Take a look...

...this is what treason looks like, the little piece of shit called Pfc. Bradley Manning.  What has been learned thus far is that in addition to leaking highly classified military information to WikiLeaks (an organization comprised of the worst types of elitist "We know what's best for you" asshats), Manning was/is the annoying twerp who was kicked around growing up because he was an annoying twerp and got "The Man" back by throwing in with the closest leftist/intellectual/anti-American group he could find to establish himself as a "true hero" to mankind.  Yeah, great, Bradley you pathetic excuse for a human f*****g being.  Reports have already emerged regarding the information that Manning supplied to WikiLeaks in the name of a greater good happens to contain the names of scores of Afghans and Iraqis (and their families) who have in some way assisted coalition efforts and will now have the privilege of dying slowly at the hands of the Taliban and other Muslim thugs.  When these people are tortured to death, the effects on coalition forces translate into more deaths and less effectiveness for those unenlightened dullards in our armed forces who didn't have the good sense to subscribe to Mother Jones and are only necessary consequences in the path of righteousness provided by the gentle souls of WikiLeaks.  Great job, all.  And, Wiki and Julian and your gang of well dressed hipsters: you have risen to the same level of greatness as Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot and every other jackshit who thought they knew better than anyone else in the path to righteousness.  If there is enlightenment in all of this it's that fascism is not on the right anymore--it's pointing somewhere else.http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/07/28/afghanistan.wikileaks.suspect/index.html?hpt=C2

Hermit Kingdom Update

Haven't posted anything about the 24 hour party that is North Korea, so here you go:http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/07/24/robert-fulford-north-korea-an-antique-nightmare/.  Whatever his faults, at least our dear leader President Obama didn't issue a white cloth to clean his framed photograph each day to all citizens (only "Silver" level and above DNC members do that).  Also read recently that some experts think that the North doesn't really have the capability to do much in terms of laying seige to South Korea--that they're using rusting equipment and aging technology when it comes to their military.  Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been stomping around the DMZ so that has do doubt scared the shit out of the commies; when she gets that stare of hers going men tend to want to sort of drift away somewhere to drink and scratch.  Ask Bill.

Today's Read and Weep

This seems to be going around:http://www.city-journal.org/2010/eon0726ak.html

The Wit and Wisdom of Oliver Stone

A hundred bucks says you never hear about this on MSNBC:http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/hollywoodland/2010/07/25/oliver-stone-criticizes-jewish-dominated-media-wants-to-put-hitler-in-context/. 

Saw a preview of Stone's sequel to "Wall Street" yesterday.  No interest in seeing more of his "capitalism is bad" mantra on film--would almost rather sit through "Eat, Pray, Love" which falls somewhere in the same category as "Eyes Plucked Out by Red Headed Vultures" or slow castration while viewing "The Princess Diaries" (I actually saw "Princess" when it came out with my then young  daughters and recall the actual physical pain that occurred while viewing--far worse than a prostate exam).  No, Stone is a real dirt bag and living proof of the gutless nature of Hollywood in that no one has the courage to call him out for his outright loathsome nature and his fondness for thug regimes, France, and servicing Noam Chomsky whenever possible.  A real goon, Stone--latest is he wants to nationalize oil companies in the United States which will no doubt play big with the MSNBC crowd but not so much with rational parts of the electorate.
On another film note, I read the final installment of the last interview with Dennis Hopper in the current edition of "Interview" magazine.  Now, there's a thespian to miss in the dear departed Mr. Hopper.  Here's a few tidbits from the filming of "Apocalypse Now" where Hopper played the crazed photographer in one of his finest roles:
Marlon Brando was indeed, a fat, lazy, selfish ass.  He couldn't bring himself to actually read Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" or report to the set anywhere near in shape for the role.
Coppola used actual corpses in many of the scenes.  Martin Sheen found out the hard way during one scene on the river patrol boat when he accidentally touched what he thought was a dummy and discovered the difference.
Most of the extras were actual ex-Special Forces soldiers or then current Filipino commandos and the training leading up to filming was said to be brutal.  Hopper went through it as he was originally cast as a Green Beret.  Nice call by Coppola on the role switch.
Other great stuff in the interview including his work on "Blue Velvet" and "Hoosiers" and others.

Weekend Round Up

Watched the season premiere of "Mad Men" last night.  Like "Breaking Bad," I've decided to begin religiously following the series.  Oh, I've watched it here and there but never consistently, but it's television worth viewing as they say and a worthy alternative to the usual "Housewives of Wherever" or tennis or gay men doing home improvement projects that we usually get around our house.  The ad stuff is great and reminds one of this:http://www.thebigmoney.com/slideshow/why-don-t-we-do-it-road 

Played customer golf on Friday afternoon with customers who had minimal bullshit capabilities on a course outside of town that was designed by monkeys suffering from food pellet deficiency.  I'm not a golf snob by any means, but some people should not be allowed anywhere near a designated property with a bulldozer or even a dull rake.  Continuity?  No sir!  Just random mounds, tricked up fairways and greens, and no idea of where it all leads.  It would, however, make a splendid gunnery range for the Air Force.

