If you know me, you probably know of my love for Gus van Sant. He can take unconventional matter, a half-baked story, sometimes even non-actors, and, with a generous helping of DP Harris Savides’ ethereal magic, usually creates unassuming depth and warmth. Usually. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that Milk wasn’t a good movie, it’s just that it wasn’t a great movie.

While I am still not in full support of the choice for a blonde Bond (I was hopeful for the rumors of Clive Owen or even Julian McMahon), Daniel Craig exemplifies the return of beefy, shirtless, action-oriented Bond, and fits the vengeful edge necessary for Quantum of Solace.

Director: Costa-Gavras
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek
Genre: Drama
Release Date: October 21, 2008

For those of you who think that George W. Bush is the first president to willfully attack a foreign country to rake in the spoils under the guise of protecting America, be aware that there were many before him… they were just sneakier.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was the first Socialist to be democratically elected; the 29th president of Chile. Not only was he a Socialist, but also a Marxist, with strong liberal opinions and radical revisions steered towards an …

Betcha the Olympics committee wonders why oh why did they allow San Francisco, unabashed political arena, to be the only American point on the torch relay route dubbed the “Journey of Harmony”.
Extinguished in Paris (oft joshed at for their cowardice), many cringed at the thought of what Bay Area pro-Tibetan protesters might do to the torch and/or its bearer. On Monday, a few experienced climbers scaled the cables of the Golden Gate bridge to hang protest banners, which were promptly removed within a few hours.
Today, …

Ron Paul, dreamlogic.net fave Republican Presidential hopeful (totally media-snubbed despite his overwhelming “underground” popularity — amazing record-breaking campaign fundraising and high finish in Nevada), has no affiliation whatsoever with RonPaul.com… well, not yet anyway. Recently, RonPaul.com (formerly a Portland consulting firm) sold on eBay for $25,000. The winning bidder’s id, domaininsider, leads me to believe that they might turn around and sell it for profit. Just as long as it doesn’t wind up being someone’s pet slander project, as we’ve seen displayed in the Democratic camps lately. …

I don’t think I’d have much respect for George Clooney if he had remained a fluff celeb cashing in on his devilish smirks and self-effacing clever humor. Instead he ambitiously strives to pursue political platforms, balancing entertainment and ethics. (We share a birthdate, along with Freud and Rudolph Valentino, thinker and feeler respectively, so I feel a little akin and a little proud). Michael Clayton is a none too shabby effort (led by the remarkable screenplay and direction of Tony Gilroy), embroiling corruption and redemption on both …

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair announced today that he will resign on June 27th. He is the only one in UK history besides Margaret Thatcher to last a full 10 years in office. Even though most of the country distrusts him (similar to our country’s leader’s falling popularity rating) he holds steadfast to his belief that sending British troops in 2003 to assist America’s Iraq invasion was a spot-on deal. Tony Blair was probably best known in anti-war circles as Dubya’s puppet boy. Or at least …

Hoo boy it’s time for another News Cap! Man, I wish I had the time to write these every day! Truth is stranger than fiction.
John Kerry, the most unpopular man in the Nation. “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” This is the statement that got everyone’s shorts in a bundle for some odd, mystifying, GOP-domineering way. …

Chris and I love gore gore horrorfests, but no scene ever made me want to shield my eyes and turn away as did a certain clip in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It started out as a fair fight between Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Kazakh film producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), albeit a little slippery because Borat had just emerged from a long languid bubble bath. He is shocked to find Azamat making “sexytime” with his hand to a …

Nazis, Terrorists, Measles, oh my!

You know, I think this whole effort to ban gay marriage through constitutional amendment really stems from narcissism. All these backwater bubbas think that since they find themselves to be so darn attractive, what gay person wouldn’t? In fact, were a gay person in the presence of their buck-toothed splendor, they wouldn’t be able to control themselves. They’d start a-hittin on them, and offering them proposals of marriage. It’s best to nip that activity in the bud and make it illegal right there, or bubba might get so excited someone’s …

Politicians Eat Babies * Iran can’t wait to trash Israel * Drink Pepsi, win $450 * Mexico, the new Amsterdam * German man flushes $19K down toilet

Ahhh, remember the days when only the Superpowers possessed nukes? The fun and frolicking Cold War times when America could really focus all of its hatred and aim all of its WPM on (basically) the Soviet Union. Back when you had an enemy you could count on. *sigh* Those were the days.
Nowadays we have to mambypamby yo-yo and tiptoe around multiple countries and still seem to come out without a solution nor a resolution. America seems to be hanging on the bottom rung lately.. or at …

Hey so the other day my friend emails me with the usual polite morning intro “wut r u doing?” and so I’m like “Worrying about Iran.. what else?” I don’t think that’s what he wanted to hear, but how can you ignore it when it’s driving gasoline prices up and up yet again. More importantly, now springs up yet another blatant impending boiling enemy packed with new and improved nuclear power pointed at us US us!
Here’s what seems to be our current Foreign Relations Policy.. pretend to be buddy-buddy, then …

China is on the fence again.. this time with Iran and N. Korea and a whooole shitload of oil. If China sides with Iran this time, they may just lose their chance at remaining buddies with N. Korea in the future, but their natural resource dependency is, well to say the least, all consuming. What’s an uber-wasteful backwards-proletariat government enforced-CO2 producing country to do? To sanction or not to sanction, eh?
And while gas prices bump, American financial analysts are even quicker to cover it up, boasting last …

Three good articles today. Looks like the recent ruckus made by web users in the wake of the major search engine’s money grubbing kowtowing to chinese censorship policies has caught the eye of bigwigs in the capital. To help preserve “the greatest purveyor of news and information in history”, Josette Steiner, a State Department trade expert, is seeking to form a task force to ensure that flow of information stays as it is.
And in other news the House has strong words for those tech companies whose ‘nauseating collaborations’ with …

Above illustration courtesy of Mahmoud Mokhtari, third place winner of last year’s Terrorism International Cartoon Contest. (No joke).

In case you haven’t heard, the Danish circulation of provocative albeit political caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad (featured above), have received offensive outcries from Muslims, creating even more attention and tension and another good excuse for violent riots and flag burning. In response, they’ve created their own “cartoon contest.”
The [Iranian] daily paper Hamshahri said the contest was designed to test the boundaries of free speech — the reason given by many European newspapers for publishing the cartoons of the Prophet.
“A serious question for Muslims … is this: ‘does Western …