Tonight Show turns over reins

Late nite regime change! We otherworlders who stay up past Eleven O'Clock know well who the pictured kings of late nite t.v. are. I started watching Carson at eight on an old black and white t.v.; truly a different type of comedy, a different era. Maybe more debonair.

Saw Jay Leno's last show last Friday. Good guy!

My main observation: Jay had ~ 1 1/2 min. standing ovation and said something like, "We need to get the show started!" Johnny Carson had ~ 8 min. ovation was speechless and in tears.

To what would you account this vast difference? A more malleable crowd? Cultural ennui? Everything ennui? Johnny's crowd refused to sit and be quiet; Jay's seemed to be "Meh." "Generation Whatever."

Each generation will have its heroes.

Quote of the day

"There is no shame in failure -

only in quitting."

A: "This political action committee calls itself 'The Race.'

Q: "Alex, what is La Raza? The group that Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ms. Sotomayor claims affiliation with."

Just a little nefarious, don't you think? Doesn't it make you want to upchuck in the back of your throat... just a little? I thought we were all supposed to be colorblind now.

"Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman,'" blogged former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. "Wouldn't they have to withdraw? New racism is no better than old racism. A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

The point to draw from all this is that identity politics are alive and well, thriving in fact, and by the choice this president made, don't abandon hope for common sense to prevail.

Let's begin a national dialogue on unity and stop trumpeting our differences.

Additional reading:

"Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'American Bar Association lists Obama choice as part of group." Kovacs, Joe. Online periodical: World Net Daily. 27 May 2009.

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99420

Article: "Anti-Americanism in Australia"

"The presidency of George W. Bush has elevated anti-Americanism to a global sport more popular in some quarters than World Cup Football. In 2004 Griffith University political scientist Brendon O'Connor noted that, because 'anti-Americanism' lacks a precise definition, what differentiates anti-Americanism from legitimate criticism of the United States 'is often confused or, in fact, deliberately distorted'. Interestingly, strongly anti-American comment frequently comes from individuals who follow American fashions, enjoy American music and benefit directly from American technology. People who pour contempt on Americans and their religious practices nevertheless admire Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister. Despite the obvious contradictions, individuals skilled in the abusive art of condemning an entire nation of 300 million people, clearly vent huge amounts of personal anger when it comes to most things related to the United States."

Excerpt from "Anti-Americanism in Australia." www.abc.net.au
by Dennis Philipps
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2367771.htm

U.S. "mainstream media" predictably swayed by distractions

"In the short term, it snuffs out President Obama's preferred message of the day -- pushed at a scheduled town hall today in New Mexico -- regarding credit card reform. Obama and/or White House press secretary Robert Gibbs are certain to face questions about Pelosi's remarks whenever reporters are given access to them today."

Excerpt from "Pelosi Fuels Fire on Interrogations"
by Chris Cilliza, The Washingon Post
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/house/pelosi-fuels-torture-fire.html


Note that the Miss CA story ("not a fan of the ghey") instantly became a non-story as soon as common sense was applied.




(See entry: http://makalakapisei.blogspot.com/2009/05/stupid-media-d-are-for-c.html) The media fled from the story like so many little cucarachas. Then "POW!" Something replaced the void, it was a week for her highness Speaker Pelosi and her missteps in triangulation to dominate the news cycle. Not hard to connect the dots, but boy, did Pelosi's hubris to take on the CIA with accusations of lying finally leave a bad taste in someone's mouth.

Quote of the day

From Dunk's Almanac, by Gene Duncan, USMC (Ret.)

"As you mature in years don't be surprised if your attitudes and your judgments change. That's part of the educational process."

