Thursday, September 26, 2013

Today's Internets - "That is the abyss from which there is no return."

"...perhaps the most startling fact in the declassified document is that the NSA was tasked with monitoring the overseas telephone calls and cable traffic of two prominent members of Congress, Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) and Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.). As shocking as the recent revelations about the NSA's domestic eavesdropping have been, there has been no evidence so far of today's signal intelligence corps taking a step like this, to monitor the White House's political enemies."

"Church gained national prominence during his service in the Senate through his chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities from 1975 through 1976, more commonly known as the Church Committee, which conducted extensive hearings investigating extra-legal FBI and CIA intelligence-gathering and covert operations. The committee investigated CIA drug smuggling activities in the Golden Triangle and secret U.S.-backed wars in Third World countries.  Together with Senator Sam Ervin's committee inquiries, the Church Committee hearings laid the groundwork for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Daniel Ellsberg quoted Church as speaking of the NSA as follows: "I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.""

Hilarious Stewart/Colbert bit.


""Gotham," a new drama based on the DC Comics world of Batman, has received a series commitment from Fox, as first reported by Deadline. Bruno Heller, creator of "The Mentalist" and co-creator of "Rome," is set to write and executive produce. The series will depict the early stories of both Commissioner James Gordon and Gotham City's villains, though Deadline notes that Batman will not be a part of the series. "Gotham" will focus on Gordon as a detective in the Gotham City Police Department, before the character met Batman."





Exactly why I only made it through a couple episodes of Sorkin's Newsroom before tuning out.  No, not because of its occasional preachy political obnoxiousness mixed with decent observations, but because of...  I've already seen this show.  See, I loved Sports Night, liked a reasonable amount of the West Wing, and even gave Studio 60 a shot, but Sorkin has just turned into a one-note writer, with the same characters, having the same relationships and speaking the same dialogue.  Over and over.  Wordplay that was once witty and clever, now is just lazy, recycled and repetitive.  A shame, because this was sharp, well-crafted dialogue.  The first time he wrote it.  Back in 1998.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Training.

9/24 - squats

Awesome work - Kick In The Ass • I think it is fair I share it with everyone who...:
"I think it is fair I share it with everyone who needs motivation even though it is so embarrasing for me. Keep going!"


Today's Internets - "For me, that's a defining trait."

"The Hampton Roads NBC affiliate WAVY reports an update on the students who were suspended after a neighbor made “uncomfortable” by the teenagers playing with fake guns called 911 on them. They’ve now been expelled. Via WAVY: During a hearing Tuesday morning, Aidan Clark and Khalid Caraballo were expelled in a unanimous vote. Clark was offered the option of attending an alternative school, but his father, Tim, told WAVY News' Andy Fox he will be homeschooled.  Caraballo will attend an alternative school. 
Your American education system."

Khalid Caraballo, Aidan Clark, Middle School Students, Suspended For Playing With Toy Guns At Home: "Airsoft guns fire small, spring-loaded plastic pellets. They are generally considered safer than BB guns, which fire copper pellets. Seeing the kids playing with the toy guns, a neighbor called 911, according to the Washington Post. In the 911 call, the neighbor admitted she knew the guns were not real. "This is not a real [gun], but it makes people uncomfortable," she told a dispatcher. "I know that it makes me [uncomfortable], as a mom, to see a boy pointing a gun." "And you know what, do have someone contact me and tell me what was done," she continued. The dispatcher informed the woman that police would not contact her but could talk to her at the scene. The neighbor said in the call she would not be on the scene."


""America is just so weird in what they think is right and wrong," she continues. "Like, I was watching Breaking Bad the other day, and they were cooking meth... And then they bleeped out the word 'fuck.' And I'm like, really? They killed a guy, and disintegrated his body in acid, but you're not allowed to say 'fuck'? It's like when they bleeped 'molly' at the VMAs. Look what I'm doing up here right now, and you're going to bleep out 'molly'? Whatever.""

"...on the inside of her left forearm, the words so THAT HIS PLACE SHALL NEVER BE WITH THOSE COLD AND TIMID SOULS WHO NEITHER KNOW VICTORY NOR DEFEAT. "It's from a Teddy Roosevelt speech," she says. "It's about how people judge who wins and who loses, but they're not the ones in there fighting." In other words, "It's about critics."

...Miley admits that her performance with Thicke got a little – her word – "handsy." But she makes a good point: "No one is talking about the man behind the ass. It was a lot of 'Miley twerks on Robin Thicke,' but never, 'Robin Thicke grinds up on Miley.' They're only talking about the one that bent over. So obviously there's a double standard." She was especially amused by the criticism from Brooke Shields, who played Miley's mom on Hannah Montana and called the VMA performance "desperate." "Brooke Shields was in a movie where she was a prostitute at age 12!" Miley says with a laugh.""

...If there's one thing that bothered her about the fallout, it was the idea that her performance was racist, or a "minstrel show," because, critics argued, she appropriated a dance style common in black culture and used black backup dancers like props. "I don't keep my producers or dancers around 'cause it makes me look cool," she says. "Those aren't my 'accessories.' They're my homies." Meanwhile, she argues, the idea that she's somehow playing black is absurd. "I'm from one of the wealthiest counties in America," she says. "I know what I am. But I also know what I like to listen to. Look at any 20-year-old white girl right now – that's what they're listening to at the club. It's 2013. The gays are getting married, we're all collaborating. I would never think about the color of my dancers, like, 'Ooh, that might be controversial.' What do you mean?" she says with a laugh. "Times are changing. I think there's a generation or two left, and then it's gonna be a whole new world.""

