International intrigue!

Skullduggery and daring deeds of derring-do!

Pulse-pounding suspense as a plane carrying Hillary Clinton and unfunny comic Sinbad actually has a "corkscrew" landing, thus conferring upon her real, serious foreign-policy experience!

Also starring Sheryl Crowe as Agent GX-9.

Thanks to Larwyn.

Posted by: Ace at 11:27 PM | Comments (23)
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A judge nearly issues him a warrant when he doesn't show up for his appearance on time.

The lawyer claims he couldn't find the courthouse. Oh yeah, sure. Why would a lawyer know where the courthouse was.

More stuff at the link. Prosecutors seem more intent on punishing this guy than at first it seemed (perhaps because of the attention the case got).

Also, you will be shocked this lawyer has been disciplined before:

In addition to being disciplined for being involved in a scheme to forging documents, it has been reported to CLR that attorney Jay Robert Grodner has since then engaged in a conflict of interest with his clients, has abandoned his clients, has engaged in false billing, has engaged in a fraud upon his clients, provided ineffective assistance of counsel, and has engaged in a "fraud upon the court".

What a dick.

Posted by: Ace at 10:07 PM | Comments (24)
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Well, I just spent 8 hours at the airport and guess what, I'm still in D.C., right where I was when I started. That's an hour in the plane, waiting to leave the gate; an hour on the taxiway waiting for a mechanic; another thirty minutes back at a new gate, before asking us to deplane; and an hour there while they promised an update in "just a few more minutes." more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:35 PM | Comments (10)
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What are your plans?

Me, I've got nothing tangible. I'm sick as hell -- I've had this cold for over a week now, since last Sunday, and it has definitely overstayed its welcome -- and am probably just going out to a random bar with old friends in the vain hope that drinking on New Year's Eve will somehow be more fun and interesting than drinking on any other night of the year.

Bumped. Guess this can serve as a New Years thread for those of us lame enough wise enough to stay in tonight.

Tack-on from lauraw: literal translation (mostly) of Auld Lang Syne, from Wiki.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup oÂ’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely youÂ’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely IÂ’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup oÂ’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But weÂ’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And thereÂ’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand oÂ’ thine !
And weÂ’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

Cheesecake? [Ace] For a good cause, why not. Gina Else of Pin Ups For Vets sends some of her video blogs. Here's one.

The email asks for suggestions for future videos.

Alas, I can't think of any ideas. Not. A single. Idea.

Posted by: Ace at 06:17 PM | Comments (2)
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Too sick to write real reviews, but...

The Simpsons. Eh. I had hoped for the equivalent of three good episodes from the Simpsons' golden years. Instead, the movie was three mediocre episodes from the Simpsons' post-prime period. Not a bad movie, but just not all that funny, either. If there are any memorable lines I'm having trouble memorabling them now. "Spider-Pig" was an attempt to capture the magic of, say, "Helper Monkey," but just eh at best.

Politics-wise, it was pretty heavy-handed. That didn't bother me all that much but it also didn't help, given the fact that I was only occasionally chuckling.

The Brothers Solomon. On the other hand I laughed quite a bit at this Will Arnett/Will Forte zero-budget movie. Maybe I just wasn't expecting all that much, and maybe I was just in the mood for some of Forte's goofy, somewhat conceptual comedy (he wrote the script), but I had a lot of fun watching this one.

I'm a little afraid to recommend it because I'm almost certain it's a niche-audience sort of movie and that no one else will like it. The movie's about two total losers with no social skills whatsoever -- but brimming with confidence, optimism, and spirit, so much so that you want to hit them. Usually you'd want to create some sympathy for the losers by explaining why they turned out this way... but the movie really doesn't, at least not for a while and only in a perfunctory manner. The blurb on the back of the DVD case explains it much better -- they were homeschooled at the North Pole, and never met a woman until their "high school graduation" when their dad got a couple of Eskimo women to come over to the ice station/high school to serve as prom dates. The movie sort of explains that but not really where you'd expect it, that is, in the beginning. I think this is some sort of dumb Rule of Comedy With Integrity Will Forte has or something, like "Never give an audience an explanation for weirdness" or something.

