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Saturday, October 30, 2004
Shall We Dance
Saw Shall We Dance, the remake of the Japanese film today. Having half-watched the Japanese version, I wasn't sure what I'd think of this one. In particular, there was the question of whether anyone in a Western context could muster the uptightness that comes so naturally to the Japanese (or so the stereotypes say) and from which the lead needs to escape. Of course Richard Gere has become the master at playing the uptight guy who needs to break free and he did a pretty good job of it here. As for the adaptation, the TurkeyGal (who watched the Japanese version a lot more intently than I) said it really followed the original. Even Jennifer Lopez turned in a suitable performance though she could not match the tortured withdrawal shown by her Japanese counterpart. On the whole, a cute remake of a cute film. If you're looking for a light romantic comedy this one's nice. If you're looking for fun and adventure, of course, you can watch Team America, where Susan Sarandon has a very different supporting role (again, Team America is not for anyone under 17).
posted by gbarto at 10:59 PM
Friday, October 29, 2004
And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God...
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. - the real JFK
You leave with stability. You hope you can continue the process of democratization -- obviously, that's our goal. But with respect to getting our troops out, the measurement is the stability of Iraq. - the junior pompous ass from Massachussetts
Look at that. Just look. First you have those stirring words, a call to safeguard on Earth the freedoms granted by Heaven. Anywhere. Everywhere.
John F. Kennedy meant it. Didn't always do well at it, hence the Bay of Pigs, the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. But he pushed back and pushed back hard against our foes in his time.
And then we have the other JFK, 60 years old and still a blow-dried politician. JFK II my patootie.
George W. Bush has vowed to press on no matter what. George W. Bush supports our friends and opposes our foes - that's what "with us or against us" means. George W. Bush, for good or for ill, is the JFK in this race, the optimist who knows that America always can, always will, always must fell the evil giants of fascistic ideologies who stand between man and the divine promise of liberty.
Earlier today, the junior pompous ass from Massachussetts, hearkening back to the JFK who inspires him, cried out:
Wake up, America!
Oh, wait. That hearkens back to Bob Dole.
The real JFK challenged America to stand strong in the world at a time when many thought that shrinking back from the Soviets was the only answer. The real JFK knew the difference between keeping his Catholicism out of politics and worshipping a godless, all-enveloping state. The real JFK thought that growing our economy with tax cuts for the rich made more sense than going for a short term increase in tax revenues and populist sentiment by socking it to the wealthy. And the real JFK... was elected.
God willing, America has heard Senator Kerry's call and has fully awakened, for should they be aroused from the drowsy slumbers his pontification brings they cannot help but rush to the polls to assure his electoral demise.
posted by gbarto at 10:35 PM
Not Enough Armor for Iraq Troops -
Because of Bush Tax Cuts!At least that's what CBS may claim in a last-minute pre-election smear, if some media insiders have it right. This is the latest angle in the "My God, how could you even consider voting for Bush?" series of "scoops" from CBS, offered since the "They lost explosives at Al-Aqaqaa" scoop got out in time to be taken apart. CBS is trying really hard and their efforts to sit on what they and the NYT took as the latest story of the century until the Bush team wouldn't have time to respond might have worked were it not for leakers and blogs. So any "scoop" we hear about we should be quick to pass along. If necessary, we should even look for "scoops" that might not have been thought of yet so that the home team has time to secure its perimeter. In that spirit, we offer the following:No Free Ice Cream for Pre-Schoolers -
Because of Bush Tax Cuts!Keep your heads down, folks. We're in for a rough few days as the media makes its last ditch effort to save the Demos. And since they're unlikely to discover anything proving Kerry's the greatest thing since sliced bread - or even moldy bread (it's the original source for penicillin, you know!) - the Bush hits are likely to come fast and furious. (via LGF)
posted by gbarto at 1:40 PM
Violence in France...
Entre ses meurtres, Pierre a regardé «Shrek» - Between Murders, Pierre Watched "Shrek"
In the presence of investigators, Pierre, 14, recounted the methodical massacre of his family in a detached manner. "As though he were an observer and not the one responsible," Joseph Schmitt, DA at the Republic of Rouen, stated yesterday, allowing to never having seen such a thing "in 31 years of dealing with crime." Cold, letting no emotion appear, the teen was unable to explain why he massacred his family. The child psychologists who examined him yesterday may perhaps shed a little light on the deadly folly that took hold of the boy who today will be arraigned for murder and attempted murder.
