This is the semi-organized junk-drawer for everything not already covered, or pieces I'm not sure where to categorize. - Freydis

Miscellaneous Film Reviews

10.03.10 Fingersmith (2005) directed by Aisling Walsh. This film is challenging to describe or review without acting as a spoiler and giving away key events, suffice to say things are not what they appear to be at first. This is a profoundly well-written, impeccably delivered, and intriguingly interlinked story set in 19th century England, focused on the lives of two young women who become intimately connected but through opposing motivations. One woman is rich and the other is poor, yet both are attempting to escape from their own prisons, one from the prison of poverty and the other from the prison of class and patriarchal culture.

09.03.10The Room (2003) Widely criticized as one of the worst movies made, this virtually unwatchable film resides somewhere between Ed Wood Jr. and David Lynch. Tommy Wiseau, the director/writer/star, might have been able to make his thread-bare story work if he’d played to his strengths (ineptitude, or perhaps simply lack of experience and talent) and made it satire or intentionally ridiculous (perhaps something like the hilarious Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, 2004), but instead he delivered it serious and it just comes off as unintentionally funny, a bungling farce. [There’s no reason to describe the story, really, it just doesn’t matter.]

Drug Companies Manipulate Political System, Kill Poor

The argument in defence of this system offered by Big Pharma is simple, and sounds reasonable at first: we need to charge large sums for "our" drugs so we can develop more life-saving medicines. We want to develop as many treatments as we can, and we can only do that if we have revenue. A lot of the research we back doesn't result in a marketable drug, so it's an expensive process.

But a detailed study by Dr Marcia Angell, the former editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, says that only 14 per cent of their budgets go on developing drugs – usually at the uncreative final part of the drug-trail. The rest goes on marketing and profits. And even with that puny 14 per cent, drug companies squander a fortune developing "me-too" drugs – medicines that do exactly the same job as a drug that already exists, but has one molecule different, so they can take out a new patent, and receive another avalanche of profits.

As a result, the US Government Accountability Office says that far from being a font of innovation, the drug market has become "stagnant". They spend virtually nothing on the diseases that kill the most human beings, like malaria, because the victims are poor, so there's hardly any profit to be sucked out. ...

Yet moves to change the current system are blocked by the drug companies and their armies of lobbyists. That's why the way we regulate the production of medicines across the world is still designed to serve the interests of the shareholders of the drug companies – not the health of humanity. ...

Stiglitz's plan is simple. The governments of the Western world should establish a multi-billion dollar prize fund that will give payments to scientists who develop cures or vaccines for diseases. The highest prizes would go to cures for diseases that kill millions of people, like malaria. Once the pay-out is made, the rights to use the treatment will be in the public domain. Anybody, anywhere in the world, could manufacture the drug and use it to save lives.
From: The hidden truth behind drug company profits, by Johann Hari, The Independent, August 5, 2009.

Afghanistan and Pakistan Foil Multiple Empires

In 1932, in a series of Guernica-like atrocities, the British used poison gas in Waziristan. The disarmament convention of the same year sought a ban against the aerial bombardment of civilians, but Lloyd George, who had been British prime minister during World War I, gloated: "We insisted on reserving the right to bomb niggers" (Fitzgerald and Gould, pg 65). From: Ten steps to liquidate US bases, by Chalmers Johnson, ATO, August 4, 2009.

Turn Brains Off in Theater

November 2008

African poem paying homage to the Leopard

Gentle hunter
His tail plays on the ground while he crushes a skull

Beautiful death
Who puts on a spotted robbed when he goes to his victim

Playful killer
Whose loving embrace splits the antelope’s heart

"Two people permanently enslaved by the tyranny of fear and superstition. ... Two others facing the future with confidence, having escaped one of the darker places of the Twilight Zone." - Rod Serling narrating. Watch the 'Nick of Time' episode of the Twilight Zone (1960) to find out why.

Because there's a very real chance that no one has the answer presently, don't put artificial limits on the possible - take the limits off of natural human intellectual evolution. Perpetual contained turmoil and institutionalized chaos is the answer to the question of what kind of system of government is most desirable and strategically useful to human development. Only in this situation can valid answers and solutions appear on their own. 20.02.05

This is just an informal observation but it seems like driving abilities are a fairly accurate gauge of regional education levels. The worst drivers are located in places with the lowest education standards.

America isn't the only country Bush will be running like a business...

