The champion of the summer to beat is "War of the Worlds," Steven Spielberg's fascinating remake of H.G. Wells' novel about the invasion of earth by "unsympathetic" aliens from another planet.
From my review:
...a massive lightning storm draws out the town's curious citizens; gazing ominously at the gray skies. Soon, earthquakes pull the ground apart and three-legged machines known as tripods resurrect above the city and begin blasting people with their death rays - triggering the first of many exciting cat-and-mouse chase sequences in the movie, all of which are eerily convincing.
For an immature divorced father of two who keeps a car engine block on the kitchen table, Ray quickly goes into defensive mode, grabbing his children for a flight out of town. Where, exactly, do they plan to go? We're not sure. Ray isn't sure, and that's the genius of the film. What can they do?
War of the Summer Movies Has Gotten Hotter
Look for $8,000 Drapes on eBay
Well, probably not, but it's true that the $8,000 drapes paid by you and me to cover the scantly clad Spirit of Justice have been taken down after three and a half years of service.
The subject of much ridicule, former Attorney General John Ashcroft was apparently uncomfortable being photographed in front of the 70-year-old statue with one breast exposed. Such drapes are no longer necessary now that Alberto Gonzales holds the position.
Apologize for What?
Democrats believe White House adviser Karl Rove should either apologize or resign for accusing liberals of wanting "therapy and understanding" for the Sept. 11 attackers.
That's right, the party led by a guy who said Republicans are a "White, Christian party" and "all look alike," and a guy who compared Gitmo to Nazi camps and Soviet gulags - wants Karl Rove to resign for saying liberals rather understand Islam than defeat the terrorists it breeds.
In a speech to the New York state Conservative Party, Rove said, "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers…conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
Now whether or not you believe Rove's comments crossed the line it's absolutely ridiculous that people are calling for his resignation. Rove is nothing more than a political consultant with no direct government influence, unlike a few Democrats (Durbin) who have spoken on the public record on the Senate floor saying Gitmo prisoners are being treated like Jews in concentration camps.
9/11 Memorial Gone to Hell
Screw this:
Relatives representing 14 family groups rallied at the site Monday to condemn plans for the International Freedom Center, which officials said would place the 2001 terror attacks in a historical context.What the hell is all this nonsense about? The center won't bar criticism of the United States? The United States did nothing to cause the 9/11 attacks, a bunch of dirty Islamic terrorists did.
According to the International Freedom Center's Web site, the museum will "deal with the international impact of September 11," as well as such issues as segregation in America and the Holocaust.
"It doesn't belong at a memorial," said Charles Wolf, whose wife, Katherine, died in the World Trade Center collapse. "You wouldn't put a debate about Nazism and authoritarianism at Dachau."
Center President Richard J. Tofel said that while the causes of the Sept. 11 attacks would not be up for debate, the center would not bar criticism of the United States and its actions.
"Part of the way we celebrate freedom is to acknowledge that even the greatest societies in the world and those that have made the greatest contribution to freedom are not perfect," he said.
Segregation and the Holocaust have nothing to do with what happened. In case anyone forgot, Jews and blacks are not second-class citizens in this country. They along with whites were murdered on 9/11 in the most integrated of fashions.
We weren't attacked because we "are not perfect," we were attacked because we are the greatest country in the world and the envy of third-world cavemen.
Birth Control for Preteens - Not College Students
No birth control for you:
The Wisconsin Assembly approved a ban on the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses, a restriction that would be the first in the nation if approved.The absurdity of this law is that if it passes, middle schoolers and preteens around the country will be able to get birth control in their very classrooms while adults attending college in Wisconsin won't.
The vote in the lower chamber late Thursday sends the bill to the state Senate; both are controlled by Republicans. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle said he will veto the measure if it reaches his desk.
The legislation would prohibit University of Wisconsin System health centers from advertising, prescribing or dispensing emergency contraception — drugs that can block a pregnancy in the days after sex. The state university system has 161,000 students on 26 campuses.
If this were high school I would support the bill wholeheartedly; we don't need to be giving kids in an overly sexualized society more encouragement to make wrong decisions, but college students are adults and are mature enough to handle the consequences of their actions.
On this issue I break with my pro-life colleagues, but only because the morning-after pill is the best way to avoid the vile procedure we call abortion - as it prevents conception. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette there were 9,943 abortions performed last year alone in the state of Wisconsin. If adult college students are denied the morning-after pill I can only imagine that number skyrocketing.
Dick Durbin Clarifies Nazi Comments
I didn't pounce on the liberal senator for his comments he made on the military's treatment of suspected terrorists at Gitmo, because I wanted to give him a chance to clarify his statements which compared our soldiers to the Nazis and other murderous regimes.
