R.I.P. Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat

I've had an obsession with Deep Throat ever since I first saw All The President's Men in 9th grade. The way Hal Holbrook portrays him as a shadowy, reticent figure smoking cigarettes always struck me as a great film noir character, except it was all true.

Now we find that Deep Throat, aka Mark Felt has passed on. And it turns out he hated his role as a informant to Woodward and Bernstein. When Mr. Felt was asked in 1999 before the world knew his role in Watergate, if he was Deep Throat, he said:

"It would be terrible," Felt replied. "This would completely undermine the reputation that you might have as a loyal, logical employee of the FBI. It just wouldn't fit at all."

But a lot of people thought Deep Throat was a hero for getting the truth out about Richard Nixon's crimes in the White House.

"That's not my view at all," he said. "It would be contrary to my responsibility as a loyal employee of the FBI to leak information."

It's too bad really that Mr. Felt did not feel prouder for his contribution in bringing Nixon down. His service was a great one for America. Sure, it may have made us Americans unusually suspicious and cynical about government. But at least we found out the truth.

Great Quote

Stephen King on Girl Talk's Feed The Animals:

"This is as dense and allusive as James Joyce's Ulysses, only you can dance to it."

Hahaha, how true...

Kudos to George W. Bush: A $17.4 Billion, 3-Month Lifeline for Automakers

I thought this was good news. George Bush deserves some credit:

WASHINGTON — President Bush agreed to an emergency bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, giving them a few months to get their businesses in order, but left to President-elect Barack Obama the difficult political decision of ruling on their progress.

The plan pumps $13.4 billion by mid-January into the companies from the fund that Congress authorized to rescue the financial industry. But the two companies have until March 31 to produce a plan for long-term profitability, including concessions from unions, creditors, suppliers and dealers.

As I've said before, I think the Big 3 needs to be bailed out for the sake of the economy. It will save thousands of jobs, which cannot be lost in the middle of this recession. And you have to like the restrictions placed on the money like a plan for long-term profitability. Let's just hope the American car companies are up to it.

Al Franken projected to win recount and defeat Norm Coleman

This was kind of a shocker to me:

Democratic challenger Al Franken finds himself on the cusp of winning a seat in the United States Senate after Minnesota's canvassing board awarded him a host of challenged votes during deliberations on Thursday.

As of 8PM ET, the Minneapolis Star Tribune projected that Franken would finish the recount process with a lead of 89 votes, positioning him to become the 59th senator caucusing with Democrats in the upcoming Congress.

According to local paper tallies, Franken currently trails Sen. Norm Coleman by a mere five votes, down from the 358-vote margin that the Republican held just last night. The Associated Press has the count even closer, with Coleman ahead by two votes. An aide to Franken told the Huffington Post that, according to the campaign's internal count, Franken has already taken a small lead.

Wowser. I'm not sure what to make of this, but it seems like the whole process is pretty subjective, and either could have won depending on how certain votes were counted. In a perfect world and fair world, I think you need to have another election. But that's not how this world works.

But it is good news for the Democrats, as they now 59 seats in the senate, one away from blocking any filibuster. That means if everyone votes on party lines for the Dems, they just need one more Republican to push anything through. It's our time...

Of all people Barack, Rick Warren?

I know a little about Mr. Rick Warren. I know that he is the head of a huge megachurch in Southern California. I know he wrote a best-selling book called The Purpose Driven Life. And I know I read some passages of the book and found them insightful. I also know that he says gays marrying would be akin to siblings marrying or an older man marrying a child.

I know a lot about Barack Obama, too. I know that he ran a campaign based on "change" where every effort would be made to listen and understand the other side. I found this admirable, as I believe that only the wisest and most compassionate of us is able to listen to a contradictory opinion and find the kernel of truth in it. I also know (or thought I knew) that Barack Obama was for the civil rights of gays. He never said he was in favor of gay marriage, but he walked that narrow line in between, stating gays should have all the legal rights as a married couple.

