Monday, October 27, 2008
Northern Conviction
Umm, what was that about Alaskan values? Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty on all counts by a Washington, D.C. jury composed of eight women and four men. And despite some jury issues, Stevens, still at large on bail, declared that he will fight the verdict to the bitter end. The verdict comes down just days before the election, and while Sarah "Bolt Action" Palin called it a sad day for Alaska, it may well be a good day for the judicial process.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
What are you gonna do?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Eine Kleine chin musik

Monday, October 20, 2008
The son of the stimulus

Sunday, October 19, 2008
Really bad eggs
The pirates of Somalia continued to do brisk business having released a Thai ship after receiving a ransom and taken another South Korean ship. But there is some evidence that the days of taking prizes may be numbered. The Somali pirates may still be holding a Ukrainian vessel. That weapons-laden ship of fools is surrounded by the United States Navy and not going much of any where. The UN has sanctioned a NATO anti-piracy operation off the Somali coast that has the full backing of Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, something that quite likely would not have happened if the pirates hadn't taken the Ukrainian vessel. Indeed, even India is now responding to the problem and deploying one vessel now with the option of sending more later. For now business is good, but without Jack Sparrow to lead them, it may only a matter of time before the world sinks this production at the box office.
The good, the bad and the general

Saturday, October 11, 2008
“Lies” doesn’t measure up
If “Get Smart” was a poke in the eye of those running the Global War on Terror, then Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies” is a sharp hammer blow to the rib cage. Unfortunately, it’s also a paint by the numbers movie involving religion, politics and plenty of violence. There is little that is new in this movie. The movie does play up a disconnect between the situation on the ground and those viewing the ground by satellite from Langley. And they are both literally and figuratively worlds apart. In this movie the cavalry does arrive at the last minute, but not before Leonardo DiCaprio once again has vital appendages smashed by a hammer. While the film is visually stunning, the story is not equal to cinematography. Golshifteh Farahani is a wonderful find as Aisha and hopefully we’ll see more of her. Unfortunately “Body of Lies” does not measure up to the level of “Black Hawk Down.”
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Stop the depression, I want to get off

Monday, October 6, 2008
The global financial pandemic

Friday, October 3, 2008
There is no "Sanctuary"
There are plenty of reasons why the SciFi channel can't broadcast the BBC series "Torchwood." The alternative to doing so is to remake it for an American audience. Unfortunately, the Amanda Tapping vehicle that is "Sanctuary" comes up short. "Torchwood" had a pedigree, of course, but it's premiere was interesting and kept your interest. It was funny and serious and Gwen Cooper was a great window into the reorganized Torchwood Institute. Former FBI investigator Will Zimmerman who is our window into the Sanctuary is nowhere near as interesting. Then there's the crappy special effect weevil that lives in the Sanctuary's shoe. And Tapping's Dr. Helen Magnus, with her indeterminate accent, stands on the top of a building and strikes a Capt. Jack Harkness pose. Tapping's 157-year-old Magnus is in no way equal to John Barrowman's immortal Harkness. "Sanctuary" tries to play on Torchwood's moody rainy streets sensibility and tales of monsters and falls flat. The premiere's storytelling was glacial, plodding, predictable and boring.
Why SciFi would greenlight "Sanctuary" yet let "Caprica" languish in development hell is anyone's guess. It's a sad commentary indeed that the networks are producing better scifi programming than the SciFi channel. If the premiere of "Sanctuary" is any measure of what's to come, this series will deserve to go the way of the SciFi channel's reimagined "Flash Gordon."
Why SciFi would greenlight "Sanctuary" yet let "Caprica" languish in development hell is anyone's guess. It's a sad commentary indeed that the networks are producing better scifi programming than the SciFi channel. If the premiere of "Sanctuary" is any measure of what's to come, this series will deserve to go the way of the SciFi channel's reimagined "Flash Gordon."
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