IFC No More

Well, it appears to be official. It looks like Pataki pulled the plug on the IFC at originally planned. I know there are those who would disagree on this but I feel this is a good thing. I think the idea of the IFC as envisioned was a horrible idea. Even leaving out the controversy about potential exhibits within the IFC it was still not a good plan. The way the center was being designed it was painfully obvious that the IFC was, while not necessarily intended, going to overshadow the memorial to the people whose lives were lost on that day.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with an IFC being setup somewhere else but the WTC site is not a good place for it. I understand the arguments given by the proponents of the IFC but I disagree with their conclusions. They profess to be trying to establish a symbol of what freedom represents on the very site where freedom was deliberately attacked. They say that this would be a tribute to those who have fallen defending freedom through the ages and where freedom can be discussed from various viewpoints. Very noble, but flawed.

It is, in my opinion, a mistake to take a place that should be about honoring the lives lost and the courage of those who worked with no thought for themselves to assist those who in need. The monument should not be cheapened by the placement of a center to 'debate' the meaning of freedom. The Pearl Harbor monument over the USS Arizona isn't there to encourage debate about the meaning of liberty. It's there as a tribute to those who gave their lives on that day in the service of their country. The monument to those who died on 9/11 should be no less respectful. To put in place an institution wherein that sacrifice is no longer honored but, in fact, disrespected on the very site of the attack is reprehensible. It was an attempt to use the scene to lend an air of legitimacy to what was a politically motivated proposal. The mere fact that they dismissed out of hand the issues many had with their plan for the IFC illustrates their motives that much more. If they truly were interested in a free discussion of freedom then they would have at least listened to the large number of dissenters. They did not because they were not interested in anything other than their own agenda.

By all means, let those who wish it build an IFC, but don't expect those of us who have any respect for the dead to stand aside and watch you publicly vandalize the graves of those lost so you can score a political victory.

I am a leaf on the wind.

Well, I got to go see the screener of Serenity last night in KC. First off, let me say that there were some aspects of the movie that I was VERY disappointed in. The one character's story that I want to hear does NOT get told and there's no chance that it can get told now either. After the movie has been out a few days I'll say more on this but I don't want to post any spoilers for those who plan on going.

Now that I've gotten that unpleasantness out of the way I will say that the movie was overall very good. The writers and actors stayed true to the original characters/story very well. They do a great job of explaining what the issue with River was and why the Alliance was so intent on getting her back.

The villain was a kind of evil that we see far too much of these days. He was a believer. A zealot. He wasn't a psychopath or a money-hungry megalomaniac. He was just a man doing what he thought he had to do in order to "make a better world." Someone easy to identify with in many ways but at the same time someone easy to hate given his actions.

And, of course we have the rest of the crew. Captain Reynolds, Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, Jayne, and Simon(River's brother). Reynolds is still the conflicted anti-hero that seems to be all the rage these days. Kaylee still wants Simon. Simon, still focused on caring for his sister, is oblivious. Jayne is still a moron with an itchy trigger finger. Zoe and Wash are still the happily married couple.

For fans of the show you're now asking, "You forgot Inarra and Shepherd." No, I didn't. They're not on the ship at the beginning of the movie. There's some back story between the series and the movie that we don't get much of. It's not necessary to the overall story of the movie but it would be nice to know what happened. Supposedly there's a comic series out there that covers it but as yet I've been unable to find it.

Overall the movie was very good but I still need to find Joss Whedon and have a little 'chat' with him about why certain characters got treated as they did. The way those people got handled in the story pretty much makes it next to impossible for anyone to pick up Firefly and run it as a series in a way that I'd be happy with. The movie almost felt like Joss didn't want to hand Firefly over to the TV exec's again so he wrapped the movie up in such a way as to make it very doubtful that we'll see Firefly again. That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing Sci-Fi try. Bottom line, if you were a fan of the series you HAVE to see this movie. If you weren't a fan it's still a damn good flick and would be worth the ticket price.

I have a pet.

Do you want to run this ship?

Yes, I am a Firefly junkie and if all goes according to plan will see the Serenity screening tomorrow in KC. Here's the quick breakdown on the film:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

If you ever watched the show you should know a good chunk of what's going on but I'm also hearing that there was a comic series that bridges the original TV show to the movie and explains the absence of some major characters. I've been unsuccessful so far in tracking the series down but will put info up if I can get my hands on them. Anyway, it looks like it's gonna be a phenomenal movie and, depending on how the movie ends, hopefully will lead to someone picking the series back up.(are you listening Sci-fi channel?)

Conspiracy

Okay, I'm not a big fan of Limbaugh, but the AM sports stations were on commercial break so I switched over for a minute. I wish I hadn't.

