church ranch route. seven point five miles.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
the four-some
don't feel like writing anymore. i also don't feel like doing any christmas cards. there's just no time. but there are always movies.
Babel (2006): an american family, half the world apart from each other, goes through some pretty traumatic events in 24 hours. and somehow a teenage deaf and dumb naked japanese chick has something to do with it all. the beginning scenes with the boys just build and build with suspense. there are some very realistic locations. and the acting is all very real too. the transitions between the different storylines were well done i thought. some scenes were a little drawn out though. they would just really over-do what they were trying to get across. i loved how the american kids reacted to being in mexico for a day. very real. didn't care too much for the deaf-mute japanese girl storyline. that was kind of weird to watch. sad to watch really. and the whole time i wondered how she even related to the rest of the story. in the end she barely had any tie-in with the main plot. it should have been about just the moroccan and mexican stuff. they could have easily cut down the movie about an hour by cutting the deaf-mute. it was too long and by the end i was like, "come on already." there is a lot of potential but it fell flat i thought. turned out not being what i had hoped for. don't see.
disappointing, C-
Gridiron Gang (2006): juvenile delinquents play competitive football while in detention so that they can "be somebody." real life gangsta shat. the movie doesn't start well. nothing great about the acting. nothing too memorable. nothing new to the table. good story though, but it's just a little blah. the rock did okay even though most of his dialogue is just inspirational fluff.
flawed but not terrible, C+
The Fountain (2006): cool intro that jumps right into some amazing action and other cool scenes. and then the weirdness sets in. yeah it's a little strange, but it's not that hard to figure out pretty much the entire story within the first 15 minutes. actually, i think the trailer gave away a little too much of the storyline. i hate when they do that. it's still cool though because there are still lots of small pieces that are nicely put together through the story. good acting. hugh jackman is awesome as always. for parts of the movie the film had a nice grainy look to it and then other parts the scene would be absolute digital clarity. i thought that was a nice touch to the movie. some of the imagery was really beautiful as you can see from the trailer. the stuff that goes on in space is freaking amazing. really believable. and on top of it looking so well done, nothing in the movie was done using cgi. pretty impressive. i didn't like the character of his doctor boss lady. she annoyed me. one thing they didn't explain was how he got the bubble with him and the tree into space. did the earth explode or something? the ending of the spain story was a little odd and slightly humorous. and i wasn't really clear on what was real and what wasn't. the subject matter of the film is pretty deep. i probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the avid movie goer. better than average flick. make sure if you do see it, that it's in a theater. television just wouldn't do justice.
memorable, B+
Brick (2006): an obsessed ex-boyfriend must uncover the mystery surrounding the death of his whore of an ex-girlfriend that doesn't want him anymore. it's a movie about high school drug lords and murder. it starts off with a nice way to open a movie. it's really mysterious. the way all the high schoolers had this highly intellectual, almost shakespearean speak to them was a little distracting and corny. it's not that it's bad dialogue, but it's just weird hearing it from drug dealing high school seniors. the film has a cool 50s film noir style to it and there is some good acting, but it never really builds to anything. and the over the top behavior of these kids is far from the believability in the movie kids or even bully. maybe see it if you are bored.
mediocre, C
Babel (2006): an american family, half the world apart from each other, goes through some pretty traumatic events in 24 hours. and somehow a teenage deaf and dumb naked japanese chick has something to do with it all. the beginning scenes with the boys just build and build with suspense. there are some very realistic locations. and the acting is all very real too. the transitions between the different storylines were well done i thought. some scenes were a little drawn out though. they would just really over-do what they were trying to get across. i loved how the american kids reacted to being in mexico for a day. very real. didn't care too much for the deaf-mute japanese girl storyline. that was kind of weird to watch. sad to watch really. and the whole time i wondered how she even related to the rest of the story. in the end she barely had any tie-in with the main plot. it should have been about just the moroccan and mexican stuff. they could have easily cut down the movie about an hour by cutting the deaf-mute. it was too long and by the end i was like, "come on already." there is a lot of potential but it fell flat i thought. turned out not being what i had hoped for. don't see.