The Idea Store (concept)

01.08.03 So many people have great ideas but for a multitude of reasons they remain unable to turn them into practical products. This is both frustrating to the source and wasteful to society in general. The many obstacles in the path of would-be inventors are daunting to those unfamiliar with the process, but relatively simple for ones with familiarity and experience. But few inventor start-ups have the cash to pay for a patent attorney or the legal knowledge to know how to defend their interests and not get ripped-off.

So wouldn't it be neat if you could just walk into an office with your blueprints for an invention or an outline for an ingenious solution to a contemporary problem and present it to a panel of experts? Then (if they like it) get a cash payment and royalties in perpetuity while the office takes care of everything after that, the patents, the construction, the marketing, etc. Most importantly you could be sure that the office makes every attempt to fairly assess your invention initially but also guarantee an equitable share of the eventual profits (if any); maybe even allow repurchase rights to the patent.

Basically the 'Idea Store' as I call it would collect and pay for peoples good ideas then build, license and market them. The inventors would get paid a cash amount up front for the rights to develop and a perpetual percentage in royalties if it gets built and sold. If the invention or idea later proves unmarketable the creator would still get a modest amount in cash and the store would simply shelve the idea and retain the patent to be sold later perhaps or to just fill up a patent 'library' collection, marketable in its own right.

This concept would be win-win for everyone;  it would be a services type of company with patent lawyers and copyright specialists mostly, but also marketers and people that know how this system works. it would vastly simplify the process by eliminating much redundancy. In other words every person with good idea wouldn't need a lawyer a marketer and distributor, etc. but could just go to the store and have it done for them as a single package. The Idea Store would centralize these important but banal functions. Indeed this would not even have to be private company, it could theoretically be a government office, like an extension of the patent office - wouldn't that be novel? If done through a government agency they likely would not want to develop and market on their own but rather the development rights could be auctioned off like frequency bandwidth is by the FCC for instance.

Problems here include the typical legal pitfalls, attempting to valuate unusual and perhaps complicated inventions and ideas before they are publicly traded and subject to supply and demand rules. Also success itself could be a pitfall. Having 1000 people a day trying to visit or send your office ideas could overwhelm your ability to discriminate and still have funds to pay for what looks promising.

I'm not aware that anything quite like this exists today but I would be interested to know if it did; it seems very plausible and profitable so it would surprise if it didn't exist somewhere in some form. Anyone else interested in pursuing this idea, answers or questions regarding this concept, please contact the editor through the name / e-mail link located in the page footer.

On a pound for pound basis, the U$ Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber (at $13-$15 billion apiece) is three times more expensive than an equivalent weight of gold!

More counterintuitive repercussions:

Ironically, the spate of carjackings [in England] has been blamed on car security systems. It's not that car alarms, improved locking systems and steering wheel locks are not working - it's that they're working too well. It's getting harder for thieves to steal cars without the keys, and more tempting for them to buy a gun on the black market and take a more direct approach. What was essentially a crime against property has become personal. - New Zealand Herald newspaper

Did you know that ...

• Retail company employees steal more than the shoplifters do?

• Statically most people survive airplane crashes, but those ones usually don't make for exciting headlines now do they?

Urban Nightmare

2003

The Words of Fools

As the Mideast situation very quickly goes from bad to worse it's important to remember that anymore not even physical distance is enough to insulate the citizens of nations from the impact of the venality and stupidity of their leaders. And in the case of America their national situation has been significantly worsened by the influential speech of the Bush administration. But don't take my word for it, let's hear from the fools themselves:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

• On Arafat: - "the enemy of the entire free world," and "an obstacle to peace in the Middle East" and "a danger to the whole region." Could you ratchet up the grandiose hyperbole any higher?

• 'Terrorism' - "We are going to take all the necessary measures to destroy the infra structure of every terror element that exists. We decided to eliminate the terror and its infrastructure."

President "I pray for peace," Bush

• Israel - "I can understand why the Israeli government takes the actions they take. Their country is under attack."

• 'Terrorism' - "The more progress we make toward achieving a cease-fire or meaningful security discussions, the more a killer organization will try to disrupt the process.''

• On Sharon: - "Israel is a democratically elected government, and the government is responding to the will of the people for there to be more security.''

• Arafat - "[Arafat] can do a lot more [to prevent terrorist attacks]" Yeah he'll communicate using telepathic rays seeing as how he's already as evil and by extension powerful, as the Devil himself. Apparently, it doesn't matter that he's completely cut off in a basement bunker with only a cell phone and a dead battery while being surrounded by the Israeli Army.

