristocrat who's husband is killed while tending to his property, Faraway Downs, in the land down under. So, Lady Ashley decides to take a trip down to Australia herself, with a rather romanticized notion of what it will be like. We find out that the reality is a bit harsher.
As we get our first real look at the famed Outback, we also meet Nullah, a little boy of mixed white and aboriginal blood, played by Brandon Walters. He is living at Faraway Downs with his mom, who is a helper. But we have to keep in mind the times. He is a mixed race boy, who has to essentially hide anytime a white official comes anywhere near the property, lest he be taken away and given a "proper" white education and upbringing. Such is the policy of "White Australia".
Neil Fletcher, played by David Wenham, is Nullah's father, although he tries his best to hide the fact and has rejected and disowned the boy in every way possible.. Yet, he is Nullah's father and, thus, becomes symbolic of the white man's paradoxical presence in Australia. Instead of accepting the boy as his own son, he refers to him as the little "creamy", a racist term signifying mixed blood.
Fletcher is working under "King" Carney (played by Bryan Brown), a regional land baron of sorts who desperately wants to get a hold of Faraway Downs, and employs Fletcher to help him get it, even through underhanded and unfair means. To this end, Fletcher kills Lady Ashley's husband, the original owner of Faraway owns, but the killing is blamed on King George, who is played by David Gulpilil. King George is Nullah's grandfather, and the link (for the boy and the movie) to the real aboriginal people and traditions. Throughout the movie, he urges Nullah to go walkabout in order to become a man.
In the meantime, Lady Ashley, who is childless and can never have a child, takes kindly to Nullah, and finds herself in the unfamiliar position of being almost motherly to him. So, when she sees Fletcher, who is from beginning to end the bad guy in this movie, handling the child too roughly for her tastes, she slaps him across the face and fires him on the spot. But this leaves her without anyone to take care of the 2,000 cattle, with the obvious exception of Drover, although he has a fierce independent streak. Eventually, he agrees to take the cattle to Darwin, to be shipped off for the war effort. The money that will be received for this is urgent, if Lady Ashley is to keep Faraway Downs. "King" Carney and Fletcher are working to try and beat her to the punch, however. To those ends, Carney has Fletcher try to sabotage the drive of cattle from Faraway Downs to Darwin, which is a treacherous and long enough trip as is, without any further obstructions.
Despite Fletcher's interference, and the difficult trek to Darwin, the group manage to make it, just barely beating out Carney and Fletcher, and managing to get their cattle onto the ship, securing much needed money to hang on to Faraway Downs. After that, Drover and Lady Ashley fall in love and live an ideal life at Faraway Downs for a while.
But Fletcher is absolutely determined to get Faraway Downs, to the point that it becomes an obsession. Having already killed Lady Ashley's husband, he now kills "King" Carney, making it look like an accident, and then takes over his estate empire. Now, he is in a position of power, and wants to force his hand to make Lady Ashley sell off Faraway Downs. In the meantime, Lady Ashley and Drover have a fight that ends their relationship, and lady Ashley is forced to look for employment in Darwin, although she helps the war effort.
Fletcher, having tried for years to get Nullah into the hands of the authorities, so that he loses contact with his native roots, finally manages to get Nullah sent off to a Christian school on an island some miles off the coast of Australia, nearby Darwin. When the Japanese attack, the island is the first place that they hit. Lady Ashley's place of employment is also one of the places that the Japanese hit, and it seems that she is lost underneath the rubble following the attack.
Drover, in the meantime, finds out about the attack, and rushes over to Darwin, realizing only now just how much he loves Lady Ashley. When he arrives, however, he is dismayed at how little left of Darwin there really is. He understands that Lady Ashley is dead, and it seems that he is doomed to live a life of regret for a lost love. But he finds out that Nullah is on the island that was attacked, and in hopes of saving at least the boy, he secretly manages to go to the island, getting past the authorities prohibiting it through physical force.
When he gets there, he finds nothing, initially. But the kids are hiding, and they eventually come to him. His lifelong friend, an aboriginal himself, decides to hold the Japanese off and to distract them, in order to give Drover and the kids at least a chance at escape off the island. It proves enough, although he gets killed in the process.
Drover returns back to shore, and we find out that Lady Ashley is, in fact, alive. There is a tearful reunion between her, Nullah, and Drover.
Yet, it is not quite over yet. Despite the larger story of Australia having been attacked, Fletcher sees this happy reunion, and he is angry and goes mad. Gone is any pretense of civility, as he outright grabs for a gun and aims to take Nullah, his own son, out. But King George, who has been imprisoned in Darwin during the attack, sees him and quickly crafts a spear to kill him, and his mark is true. Still, Fletcher gets a shot off, but Drover runs and dives, managing to save the boy. Fletcher, in the meantime, finds himself impaled by the stick, and collapses and dies, just another casualty of the attack on Darwin.
Lady Ashley, Drover, and Nullah have a chance at happiness again, although King George is to take the boy on walkabout. Lady Ashley was long opposed to it, but she finally understands that the boy is an aboriginal, and needs to go through this, in order to preserve his roots. She struggles with the decision, but ultimately lets him go.
This movie, though long, has a lot to offer. A bit of history, a bit of romance, a bit of humor, a bit of adventure, and some beautiful scenery. A good movie that can appeal to a wide audience, and gets my recommendation.
This film is ambitious, tackling numerous themes all at once. It deals with the uncertainty of the possibility of attack, and possibly even invasion, by Japanese forces during World War II, shortly after Pearl Harbor. It also focuses on some of the rather extreme difficulties of the legendary Australian Outback, and trying to make a living in a remote and, frankly, mostly hostile landscape. It also focuses quite a bit on racism in Australia, and particularly the "White Australia" state-instituted policy that had aboriginal children separated from their mothers, in order to get a "proper" upbringing with traditional, white values. The working assumption was that white culture was superior, and that the aboriginal culture was so beneath "civilization", that it did not deserve to survive. Of course, the human toll for such a policy was tremendous.
All of that, and there is even a bit of a romance movie, as well. In fact, the romance seems to be the center of the movie, with all of the rest kind of revolving around it.
Yes, there are a lot of themes being juggled all at once.
It is a well done movie, to boot. With all those themes, you could probably guess that it is a long movie, and you'd be absolutely right! It's the better part of three hours long.
Yet, it is worth it. There is a little something for everyone in this film.
Set in northern Australia in the days of the Second World War, with the threat of a Japanese attack, and possible invasion, looming, the feel has an old, Outback feel to. The physical look of the place, as well as the rugged look of most of the men who live on the land, would not necessarily seem out of place in the old American west.
Hugh Jackman is Drover, a cattle rancher, if you will, in the employ of Lady Sarah Ashley, played well by Nicole Kidman, a British aristocrat who's husband is killed while tending to his property, Faraway Downs, in the land down under. So, Lady Ashley decides to take a trip down to Australia herself, with a rather romanticized notion of what it will be like. We find out that the reality is a bit harsher.