disappointing, C-
Gridiron Gang (2006): juvenile delinquents play competitive football while in detention so that they can "be somebody." real life gangsta shat. the movie doesn't start well. nothing great about the acting. nothing too memorable. nothing new to the table. good story though, but it's just a little blah. the rock did okay even though most of his dialogue is just inspirational fluff.
flawed but not terrible, C+
The Fountain (2006): cool intro that jumps right into some amazing action and other cool scenes. and then the weirdness sets in. yeah it's a little strange, but it's not that hard to figure out pretty much the entire story within the first 15 minutes. actually, i think the trailer gave away a little too much of the storyline. i hate when they do that. it's still cool though because there are still lots of small pieces that are nicely put together through the story. good acting. hugh jackman is awesome as always. for parts of the movie the film had a nice grainy look to it and then other parts the scene would be absolute digital clarity. i thought that was a nice touch to the movie. some of the imagery was really beautiful as you can see from the trailer. the stuff that goes on in space is freaking amazing. really believable. and on top of it looking so well done, nothing in the movie was done using cgi. pretty impressive. i didn't like the character of his doctor boss lady. she annoyed me. one thing they didn't explain was how he got the bubble with him and the tree into space. did the earth explode or something? the ending of the spain story was a little odd and slightly humorous. and i wasn't really clear on what was real and what wasn't. the subject matter of the film is pretty deep. i probably wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the avid movie goer. better than average flick. make sure if you do see it, that it's in a theater. television just wouldn't do justice.
memorable, B+
Brick (2006): an obsessed ex-boyfriend must uncover the mystery surrounding the death of his whore of an ex-girlfriend that doesn't want him anymore. it's a movie about high school drug lords and murder. it starts off with a nice way to open a movie. it's really mysterious. the way all the high schoolers had this highly intellectual, almost shakespearean speak to them was a little distracting and corny. it's not that it's bad dialogue, but it's just weird hearing it from drug dealing high school seniors. the film has a cool 50s film noir style to it and there is some good acting, but it never really builds to anything. and the over the top behavior of these kids is far from the believability in the movie kids or even bully. maybe see it if you are bored.
mediocre, C
Friday, November 17, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
the broomfield event center
denver post:
Traffic drove away some Raitt fans
Opening night at the Broomfield Event Center was marred by traffic tangles and parking problems that kept some concertgoers from reaching the venue where Bonnie Raitt performed to a sold-out crowd.
Thousands of cars converged Thursday night on the center, near U.S. 36 and Colorado 287. Multiple accidents, a malfunctioning traffic light and insufficient parking were to blame for the traffic jams that tied up some concertgoers for more than an hour, said Trey Medlock, general manager of Broomfield Event Center.
"We had more cars than we expected last night," Medlock said Friday. "But there's not a building in the country on opening night that doesn't have these issues."
For Friday night's hockey game, Medlock said police planned to direct traffic, and there was to be an overflow-parking lot with 500 spots in addition to the roughly 2,000 spots available adjacent to the building and in the parking garage. The Broomfield Event Center's capacity is 7,500.
Despite the problems, Medlock said opening night was a success.
"It's going to take a little bit of time, but we'll make it work."
well what do you expect when you open the place up with the worst traffic construction in the state surrounding you? good job you crappy city. go sweep something broomfield. your stupid event center sucks. bonnie raitt? is that the best you could do? well thanks for uglifying the landscape with your little arena. can't wait to get my season tickets to minor league hockey.