- Le Figaro, tr. by G.Barto The article goes on to note that he got the idea to kill his parents while distracted doing homework. He apparently only killed his siblings when they made too much noise as he tried to watch "Shrek." Notes the TurkeySis, who has the answers for all and is way ahead of the French investigators:I'm sure american imperialism caused this crime. Oh, they said he was watching shrek when he did it! Yup, we'll be to blame... Coming soon to a theater near you, "Le Shrekkeur... il était un bon petit garçon, puis il a vu le Shrek... et les cauchemars d'une ville sont devenus la réalité... le Shrekkeur!"
posted by gbarto at 8:41 AM
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Maybe it's just me and my dial-up...
but Blogger seems to be taking forever these days...
when it publishes at all.
Don't suppose Google's going to do anything though.
Makes me long for the good old days of Blogger Pro, where if you were willing to pay a few bucks you got something for it.
Update: Had to post this bit manually last night. We'll see if Blogger will publish it this a.m.
posted by gbarto at 1:24 AM
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Is Arafat still with us?
It's being reported that he's unconscious and his general condition is rapidly deteriorating.
There is speculation not only about the Chairman's health, but about how bloody the power struggle after his death (whenever it comes) will be. Are the Palestinian territories in for even tougher times? And, as usual, as a result of self-inflicted wounds? Of course not. It's all Sharon's Bush's fault, of course. (Just thought I'd get that in before the NY Times.)
In this time of turbulence, the TurkeyBlog wishes the people of Palestine well and hopes for a day when they find peace with their Israeli neighbors. Those wishes do not extend to the PLA/PLO.
(found at the mighty LGF)
posted by gbarto at 5:01 PM
Lots going on for the folks at Accidental Verbosity - Sadie's first smile and surgery for Jay's dad. And there's still some stuff on politics and technology. Be sure to drop by.
posted by gbarto at 4:48 PM
Problems with HP? Impossible!
Megan McArdle notes the power of Instapundit... she wrote there about the impossibility of getting HP to cough up a driver for her mom's printer and now HP people are trying to help. Would that they got so concerned about people who had merely purchased an HP product. In the past few years I've had troubles with a modem and a DVD-ROM in my HP. The typical internet search for a driver to make the modem work with a different OS and the DVD player just plain play DVDs usually pulled up forums where other people discussed what they had tried - with no success - and IT pros helpfully chirping in that a) this was common with HP and b) they had never seen a workaround for the problem though it was widely known. Searches at the websites of HP, Samsung and the outfit that made the modem didn't actually say "We've already got your money, screw you" but they certainly indicated that they had better things to do with their website - like sell the next line of devices that will be fully supported soon! - than attend to current product owners.
By the way, no need to march on HP on my behalf. The DVD and modem have been replaced and the next computer, sorry Carly, won't be Hewlett Packard.
posted by gbarto at 2:01 PM
Book Review: The Religion War
The Religion War by Scott Adams
This is the wittiest, sharpest, coolest philosophy book since... God's Debris. Adams' first novel was, as he put it, an interesting thought experiment. It was designed to get people thinking, but maybe only for thinking's sake (i.e., only for the most important of reasons). The Religion War goes a little further, addressing more mundane issues like global annihilation even as it works toward ultimate truth.
God's Debris carried a disclaimer that it did not necessarily reveal Adams' thinking, only a possible way of thinking. Though this was not explicitly asserted in The Religion War, the limitation probably holds since it is a sequel. In other words, the book should be taken as thoughts produced by Mr. Adams but not necessarily Mr. Adams' thoughts. It is my suspicion that a letter denouncing him and a letter announcing total agreement would be met with equal measures of horror, not only because the reader mistook Adams for his fiction but because he thought he could get into Adams' head enough to know what what Adams thought about what he had written. I'll leave it at that since this isn't a litcrit review, but will advise the reader to take this on with an extremely open mind. Absent a willingness to believe anything, at least until the book is closed, there's no point in reading this.
In The Religion War, Adams postulates a not distant enough future in which, fearful of terror attacks, the West has put its stock in a charismatic general - who believes he's doing God's will - and his minions to keep the world safe for rapidly eroding democracy even as the Muslims have turned to an equally self-impressed terrorist leader who is at once of caliph stature and virtually unrecognized lest he become a target for assassination. Into the mix comes the Avatar of God's Debris, convinced that through reason he can stop what looks like inevitable war. Will he? If so, how? And what nods will be made to Adams' real life? Click the book(s) and Amazon will deliver the answer.
posted by gbarto at 11:51 AM
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Short takes
According to our AOL News Update this morning, lots of people are worried about the election getting stuck in the courts. This suggests one of two possibilities:
1) They actually remember 2000.