More golf on Saturday at my club this time and I'm pretty sure that I hit every tree on the course in a remarkable display of "pruning by Titleist."  They should have made an instructional video of my just under four hours of on course butchery of twigs, limbs, branches, and even an assault on a few trunks.  Ghastly.

Went back that evening for the monthly "wine dinner" they hold where the club invites a local wine wholesaler who features wines from a certain country or region that are pared with a three course meal that usually isn't bad.  An opportunity to meet new people and the usual country club drill and all and an occasion to throw back five or six glasses of wine and head back home to fool around or pass out or both.  This month was Germany and I assumed a pretty good time for some nice German whites which the country is know for that will, of course, be served chilled to match the upper nineties heat outside, etc.  No.  Instead, the wine merchant, "Mary" who has/had been drilling "Ted" the handsome bartender listened to Ted's wonderful advice that the membership overwhelmingly favors red wines and so she then searched and actually found (and served) some German reds.  Horrible and there is damn good reason the square heads produce white wines and it's because reds out of there have all of the charm of Red Army rapists.   Disappointing but I have to say the overall awfulness didn't prevent me from guzzling them down which says I'm either opportunistic, a drunk, or conditioned to not turn down drinks.  Pathetic.

At the urging of Daughter #2, went with her to see "Inception" yesterday afternoon (she had already seen it and liked it immensely).  I like intelligent movies, or more accurately, movies that are written above a second grade education which are sort of rare which this movie clearly represents.  That said, I didn't really care for it--lot's of effort and the payoff just isn't there.  Call me a dullard.  After all, I did eagerly drink down about four glasses of German reds.

Back to Mad Men.  They do a pretty good job with the look, feel, and attitudes of the bidness world of the sixties.  Hell, even some of the stuff reminds me of what I was around in the 80's when I got out of college.  Smoking at desks and in cars and pretty much everywhere?  Check.  Female secretaries typing out letters?  Check.  Lots of drinking at all times of the day?  Sort of check--never saw a lot of that, but it was around.  Anyway, I'll be following the exploits of Don Draper and his merry crew and waiting for the return of the happy and wholesome story of meth production in Breaking Bad.

Webb off the Reservation

Wonder what the odds are of when Webb becomes independent or, a ghastly Republican?  This may hasten the move: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703724104575379630952309408.html?mod=e2fb.  He's always been a little on the iconoclastic side and one thing that scares the short pants off both parties is a fellow member that cannot always be counted upon.  Webb's that guy.

Those Crazy Stone Age Kids

Fun and games in 10,000 B.C.:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/21/stone-age-carving-ancient-dildo/?test=latestnews.

Vernon Baker, RIP

Saw this link over at BlackFive--Vernon Baker the last surviving black American to have been awarded the MOH is dead at 90:
http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=19738.

Tibet Primer

Think Tibet is a land of mysticism and healing and a higher level of consciousness? Think again:
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9187/. No, Tibetans are a lot like everyone else and they make good beer. No word in the article confirming if The Lama is a big hitter or not. Gunga la gunga.

Mel Down

It gets a little more interesting every day with the release of the "Gibson tapes." The latest is that Mel works in arson and fellatio in a single sentence:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/07/exclusive-audio-out-control-mel-gibson-says-hell-burn-down-house-after-demanding. Reading some of this stuff, the following has occurred to me:

1. He's lost his shit. Seriously in the driving his car off a cliff is the next step variety of shit losing.

2. Mel is a dick. But, he's sometimes an amusing dick. Not in his aggressively misogynistic moments but some fairly funny shit inadvertently comes out of his mouth.

3. Do not ever consort with a Russian chick. They'll drive you bat shit crazy at the least and stab you in the abdomen as a matter of common everyday procedure if they're more seriously inclined. It's a known fact they all carry knives and know how to use them. They will also steal your breath at night and can simultaneously carry off a challenging sex act while jotting down your American Express card number. Ruinous vixens all of them. Ask Mel.

4. I'll miss Mel at the movies. Whatever can be said about him, he was/is a true to life movie star. Christian Bale will have to take up the torch.

5. There's a Jodi Foster directed movie starring Mel that's apparently in post production. Those are surely some happy folks who backed that project. They should maybe take Mel's advice and just go ahead and burn the set and and the film and blow each other.

