SONICFROG DOT NET

Massive History Rewrite! – Bush / Republican Tax Hikes!!!!

Eye Poppingly Incredible! Remember when the Republicans were trying to get the Bush tax cuts passed, and not only did Democrats decry them as being cuts for only the wealthy, but also, the only way the Republicans could get them to pass was to have them sunset in 2011?

Well, Just Watch!

Have you been able to pick your jaw up off the floor yet?

Meme Alert – Racists!!!!

I figured I’d get ahead of the liberal crowd that will surly label my friends at Gay Patriot as racists for even mentioning D W Griffith and Barrack Obama in the same blog post.

Political Stupidity / Meme Alert – Arizona VS Rhode Island

In the last week, I have heard all over talk radio that it’s unfair to single out Arizona for wanting to enforce immigration law, when Rhode Island is doing that very thing! Why aren’t people and states and city counsels boycotting them?  Why doesn’t the government sue them???? Over at Volokh, I made this comment:

I haven’t done much research into the ruling, so I won’t comment on it. But here is a question that is nagging at me: Why didn’t Arizona do the exact same thing that RI is doing? It certainly looks like you don’t need a separate state law to achieve the same results, as RI has shown.

Well…  Here is the difference! Arizona, through the passage of its law would force all its officers to become immigration enforcement officers! Rhode Island?

Supporters of Arizona’s new illegal-immigration law have in recent weeks cited Rhode Island as a state where police have been quietly carrying out comparably tough enforcement without a court challenge from the Obama administration.

But in Rhode Island, both sides of the debate agree that the executive order Governor Carcieri issued in 2008 is far less sweeping than the Arizona law, which takes effect this month.

Comparisons of the two approaches are intended to rationalize the law in Arizona, generally more conservative than Rhode Island, by suggesting it’s already more or less in place in a heavily Democratic state, said Steven Brown, a leading critic of the governor’s order and executive director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The only reason I can see individuals focusing on Rhode Island is for political purposes and stretching what’s happened here as a way to try and compare a largely Democratic state — a blue state — with a red state, and somehow claim that Rhode Island should be looked at similarly,” Brown said.

The Arizona law also makes it a state crime for immigrants to not carry immigration documents; Rhode Island’s executive order has no such provision.

Arizona’s law generally requires local police officers, while enforcing other laws, to question a person’s immigration status if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally.

Rhode Island’s order directs the State Police to help with immigration enforcement and encourages — but, importantly, does not require — local police to seek a suspect’s immigration status.

The more I’m reading and absorbing about this case, the more I’m siding with the Obama administration on this specific case. Arizona should have followed Rhode Islands lead. This is looking more and more like a political gambit, and the Republicans will ride it all the way to the November elections.

Neverending Meme Alert!

A comment from a Facebook post on the Arizona immigration ruling today:

“How much longer are WE gonna let this dictator run the show? Elections don’t matter anymore they never will. Wake up people action needs to happen because the USA I grew up in is gone. I worry about my childrens future…. ”

This was THE EXACT same thing the Dems were saying four and two years ago. Does anyone else see the irony?

Movies – Standing The Test Of Time.

Over at Gay Patriot, Dan is taking a much needed break from politics to talk about movies, especially those that have held up well over time. The conversation starts by focusing on which stars of yore have to transcend the era when they made movies. For instance, I think Katherine Hepburn and Carry Grant are still quite watchable. As is Jimmy Stewart. John Wayne…. mmmm… depending on the movie, it’s a wash. Burt Lancaster has always rubbed me the wrong way.

The conversation in the comments section soon shifted to genres. I’m a big SciFi nut. In that genre, I think movies with supposed near-future tech in them are challenged, because often the devices end up looking very dated in a very short time. This is especially true for movies that are set in the near future.

