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Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Color by Numbers

Excellent op-ed column by Stephen E. Flynn in today's Times. This is the kind of approach I have heard advocated before; I can only hope that Homeland Security is paying attention.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Bush on Embryonic Stem Cell Cloning--Moron Alert

I usually don't get apoplectic about anything Bush says anymore, just because it absolutely wears me out doing so every day, but this particular quote from this morning's article in the New York Times just fills me with vitriol because it displays, yet again, Bush's unwillingness to read and comprehend in order to gain a better understanding of the issues that he faces as President.

"I've made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells," he said. "I'm a strong supporter of adult stem cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is - I'm against that."

What the hell is he talking about? This "culture of life" madness has got to stop, or at least they need to grow some stones and quit being so damned hypocritical, e.g. the death penalty and the genocide in Darfur.

At least Reagan surrounded himself with people who had a strong desire to take facts and create policy based around their interpretations of those facts, even if the interpretations were often flawed. Bush, though, has to be the least curious and most presumptive President in our nation's history, and he has a political madman (Rove) who could less about anything but playing sock monkey with Bush.

Fight the good fight.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Piano Man

This fascinates me, though I know it should not. Is this a media stunt or is the man mentally ill? Unlike most sensationalist crap out there that the cable news channels turn into "news" this is really interesting to me. I feel dirty because of it. Damn you, CNN, MSNBC, et al.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

On The Border, off the menu....

My better half and I decided we wanted to try a new place to eat (well.. new to us). We drove around a bit and ended up at On The Border, a Tex-Mex place. When we drove in it looked rather busy, and there wasn't much parking. The wait was surprising short, only 15 minutes on a Friday night at 8 PM. The overall look and feel of the place was nice. Decorations made it very festive and colorful.

Our waitress was pleasant enough, but not much past that. She provided average service, but nothing outstanding. The food however.. The food was not even average. When one goes to a Tex-Mex restaurant one would expect spicy food... So much for what I expected. I ordered a "Red Chile Steak" hoping it would be hot and spicy. My better half ordered enchiladas. When the steak arrived it looks like there was spice on it, but after one bite I was let down. This steak was dull, with no bite. No spices at all.. I've had better steaks at Chili's and quite a few other places. It was so bland I was forced to use A1 steak sauce to get any flavor from it. The veggies that came along with the steak were just barely average... The mashed potatoes with "hot" jack cheese were dull much like the steak. My better half ate some of her dinner before becoming sick. A quick trip to the bathroom and she was unable to eat any more of her food.

The one bright spot was the white cheese dip. It was actually decent, but couldn't save the rest of the meal. Overall, I would not recommend On The Border to anyone. The food was bland, service was so-so, and the prices weren't great considering the quality of food. It only gets a 2, and it was looking at a 1.5 but the cheese dips brings it to a 2 out of 5. Eat there at your own risk of being bored to sleep with their less than spicy food.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Kingdom of Boredom

Well, I once again ventured out into the world on a Friday night with my better half to take in a high budget movie on its opening weekend. Aside from fighting the usual crowd of pre-teens and annoying prices (3.50 for a bottle of water?!), I was hoping to be entertained. We picked Kingdom of Heaven. I'm a fan of Orlando Bloom and Liam Neison is pretty good too (i enjoyed Rob Roy a lot). Alas, entertainment was not what this movie delivered.

The movie begins grimly enough with Bloom's character working at a forge while his wife is buried after committing suicide. Along rides a knight who just happens to be his father. Bloom suddenly finds he's the bastard son of a noble with a nice plot of land and title waiting for him once Neison's character dies. O-k... Sounds like a bad role playing game right off the bat. But I still have some hopes for a story or at least one character who has more than one dimension.

Through out the movie, I was let down. The characters are weak and never develop past one aspect of their characteristic (Bloom was noble and "knightly" through out). The story really never takes off and grabs you, nor do the characters who just spit out their lines and seem to be praying for the next time they can stop talking and start swinging a sword. Where there could have been more political intrigue, Director Ridley Scott left me hanging. The affair was barely explored between Bloom's character and a Templar Knight's wife.

You find yourself not sure if you should root for the wise and noble Saladin as he leads the Muslims to regain Jerusalem after the Templar Knights slaughtered Muslims, or if you should root for the noble to a fault Bloom. Where there was room for a story you're given a half-assed attempt at the banter between kings. The computer effects weren't nearly as impressive as The Return of the King. Scott tries to gives you a siege equal to Mordor assaulting the White City.. But you're left with lacking graphics and less inspiring speeches.

Overall it just wasn't that entertaining. It gets a 2.5 our of 5. Average acting, so-so effects, horrible character development left me bored and ready to write this review.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Corruption at its Finest

Paul Krugman delivers a column that tears apart the notion that Congress has America's best interests in mind, unless your concept of America is one of a country of corporate citizens whose right to make money is more important than the same right granted to individual citizens.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

baltimoresun.com - All the food in China

baltimoresun.com - All the food in China Tales of culinary exploration from around the world always fascinate me. I long for future days when I have enough money to travel extensively.

"Preparing for the next pandemic." | MetaFilter

"Preparing for the next pandemic." | MetaFilter This would be scary beyond reason.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Blog--Michael Bérubé, Anti-Horowitz

Michael Bérubé Online This guy is good, especially his slam on David Horowitz, moron extraordinaire. God knows all those liberal professors are turning college students into a bunch of mindless liberal yahoos. I have so little use for people like Horowitz who use poorly constructed arguments to extend their "careers".

Fight the good fight.