6. Why the mullet in "Braveheart," Mel? Otherwise, entertaining.

Blood Sports

A review of a book on bullfighting that, of course, includes Hemingway:
http://www.tnr.com/book/review/the-death-lovers. I got on a Hemingway kick about seven or eight years ago and read a bunch of his stuff, including "Death in the Afternoon" his celebrated story of the demise of a famous bullfighter. Overall, I understand why Hemingway was a pacesetter of sorts and I very much appreciate his unapologetic masculine take on life but I do think that his stuff is now a little dated. The "McComber" story is really my favorite as are his other works set on safari or hunting in North America. I wasn't much taken in by the bullfighting stuff, though I would love to attend a bullfight and hopefully not screw up too much in the way of correct bullfight etiquette--the Spaniards are fussy about all that and I respect them for it.

I've hunted most of my life, so I do have an appreciation or understanding of the death thing as it applies to the sport. I don't live to kill or any of that rot but once you've done it a fair amount and engaged in the whole endeavor, both before and after the shot, you do get a little better acquainted with the life and death process and, I think, are able to view mortality with some additional level of clarity. People who are ranchers and farmers or those who live close to the edge understand it all very, very well and are not beset by the angst of dying and I think that is a healthy thing. The one thing that they get is that all life lives at the expense of something else and that they are part of that. They also have enough respect for the life they take to not make a mockery of it. Bullfighting treads a line on that and you can rightly argue the cons of the sport but the ritual of it is compelling to enough knuckle draggers to keep it going. When I'm in Spain, I'll let you know how it comes out.

Doing Time

Sorry, I can't resist anything that has "Lesbian Prison Gangs" in its title:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/07/13/lesbian-prison-gangs-waiting-hands-lindsay-lohan-report-says/?test=faces.

As for me, I watch the prison shows that you see on MSNBC--the ones that drum up revenue to offset the Olbermann/Maddow sit ins--and I'm quite certain that I want nothing to do with going to jail. None. Although I do like going to jail while having to play Monopoly; it saves me from landing on Pennsylvania Avenue or Park Place or wherever and paying rent and having to get into arguments as the game inevitably dissolves into bitterness with everyone finally pulling up stakes and going off in a huff to watch Chelsea Lately or--"Lockdown San Quentin" on MSNBC.

Nighthawks Examined Even More

Seems like Hopper's "Nighthawks" was all in his head:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/opinion/05moss.html?_r=1.

You see that kind a thing a lot in history--both ancient and recent--that we often invent a person who we either are uncertain of his actual character or significance or just make up one entirely. I read a piece this past weekend on "Spartacus" the rebel gladiator which pointed out that we really don't have much of anything as to who he actually was beyond the escaped leader of the slave revolt. Probably Kirk Douglas' film portrayal was as good a guess as any but then again, he could have been a psychopath with a fondness for murder and ceramics. No one really knows. He wasn't no band leader, though. That we're certain.

Mockingbird Examined

If you worship "To Kill a Mockingbird" in either its book or movie form, don't read this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575283354059763326.html. Barra just repeats what O'Connor and others have said for a long time--that the book isn't what it's cracked up to be, but try telling that to middle and high school English teachers--they love LOVE it--I'm pretty sure my kids had to read it in at least two grades lest they not be properly indoctrinated in the righteousness that is Atticus Finch. I suppose it could have been a lot worse--they didn't have to tote "Das Kapital" home that I recollect.

I've always liked the movie not so much for the story--it is simplistic--but more for the fairly good portrayal of some things Southern that are steadily disappearing; accents, manners, and certain ways that crackers go about doing and saying things. The kids in the movie did a pretty good job with their accents (sometimes that can ruin a scene or movie--see the child actor who played July Johnson's rural Arkansas son in "Lonesome Dove" who spoke with a notable Northern accent). Also, the actress who played the white trash woman who accuses the noble Tom of rape was very effective in her role--I've known some people that reminded me of her. The movie also has Duvall as Boo Radley (I think it was his first film role). Never a bad thing.

Fun in Islam

I'm not thinking of converting anytime soon:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38146472/ns/world_news//

Let's Play Doktor!

Der Spiegel offers this nice piece waxing nostalgic on Germany's leftist revolutionary (read "Green") party's attempts in the '60s/'70's to enlighten children and lead them gently - and free from any sexual "hang ups", it seems - into the new world order: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,702679-2,00.html
What I found (but shouldn't have) most shocking was how long such a sordid chapter in social engineering lasted, as well as the lengths those enlightened folks involved went to (and still go to) to justify such absurdity.
Not surprisingly, though, was that most parents involved in the planning of and willing participation in such radical social experimentation were "...academics, journalists, and university employees...". Indoctrination of youth has always been a key tenet of most on the left, and they have usually found the public educational system to be a willing participant. Why, just attend any local school district meeting or pick up any university newspaper and you'll see what I mean.

Snobs and Soccer

Theodore Dalrymple says he's a snob and doesn't care for the current World Cup mania and especially, the French:
http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/66894/sec_id/66894.