Television and What Politicians Fear

In case you haven't heard, Obama and the rest of Democrats were trying to delay the switch-over to digital broadcasting next month because of a waiting list for government handouts regarding the converter boxes for old televisions. Here's a brief update from WENN...


The bill that would have delayed the February 17 switchover from analog to digital television failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote in the House Wednesday after House Republicans united to block it.

The GOP members had argued that a delay would place undue hardship on smaller broadcasters who would be forced to maintain dual transmitter sites for an additional 90 days and that it would confuse consumers.

They favor a more limited measure that would free up funds to allow more $40 vouchers for converter boxes to be sent to those requesting them. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration says that 2.6 million coupon requests are currently wait-listed.


There shouldn't even have been a voucher program to begin and it certainly shouldn't be expanded in the current economic crisis.

Television is not a necessity nor a Constitutional Right. It is a luxury, and the government should not be using tax dollars to fund luxuries for the citizenry.

Of course, if the American public wasn't zoning out in front of crap like "Survivor" and "Damages", they might actually start paying attention to how our elected officials are abusing their power and the money they extort from us via the tax system. If the American public started paying attention, we might actually see some real change in the way our government functions.

And that idea gives Obama and the rest of the Democrats, as well as most of the Republicans, nightmares.

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Charles Scheer dead at 88

Producer Charles Scheer, best known for his collaborations with legendary special-effects wiz Ray Harryhausen, died on January 21 in Boca Raton, Fl at age 88, his daughter said Sunday.

Among his films with Harryhausen were "It Came from Beneath the Sea", "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers", "20 Million Miles to Earth", "First Men in the Moon", "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", and "Clash of the Titans".

Scheer produced 25 films, including "Hellcats of the Navy" in 1957. The film featured Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, his future wife, in their only screen appearance together.

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Author John Mortimer dead at 85

British dramatist and author Sir John Mortimer has died at the age of 85, following a long illness. Mortimer passed away at his home in Turville Heath, near Oxford, England on the morning of Friday, January 16.

Mortimer was a prolific writer and best known for creating classic British TV show "Rumpole of the Bailey" about an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients. He was himself a barrister before he turned to writing.

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Don't Say I Didn't Warn You!

In order to help prevent America's cities from being burned to the ground in the great TV riots of 2009 that were predicted early this year by the FCC chairman, I am calling attention to the fact that today is the last day to order your $40-off coupon for a DTV converter box if you want to get it before the Day of Doom (otherwise known as Febuary 17, 2009).

Owners of TV sets who currently receive over-the-air analog broadcasts and who have not yet requested $40 coupons from the government to be used for purchasing converter boxes may discover that those coupons will no longer be available in less than two weeks, according to the Washington Post. In fact, it's taken up to FOUR weeks for the coupons to be delivered in many cases!

Those unable to obtain the coupons will have to wait until after the February 17 analog-to-digital transition day when the government determines how many coupons have not been redeemed.

So, if you think that can afford to pay full price for a converter box and you will panic and/or get violent if you turn on the television to watch "Oprah" or "Wheel of Fortune" and all you get is static, please order your coupon immediately! If not for yourself, then for America's children.

For God's sake... think of the children and go to [url=https://www.dtv2009.gov/]https://www.dtv2009.gov/ for your home entertainment version of government cheese!

(For the record, I ordered mine. If my tax dollars are going to pay off other people's mortgages and bad investments aod to welfare--otherwise known as the Earned Income Tax Credit--I figure I should get my government cheese, too.)

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'The Spirit' is lacking

The Spirit (2008)
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Eve Mendes, Scarlett Johannson, Louis Lombardi, Dan Lauria, Stana Katic and Paz Vega
Director: Frank Miller
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

The mysterious protector of Central City, The Spirit (Macht) squares off against the villainous Octopus (Jackson) over the secret behind The Spirit's powers and the key to world domination. But will triumph mean defeat for The Spirit? Has his long-lost childhood sweetheart, Sand Saref (Mendes), really joined forces with the Octopus?



I've been a fan of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" since the very first story I read. It's a series that's unique both artistically and story-wise, and it's one that is well-deserving of the place of honor it holds in the minds of well-read comic-book fans and scholars who study the genre.