Today on the Senate floor, rather than apologize Durbin rebuked his critics and had this to say:
I have heard my colleagues and others in the press suggest that I have said our soldiers could be compared to Nazis. To suggest that I am criticizing American servicemen, I am not. I don't know who is responsible for this. But the FBI agent made this report, and to suggest that I was attributing all the sins and all the horror and barbarism of Nazi Germany or Soviet Republic or Pol Pot to Americans is totally unfair. I was attributing this form of interrogation to repressive regimes, such as those that I noted.One problem with your clarification, Mr. Durbin: saying the military's form of interrogation is similar to those of said regimes is no different than calling our troops Nazis!
Whatever U.S. interrogators have been doing to get information out of the prisoners - and to be sure, some if it has been nasty stuff - nothing compares to the tactics implemented by the Nazis or Pol Pot's thugs.
When interrogators have on their hands the blood of 3,000,000 Muslims, then and only then can we can start talking about Nazis.
I will say however that the Bush administration is poorly handling the situation. It's wrong to hold prisoners indefinitely, American or not, and they should each get a trial whether here in the U.S. or overseas in a tribunal. Only after the innocent are released leaving suspected terrorists in our custody will I be completely comfortable with our interrogation strategies.
What Happened on 9/11 Again?
Neil Cavuto reminds us what we're supposed to be memorializing:
The whole issue of what belongs in the Sept. 11 memorial at New York's "ground zero" forgets this basic fact: It's a Sept. 11 memorial.And how. This effort to PC-inize the Sept 11 memorial is similar to the plan to make one of the firefighters from the famous photograph in the statue black. For once let's not bring political correctness into something. The memorial to 9/11 should be about that and nothing more.
It's not an American slavery memorial or "what we've done wrong in the world" memorial. It's meant to remember people killed on Sept. 11, period — end of story.
There are plenty of museums dedicated to other issues. Let this one focus on "this" issue: nearly 3,000 innocent people slaughtered. Doing anything else disgraces their memory and makes lunacy of their loss.
It would be like asking the Jews to build a museum dedicated to better understanding the Nazis — why they hated them and why they ended up gassing them by the millions.
Stop it and wake the hell up.
You may want to have tea with Charles Manson and understand why Chuck thinks the way he does. But I don't. Sometimes evil is evil and a monster is a monster.
Protecting Old Glory
The next amendment to the United States Constitution may be written very soon, and as usual support for it is drawn down partisan lines.
Thanks to a 1989 Supreme Court ruling, burning, desecrating and pissing on the American flag is protected "speech." Conservatives view it as an act of anti-Americanism and not an explicit protection found in the Constitution. Liberals see otherwise.
It was a ludicrous ruling, just one of many precedents set by nine old men when these sorts of issues should be decided by the American people.
I personally do not believe in a law against flag desecration. As long as I don't see it I'm not affected. Such people do disgust me however, and it's only the ability to burn a flag I respect, not the person doing it.
On the other side of the coin I don't believe flag burning is a Constitutional right, despite the insane 1989 Supreme Court ruling. If this amendment passes and has enough support from the populace, then so be it. Let Old Glory fly.
Tucker Carlson Looks Comfortable in The Situation
It was good for Tucker Carlson to get away from CNN and the sinking show Crossfire, and find new life at MSNBC with his own show. The Situation is like ESPN's Pardon the Interuption in that a list of topics are covered in a timely manner by Carlson and his guests.
One story he covered was the Utah polygamy case, and he asked his liberal lesbian guest, Rachel Maddow of Air America, what's wrong with polygamy. Her answer: "It's not accepted in our culture."
Really, because that is an argument many make against gays and lesbians! I too wonder how one could both defend gay marriage but oppose polygamy. If we can tweak the rules to change the gender of the married party then who can say we can't tweak the number of members in the party?
But that's for another debate, and unfortunately Carlson didn't pounce on that weak response by Maddow. Perhaps he's just too moderate compared to more outspoken conservatives, but I like the guy and hope his show does well.
Not Guilty Means Just That
Frustration is in the air over the Michael Jackson trial which just ended with "Not Guilty" on all charges. Understandably those who think he's guilty are fuming, but as someone who hasn't had much interest in the case I can't make my own judgment.
All I know is that 12 white jurors - continually labeled "pro-prosecution" by the mainstream media - has acquitted the pop star, hopefully in good faith. Time to move on.
Sean Penn Observes "Death to America" Prayer
As a movie critic with strong political opinions I have no problem keeping politics and other biases out of the screening room. Sean Penn is an actor whose talents are limitless. His movies are captivating. "The Interpreter" remains one of this year's finest. But like most Hollywood activists the guy has some opinions I readily dismiss.
The outspoken liberal is currently in Iran studying anti-Americanism, and I have little confidence in the notion that he doesn't share similar sentiments.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Sean Penn, adopting the role of a journalist, scribbled in his notebook as Friday prayer worshippers in Tehran chanted "Death to America."It will be interesting to hear what he has to say upon his return.
