I missed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls in the theaters.  I'd heard mixed reviews and never made time to go see it.  But yesterday I was at the grocery store and on the way out saw that the $1 DVD rental kiosk had recently added Crystal Skulls to the library.  So I thought to myself, "Self, give it a shot.  After all, it's just a dollar.  Also, you forgot to get milk."

That's the last time I let myself do the thinking.  Sweet merciful crap that movie is terrible.  I'd give a spoiler alert at this point, but can you really spoil something already that rotten?  The acting was lame.  The story was embarrassingly predictable and thoroughly stupid.  The action was fake (CGI has ruined action movies, but that's for another post) and completely unexciting.  It would have been partially forgivable if they called it "The Mummy 4" or "National Treasure 3."

And all this is from Lucas and Spielberg!  I'll bet they're surrounded by "yes" men - people who don't have the guts to tell them the emperor has no clothes.  They're so caught up in their greatness that they can just phone it in.  Well this time they certainly dialed the wrong number.

I want my dollar back.

I snapped this screenshot off the Drudge Report yesterday.  I like the spelling in the Obama ad at the top of the screen.  Yes, this was real.  No, I didn't alter the image.

Yesterday Congress voted not to proceed with the proposed $700 billion bail out plan.  Outstanding.  It's nice to see some things work right every now and then.  If  you haven't done so already, I highly recommend reading Jeffery Miron's article Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer.

Simply put, big government got us into this mess in the first place.  Bigger government cannot be the solution.

Let us not forget who we are.  We are America.  We support such bold concepts as freedom, responsibility, and justice.  We are free to take risks.  We accept responsibility for our actions.  We believe that being productive, making money, not taking money, is a noble pursuit.  And we believe that those who take advantage of others should be brought to justice.

So why then do we hesitate to hold those at fault for this financial crisis accountable?  Furthermore, why do we even entertain the thought of using taxpayer money to cover for these people?

Government, stay out of the way.  You have no business using my money to stop a company from failing when it has earned the right to do so.  It won't be the end of the world.  In fact it is what makes the world go round: capitalism.

Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention was outstanding.  I wanted to share some thoughts about her and reaction to her so far.

Vetting

The left has been trying to imply there are all sorts of problems with Sarah Palin's life that should have been uncovered by the McCain campaign's vetting process.  As is normal, all of these "problems" they they've been throwing out keep amounting to liberal slander.  But they continue with their Palin tantrums: she's not qualified, doesn't have experience. etc.  So obviously she hasn't been properly vetted.

I realized that, by their standards, they're right!  She hasn't been properly vetted.  "Vetting," on page 42 of the liberal handbook, is the process of making up lies and half-truths about a person, publishing said lies, and seeing what sticks.  And because they didn't see Palin coming, they having had weeks to attack her publicly, or as they'd call it, the proper vetting process.

So now they're playing catch-up.  In overdrive they're digging up anything and everything they can.  Doesn't matter if it's true, print it.  We've got to stop this woman.

Feminism

The feminist left hates her.  She's about to become the most prominent woman in politics, not because of them, but in spite of them!  And what fools they make of themselves.  The obvious conclusion from their reaction is they support women, as long as those women are liberals.

Experience

The left's accusations that she's a back-woods nobody without any real experience has blown up in their face.  Simply put, her experience as governor alone is more relevant than Obama's short career in the Senate.  But the whole point that they're suddenly acting like they care about experience is laughable when their candidate is Obama.

Speech Writers

Right after last night's speech Brit Hume had a panel of commentators on hand to provide some commentary.  Two members of the panel threw in comments like, "It was a fine speech, she didn't write it of course, but it was very nice..."  After the second instance Brit stopped her and asked why is it they're making extra efforts to highlight the fact she has a speech writer, when this is the absolute norm.  They all have speech writers.  The commentator floundered and threw out some lame excuse, but kudos to Mr. Hume for nipping this thinly veiled attack in the bud.

Next Steps

I'm looking forward to the next several weeks.  The Republicans just need to continue promoting who they are and what they believe.  The Democrats have shown they're quite willing to embarrass and expose themselves without our help.

So I'm walking out of the grocery store and see a 20 something guy walking in.  He's sharply dressed, has a trendy haircut, sunglasses propped up on his head... and he's carrying an empty green canvas bag.  I'm sure you've heard of or seen them (or worse: used them).  They're eco-friendly, reusable grocery bags.

Okay, 1 of 3 things is going on here:

1. Captain Follower really believes he's making a difference.  He thinks that plastic bag production, use and disposal pose serious risks to the environment and isn't about to have the destruction of the earth on his conscience.
2. Sped-Boy understands that his efforts really don't make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but chooses to so anyway for symbolic reasons.  He's making a statement: "I'm for the environment."  And who knows, if enough people follow his example and set examples of their own, we could make a difference.
3. He's trying to meet chicks.  "He's cute AND he cares about the environment..."