Meet Julia Dales, World Beatbox Wildcard Champion

This girl is AMAZING, a true mimic. Kills anything I used to do in grade school. She reminds me of a guy I saw on a PBS documentary that wanted to learn how to sing in two octaves at once and thus travelled to some outback tribe to learn the technique. JULIA should be the one on the documentary, not that clown. She not only has the ability to overlay drums over a primary melody; she syncopates, speeds up to 160+ b.p.m., slows it down, even sings, all while keeping the drums going. My favorite part was the change in tones on the "wood blocks" between 00:14 and 00:22. In fourth grade we would've even referred to her as an alien beat-box. 10.0!

Yo' beets iss FINE! This site is an official Julia Dales fan.

Summer '09 an '80s Tour de Force

Update (September '09):

G.C.P.A.S. Ratings:

Terminator Salvation: 9/10 - a must see. Chilling, great effects, great visual impact.

Transformers 2: 5/10 - overly juvenile. Do not see.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra: 7 - Entertaining if you can get over the casting of Duke, his over-the-top redneck screen presence and his crappy non-sequitur goatee.































As if there were any question before as to the cultural supremacy of the 1980s, these featured summer releases all speak to a greater time, a time with good causes and a compass. Hollywood has either run out of ideas, or its idea pool is now dominantly Gen X (1970s births) and acknowledging that we've arrived at a new "dark ages." That's why they turned every former SNL skit into a movie, then the last few years gave every superhero his own movie, and now are going to 80s lore.

Terminator Salvation (PG-13). Opened Memorial Day weekend. Turned out to be a spectacular addition (finale?) to the series nobody was sure would become a classic. I can't imagine why anyone would be skeptical as to the juggernaut box office potential this film may have. Terminator 2 (1991) topped out all records for the time (on production costs AND take) and the new installment thrilled effortlessly. Sat right in the front row and nursed a 36 oz. mug of Bud Light and the post-apocalyptic (another tip of my hat to 80s flair) filled my entire field of vision. High praise is due the production elements e.g. sound production: phenomenal - favorite scene was the fight vs. the giant mech from the gas station, no thumping soundtrack, just the tinnitic whine of deadly machinery on a rampage. Some corners may have been cut in linking T3 to present, and other background stories (a more technical story on the Skynet intel would have been nice), but the same cold, alone-in-the-dark feeling of previous Terminators was out in force. Bonus: Nice cameo appearance by ??? . (Can't tell you.)

Other items of note:
Terminator Salvation: opened June, 2009.
Transformers 2 opened June 24th, 2009.
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra opens August 2009.

Other items of note:

Goonies sequel in the works? http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24625

Police 2009 tour: First tour in 20-something odd years from a genius band. Details limited, a few metropolitan shows that sold out in five minutes

It's nice to remember who's really in charge!

For illustration purposes




When can a flag be displayed above the U.S. flag?
From the United States Code:

"No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations."

The Navy gets it right! Now it's time for the rest of the services and the country - to follow suit!

Happy Memorial Day!

Another typical day in Venezuela

In the last ten years and since being a student, I've watched in horror as a democracy became a dictatorship. The actions in Venezuela came swiftly, as the pig-faced dictator Hugo Chavez remade the apparatus of democratic national government (government of/by/for the people) into a self-serving edifice (he is the government, and press is for him). It's frightening - the stories almost read like fictional doomsday serials, but they're true, and we've been a captive audience.

Our leaders must be vigilant. Said Norman Mattoon Thomas: "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But underthe name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."

Venezuela police raid opposition broadcaster
1 day ago
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Police and soldiers on Thursday raided a property belonging to the head of Venezuela's only anti-government news network amid a growing confrontation between the station and President Hugo Chavez's government.

Broadcast regulators are investigating Globovision for inciting "panic and anxiety" by criticizing the government for its slow response to a moderate earthquake earlier this month. Globovision is Venezuela's only remaining anti-Chavez television station on the open airwaves.
Chavez warned private media last week that they're "playing with fire." He specifically targeted Globovision director Alberto Federico Ravell, calling him "a crazy man with a cannon."

