Sean and I review Valerian and City of 1000 Planets
Sean and I review Spider-man Homecoming
In which your humble narrator live-streamed a movie review for Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. My friend Sean and I have been plotting making videos where we review movies and after many years we got on our asses and got it done. Hopefully this is the first of many.
May 01: Politicians never over-promise, exaggerate or lie to get elected.
May 02: The Civil War was fought for no other reason than Northern aggression & jealousy of the success of the Confederate states.
May 03: Cancer and other major illnesses are punishments from God and can be cured via prayers and faith.
May 04: Health Insurance and the internet are luxuries that poor people do nothing to deserve.
May 05: Coverage under the ACHA is so amazing members of Congress will use it without amendments.
May 06: Veterans with pre-existing conditions haven’t done anything to deserve healthcare coverage.
May 07: Jesus of Nazareth is not a brown-skinned Arab man but blue eyed and European looking.
May 08: The only way to reduce the defecit is to cut spending on programs that help ‘freeloaders’
May 09: There is absolutely no need for any investigations or oversight of the behaviors of militarized police departments.
May 10: Women earn less than men & are unfit for leadership roles because they are too emotional & tend to make rash decisions.
May 11: There is nothing suspicious or dictatorial about firing anyone who tries to investigate you.
May 12: This is the most crisis free administration but when a crisis occurs it offers the clearest and most unified messaging.
May 13: Higher mandatory sentences are an effective deterrent & have nothing to do with increased profits for private prisons.
May 14: Motherhood is an easy job and women who chose not to have children are the cause of all societal problems.
May 15: People who make $174,000 with lifetime benefits for 138 days of work per year understand living on minimum wage.
May 16: We’ve elected the smartest, most honest and capable leader to the presidency.
May 17: Ethical and moral standards should be applied on a sliding scale based on party affiliation.
May 18: Our political leaders are altruistic, uncorrupted, knowledgeable and focused on what is good of the country.
May 19: A politician with no law enforcement experience is the best person to lead the FBI.
May 20: Black lives are always worth less than 3/5s of law enforcement lives.
May 21: Christians have never ostracized, marginalized, tortured or killed anyone for not sharing their beliefs.
May 22: The best way to take care of veterans is to close centers and privatize their care.
May 23: Depression is not a real disease. Suffers should ‘think positive’ and get over it.
May 24: Declaring ‘War’ on things has proven to be effective in stopping them.
May 25: Net Neutrality rules should be decided on by internet providers with no input from consumers.
May 26: Journalists should only provide favorable coverage and when they don’t they deserve whatever harm befalls them.
May 27: Being poor results from bad personal choices and has absolutely nothing to do with an external systemic forces.
May 28: Talking about your religious values makes you pious even if your actions contradict the tenets of your faith.
May 29: The best way to honor military personnel is to cut their benefits and dismantle their support systems.
May 30: Real patriots know that Memorial and Veteran’s Days are interchangeable.
May 31: Rote teaching to tests encourages cognitive development and analytical skills.
I am a huge Hunter S. Thompson fan and this administration sorely needs someone with a visceral way with words to eviscerate them the way Mr. Thompson did to Nixon.
I was given a copy of The Great Shark Hunt in the late 80s, possibly early 90s that looked road weary even then. I still have it. It is a little more tattered, the spine held together with tape, front and back covers completely missing. Even in this condition it is one of my prized possessions. Over the years, as our collection of physical books has gotten smaller this battered mass market paperback has remained. This book was my introduction to the Raider Nation, my oeuvre into American politics and the source of a personal mantra that might or might not helped me embrace the person that I am.
I saw a quote recently that help remind me of what is missing from American politics. While Jon Stewart and John Oliver are entertaining, they are primarily comedians backed by teams of writers. Hunter S. Thompson was a writer who dared to fuck with authority figures, it is a wonder he lived to oldish age. Hunter S. Thompson was both a student of the history of American politics and a futurist.
The quote that has resonated so much with me of late:
“The slow-rising central horror of ‘Watergate’ is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it.”
Over the years, I have found myself reading Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan, itself an homage to HST, prior to every election cycle but in order to survive this administration
Collecting my posted #AlternativeFacts for April 2017
April 1: Being poor is a result of poor choices and laziness, anyone can become rich if they try hard enough.
April 2: The entire bible; stoning, slavery, loving one another, etc; should be obeyed without question and used for making money.
April 3: There is absolutely nothing wrong with presidential advisors being paid by foreign governments.
April 4: Party policies & campaign contributors must always be a greater priority in voting than constituents being represented.
