Thanks to Schnepf for this one...

A blast from the past for my fellow twenty-somethings...Oh yeeaah!

Creepy Easter Message

(from whitehouse.gov)

Easter 2005

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

I send greetings to all those celebrating Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice and triumph over death, Christ lifted the sights of humanity forever. In His teachings, the poor have heard hope, the proud have been challenged, and the weak and dying have found assurance. Today, the words of Jesus continue to comfort and strengthen Christians around the world.

During this holy season, we thank God for His blessings and ask for His wisdom and guidance. We also keep in our thoughts and prayers the men and women of our Armed Forces -- especially those far from home, separated from family and friends by the call of duty. May the joy of Easter fill our hearts with gratitude for our freedom, love for our neighbors, and hope for peace.

Laura and I wish you a Happy Easter.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Blogger's Note: No one unites church and state quite like our President.

Something To Ponder...

If Terri Schiavo dies today, will she come back on Sunday?

Evil is afoot...

Million Dollar Baby Review

Was Million Dollar Baby the best film in 2004? No, not at all. It is very well done though. Everything comes together for the most part- the acting, the plot, the characters...it's a nice package that Eastwood put together. But the thing is, for the most part I've seen it all before. There are a lot of cliches present in the film that, while they are presented very well, I've seen in various other incarnations. It's tough to explain this further without giving away plot points. It's a lot of that 'live for the moment' kinda stuff. I don't want to sound like I didn't enjoy the film; I did and I think it's certainly worth seeing. To be honest, I think I've undermined Clint Eastwood's directing skills over the years.

So yeah, it may have been worthy of some of the acting Oscars but 'Best Picture' it was not. Still check it out though, if you haven't already. Oh, and it was nice to finally see Morgan Freeman in something other than an Ashley Judd thriller.

Torrey's Opinion:
5- Strongly Recommended
4- Recommended
3- A Mixed Bag
2- Sub-par
1- Don't Bother

Random Related Fact: Clint Eastwood used the first draft of the script without any re-writes for filming.

Over My Dead Body

If they were making an update to the classic 1985 film Clue, who would you cast as...

Mrs. Peacock
Col. Mustard
Mrs. White
Prof. Plum
Miss Scarlet
Mr. Green
Wadsworth

My casting:
Mrs. Peacock - Catherine O'Hara
Col. Mustard - Jeffrey Tambor
Mrs. White - Miranda Richardson
Prof. Plum - Anthony Stewart Head
Miss Scarlet - Julianne Moore
Mr. Green - Alan Rickman
Wadsworth - Nathan Lane

That's No Moon...It's An Iceberg!

"It's not like the old 'Star Wars,' " Lucas told theater owners at the ShoWest convention. "This one's a little bit more emotional. We like to describe it as 'Titanic' in space. It's a tearjerker."
-George Lucas referring to Episode III

Blogger's Note: Let me run a quick two-point analysis on what George said here to show you how he managed to even further disappoint his dwindling fanbase. Point one: He said, 'It's not like the old Star Wars.' And point two: He made a comparison to Titanic.

I don't recall the point in the film where Leonardo became horribly disfigured and started slaughtering the crew, but then again it was a long movie and I dosed off at times.

General Mills is doing their part to curb obesity in America's kids.

Let Them Eat (wedding) Cake

(from msnbc.com)

SAN FRANCISCO - A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional — a legal milestone that, if upheld on appeal, would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed.

Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County's trial-level Superior Court likened the ban to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be "no rational purpose" for denying marriage to gay couples.

The ruling came in response to lawsuits filed by the city of San Francisco and a dozen gay couples a year ago after the California Supreme Court halted a four-week same-sex marriage spree started by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The opinion had been eagerly awaited because of San Francisco's historical role as a gay rights battleground.

Gay marriage supporters hailed the ruling as a historic development akin to the 1948 state Supreme Court decision that made California the first state to legalize interracial marriage.

"Today's ruling is an important step toward a more fair and just California that rejects discrimination and affirms family values for all California families," San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said.

Blogger's Note: It's nice to see there's still logical thinking being practiced in some parts of the country.