Poem: Zip Code 92107

"Zip Code 92107"
by Franklin Straus

Ocean Beach, CA 92107

Illegal alien poll

The latest telephone poll taken by the California Governor's office asked whether people who live in California think illegal immigration is a serious
problem:


29% responded, "Yes, it is a serious problem."

71% responded, "No es una problema seriosa."

Quote of the day

"Why have virtually the entire conservative and liberal media so hardened their hearts and closed their bowels of compassion against this magnificent conservative intellectual? Michael Savage, in my opinion, is a singular genius, the rival in his genre to other famous iconoclasts in world history, including Jeremiah, Elijah, Socrates, Montesquieu, Beethoven, van Gogh, Einstein, Hanna Arendt, Churchill, Gen. Patton and Reagan – yet why is he ignored at home and vilified in Great Britain for dedicating his entire life to Veritas (truth)? "

- Ellis Washington, columnist, World Net Daily
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98604

Quote of the day

"Because of our ability to reason and capacity for abstract thought, humans are meaning-making creatures."





I always loved this theme from the study of literature in ends to be discovered; part of the western canon: "The triumph of the human spirit."

The introduction is tucked away somewhere safely among my stacks and stacks of loose-leaf papers, folders, scrapbooks and files. I can't say I can hunt it down today, but it will be be a succulent T-bone for my soul when I can find the rest. Someday.

Stupid media, dudes are for chicks

This story has everything: beauty, brains, good, evil...


The world (I mean the info-tainment fueled U.S. populace) waited on the edge of its seat for The Donald, owner of the Miss USA pageant, to announce the fate of the beauty queen Carrie Prejean, on whether her crown would be taken based on a smear campaign of lingerie photos that were leaked to discredit her, and partially, but ostensibly of primary/proximate cause for her refusal to agree with gay marriage when asked the loaded question at the Miss USA finals.

This was an affront to a minute yet very obnoxious American ghey minority who has everything to do about the breakdown of moral society.

Trump is the master of PR; in fact, his show "The Apprentice" earned him renewed icon status and D-cred for his ability to coldly deliver a message.

(So did his epic battle last year against the Jabba-like creature Rosie O'Donnell. Article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/108721/rosie_odonnell_vs_donald_trump_the.html?cat=2)

Here, Donald breaks it down.

"If she were a very nice looking young woman, if she were an average woman, if she were an average man, if she were a great looking man, it wouldn't have mattered, nobody would have cared because this subject has been discussed by everybody from politicians, presidents, everybody. If Carrie weren't so beautiful, this would never have come," said Trump. "Carrie is totally beautiful, and her answer, because of that, took on greater importance. Unfortunately, that's the way the press works. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Trump also defended the answer Prejean gave at the April 19 Miss USA pageant. She was asked her view of marriage by blogger Perez Hilton. Prejean said she believes marriage is between a man and a woman. "It's the same answer the president of the United States gave," Trump said. "It's the same answer many people gave. She gave an honorable answer. She gave an answer from her heart, and I think for that she has to be commended."

Kind of a slow press day. Crickets. Nobody will challenge Trump on his key point: that the sitting president has announced the same view. The media doesn't dare challenge its darling, and didn't get its bloody carcass, so they're horde-ing on over to the next non-story to infotain you. Family values live to survive another day, but they're going to have to keep looking over their shoulders for the next hit-man. Fascinating. "All the world's a stage."

The Most Inspirational Stories of 2009

This extraordinary video documents the story of General Petraeus rousing a soldier from a coma.



Major Phil Packer begins the London Marathon after surviving wounds from an insurgent rocket attack in Iraq.

You have to know when blood is in the water and that blood is yours

American free-thought alert! (Act now while supplies last, I'll be on a watch-list until I surrender my ethics.) I'm also a discriminator. That's right, I make choices every day, even about right and wrong, and thus I discriminate. (And anyone who discriminates is guilty of being prejudiced, and anyone who is prejudiced is unfair, and anyone who is unfair is a bad person...)

