Instead of driving back home today, I ended up having to stay another night in Spokane. At first I was going to use this as an opportunity to go see a movie, but there was nothing playing that was compelling enough to lure me to the theater. Instead I decided to catch up on work. Sure it's not much fun, but I am so far behind that it seemed the smart thing to do.
Especially since there's a pretty big thunderstorm brewing outside.
In addition to work, I've also been catching up with news...
JOHN HUGHES
I was very saddened to learn about the passing of John Hughes. His ability to portray high school life in the 1980's was dead-acurate, and resulted in some of the best films of my generation. You didn't have to look too hard to find yourself in his movies, which is what made them so compelling. The back-to-back triumph of Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club would be enough for any writer/director to live off of for their entire career. But he followed them up with Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off which only served to cement his genius. His writing career was equally prolific, giving us such gems as Home Alone and Vacation. Few filmmakers reach the level of John Hughes, and I thank him for his contribution to some of my favorite cinematic memories.
SAM THE KOALA
Speaking of loss... today was equally devastating for animal lovers because Sam, the famous koala who became the poster-bear for the plight of animals affected by the horrific Victorian bushfires that raged in Australia. Sadly, Sam managed to recover from her burns, but ultimately succumbed to chlamydia, a disease that is ravaging the koala population with a 50% infection rate. I ended up buying the official photo of Sam for my office wall, where she inspires me to persevere over setbacks in life that our outside of my control. How sad that she eventually perished despite all her strength and will to survive. Something else we can learn by, I suppose.
ORLY TAITZ
Speaking of chlamydia... when you are so fucking insane that the Queen of Fucking Insane calls you crazy... shouldn't that be a major wake up call? I mean, come on! ANN COULTER has come out and said that Orly Taitz is off her fucking rocker, and yet this bat-shit crazy media whore is still popping up like a herpes outbreak everywhere you look. Her obsession with making a case for President Obama not being an American citizen is bordering on mania, and I expect it's only a matter of time before she's committed. You would think that the overwhelming evidence to the contrary would be enough to deter the dumbass, but it only seems to spur her on. Since this is America, it's fully her right to speak her peace, present forged birth certificates as authentic, and say whatever stupid shit she can dream up, but at some point don't you just have to point and laugh? I mean, seriously... ANN COULTER SAYS SHE'S A CRANK!! At first I found her entertaining. Now I just find her scary. Somebody needs to take off the tin-foil conspiracy hat and fake eyelashes and get some much-needed mental help.
Though I suppose Orly Taitz is still a shade more sane that Rush Limbaugh, whose infatuation with Bill Clinton's penis is approaching truly disturbing depths. I can only guess that when Rush isn't theorizing what's going on with Clinton's penis that he's fantasizing about having it for himself. It would sure explain a lot. Like the playground schoolgirl who keeps beating up the boy she professes to hate because secretly she's in love with him, Rush just can't leave Clinton alone. Add that to his hardcore stance against gay marriage (when his three divorces show that straight marriage works so well for him) and all the pieces seem to fall into place. Denial, Rush... it's not just a river in Egypt.
Speaking of disturbing depths... now I suppose I really should get back to work.
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I don’t think the whole birth certificate crap would be so big if Obama hadn’t been so secretive about every. single. piece. of. documentation. in. his. life.
I’m not personally saying he’s ineligible, as I do not know. But we do know that Obama invited this kind of scrutiny with his complete and total lack of transparency, which he vowed as a campaign promise to bring to Government.
Birth Certificate: hidden
Transcripts: locked away
Student Aid / Scholarship records: Denied
School records from Occidental: Protected
Columbia Records: Denied
Thesis: not released
LSAT scores for getting into Harvard: missing
Harvard records: denied
First black president of Harvard Law Review: no documentation
University of Chicago: no articles
Passport: not released
Key Witness involved with Passport security breach: shot in his car shortly afterwards
Medical records: None released (extremely rare for Presidential Candidates).
Files and schedules when Illinois Senator: not released
Illinois state bar associ. records: unreleased
And you rarely hear that a Certificate of Live Birth, which is what Obama has released, was available to Citizens born outside the United States in 1961.
When there was even the slightest interest in discrediting McCain for being born in Panama, there were Congressional Hearings. Double standard?
All I know for sure is the guy came out of nowhere, with little to no credentials, barely a scrap of evidence that he even existed for 40 years, and proceeded to win the hearts and minds of tens of millions of people, bringing the promise of hope and change and positive thinking.
my youth would not have been the same without john hughes. what a talented man.
i’ve got to admit, though, that i am really upset about sam the koala. overwhelmingly sad.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of my favorite movies, as well.
And if the woman’s name is ORLY, like that O RLY? owl, are you sure she’s not some comedian ala Andy Kaufman or Steven Corbert doing his neocon shtick?
The birthers are an odd bunch. When are these people gonna stop trying to find phony reasons to discredit his Presidency? When are they going to admit that they don’t like him simply because he is a Democrat? Or because he is a Liberal. Or because his middle name is Hussein. Or because they don’t like the job he has done thus far.
Or because he is black.
RIP, John Hughes. He was awesome.
The koala story seriously makes me weepy. That picture kills me every time I see it.