Genius

http://www.savetoby.com/

So That's How He Got Re-elected

(from Voting Fraud in the USA)

20 Things Every Voter Should Know (tell your friends cause the TV ain't gonna)

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S
2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.
3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.
4. Chairman/CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President."
5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.
6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.
7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates.
8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.
9. Diebold's touch screen voting machines have no paper trail. There is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was put in by voters.
10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.
11. Diebold is based in Ohio.
12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as consultants and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.
13. Jeff Dean was Senior Vice-President of General Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold. Even though he had been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree, Jeff Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold and was largely responsible for programming the optical scanning software now used in most of the United States.
14. Diebold consultant Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a "high degree of sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.
15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.
16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because of horrible security. Despite Diebold's claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a monkey was able to do so!
17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.
18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.
19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the President's brother (I know it's worn out, but had I eliminated it, there would only be 19 facts).
20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida -- again always favoring Bush -- have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.

Resistance Is Futile

(from wmdt.com)

DUNKIRK, Md. (AP) - Wal-Mart is trying a new tactic to skirt local ordinances limiting the size of its stores. The company now plans to build two stores side-by-side at a site in Calvert County where plans for a single big store were thwarted by a size limit adopted last year. Wal-Mart officials are calling it one of the first arrangements of its kind in the country. The store and garden center in Dunkirk will have separate entrances, utilities, and restrooms. And the combined size of the stores will be 30 percent larger than the 75-thousand square-foot limit for a single store. The community affairs manager for Wal-Mart's eastern region, Mia Masten, believes it's the first time Wal-Mart will build two adjacent stores in response to size restrictions. And she says it's a strategy the company is likely to consider in other areas.

Blogger's Note: Concrete evidence that Wal-Mart really cares about our communities just like the commercials say.

Tim Burton's Garage Sale

Friday, March 11, Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13, 2005
207 North Aspan Avenue Azusa, CA 91702
9:00am - 4:00pm(Absolutely No Early Previews or Early Sales)

Previously owned items by director Tim Burton and his former girlfriend Lisa Marie. Designer furniture (Herman Miller, Noguchi, Knoll, Ashland & Hill), clothing (Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, YSL), lamps, ceramic kiln, fine crystal, make-up, electronics, Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver, movie memorabilia, props from movie sets and tons more. This sale will be held in a warehouse in Azusa, CA, a 45 minute drive from Studio City.

Accomplishments

Things other people have done at my age:

At age 25...

Orson Welles coscripted, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane.

Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic, thus winning a $25,000 prize.

Charlie Chaplin had appeared in 35 films.

Bavarian painter Aloys Senefelder invented the lithograph.

Janis Joplin made her first recording, "Cheap Thrills," which grossed over a million dollars within a few months.

Blogger's Note: Something tells me I'm not living up to my full potential. Ah well, these people didn't have video games to distract them. If you would like to find out what fantastic things people did when they were your age, visit this link: http://museumofconceptualart.com/accomplished/

Passing Blame

(from ign.com)

A bill under consideration in Washington state would hold videogame developers accountable for violent acts ostensibly inspired by a particular game.

Currently under review by the state legislature, House Bill 2178 would hold game retailers and manufacturers accountable for "injury or wrongful death" committed by a person under age 17, if the game "was a factor in creating conditions that assisted or encouraged" the perpetrator.

While the bill is still in committee stage and far from becoming law, its dramatic interpretation of criminal responsibility reflects growing concern and controversy about the effects of violent video games.

Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO quotes bill supporter Bill Hanson of the Washington Police and Sheriff's Association: "If you sit up and watch this and play these games over and over again... it seems that this is alright to walk up and hit a police officer over the head with a bat.

"Needless to say, opponents of the bill point out that it simply shifts blame away from the person who actually commits a crime. Further, the connection between violent videogames and actual violence -- the controversy parallels a similar furor over violent films and television -- remains tentative at best.

Games sold in the United States carry ESRB rating codes warning parents of potentially objectionable material. Especially violent games are rated "M" for Mature, and are not intended for minors.

Blogger's Note: It's never up to the parents, is it? It's always someone else's fault. Of course this will never pass into law, but the fact that it's even being entertained is completely asinine. If you're going to blame games, you'll need to blame television, movies, books and every other form of entertainment and media available to us. If a kid hears about sniper shootings on CNN and decides that would be a 'cool' thing to do, is it then the news reporter's fault if he goes out and copies these actions because the reporter put the idea in his head? And how many cases of kids going around bonking police officers on the head with bats have you heard about lately? Crime was around long before Grand Theft Auto- these people just want to place the blame on anyone but themselves. Quit spending so much time at the fucking day spa and raise your kids!