and why do celebrities get married to other celebrities? they are just going to get a divorce. can't they just date for a really long time like kurt russell and goldie hawn? most celebrities are so stupid and there are few relationships of theirs that i can't ever take seriously.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006): a long and drawn out story of how will ferrell, a boring tax guy, is going to die by some author writing a novel of his life. he hears her narrating it in his head, she has no idea that he is real. and it's never explained why this weird phenomenon is happening in the first place. in fact, later in the movie the author recalls that she has written four other novels in the past and has each time killed off the main character, therefore killing four people in real life. there is a scene where she realizes this and breaks down crying. i guess it's sad, but the thought of killing people by writing a story is so out there that i found it laughable. ferrell's big dramatic freak-out is a little much. not sure if he can pull off dramatic roles very well. most of the scenes were boring. he would go sometimes a long time without hearing the voice. why? only good reason was to move the plot along through other ways. dustin hoffman was pretty funny. and how weird was it to see him sing? hoffman did good. hoffman and ferrell were watching a ten year old interview of the author, and in it she talks about the same book she is writing about ferrell. is she still writing that same story ten years later or is this a plot hole? spoilers: in the end he feels all great and noble to die and save some kid's life. but would the kid have almost died if she hadn't had written that part into the story? eh, not that great of a movie. don't see.
disappointing, C-
Bully (2001): a group of misfits try to kill their misfit dick of a friend. i wonder if there are really kids like this. like the kids in that movie kids, which by the way is the same director as this movie. a lot of the acting is just mediocre. a lot of cheesy shots. the characters are very complex, as well as their relationships so that was cool. there is a point in a movie where there is just enough more sex than there is plot, which we usually call a porno. then there are those that have just enough more plot than sex, and it's called a movie. bully is barely a movie. my favorite person was easily donny. it ends well and you start thinking to yourself, "what a cool movie that was. i'm going to buy that for sure." then you remember all the sex and how kim won't even let me buy boogie nights. how would i explain this one to her? oh well. buy it.
good, B
Traffic drove away some Raitt fans
Opening night at the Broomfield Event Center was marred by traffic tangles and parking problems that kept some concertgoers from reaching the venue where Bonnie Raitt performed to a sold-out crowd.
Thousands of cars converged Thursday night on the center, near U.S. 36 and Colorado 287. Multiple accidents, a malfunctioning traffic light and insufficient parking were to blame for the traffic jams that tied up some concertgoers for more than an hour, said Trey Medlock, general manager of Broomfield Event Center.
"We had more cars than we expected last night," Medlock said Friday. "But there's not a building in the country on opening night that doesn't have these issues."
For Friday night's hockey game, Medlock said police planned to direct traffic, and there was to be an overflow-parking lot with 500 spots in addition to the roughly 2,000 spots available adjacent to the building and in the parking garage. The Broomfield Event Center's capacity is 7,500.
Despite the problems, Medlock said opening night was a success.
"It's going to take a little bit of time, but we'll make it work."
well what do you expect when you open the place up with the worst traffic construction in the state surrounding you? good job you crappy city. go sweep something broomfield. your stupid event center sucks. bonnie raitt? is that the best you could do? well thanks for uglifying the landscape with your little arena. can't wait to get my season tickets to minor league hockey.
and why do celebrities get married to other celebrities? they are just going to get a divorce. can't they just date for a really long time like kurt russell and goldie hawn? most celebrities are so stupid and there are few relationships of theirs that i can't ever take seriously.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006): a long and drawn out story of how will ferrell, a boring tax guy, is going to die by some author writing a novel of his life. he hears her narrating it in his head, she has no idea that he is real. and it's never explained why this weird phenomenon is happening in the first place. in fact, later in the movie the author recalls that she has written four other novels in the past and has each time killed off the main character, therefore killing four people in real life. there is a scene where she realizes this and breaks down crying. i guess it's sad, but the thought of killing people by writing a story is so out there that i found it laughable. ferrell's big dramatic freak-out is a little much. not sure if he can pull off dramatic roles very well. most of the scenes were boring. he would go sometimes a long time without hearing the voice. why? only good reason was to move the plot along through other ways. dustin hoffman was pretty funny. and how weird was it to see him sing? hoffman did good. hoffman and ferrell were watching a ten year old interview of the author, and in it she talks about the same book she is writing about ferrell. is she still writing that same story ten years later or is this a plot hole? spoilers: in the end he feels all great and noble to die and save some kid's life. but would the kid have almost died if she hadn't had written that part into the story? eh, not that great of a movie. don't see.