There is now a new conspiracy theory about the levee's and lack of evacuation of New Orleans. The funny thing about Rush spouting off about it is that this theory originates with one of Rush's perennial opponents: Louis Farrakhan. Basically Farrakhan made a statement during one of his many pointless speeches that he had it from a "very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry." As Farrakhan has proven his racist point of view through the years I'm not at all surprised to hear the kind of nonsense coming from him, but as they say on infomercials, "Wait, there's more!!"


Here's where it gets even better. A caller from Charlotte, NC named Moses calls in to defend Farrakhan's statements saying that Farrakhan said 'blown up' to disguise his source. The caller claims that Farrakhan didn't think the levee had been blown up necessarily but that it had been destroyed to get rid of the blacks and protect the whites. The callers logic for this was that Blanco had wanted to get rid of the major welfare drain in the slums part of New Orleans and so orchestrated the destruction of the levee's combined with hindering the rescue and reconstruction efforts.

So we have one theory that claims the levees were destroyed to get rid of the black part of NO. Add to that the theory that Blanco was behind it all to get the welfare families out of LA and lower the resource drain. So now we have a state government conspiracy to run the blacks out of New Orleans and spread them out to other states so Blanco would have more resources to work with. I just kept waiting for the caller to say something about the AIDS virus being released into Lake Ponchatrain before the storm so that people caught in the water would get infected.

Now I would expect even a moderately rational person to dismiss both of these claims out of hand. The frightening thing is that Rush started talking about how Moses might be onto something. So now we have Rush latching onto a crackpot theory with absolutely NO proof behind it. Am I the only one thinking that it might be because he really, really doesn't like Blanco? I would say this theory rates right up there with Farrakhans "rode in a spaceship" belief.

Pleas, please, please people use your heads. Don't just swallow the tripe that you're being fed by 'experts' or talking heads. If someone claims something go look it up to make sure it's right. Analyze what you're told and decide after thinking and research whether or not it's right. Don't assume that because someone has a talk show or you've heard their name before that they know what they're talking about.

Both of these asinine ideas above are demonstrably false but that doesn't stop people from acting like they are Gospels handed down from On High. If people applied a bit more skepticism in their daily dealings we wouldn't have near as many inane ideas floating around as fact. We'll always have con men like Farrakhan or Koresh around but we'll be able to limit the damage they can do if we can get more people to think about what they're listening to.

Nonsense

Mike, The Mad Biologist is someone I read because he tends to have well-thought out posts even if I don't agree with him on the conclusions he reaches. This however has to be one of the most ridiculous posts I've ever read. Go read it and then come back. I'll wait.

Finshed? Now go read it again.

Now that you're back let's address what Mike had to say. The primary point of his post seems to be that we as a nation have created a fictional description of the events of that day in order to better sleep at night. This premise is based on his assertion that the it was just bad luck that the civilians in the WTC "worked in the wrong damn building" and we couldn't deal with that reality. He also feels that the firefighters and police who kept going back into the WTC aren't really heroes because they didn't rush "into those buildings with the express intention of dying."

First of all, the civilians who died didn't work in the wrong building. They worked where their jobs were. That makes the WTC the right building for them. What was wrong about the building? That some worthless cowards decided to attack innocent civilians instead of military targets? That they were good enough and bright enough to have jobs with the companies that operated out of the WTC? I don't see those as reasons to blame the victims.

Secondly, a hero is not someone who rushes headlong into a situation knowing that it's going to kill them. A hero is someone who puts other before himself. Police, firemen, and soldiers are heroes EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES. They put themselves in harms way so that others don't have to. They go into every situation knowing that they may die. That's part of the job. The job they volunteered for. No one forces them forward into the flames or into the hostage situation or into the firefight. No one forces them to put their lives at risk so people like us can sleep soundly. That is why these people are heroes. A hero can be you. It can be me. It can be the guy walking his dog down the street. In stories the hero is almost always the biggest, or the strongest, or the most handsome. In real life, the hero is none of these and all of these. The hero is the everyday guy who comandeers a bus to get as many people as he can out of a drowning town. A hero is the firefighter who braves sniper fire to get to a wounded paramedic. A hero is the soldier who cradles a mortally wounded child trying to hold back his tears. Heroes are all around us every day. And those men and women who died in the WTC trying to get John Q. Public out are all heroes and forever will be.


MAIREANN NA CURAIDH GO DEO

I have...

A new hero. Go listen. Now. Why are you still reading? Get thee hence.

Tribes

Bill Whittle has a post that I know has been linked on a bunch of other blogs but I feel I would be remiss if I didn't include it here. His analysis of the growing split within this country rings eerily accurate. Read it. When you're done, read it again. This is not open to discussion.

Explain something to me...

How is is that some people out there are so blind to reality that they'll even deny fact when it's staring them in the face?