“[…] and proceeded to win the hearts and minds of tens of millions of people, bringing the promise of hope and change and positive thinking.” -@whall
That sounds like the triumphant conclusion to a wonderful American story. I’m thinking you didn’t mean for it to be that way. 🙂
**
Dave, that “Dumbass!” badge might make a good addition to the Ask Dave app, though I’m not sure it would be much different than Lil’ Zombie Dave…. (Also, why is it “Lil'” instead of “Li’l”? Perhaps because of how odd the second version looks?)
Wayne… Birth certificate hidden? I guess you didn’t read the article I linked to. Or your tin-foil hat and false eyelashes are interfering with your thought processes. Obama provided documents which are in full legal compliance to the requirements he must pass. As for “double standard”… you are seriously making my LOL LMFAO ROTFL here. You’re honestly giving McCain full points here because a select few people got to spend three whole hours with a massive pile of his more current health records which were still questioned as to their completeness? And don’t even get me started about his military career. There are interviews with his fellow American soldiers talking about all aspects of McCain’s questionable service that were never addressed or clarified… just buried. Something McCain himself had a hand in when he insisted that he be put on the POW/MIA Senate Select Committee. He did everything in his power to block the investigation and cover-up the truth… and yet this was completely ignored by your “liberal media.” So much for “double standard.” The thing I don’t understand here is why you Republicans keep clinging to a list of documents from Obama’s past (many of which he has no control over). Why aren’t you focusing on Obama’s CURRENT bullshit? Honestly, I don’t give a crap what Obama wrote in his thesis… what I care about is that he BROKE HIS PROMISE about bringing transparency to government. He had a golden opportunity to prove himself when it came to the ACTA documents, yet cried “CLASSIFIED AS A MATTER NATIONAL SECURITY!” in a way that even Bush would be proud of. This is complete fucking bullshit, and proves that Obama is still a politician first, no matter how much he likes to claim otherwise (big shock, I know). As I have said many times, I did not vote for Obama because I think he was the best candidate for President of The United States… I voted for him because he was the least worst of what we were offered (in my humble opinion). Obama, McCain, Clinton… all of them… they all have their secrets and lies BECAUSE THEY’RE POLITICIANS! You will never convince me that Obama is in any way unique in this respect. Obama won. It’s over. He provided the REQUIRED documents to qualify for the presidency. Let’s move on to what matters NOW. Just like the Republicans told us to do when people questioned the legitimacy of how Bush “won” his second term. Now THERE’S your double standard.
Hello HaHa Narf… I didn’t expect that I would be so emotionally touched by Sam dying, but it has really caught me off guard. Probably because I see her every time I go into my office, and took such inspiration from her story. So very sad indeed.
Avitable… Oh yes. Probably my most favorite John Candy film.I had no idea that Hughes wrote so many great films until I saw his IMDB profile.
Ren… Sure he did! We are living the American Dream here, and Wayne knows it! 😀
Obama is the illegitimate son of the last known Templar and the lecherous Queen of Southern Umbweebwee. He’s also related to a third cousin of the late Abdul Nassar (Paula’s great-uncle) and was sworn to secrecy by the hand of the Bene Gesserit, after he took a bath in the melange from the giant worms, per the rites of the ceremony only six people knew about before 2004.
The factories that give you dead witnesses, Muslim brotherhoods and missing documents also gave you the affair between what’s his name and Hillary just before he shot himself in the park, mentioned in the third coda of Nostradomus and transcribed into the Codex Gigas by that little old winemaker.
The minions of truth run down the hallway screaming “socialism! gah!” And are buying guns by the basketload to ward off the agents of the ATF coming to a Montana shanty near you.
I think Hughes did something about that with McCauley Skullcap. Or whoever…
I’m also very sad about John Hughes. I own a lot of those movies and they are near and dear to my heart.
That koala story is so heartbreaking. 🙁
I don’t think there’s a John Hughes movie that I didn’t love.
Chlamydia? They survive countless of trials and tribulations and then die of CHLAMYDIA???? First I heard of this story (yes I do in fact live under a rock) how SAD!
Dave – if you haven’t seen the Orly Taitz MSNBC remix, do a search for it on YouTube. It’s a must see. Tamron Hall is brilliant with her two word assertion on Taitz at the very end.
I am so upset about the koala. I’ve lived through a couple of bushfires and saving the wildlife is always very rewarding but also extremely emotional as many of them don’t make it.
That Taitz woman scares me. Reminds me of some of our more redneck Aussie politicians who want to bring back the White Australia Policy that was in force until the 60s. She probably also believes the dinosaurs were in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve!
RIP John Hughes.
There’s definitely parts of my life in 16 Candles, but I love it nonetheless, and The Breakfast Club too. He raised the bar for telling teen stories.
As for the birth certificate nonsense, I just don’t get it. Do people really think the Republicans wouldn’t have used that to disqualify Obama if they could have? Or do they think Republicans kept a low profile during the election regarding birth certificates because McCain was born in Panama?
You know the birth certificate story has gone to a crazy level when it’s on the front cover of Global News, next to the “Alien Baby Eats It’s Way Out Of The Womb” story, which of course, we knew happened in the 50’s – Old news.
RIP John Hughes. Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Ferris and Pretty In Pink were all made in 3 years and proved the brilliance of his work.
Awwwww, Sam the koala is dead?
Must now cry. A lot.