Carrie Prejean, a.k.a. Miss California, showed great wisdom in declining taking part in the filming of a new public service announcement fawning over the great "diversity" of California. The effort was touted as an idea to help repair the image of the California - now propaganda disguised as pageantry. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519468,00.html

When diversity is perversity, and nobody speaks how they really feel, you're wise to stay out of the chum-filled water. That tart standing next to you is not your chum but you are standing in chum. If diversity is to be so prized in this country, e.g. a free marketplace of ideas, then why are all the discontented newspapermen, political machines et.al. so opposed to a non-gay viewpoint?

We no longer cry for unity - maybe because the Cold War is over? - but only the empty drone of "Diversity." The more it's repeated, the less we question it. Diversity training exists in almost every institution today. But why and to what extent - that people with what were once considered to follow societal mores, such as aversion to perversion - are marginalized and unable to stand on any legitimate position without vilification in the American mass media. (See my earlier post on normalizing political correctness, http://makalakapisei.blogspot.com/search?q=normalizing).

More and more I'm starting to think I, like many of these idiots in California, was a victim of cultural programming in high school when I was taught that McCarthyism is a bad thing: It was the blacklisting of Communist sympathisers in Hollywood. The domestic reactions to the Cold War were an overall cultural rejection of the moral iconoclasm that is so prominent today. The pendulum has swung in the other direction and as I've heard, there is this sort of "reverse McCarthyism going on in America." We'll save Britain for another post.

Diversity has become... perversity.

Keith Lewis, co-director for Miss California USA says, " We are just trying to move forward in what is the best way for the organization, the women, the titleholder and the state. Carrie is still Miss California USA, but right now she is not acting in the capacity of Miss California USA. She is acting as Carrie Prejean and working on things that are important to Carrie Prejean."

Diversity has become... perversity.

Miss California isn't entitled her opinion, and the loudest and most obnoxious have turned on her. I don't know how anyone can resist this drumbeat of cultural re-programming, from public schools to the new concept that the "United States never was a Christian nation." http://www.google.com/search?q=the+united+states+was+never+a+christian+nation&hl=en&rlz=1T4GPEA_enUS307US307&start=20&sa=N

I've read some points that expose the truth of the matter on the Prejean controversy, and I'll end this entry with them.

-------------------------------------------

IonBeam2: Gay people already have the right to enter into something that they can call whatever they want to- including marriage. It's when they force everyone else to call it marriage when the problem arises.

HotLonelyTeenageGirl: But there were plenty of ways to politically sidestep that question, but she's another dumb ass blonde bigot parroting the same shiat that her parents drilling into her head.

Steelpeg: So, the younger generations believe that being "politically correct" is more important than voicing a person's true beliefs and free speech. And she is a "dumb ass blonde bigot" because she doesn't share your beliefs in ghey marriage? Do you know her? Do you even know her parents? Do you even know the definition of bigot? You are sounding like a pot calling the kettle black.You've even got that liberal Roland Martin on CNN advocating Carrie Prejean's right for free speech and dissing her detractors for how they are acting - CNN (new window). But Roland is probably a bigot too. Carrie did nothing wrong, she was asked what she thought and give an honest opinion. It was a stupid question asked just to forward a judge's own agenda. I know, lets just get a ghey judge to ask a question to Miss California, who happens to attend a Christian College, a question on allowing ghey marriages that was recently put before the voters and rejected in an election in California 52% to 48%. Why not just have David Duke ask her about minority rights? Or how about the CEO of planned parenthood asking about her opinion on abortion? How about illegal immigration questions from an illegal immigrant? Loaded questions do not belong in a "beauty contest".

Atomic Spunk: Homosexuality is a choice. As a society, we have the right to discriminate against groups of people who make choices we don't believe in. Homosexuals should never be allowed to marry. A majority of people in this country believe the same way I do. It's useless to debate this because everyone has their minds made up, and their is no convincing argument one way or the other.

Fin

Will I have time to make it to the distant town and catch the return train?


Is it really the place I conceive it to be?