The catch? The legislators are from the Mexican state of Sonora and are upset that ArizonaÂ’s new employer sanction law means too many illegal immigrants are returning home.

But remember, attrition and border enforcement wonÂ’t work. We have to have amnesty.

Posted by: DrewM. at 08:47 AM | Comments (10)
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Cute snippet from the latest Democratic debate, a la Nice Deb:

John Edwards:

“I sometimes have a powerful emotional response to pain I see around me.”

(He cares too much)

Hillary Clinton: “I get impatient…sometimes I come across that way. I get very concerned about pushing further and faster than perhaps people are ready to go.”

(Impatient with people who donÂ’t care as much about children as she does).

Anybody else taste bile when they read this shit? Dear Sweet Jesus.

Obama's answer stood out as refreshingly candid and human.

Barack Obama:

He sometimes misplaces stuff, is a little disorganized.

“I asked my staff never to hand me paper two seconds before I need it because I’ll lose it.”

He's no dummy, and set out to underscore this contrast in a later speech:

"Because I'm an ordinary person, I thought that they meant, 'What's your biggest weakness?'" Obama said to laughter from a packed house at Rancho High School. "If I had gone last I would have known what the game was. And then I could have said, 'Well, ya know, I like to help old ladies across the street. Sometimes they don't want to be helped. It's terrible.'"

I saw part of that bit on FOX last night, and (like Althouse) I can't help but like the guy, regardless of his political persuasion.
Well played, Barack.

Thanks to Spongeworthy.

Posted by: LauraW. at 07:21 AM | Comments (49)
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This commercial for work apparel is....welllll....GODDAMN.

Not safe for work.

Posted by: LauraW. at 06:39 AM | Comments (29)
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I have no idea. He's virtually unknown here, except to me, and I've already told everybody I know he's a douchebag.

Discuss!

Also, deranged 19 year old Chinese woman records the murder and dismemberment of her married lover.

These are not related but it's Bonus Day at AoSHQ.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 05:26 AM | Comments (16)
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There were several trailers before Cloverfield, and since I'm in the mood, I thought I might mention them briefly.

10,000 B.C.
Warner Bros is really pushing this one heavily; I've seen it on TV and billboards all over. It's CGI intensive and looks to be filmed with super-saturated yellow (in the day scenes; blue at night). It probably cost a fortune and it looks really bad. Playing the trailer in front of every venue from now until March is not going to save it.

It appears to be about a powerful, emotionally charged attempt to unite a nation and overthrow an empire...in the name of love. So, basically, a recycled plot set in prehistory. The leading man's a looker, but based on his performance in The Covenant, probably can't carry this one.

You can see the trailer here. Comes out March 7th. That's the third date to which the movie has been pushed.

The Ruins
Excellent book, which I didn't realize was being made into a movie. The trailer is creepy. (Pun intended.)

Some vacationers discover an ancient Mayan temple where bad stuff happens to them. Extreme horror warning on this one.

The trailer is here. It comes out sometime in April.

Iron Man
They are playing the same Iron Man trailer that they were in the fall. You know the one that looks like it was put together by an amateur? Too slow; too cheezy; lacks substance. And the fact that they've got nothing else to show us does not bode well. This isn't supposed to be a teaser, this is the official movie trailer.

One of the youths sitting next to us said, "It can't be as bad as Spider Man 3." Oh, kiddo, you must be joking.

Same ol' trailer can be found here. Movie comes out May 2nd.

Star Trek
I will admit that I've been waiting on this one. It's only a teaser and none of the cast make an appearance. For anyone who has been living under a rock, the Star Trek franchise is getting a partial reboot from JJ Abrams and the guys who wrote Transformers. I'm pretty excited.

There isn't a good version of this available online yet. Basically, we see someone welding something. The camera pulls back and we see many someones welding something big. We hear an old NASA countdown, President Kennedy saying "Our eyes now look to space" (or something), and "the Eagle has landed." Then Leonard Nemoy's voice says, "Space, the final frontier." The starfleet emblem fades in and then the words "Under Construction." Set to Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek theme it works very well.

In theaters Christmas 2008. Several people in the audience cheered for this one. One person yelled, "Faster!"

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 01:22 AM | Comments (25)
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It was good. It was very tense. I cared about the characters. The camera shook a lot. (Lots and lots and lots.) It was short.

Possible spoiler: a monster attacks Manhattan.

I'm not sure I'm up to writing a full review. Maybe tomorrow.

Later: Okay, I still can't sleep, which means it's time for a review. This will be spoiler-free, but I'm tucking it into the extended entry anyways. Also, be aware that there are already some spoilers in the comments and a great big honkin spoilery review from TheEJS. He colored it white so folks could have the option of not looking at it, but it still kinda shows. more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:56 PM | Comments (63)
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Answer: No.

But it's fun to pretend.

Posted by: Ace at 05:33 PM | Comments (10)
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One member of the task force dared to wonder: Is there any precedent for a government takeover of an entire sector of the economy?

But more interesting is this advice from Jay Rockefeller on how to deal with critics of the Task Force's secrecy:

A “Confidential” May 26, 1993 Memorandum from Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to Hillary Clinton entitled, “Health Care Reform Communications,” which criticizes the Task Force as a “secret cabal of Washington policy ‘wonks’” that has engaged in “choking off information” from the public regarding health care reform. The memorandum suggests that Hillary Clinton “use classic opposition research” to attack those who were excluded by the Clinton Administration from Task Force deliberations and to “expose lifestyles, tactics and motives of lobbyists” in order to deflect criticism. Senator Rockefeller also suggested news organizations “are anxious and willing to receive guidance [from the Clinton Administration] on how to time and shape their [news] coverage.”

I've had this mean little thought before: I'd like to set up a group to put private detectives on these people's asses 24/7. Jay Rockefeller has endorsed this sort of shit repeatedly in the past; maybe we should find out if he can stand up to the scrutiny.

How'd ya like them apples, Jay? A couple of dicks with cameras to follow you around and snap pictures of everyone you meet? You living a perfectly clean life there, bub?

I do enjoy, however, Senator Rockefeller's rather understated observation that the media "are anxious and willing to receive guidance [from the Clinton Administration] on how to time and shape their [news] coverage."

Did he just call the MSM the Democratic Party's bitch? Well I believe he did. And on that point, of course, I have no objections.

Posted by: Ace at 04:11 PM | Comments (34)
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Anyone impressed by McCain's non-answer on amnesty that he won't be the one to call a soldier to tell him his mother's being deported?

1, Can't we fix that particular problem by legislation? Do we need to grant a blanket amnesty to 20 million in order to keep the families of soldiers here in the US?

and

2, Why would he make the call, anyway? Doesn't he have people for that?

John McCain: Straight talk. So long as it hurts the Republican Party, and not his own electoral prospects. In the latter case, a somewhat bendy sort of talk is recommended.

Posted by: Ace at 03:39 PM | Comments (99)
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The latest poll shows him with a 1% advantage over McCain, obviously so inside the margin of error it hurts.

For what it's worth, Rudy accepted Hugh Hewitt's offer to make a Joe Namath pledge of victory. He more or less says, though, that if he doesn't win he's just about done.

Posted by: Ace at 03:35 PM | Comments (50)
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