April 5: Increasing the suffering of the less fortunate is the Christian thing to do.
April 6: Undoing a previous administration’s policies is best use of legislative resources and shows true leadership.
April 6: There is nothing that encourages the love of a country more than indiscriminate bombing.
April 7:There is no evidence the Military-Industrial and Prison-Industrial complexes exist.
April 8: Bombing has been used as effective negotiation technique in predominantly white countries since World War II.
April 9: Citizens should only question the government authority/policies when it’s an administration they don’t like.
April 10: Homophobia, racism and sexism are normal workplace and governmental behaviors and do not need to be corrected.
April 11: Taxpayers should only complain about golf trips and vacations when it’s a black guy.
April 12: Terms and conditions are written in easily understandable language and exist for consumers’ benefit.
April 13: Any past wrongdoing discovered afterwards completely justifies a physical overreaction by law enforcement.
April 14: Cutting funding for or denying scientific research is making America great again.
April 15: The best way to stop corruption in DC is to appoint business people with conflicting interests and questionable dealings.
April 16: There has been no evidence of systemic racism or profiling by any police departments.
April 17: Legislators should have absolutely no understanding of any science or technology they are voting on.
April 18: Transparency in governance is too expensive and should always be first on budget cuts.
April 19: Tax exempt organizations should have the loudest voice in government.
April 20: Purchasing new military hardware over fixing crumbling infrastructure will make America great again.
April 21: States rights are only a priority when they support your legislative agenda.
April 22: Visitors to the White House are only classless when they are Black entertainers.
April 23: Praying for wealth, judging others and turning away people in need are the basic tenets of christianity.
April 24: State schools should always spend more on athletic programs than on faculty.
April 25: An uneducated and uninformed populace will make America great again.
April 26: This administration is completely ethical and transparent in their dealings and requires no oversight.
April 27: Kansas’ tax plan was so successful it should be implemented nationwide.
April 28: Good governance is voting for pay increases for yourself while simultaneously voting to defund safety net programs.
April 29: Evolution, Heliocentrism, Climate Change and the Moon Landing are all fake.
April 30: Historically, there have never been any issues when religion and politics were intertwined.
After KellyAnn Conway went on Meet The Press and uttered the phrase “Alternative Facts” with a straight face, I thought it would be interesting to post one alternative fact per day for the duration of the administration, here are the alternative facts I posted on other social media during the month of February.
February 01: Waffle House is the pinnacle of fine dining.
February 02: Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin and The Rolling Stones invented the blues.
February 03: Taco Bell is the best Mexican restaurant in the world.
February 04: Jethro Tull totally deserved the first heavy metal Grammy.
February 05: Brady definitely did not fumble in that 2001 AFC Divisional game against the Raiders.
February 06: George Lazenby is the best James Bond.
February 07: Biz Markie is the best vocalist in any genre.
February 08: Uwe Boll is the greatest movie director since Orson Wells.
February 09: Kenny G is the best jazz musician ever.
February 10: Lawerence Welk invented R&B.
February 11: Chevy Nova is the fastest and best built production car in the world.
February 12: Rebecca Black has a diverse and expansive catalog of music
February 13: Jimmy Buffett is the seminal Caribbean music artist.
February 14: Hayden Christiansen is the most talented cast member in any Star Wars movie.
February 15: The Young and The Restless is a documentary.
February 16: Kingston, TN is the center of the universe.
February 17: Harry Belafonte invented calypso music.
February 18: The Twilight Series is better than Lord of the Rings.
February 19: There are only four islands in the Caribbean – Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and The Bahamas.
February 20: Everyone looks good in polyester bell bottoms
February 21: Crime and Punishment is a feel-good, love story.
February 22: Roots would have been much better with an all white cast.
February 23: NASCAR is the pinnacle of motor sports.
February 24: Friends is the most accurate portrayal of living in NYC particularly in diversity and affordability
February 25: Puff Daddy only produced original music without the use of samples at any time
February 26: AltaVista is the mostly widely used search engine on the internet.
February 27: Stephen King’s It made clowns joyous and approachable again.
February 28: Florida Georgia Line are better country artists than The Highwaymen.
After KellyAnn Conway went on Meet The Press and uttered the phrase “Alternative Facts” with a straight face, I thought it would be interesting to post one alternative fact per day for the duration of the administration, here are the alternative facts I posted on other social media during the month of January.
January 23: Peter Cetera was the best thing to happen the band Chicago.
January 24: Nickelback is a better Canadian band than Rush.
