Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Wading through the various liberal bona-fides he injects to show his heart is in the right place...

"Good Night, and Good Luck" was surely a "safe harbor" for liberals, with its attack at a safe distance on McCarthyism -- although it carried an inescapable reference to McCarthyism as practiced by the Bush administration, which equates its critics with supporters of terrorism.

... he hits the main point:

The nature of the attacks on "Crash" by the supporters of "Brokeback Mountain" seem to proceed from the other position: "Brokeback" is better not only because of its artistry but because of its subject matter, and those who disagree hate homosexuals.

If we were just giving out Oscars based upon the subject matter of a particular film, every year we would give the Best Documentary Oscar to a movie about the Holocaust, or racism, or America turning a blind eye to genocide/starvation/AIDS in Africa, or the environment, or about a physically handicapped or mentally challenged individual overcoming the odds and doing something special.

Oh, wait a minute, that's exactly what we do. Never mind. (Okay, except for the penguin movie. But that was sort of a movie about the environment, right?)

Weirdest part:

"Capote" was a brilliant character study of a writer who was gay, and who used his sexuality, as we all use our sexuality, as a part of his personal armory in daily battle.

Roger F'n' Ebert "uses his sexuality... as part of his personal armory in daily battle"? In what manner? As a threat? As in, "Give me more Russian dressing on this Reuben sandwich or I swear by everything holy I will take off my pants and rub my fat ass and dirty gud* all over your restaurant"?

Ebert uses his sexuality "in daily battle." I knew there was some reason he'd been on television this long.

* Gud= "Gut pud." Sort of that indistinct merging of the pundendum and belly in people approximately the same size and shape of Roger Ebert.

Posted by: Ace at 09:59 AM | Comments (68)
Post contains 354 words, total size 2 kb.

Sean Davis (an aide) reports:

I wanted to provide you all with an update about Dr. CoburnÂ’s efforts to block additional LIHEAP spending that would bust the budget. Last week, Dr. Coburn raised a budget point of order against Senator SnoweÂ’s bill to increase LIHEAP spending by $1 billion without paying for it. The Senate voted to waive the budget rule (i.e., ignore budget rules) by a vote of 66 to 31.

Earlier this morning, as the Senate debated the LIHEAP bill, Dr. Coburn highlighted the wasteful pork projects in the states of those who are co-sponsoring the LIHEAP legislation (ME, MN, NH, OH, and PA). Even though those states are expected to receive an additional $145 million from SnoweÂ’s LIHEAP bill, the combined total of pork in those states totaled $777 million for the current fiscal year. Thus, instead of funding earmarks like blueberry research, we could have easily funded additional energy assistance for low-income families.

Senator Snowe is of course very worried about Bush's tax cuts, which she views as "spending" without "paying as you go."

But blueberry research... well, God knows, the Republic simply cannot endure without some more uses for the blueberry. For ten long years I've been wondering when the George Washington Carver of blueberries would come along and invent a DVD player made entirely of blueberries.

Posted by: Ace at 09:49 AM | Comments (11)
Post contains 232 words, total size 1 kb.

Seriously, on Jay Bennish.

It is nice to know in this day and age cynical "newsmen" like Matt Lauer still take the time to give their guests the minor courtesy of an on-air cocoa-butter handjob.

It's just common politeness, that's all it is.

Posted by: Ace at 09:23 AM | Comments (27)
Post contains 55 words, total size 1 kb.

At 4:05 Eastern Time. But no Karol, alas.

My guest will be (this isn't a repeat; just want to talk to him again!) Jim Geraghty of TKS on NRO as well as the group blog OnTap.

We'll discuss the Dubai port deal and whether or not it has crippled Bush, as well as the "tipping point" theory-- that Americans no longer wish to drag the Islamic world out of the 14th Century, but now simply want to quarrantine it so its sickness cannot spread throughout the world.

I'll have some stuff on Jay Bennish, too, and the Supreme Court rebuke to law schools trying to keep military recruiters off their campuses.

Posted by: Ace at 09:21 AM | Comments (12)
Post contains 127 words, total size 1 kb.

He's not saying what you think. He's not actually knocking Hollywood's didactic, "issue-movie" version of entertainment. Perhaps he's hinting at that, and working up the courage to say something about it; but perhaps not.

Either way, he's talking good sense. I've been long annoyed by the shaky-camera quick-cut bullshit Hollywood has been doing for a while now, and all the various photographic tricks (pushing the film towards one color, because really, people want to go to see a movie in which the entire fucking world looks yellow or greenish all the time) rather than, get this, just clearly photographing actors and actions and scenery.

He also talks about politeness.

He's a cool guy.

Movie legend Sir Anthony Hopkins has criticised film bosses for making "condescending" films

...

"I'm also tired of the camera moving all over the place, with car chases so cut and edited you don't know what's happening.

"It's condescending. Audiences aren't so mindless as movie-makers think."

He added: "If you look at The Shining or Fargo, they photograph it and let actors tell a story. That's the old-fashioned way. I hope it comes back."

...

"I can't get caught up in the self-importance. People bow to your every wish and you forget where you come from and what you're doing," he told the magazine.