So to pick Warren to speak at his inauguration seems like a suspect move on Obama's part. In one sense I can understand it. He is apparently going to have many viewpoints at his inauguration, and his mantra has always been respect for the other point of view. And today Obama called himself "fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans" and said he will remain so as president.

But I wonder if Obama knows how hurtful this is to homosexuals? To invite Warren, who compares gay marriage to pedophilia, is slap in the face to all of them. It makes the passage of Prop 8 even harder to swallow for gays; at least, if they thought, they now had an ally in the White House. Now it doesn't seem as sure.

In my view, this is Obama's first big mistake because it's the exact opposite of what his election stands for: the progression of civil rights in America. Let's hope the actions of his presidency are far more progressive. Let's hope he becomes the advocate for gay rights that is so needed in positions of power.

Feds cut interest rates to nearly zero

I didn't get to comment on this the other day, not that anyone gives a shit about my opinion but the Fed lowered the interest rate to nearly zero, and it's bound to effect us all:

The Fed's decision to nudge its key fed funds rate to a range of zero to 0.25% — along with its plans to buy securities that are backed by mortgages — should mean lower consumer interest rates, particularly mortgage rates. Low mortgage rates mean that more people can afford to buy houses, which will help revive the moribund housing market. A drop in mortgage rates will also allow homeowners to refinance their loans at lower rates, easing some of the burdens of their debts.

Low rates also make it cheaper for companies to borrow and expand. That, in turn, is a powerful economic stimulus. Most major banks, including Bank of America and Wachovia, lowered their prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4% Tuesday...

Well, you have to hand to the government at least, they aren't sitting on their hands Herbert Hoover style, watching the unemployment rate hit double digits. Hopefully it will help.

But it should be noted there is a reason that they are lowering the interest rates so low. It's because the economy sucks more than balls it has in over 50 years. Just from my own anecdotal evidence, I know about 20 people who lost their jobs in the past 6 months. It's only going to get worse before it gets better...

America's First Gay President Concludes Historic Second Term

(OK, I am on vacation, which I will be posting more because this is my idea of relaxing)

I'm not sure what to make if this latest entry from The Onion. No doubt I laughed, but that's probably because it was so out there:

WASHINGTON—President George W. Bush was unusually reflective in the final weeks of his administration, taking time during speeches and press conferences to look back on key decisions, expound on his legacy, and tout his role in paving the way for the nation's first African-American president by serving eight years as its first openly gay president.

"I'm inspired by our great country's willingness to look past the color of a man's skin—or, in my case, his overt homosexuality—and elect him based on his ability to lead," Bush told reporters following his meeting with president-elect Barack Obama on Nov. 10. "I've always been proud of my homosexuality, and I am so proud of the United States."

Bush added, "Thank you, America, for taking a chance on an openly gay man from Texas: tight jeans, cowboy hats, and all."

Recalling how he worried during his first campaign that voters were not ready to put a gay man in the White House, Bush said he was "shocked and overjoyed" to win in 2000, and could not have done it without homo-sexual adviser Karl Rove, his strong base of closeted gay ultra-conservative supporters on the Christian right, and his "best friend" Laura.

"While I tried to be commander in chief first and a homosexual man second, I knew that everything I did would be judged through the lens of 'America's first gay president,'" Bush said during an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson broadcast Dec. 1. "Looking back, my personal need to prove my man-hood definitely influenced my actions. The arrogant swagger, invading Iraq, my ruthless support of the death penalty—heck, even setting back gay rights 25 years—all of it seems so silly now."

Former press secretary Ari Fleischer agreed, saying that Bush carefully cultivated his image as a masculine, simple-minded, heterosexual male in order to combat his insecurities about appearing weak before the international community.

"Believe me, sister, he overcompensated with a capital 'compensated,'" Fleischer said. "But when the cameras stopped rolling and the podium was put away, he was just fabulous. We had a fabulous, fabulous time."

While many will argue for generations about Bush's political impact, all seem to agree that his presidency at last proved to a once-disenfranchised group that anything is possible.

