Great Line

Bill Clinton gave a great speech last night in Denver. One line really jumped out at me:

"People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."

Trust me, I was a POW

Bill in Portland Maine via Daily Kos nails it right on the head.

"You're a financial planner and you want to invest my retirement savings in scratch tickets?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You're a plumber and you're going to fix my clog with a stick of dynamite?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You're a firefighter and you're going to put out the flames with gasoline?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You're a jeweler and you're going to fix my Rolex with a hammer?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You’re a nuclear physicist and you're giving out 'free samples' of enriched uranium to children?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You're a surgeon and you're using a rusty hacksaw?"
"Trust me. I was a POW."

"You’re the Republican candidate for president and you want to fix the country's problems even though you don’t know much about the economy, you don’t know how to use the internet, you don’t know how many houses you own or what kind of car you drive, you admit you don’t think clearly when you’re tired, you make frequent gaffes on foreign policy, you think offshore drilling is a short-term solution to high gas prices, you support torture and keeping the Guantanamo prison open, you make rash decisions and statements from which you have to quickly backtrack, you have an explosive temper on a hair trigger, your idea of health care reform is 'wear more sunscreen,' you're for stem cell research except when it's done on stem cells because you consider them all American citizens, and you voted to support the policies of the worst president ever 100 percent of the time this year?"
"Trust me, my friends. I was a POW."

Only in Republicanland.

Some flicks

I have managed to watch several movies in the past week or so. In no particular order

The Bank Job:

With the last few movies Jason Statham has been in, I figured this was going to be an "action" flick. I was wrong. Definitely falls into the "caper" category. A well written, well acted story "based on true events". This was much closer to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels than The Transporter.

The Mist:

A fairly decent film version of what is probably my favorite Stephen King story. The ending is different than the original source. Of course one could say it has an ending, unlike what King wrote. The novella had the protagonists driving off into the mist and never tells you what happened. The movie goes past the end of King's story and shows what happens next. Besides that, it was very faithful to the source material-keeping the focus on the characters and how, when faced with a terrifying crisis, people can become just as horrible as the monsters that they fear.

In Bruges:

This was a pleasant surprise. It may seem odd using the word "pleasant" describing a movie about hit men hiding out after a botched job that resulted in the death of a child in a church, but this movie refuses to go where you expect it. At times it is very funny and at times it is very intense and fairly gruesome.

I have always liked Brendon Gleeson and it is nice seeing him in a much larger roll than what he typically does. He isn't a side player here and he is great.

This is England:

A semi autobiographical film about a fatherless 10(ish) year old boy in 1983 England. Picked on constantly at school he falls in with the only group that show him any kindness-the local skinheads. All is well until the gang's racist leader is released from Prison and resumes control. If you can get through the thick accents this is well worth seeing.

A beautiful day for a ride

Just got back from a ride at Murphy Hanrehan park reserve in Prior Lake/Savage. MattP, Queasyfish, HeathA and I had a great time. Heath and I brought up the rear as usual while Q and Matt charged ahead. Heath rides around the same pace I do-which is a good thing. If he wasn't there I would have tried to keep up with Q and Matt and, to quote Phil Ligget, "popped". What a great way to start a Sunday.

So JACC FINALLY got a new bike! He didn't mess around. He bought himself an S-Works FSR. That is a TOP of the line full suspension trail bike from Specialized. I am happy for him AND envious. Can't wait to see it in person!

I don't think he is going to be happy when I tell him it is not a good idea to use it as a winter commuter.

I'll have my staff get to you.

OK, Grandpa Simpson, I mean John McCain, was asked a fairly straightforward question. How many homes do you own? His response? "I think — I'll have my staff get to you, It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

So, the guy running for President, who has been trying to paint his opponent as an "elitist" doesn't even friggin know how many homes he and his $100 million heiress wife own! It is SEVEN, by the way.

Of course this is coming from the guy who said making 5 million a year is the threshold for being "rich". So earning 4 million is middle class?

Obama came out swinging

"Yesterday, [John McCain] was asked again what do you think about the economy, he said I think the economy is fundamentally strong," said Obama. "Now this puzzled me. I was confused what he meant. But then there was another interview where somebody asked John McCain how many houses do you have and he said 'I'm not sure. I'll have to check with my staff.' True quote. 'I'm not sure ill have to check with my staff.' So they asked his staff and they said, 'at least four.' At least four. Now think about that. I guess if you think that being rich means you make $5 million and if you don't know how many houses you have then it is not surprising that you think the economy is fundamentally strong. But if you are like me and you've got one house, or if you are like the millions of people struggling now to keep up with your mortgage payments, you might have a different perspective. By the way the answer is John McCain has seven homes."

Was the original maverick tortured?

According to Bush he was not.

Andrew Sullivan

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of "long-time standing" that victims of Bush's torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely "enhanced interrogation."

No war crimes were committed against McCain. And the techniques used are, according to the president, tools to extract accurate information. And so the false confessions that McCain was forced to make were, according to the logic of the Bush administration, as accurate as the "intelligence" we have procured from "interrogating" terror suspects. Feel safer?

As requested by JACC

So, what to write about?

So, what to write about? I think it is safe to say that the two or three people that will ever stumble across this site will be ultra impressed with my semi informed musings on politics, movies, biking and whatever else happens to catch my attention long enough to inspire me to write something down. Or not.

Today I’ll just put in some random observations:

The judges in women’s Olympic gymnastics totally blow.

The Olympics in general are making me stay up too late.

It annoys me that Tim Pawlenty is using tax dollars to campaign for John McCain-in WISCONSIN (Packers Suck).

My leg, neck and wrist still hurt.

James Hetfield is a douche, but we all knew that

First Post

Well, I finally broke down and started one of these damn things. JACC will be so proud.

Not going to put much in here today besides mentioning I am in serious pain.

While biking at Theodore Wirth I managed to clip a tree with my handlebar (I swear it reached out and grabbed me), which forced a rapid separation from my bike. I then was introduced to a another tree. I recall my head being knocked sharply to one side as I hit the tree with my head, wrist, chest and thigh. I have no idea how all of that happened, but I know that is what hurts. The wrist and thigh seem to have taken the brunt, although I have a nice gouge on my neck from the helmet strap. Wear your helmets kiddies.

Oh well, I'll be back.