Latest This Modern World

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The latest TMW comic strip is pretty sage commentary by Tom Tomorrow - this week, he directed his well-placed ire at Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve. Greenspan's book came out this week, and it promises to be a fascinating one. Early reports have him praising President Clinton and being dour on President Dubya, but I still disagree with some of his policies over the years. It should make for an interesting read, though.

Weekend Cartoons

Another weekend, another batch of political cartoons. I'll be commenting on many of these issues tomorrow - a day I plan on spending in front of the TV, watching football, and writing. Enjoy. ...

This last one above I'm including because it angered me so much. More on the MoveOn "controversy" tomorrow.

Are Mexicans invading Canada & the NHL?

Quite naturally, I'm all stoked for hockey season, and this feature on The Daily Show had me rolling the other night. It's a feature about how Mexicans are overrunning Canada, and it features Edmonton Oiler forward Raffi Torres. It's pretty funny, as almost all features on TDS are.

I'll type more about hockey later in the week. Some of the writing on hockey in this country is laugh-out-loud funny; I read a columnist yesterday in USA Today who predicted that my Oilers could be in the hunt for the number one pick. I guess he simply missed the offseason and all of the moves Edmonton did. I usually ignore such predictions an I don't get too emotional about them - in '06, when Edmonton went all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, many had picked them to finish 10th in the conference. Oops.

Rudy's phoniness higher than his 9-11 profits

I've been out of it politically for a little while now - with school starting back up, coupled with a million other things going on, I just have not had the time. And, when I have had the time, quite frankly, I've been too disgusted to read, watch and write my usual quota about the disgraceful state of politics in our country.

However, leave it to the Republicans on Capitol Hill to get me equal parts fired up, angered, pissed off and motivated. So, in short, I have lots to get to. First, though, I'd be remiss to not comment on the 9-11 Profiteer himself, Rudy Giuliani, and his fifth-grade campaign tricks.

In the video above, America's Mayor would have us believe that his wife called him right in the middle of a campaign speech during a speech to the NRA (an organization that he vilified as mayor of New York City, by the way). Nothing turns people off like insincerity and phoniness. When I first saw this ridiculous footage, I couldn't help but think of GiuLIEani's oft-repeated lie about what he said to his corrupt NYC police chief, Bernie Kerik, on the morning of 9-11: "Thank God George Bush is our president."

Well, really I can't prove that what he said to the sleazy Kerik on 9-11 is a lie, but if it isn't, it should be. I know more than a few simple-minded, partisan rubes who said to me personally following 9-11: "Thank God Gore isn't president." Pretty funny how that laughable statement becomes more and more absurd with each passing day.

GiuLIEani has pulled the cell phone trick before, too; take a look at the footage below...

The best part about the footage of the NRA convention (at top) is that shortly after his little phone stunt, I hear that the crowd started to turn on him. Good. Now, I can't wait for the rest of America to follow suit.

I'm really going to enjoy watching Giuliani fail in his bid for the presidency. First, it was McCain who added joy to my life, and now it will be Rudy.

McCain is the new McGovern
Rudy is the new McCain

Life could be worse.

Last week's This Modern World

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I know I'm behind, but last week's This Modern World was pretty good.

Don't miss The War tonight on PBS

Tonight at 8 p.m. on PBS, The War, a World War II documentary by Ken Burns, premieres, and I can't wait to see it. It's a 14-hour-long documentary, and by all early accounts, it's really going to be eye-opening.

One big reasons I'm looking forward to it is because of what it's NOT - a Hollywood production of World War II, with all of the dramatic special effects and sappy love stories (See Disney's POS Pearl Harbor for a shining example). Burns is literally reporting on the war through the eyes of the people who lived it - the most accurate kind of film making on war, in this author's humble opinion.

U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek have pretty good pieces on the upcoming series, so take a look if you get a chance. (U.S. News also has some video clips, too.)

In an interview with U.S. News, Burns offers up some great reasons for undertaking The War. Here are some excerpts:

On why his film is different from other WW II films:

The War is a kind of bottom-up, experimental look at the Second World War told not from the familiar perspectives of celebrity generals or politicians or an overweening interest in strategy or tactics or the distraction of weaponry and guns, but from so-called ordinary people. There are no experts in the film. If you weren't in the war or waiting anxiously for someone to come back, you're not in our film. The intimate view allows us to unwrap the Second World War from the bloodless gallant myth that has attended it since it ended.

On history being a myth:

How could [World War II] possibly be "the good war" when it was the worst war in history - killing nearly 60 million people? By the end of the film, we learn the great secret: that in shared sacrifice, we made ourselves richer. The whole war is smothered in myth that we sometimes forget the cost.

[...]

These were teenagers that were asked to become professional killers. They saw bad things, they did bad things, and that's the kind of war that we want people to understand. And when the [veterans] came back, no one was distinguishing if you were on the front lines or in the 10th shoreline division. So the people who saw the worst of it tended to shut up.

On revisiting WW II:

We're losing 1,000 WW II veterans a day in this country, our kids think we fought with the Germans against the Russians, it's horrible, and I couldn't abide. I'm in the memory business, and each time a person dies, it's a whole library of memories that leave.