"I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime," said David Nevin, a 58-year-old homosexual living in New York. "And I probably won't again because he was a terrible fucking president who ruined it for all of us."

Added Nevin, "What a bitch."

Barack Obama is Time Magazine's Person of the Year

(I've been pretty busy, so I haven't been posting all that much, but I will be on vacation soon, so I hope to post a lot more then)

In a huge shocker, Time Magazine has named Barack Obama it's Person of the Year. Obviously any year where you elect the first African-American president is historic and very important, as I've said many a time.

But by making the most obvious choice, you're also making the most boring choice as well. How about someone like David Plouffe, who was almost nonexistent in the media, but helped create one of the great campaigns in presidential history? Or maybe Miley Cirus for her continuing enrichment to pop music? Any other thoughts out there?

George W. Bush, The Architect Of Abu Ghraib

OK, so why isn't this bigger news in the mainstream media?

Last week, we reached some closure on a burning and controversial question that has occupied many for many years now. That is the simple question of who was responsible for the abuse, torture, rape and murder of prisoners in American custody in the war on terror, most indelibly captured by the photographic images of Abu Ghraib. The Senate's bipartisan report, issued with no dissents, reiterates and adds factual context to what we already know. And there is no equivocation in the report.

The person who authorized all the abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib, the man who gave the green light to the abuses in that prison, is the president of the United States, George W. Bush.

Again: there is no longer any reasonable factual debate about this (hence to near total silence of the Republican right), and the Senate report finally holds the president responsible in bipartisan fashion:

The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of “a few bad apples” acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees. Those efforts damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority.

Those ghastly pictures of naked, hooded prisoners? Bush approved nudity and hooding of prisoners. Hypothermia? Sleep deprivation? Bush signed a memo removing the most baseline protections for all human beings under the Geneva
Conventions. Waterboarding? Bush knew full well. As did Rice and Tenet and Powell and that poseur in defense of human rights, Paul Wolfowitz. But even before the memo, before any prisoners were captured, the Bush administration was working on how to torture them:

In December 2001, more than a month before the President signed his memorandum, the Department of Defense (DoD) General Counsel’s Office had already solicited information on detainee “exploitation” from the Joint Personnel
Recovery Agency (JPRA), an agency whose expertise was in training American personnel to withstand interrogation techniques considered illegal under the
Geneva Conventions.

Let's be absolutely clear what this means: When we saw an image of Lynndie England pulling a naked prisoner around on a leash, we assumed at the time that she improvised this, or was some kind of "bad apple." This is and was a conscious lie to the Congress, and to the American people, and to the world. The person who authorized the use of nudity and leashes on prisoners was not Lynndie England or any of the other grunts thrown to the wolves. The man who authorized the technique shown below is the president of the United States:

The report itself is not that long and I highly recommend reading it all closely. It is the most sobering indictment of high government officials in the U.S. since Watergate. And, in the gravity of crimes, it is a far more profound violation of the law and the constitution and the security of the United States than Watergate ever was. Bush's crimes are far greater than Nixon's - because war crimes are far graver than burglaries. And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes.

Unfucking believable, really. One of the most humilating episodes of the past 40 years for the United States was a direct result of orders by George W. Bush...

The Purpose of Life

From Andrew Sullivan:

Although the researchers don’t speculate on the specific chemical reactions that created life, they explain that the molecules involved most likely underwent a series of more and more complex reactions to minimize mutual energy differences between matter on Earth and with respect to high-energy radiation from Sun. The process eventually advanced so far that it cumulated into such sophisticated functional structures that could be called living. “The most important idea in our study is that there is no distinction between animate and inanimate,” Arto Annila told PhysOrg.com. “Processes of life are, in their principles, no different from any other natural processes.” In this sense, life is a very natural thing, which emerged simply to satisfy basic physical laws. Our “purpose,” so to speak, is to redistribute energy on the Earth, which is in between a huge potential energy difference caused by the hot Sun and cold space.