disappointing, C-
Bully (2001): a group of misfits try to kill their misfit dick of a friend. i wonder if there are really kids like this. like the kids in that movie kids, which by the way is the same director as this movie. a lot of the acting is just mediocre. a lot of cheesy shots. the characters are very complex, as well as their relationships so that was cool. there is a point in a movie where there is just enough more sex than there is plot, which we usually call a porno. then there are those that have just enough more plot than sex, and it's called a movie. bully is barely a movie. my favorite person was easily donny. it ends well and you start thinking to yourself, "what a cool movie that was. i'm going to buy that for sure." then you remember all the sex and how kim won't even let me buy boogie nights. how would i explain this one to her? oh well. buy it.
good, B
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
the results are in
republicans suck.
back on the home front, i'm happy to report that affie ellis lost her bid for the state house seat for our district. she was some law school student at CU who happens to be a full-blooded native american i believe. she had some experience working for the government for a few years before, but how about you at least graduate school before you run for office. who does she think she is? of course i'm making a ton of really bad assumptions, however, i assume she has been handed a number of "freebies" for being a minority and that just boils my blood. i'm pretty neutral on the whole affirmative action thing until i see some research done to show it is actually still needed today and working. but it still pisses me off. who does she think she is? she is pretty cute however, so i'll give her that. but she lost and i'm bitter about life so there you go.
colorado's state house and senate majority are both now in the blue for the first time in like 50 years i read. and we have a dem governor. hmm. now about that law on marijuana...
i feel bad for the sheep in utah. one of the worst senators in our lifetime (hatch) was easily re-elected for his sixth term. yes, he's been their senator for 30 years now. he actually was first elected senator by running on the idea that the incumbent had been there way too long and was so out of touch. funny how he was predicting his own career in the senate. the only reason he gave utahns for why he should be elected was because in 2009, he would be chairman of the finance committee. wow, thanks hatch, we only have to wait 3 years. that was senator hatch's campaign. what a freaking douchebag. anyway, so much for his chairmanship now that his party is out. he is so out of it as are the majority of utah voters. now the only thing he can be chairman of is his local aarp chapter. so i feel bad for his opponent pete ashdown who lost by about a third of the votes. all for nothing. no chairman of finance for hatch. no chairman of banking for bennett. now utahns get nothing. just six more years of a terrible senator who has terrible taste in fashion. poor utah.
it took the dems taking over power for the word "compromise" to enter the vocabulary of congress. bush talked about reaching across the isle to work with the dems, but i never saw that in the six years he's been on the throne. and the repubs rarely would work with the former minority so that each side was happy. it's always been their way or none at all. do you hear the democrats talking like that now? they could be jerks about it and say, "screw you guys. now we'll see how you republicans like being ignored." of course they will push their agenda because the voters obviously expect it, however almost every winning dem i've heard speak has talked about compromise. what a concept you dick republican congress. former dick republican congress that is. now it's a true blue democratic nation.
actually far from the truth. i find it so amazing how the nation can be so divided. seeing so many states where the vote was practically 50-50 was crazy. why is that the case i wonder? coincidence? maybe. for example, take virginia. you have the north which borders d.c. and is mostly a pretty liberal area. then you have the rest of va which is not. and both just happened to practically cancel each other out in the polls. i thought the bulk of virginia's population was up north, which is also where i'd expect to see the highest voter turnout for the state considering their close proximity to the nation's capitol. but how can you explain nearly the same amount people that voted republican for allen? i'm not a pollster or poli-sci guy, but there are many states each and every election with an approximate 50-50 split. assuming voter turnout is the same percentage for each of the two major parties, is there really 1 donkey for every 1 elephant in these states (approximately)? who knows, who cares. we won and that's good enough for me.
here are some more highlights around the country that i picked up from random articles on the web.