As we get our first real look at the famed Outback, we also meet Nullah, a little boy of mixed white and aboriginal blood, played by Brandon Walters. He is living at Faraway Downs with his mom, who is a helper. But we have to keep in mind the times. He is a mixed race boy, who has to essentially hide anytime a white official comes anywhere near the property, lest he be taken away and given a "proper" white education and upbringing. Such is the policy of "White Australia".
Neil Fletcher, played by David Wenham, is Nullah's father, although he tries his best to hide the fact and has rejected and disowned the boy in every way possible.. Yet, he is Nullah's father and, thus, becomes symbolic of the white man's paradoxical presence in Australia. Instead of accepting the boy as his own son, he refers to him as the little "creamy", a racist term signifying mixed blood.
Fletcher is working under "King" Carney (played by Bryan Brown), a regional land baron of sorts who desperately wants to get a hold of Faraway Downs, and employs Fletcher to help him get it, even through underhanded and unfair means. To this end, Fletcher kills Lady Ashley's husband, the original owner of Faraway owns, but the killing is blamed on King George, who is played by David Gulpilil. King George is Nullah's grandfather, and the link (for the boy and the movie) to the real aboriginal people and traditions. Throughout the movie, he urges Nullah to go walkabout in order to become a man.
In the meantime, Lady Ashley, who is childless and can never have a child, takes kindly to Nullah, and finds herself in the unfamiliar position of being almost motherly to him. So, when she sees Fletcher, who is from beginning to end the bad guy in this movie, handling the child too roughly for her tastes, she slaps him across the face and fires him on the spot. But this leaves her without anyone to take care of the 2,000 cattle, with the obvious exception of Drover, although he has a fierce independent streak. Eventually, he agrees to take the cattle to Darwin, to be shipped off for the war effort. The money that will be received for this is urgent, if Lady Ashley is to keep Faraway Downs. "King" Carney and Fletcher are working to try and beat her to the punch, however. To those ends, Carney has Fletcher try to sabotage the drive of cattle from Faraway Downs to Darwin, which is a treacherous and long enough trip as is, without any further obstructions.
Despite Fletcher's interference, and the difficult trek to Darwin, the group manage to make it, just barely beating out Carney and Fletcher, and managing to get their cattle onto the ship, securing much needed money to hang on to Faraway Downs. After that, Drover and Lady Ashley fall in love and live an ideal life at Faraway Downs for a while.
But Fletcher is absolutely determined to get Faraway Downs, to the point that it becomes an obsession. Having already killed Lady Ashley's husband, he now kills "King" Carney, making it look like an accident, and then takes over his estate empire. Now, he is in a position of power, and wants to force his hand to make Lady Ashley sell off Faraway Downs. In the meantime, Lady Ashley and Drover have a fight that ends their relationship, and lady Ashley is forced to look for employment in Darwin, although she helps the war effort.
Fletcher, having tried for years to get Nullah into the hands of the authorities, so that he loses contact with his native roots, finally manages to get Nullah sent off to a Christian school on an island some miles off the coast of Australia, nearby Darwin. When the Japanese attack, the island is the first place that they hit. Lady Ashley's place of employment is also one of the places that the Japanese hit, and it seems that she is lost underneath the rubble following the attack.
Drover, in the meantime, finds out about the attack, and rushes over to Darwin, realizing only now just how much he loves Lady Ashley. When he arrives, however, he is dismayed at how little left of Darwin there really is. He understands that Lady Ashley is dead, and it seems that he is doomed to live a life of regret for a lost love. But he finds out that Nullah is on the island that was attacked, and in hopes of saving at least the boy, he secretly manages to go to the island, getting past the authorities prohibiting it through physical force.
When he gets there, he finds nothing, initially. But the kids are hiding, and they eventually come to him. His lifelong friend, an aboriginal himself, decides to hold the Japanese off and to distract them, in order to give Drover and the kids at least a chance at escape off the island. It proves enough, although he gets killed in the process.
Drover returns back to shore, and we find out that Lady Ashley is, in fact, alive. There is a tearful reunion between her, Nullah, and Drover.
Yet, it is not quite over yet. Despite the larger story of Australia having been attacked, Fletcher sees this happy reunion, and he is angry and goes mad. Gone is any pretense of civility, as he outright grabs for a gun and aims to take Nullah, his own son, out. But King George, who has been imprisoned in Darwin during the attack, sees him and quickly crafts a spear to kill him, and his mark is true. Still, Fletcher gets a shot off, but Drover runs and dives, managing to save the boy. Fletcher, in the meantime, finds himself impaled by the stick, and collapses and dies, just another casualty of the attack on Darwin.
Lady Ashley, Drover, and Nullah have a chance at happiness again, although King George is to take the boy on walkabout. Lady Ashley was long opposed to it, but she finally understands that the boy is an aboriginal, and needs to go through this, in order to preserve his roots. She struggles with the decision, but ultimately lets him go.
This movie, though long, has a lot to offer. A bit of history, a bit of romance, a bit of humor, a bit of adventure, and some beautiful scenery. A good movie that can appeal to a wide audience, and gets my recommendation.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Book Review: Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs
This is really only the third Indiana Jones book that I have yet read, as of now. So, I was a bit surprised that it was the third time in as many books that I have read about his adventures with a Crystal Skull. Of course, the first book that I read was all about it, being the book version of the adventure from the last movie, back in 2008, so it was obvious why that had the Crystal Skull in it. But these other books? It came more as a surprise, at least to me, especially since it did not list anything about it in the book description, or anywhere else, until you actually read it in the book.
Not that I'm complaining. In fact, I learned a lot about these Crystal Skulls. There are only a few of them in the world, and I was disappointed to learn that I had missed the opportunity to see the one in a museum in Paris. I intent to see it, the next time I get to Paris.
In the meantime, it is enjoyable learning more about them, and getting the opportunity to imagine them in detail, through the adventures of Indiana Jones books.
***Spoiler Alert***
This book starts off with Indy paying the price for chasing after the skull, which has fallen into the hands of a foe that fans are familiar with from the first movie: Belloq. Yet, the book also begins with a scene quite similar on many levels to the third movie, when after the initial part with a young Indy, played by River Phoenix, has his first real adventure and gets his now famous fedora hat as a reward, we see Indiana Jones give a rather crooked smile as he is getting punched in the face by thugs. That is basically how this book starts out, as well.
The thugs work for Belloq, who has evidently gotten the Crystal Skull (don't ask me how, it must have been in an earlier book that I have not yet read -so more on this later, presumably. Stay tuned!). Belloq hands the artifact over to the Nazis, who have traveled by a new and powerful submarine. The Nazis seem to barely notice Jones, and it appears that this is Indy's first run-in with the Nazis as well, saying that he could some to hate these guys.