I am little tired, so am not processing this that well, so I'd like to hear what you have to think.

Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at George Bush

I've been a little slow on the uptake lately because of massive amounts of school work, but I couldn't pass up posting this. It starts about 45 seconds in. Hilarious.

Great Quote

"Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity."-Buddha

Like most things the Buddha says, this quote is deceptively simple, yet wise its in perception of mankind...

Shining

I can't post much today because of a ton of schoolwork to do, but I will leave you, my dear readers, with this, which may be the funniest internet video I have ever seen. Just imagine "The Shining" as a romantic comedy/buddy pic.

Great Poem "Adam's Curse" by William Butler Yeats

This is one my favorite poems, and I'd also say it's one of the most beautiful pieces of verse ever written. Just look at some of the images like "A moon, worn as if it had been a shell/Washed by time's waters as they rose and fell/About the stars and broke in days and years." Just beautiful.

And the rhythm with the rhyming couplets is so musical and elegant, you could read the poem without understanding any of the words and enjoy it.

And of course the theme is beautiful as well. It speaks to working so hard at love and loving someone so much, and still watching it crumble under your fingers. We've all had to live under this disappoint at some point under our lives, and it's never an easy thing to face, especially when thousands of books, commercials, movies and songs tell you about the "everlasting power of love" or some bullshit like that. Anyway, enjoy the poem.

Adam's Curse
By William Butler Yeats

We sat together at one summer's end,
That beautiful mild woman, your close friend,
And you and I, and talked of poetry.
I said, 'A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world.'

. . . . . . . . . And thereupon
That beautiful mild woman for whose sake
There's many a one shall find out all heartache
On finding that her voice is sweet and low
Replied, 'To be born woman is to know-
Although they do not talk of it at school-
That we must labour to be beautiful.'

I said, 'It's certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam's fall but needs much labouring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
Precedents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.'

We sat grown quiet at the name of love;
We saw the last embers of daylight die,
And in the trembling blue-green of the sky
A moon, worn as if it had been a shell
Washed by time's waters as they rose and fell
About the stars and broke in days and years.

I had a thought for no one's but your ears:
That you were beautiful, and that I strove
To love you in the old high way of love;
That it had all seemed happy, and yet we'd grown
As weary-hearted as that hollow moon.

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The Demise of Dating

The New York Times ran an interesting Op-Ed today:

The paradigm has shifted. Dating is dated. Hooking up is here to stay.

(For those over 30 years old: hooking up is a casual sexual encounter with no expectation of future emotional commitment. Think of it as a one-night stand with someone you know.)

According to a report released this spring by Child Trends, a Washington research group, there are now more high school seniors saying that they never date than seniors who say that they date frequently. Apparently, it’s all about the hookup...

It turns out that everything is the opposite of what I remember. Under the old model, you dated a few times and, if you really liked the person, you might consider having sex. Under the new model, you hook up a few times and, if you really like the person, you might consider going on a date.

I asked her to explain the pros and cons of this strange culture. According to her, the pros are that hooking up emphasizes group friendships over the one-pair model of dating, and, therefore, removes the negative stigma from those who can’t get a date. As she put it, “It used to be that if you couldn’t get a date, you were a loser.” Now, she said, you just hang out with your friends and hope that something happens.

The cons center on the issues of gender inequity. Girls get tired of hooking up because they want it to lead to a relationship (the guys don’t), and, as they get older, they start to realize that it’s not a good way tofind a spouse. Also, there’s an increased likelihood of sexual assaults because hooking up is often fueled by alcohol.

That’s not good. So why is there an increase in hooking up? According to Professor Bogle, it’s: the collapse of advanced planning, lopsided gender ratios on campus, delaying marriage, relaxing values and sheer momentum.

It used to be that “you were trained your whole life to date,” said Ms. Bogle. “Now we’ve lost that ability — the ability to just ask someone out and get to know them.”

Now that’s sad.