Robocp was a very good movie. When it came out though, I saw the previews and thought it would be just silly. Then one day, soon after it came out,  one of my classmates in screen writing class showed up with a copy of the script in hand. First off, this is pre-internet days, so getting your paws on something like that, especially so soon after its theatrical release, was almost unheard of….  and WAY cool!  Once I started reading the script I quickly changed my initial opinion of the potential quality of the movie. I went to see it and was very glad I did.  I am not much of a fan of Ver Hoven when he go all gore – which is strange, because I LOVE when Cronenberg does!… Scanners is still a guilt pleasure.

Fast forward twelveish years.  Me and the Sonic-mate had recently purchased our first DVD player. We had been revisiting some old favorites, and, since this was a movie we both liked very much, we decided it was time to revisit it in all its now digital glory. It is still a very good movie, and the strength of Peter Weller’s performance helps it hold up well. What didn’t hold up well at all…. was the use of Ford Taurus as the futuristic car. Yes, it was a break from the past as far as the auto industry goes in the 80’s, but MAN, every time you see the car in a shot, you can’t help but notice just how dated it looks, even with the “futuristic” wheel well covers applied. It just jars you  out of the story.

Movies that are set far into the future, Alien, Aliens, Blade Runner, yes, even 2001 Space Odyssey, or movies set in a galaxy far, far away, all have the advantage of inventing all the tech from scratch. They can make things up as they go along. And yes, I do think Blade Runner still shines some thirty-two years later. It is a masterpiece. And since Joss Wheaton’s name came up in the comments, I’m firmly in the camp that his Firefly wrap-up Serenity will definitely hold up well as time goes on. Even if you don’t know the Firefly TV show, you can still get wrapped up in this fine space tale.

Yosemite – July 25, 2010

The Gaylor Lakes Hike!

It was spectacular!  There is an abandoned silver mine toward the top east portion of the hike.  Will get the pics of that from Greg.

PS. The one downside? Mosquitoes, and lots of them!  I did spray on some repellent when we first started the hike. Noticing the little buggers were starting to land on me, I gave myself a booster spray a couple of hours into the hike, and managed to get some of the DEET into my eyes….  Wow! That stung like crazy. I wonder if that is what pepper spray feels like?

A Quick Thought On Journ-O-list – Proof Of Collusion?

Maybe I haven’t been following this as closely as I should. So far, we have seen what Journalists on the list think about Republicans and the GOP – “And maybe I really am losing it, driven over the edge at last by my hatred of all things Republican…” Kathleen Geier. We have seen that they have talked about NOT pursuing a story, and the story wasn’t pursued, via Andrew Sullivan and the “Who’s Trig’s Mommy” debate / inanity, a story they may not have covered anyway. But is there a definite thread explaining how to frame a story or spread a meme where it can be shown that the members of the list definitely followed the advise of the comments in the post?

So far, I haven’t seen it. But again, I’m not following the story that closely.

PS. There is always the contempt for “white men dominates politics” angle to be played. Here is journalist Mark Schmitt on the Palin / Trig thing:

Look, this has nothing to do with “us” or how “we” or Democrats play this story. There’s a closed room somewhere right now where the poor governor is sitting in the middle of a circle of Charlie Black, Steve Schmidt and a bunch of other white men who are grilling the hell out of her: “Is any of this true? How do you explain getting on a plane? Give us the name and number of your Ob-Gyn. What else don’t we know about you?”

You can just hear the contempt, can’t you? I wonder how many more “white men” smears appear within the text of the list?

Headline: Oliver Stone: ‘Jewish-Dominated Media’ Prevents Hitler from Being Portrayed ‘in Context’…

Reality: It’s been done….. Brilliantly!

And parodied…. Brilliantly!

Note: I would have used the parody of parody, but it looks like it’s been pulled.

Further Note: I rarely get to say this… But, Oliver Stone…. What-ever he’s smoking…. I DON’T want some!

PS. South Park did it!

The Official Guide To Moobs!

I have No Idea what category to file this under!

And here’s a website dedicated to them…

And finally, This may be the greatest set of moobs I’ve ever seen!

Stole From: Talk Bass (yes bass players are weird)

Women’s Breasts Getting Larger???

I blame thank global warming!

Hat Tip: Insta-P.