The best example is Dadahead and most of his commenters. They go on and on about "Bush is to blame" and "Bush should have stopped this" or "Bush cut funding." First of all, Bush isn't the reason the storm happened. Neither is global warming. Check with the NOAA for stats on hurricane frequency if you don't believe me. Second of all, as Eric stated so well in his comments to a Dada post, Bush is not a dictator. There are laws that govern what he can and cannot do in regards to declaring martial law and sending troops or Nat. Guard in. This is for those who appear to be hard of hearing: THERE IS NOTHING BUSH COULD HAVE DONE!!!!!!! In regards to the funding cuts, last I checked, Congress still made the budgets. Basically, what it boils down to is these people are allowing their personal hatred for Bush and the administration dictate their reasoning. When you show them the facts they put their hands over the ears screaming "I can't hear you" in the hopes that you'll go away. I hate to break it to these people but facts do not go away just because you don't want to hear them.

This is potentially the greatest personal and economical tragedy to strike the US ever. This is a time where we should be seeing what we can do to help the people involved. This is a time where we get to see who truly cares about this country and it's people and then we get to see those who only care about political gain. To those who turn this into a political attack, you disgust me. This isn't about you and your petty, anti-administration tantrums. This is about real people experiencing real suffering. Your almost celebratory frame of mind is glaringly apparent in your gleeful bashing of Bush for things that even Superman would have been hard-pressed to correct.

And Bush is evil??

This is, IMHO, the lowest form of scum possible. People are trying to help get medical patients evacuated from a hospital and these wastes of oxygen are takin potshots at the medical personel as well as the National Guard troops. There are also reports of roving gangs of armed thugs roaming throughout NO at will. The airlift of refugees from the Superdome was stopped because some idiot fired a shot at one of the choppers. Medics have been requesting armed escorts because of the threats they've received from the very people they're trying to help. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand scared. I understand hungry. I understand tired. What I do NOT understand is this mentality that assaulting the people who are trying to help is acceptable. I may be wrong for saying this, but I hope there are some hungry gators or pissed of venomous snakes that run into these lowlifes pretty soon.

I guess bashing Bush for Mother Nature isn't enough for some people either. This guy has turned this into a gun control issue. That's right, no limits when it comes to using death and destruction to forward your own political agendas. It's abhorent and evil when Bush and his cronies do it but it's perfectly acceptable, and in fact, some are claiming it's necessary and "all they can do" in a case such as this. This is a clear cut case of blatant hypocrisy of the worst sort. What it boils down to is these people didn't get what they wanted in the last two elections so they can do and say whatever they want until their tantrums get the desired result. I've got news for ya people: It's crap like this that loses the Dem's more votes. It's crap like Howard Dean frothing at the mouth with more stupidities. It's crap like the constant sour grapes every time an election doesn't go your way. Grow up. Just because you don't get your way doesn't mean you can act like a spoiled brat. You're not going to always have your way and you might as well get used to it now.

Finger pointing

It's official ladies and gentlemen. The blame for Katrina and it's devestation can be laid directly at the feet of President Bush. After all, he is the reason global warming has been ignored(bad science should be) and he's obviously controls Congress so when they kept passing budgets to reduce FEMA funding he was really the one calling the shots. Another little known fact is that Katrina wasn't just a part of a decades long weather cycle as those pesky rumor-mongerers over at the NOAA would have you think. The reason Bush couldn't speak with Cindy Sheehan is cuz he was out in Air Force One doing donuts to get Katrina to spin faster and become a true Category 5 hurricane.

Anyway, while I've gone a bit above and beyond what some of the people out there have done, this is not too far off from what some people are thinking. Everything that goes wrong in the world is Bush's fault. Granted, I'm not too fond of the man or the job he's done but I deal with the real world where real people have real limits on what they can and can't do. One thing that Bush can't do is start a hurricane. Another thing Bush can't do is set the budget for the country. Another thing Bush can't do is make bad science policy(global warming). Get over it guys. Bush is not the evil that you want to make him out to be. He's just a guy like anyone else. If he were truly as evil as you profess him to be you wouldn't be around to make those comments. You'd be 'disappeared' faster than you can say "Jimmy Hoffa." If Bush truly had the budget power that you seem to think he has then he wouldn't have to go to Congress every time he wants more money for Iraq. He'd have cut the funding to Social Security and Welfare already and gotten rid of all those social programs that Republicans love to hate.

What I really think is amusing is the way these people go off on how the Dem's need to take back control of the Congress. Why? If Bush controls it all then congress is meaningless. Either Congress is essential to running of government or only the Presidency is. Make up your mind folks. You can't cry for both and expect to be taken seriously.

One last thought about all of this: For those of you who whine and complain about how the Repub's and Bush spin everything and politicize everything you have now lost any right whatsoever to claim that again. You have not only used this tragedy to rail Bush for budget cuts that he didn't design but you've also tried to tag him for his 'lack' of leadership in regards to global warming. You've taken two pet issues and tried to piggyback them on the death and destruction left by a natural disaster. You have become that which you claime to despise. How do you reconcile that with your high ideals?