In a city like New York City, this new paradigm of hooking-up is more obvious than ever. Ever night thousands of young people meet someone they don't know and sleep with them. As a guy, I can't say this is a bad thing, because on any given night out, you can have a little Brown Chicken, Brown Cow.

But like the author, I lament the death of dating. Almost all the relationships I can think of around me started as hook-ups, including some of my own past ones, but I think something is lost here. Maybe it's just me, but there's a certain old-fashioned romantic charm in getting to know someone a little and actually like them before you have sex with them. Essentially I think while the "hook-up" culture is a lot more free and exciting, it kills romance.

In my mind, there's nothing quite as romantic as people yearning for each other for a given time, and finally coming together, but then again I'm a huge romantic. It's the kind of story I want to have with a woman I marry... it's much more interesting to tell that story to your future kids, then "Mommy and Daddy met in a bar and used each other for casual sex for a few months before we decided we liked each other and became a couple."

Economic Crisis of 2008

I was just thinking about the recent economic crisis and the number of American banks that have failed or almost failed until the government bailed them out:

Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Washington Mutual
AIG
Merrill Lynch
Citigroup
Lehman Brothers

In any given year, if one of the top banks in the world collapses, it can create chaos in the financial world. The above list has 7. (And I'm sure I'm missing something.) It really puts how bad this crisis is in perspective.

Soul Spot in Brooklyn

My neighborhood, Carroll Gardens, and the adjacent neighborhood, Cobble Hill, has a plethora of great restaurants. If you want French or Italian or great American cuisine, for example, you are bound to find something very good for an affordable price.

But ethnic foods are harder to find. There's a few good Thai spots but just a few. But Chinese and Indian are more difficult fair. And forget Caribbean food...

But today, I found something a little different in the neighborhood: Soul Spot on Smith Street and Atlantic. I'm not certain, but it has to be the only soul food spot in Brooklyn until you reach Prospect Heights or Crown Heights. For 9 bucks I had one of the 3 or 4 best fried chickens I have ever had, some collard greens and mac & cheese. So, so good.

Here's the link:
http://www.thesoulspot.com/

And here's some people saying good things about it:
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/soul-spot/
http://brooklyn.citysearch.com/profile/37266526/brooklyn_ny/soul_spot_restaurant.html
http://www.zagat.com/Verticals/PropertyDetails.aspx?VID=8&R=100324279

Great Quote

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?
-Albert Camus

(If you haven't already, read "The Stranger" or "They Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus. Really great stuff.)

Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee

A reader on Andrew Sullivan's blog writes:

I think he's (Jon Stewart) the best in the business. The guy has a unique ability to tell his guests that he thinks they're slinging bullshit while still giving the impression that he's being respectful. The guy isn't a newsman; he's an entertainer. That being the case, he's not going to go berserk on a guest, as he needs to make sure that he'll still have guests tomorrow and next week. Still, he generally refuses to let a guest come on his show and utter bullshit talking points without being taken to task for it.

The interview with Huck isn't unusual; he's done this with numerous guests over the years. And it's one of the reasons I never miss his show.

I totally agree. Just watch the interview with Mike Huckabee below. With one hand he brings him in and tells him he's a great guy, and with the other he calls out all his bullshit about gay marriage and the such.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mike Huckabee Pt. 1

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mike Huckabee Pt. 2

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Auto Bailout Talks Collapse as Senate Deadlocks Over Wages

Well it looks like Mitch McConnell and his boys are going to get there way:

An eleventh-hour effort to salvage a proposed $14 billion rescue plan for the auto industry collapsed late last night as Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on the timing of deep wage cuts for union workers, killing the legislative plan and threatening America's carmakers with bankruptcy.

"We're not going to get to the finish line. That's just the way it is. There's too much difference between the two sides," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced after 10 p.m., concluding a marathon negotiating session that ended in gridlock. Reid warned that financial markets could plummet when trading opens this morning.

"I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight," he said.