2) They have used their eyes long enough to read about Democrats already recruiting people with stories about problems on polling day and getting lawyers ready to go in any state where Kerry might come close.
This is why it is necessary for Bush to get a resounding win in enough states to secure the electoral college. After all, we're up against people who aren't sure whether the death of American troops is a sad and terrible thing or an opening for the Dems to move against the war. With such a brutal approach to politics, there's no telling what they'll do if not definitively stymied.
posted by gbarto at 7:59 AM
Monday, October 25, 2004
Richard Rushfield had an interesting idea. He put on pro-Kerry duds and wandered around Bush country. Then he threw on a Bush shirt and went to Leftyville.
In Bush country, a few people seemed a bit surprised by his Kerry shirt but opted to treat him like a human being.
In the land of the left, though, Bushwear got glares, curses and other intimidation.
Not surprising. Once you've bought into the "the personal is political" line long enough, your political opponents really aren't part of the common humanity anymore, just a threat to it.
Or maybe Republicans are just by nature more civilized.
The experiment proved revealing to the author. May I confess that I could have told him how it would turn out in advance?
posted by gbarto at 3:05 AM
Kerry met with Security Council about Iraq issue?
That's what he's claimed. Here's the bit, ripped out of Hewitt's blog:Joel Mowbry of the Washington Times investigated this John Kerry claim in the second presidential debate:
"'This president hasn't listened. I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them, to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein accountable,' Mr. Kerry said of the Iraqi dictator." This really needs to be looked into, because it raises serious questions about either Kerry or the U.N. Assume Kerry is telling the truth: What the hell are the other Security Council members doing talking to the junior senator from Massachussetts when he was at most one of a dozen maybes for the DNC nod? Did Jaques Chirac already sense how special he was? More likely, this is, as Hewitt says, Christmas in Cambodia all over again. Sheesh. At least Reagan's false memories lined up with scripts he'd had to memorize. Kerry seems to live an alternative narrative that the rest of the world can't see. John Forbes Mitty for President?
posted by gbarto at 2:04 AM
Here it is... proof that six questions isn't enough to make an accurate assessment about anything...
You Are a Pundit Blogger! |
Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read.
Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few. |
via Accidentaly Verbosity
posted by gbarto at 1:55 AM
Via Instapundit:
This is tooooooooooooo cool: They've got rat neurons hooked up to an electronic matrix and they taught the contraption to work a flight simulator.
They say there's a lot of work to do, but it sounds like the rat-brain has already surpassed my experiences with Flight Simulator in the late '80s. Very impressive.
posted by gbarto at 1:32 AM
From the old site:
G. Takamatsu's Book Review:
John Steinbeck,Writer by Jackson Benson
I'd like to look at just one aspect of this book alongside UNFIT FOR COMMAND. One can connect the dots. Steinbeck spent time in Vietnam as a reporter for Newsday
magazine. Steinbeck spent at least six weeks in Vietnam. He also visited Thailand and Laos. I think his overall stay in Southeast Asia was about three to four months.
Steinbeck had a completely different view of the American soldier in Vietnam than Kerry (the Kerry of 1971). Kerry portrayed the American soldiers as barbarians. Steinbeck had a high regard for the soldier, though he had doubts about our policy. He was offended by two misperceptions of the war: 1) that the American soldier was brutal, and 2) that the Viet Cong had the support of the people. Steinbeck viewed the Viet Cong as thugs. An associate said that whenever an incident which reflected badly on the Americans occured, reporters were all over the place; but when an attrocity was committed by the Viet Cong, no reporters were to be found. Steinbeck sent several pictures back home, but the news media would not print the pictures.
Read the rest...
posted by gbarto at 1:22 AM
Notes Cicero:CNN.com - 'Bodies of 51 Iraqi soldiers found' - Oct 24, 2004.How the insurgents follow the rules of war."Where's the outrage?" Where's the outrage indeed? Tragedies like this could be averted if only we'd give the insurgents F-16s and stop depriving them of the things the evil first world nations have. Then they wouldn't have to do this execution style...
