The Patriot Act has become a little bit more patriotic.
A federal judge ruled the powers of secret searches and wiretaps granted by the act violate the Fourth Amendment.
Says federal Judge Ann Aiken (a new hero of mine):
"For over 200 years, this nation has adhered to the rule of law - with unparalleled success. A shift to a nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised."
In response to the U.S. Attorney General's office's request to dismiss the case, Aiken said it was "asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. This court declines to do so."
The case came after the FBI screwed up and arrested an innocent lawyer for the Madrid train bombings in 2004. They realized their mistakes eventually, but not before bugging his house, photocopying all of his personal and business files and wiretapping his phones.
Our victim got $2 million from the federal government. Good for him, bad for taxpayers.
For Der Fuehrer's take on the Patriot Act, see the White House Web site.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
NEWS UPDATE: American hero lets us down
O.J. Simpson had everything going for him.
America threw the Heisman Trophy winner its heart, and he caught it. He carried it through airports in his classic Hertz commercials. He carried it to the cheery heights of laughter in his hilarious role in the Naked Gun series.
No one could stop him: Defenders on the college or pro football league fields couldn't stop him. A group of conspiring, racist cops couldn't stop him. And yet it is this same indomitable spirit that we have all come to love and admire that drove this tragic hero to what may finally be his downfall.
Would a few sleazy sports memorabilia collectors stop Simpson from taking back what is his? No. But in a sad, ironic twist, at 60, Simpson would stumble just short of the goal line.
Simpson brought a group of armed men with him to ensure the memorabilia black marketeers wouldn't try to escape with his goods, or, God forbid, attack him. He brought them so he wouldn't have to call the cops - would you, if they had tried to pin the murder of your beloved on you?
But however rational, Simpson's actions have been irresponsible for a moral authority and role model of his caliber. He has let down a nation he has inspired for years, and what's worse, it was before he could find the person who brutally murdered the mother of his children (though a recent book shows the search took its toll on his soul and plunged his imagination into dark, gritty, albeit fictional places).
And for this hotel room mishap, Simpson could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"The four men face charges of conspiracy to commit a kidnapping; coercion with a deadly weapon; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit robbery; and two counts each of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. They also were each charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit a crime."
To see the police report detailing the dramatic fall from grace of this great American hero, see the Smoking Gun.
I would like to dedicate the comments for this post to Simpson; treat it as you would his Facebook wall. Fill it with love and prayers.
America threw the Heisman Trophy winner its heart, and he caught it. He carried it through airports in his classic Hertz commercials. He carried it to the cheery heights of laughter in his hilarious role in the Naked Gun series.
No one could stop him: Defenders on the college or pro football league fields couldn't stop him. A group of conspiring, racist cops couldn't stop him. And yet it is this same indomitable spirit that we have all come to love and admire that drove this tragic hero to what may finally be his downfall.
Would a few sleazy sports memorabilia collectors stop Simpson from taking back what is his? No. But in a sad, ironic twist, at 60, Simpson would stumble just short of the goal line.
Simpson brought a group of armed men with him to ensure the memorabilia black marketeers wouldn't try to escape with his goods, or, God forbid, attack him. He brought them so he wouldn't have to call the cops - would you, if they had tried to pin the murder of your beloved on you?
But however rational, Simpson's actions have been irresponsible for a moral authority and role model of his caliber. He has let down a nation he has inspired for years, and what's worse, it was before he could find the person who brutally murdered the mother of his children (though a recent book shows the search took its toll on his soul and plunged his imagination into dark, gritty, albeit fictional places).
And for this hotel room mishap, Simpson could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"The four men face charges of conspiracy to commit a kidnapping; coercion with a deadly weapon; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit robbery; and two counts each of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. They also were each charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit a crime."
To see the police report detailing the dramatic fall from grace of this great American hero, see the Smoking Gun.
I would like to dedicate the comments for this post to Simpson; treat it as you would his Facebook wall. Fill it with love and prayers.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
VIDEO REVIEW: Premonition
I was watching Speed (1994) the other day, and it reminded me how much I liked Sandra Bullock.
So it seemed natural to want to rent her latest thriller, Premonition (2007).
It's a non-stop roller coaster ride that will take your hope away.
I'll try to summarize the plot, but I don't think I can do it objectively. If you'd really like to learn about this movie, go here.
Are you still here?
Good. This movie blew. Here's how it went:
Sandra Bullock wakes up and she's happy. Her husband dies. She cries herself to sleep, but when she wakes up, her husband is alive again. She cries again. She looks frightened, then confused, and then distraught (Yes, that facial expression conveyed just about everything but happy; for that, she just smiled).
She has emotional outbursts. Then she buckles down and figures out that she's experiencing her week out of sequence. Did I mention emotional outbursts?
And just when you think it's about to get melodramatic, it gets stupid.
A priest tells her something about God having a purpose for her, I think. Or maybe he was trying to get her to drink communion wine. I don't know - it was near the end of the movie and I think I had started talking on the cell phone and cooking. I returned to watch the surprise ending, hoping that it would all come together in a beautiful and insightful way.