As I've said before, I think we need to bailout the Big 3 for the simple reason that there are millions of jobs of everyday middle class people on the line.

However, while some partisans might be cursing the minority party, I can understand why reservations about an auto bailout. Why give away billions of dollars to companies on the verge of the collapse because of incompetence and stupidity? Of course, in almost any other time, I think you do let the big 3 fail. Our economy would survive, and American manufacturing would evolve and change, just like businesses always evolves and changes into something else.

But you cannot let it happen during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Maybe the government is just staving off the inevitable, and the car companies will collapse eventually. So be it. But I don't want to have a Herbert Hoover-style of dealing with financial crisises and sit back and do nothing.

Golden Globe Nominations

The Golden Globe Nominations were released today, and although I have not yet seen most of the films or tv shows nominated, I had some immediate reactions:

1) The Dark Knight was not nominated for Best Drama. I find it hard to believe that there were 5 movies better The Dark Knight this year.

2) Wall-E was not nominated for Best Comedy, but was nominated for Best Animated Feature instead. I didn't see Wall-E but I've heard many people say it's not only one of the best animated movies of the year, but one of the best movies of the year.

3) The Wire did not receive a Best Television Show- Drama nomination. Of course, this was kind of expected, but I still want to bitch about how the best television in the history of television continually gets shut out of award shows. I mean True Blood and House both got a fucking nomination. I've seen both shows. They are not better than The Wire. In fact, most YouTube videos taped by High School seniors are better than those shows.

4) Entourage was nominated for Best Television Show- Comedy. Seriously, what is wrong with these voters? When Entourage was just starting, and I was begging for everyone to pay attention, it got zero love. And now that it completely sucks except for a few funny quips from Ari and Lloyd, it starts getting noticed. What the fuck...

Anyway, here are the rest of the nominations:

FILM

BEST FEATURE - DRAMA “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”“Frost/Nixon”“The Reader”“Revolutionary Road”“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST FEATURE - COMEDY “Burn After Reading”“Happy-Go-Lucky”“In Bruges”“Mamma Mia!”“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

ACTOR - DRAMA Leonardo DiCaprio - “Revolutionary Road”Frank Langella - “Frost/Nixon”Sean Penn - “Milk”Brad Pitt - “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”Mickey Rourke - “The Wrestler”

ACTRESS - DRAMA Anne Hathaway - “Rachel Getting Married”Angelina Jolie - “Changeling”Meryl Streep - “Doubt”Kristin Scott Thomas - “I’ve Loved You So Long”Kate Winslet - “Revolutionary Road”

ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL Javier Bardem - “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”Colin Farrell - “In Bruges”James Franco - “Pineapple Express”Brendan Gleeson - “In Bruges”Dustin Hoffman - “Last Chance Harvey”

ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL Rebecca Hall - “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”Sally Hawkins - “Happy-Go-Lucky”Frances McDormand - “Burn After Reading”Meryl Streep - “Mamma Mia!”Emma Thompson - “Last Chance Harvey”

SUPPORTING ACTOR Tom Cruise, “Tropic Thunder”Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”Ralph Fiennes, “The Duchess”Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Amy Adams, “Doubt”Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”Viola Davis, “Doubt”Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

BEST DIRECTOR Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”

SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”David Hare, “The Reader”Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Germany) “Everlasting Moments” (Sweden)“Gomorrah” (Italy)“I’ve Loved You So Long” (France)“Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM “Bolt”“Kung Fu Panda”“Wall-E”

ORIGINAL SCOREAlexandre Desplat– “The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button”Clint Eastwood — “Changeling”James Newton Howard — “Defiance”A.R. Rahman — “Slumdog Millionaire”Hans Zimmer — “Frost/Nixon”

ORIGINAL SONG “Down to Earth” — “Wall-E” (Music by Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel)“Gran Torino” — “Gran Torino (Music by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens;Lyrics by Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens)“I Thought I Lost You — “Bolt” (Music & Lyrics by Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele)“Once in a Lifetime” — “Cadillac Records” (Music & Lyrics by Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street)“The Wrestler” — “The Wrestler” (Music & Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen)