I will have to admit that Belloq is a character that I have mixed feelings about. Maybe I am just overly sensitive to the constant, almost automatic portrayals in American adventure movies of French guys systematically being the bad guys. But Belloq seems to fit the prototype just a little too closely, with his expensive wine and cheese, and his loud proclamations of the beauty (and presumably,, the superiority) of the French language and culture, and all things French, really). It just seems such a standard stereotype to play on, yet I keep seeing it, or versions similar enough to it, and sometimes, it just seems so damn cliche. Belloq, as a villain, is very cliche. A typical evil genius type, with a strong French accent. In that regard, he is rather cumbersome.
That said, he is an established character in the Indiana Jones story, and at least he came prior to the whole French bashing thing that became the flavor of the moment during the lead-up to the Iraq War, unlike some other renegade French guys, like the one in the last two Matrix movies.
In any case, Indiana Jones manages to escape Belloq and the Nazis that he has sold out to. But what he does not escape is the end of the relationship with Alecia Dunstin, the love of his life, apparently (at least, before Indiana Jones fans are introduced to Marion Ravenwood). The prophecy surrounding the Crystal Skull is that he who removes it from it's proper place will kill the thing he loves the most seems to be panning out, and we see Indy taking it hard, turning to scotch in his college office, when he is approached by a nun, with an unusual request.
This nun, Joan, tells Indy that her father has gone missing looking for some rare and priceless artifact in a far away land (of course). She trusts that Indiana Jones can help her, although he is hesitant. It should come as no great surprise that he eventually concedes, and agrees to help her. Another adventure for Indiana Jones!
So, it is off to China, where the team that has been assembled for this adventure can begin to make their way to the Great Wall of China, crossing it and into Mongolia, stopping at the newly named capital city Ulan Bator, en route to the desert and beyond, where they will hope to find Joan's father, and whatever priceless treasure that allegedly awaits them.
Indiana is teamed up with Granger, a fellow adventurer. Joan is there with them, and they have a few native Chinese for further assistance, as well.
When the team passes the Great Wall, they find a guard there, who works for General Tzi, a local warlord that no one on the team has ever heard of before. The guard has a vicious dog that he mistreats, and when Indiana Jones intervenes to prevent further abuse, the dog, who becomes known as Loki, feels Indiana Jones is his master, and remains loyal to him the rest of the way. The team moves on, and Loki follows them at a distance, but he will make an appearance later on in the story again.
Predictably, the team has a few run ins with General Tzi and his entourage. Also predictably, they manage to escape seemingly impossible odds, time and again.
Also, as it turns out, Joan is not a nun at all, but a reporter, and she evidently has quite the crush on Indiana Jones (of course)!
The team manages to get through the Gobi desert, but not without struggles, obviously. They almost run out of water, and are then attacked by a wicked band of warrior nomads, led by General Tzi. Still, they manage to make it to the other side, and it is there that they find numerous eggs, just like the one that Joan had shown and given Indiana Jones, which had been believed to be priceless. However, these hardly seem like ancient artifacts at all, but rather like recently hatched eggs. The mystery deepens.
Here, they run into Joan's father, who has become part of some local monk establishment. He explains that there are now three eggs remaining, and that these have actual, living creatures inside, that have become part of local lore. In fact, the creatures are that last remaining dinosaurs.
General Tzi remains in the picture, of course. Hell bent on revenge, he purses the team. But they manage to escape, using a little known, and well-hidden path that leads them to a place that seems otherwordly (it is referred to as the "Garden of Eden". There are not many natives, but those who live here have not had their lifestyles disturbed in millenia. The team is obliged to bring the eggs along with them, but in the process, two of them are lost. There is only one egg remaining, and Indy has it.
General Tzi and his forces remain in pursuit, and so Indy and Granger, wanting to preserve this paradise, as well as the eggs, decide to put themselves at risk, and divert Tzi. They do, and the subsequent chase proves costly. They are greatly outnumbered, and then surrounded. Tzi has them where he wants them, and is about to close the circle to kill Jones and Granger.
This is when Loki makes his appearance. He has grown loyal to Indiana, who has saved him, and he leaps onto Tzi and rips off his skin, drawing blood. The other dogs who worked for Tzi smell that blood and go crazy, tearing their own master apart, killing him, and satisfying their blood lust. The rest of the team withdraws.
Jones and Granger return in time to see the dinosaur hatch. It is being fed some rare flowers, which apparently is what these particular creatures had eaten. They are only to be found in this part of the world, this hidden Garden of Eden. Yet, for a little while, Granger seems intent on removing the dinosaur, and bringing it to the United States for scientific research, as well as for personal fame and fortune. Ultimately, he learns better. It is understood that the dinosaur belongs here and nowhere else, and that the best place for it is this hidden paradise. Indiana Jones and Granger retreat and go back towards China, and to rejoin the world, while Joan and her father decide to stay. Joan has made a proposition to Indy, wanting him to remain with her, but Indy turns her down.
Ultimately, before getting back to China, Indiana Jones has a reunion with Khan, who once again reaffirms his belief that they had met before, as Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, with Indiana Jones as Marco Polo.
Indy is given a gift by Khan, a knife that once belonged to his ancestor, Genghis Khan. There are etchings on the knife, and Khan admits that he has never been able to make sense of it. But within minutes, Indiana Jones has a rough sketching of what it says, and what it might imply, that it predates Genghis Khan, and that it may have belonged to the Chinese Emperor Qin-Shi-Huang, and seems to be a map, possibly, to his tomb, which legend has it, is filled with treasure. Of course, I already read, and reviewed, the book where he pursued this treasure some time ago. (See: Book Review: Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx, published October 17, 2012)
Indiana Jones goes from this adventure back to the place where this adventure started. The Nazi submarine had an accident and was sunk, and the Nazis back in Germany have no idea where they could find this submarine, having lost radio communication. That gives Indy seemingly all the time that he needs to explore the sunken submarine, and to look for the now lost Crystal Skull. It was placed in a yellow metal canister, and Indy finds it quickly. He resurfaces, but in the process, loses the yellow canister, only to find it again, floating on the surface of the water. He grabs it, but then another yellow canister appears. Then another, and another, and so on. There are hundreds of such canisters, and it is clear that Jones cannot grab them all. It seems the Crystal Skull remains lost after all!
One of the things that I like about Indiana Jones the character, in general, is that he is a learned hero. It is not just some mindless musclehead shooting up some enemy soldiers and winning a war all by himself, or anything like that. Indiana Jones is a learned man, an archaeologist of strong repute, with an incredible mind. He is a professor at Princeton, for God's sake! So, the focus is on the virtues of learning, and Indy has a good heart, to boot. He is not just a raider of tombs in order to simply sell on the black market and make his fortune. He is in it so that humanity can learn and better itself, a noble cause. He works for the betterment of all humanity, and helps by teaching the world more about these things, desiring these priceless artifacts to be placed in museums, so that they can be preserved for all time for future generations.
These books also delves into real scholars and their works, as well. When that happens, we are treated to learning a bit more about these real life figures. Case in point, at one point in this book, Joseph Campbell is mentioned, and we are offered a little bit more information about him and his life's work in the field of mythology. At the time that this book is supposed to have taken place, Campbell is still young, and still fresh in the field, formulating his now famous ideas and interpretations of myths and their relation to early human societies.