Penn, 44, in Iran on a brief assignment for the San Francisco Chronicle went unrecognized by the 6,000 faithful at Tehran University. Working with a translator, Penn took copious notes as hardline cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati urged the congregation to vote en masse "to make America angry."
Judge Forces Gay Pride on City
U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. ordered the city of St. Augustine, FL, to fly 49 "gay-pride" flags on its Bridge of Lions for six straight days. The mandate began yesterday.
"Permitting a group to fly their flag from the Bridge of Lions enables that group to say 'We exist and this is what we stand for,'" said Karen Doering, staff attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "By denying this application, these city administrators are denying my clients their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech and equal access under the law. That violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments."
Uh-huh. I'll remember that when a group of citizens try to hang Christmas flags from the bridge come Jesus' birthday. I'll remember that when members of the KKK try to hang their flags whenever they feel like saying "We exist and this is what we stand for." I'll remember that when members of the Free Republic fly their 49 Confederate battle flags.
Then we'll see if the Lesbian Rights crusaders continue to throw the First and Fourteenth Amendments at us. If, because of this ruling by a Clinton judge, cities will now be required to fly "gay-pride" flags to satisfy "equal access under the law," then every organization regardless of popularity must be granted such access.
The White Christian Party
The growing turmoil inside the Democratic Party isn't likely to ease off any time soon as Chairman Howard Dean continues to berate Republicans on a daily basis. So unhinged Dean has become that Senator Joe Biden angrily told reporters that he "doesn't speak for me and he doesn't speak for most Democrats." Interesting that the chairman for the National Democratic Committee doesn't speak for the majority of its members.
In addition to saying, "It's pretty much a white, Christian party," Dean also told reporters that "they all behave the same and they all look the same."
Uh-huh. Tell that to Janice Rogers Brown, a black judge who barely got the 60-vote cloture call today moderate Democrats reluctantly agreed to.
Listen to the audio here and wonder why the Democrats became self-hating masochists when they promoted this failed presidential nominee to party chairman.
Lest we Forget the Definition of Viability
On Sunday Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry signed a bill requiring girls under the age of 18 to get their parents' consent before having an abortion.
"For too long, a blind eye has been turned to the rights of our most vulnerable human beings — that's the unborn in our society," Perry remarked.
And how. With this new law in effect, girls under 18 will require written parental notification before a sharp scalpel can be inserted into their bodies.
That anyone would oppose this legislation is troubling. Consider federal law prohibits minors from possessing alcohol, cigarettes and firearms. Consider parental notification is required before a minor can get a tattoo imprinted just above her ass, and another consent form to get any part of her anatomy pierced.
It is only logical to conclude that if the above should require parental permission, then so should an invasive surgical procedure such as abortion. 
Just as important, the bill also restricts doctors from performing abortions on women who have carried a child for more than 26 weeks (pictured right), a child/fetus/bundle of cells that is very likely to be viable.
Apparently the pro-choice crusaders are so militant about unrestricted abortion anytime that they have forgotten Roe v. Wade - if anything - at least protects viable children.
Good job Governor Perry.
Janice Rogers Brown, Medical Marijuana
Having spent the last three days snorkeling in the Bahamas one could understand why the newswire has gone unmonitored by me.
Now that I'm back in the United States it's time to get caught up with the headlines. It was just announced on C-SPAN 2 that Janice Rogers Brown will get her cloture vote tomorrow at 12:00 PM. If the Democrats hold up their end of the bargain then she'll have no problem getting through...however many years later it's been.
Speaking of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court upheld federal drugs laws banning the use of medical marijuana today, saying federal authorities may arrest and prosecute people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain.
Something tells me liberals won't be happy with this ruling despite their penchant for Big Federal Government.
Of course I have to support the outcome of this case despite my position on drug control. Federal laws trump state ones any day meaning those who support medical marijuana need to concentrate their efforts on getting Congress to amend or scratch the current legislation.
This issue, along with gay marriage and abortion needs to be put before the voter, not the nine old unaccountable justices who sit on the Supreme Court and make rulings effecting an entire country with conflicting and diverse opinions.
This is why we need more states' rights judges on the bench. This is why Janice Rogers Brown must be confirmed.
Now TV is Bad
Two major TV networks agreed to run Trojan condoms commercials during primetime. The WB network will run the ads after 9 p.m., and NBC after 10 p.m.
Conservatives are uneasy with the decision because the commercials will contribute to the overly-sexualized environment our kids are exposed to.
But if you're letting your kids watch the WB, especially after 9 p.m., it's not the condom commercials that are explicit. If anything you should be worried about the specific program being aired.
The risk of seeing such commercials is what you get in a free-market society and I have no problem with it. This is not the same thing as Trojan sponsoring your child's sex ed class, but a marketing scheme designed to target whomever is watching TV after 9 p.m.
If you don't want your kids seeing the commercial then don't let them watch television. Period.