Burgers with Lithgow...

Woohoo! Just started BOOK 4 of TheKey!! I ended a major story arch and now the (surviving) characters are back in LA of all places waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. If you missed the climax of Book 3, GET OVER THERE and click on the first June entry. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I hope you readers feel the same way...

Not much else to report for now. Got my first Saturday screening in a while. Oh yeah - last night TheFiancee and I had dinner at the same burger place as John Lithgow and his lady. She actually accused us of cutting in line in front of them. Yeah, like we'd got in front of Dr. Lizardo! She just didn't see us hiding behind the inside of the door as they walked in. Ticked me off, too because I really didn't want to meet Lithgow for the first time in any sort of awkward situation. I'm a fan of his work - big time.

That's pretty much it for now!

TERRORISM IS GOOD

Well, it's certainly good for white people in positions of power - in fact, it's downright good for anyone in positions of power. It must be since there has always been terrorism. Technically, the Boston Tea Party could be considered terrorists because it was a strike against a non-military target. Saudi Arabia trains terrorists and they're our ally. They're in the literal cat-bird seat. They are being threatened by nobody and they put restrictions on the American military's mobility and access to their air space. They stood up to America and made the rule for them.

Terrorism is good for George W. Bush, too. Very good, in fact. Back in June of 2001, just months before 911, his job-approval rating was at 50%. A year later, it�s up 20%. He's been able to do a lot to push forward programs that were dead in the water before 9-11. Thanks to the 9-11 terrorist attacks, he's been able to get nearly universal support and a recent poll suggests that 80% of likely American voters think Bush should get a second term in office.

Someone call Rod Serling - it's official, we're now living in the Twilight Zone.

Submitted for your approval. A man is installed in the White House by the Supreme Court after narrowly winning an election. (Or NOT!) Suffering from a lack of personal dynamics and a way to show of his leadership skills, a terrorist attack levels a major American landmark (and part of a second) which allows him to show off his stripes like a zebra with it's own hit sitcom on Thursday nights after Friends.

I'm sorry - when someone goes from barely half of America wanting him in office to three-quarters of America wanting him to stay in office, one can come to only one conclusion.

Terrorism is good. (If you're powerful.)

Thinking About Going Without my Car...

Well, I've been busy writing like crazy. I'm way ahead on TheKey and I've even gotten back to writing a project I was supposed to write a bit in every day since January. Hey, I'm only four months behind! Anyway, I'm thinking about buying a scooter and getting rid of my Maxima. I'm tired of paying more and more for gas when 75% of the usefull space in my car is left unused. I'd really like to get this scooter. But I'd have to mess with the DOT and whatnot. I don't feel like dealing with that, plus I'd have to pay for shipping from Germany. So unfair! Maybe I'll just go with this one instead.

MINORITY REPORT (2002)

Entertaining? Yes. There are some honestly fun moments in the movie. (But enough wannabe serious ones to make this movie perfect to quip to!)
Technically any good? Well, the future is a very dreary place - lots of grays and blacks - on everyone and everything. You can follow the events just fine, but overall the movie is confused and muddled. One minute it's serious, the next light and whimsical. There was one scene I was convinced Indiana Jones would show up.
How did I feel as the credits rolled? Frustrated - there was more of Kubrick's influence in this movie than in A.I. and while this was better than A.I. I'm afraid Mr. Spielberg just isn't playing with a full deck anymore. Entertaining yes, but convoluted as hell. Again with the multiple endings!
Final Rating? DNS (unless you just have NOTHING else to do.)

WHO CAN WE TRUST?

The President says that we've got a new branch of the government and it's all about fighting terrorists. Our local and state governments say that precautions are being taken to prevent any future attacks on American soil. However, most authorities and alleged "smart people" are positive that there will be another terrorist attack on American soil.

Centuries ago, humans decided that there should be a body that keeps human affairs in check. There needed to be some sort of organized group of people that made sure nobody's rights got trampled on and would provide safety to the humans it was in charge of. In time, people would call this a "government". In modern terms, a government (in this case a democratic government) exists to protect the rights of its citizens and provide reasonable safety and protection from threats to that safety (i.e. a police force on a local level and a military/coast guard on a national level). This is the basic understanding of government.

Since November of the year 2000, we have seen the United States' government drop the ball on both of these fronts in very substantial ways.

First, we see the President's identity determined essentially because of a perceived lack of time. The law could have been changed to extend this time to be certain as to who won Florida, but instead it was decided with out an official accurate count. This resulted in doubt regarding the true outcome of the election in Florida. Since Inauguration Day 2001, outside counts were made and conflicting results were reached. Even if you agree that our current President did win Florida, this conclusion was not reached in a manner removing all (or even most) doubt. As a result, we have to take our leaders' word for it when they tell us that the man occupying the White House, is the man who should be occupying it.

Second, as we all know, on September 11, 2001 several terrorists (many of them from US ally Saudi Arabia), working from inside the United States caused over 3000 America citizens to lose not only their rights, but their safety and even their lives. We looked to our government and our leaders to learn what went wrong and what they'd be doing to protect our rights, safety and our lives in the future. We have been told that things are changing. The Department of Homeland Security we've been told will be what the CIA and the FBI have not been. A force that will track down terrorists and stop them before they can threaten American lives.