All in all, this is a good book, if you are into Indiana Jones novels! That said, I did not read these in the proper order, and that was to my detriment in understanding these adventures. I had assumed (wrongly) that his adventures would be individualized, and for the most part, they are. Yet, they are connected to one another, and it helps to know what is being referenced from prior works.
So, from this point onwards, I will continue reading these, but only in their proper order! First up, Indiana Jones and the Peril at the Delphi.
Not that I'm complaining. In fact, I learned a lot about these Crystal Skulls. There are only a few of them in the world, and I was disappointed to learn that I had missed the opportunity to see the one in a museum in Paris. I intent to see it, the next time I get to Paris.
In the meantime, it is enjoyable learning more about them, and getting the opportunity to imagine them in detail, through the adventures of Indiana Jones books.
***Spoiler Alert***
This book starts off with Indy paying the price for chasing after the skull, which has fallen into the hands of a foe that fans are familiar with from the first movie: Belloq. Yet, the book also begins with a scene quite similar on many levels to the third movie, when after the initial part with a young Indy, played by River Phoenix, has his first real adventure and gets his now famous fedora hat as a reward, we see Indiana Jones give a rather crooked smile as he is getting punched in the face by thugs. That is basically how this book starts out, as well.
The thugs work for Belloq, who has evidently gotten the Crystal Skull (don't ask me how, it must have been in an earlier book that I have not yet read -so more on this later, presumably. Stay tuned!). Belloq hands the artifact over to the Nazis, who have traveled by a new and powerful submarine. The Nazis seem to barely notice Jones, and it appears that this is Indy's first run-in with the Nazis as well, saying that he could some to hate these guys.
I will have to admit that Belloq is a character that I have mixed feelings about. Maybe I am just overly sensitive to the constant, almost automatic portrayals in American adventure movies of French guys systematically being the bad guys. But Belloq seems to fit the prototype just a little too closely, with his expensive wine and cheese, and his loud proclamations of the beauty (and presumably,, the superiority) of the French language and culture, and all things French, really). It just seems such a standard stereotype to play on, yet I keep seeing it, or versions similar enough to it, and sometimes, it just seems so damn cliche. Belloq, as a villain, is very cliche. A typical evil genius type, with a strong French accent. In that regard, he is rather cumbersome.
That said, he is an established character in the Indiana Jones story, and at least he came prior to the whole French bashing thing that became the flavor of the moment during the lead-up to the Iraq War, unlike some other renegade French guys, like the one in the last two Matrix movies.
In any case, Indiana Jones manages to escape Belloq and the Nazis that he has sold out to. But what he does not escape is the end of the relationship with Alecia Dunstin, the love of his life, apparently (at least, before Indiana Jones fans are introduced to Marion Ravenwood). The prophecy surrounding the Crystal Skull is that he who removes it from it's proper place will kill the thing he loves the most seems to be panning out, and we see Indy taking it hard, turning to scotch in his college office, when he is approached by a nun, with an unusual request.
This nun, Joan, tells Indy that her father has gone missing looking for some rare and priceless artifact in a far away land (of course). She trusts that Indiana Jones can help her, although he is hesitant. It should come as no great surprise that he eventually concedes, and agrees to help her. Another adventure for Indiana Jones!
So, it is off to China, where the team that has been assembled for this adventure can begin to make their way to the Great Wall of China, crossing it and into Mongolia, stopping at the newly named capital city Ulan Bator, en route to the desert and beyond, where they will hope to find Joan's father, and whatever priceless treasure that allegedly awaits them.
Indiana is teamed up with Granger, a fellow adventurer. Joan is there with them, and they have a few native Chinese for further assistance, as well.
When the team passes the Great Wall, they find a guard there, who works for General Tzi, a local warlord that no one on the team has ever heard of before. The guard has a vicious dog that he mistreats, and when Indiana Jones intervenes to prevent further abuse, the dog, who becomes known as Loki, feels Indiana Jones is his master, and remains loyal to him the rest of the way. The team moves on, and Loki follows them at a distance, but he will make an appearance later on in the story again.
Predictably, the team has a few run ins with General Tzi and his entourage. Also predictably, they manage to escape seemingly impossible odds, time and again.
Also, as it turns out, Joan is not a nun at all, but a reporter, and she evidently has quite the crush on Indiana Jones (of course)!
The team manages to get through the Gobi desert, but not without struggles, obviously. They almost run out of water, and are then attacked by a wicked band of warrior nomads, led by General Tzi. Still, they manage to make it to the other side, and it is there that they find numerous eggs, just like the one that Joan had shown and given Indiana Jones, which had been believed to be priceless. However, these hardly seem like ancient artifacts at all, but rather like recently hatched eggs. The mystery deepens.
Here, they run into Joan's father, who has become part of some local monk establishment. He explains that there are now three eggs remaining, and that these have actual, living creatures inside, that have become part of local lore. In fact, the creatures are that last remaining dinosaurs.
General Tzi remains in the picture, of course. Hell bent on revenge, he purses the team. But they manage to escape, using a little known, and well-hidden path that leads them to a place that seems otherwordly (it is referred to as the "Garden of Eden". There are not many natives, but those who live here have not had their lifestyles disturbed in millenia. The team is obliged to bring the eggs along with them, but in the process, two of them are lost. There is only one egg remaining, and Indy has it.
General Tzi and his forces remain in pursuit, and so Indy and Granger, wanting to preserve this paradise, as well as the eggs, decide to put themselves at risk, and divert Tzi. They do, and the subsequent chase proves costly. They are greatly outnumbered, and then surrounded. Tzi has them where he wants them, and is about to close the circle to kill Jones and Granger.
This is when Loki makes his appearance. He has grown loyal to Indiana, who has saved him, and he leaps onto Tzi and rips off his skin, drawing blood. The other dogs who worked for Tzi smell that blood and go crazy, tearing their own master apart, killing him, and satisfying their blood lust. The rest of the team withdraws.
Jones and Granger return in time to see the dinosaur hatch. It is being fed some rare flowers, which apparently is what these particular creatures had eaten. They are only to be found in this part of the world, this hidden Garden of Eden. Yet, for a little while, Granger seems intent on removing the dinosaur, and bringing it to the United States for scientific research, as well as for personal fame and fortune. Ultimately, he learns better. It is understood that the dinosaur belongs here and nowhere else, and that the best place for it is this hidden paradise. Indiana Jones and Granger retreat and go back towards China, and to rejoin the world, while Joan and her father decide to stay. Joan has made a proposition to Indy, wanting him to remain with her, but Indy turns her down.
Ultimately, before getting back to China, Indiana Jones has a reunion with Khan, who once again reaffirms his belief that they had met before, as Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, with Indiana Jones as Marco Polo.