Anyway, it really doesn't matter why they're so ridiculous. This isn't the funniest movie, but it is chuckleworthy, or at least I thought so. Fans of Will Arnett will like this, I think. more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:44 PM | Comments (2)
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From Dave in Texas.

I know, hell, everybody's seen it BUT me.

still

ace asked about our New Year's plans. more...

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 04:39 PM | Comments (7)
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2007 Deadliest Year Ever.

True -- but disgustingly misleading. The beginning of the year had very high casualties and since then we've had very, very low casualties. Sure, the year as a whole comes out somewhat more deadly than the last, but the past half-year has seen an amazing drop in casualties.

The media doesn't want to report on the dramatic fall in casualties because they claim they don't see a "trend." Well it's now been six months of plunging violence -- and furthermore, they see "trends," of, say, rising casualties and the implied continuation of rising casualties, where the facts obviously indicate the precise opposite. The casualty rates do indicate a trend -- but not the one the MSM claims.

Posted by: Ace at 03:06 PM | Comments (14)
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If anyone's noticed, yes, I've stopped all the Huckabashing posting. I realize 1) it gets old and 2) it's ineffectual anyway. Most readers don't like Huckabee and those who do aren't persuaded by my posts.

Still, this is good, if only for the humor value. Huckabee piously talks up elevating the tone of the debate in Iowa, and how he's decided to not run an anti-Romney attack ad in order to make the debate more civil, and then plays it for reporters, so that they'll, naturally, write about it and run it on their websites and thus spare him the cost of running it.

I've had my intelligence insulted plenty of times before, but this guy is particularly callous in insulting it.

Hot Air has more context and Carl Cameron yukking it up over Huckabee's shameless hypocrisy and cynicism.

Not that getting the press corps to laugh at him will hurt Huckabee. A lot of his supporters will take that scorn as proof he must be doing something right.

And the press will continue pushing the Huckster. After all, they think Republicans are stupid enough to buy this lame act, and they furthermore think we deserve a candidate like Huckabee, after profiting from the "racist" Willie Horton ads and "deceptive" Swift Boat ads. They see Huckabee as the natural, and deserved, apoethesis of forty years of Republican corruption, cynicism, and manipulation. They think the GOP has trained its supporters to buy into charlatans like this and they're just delighted we're going to get the just desserts for our cynical leaders and spinmeisters and mouth-breathing, knuckledragging bumpkin base. They're loving the idea of inflicting this surefire loser on us.

Oh... As long as I'm doing a Huckabash, might as well note that those push-pollers that Huckabee just couldn't reign in are running attack ads that Huckabee just can't.

Posted by: Ace at 02:46 PM | Comments (5)
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I saw this post by Allah.
Allah asks:

Also, the gunman was behind her when he fired. If a bullet did hit her, why would the force have pushed her back instead of forward, into the front of the roof?

Watch this Penn and Tellar vid about the JFK Assassination to understand how a head responds to being shot (relevant stuff is at 1:15):

Tale of the Tape [Ace]: Supposedly you can see her shawl blown back by the bullet here, though my computer is acting too weird for me to see it:

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)
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It appears they've bubbled up again at Hot Air. Maybe I, Voice of Reason and Calmness, can defuse it.

First of all, Fred never said he lacked the requisite "fire in the belly" to be president, and it's a typically stupid fake media story to claim that he said such a thing. What he said, in context, was that he had enough "fire in the belly" and that anyone who seemed to have more may be too personally ambitious and grasping to be trusted as president. It's hardly news that a candidate would suggest that he's the "Goldilocks candidate" in any particular respect -- not too hard, not too soft, but just right.

One may claim that Fred Thompson does indeed lack the "fire in the belly" to be president, but it's an absurdity to claim he admitted such a fatal flaw through his own lips. No, he's claiming that he seeks the presidency not out of ego or lifelong personal ambition, but rather seeks it more humbly, because he feels, reluctantly, that he's the right man at the right time, and he's joined this contest not for himself but for his grandchildren. This may be bullshit, it may be spin, but in no way is it some confession of lack of drive or interest in the job. It's a pretty standard attempt to spin a job interview question about one's weaknesses into virtue.

That put to rest, the frustrations rise on both the pro-Fred side and the open-to-Fred side.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:36 PM | Comments (3)
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