a large majority of voters surveyed across the country said their disgust with corruption influenced their choice.
in montana, democrat jon tester, an organic grain farmer lost three fingers in a meat grinder (not that that's really important, but still kind of crazy), prevailed in a protracted contest with three-term senator conrad burns, who was weakened politically by his ties to that bad lobbyist jack abramoff. burns, first elected in 1988 as a folksy, backslapping outsider, came under siege as a top recipient of campaign contributions from abramoff. he did himself no favors, either, when he confronted members of a wildfire-fighting team and accused them of doing a bad job.
senator george allen, a former virginia governor (and now former senator), struggled for months to get his campaign back on stride after he used the obscure racial slur "macaca" to introduce a man of indian descent to an all-white rally.
indiana was particularly cruel to house republicans. representatives john hostettler, chris chocola and mike sodrel all lost in a state where republican govorner mitch daniels' unpopularity compounded the dissatisfaction with bush.
democrat zack space won the race to succeed bob ney, who pleaded guilty to corruption this fall in the abramoff scandal.
republican representative john sweeney lost his seat in new york several days after reports that he had roughed up his wife, which she denies.
republicans lost the seat that representative mark foley had held. he resigned on september 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he had written to teenage pages.
representative don sherwood lost despite apologizing to the voters for a long-term affair with a much younger woman (he's 65, she's 29. i've heard of worse.).
representative curt weldon, from pennsylvania, was denied a new term after he became embroiled in a corruption investigation.
with great satisfaction, i'm happy to say that the GOP also lost the texas seat once held by former majority leader tom delay.
and interestingly, those greenies in vermont made bernard sanders, an independent, the winner in a senate race, succeeding retiring senator jeffords. brooklyn-born with an accent to match, sanders is a socialist who will side with democrats, as he did reliably in the house. we could definitely use a few more socialists in power. for reals. i just might move to vermont. in fact i was this close to moving there for law school.
and check out rumsfeld running off with his tail between his legs. you at least have to give it to him and bush and everyone else in that regime for accepting defeat like men. now get the hell out of here you fuckin losers.
and gracias to the always handy matthew for the following info.
speaker pelosi and majority leader reid have announced the radical "first 100 hours" initiative, in which they will immediately take the floor with a list of urgent platform changes. here's what to expect from the democrats:
but of course anytime someone comes into power they do a lot of talking. lets hope that the dems really get some crap done in the next two years. they really need to prove themselves before '08 or hillary might be toast. and i think they totally will walk the walk. fifteen or so years of not having a majority say has really built up in all of them and i bet they are now thrilled to be able to get some stuff done. in two years they will still be riding that momentum and hopefully the people will take notice. thank god this all happened because i was really getting worried that mccain might steal the show in '08. and he still might, but as long as we keep pushing bush and the new minority, we'll be in good shape. these are exciting times and i envy anyone who gets to work for congress in these next two years. finally, we can now move forward and put this country back on the right track.
thank you. good night. and god bless our rad nation.
back on the home front, i'm happy to report that affie ellis lost her bid for the state house seat for our district. she was some law school student at CU who happens to be a full-blooded native american i believe. she had some experience working for the government for a few years before, but how about you at least graduate school before you run for office. who does she think she is? of course i'm making a ton of really bad assumptions, however, i assume she has been handed a number of "freebies" for being a minority and that just boils my blood. i'm pretty neutral on the whole affirmative action thing until i see some research done to show it is actually still needed today and working. but it still pisses me off. who does she think she is? she is pretty cute however, so i'll give her that. but she lost and i'm bitter about life so there you go.
colorado's state house and senate majority are both now in the blue for the first time in like 50 years i read. and we have a dem governor. hmm. now about that law on marijuana...