Indy is given a gift by Khan, a knife that once belonged to his ancestor, Genghis Khan. There are etchings on the knife, and Khan admits that he has never been able to make sense of it. But within minutes, Indiana Jones has a rough sketching of what it says, and what it might imply, that it predates Genghis Khan, and that it may have belonged to the Chinese Emperor Qin-Shi-Huang, and seems to be a map, possibly, to his tomb, which legend has it, is filled with treasure. Of course, I already read, and reviewed, the book where he pursued this treasure some time ago. (See: Book Review: Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx, published October 17, 2012)
Indiana Jones goes from this adventure back to the place where this adventure started. The Nazi submarine had an accident and was sunk, and the Nazis back in Germany have no idea where they could find this submarine, having lost radio communication. That gives Indy seemingly all the time that he needs to explore the sunken submarine, and to look for the now lost Crystal Skull. It was placed in a yellow metal canister, and Indy finds it quickly. He resurfaces, but in the process, loses the yellow canister, only to find it again, floating on the surface of the water. He grabs it, but then another yellow canister appears. Then another, and another, and so on. There are hundreds of such canisters, and it is clear that Jones cannot grab them all. It seems the Crystal Skull remains lost after all!
One of the things that I like about Indiana Jones the character, in general, is that he is a learned hero. It is not just some mindless musclehead shooting up some enemy soldiers and winning a war all by himself, or anything like that. Indiana Jones is a learned man, an archaeologist of strong repute, with an incredible mind. He is a professor at Princeton, for God's sake! So, the focus is on the virtues of learning, and Indy has a good heart, to boot. He is not just a raider of tombs in order to simply sell on the black market and make his fortune. He is in it so that humanity can learn and better itself, a noble cause. He works for the betterment of all humanity, and helps by teaching the world more about these things, desiring these priceless artifacts to be placed in museums, so that they can be preserved for all time for future generations.
These books also delves into real scholars and their works, as well. When that happens, we are treated to learning a bit more about these real life figures. Case in point, at one point in this book, Joseph Campbell is mentioned, and we are offered a little bit more information about him and his life's work in the field of mythology. At the time that this book is supposed to have taken place, Campbell is still young, and still fresh in the field, formulating his now famous ideas and interpretations of myths and their relation to early human societies.
All in all, this is a good book, if you are into Indiana Jones novels! That said, I did not read these in the proper order, and that was to my detriment in understanding these adventures. I had assumed (wrongly) that his adventures would be individualized, and for the most part, they are. Yet, they are connected to one another, and it helps to know what is being referenced from prior works.
So, from this point onwards, I will continue reading these, but only in their proper order! First up, Indiana Jones and the Peril at the Delphi.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Parents of Columbine Killer Speak Out
It was an unthinkable tragedy. A moment that was almost, perhaps just short of, the kind that defines a generation, like September 11th or the Kennedy Assassination. I don't remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard the news, like I remember first hearing about the attacks on the World Trade Center. Yet, I remember it, and remember the aftermath.
Of course, school shootings were already nothing new. There had been numerous such shootings before Columbine, and there have been numerous school shootings since. There was one in Germany that had more victims, and there was another one at Virginia Tech that also proved even more deadly (it remains the deadliest school shooting in history).
Yet, Columbine was the one that had the biggest impact of them all (unless you remember the one in Scotland in the nineties, which also had a huge impact, but not as much in the United States as in Britain), and I am guessing this was mostly because of the shock value. There were a lot of oddities about that day, and the specifics relating to the story. Two kids, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, working together to produce a massacre. They had purposely chosen April 20th as the date, because it was Hitler's birthday, although one of the kids, Dylan Klebold, apparently was partly Jewish himself. The two boys, who were just a couple of months from graduating that very high school that they hated so much, had been severely picked on and bullied at times, yet they killed their victims seemingly randomly. Initially, there were reports that the killings had been because of something called the "Trenchcoat Mafia", yet as it turned out, it was just two neighborhood kids who had appeared perfectly normal just the day before, although the media would go on to scrutinize everything so much as to make the signs of impending massacre appear almost obvious. Obviously, the media did. What the media also managed to do was make it a live story, and we the viewing audience were given access to images of kids running out of the school in a panic, and of a kid crawling out of a window, and being yanked out to safety. Later, there were brief images of some of the actual shootings themselves. Perhaps the oddest thing about it was the scale of their plans. They hoped to kill 500 people in the school, and if they were able to escape, they wanted to make their way to Denver Airport, hijack a plane, and then fly it to Manhattan, where they would crash it into some buildings in the downtown - something that resonated and seemed rather eerie a just about two and a half years later, when terrorists would fly airplanes into the two tallest skyscrapers in the city - the Twin Towers.
What made Columbine unique were all these things, as well as the scale of it. Nothing quite like it had happened before. It was all of these strange points, and more, mentioned in the previous paragraph. Suddenly, everyone was paying attention to the long-term dangers of resentment from bullying and harassment, as if these things had been minor matters before, perhaps just part of life's unpleasant realities. After Columbine, all of that changed. Everyone was worried about copycat incidents. Suddenly, the possibility of your child being harmed in your neighborhood seemed very real, and security measures in countless schools were stepped up several notches. There were threats. There was even a school shooting about one month later near Atlanta. But nothing since has quite reached the scale of Columbine, where almost everything else -all the news of the world - seemed to halt briefly, for a week or two, while the nation discussed what had happened, and why, and what needed to be done now.
Sometimes, frankly, I wonder what made Columbine so unique. Yes, it was huge, and it was shocking. But let's be honest: mass shootings, with some crazy (or in this case, crazies) killing people seemingly at random, is nothing new in America. Particularly in 1999, when there seemed to be shootings all of the time, all over the place. I mentioned school shootings, but of course, they happen outside of school, as well. Think of some of the recent shootings (and these are only the recent shootings, within the last couple of years or so): the shootings in Arizona targeting Congresswoman Giffords, the massive shooting (and bombing) in Norway last year, or the Aurora movie theater shooting earlier this year in the premiere for the new Batman movie. That one happened near Littleton, Colorado, the site of the Columbine school shootings. Why aren't these as shocking to us? Why doesn't life seem to stop after such incidents? Have we grown immune to such incidents, shrugging our shoulders and resigning these tragedies on an epic scale to be among the inevitable realities of modern day life? If so, what does that say about us?
Now, there are a lot of questions regarding mass shootings. We often hear from survivors, or surviving family members of victims, who struggle to try and make some sense of it all. Of course, what we hear is how painful it is, and the struggles, physically and emotionally, to try and move on. For the rest of us on the outside, it all seems surreal, hard to imagine.
But can you imagine being the parent of one of the kids who did the killing on that day? What can you be thinking? What was your reaction on that day?
I vaguely remember that Dylan Klebold's father had placed a call to 911 and told the operator that he believed his son was involved. But that was it, for the most part. Plenty of people blamed them, and the parents of Eric Harris. But nobody seemed to actually here from them.
Until now.
In a truly amazing article by Jessica Ferri of Parenting Magazine, we get to hear directly from the parents of Dylan Klebold, one of the two teenage murderers responsible for Columbine.