And it didn't disappoint: It made me realize that Sandra Bullock isn't attractive to me anymore - and that's depressing.
Oh well. Every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I try to remember that my day could have been worse.
So it seemed natural to want to rent her latest thriller, Premonition (2007).
It's a non-stop roller coaster ride that will take your hope away.
I'll try to summarize the plot, but I don't think I can do it objectively. If you'd really like to learn about this movie, go here.
Are you still here?
Good. This movie blew. Here's how it went:
Sandra Bullock wakes up and she's happy. Her husband dies. She cries herself to sleep, but when she wakes up, her husband is alive again. She cries again. She looks frightened, then confused, and then distraught (Yes, that facial expression conveyed just about everything but happy; for that, she just smiled).
She has emotional outbursts. Then she buckles down and figures out that she's experiencing her week out of sequence. Did I mention emotional outbursts?
And just when you think it's about to get melodramatic, it gets stupid.
A priest tells her something about God having a purpose for her, I think. Or maybe he was trying to get her to drink communion wine. I don't know - it was near the end of the movie and I think I had started talking on the cell phone and cooking. I returned to watch the surprise ending, hoping that it would all come together in a beautiful and insightful way.
And it didn't disappoint: It made me realize that Sandra Bullock isn't attractive to me anymore - and that's depressing.
Oh well. Every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I try to remember that my day could have been worse.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
HOLY CRAP: The fuel of the future: Salt water?
OK, this isn't exactly an entertainment or wacky political story. But it just might be the most important story of the past two centuries.
A cancer researcher has accidentally figured out a way to make salt water burn by exposing it to certain radio frequencies. Scientists are looking into the possibility of using the world's most abundant resource as a new fuel source.
Neat.
A cancer researcher has accidentally figured out a way to make salt water burn by exposing it to certain radio frequencies. Scientists are looking into the possibility of using the world's most abundant resource as a new fuel source.
Neat.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
VIDEO REVIEW: 'Masters of Horror: Imprint'
If you enjoy staring at aborted fetuses, then "Imprint" (2006) might be for you.
It was the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. Director Takashi Miike - director of "Audition" (1999), "Ichi the Killer" (2001) and Gozu (2003) - has outdone himself this time.
Miike has a special way of going too far in his films, ranging from gratuitous, excrutiating torture scenes (including the one in "Audition" that earned him international fame) to unspeakable wrongness.
So, back to "Imprint."
No synopsis can really do it justice. It starts off eerily, and builds to a crescendo of vomit-worthiness. See IMDB's synopsis - it does just as good of a job as anyone else.
To give you an idea, the hourlong movie was produced as part of a 13-part horror series for Showtime. Each part had different actors and directors, ideally celebrating the diversity of horror styles. But just before "Imprint" was set to air, Showtime refused to air it. Not because of potential FCC violations, mind you - premium cable channels aren't governed by the FCC. They shelved it because it was so disturbing.
Exactly which aspect of the movie the Showtime executives deemed too disturbing for television is anyone's guess. It could be the graphic depictions of backcountry abortions in rural Japan. Or the violent wife-beating scenes. Or maybe the drawn out, nauseating torture of a beautiful, half-nude woman that went on for a few minutes too long.
Or... well, maybe it was all of the above.
All that said, I'm a sucker for sick stuff. I have a stomach of iron when it comes to fake gore. So if a horror movie can actually make me uncomfortable and nauseous, then it deserves some respect.
It's definitely worth an hour (and the next three you'll need to recover).
It was the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. Director Takashi Miike - director of "Audition" (1999), "Ichi the Killer" (2001) and Gozu (2003) - has outdone himself this time.
Miike has a special way of going too far in his films, ranging from gratuitous, excrutiating torture scenes (including the one in "Audition" that earned him international fame) to unspeakable wrongness.
So, back to "Imprint."
No synopsis can really do it justice. It starts off eerily, and builds to a crescendo of vomit-worthiness. See IMDB's synopsis - it does just as good of a job as anyone else.
To give you an idea, the hourlong movie was produced as part of a 13-part horror series for Showtime. Each part had different actors and directors, ideally celebrating the diversity of horror styles. But just before "Imprint" was set to air, Showtime refused to air it. Not because of potential FCC violations, mind you - premium cable channels aren't governed by the FCC. They shelved it because it was so disturbing.
Exactly which aspect of the movie the Showtime executives deemed too disturbing for television is anyone's guess. It could be the graphic depictions of backcountry abortions in rural Japan. Or the violent wife-beating scenes. Or maybe the drawn out, nauseating torture of a beautiful, half-nude woman that went on for a few minutes too long.
Or... well, maybe it was all of the above.
All that said, I'm a sucker for sick stuff. I have a stomach of iron when it comes to fake gore. So if a horror movie can actually make me uncomfortable and nauseous, then it deserves some respect.
It's definitely worth an hour (and the next three you'll need to recover).
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