It was for this reason that I was a bit concerned when I heard that Frank Miller was going to be adapting "The Spirit" to the big screen. Miller has shown himself to be a one-trick poney when it comes to story-telling, and I was afraid that he would "Sin-Citifie" The Spirit by reshaping the property into the sort of stuff he usually does.

The fact that Miller has long been a very vocal admirer of Eisner and his work made me hold out hope, however. I hoped that Miller understood enough about "The Spirit" to recognize that he had to take a different tack than he did on "The Dark Knight Returns" or "Ronin" or any of the Sin City graphic novels (and especially the Sin City movie).

Unfortunately, I held out hope in vain.

While it's clear from the film that Miller has looked at the gorgeous art that Eisner produced--the Eisner hallmarks of falling snow/rain, the splashing water, the plunging buildings, the femme fatales dressed in clothes that will fall off if they sneeze are all present in the film's visuals--but I can't believe he actually bothered reading the stories.

Miller has imported some of Eisner's trademarks (and The Spirit's red tie) into a world that is visually Miller's, but he completely missed the... well, the spirit of Eisner's work. Either that, or Miller isn't half the admirer of Eisner that he claimed to be, and he figured that he knew how to "do it right."

Miller also seems to have misunderstood a number of Eisner's characters, or he viewed them through his "Sin City" lense. How else can one explain the merging of master criminal Sand Saref, black widow con-artist P'Gell, and international jewel thief Silk Satin into one character and failing to include the humor surrounding P'Gell, Silk Satin's honorable nature, or Sand Saref's fundemental vulnerability? How else can one explain him taking three great characters are reducing them to nothing more than a beautiful dame in a skimpy dress?

"The Spirit" movie is an empty shell of a movie that rehashes, poorly, the visual approach taken in "Sin City" and Miller's writing style on Sin City. What little that remains of Eisner's creation are echoes so distorted that they barely warrant mentioning. Even worse, the film is boring. It is, quite possibly, the most boring movie I've sat through this year. (And I did sit through the whole thing; I kept hoping it would get better.)

Take my advice: Instead of wasting money on this crappy movie, spend it on one of the collected volumes of the real "The Spirit." The series was at its best during the years featured in Vols. 12 through 19. The forthcoming Vol. 25 will feature the story that first made me fan of the strip, a near-wordless fight between The Spirit and Octopus, a fight that is far more powerful and engaging than anything that's featured in this film.

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Majel Barrett Roddenberry dead at 76

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76.

Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said.

At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.

Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek."

A fixture in the "Star Trek" franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1966 cult series.

She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams.

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Parents of Jihad Johnny ask for his release... again

From the AP...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The parents of American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh are asking President George W. Bush to set their son free before Bush leaves office next month.
Lindh was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2002 to serving in the Taliban army, which violated U.S. economic sanctions against Afghanistan at that time.

American traitor: John Walker Lindh

At a news conference in San Francisco Wednesday, Lindh's mother, Marilyn Walker, asked the president to show mercy during the Christmas season by commuting her son's sentence.

Lindh initially asked for a commutation in 2004 and his lawyers have renewed the request each year.

The U.S. Department of Justice has never acted on the petition and a spokeswoman didn't immediately return a telephone call.

Why should anyone show mercy to an Islamic militant fanatic during the Christmas season? Because of the mercy they show Christians? This woman has only gotten stupider as the years have gone by.

It's a shame the Justice Department has never acted on the request for a sentence commutation for this piece of human waste. I think they should act by issuing a very short response: "No. Now, fuck off and die."

Taliban Johnny, a pathetic prick of a traitor, should have been put in front of a firing squad and executed. He gleefully allied himself with scumbags who delight in the murder of Americans and he should pay a price for it. Twenty years in prison is nowhere near enough for what he did.

Hell, Marilyn Walker should have been throughly investigated AND punished for any role she played in facilitating this asshole's excursions with the murderous psychos of the Taliban.

(Sadly, I predict that Obama's people WILL let Johnny 'Taliban' Walker go by the time B.O. leaves office.)

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