Normally, I would include quotes and such, and talk about my own reaction to reading such an article. But, I think it would be better for you, the reader, to just read this article yourself. You get direct quotes from both parents, the mother and the father. It is unbelievable, and it's hard to imagine living your life after such a thing. The mixture of grief and, most likely, guilt, at being associated with these events.
This article is amazing, and it is because of a book by Andrew Solomon, titled "Far From The Tree", that explores unusual kids, and there is a chapter that discusses violent children who commit crimes.
Here is the link to the article, titled "Columbine Shooter Dylan Klebold's Parents Speak Out":
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/columbine-shooter-dylan-klebold-8217-parents-speak-191300537.html
Here is a link to another article, this one on the Aurora shootings and inevitable comparisons to the shootings that occurred at nearby Columbine ("With Aurora Massacre, Memories of Columbine Stir" by Alon Harish of ABC News):
http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-massacre-memories-columbine-stir-194551556--abc-news-topstories.html
Of course, school shootings were already nothing new. There had been numerous such shootings before Columbine, and there have been numerous school shootings since. There was one in Germany that had more victims, and there was another one at Virginia Tech that also proved even more deadly (it remains the deadliest school shooting in history).
Yet, Columbine was the one that had the biggest impact of them all (unless you remember the one in Scotland in the nineties, which also had a huge impact, but not as much in the United States as in Britain), and I am guessing this was mostly because of the shock value. There were a lot of oddities about that day, and the specifics relating to the story. Two kids, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, working together to produce a massacre. They had purposely chosen April 20th as the date, because it was Hitler's birthday, although one of the kids, Dylan Klebold, apparently was partly Jewish himself. The two boys, who were just a couple of months from graduating that very high school that they hated so much, had been severely picked on and bullied at times, yet they killed their victims seemingly randomly. Initially, there were reports that the killings had been because of something called the "Trenchcoat Mafia", yet as it turned out, it was just two neighborhood kids who had appeared perfectly normal just the day before, although the media would go on to scrutinize everything so much as to make the signs of impending massacre appear almost obvious. Obviously, the media did. What the media also managed to do was make it a live story, and we the viewing audience were given access to images of kids running out of the school in a panic, and of a kid crawling out of a window, and being yanked out to safety. Later, there were brief images of some of the actual shootings themselves. Perhaps the oddest thing about it was the scale of their plans. They hoped to kill 500 people in the school, and if they were able to escape, they wanted to make their way to Denver Airport, hijack a plane, and then fly it to Manhattan, where they would crash it into some buildings in the downtown - something that resonated and seemed rather eerie a just about two and a half years later, when terrorists would fly airplanes into the two tallest skyscrapers in the city - the Twin Towers.
What made Columbine unique were all these things, as well as the scale of it. Nothing quite like it had happened before. It was all of these strange points, and more, mentioned in the previous paragraph. Suddenly, everyone was paying attention to the long-term dangers of resentment from bullying and harassment, as if these things had been minor matters before, perhaps just part of life's unpleasant realities. After Columbine, all of that changed. Everyone was worried about copycat incidents. Suddenly, the possibility of your child being harmed in your neighborhood seemed very real, and security measures in countless schools were stepped up several notches. There were threats. There was even a school shooting about one month later near Atlanta. But nothing since has quite reached the scale of Columbine, where almost everything else -all the news of the world - seemed to halt briefly, for a week or two, while the nation discussed what had happened, and why, and what needed to be done now.
Sometimes, frankly, I wonder what made Columbine so unique. Yes, it was huge, and it was shocking. But let's be honest: mass shootings, with some crazy (or in this case, crazies) killing people seemingly at random, is nothing new in America. Particularly in 1999, when there seemed to be shootings all of the time, all over the place. I mentioned school shootings, but of course, they happen outside of school, as well. Think of some of the recent shootings (and these are only the recent shootings, within the last couple of years or so): the shootings in Arizona targeting Congresswoman Giffords, the massive shooting (and bombing) in Norway last year, or the Aurora movie theater shooting earlier this year in the premiere for the new Batman movie. That one happened near Littleton, Colorado, the site of the Columbine school shootings. Why aren't these as shocking to us? Why doesn't life seem to stop after such incidents? Have we grown immune to such incidents, shrugging our shoulders and resigning these tragedies on an epic scale to be among the inevitable realities of modern day life? If so, what does that say about us?
Now, there are a lot of questions regarding mass shootings. We often hear from survivors, or surviving family members of victims, who struggle to try and make some sense of it all. Of course, what we hear is how painful it is, and the struggles, physically and emotionally, to try and move on. For the rest of us on the outside, it all seems surreal, hard to imagine.
But can you imagine being the parent of one of the kids who did the killing on that day? What can you be thinking? What was your reaction on that day?
I vaguely remember that Dylan Klebold's father had placed a call to 911 and told the operator that he believed his son was involved. But that was it, for the most part. Plenty of people blamed them, and the parents of Eric Harris. But nobody seemed to actually here from them.
Until now.
In a truly amazing article by Jessica Ferri of Parenting Magazine, we get to hear directly from the parents of Dylan Klebold, one of the two teenage murderers responsible for Columbine.
Normally, I would include quotes and such, and talk about my own reaction to reading such an article. But, I think it would be better for you, the reader, to just read this article yourself. You get direct quotes from both parents, the mother and the father. It is unbelievable, and it's hard to imagine living your life after such a thing. The mixture of grief and, most likely, guilt, at being associated with these events.
This article is amazing, and it is because of a book by Andrew Solomon, titled "Far From The Tree", that explores unusual kids, and there is a chapter that discusses violent children who commit crimes.
Here is the link to the article, titled "Columbine Shooter Dylan Klebold's Parents Speak Out":
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/columbine-shooter-dylan-klebold-8217-parents-speak-191300537.html
Here is a link to another article, this one on the Aurora shootings and inevitable comparisons to the shootings that occurred at nearby Columbine ("With Aurora Massacre, Memories of Columbine Stir" by Alon Harish of ABC News):
http://news.yahoo.com/aurora-massacre-memories-columbine-stir-194551556--abc-news-topstories.html
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Secessionist Spirit Sweeps the Nation....Or, Maybe Not So Much
A few days ago, I caught a glimpse of a story that just seemed so strange to me. I dismissed it as a fluke, at least at first, because frankly, the story just seemed so absurd. But since then, it just seems to have taken a life of it's own.
The story that I am referring to originated in Texas (why am I not surprised?). Apparently, there are some people who took being on the losing side of last week's election truly to heart, and they decided to do something about it. A petition circulated around, needing 25,000 signatures to receive notice from President Obama and, increasingly, the entire nation.
What did this petition request? Well, here it is, at least in part. The following sentence in quotes, although not the entire petition, should give you a good indication about what it was about. In essence, this is what they want to do:
"Peacefully grant the state of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government."
Yup. Texas, for the second time in it's history, is considering seceding from the Union. At least, quite a few Texans are thinking about it.