The bottom line is that the slaughter of police and military recruits alike does not actually reveal an uprising, nor an insurgency nor any sort of actual movement at all. The people doing this do not care what becomes of Iraq, do not care what becomes of the Iraqi people. Indeed, they do not even care about the will of Allah. All they care about is the crushing of the notion that an Islamic people can function as a civil society absent a caliph figure. At this point, there is only one appropriate response to the actions of these people, and that is to round them up whenever we can and ship the bodies to Damascus, Tehran and Riyadh as appropriate with a note that they are those respective capitals' responsibility.
We have heard a lot about what the U.S. owes, what the first world owes, and on and on. A certain stripe of editorialist never fails to assert that until the U.S. funds free dental care and sex-change operations for all the world, the third world has now choice but to wallow in war and, when possible, export that war to us as vengeance for our prosperity. Well, the governments of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia owe it to their peoples, the people of Iraq and the people of the world to allow an aborning civil society space in which to create and define itself. That means, among other things, that the backward Saudi prince who exported Wahhabi needs to publicly recant or go to the chopping block. That means that the mullahs in Tehran, the thugs in Syria and the hoodlums in the PLA need to recant or go to the chopping block. And that means, remembering the refrain "with us or against us" that the only appropriate imprisonment for the likes of those who murdered these 50 men and those who betrayed them is a cheap coffin.
It's funny, though, how silent Hollywood and the Democratic party are on this side of things. They condemn terrorism if caught on camera. But they never spontaneously materialize to call on anyone - anyone - to give the Iraqi people a chance. They condemn massacres but go right on asserting that funding terrorists is better than fighting them - if it's a question of the U.S. versus any nation, however backward.
Here, though, is a test: The next time a celeb - be it Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon or Sean Penn - speaks out, don't waste too much thought. Just ask yourself, instead, if they're really true to their convictions. Would Ms. Fonda stand for wearing a burqa? Would Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon line up for the punishments due a man and woman who have a child out of wedlock? Would Sean Penn take a chance on whether Allah's justice - the decision of the crowd in everyday sharia - determined whether it was he or the photog he took a pop at who lost a hand for public violence?
The killers of those Iraqi troops, the Democratic party and the Hollywood elite have one thing in common as we come up on this election: they stand for absolutely nothing except the possibility that chaos and destruction in Iraq will open a window in which they can increase their influence. Inshallah, all three shall know disappointment in the coming weeks. A young woman, formerly on par with the farm animals for the esteem in which her society held her, cast the first ballot for President in Afghanistan. George W. Bush was able to celebrate this. The DNC has been less cheery and Hollywood has been all but silent. The "insurgents" in Iraq, of course, were appalled. Whether you're a woman or a man, that should tell you all you need to know about the upcoming election in the U.S.
posted by gbarto at 1:15 AM
From the old site:
G. Takamatsu's Book Review:
An American Soldier by Tommy Franks
I found this an interesting autobiography: the author has lived an interesting life. He was a goofball when he graduated from High School and entered college at the University of Texas, Austin. After a poor performance at the school, he decided to enlist in the Army. He qualified for cryptography school, but found that was not his interest, in other words not real soldiering. He eventually qualified for OCS and became an officer, specifically a second lieutenant. He served in Vietnam and was wounded three times. He received a serious enough injury to be put in the hospital. So it looks like a legitimate wound not a "John Kerry wound" which could be fixed with a band aid.
[As an aside, I think the swift boat captains should be allowed to express their views. These people where there. Why shouldn't they be allowed to say what they think?].
Read the rest...
posted by gbarto at 1:13 AM
Sunday, October 24, 2004
This is the first post on the upcoming, in process platform for the TurkeyBlog.
If you're a TurkeyBlog fan and worry for all those years of scribbling lost, fear not, they're here. (Old nemeses, should I have any, can also consult the archives there.)
In the meantime, stay tuned for a (hopefully) sleeker, trimmer TurkeyBlog.
Update: You're now looking at the current version of the new, improved TurkeyBlog.
What's going to change?
Little. It's just that with 4900+ posts, Blogger was creaking every time I went to edit something. The blogs where I store content for other sites, on the other hand, have been behaving rather well. So I thought I'd try a new setup. So there are now two TurkeyBlog databases (3 if you count the original blogspot site) lurking at Blogger, and the new archive pages (though not the post pages) are now in the /turkey2/ directory instead of the /turkey/ directory.
One day, of course, we may get smart and relocate to mt or something else and get a real web designer to make something truly snazzy. For now, though, here's a simple look for an ever so slightly streamlined site.
posted by gbarto at 4:53 PM
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