i feel bad for the sheep in utah. one of the worst senators in our lifetime (hatch) was easily re-elected for his sixth term. yes, he's been their senator for 30 years now. he actually was first elected senator by running on the idea that the incumbent had been there way too long and was so out of touch. funny how he was predicting his own career in the senate. the only reason he gave utahns for why he should be elected was because in 2009, he would be chairman of the finance committee. wow, thanks hatch, we only have to wait 3 years. that was senator hatch's campaign. what a freaking douchebag. anyway, so much for his chairmanship now that his party is out. he is so out of it as are the majority of utah voters. now the only thing he can be chairman of is his local aarp chapter. so i feel bad for his opponent pete ashdown who lost by about a third of the votes. all for nothing. no chairman of finance for hatch. no chairman of banking for bennett. now utahns get nothing. just six more years of a terrible senator who has terrible taste in fashion. poor utah.
it took the dems taking over power for the word "compromise" to enter the vocabulary of congress. bush talked about reaching across the isle to work with the dems, but i never saw that in the six years he's been on the throne. and the repubs rarely would work with the former minority so that each side was happy. it's always been their way or none at all. do you hear the democrats talking like that now? they could be jerks about it and say, "screw you guys. now we'll see how you republicans like being ignored." of course they will push their agenda because the voters obviously expect it, however almost every winning dem i've heard speak has talked about compromise. what a concept you dick republican congress. former dick republican congress that is. now it's a true blue democratic nation.
actually far from the truth. i find it so amazing how the nation can be so divided. seeing so many states where the vote was practically 50-50 was crazy. why is that the case i wonder? coincidence? maybe. for example, take virginia. you have the north which borders d.c. and is mostly a pretty liberal area. then you have the rest of va which is not. and both just happened to practically cancel each other out in the polls. i thought the bulk of virginia's population was up north, which is also where i'd expect to see the highest voter turnout for the state considering their close proximity to the nation's capitol. but how can you explain nearly the same amount people that voted republican for allen? i'm not a pollster or poli-sci guy, but there are many states each and every election with an approximate 50-50 split. assuming voter turnout is the same percentage for each of the two major parties, is there really 1 donkey for every 1 elephant in these states (approximately)? who knows, who cares. we won and that's good enough for me.
here are some more highlights around the country that i picked up from random articles on the web.
a large majority of voters surveyed across the country said their disgust with corruption influenced their choice.
in montana, democrat jon tester, an organic grain farmer lost three fingers in a meat grinder (not that that's really important, but still kind of crazy), prevailed in a protracted contest with three-term senator conrad burns, who was weakened politically by his ties to that bad lobbyist jack abramoff. burns, first elected in 1988 as a folksy, backslapping outsider, came under siege as a top recipient of campaign contributions from abramoff. he did himself no favors, either, when he confronted members of a wildfire-fighting team and accused them of doing a bad job.
senator george allen, a former virginia governor (and now former senator), struggled for months to get his campaign back on stride after he used the obscure racial slur "macaca" to introduce a man of indian descent to an all-white rally.
indiana was particularly cruel to house republicans. representatives john hostettler, chris chocola and mike sodrel all lost in a state where republican govorner mitch daniels' unpopularity compounded the dissatisfaction with bush.
democrat zack space won the race to succeed bob ney, who pleaded guilty to corruption this fall in the abramoff scandal.
republican representative john sweeney lost his seat in new york several days after reports that he had roughed up his wife, which she denies.
republicans lost the seat that representative mark foley had held. he resigned on september 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he had written to teenage pages.
representative don sherwood lost despite apologizing to the voters for a long-term affair with a much younger woman (he's 65, she's 29. i've heard of worse.).
representative curt weldon, from pennsylvania, was denied a new term after he became embroiled in a corruption investigation.
with great satisfaction, i'm happy to say that the GOP also lost the texas seat once held by former majority leader tom delay.
and interestingly, those greenies in vermont made bernard sanders, an independent, the winner in a senate race, succeeding retiring senator jeffords. brooklyn-born with an accent to match, sanders is a socialist who will side with democrats, as he did reliably in the house. we could definitely use a few more socialists in power. for reals. i just might move to vermont. in fact i was this close to moving there for law school.