The diplomatic silence from America is deafening. Most illuminating of all is the noticeable lack of American reproach of Israelis duplicitous language and violent attacks against an elected leader in their illegally occupied territories. As the Lebanese foreign ministry colorfully stated "Only hours after the Arab peace initiative was adopted at the Beirut summit, Israel responded with a barbarous war and an arrogant savage aggression." But even The "dove" Colin Powell could only tell reporters that Israel had 'a right to defend itself' - "Let's be clear about what brought it to a halt, terrorism - terrorism that would target innocent civilians."

Continuing the undeniable evidence is the fact America continues to do absolutely nothing to intervene beyond the continuing farce of sending mouthpiece Zinni and despite the powerful authority U$ has in dealing with Israel to include billions in yearly aid and weapons packages. Whatever American policy actually is, the view being portrayed to the world is that America agrees and supports whatever Israel does 100%. Therefore Israel's aggression is America's, and the innocent people Israel slaughters are a bloodstain on all of America as well. At the moment Israeli troops have taken over Ramallah, Qalqilya and Tulkarem in the West Bank and surrounded several others with their tanks, and this is just the beginning. Israeli officials now claim Arafat is hiding 'wanted men' in the few rooms he still controls at his headquarters in Ramallah.

Although the U.N. Security Council issued a resolution calling on Israel to pull out its troops from Ramallah on Saturday, there were no signs of any plan to comply. Apparently this demand has no deadline attached to it, but it's still pretty convenient that Iraq has to obey UN mandates at the drop of a hat but not Israel.

Finally, concerning Israel's latest action to "isolate" Arafat, "the US ambassador to Beirut offered only that violence was no solution to political problems." I think he missed the irony. 01.04.02

"The problem is, he's got to decide if he wants to live or die. If he wants to die, he's going to die here. Or he's going to fucking spend the rest of his short fucking life in prison. It's his decision, man. We can only help the guys who want to talk to us. We can only get the Red Cross to help so many guys." - The highly professional interrogation by CIA agent 'Dave' struggling to convey the dire nature of Walker's situation. The Mazar-i-Sharif prison was subsequently the scene of a bloody uprising culminating in U$ air-strikes on the compound and a quickly forgotten massacre.

We're told not to stereotype, yet loan administrators, rental managers, police and any number of other people in positions of authority do it on a daily basis.

We're told life has no price yet lawyers and insurance agents calculate it every day.

Life in the house of vice and virtue:

The wonderful dichotomy of the sacred and the profane, positive, negative, heaven and earth; images of the dirt floored thatch shack with a stereo and a TV. Islands gripped between natives compelled by capitalist competition and Paul Gaugin-esque urban refugees ironically seeking rudimentary lifestyles the natives don't want anymore. Human comedy, human tragedy, the endless search for the free lunch, the technology without the trouble... I think fiu from the south Pacific islands is a great concept it's when a worker becomes tired or bored they simply leave, not bothering to explain or even ask for a last paycheck.

U$ consumers spend $2.5 billion dollars on golf clubs each year.

I just love the marriage of Wal*Mart and McDonald's. Truly they were made for each other!

Three sure signs you have no class:

• Using swear words as adjectives
• Casual dress means not wearing a shirt in public
• Hanging body parts outside the car while driving

American Coin Tricks:

It used to be that any stingy consumer could put three cents into a Wall Street Journal newspaper machine and get themselves a copy; the secret is in the mechanical device that stacks the coins. Three cents is the equivalent to the same height as two quarters. I can't say as I've ever tried this trick simply for lack of convenient opportunity, and because I have no interest in reading a WSJ. Anyhoo, speaking of coins, Susan B. Anthony dollars are often marketed as being rare and/or collectible. I doubt it, but if you think so I know where you can get all the dollar coins you could possibly want. Go down to the Post Office, don't stand in line for an hour to buy your stamps, go to the vending machine and put in a twenty dollar bill. Buy your book for a few bucks and you'll walk away with a handful of dollar coins in change. Most of them are Susan B. Anthony dollars, but increasingly you can get the new Sacajawea gold-tone (electroslag) coins.

Lightning burns down many of the Amish's buildings, but they refuse to put in lightning rods as they 'run counter to God's will.

Each NASA Space Shuttle launch costs $400 million dollars.

American Cheese:
The most aptly named food. Who would eat this shit but an American? (or possibly Canadian) It’s not even cheese, it's just oil mixed with artificial flavorings and colors with a horrid rubbery texture to it. Mmmm!

The Microsoft effect: the simpler it's intended to be the more complicated it is to actually use.

Satirical poem, author unknown. Original source: the defunct comedy site timmybighands.com