Only now, it has spread. Seceding ain't just for Texans anymore, you know? The idea has spread to other states and, perhaps rather predictably, enough folks feel that it is a good idea, that these petitions are now circulating in numerous other states. Quite a few other states have begun to circulate similar secessionist petitions, and although they are kind of all over the place in terms of the map, there is one trend that did not fail to capture my notice.
All of the southern states were among the very first to have such petitions. After all, is it really all that surprising that Texas would be where the idea of such a petition originated from? Is it really all that surprising that it is in the South, which has a history where it seceded from the Union before, where secessionist spirit is strongest?
Here's the thing, though. This is 2012, not 1861. Obama is President, not Lincoln. A disappointing election result for red states is not slavery. There comes a point when we need to move on from the past. It would be nice if those Southerners, once and for all, got over themselves and their sufficiently self-promoting version of their past, and rejoined the nation more fully. That perhaps is especially applicable towards those Texans fostering their fiery independent spirit. Get over yourselves!
One small does of reality for Texas: there is a petition out now by one Caleb M., who is petitioning to have Austin secede from Texas and remain part of the Union, if secession does actually become a reality. It is heartening to know that there are also Texans who have a bit of commonsense perspective, and not lost in trying to relive old battles, and to get some measure of revenge over some perceived and vague wrongs committed.
Maybe if we work hard enough, we can get all 50 states to secede from theUnion . Then, we can form a new Union ! We would have to hold elections, of course. And I'm willing to bet that it would be Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, once again. Dare to dream!
I have mentioned it before, and will mention it now once again: I am not a fan of President Obama.
But that said, much of the criticism of him just goes too far, and seems, frankly, misplaced. There is virtually nothing that this man has done that was worse than his predecessor. Yet, many of the critics of Obama today were rather silent during the days of George W. Bush. Until those critics acknowledge this simple reality, they forfeit their credibility, in my view.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-petition-secede-reaches-threshold-obama-comment/story?id=17701519#.UKIdD-QfyuI
http://news.yahoo.com/states-most-signatures-secede-took-millions-federal-money-232349893--abc-news-politics.html
The story that I am referring to originated in Texas (why am I not surprised?). Apparently, there are some people who took being on the losing side of last week's election truly to heart, and they decided to do something about it. A petition circulated around, needing 25,000 signatures to receive notice from President Obama and, increasingly, the entire nation.
What did this petition request? Well, here it is, at least in part. The following sentence in quotes, although not the entire petition, should give you a good indication about what it was about. In essence, this is what they want to do:
"Peacefully grant the state of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government."
Yup. Texas, for the second time in it's history, is considering seceding from the Union. At least, quite a few Texans are thinking about it.
Only now, it has spread. Seceding ain't just for Texans anymore, you know? The idea has spread to other states and, perhaps rather predictably, enough folks feel that it is a good idea, that these petitions are now circulating in numerous other states. Quite a few other states have begun to circulate similar secessionist petitions, and although they are kind of all over the place in terms of the map, there is one trend that did not fail to capture my notice.
All of the southern states were among the very first to have such petitions. After all, is it really all that surprising that Texas would be where the idea of such a petition originated from? Is it really all that surprising that it is in the South, which has a history where it seceded from the Union before, where secessionist spirit is strongest?
Here's the thing, though. This is 2012, not 1861. Obama is President, not Lincoln. A disappointing election result for red states is not slavery. There comes a point when we need to move on from the past. It would be nice if those Southerners, once and for all, got over themselves and their sufficiently self-promoting version of their past, and rejoined the nation more fully. That perhaps is especially applicable towards those Texans fostering their fiery independent spirit. Get over yourselves!
One small does of reality for Texas: there is a petition out now by one Caleb M., who is petitioning to have Austin secede from Texas and remain part of the Union, if secession does actually become a reality. It is heartening to know that there are also Texans who have a bit of commonsense perspective, and not lost in trying to relive old battles, and to get some measure of revenge over some perceived and vague wrongs committed.
Maybe if we work hard enough, we can get all 50 states to secede from the
I have mentioned it before, and will mention it now once again: I am not a fan of President Obama.
But that said, much of the criticism of him just goes too far, and seems, frankly, misplaced. There is virtually nothing that this man has done that was worse than his predecessor. Yet, many of the critics of Obama today were rather silent during the days of George W. Bush. Until those critics acknowledge this simple reality, they forfeit their credibility, in my view.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-petition-secede-reaches-threshold-obama-comment/story?id=17701519#.UKIdD-QfyuI
http://news.yahoo.com/states-most-signatures-secede-took-millions-federal-money-232349893--abc-news-politics.html
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Romney and Race
Last week, on the posting for November 9th's "Around the Bend", I put forth an argument that race seems to play an important part in elections. A part of me was reluctant to write it, since it can be taken to imply that those who vote Republican tend to be racist - an argument that I was not trying to make, and which I reject. That said, race does play a role for far too many people, and all of the criticism that blacks systematically would vote for Obama precisely because he is black are more or less balanced out by those whites who would never vote for Obama because he is not white.
This comes right on the heels of neocon radio commentator Rush Limbaugh using a word, "hispandering", apparently of his own creation, that many find offensive, and even racist.
I really did not want to talk specifically about the election results, and take further digs at the loser of last week's election, Mitt Romney. After all, even though I am not a Democrat, or a supporter of President Obama, I am more inclined towards supporting him, if need be, then Romney and the Republicans. I used to consider myself a Democrat, after all. So, I did not want to risk appearing like a sore winner, or rubbing it in their face, so to speak.
However, Romney is making news headlines again, and he is using the race card. He claimed that Obama won by giving "gifts" to minorities, and that their support, in turn, won him the election. Romney singled out that these gifts were given particularly to the "African-American community, the Hispanic community, and young voters."
Essentially, he spoke about how Obamacare, and claimed that minorities were "being told you're now going to get free health care", and that this was a big part of the reason why Obama had been so successful with them. He also mentioned "with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called DREAM Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group."
"With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift." Romney said. He then went on to talk about young women, saying "Free contraceptives were very big with young college-aged women."
Essentially, those are all arguments that he made before election day, although he was not so transparent in the language that he used, as he specifically seemed to separate himself from those minorities. It seemed, frankly, in the same spirit of "them" versus "us".
It was a bit reminiscent of his "47 percent" comment that generated so much controversy.
The truth is that minority voters also will tend to identify much more with a minority President, because he is one of their own. That much, Romney did not mention. Also, let's be quite frank: Romney is hardly even a "typical" white guy. He was, and is, an elitist.
So much was this the case, in fact, that even many whites were hesitant in regards to Romney, as well. Republicans in general seemed to drag their feet in embracing Romney as their candidate. Romney just seemed a little too elite for most people, and there was a fear that he just would not be able to relate to the majority of Americans, and vice versa. He is, after all, the $200 million dollar man, the man of "dressage". He joked that he, too, knew what it was like to be unemployed, making light of the suffering of millions of Americans who are unemployed, and don't have two hundred million to fall back on. Romney's main selling point was that he was a very good businessman, yet that business seemed willing to take profits at all costs, even when American jobs were shipped off to China. That might be sound business practices these days, but it is hardly the sign of someone that most people would trust as their President.