If this new DHS will be so effective, why will the FBI and the CIA continue to exist? If they are at fault for not spotting the signs that may have suggested 9/11 would occur, why is it that the DHS will reacquire the FBI and CIA to hand over their intelligence? If an American citizen had approached an FBI agent or a CIA agent on 9/10 and had asked "Are you keeping me safe against terrorism?" what do you think that agent would have said?

If you were to walk up to an FBI agent or a CIA agent today and ask them "Are you keeping me safe against terrorism?" what do you think that agent would say?

If you were to walk up to one of these agents today and ask "Either you guys were too stupid to recognize the signs that the terrorists were going to strike, or you let it happen - which was it? Stupid or saw it coming and let it happen?" what do you think they would say?

I think I know the answer to my question "WHO CAN WE TRUST?"

And I think you know it, too.

NEVADA NUKES?

Here's something EVERY AMERICAN should do!!

Click this link:

mapscience.org

Okay, here's the deal. A bunch of powerful white men are going to decide if tons and tons of radioactive waste should be transported from nuclear power plants across the country to a mountain in Nevada. The people in Nevada have voted against this plan, but the government is about to over-rule them. This could mean potentially fatal amounts of waste could be shipped through YOUR neighborhood or the neighborhood of someone you know and/or love. Find out more at the above site and use the above site to quickly and easily send emails to your congresspeople to tell them that YOU ARE AGAINST THIS ABSURD PLAN WHICH WILL ALLOW TERRORISTS A BIG FAT TARGET TO STRIKE AT!

Sure, that Padilla guy couldn't get his hands on radioactive material for his dirty bomb - BUT THIS PLAN WILL GIVE AL QAIDA A DIRTY BOMB ON WHEELS!! Please help America stay Nuclear Radiation free!

THAT'S A FUNNY ONE, BUSH!

Okay, so this guy goes into a bar that was recently held up and says "Hey, you guys - you would not believe what I've been hearing around town! There are a bunch of really bad guys and they're talking about knocking over this place! They also might hold you all at gun point and demand your wallets and jewelry, not just the cash from the till! Now, if you want, I can do my best to go get these guys for you. I'm not sure who all of them are, (some of them could even be in this room!) but if you give me some cash, I can buy some guns and hire some friends of mine and we'll go hunt them down. I can't promise anything, but I will promise that your safety will be at the forefront of my efforts. Be warned, going after these guys won't be pretty. There may be some blood drawn and well, while my boys and I are out going after one of the thugs, another thug might rob the place. So you need to be prepared. WHATEVER you do - don't just go home - this bar would go under if you were to do that. So, just stay here, buy your drinks and I'll worry about the rest of it."

So, the people in the bar, being kind, trusting folk gave the man their money and some even bought the man drinks for being such a fine upstanding guy. The man smiled, his pockets full of cash and his gut full of beer, and headed for the door.

"Hey mac, where are you going?" The bartender asked.

The man looked at him and smiled. "Are you kidding? Where do you think? Another bar!"

Huh, I thought this essay was going to be about the president... oh well...

Getting... Ol...der...

Birthdays suck - I think we celebrate them because if we didn't, we'd be horribly depressed that we're not getting any younger... this last bit gets worse the older you get, celebration or no. I had a nice, pleasant birthday, but a couple of days later, I'm depressed...

Stuff to Buy and Sign--YAAAY!

CHECK OUT THE NEW ITEMS IN THEPETESTORE!

SIGN THIS!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO ME.

You don't want to know how old I am... of course, neither do I...

CafePress.Com/thepetestuff

CHECK OUT THE NEW ITEMS IN THEPETESTORE!

I just spent the last couple hours updating the pics and adding brand-spanking new items, too! My birthday is the 6th - what BETTER way to say "Happy Birthday" than to buy some of my stuff? I make a buck and you get some cool stuff!

Just check it out, will ya? SHEESH!

Oh yeah and more junk is coming soon. Cafepress.com has some cool new items and I'm just tapping my finger tips waiting for these items to become available... tap-tap-tap-tap...

I Gotta Brag!! (No One Else'll Do It for Me!)

Page 809 BIOTCH! I BE A WRITER! (can't you tell?) YEAH! (Plus I finished a first draft on screenplay #3 last week!)

Explain THIS UFO...

Most flying saucer sightings that have been caught on video are usually pretty vague, right? I mean, you look at them and yeah, the lights are patterned like a triangle or whatever and they are hovering in a semi-weird fashion, but really, they could be anything. It could be a blimp with some of it's lights out. It could be a plane that has some weird reflection deal going on, or maybe you look at it and you're like, "I don't know what it is but nothing in that clip makes me believe that it's definitely NOT a typical plane, or frisbee, or whatever."

This clip is different.

It's a short, 1.11mb MPEG and is worth the DL... right/hold click to save to your hd.

Please, comment!