A freedom lover meets the TSA

Shane Atwell describes his long-dreaded encounter with airport security over the holidays. A gripping account, you might say.

Happy New Year, everybody.

Charlie goes to the movies

Been catching up on films for the last couple weeks, and have a few recommendations. All but the first on DVD.

Black Swan. Darren Aronofsky in fine form. If you liked Requiem for a Dream, this one will twist your gut the same way. Plus hot lesbian action.

Fantastic Mr. Fox. Wes Anderson is another of my favorite filmmakers, but Life Aquatic and Darjeeling Limited were letdowns. This one is closer to the Tenenbaums end of the spectrum. Appealing stop-motion animation that doesn't miss out on Anderson's hallmark directorial quirks, and a quality performance by George Clooney in voicing the lead.

Vicky Christina Barcelona. Woody Allen offers up sharp writing, interesting female characters, and a compelling take on lust, love, youth, and society. If you can put up with some sloppy cinematography and editing, it's worth the ride.

King of Kong. Two guys battling for supremacy in the world of vintage video games, circa 2005. One a mullet-sporting hot sauce salesman from Florida. The other a high school science teacher from Washington state. This is real life. I don't care who you are--don't miss this. Brilliant, funny, low-budget documentary touchdown.

Also, if you're at all film dorky or like weird graphs, check out this graphical representation of 2010 box office receipts.

All aboard the Vick Express

NBC reports that Obama called the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles to congratulate him on giving Michael Vick a second chance.

President Obama explained that a level playing field rarely exists for prisoners who have completed their sentences. Vick’s success gives all of them hope.

Don't get me wrong--I enjoy watching Michael Vick and hope with my heart and pocketbook that he keeps going strong. But it's some convenient timing for the Prez to hop on the bandwagon, now that Vick has had an MVP-worthy season. Where was he a year ago, when everybody still hated Mike Vick?

If Obama is so concerned with redemption and second chances, why not take a crack at mandatory minimums and the mass incarceration of non-violent offenders? That seems to be a one-way ratchet that even a progressive won't touch.

FlagstaffSedona 24Dec10

Took off from Vegas 1830 Zulu. That's early afternoon to you white people. Fifty minutes later was over the Grand Canyon...

Snowline started near Williams. Flagstaff beyond the mountain here...

Flagstaff fogged in, so had to keep going to Sedona. Awesome terrain. I'm going back sometime.

Tied down at KSEZ. That's Sedona to you honkies.

Merry Whatevermas

May I take this moment to thank you for being my readers, friends, and lovers (wink wink). This blog, like my brother's, tends to be thick with rants, when at heart we're both sentimentalists.

I hope your next year is full of joy, truth, and love. May whatever higher power you look to look back upon you with a smile.

And so, in that spirit, I present the greatest Christmas song of all time, shown to me some years ago by Varones.

Peace and love,
Charlie

Speaking truth to the inept

Let's say you've got a veteran airline pilot who flies for the Army Reserve and is deputized to carry a gun as a Federal Flight Deck Officer. And this guy speaks up to point out flaws with aviation security.

Do we:

a) investigate the claims and thank him for his diligence;
b) fire the people who caused the problems he found;
or
c) send four air marshals and two sheriff's deputies to his house to confiscate his gun and his concealed-carry permit, and start civil proceedings against him?

Take a wild guess.

.

YouTube I heart you

When I pop over to YouTube, it has a "Recommended For You" section, and I must say they're pretty sharp. Last night there was a near-pornographic hentai movie subtitled in Spanish (how many different ways can I love that?), and today there was this.

State of Panic

If you like it, subscribe on YouTube...

Fascism and fearmongering: markets will win

One silver lining to the TSA travesty and the WarOnTerror is that the U.S. government controls only so much. They cannot force you to fly; they cannot force foreign travelers to choose the U.S. for vacation; and they cannot force intelligent, productive people to live here for the rest of their lives.

Indeed, foreigners already appear to be steering clear of the U.S., as well they should. Check out this article from Techdirt and the comments that follow it. I would fully discourage foreign friends from subjecting themselves to the abusive, humiliating machine that is U.S. airport security. There are a lot of other interesting places to see, and you won't be treated like a criminal for trying.

Whether this will hit domestic airlines hard enough to make them tell Congress to take TSA and shove it, I cannot say. But U.S. travelers do have that power. I used to fly 15-20 roundtrips a year. This year I've made four and hope next year to make zero. Seriously, have some self-respect and stop playing the game.

If things don't improve, at least it will provide a cautionary tale to other countries, who can watch paranoia and statism sink what used to be the greatest country on earth. History teaches valuable lessons, and this is the lesson we're bound to teach if we're too dumb to figure it out in the present.

People who care about true freedom will leave, the intelligent will leave, the productive will leave. The pig-headed security lovers can sit here and hate foreigners and fear one another and be searched to their hearts' content.

May your next airline flight be a one-way trip to a country that respects your dignity, values its citizens, and doesn't make "land of the free" a big ironic joke.

I ruv Verragio

Listening to Pandora today, I heard an ad for the "Venetian collection by Verragio." It sounded like a Chinaman lost in Vegas.