and check out rumsfeld running off with his tail between his legs. you at least have to give it to him and bush and everyone else in that regime for accepting defeat like men. now get the hell out of here you fuckin losers.
and gracias to the always handy matthew for the following info.
speaker pelosi and majority leader reid have announced the radical "first 100 hours" initiative, in which they will immediately take the floor with a list of urgent platform changes. here's what to expect from the democrats:
military: force an immediate drawdown of troops in iraq and conduct oversight hearings on missteps on the war. the announcement that rumsfeld was resigning met democratic demands that he step down to take responsibility for the situation in iraq.i don't see anything in there about social security, so i'm a little disappointed. i know they will definitely tackle that issue, but it would be nice if it was sooner than later. congress really needs to quit putting this off. senator bennett (the only republican worth anything these days) has a few good ideas.
intelligence: increase attention given to emerging terrorist threats in africa and southeast asia and devote more resources to north korea and iran. more oversight of terrorism and government surveillance.
homeland security: immediately implement 9/11 commission recommendations to boost security for rail and mass transit systems. tougher oversight of the department of homeland security, potential restructuring of the federal emergency management agency.
judiciary: conduct oversight hearings on treatment of terrorism detainees, domestic surveillance programs and president bush's use of "signing statements" affecting some requirements in the laws he signs.
minimum wage: pass legislation to raise the minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25.
veteran benefits: reinstate funding for veterans' health care which republicans took away, including additional mental health counseling for vets returning from iraq and afghanistan.
health: pass a vetoed embryonic stem cell research bill again. require insurance companies to provide benefits for treating mental illnesses equal to other medical and surgical benefits. get generic drugs on the market more quickly.
energy and environment: increase incentives for biodiesel, ethanol and other alternative fuels as well as wind, solar, geothermal and other sources of alternative energy. renegotiate oil and gas leases that waived royalty payments to the government. impose a national cap on industrial carbon dioxide emissions. resist bush's efforts to open more public lands to oil exploration.
education: increase spending on the no child left behind act, and massively revamp the law when it comes up for review in 2007, such as how to gauge student progress. push to make college more affordable by cutting interest rates on loans for neediest students.
tuition and sales-tax deduction: the tuition tax break allows married couples with joint income of up to $130,000, or single taxpayers with income up to $65,000, to claim a $4,000 deduction for college tuition and related expenses. the sales-tax deduction allows taxpayers to deduct sales taxes instead of state taxes on their federal returns. republicans refuses to pass a tuition or sales-tax deduction unless the estate tax was completely repealed.
estate tax: as the estate tax only affects the richest two percent of tax-payers, bush wanted to repeal the law. that won't happen with the democrats in control, but rep. charles rangel, the new york democrat who's expected to chair the house ways and means committee, is already looking across party lines for someone to join him in reforming the tax law and modernize it, not do away with it completely.
but of course anytime someone comes into power they do a lot of talking. lets hope that the dems really get some crap done in the next two years. they really need to prove themselves before '08 or hillary might be toast. and i think they totally will walk the walk. fifteen or so years of not having a majority say has really built up in all of them and i bet they are now thrilled to be able to get some stuff done. in two years they will still be riding that momentum and hopefully the people will take notice. thank god this all happened because i was really getting worried that mccain might steal the show in '08. and he still might, but as long as we keep pushing bush and the new minority, we'll be in good shape. these are exciting times and i envy anyone who gets to work for congress in these next two years. finally, we can now move forward and put this country back on the right track.