"I recently worked with two actors who wouldn't come out of their trailers for some reason.

"Can you figure that out? It's insanity. Or they complain because their trailers aren't big enough.

"Bulls***. It's a job, like any other, so don't make a big deal. Be polite, treat the crew with respect and don't think you're different.

I don't know his politics, but the temperament there -- "don't think you're different," his annoyance at a post-modernish style of filmmaking in which the medium (the shots, the editing, the film processing) becomes more important than the message, the story -- seems pretty conservative.

Posted by: Ace at 08:56 AM | Comments (59)
Post contains 337 words, total size 2 kb.

They say it's not a hoax, but...

An extraordinary family who walk on all fours are being hailed as the breakthrough discovery which could shed light on the moment Man first stood upright.

Scientists believe that the five brothers and sisters found in Turkey could hold unique insights into human evolution.

The Kurdish siblings, aged between 18 and 34 and from the rural south, 'bear crawl' on their feet and palms.

Study of the five has shown the astonishing behaviour is not a hoax and they are largely unable to walk otherwise.

Researchers have found a genetic condition which accounts for their extraordinary movement.

And it could provide invaluable information on how humans evolved from a four-legged hominid into a creature walking on two feet.

Two of the daughters and a son have only ever walked on two palms and two feet, but another son and daughter sometimes manage to walk upright.

The five can stand upright, but only for a short time, with both knees and head flexed.

I think they're just lazy.

Thanks to DDG.

Related But Dated: John Kerry, drunken Schnaaps-slurping mutant shaven bear-monster?

Posted by: Ace at 08:48 AM | Comments (29)
Post contains 195 words, total size 1 kb.

What a shock.

Background: Just to remind you who this jagoff is. The audio is must-listen.

Posted by: Ace at 07:37 AM | Comments (7)
Post contains 28 words, total size 1 kb.

You will have 10 minutes to complete this test. Please mark all answers clearly. You will be judged on your knowledge of world geography, of both the actual and "holistic" types.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:02 PM | Comments (71)
Post contains 543 words, total size 3 kb.

Great, another Mother Peace in the making. Just give him his frigging book deal now:

A teacher placed on leave after an audio taped portion of one of his classes came to light is expected to talk to the media for the first time Tuesday.

Overland High School geography teacher Jay Bennish is scheduled to appear on NBC's Today show.

I'm sure Katie and Matt will subject him to a withering interrogation, like "How does it feel to be a hero to millions?"

Here's a game. Try to imagine what he looks like. Let me give you a hint: He's young. That doesn't really come through on the audiotape; he sounds like he's midforties. But he's midtwenties.

Got an image in your mind?

How close did you come?

Thanks to Craig.

For Ruther Review and Discussion: Jay Bennish's job application released:

"My primary objectives as a teacher are to encourage the students to think for themselves, to critically analyze the world in which they live in order to create a more democratic society," Bennish wrote.

Danger right there. First of all, he wasn't encouraging students to think for themselves; he was demanding they think like him.

Second of all-- "creat a more democratic society"? Our society is remarkably democratic; I would say perfectly democratic, but I don't want to overstate it.

He's not talking about democracy, which is a political process. What he means is that he wants to create a certain political result in our society, a Marxist one, one that the people have thusfar refused to democratically vote into place.

Maybe if he brainwashes enough kids in a swing state like Colorado he can change that.

When asked how he would decide what should be taught, he wrote, "First, the required state and school curriculum must be met. Diversity of curriculum is vital, especially for a history class. Students must be exposed to a holistic and objective view of history."

Does any of that make sense? The less clear one's writing the more likely it was one read obfuscatory crit-shit pomo cant in college. Or at least heard a few lectures. I'm having trouble believing Jay Bennish really was much of a scholar.

I think he spent most of his time in college at the physics lab, at the high-energy particle accelerator, being paid $5.50 per hour to split atoms... with his mind.

Posted by: Ace at 07:14 PM | Comments (33)
Post contains 419 words, total size 3 kb.

Sex, drugs, & dhimmitude:

Berlin festival scheduled for Thursday, March 16, will shun the country's top rock band over a song lampooning God, a decision linked by the German press to the controversy triggered by the publication of cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).

The "PBUH" is there because this is from IslamOnline.

RTL TV channel has refused to allow Oomph rock band to perform in the Echo song festival, a channel's spokesman was quoted as saying by the daily Netzeitung on Sunday, March 5.

He linked the decision to the controversial lead song in the band's new album, "Gott ist ein Popstar (God is a pop star).

Oomph has been topping the music charts in Germany for more than a year and a half.

RTL TV said broadcasting the song will be an "irresponsible act" in light of the current heated debate on the world arena regarding respect of religions.

Many German channels and radio stations have also rejected the controversial song.

Der Spiegel magazine linked this position to ongoing dialogue between the West and the Muslim world over the controversial Danish cartoons.

Another victory for the jihadis. Perhaps we should just save time and convert to Islam now.

Thanks to Boston Irish, who has further thoughts.

Posted by: Ace at 06:52 PM | Comments (14)
Post contains 234 words, total size 2 kb.