TELEVISION

TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL “30 Rock”“Californication”“Entourage”“The Office”“Weeds”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES -COMEDY OR MUSICAL Christina Applegate - “Samantha Who?”America Ferrera - “Ugly Betty”Tina Fey - “30 Rock”Debra Messing - “The Starter Wife”Mary-Louise Parker - “Weeds”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES -COMEDY OR MUSICAL Alec Baldwin - “30 Rock”Steve Carell - “The Office”Kevin Connelly - “Entourage”David Duchovny - “Californication”Tony Shalhoub - “Monk”

TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA “Dexter” (Showtime)“House” (Fox)“In Treatment” (HBO)“Mad Men” (AMC)“True Blood” (HBO)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA Sally Field — “Brothers and Sisters”Mariska Hargitay — “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”January Jones — “Mad Men”Anna Paquin — “True Blood”Kyra Sedgwick — “The Closer

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA Gabriel Byrne — “In Treatment”Michael Hall — “Dexter”Jon Hamm — “Mad Men”Hugh Laurie — “House”Jonathan Rhys Meyers — “The Tudors”

MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION “A Raisin in the Sun”“Bernard and Doris”“Cranford”“John Adams”“Recount”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Judi Dench — “Cranford”Catherine Keener — “An American Crime”Laura Linney — “John Adams”Shirley Maclaine — “Coco Chanel”Susan Sarandon — “Bernard and Doris”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Ralph Fiennes — “Bernard and Doris”Paul Giamatti — “John Adams”Kevin Spacey — “Recount”Kiefer Sutherland — “24: Redemption”Tom Wilkinson –”Recount”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Eileen Atkins — “Cranford”Laura Dern — “Recount”Melissa George — “In Treatment”Rachel Griffiths — “Brothers and Sisters”Dianne Wiest — “In Treatment”

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION Neil Patrick Harris — “How I Met Your Mother”Denis Leary — “Recount”Jeremy Piven — “Entourage”Blair Underwood — “In Treatment”Tom Wilkinson — “John Adams”

Staten Island Historians Piece Together Genealogy Of Wu-Tang Clan

OK, I thought this was the funniest thing I've seen in the Onion in quite awhile maybe because I loved Wu-Tang Clan growing up, and maybe because I live in New York City now:

NEW YORK—In what many are calling the most comprehensive study of its kind, Staten Island historians Robert Wilburn and Charles Tinsley have successfully traced the lines of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan all the way back to 1993 A.D.

The monumental undertaking, which is being hailed as a major breakthrough in the field of hip-hop genealogy, used a series of historical records—including Wu-Tang Forever, Iron Flag, and 8 Diagrams—to piece together the group's vast and intricate ancestry.

"Through our exhaustive research, we have determined not only the start of the Wu-Tang Clan's reign, but also the very moment of its legendary downfall," said Wilburn, who has authored numerous books on the House of RZA. "Indeed, we now have conclusive proof as to why all the other wannabe MCs bowed down to this dynastic force."

According to Wilburn, it took trained scholars hundreds of hours to parse out Wu-Tang's complex lineage, with experts in nearly every discipline studying the group's dope oral traditions, as well as its customary and often fresh style of dress.

Haha, I am dying just reading it over again. (BTW, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is one 4 or 5 best hip-hop albums ever created).

Top 10 Worst Predictions of 2008

I am not one to harp on bad predictions because predictions are inevitably perilous entities. The present moment is always in flux, which makes predicting the future downright hard. But I saw this article on the 10 worst predictions of 2008, and I had to laugh. Why you ask? Well here's the worst prediction of 2008 by every one's favorite conservative, Fox News Commentator and New York Times columnist, Bill Kristol:

“If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.” —William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006

You know why I laugh? Well one, it comes from a very smart but arrogant ass, who wanted to invade Iraq the dasy after 9/11 and predicted that it would go just fine. And two, this dude with a PhD from Harvard and who runs his own magazine was out predicted by yours truly. I hate to say I told you so, but I predicted the rise of Barack Obama right after his 2004 speech. I wasn't sure he'd be president in 2008, but I told everyone I knew that he would be president some day. And when he entered the race, I knew if he could just win Iowa, it would be very, very hard to stop him.