January 25: Vanilla Ice is the greatest rapper ever.
January 26: Milli Vanilli is the best singer/songwriter duo of all time and their acoustic shows are amazing
January 27: The Nixon Administration was the least corrupt and scandal free administration ever.
January 28: The Chicken Dance is the song least likely to give you an earworm.
January 29: 2 Live Crew and Luke make music appropriate to sing in church.
January 30: The 70s were the epoch of fashion.
January 31: Suicide Squad deserves to be on the AFI100 and nominated for all the Oscars.
I posted this as a response to someone and I think it bears repeating and expanding a little.
as an immigrant, someone who has been through the process (including being denied re-admission and spending the night in a detention center in an orange jumpsuit), i’d like to point out a couple of issues that no one seems to be addressing.
1. Permanent Residents (green card holders) who are/were out of the country are being denied re-admission and forced to sign documents to give up their permanent resident status. There are only a few reasons for revoking permanent resident status and outside of a felony conviction, they generally require an order from an immigration judge for which the petitioner should be present.
1b. The Permanent Resident process requires at least two in person interviews, usually takes two or three years to complete and runs somewhere in the vicinity of $5,000-8,000 in fees without the use of a lawyer. This process also requires multiple sets of paperwork to be filed. There are the initial application forms, change of address forms, biographic information forms. Any error, either deliberately or by omission will usually result in your application being denied and the process beginning again. Additionally, permanent residents are fingerprinted and photographed on multiple occasions and required to have a physical at USCIS appointed doctors only.
2. any one that was in transit and arrived in the US when the EO was rolled out and denied admission at that time cannot reenter the country or apply for a new visa without a waiver for 5-10 years, at least.
2b. Refugee visas require more in-person interviews than Permanent Residents, and include interviews with the FBI.
People believe immigration to the US is a simple process. It is not. It is a multi-year, highly intrusive and in some cases, expensive process during which every facet of your life is under a microscope. Saying we haven’t been vetted is insulting both to immigrants and the people that do the work. #askanimmigrant
Alternative Facts (March 2017)
Collecting my posted #AlternativeFacts for March 2017
March 01: Only non-Christian, non-white people can be terrorists.
March 02: Police departments treat all citizens fairly and equally and require no external oversight.
March 03: Politicians are public servants with the best interests of their constituents being their no. 1 priority.
March 04: All resources on the planet are infinite and can be accessed without any repercussions or detrimental effects.
March 05: Well-informed people get their news from a single source without confirmation.
March 06: A comprehensive sexual education curriculum increases the occurrences of teen pregnancies and STDs.
March 07: The criminal justice system is fair and impartial with no ethnicity punished or incarcerated more than any other.
March 08: Military equipment is a necessary crime-fighting tool for police departments, regardless of size or location.
March 09: There is too much emphasis on the decimation and destruction of non-european people in History texts.
March 10: Immigration is too simple of a process that requires more paperwork and interviews.
March 11: The quality of your healthcare should only be based on your financial worth.
March 12: Christianity is the only recognized religion of this country and should always be part of the government.
March 13: Old white men know what’s best for the coloreds, the foreigners and women.
March 14: The government should police the sexual behavior of consenting adults on moral grounds.
March 15: Isolationist trade policies are going to bring American manufacturing jobs back.
March 16: Racial and religious profiling has been successful in preventing criminal and terrorist acts.
March 17: The education system is providing students the necessary tools for complex manufacturing and technical jobs.
March 18: Marijuana use is a bigger public health crisis than combined prescription and non-prescription opioid abuse.
March 19: Building professional sports stadiums is the best use of taxpayer money.
March 20: America is more secure when we ostracize our allies, aggravate our enemies and cut funding to security organizations.
March 21: Racism no longer exists and the protections in place to protect minorities and their rights are unnecessary.
March 22: “Illegals” are simultaneously taking all the jobs and living off government benefits.
March 23: The Judiciary Branch knows too much about the law and Constitution and should be curtailed.
March 24: Functional and well planned mass-transit systems will not reduce congestion and pollution in large cities.
March 25: Sexual orientation or identification is a choice and can be corrected with treatment.
March 26: Prohibiting any substance has proven to be an effective deterrent.
March 27: Blaming others for your failures is the hallmark for excellent leadership.
March 28: There is absolutely nothing wrong with private companies having access to your internet search history.
March 29: Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you want without consequence.
March 30: The money politicians get from lobbyists has no effect on their voting choices.
March 31: Misconduct of any sort is only wrong if it’s someone who opposes you.