Heart of a champion

May we all live our lives with the balls of this guy.

In the lab

Got a new project in the works. Stay tooned.

Hooray for politicians

The new generation of green vehicles isn't for everybody--whether for reasons of cost, horsepower, or utility. But everyone would agree that a quieter vehicle is a step in the right direction.

Everybody, that is, except John Kerry and the U.S. Senate, which just passed a bill to keep cars artificially loud...so as to save pedestrians. Yep, that's exactly what your do-good Senate is up to these days--unanimously no less.

This is what our government does best: set up a phantom problem and then make a job of solving it. War on terror, meet war on quiet vehicles.

Over in the White House, it's the same story. Michelle Obama praised new anti-obesity legislation, not because obesity ruins individual lives or buckles our health care system...no, it's because "it's a national security threat."

No kidding, Michelle thinks the problem with obesity is that it makes our kids too fat to go kill other kids.

HT: CS and JE

Who will tell you the truth?

HT: dmw

"If loving Asians is wong, I don't want to be white."
-Charlie McDanger's page-a-day calendar

National Finals Rodeo 2010

Good day, sunshine

Today's WalMart terror level: Orange

I used to be a snooty WalMart avoider, and more recently had come to appreciate it as a convenient stop for things on which they can't hose you on quality. I wouldn't buy furniture there, but why not stop in for deodorant, socks, computer memory, and whatnot?

Well, for one thing, their low-price mantra is overstated. I bought an HP printer there, thinking they'd probably be as good as anybody for low- to mid-grade electronics, and then walked next door to Office Depot and found a higher-end HP for a lower price than what I'd paid. I returned the one I'd bought, and decided never to buy anything over $10 at that scheissehole.

And now comes the WalMart love affair with the Department of Homeland Security. Yeah, they're going to play videos telling you to spy on your fellow Americans and report anything you find suspicious. Pump the fear machine, you rats. For a doomsday take on this--which I happen to agree with--please check out Shane Atwell's analysis.

I'm done buying anything at WalMart. This isn't just a position for the snooty anymore. If you like open democracy and don't like the fear-mongering, it's for you, too.

Is there any wisdom you can't find on the wall art at Ross?  I doubt it.

Opinions are like...

At the outset of football season, you might recall I posted a picture of the stack of bets I share with my sharp compatriot. He got me motivated, I spent a couple days running the numbers, and we blasted pretty aggressively at them.

The post yielded these two comments:

1) The Eagles? They aren't even going to make the play-offs. They are in the same division as my beloved Cowboys who have been rebuilding and are finally going to make a run for the Super Bowl this year. I don't know what you were thinking, you twit.

2) i notice eagles and broncos on those tickets charlie you might as well use them for toilet paper but at least you didnt buy into this cowboy hype and pay a ridiculous inflated price on them

The Eagles are indeed one of the four teams we bet heavily on, and they're looking good to win their division and contend favorably in the playoffs. The other three are the Falcons, the Saints, and the Cardinals. Arizona choked badly, but both Atlanta and New Orleans are looking strong.

Most of our smaller longshot bets are losers, but a couple still could pay off nicely...notably Kansas City to win the Super Bowl at 150-to-1. They're tops in the AFC West and playing well.

Standings here.

Wall of Fame

Congratulations to my good friend Rob, who is the inaugural entry on the Wall of Fame in my garage.

In addition to teaching me the game of poker, Rob was recently named one of the top 30 young Armenian attorneys in the Texas panhandle.

Have a drink on me, Roberto.

"If you're patient enough, you just might wind up dead."
-Charlie McDanger's page-a-day calendar

You don't live in the America you think you live in

We used to go around lecturing other countries about human rights. And then we started running secret prisons and torturing people.

We used to ridicule China for censoring its internet traffic. And now we have Joe Lieberman.

When the pilgrims left England because the government had grown tyrannical, they were a relative few. How many more stayed home, because they just didn't want to rock the boat?

Sure, you're not being tortured. You don't speak out against the full-body scans at the airport, so you're not placed on Obama's list of "domestic extremists." Your family eats and you can sit and watch football on Sundays. Isn't that enough?

Baaah. Baaaaaaah....

Keep your ear to the wind. Sheep get eaten.

HT: wcv

Come writers and critics who prophecize with your pens

If anyone is interested in a creative project, I'd like to enter a film in the next DVXfest. The rules are here, but the main things are: six-minute maximum, anything fictional qualifies, and entries due March 10.

To see winners and losers of previous DVXfests, click here. "Dead Drop" under BetrayalFest is pretty solid, for starters.

Email me if this strikes your fancy...

The intellectual underpinnings of Wikileaks

I happen to think Julian Assange is a warrior for truth and freedom; your opinion may differ. In any case, if you think he's merely a vandal or rabble-rouser, you're vastly underestimating him.

Check out the philosophy of the man fighting the Man.

HT: dg

Ted Talks

You're so good-looking and smart you probably already know everything there is to know about Ted Talks. If you're not, have a look at this one on plastics and your earth-crushing consumption habits:

Do it, you need the guilt trip.

HT: cc