If someone who can be so wrong so often runs his own magazine and writes for the New York Times, maybe I should get a fucking shot too.

Rod R. Blagojevich is corrupt as fuck

I had never heard of Rod Blagojevich till today. I'm sure most of you had not either, but I am the kind of person who came 95 out of 100 U.S. Senators off the top of my head, so it was a little surprising to me that I had not.

Anyway, Rob had a pretty shitty day today apparently:

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, called his sole authority to name Mr. Obama’s successor “golden,” and he sought to parlay it into a job as an ambassador or secretary of Health and Human Services, or a high-paying position at a nonprofit or an organization connected to labor unions, prosecutors said.

He also suggested, they said, that in exchange for the Senate appointment, his wife could be placed on corporate boards where she might earn as much as $150,000 a year, and he tried to gain promises of money for his campaign fund.

Am I the only one shocked by this? Maybe I'm just naive as shit, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone being this unscrupulous. I know, I know, it's politics, and all politicians are self-serving. I accept that. But Rob Blagojevich has taken this to a new level. His behavior is downright Nixonian.

Barack Obama and the Post-American World

I am going to be blogging a lot less this week, because I have a lot to do for school. But I wanted to share this email today from a friend. Apparently her mother's friend sends her all kinds of emails just like this one:

What is this World coming to....

This will open your eyes.
What does Obama read?

W

The name of the book Obama is reading is called The Post-American World, written by a fellow muslim.

Post-America? After America?

Please forward this picture to everyone you know to expose Obama's radical ideas and intent for this country! Thanks!

I was so, so pissed after reading this email that I had to respond. It's probably a little harsh, but I don't really care:

There are so, so, so many things wrong with this email, I don't even know where to stop.

Let me just say this: this is the most misleading, asshole and racist email ever. If anyone who really wrote this claims they're a Christian, I would beg to differ, because who spreads these lies and propaganda are the opposite of Christians. One of my favorite Christ quotes is from Luke 14:11 ""For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Well, let me say that anyone who judges Barack Obama because he is reading this book, is the opposite of the humility Christ describes; they are arrogant and ignorant. They make judgments not by actually reading the book and listening to the arguments, and thinking humbly about today's problems; they make rash, quick judgments without even reading a fucking work Fareed Zakaria has ever wrote, or listening to a fucking word he's ever said.

Anyone who has read anything by Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek or seen him speak on the Daily Show or CNN for example as I have many, many times knows he was one the most modest, sane and intelligent voices about the Middle East. And even though he's a muslim, he's probably twice the Christian these people are.

Here's his most recent column from Newsweek:

http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/articles.html

Read this column and tell me with a straight face he's a radical. Listen to how well-thought his thoughts are on Pakistan and Mumbai. Barack Obama is reading this book, because he doesn't want to rush to quick judgments about good and evil because he know its more complicated that. That's exactly what the Bush administration did in Iraq, go after the evildoers without much planning or thought. And know we're involved in the longest and most expensive war since WWII with very little to show for it except a huge national debt, a crumbling economy, a stretched out military with low morale, the leaders of Al-Qaeda still hiding in the mountains of Pakistan as they were the day of 9/11/2001, and so much more wrong.

Lastly, let me say this about this quote:

The name of the book Obama is reading is called The Post-American World, written by a fellow muslim.

Fareed Zakaria was born a Muslim, yes. But he went to fucking Harvard and Yale... I could go on and give you an answer about this, but I think Republican and former Secretary State for George W. Bush, Colin Powell's answer on Meet the Press says it best. Here's a video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXWqX_O4BKY

Watch that clip and tell me you're not close to tears.

And here's what he says in text:

"I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."