On what his film says about memory:

War is the great lie of civilization; it is a collective forgetting. When people bear witness to it, they help resurrect it. Memory becomes the agent of our transformation, and we have an obligation to it. Like the still photograph, for me, remains the primary building block of visual communication, individual memory becomes the building block of our collective cohesiveness.

**

If The War is half as good as Burns' reasoning behind undertaking the project in the first place, it's going to be a very fine documentary indeed, and best of all, a very important contribution to history.

I've been an avid student of World War II for a long time, but when it comes to the war and the sacrifices of the generation who lived it and fought in it, I don't even know what I don't know. But, I'm always eager to learn more, and hopefully The War will be educational and informative to us all.

Sunday comics

It's been a while since I've posted some Sunday comics, so here's a two-week edition of sorts. Lots more commentary coming later today - I'm watching football and writing while awaiting news from my brother about my new nephew, Hunter. My sister-in-law Stacy was in labor yesterday, last I heard.

Anyway, the last two weeks have been pretty eventful, and as always, the artistic comedians have kept up, much to my delight, and hopefully yours.

What a first night...

Wow - that was quite a prison pounding that the Saints endured last night. Kindly disregard everything I wrote yesterday about the Colts D - it really looked impressive against what on paper appears to be a very good Saints offense this season.

The Saints looked flat-out lost - there's no other way to say it - and Peyton Manning and the Colts like in mid-season form.

I'll try not to be such a curmudgeon about the NFL throughout the season, but a few things do get on my nerves that I'll share now... (NFL picks for week 1 coming later today)

-I have to acknowledge that it's the English major in me that never dies, but I don't think it's too much to ask that broadcasters pronounce words properly. Al Michaels, while being a very good broadcaster, annoys me somethings with his linguistic hiccups. He's the only person I know who pronounces New Orleans (New Oar-LEE-ANS). Ridiculous. And Saints RB Deuce McAllister is Meh-CAL-ister, not Muh-GAL-ister. Do I have too much time on my hands? Maybe, but when you hear it 30 times during a broadcast, it tends to annoy.

-Can Peyton Manning possibly be in any more commercials? At what point does he become a liability to advertisers looking to sell everything from shoes to schnapps? This guy is more exposed than Brittney Spears' chocha a few months ago.

-The NFL is the most overproduced league in the history of human civilization. Last night, Faith Hill sang her song This Kiss during the pregame ceremony. To say the tune was an odd choice for the league to choose to kick off the season would be like saying OJ Simpson... oh never mind.

-Vandra brought up a good point last night - why are all of our sports teams "World Champions"? Ethnocentrism I guess - you know, that whole idea that the United States is the center of the Earth, and everything revolves around it. Isn't Super Bowl Champions, World Series Champions, NBA Champions and Stanley Cup Champions enough to get the point across? I certainly think so. Most people would say I'm being too politically correct, and to those people I say, "You're number one," in a very creative way.

-John Madden is one of the best broadcasters in the history of professional football. (Sorry, Dennis Miller.) But, I wonder if his time really has passed. Late in the fourth quarter last night, very late in the game, Madden was bringing us up to speed on the injuries of the Colts coaches. I'm guessing zero people cared.

-I found last night's decision by Saints Head Coach Sean Payton to keep Drew Brees until the end of the game, long after the game was in doubt, was a foolish one. If Brees goes down for the season or even a few weeks, the Saints are about 1/4 of the team they are with his backup, if you can name him. Go ahead, try to - I can't, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

-I say it every season, and I'll say it again - I'm sick to death of stupid NFL regulations. Why does the league cut down on end zone celebrations? What possible reason could the league have, other than simply being overly anal? Because kids could watch it and behave poorly? What about all of the scantily clad women that the networks run to pander to the NFL's fans? Beer commercials, anyone? The rule is flat-out stupid. Sometimes NFL really does mean No Fun League.

-This is another thing I realize will never change, but I won't stop complaining, ever, about the relentless commercials. Touchdown and extra point. Commercial. Kickoff. Commercial. New possession starts. QB calls timeout. Commercial. It never seems to stop, and as fans, I know it's something we are just going to have to live with. After all, the NFL is one of the most successful businesses in the world, and the TV networks pay tens of billions for the right to broadcast NFL games, and they have to make their money back. But it just seems that every year the number of commercials seems to creep up, along with the endless sponsorship and promotions.

Oh well, bring on the games. Despite my complaints, it still is a fun league, and I look forward to a great season. And, maybe I can actually have some luck in fantasy football this season as well, but I'm not holding my breath - luck seems to elude me every season.

Maybe this season will finally be redemption for Dallas, though. I waited for 12 years before first seeing the 'boys win the Super Bowl, and it's been 12 years since their last Lombardi Trophy, so maybe this is the year. We'll see in about three months or so.

Go Cowboys.

Photo from ESPN.com

Sunday Comics - oh what a week

Another crazy week is in the books, and what a week it was - a U.S. Senator being a naughty boy in an airport men's room; Michael Vick pleads guiltY; and Bush tries to educate us on Vietnam, a war he's about as qualified to comment on as "Brownie" was to be the head of FEMA. On to the comics - enjoy.