But honestly, all three scenarios are disturbing.  He's either really dumb (1), even dumber (2), or is into total morons (3).

Super Nanny?  Are you kidding me?  First of all, if you're turning on the television for family advice you've got problems.  But if you must, then look no further than Jack Bauer for solving all your family woes.  Here are some helpful lessons I've picked up on the way:

• Carry a gun.  In fact drive a car that has a trunk full of guns.  You'll never know when you need to assault a strong-hold without backup.
• If you need information from a guy and know he won't break in time, shoot his wife in the leg.
• To re-establish cover with the enemy, kill and behead a witness who's about to testify against said enemy.  Or break their leader out of prison.
• When your wife's murderer is down, gun out of reach, plug him or her three times in the chest, just to be sure.  Ask your daughter to leave the room first though.
• Learn how to fly a helicopter.
• Get friends with satellite surveillance capability and mad hacking skillz.
• Keep the President of the United States on speed-dial.
• Kill terrorists before they kill.

Get started and you'll be on your way to marital bliss.

Janos Baranyai of Hungary was attempting to lift 148kg (326 lb) when his elbow buckled and bent the wrong way.  It's pretty disturbing (pictures, video).  While it is tough to watch and I certainly feel bad for the guy, I gotta say it's like watching a bull rider get hurt.  You sympathize, but are you surprised?  "Huh... sure didn't see THAT coming!"

It's been confusing hearing the news clips and radio talk shows discussing Russia's recent invasion of their neighbor Georgia.  However I found a great overview written by George Friedman of Stratfor.com:

The Russo-Georgian War and the Balance of Power

You'd think after losing the cold war they'd knock it off, but no - this seems to be a major step in Russia's return to power.  If, as Friedman's article suggests, it is Russia's intention to challenge US interests and this is just the beginning we'd be crazy to put someone like Obama in office.  Things are going to get ugly and a liberal appeaser in office would be a very bad idea right now.

I haven't been terribly interested so far in the Olympics.  They're being held in a communist nation, the Olympic committee itself is notoriously corrupt, drugs and cheating seem so prevalent in modern athletics - I guess I'm a bit cynical when it comes to sports.

Disclaimers out of the way, I happened to see the men's 400 freestyle relay last night and it was awesome.  In case you missed it, France was favored to win, and had in fact been talking some serious trash beforehand had saying they were going to smash the Americans.  But in a stunning final lap Lezak caught up to and passed the frenchie to win the race.

This is satisfying for many reasons.  First, an underdog win is always good.  Second, it's nice to see your own country win.  Third, it's GREAT to see your country slap down the arrogant French!

But I've been a bit disappointed in the news coverage and commentary I've heard so far about the event - they make it sound like Phelps was the man.  Sure he's favored to win a bunch of medals over these Olympics.  But in this race, "the man" was Jason Lezak.  He pulled off an impossible comeback, and the credit should be his.  Phelps would do well to deflect all the attention he's getting on this toward his teammate.

My wife and I were watching TV the other night, and ABC's Supernanny was on.  The episode, like others I've seen, showed a family trying to deal with some terribly behaved children without much success.  And through the course of the show Nanny Jo is able to observe and make recommendations that helped change the behaviors of both adults and children in the home.

What struck me was the father.  He and the wife admittedly were on the verge of divorce.  They both appeared to be very superficial people - trendy clothing, cosmetic surgery, etc.  So when the nanny started making real basic suggestions for the parents, I rolled my eyes thinking, "yeah right, a game to teach patience is not going to off-set years of self-centered behavior."

Sure enough, by the end of the show things did appear to be better.  The father was more patient, involved, and understanding with his family.  The mother was more empowered and confident in herself.  And the kids seemed to be improving in their behavior.

But I was still doubtful.  They're acting better for the cameras, but will shortly fall back into the same routine.  The marital problems are much deeper than what a nanny could/should address with a few simple exercises.

But then I got to thinking: sure, their problems probably run much deeper.  The simple behavior changes like "be nice" and "be patient" don't go that deep.  Or do they?  How much better would our lives be if, regardless of how serious our problems are, we don't lose the small habits like being considerate, being patient.  It may not fix the core problem, but a little common courtesy in the home will open the channels.

It is ironic that because those closest to  us have seen our ugly side we abandon the effort to be polite.  But when we have a guest over we put on our nice-guy face.  Put it on for your family.  Even if you feel like it's just an act.  It's a role worth playing - and if you do it long enough it won't be just an act.