"I remember being in my room and going, “Oh, I’m alone, but not lonesome. I have a family. They are people. But I’m all alone.” For me, that’s a defining trait."

[On Buffy] - It was the idea of somebody that you discount that has a secret and the weight of wisdom. I always wanted the person who nobody pays attention to to have a cool secret. It’s so obvious. I’m so obvious. Subtlety is for little men. And I look back at my work and see a rage-filled hormonal autobiography that spans over four different series—five now—and several films. There’s lots of fear, lots of love and confusion and sex, and deep-seated anger at the bullies of the world, be they corporations or demons. I don’t have a ton of enemies. I get along with people pretty well when I’m not annoying them to death. But there’s a lot of inarticulate emotion that I articulate pretty well when I’m in the guise of a teenage girl.

When Twilight and The Vampire Diaries came along, what did you think about them? 
A small part of you is like, “Well, you know, I did that first. I liked that band before they were popular.” The thing about Buffy for me is—on a show-by-show basis—are there female characters who are being empowered, who are driving the narrative? The Twilight thing, and a lot of these franchise attempts coming out, everything rests on what this girl will do, but she’s completely passive or not really knowing what the hell is going on. And that’s incredibly frustrating to me because a lot of what’s taken on the oeuvre of Buffy is actually a reaction against it. Everything is there except for the Buffy. A lot of things aimed at the younger kids is just Choosing Boyfriends: The Movie...
You dance too, which surprised me. At the EW Comic-Con party, you get the floor started. Where did that come from? 
I never danced until I was in college. I was dragged on the floor. I think a lot about it. Because on one hand, it’s the most free I ever feel. On the other hand, I’m analyzing everything I do all the time. It’s this weird combination of “dance like nobody’s watching” / “but everybody’s watching, right?” It’s showing off for no one. I’ve never taken a class. I can’t do the foxtrot or the running man. I want to be with my friends, but it’s a weird way of being alone. It’s just about the movement. It’s a way of being at the party and also getting away from the party.

...you once tweeted: “Everything is a drug. Family, art, causes, new shoes… We’re all just tweaking our chem to avoid the void.” That’s profound and depressing. 
If you look at the Twitter feed like you look at my work, it’s all me trying to work out my problems—and some puns. And with that one I didn’t even feel like being funny. I remember that one particularly. It was one of those obvious revelations, but I was really feeling it. Everything we do really is just a little marker on the long road to death. And sometimes that’s overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes it makes me feel kinship and forgiveness. We’ve all got the same ending to the story. The way we make that story more elaborate, I got to respect."



Monday, September 23, 2013

Today's Internets - "I like you just the way you are."

 


Everyone has a talent.


"A Czech film from 2011, Muži v Naději ('Men In Hope') features this rather sexy scene with actress 'Eva' Vica Kerekes as Šarlota, who can't play pool to save her life, I don't care what anyone says. This very European film is a romantic comedy about adultery and life lessons for the over fifties, described as a 'whirlwind of comedic situations'. Kind of like Parenthood but with more boobs. "

"The Manhattan Project was, the director of the Office of Censorship once said, the "best-kept single secret of the war," as The New York Times put it in a piece that ran on August 9, 1945, the day of the bombing of Nagasaki. And how remarkable this secrecy was! With some 130,000 people involved in building the bomb, how is it possible this story didn't leak out?  Well, as nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein documents frequently at his invaluable site Restricted Data, the secrecy of the Manhattan Project was not all it is cracked up to be. Wellerstein says that the fact that "the Army was working on a new super-weapon that involved atomic energy" was something of an "open secret" in Washington prior to the bomb's use, and, moreover, there were numerous press reports that gave information about the project.

But there is one that stands out, Wellerstein writes, and that is a report from The Cleveland Press, by columnist John W. Raper, who happened upon the clandestine city of Los Alamos, a year and a half before bombs would fall on Japan.  "Forbidden City" the headline proclaimed. It continued: "Uncle Sam's Mystery Town Directed by '2d Einstein.'""

This is damned clever.

Forget Miss America, Brazil has the far superior Ms. BumBum. - Panel picks Brazil’s sexiest ‘bumbum’ - Back Page | IOL News | IOL.co.za:

You can keep your RenFair, the Polish Knight Fighting League is here to fuck your shit up - The Polish Knight Fighting League is the only reality show we need
"1,000 years ago, when men strapped themselves into full-body suits of armor and began hitting at each other with swords, it was war. Today, it's entertainment. The Polska Liga Walk Rycerskich is essentially the Polish version of SCA but with real (albeit dull) swords, and it is even more insane that you can imagine. As you can tell by the above promo video, some members are happy to do elaborate, twirly attacks, and many are content to just beat their opponents about the head. Most fights are one-on-one, but there appears to be some kind of group match, shown near the end, which looks like a big free-for-all with men in full armor basically performing flying body tackles on everybody else. It's madness."





Training.

9/22 - bench, dips, push-ups

9/21 - rest/off

Age 57/No Excuses - Bodybuilding.com - Over 40 Amateur Of The Week: Old Enough To Grow Better!:

Food Log.


9/18 - water, protein powder, Animal Pak, Animal Flex, Animal Omega, Uni-Liver, ZMA, ham, karaage, Isaan pork sandwich, beer

9/19 - coffee, chocolate milk, Craze/Pump HD prewworkout, protein powder, milk, water, beer, karaage, egg, avocado

9/20 - coffee, chocolate milk, water, rice, eggs, ground pork, bacon, steak, karaage, ZMA

9/21 - coffee, milk, bacon, roast beef bacon sub, pork curry, rice, beer, nachos

9/22 - coffee, chocolate milk, protein powder, milk, chips, beer, donuts, banana, rice, crab omelette, garlic pork