thank you. good night. and god bless our rad nation.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
the shift in power
how exciting. right now we are waiting on the last three senate races to finish up and it's looking really good for the dems. good to see nancy 'the bulldog' pelosi will become house speaker. i actually just made that nickname up for her, but i think it fits. i'm sure my buddy bracken is cringing right now at the thought of her running that side. now if only reid can kick frist out of that senate majority office. things went well for colorado candidates. we now have a dem governor, udall was re-elected as our district's congressman, and dems have the state house and senate. that idiot tancredo easily was re-elected by the same people that used to look to that meth dealin' homo lovin'/hatin' haggard as their reverend or whatever. good job colorado springs. the only good thing about you is, um, i think matthew was from there, and they have norad. that's pretty cool. other than that, your congressman is shitty. most of my issues were voted down unfortunately. the dope law wasn't even close. same for over in nevada too. people not ready for that yet? coloradans have totally taken a turn in the wrong direction and voted to add a man/woman marriage amendment in the constitution AND rejected domestic partnerships. what's up with that? i really thought that was going to pass. montana and mizzou are both going to the dems i think. so that leave va. hmm. i'd be excited even if we split 50-50. can we even do 50-50? i don't recall what up with jeffords these days. (he was the lone independent in the senate) immigration lawsuits against businesses passed which is pretty bad i think. judicial term limits looks like will fail, so that's good. and it's midnight now, so i'm off. no one voted for me by the way. a-holes. tomorrow is sucky double econ day to make up for no econ next week. and it's also ethan's sucky make up day for homework. busy busy i am.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Making Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006): borat comes to america to understand the culture, but just pisses everyone off. his original intentions change however and he undertakes an emotional journey across the u.s. to find his love in cali. and wow. if you are any of these people, you may be offended by this movie: jewish, kyrgystani, female, gypsy, uzbekistani, homosexual, mentally retarded, chickens, and bears. and of course if you are from kazakhstan, then you will probably be offended the most. but most of the jokes that make fun of these groups are still really funny. i wonder where his village was shot at? i'm guessing it wasn't kazakhstan. borat falling in love with cj parker (pam anderson) was a nice touch. she was a good choice because i bet foreigners see her as the all american sex symbol these days. i wondered as i watched the movie, how much was staged and how much was actually real? you could usually tell the real stuff by how awkward the situation was. there were in fact, more awkward situations than i could even count. at times i just had to look away. but it's so well done and his character is so thought out. cohen should be at least nominated for a best actor oscar (although that will never happen). the fight scene between borat and his producer with the un-pronounceable name is the funniest crap ever. in this context, funniest also equals nastiest. you have to give that producer guy some credit though. he had no shame. sometimes a scene would cut when i wished it would have kept on rolling to see the outcome of borat's craziness. can't wait to see special features on the dvd. in the end, i'm glad it wasn't just a movie with extreme jokes, but actually had a plot. it has a good pace and there are lots of setup and payoffs throughout the movie. funniest movie i've seen this year and as long as you aren't easily offended, you have to see it.
almost perfect, A-
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Making Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006): borat comes to america to understand the culture, but just pisses everyone off. his original intentions change however and he undertakes an emotional journey across the u.s. to find his love in cali. and wow. if you are any of these people, you may be offended by this movie: jewish, kyrgystani, female, gypsy, uzbekistani, homosexual, mentally retarded, chickens, and bears. and of course if you are from kazakhstan, then you will probably be offended the most. but most of the jokes that make fun of these groups are still really funny. i wonder where his village was shot at? i'm guessing it wasn't kazakhstan. borat falling in love with cj parker (pam anderson) was a nice touch. she was a good choice because i bet foreigners see her as the all american sex symbol these days. i wondered as i watched the movie, how much was staged and how much was actually real? you could usually tell the real stuff by how awkward the situation was. there were in fact, more awkward situations than i could even count. at times i just had to look away. but it's so well done and his character is so thought out. cohen should be at least nominated for a best actor oscar (although that will never happen). the fight scene between borat and his producer with the un-pronounceable name is the funniest crap ever. in this context, funniest also equals nastiest. you have to give that producer guy some credit though. he had no shame. sometimes a scene would cut when i wished it would have kept on rolling to see the outcome of borat's craziness. can't wait to see special features on the dvd. in the end, i'm glad it wasn't just a movie with extreme jokes, but actually had a plot. it has a good pace and there are lots of setup and payoffs throughout the movie. funniest movie i've seen this year and as long as you aren't easily offended, you have to see it.
almost perfect, A-
Friday, November 03, 2006
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