thepetecom.blogspot.com

Friday, February 09, 2007

TEST POST

HEYA if you're reading this it's because everything is WORKING! WOW!

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Ah, shit, this sucks. I don't have any pics of her handy, though if I wasn't blogging this from my Sidekick I would. She apparently collapsed earlier today and was pronounced dead at a Florida hospital. Of course she wasn't a huge talent and her "reality" show definitely contributed to the decline of American TV, but damn it, she was beautiful. Yes, she was surgically augmented to be that beautiful, but ultimately I don't think that matters. She understood that she didn't have much to work with (she was pretty much an idiot) and she did what she felt she could do to become famous and wealthy. In my opinion, this is more than most of us bother to do. Which is worse? The idiot with the huge tits on TV or the immensely brilliant genious who works at a MCdonalds? Sure she was no Molly Ivins, but I really hoped she'd turn out OK in the end. Speaking of the end, I think it's a shame that her train wreck life ended sooner and more depressingly than anyone's should. I also hope we can move the hell on with our lives and not get mired in gossip, pettiness and an endless stream of news stories about the trials determining where her money and daughter go. We've got much more important things to be concerned with, like nonbinding resolutions that disagree with troop surges... I think I'll go add Skyscraper to my Netflix queue. RIP ANS

Orignal From: RIP ANNA NICOLE SMITH

Thursday, February 08, 2007

08 02 07_0756.jpg

08-02-07_0756.jpg
Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Minutes after the morning tongue-burning ritual. Moments after seeing Miguel Ferrer in an SUV on Westwood Blvd. Moments before actually catching my bus! Wahoooo!!

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POST APOCALYPTIC REALITY WITHOUT THE APOCALYPSE

One of the podcasts I listen to is [http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/mm|KCRW's Minding the Media] the weekly short opinion column is delivered by Nick Madigan of the Baltimore Sun who never shies from calling a spade a spade. Which is rare these days. In [http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/mm/mm070206coddling_the_friendl|his latest column] he talks about how both insiders in the government and a few mainstream journalists feel like both the government and the media have lost a lot of credibility over the past few years, mainly over the Iraq mess. I tend to agree, but not just about the Iraq mess. There's Katrina, too, where state and federal governments failed to do much to save the people in harms way. The media, too, while on-location a lot have dropped the ball on following up on just how poorly state and federal governments are helping Katrina victims get back on their feet (not to mention the victims of past hurricanes in other states). This whole thing brings to mind movies like Mad Max and Road Warrior or any other film that presents a post-apocalyptic reality. Think about it--we can't trust our leaders to tell us the truth or even to be there if something bad happens. We can't trust the media, the watchdogs of our leaders, because they just deliver the press releases our governments give them. What's left to trust? A great many people in power seem to be doing generally whatever they want with a general disregard for anyone else's real safety or concerns. The governor of the most financially powerful state in the union referred to a fellow politician as "sick" and to another as a "hack". These guys don't even respect each other. >From the latest Minding the Media column I refer to above:

Reporters who cover politicians and corporate executives have to cultivate confidential sources in order to cover their beats properly, but some of those relationships are too clubby, too self-serving and, ultimately, harmful to the notion of a free and open press. As Tim Rutten wrote in the L.A. Times, the Libby trial's "unintended seminar in contemporary journalism" shows that Cheney and his staff believe that truth is malleable, and that they knew that some members of the Washington press corps would "cynically accommodate that belief for the sake of their careers." "It's a sick little arrangement," Rutten said, "in which the parties clearly have one thing in common: a profound indifference to both the common good and to their obligation to act in its service."

We The People, no longer know what the hell's really going on and the sad thing is, we're not even very concerned about that. It's like the end of all the civilized parts of civilization. Now we're left only with the appearance of civilization. At least, that's how I see it.

Orignal From: POST APOCALYPTIC REALITY WITHOUT THE APOCALYPSE

Project365 day 038

Project365 day 038
Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Forehead...

You can't tell here, but I've just had TheWife trim TheHair. I also shaved.

I'm kooky that way.