Romney's "us" and "them" attitude seemed to extend beyond just race, although that element seemed to exist, just underneath the surface. his recent comments seemed to solidify that, specifying race as the determining factor, and reinforcing the notion that minority voters are addicted to "handouts". he also referred to "illegals", a term that many believe to be on the verge of racism.
The fact that he seems to be suggesting that Obama specifically helped out minorities in order to win votes (rather than legitimately trying to help them out) suggests a strong measure of cynicism, as well as a lack of understanding, on the part of Romney. By outright mentioning these things, he seems to be hinting at the often popular notion of some kind of vague conspiracy favoring minorities over the white majority.
"The president's campaign focused on giving targeted groups a big gift, so he made a big effort on small things. Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars", he said.
If anything, rather than reprising himself from accusations of racism, Romney's comments will likely buttress those arguments even further.
One way or the other, Romney's campaign proved polarizing, and it is this, more than anything else, that lost him the election. he can take comfort in blaming everyone else, but ultimately, given Obama's lack of popularity, which remained consistent throughout this Presidential election, Romney really has no one to blame but himself.
That said, Romney's own campaign seemed to be swamped with one gaffe after another. I mentioned some earlier, but he seemed to waffle on many issues, and to be that typical slimy, untrustworthy politician that tells you what you want to hear in order to get elected. Also, his Republican Party seemed to shoot themselves in the foot, and did themselves no favor with one bizarre comment after another concerning rape and abortion.
Personally, I believe that what cost Romney the election was the blame game, something that he, rather ironically, accused Obama of. He still is at it, pointing the finger of blame now on minorities. I think it would behoove the Republicans to take a lesson from that. Time will tell if they actually will learn that lesson, or if history will repeat itself.
Here is a link to an article at Boston.com by Callum Borchers ("Gifts" to minorities, young voters helped President Obama win re-election, Mitt Romney says"):
Here is an article by Mauve Reston of the Los Angeles Times ("Romney Attributes Loss to "Gifts" Obama Gave Minorities"):
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-donors-20121115,0,1719033.story
Finally, one last article on by Evan Schwartz of Vibe ("Mitt Romney Blames Election Loss On Minorities"):
http://www.vibe.com/article/mitt-romney-blames-election-loss-minorities
This comes right on the heels of neocon radio commentator Rush Limbaugh using a word, "hispandering", apparently of his own creation, that many find offensive, and even racist.
I really did not want to talk specifically about the election results, and take further digs at the loser of last week's election, Mitt Romney. After all, even though I am not a Democrat, or a supporter of President Obama, I am more inclined towards supporting him, if need be, then Romney and the Republicans. I used to consider myself a Democrat, after all. So, I did not want to risk appearing like a sore winner, or rubbing it in their face, so to speak.
However, Romney is making news headlines again, and he is using the race card. He claimed that Obama won by giving "gifts" to minorities, and that their support, in turn, won him the election. Romney singled out that these gifts were given particularly to the "African-American community, the Hispanic community, and young voters."
Essentially, he spoke about how Obamacare, and claimed that minorities were "being told you're now going to get free health care", and that this was a big part of the reason why Obama had been so successful with them. He also mentioned "with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called DREAM Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group."
"With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift." Romney said. He then went on to talk about young women, saying "Free contraceptives were very big with young college-aged women."
Essentially, those are all arguments that he made before election day, although he was not so transparent in the language that he used, as he specifically seemed to separate himself from those minorities. It seemed, frankly, in the same spirit of "them" versus "us".
It was a bit reminiscent of his "47 percent" comment that generated so much controversy.
The truth is that minority voters also will tend to identify much more with a minority President, because he is one of their own. That much, Romney did not mention. Also, let's be quite frank: Romney is hardly even a "typical" white guy. He was, and is, an elitist.
So much was this the case, in fact, that even many whites were hesitant in regards to Romney, as well. Republicans in general seemed to drag their feet in embracing Romney as their candidate. Romney just seemed a little too elite for most people, and there was a fear that he just would not be able to relate to the majority of Americans, and vice versa. He is, after all, the $200 million dollar man, the man of "dressage". He joked that he, too, knew what it was like to be unemployed, making light of the suffering of millions of Americans who are unemployed, and don't have two hundred million to fall back on. Romney's main selling point was that he was a very good businessman, yet that business seemed willing to take profits at all costs, even when American jobs were shipped off to China. That might be sound business practices these days, but it is hardly the sign of someone that most people would trust as their President.
Romney's "us" and "them" attitude seemed to extend beyond just race, although that element seemed to exist, just underneath the surface. his recent comments seemed to solidify that, specifying race as the determining factor, and reinforcing the notion that minority voters are addicted to "handouts". he also referred to "illegals", a term that many believe to be on the verge of racism.
The fact that he seems to be suggesting that Obama specifically helped out minorities in order to win votes (rather than legitimately trying to help them out) suggests a strong measure of cynicism, as well as a lack of understanding, on the part of Romney. By outright mentioning these things, he seems to be hinting at the often popular notion of some kind of vague conspiracy favoring minorities over the white majority.
"The president's campaign focused on giving targeted groups a big gift, so he made a big effort on small things. Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars", he said.
If anything, rather than reprising himself from accusations of racism, Romney's comments will likely buttress those arguments even further.
One way or the other, Romney's campaign proved polarizing, and it is this, more than anything else, that lost him the election. he can take comfort in blaming everyone else, but ultimately, given Obama's lack of popularity, which remained consistent throughout this Presidential election, Romney really has no one to blame but himself.
That said, Romney's own campaign seemed to be swamped with one gaffe after another. I mentioned some earlier, but he seemed to waffle on many issues, and to be that typical slimy, untrustworthy politician that tells you what you want to hear in order to get elected. Also, his Republican Party seemed to shoot themselves in the foot, and did themselves no favor with one bizarre comment after another concerning rape and abortion.
Personally, I believe that what cost Romney the election was the blame game, something that he, rather ironically, accused Obama of. He still is at it, pointing the finger of blame now on minorities. I think it would behoove the Republicans to take a lesson from that. Time will tell if they actually will learn that lesson, or if history will repeat itself.
Here is a link to an article at Boston.com by Callum Borchers ("Gifts" to minorities, young voters helped President Obama win re-election, Mitt Romney says"):
http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/11/14/gifts-minorities-young-voters-helped-president-obama-win-election-mitt-romney-says/oXNAIw3FaHEogvImiCgHvI/story.html
Here is an article by Mauve Reston of the Los Angeles Times ("Romney Attributes Loss to "Gifts" Obama Gave Minorities"):
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-donors-20121115,0,1719033.story
Finally, one last article on by Evan Schwartz of Vibe ("Mitt Romney Blames Election Loss On Minorities"):
http://www.vibe.com/article/mitt-romney-blames-election-loss-minorities
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