Orignal From: Project365 day 038

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

BOOTLEG FREELY: BUY YOUR OWN COUNTRY

Ever since America invaded Iraq I've toyed with the idea of expatriating myself until MY America returns--you know, the one that is fair, just and not oppressive or abusive and doesn't torture. Of course then I did [http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/sr=8-1/qid=1169329818/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8815701-4239122?ie=UTF8&s=books|some reading] and came to the conclusion that America has always been pretty dickish--it just had better PR in years past. But then the idea was where would I go? What country was beyond the reach of American Dickishness? None that didn't have broadband Internet... But then I heard about [wiki: Sealand]. Sealand is a offshore oil rig that got turned into a country. What's even weirder is that it's for sale and the Bit Torrent site ThePirateBay.Org is [http://www.thelocal.se/6076/20070112/|looking to buy it]. They're even offering citizenship to anyone who donates money to help them buy Sealand. Sadly, the current "owners" of Sealand [http://buysealand.com/?p=7|do not appear interested in selling] to the current owners of ThePirateBay.Org, so file sharing site is setting its sights on buying a real island and claiming it as a country, instead. You know said island wouldn't exist for long before they got a big, thick connection to the Internet run out to it. That's the bizarre world we live in today, where if you don't like your own country's laws, buy your own! I wonder how much it would cost to build your own island on a bit of shallow land (if any exists) in international waters. You have to admit that creating your own country is much more preferable to trying to take over one that already exists--especially since there aren't many countries that would willingly allow themselves to be taken over. So, create your own! Too bad there isn't much land left in the world to claim in the name of your own country. Interested in becoming a citizen of whatever country the folks behind ThePirateBay.Org end up creating? Check out BuySealand.com. You can also check out FreeNationFoundation.org to learn more a group wanting to establish "an ecologically sustainable society that provides the freedom to advance humanity through science, reason and cooperation." Yikes--and they want humans to live in this country? Good luck! I shouldn't joke--if they establish such a country I'd want to move there sooo badly! Like I said, this is the bizarre world we live in. But hey, I think that trying to create your own country from scratch is a pretty cool idea. Much better than the old fashioned way of getting control of your own country--waging a bloody coup.

[asin: 0060838655]

Here's a link to that Howard Zinn book A People's History of the United States. It's a must read for anyone who wants to know the good and the bad (in other words THE TRUTH) of American conquest. What I mean by this is that our regular history books explain the winner's standpoint of American conquest while this book covers the losers. I highly recommend it as a supreme eye-opener. Not only does it teach you what happened, but it also calls your attention to a centuries long disregard by most Americans of the gross, less convenient truths of life.

Orignal From: BOOTLEG FREELY: BUY YOUR OWN COUNTRY

Project365 day 037

Hey! There I am at the world famous Boba Loca in Westwood, California! It's where I wrote my last book! COOL!

Orignal From: Project365 day 037

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

GOOD GERMAN (2006)

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely entertaining, but definitely a little off-putting.
Technically any good? Everything was pretty much spot on. Acting, direction, cinematography, everything was fine, including the script--for the most part. This film suffers from a mild case of multiple ending syndrome. If this film truly had been made in the 1950s, not only would their have been no swear words, but the film would have ended only once. When you see it, you'll see what I'm referring to.
How did it leave me feeling? Definitely satisfied, but I did feel like the film could have more in it. The director has said it's very simplified compared to the book the film is based on and while I really like this movie, I am very curious what was excised from the story. In other words, it makes me want to read the book.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - It's an adult-themed movie for thinking adults. There's very little action in this movie that is kind of slow but pretty smart.

Orignal From: GOOD GERMAN (2006)

1st Lt. Ehren Watada Judge won't hear why he's staying out of Iraq

According to the Nuremburg Principles, which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (and the United States) in 1950, soldiers and heads of state can be liable for "crimes against peace", war crimes, and crimes against humanity. A key phrase reads: "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relive him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." Sooooooo...this brings us to 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, who has refused to serve in the military in the Iraq war, which he believes is an ''illegal war'' founded on ''lies.'' He has acted upon the moral choice possible in front of him to not fight in the war. So what does the military judge in his trial (military judge Lt. Col. John Head) do? He basically says that the defense team "could not debate the legality of the Iraq war in court." I'm poisoned by my boss with an apple pie. I take him to court to say "hey, this guy poisoned me with this pie...see, it's poisoned...you can test it for arsenic." And the judge says "you can not bring up the subject of apple pie in this court hearing." That's basically what this judge is saying. Quoting the NY Times: "Army prosecutors have argued that Watada's behavior was dangerous to the mission and morale of soldiers in Iraq." Again, the stupid argument that an action against the government would "embolden" the terrorists or "discourage" the soldiers. WHAT ABOUT THE TRUTH?!?!?! I would rather I know that I'm working for a mob boss than be "demoralized". Hell, the truth allows people, soldiers and civilians, to make their own decisions. And if the war itself is proven to be illegal in the eyes of International Law, then current soldiers have the right to either stay in the war and risk becoming a part of an international crime, or choose to follow 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. I'm a true believer in completing what one promises to do, as long as the promise is made on clear, straightforward, legal boundaries. That is what soldiers are supposed to do: follow commands from his Commander-In-Chief and other superiors which falls under legal (U.S. and U.S.-agreed International) law. If a war IS illegal, then 1st Lt. Watada has a case. But not hearing the evidence put forth by his defense attorneys is a breach of having a fair trial. Grrrr! /end of line Read Original NYTimes article

Orignal From: 1st Lt. Ehren Watada Judge won't hear why he's staying out of Iraq

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