Michael Moore website pics

Michael Moore.com : Mike's Message : Mike's Latest News

Ok, apparently the link didn't go through. This is the web page, so if you want to see the theater, just scroll down to Minnesota.

Inside the Lagooon

Inside the theater.

Lagoon Theater

This is the theater where I went to see Farenheit 9-11

Farenheit 9-11

This afternoon I drove into uptown Minneapolis to catch a late afternoon showing of the new Michael Moore movie. I was very impressed by the film. Yes the film is a very slanted propoganda-documentary, but when has Moore ever denied that?

I believe Moore's strength lies in his ability to combine chilling video clips with poignant music. He is also very adept at connecting events that otherwise appear to have no connection. Nowhere are these strengths more evident than in this movie.

My biggest problem with the film was its fragmentation. He begins with a 20 min. look at how Gore lost the election, proceedes to a 45 minute examination of the Bush-Saudi connection, continues by examining the Afghanistan war for 30 min. (along with its connections to the defense industry), and then finishes with an attack against the administration's Iraq war. Although all these parts are interesting, there is no thread to tie them together. Moore begins by discussing Bin Laden, and ends up on the old standby of Corporate Greed, and the plight of the downtrodden.

I think at times Moore has a tendency to go over the top, but I do believe he is genuine in his crusade, and therefore I respect him. On tonight's Daily Show they showed an interview he did on CBS where the anchor clearly intended to ambush him. However, Moore quickly turned that ambush on its head and confronted the Woman about CBS's supposed lack of journalistic integrity. It was rather funny.

WorldTribune.com: Move over Tiger: N. Korea's Kim shot 38 under par his 1st time out

WorldTribune.com: Move over Tiger: N. Korea's Kim shot 38 under par his 1st time out

This was just too good to pass up.

A Schrock-ish Sunday

Last night the people across the hall moved out, throwing what looked like all of their worldly posessions in front of the dumpster. Included in that pile were a leather love seat, a chair, and a matching ottoman, all invaluable items for a poor grad student who will need to furnish an apartment in another month.

So, with the help of my roommate I emulated my good buddy Fred and pillaged the dumpster pile. I am very happy with my latest accusitions, and will continue to keep a hawkish eye on the junk heap in case anything else of interest is added.

My pillaged Leather "Like-Seat" 

My new chair in a temporary holding space. Behind it, on the other side of the wall sits the matching Ottoman. 

Saturday fun in Minneapolis

Yesterday Minnesotans officially entered the 20th century with the arrival of the new light rail train. I met my friend Elma and her roommate to check out the festivities first hand. From the crowds of people waiting to ride the train, you would think that the people here have never ridden a subway train before.

After riding through several stations, we went back towards the university to meet up with Alec. Following lunch at a chinese restaurant (my fortune stated: "Don't expect romantic attachments to be strictly logical or rational!" ;) ) we headed back downtown to the Metrodome for the Twins-Brewers game.

The game itself was not noteworthy (the Twins lost 7-2). However we were scolded during the singing of the national anthem by a militant ueber nationalist Brewers fan for not demonstrating proper respect for the country.

All in all this was a very good Saturday.

The Twentieth century has arrived!!! Hooray!!! 

View from the Lake Street station. 

You'd think these people had never rode a train before. This is the line just to get on the platform to wait for the train. 

Waiting for the train. 

Lunch at Peking Garden. I reccommend the Szechuan Chicken. 

My obligatory Metrodome shot. 

Great moments in Blogging history

So, I bet you're all wondering what a bored grad student does on a Friday night. Well, tonight I decided to try something different. I wanted to recreate a great moment in Blogging history. So, I got my digital camera, went to Rainbow Foods (a division of Roundys for those not in the know), and attempted to recreate this great moment from May 30, 2004.

On this date in Blogging history, San Antonio intellectual Micah Valine astutely documented the rising costs of milk. Placing his camera behind the milk containers, Micah artistically conveyed this serious social, economic, and potentially political issue.

Recreating this moment, I needed to place a half gallon of fruit juice under the camera to prop it up. Also, unlike the original, my recreation can actually be accepted as the view from the other side, in that milk stalkers, uhhh. .. stockers actually place new milk in the case from the other side of the wall, ensuring regular product rotation, and fresh milk for you the consumer.

This has been a Great Moment in Blogging History.

Take 2 

Take 3 

Take four of my recreation 

As you can see, milk prices have risen here too. 

The Darkness Rock!

Tonight I went to see the Darkness play at the River Centre in St. Paul. The concert was awesome!!!! Wow! Mad props to Freddie for pushing me to buy the ticket. It is easily the third best concert I've seen, after the White Stripes, and the Foo Fighters. At one point, the lead singer did a tour de force guitar solo, and came within 4 feet of me. What a show!!!!

The Darkness rocked my socks off. 

Me, getting ready to rock out with the Darkness. 

The Club For Growth new advertisement

The Club For Growth - Home Page


Advertisement

This is a link to a new commercial being run by the Club for Growth. I have no clue what the message is they are trying to convey. This has to be the worst propaganda piece I've ever seen. To quote Adam Sandler on SNL: "Who are the Ad-wizards who came up with this one?"

CNN.com - Gene mutation makes tot super strong - Jun 24, 2004

CNN.com - Gene mutation makes tot super strong - Jun 24, 2004


Settling the argument once and for all. Uebermensch ist ein Deutscher!

My Trip to St. Paul

Today I went to downtown St. Paul in order to purchase a ticket for friday night's Darkness concert, sans $8.50 surcharge. It really is a nice city. Much more pedestrian than Minneapolis. Below are some pictures from St. Paul, and my walk into Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon.

Snoopy! Part of the St. Paul campaign (like the bisons in Buffalo) 

the Excel Center 

Downtown St. Paul 

St. Paul Cathedral 

What trip would be complete without fowl? 

Downtown Minneapolis from the East Bank 

You're gonna make it after all 

Clinton's Empty 'Life' (washingtonpost.com)

Clinton's Empty 'Life' (washingtonpost.com)


Ok Jeff, I took your advice, and read the post. Not bad :)

Kristof's latest

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Magboula's Brush With Genocide

For those interested in Sudan, here is Kristof's latest column.

Safire Strikes Again!

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Great Cash Cow

Here's Safire's latest on the UN Oil for Food Scandal. It's too bad he's the only person probing this issue.

Who ya gonna call?

CNN.com - List of 100 best movie songs - Jun 23, 2004


Well, apparently not the Ghostbusters. The AFI released its list of the 100 greatest film songs today, but failed to list the Ray Parker Jr. classic. How this song could not make the top 100 is beyond me. If Eminem makes the list, Ghostbusters deserve to be on there too. Harrumph!

And the Academy Award Goes To. . . .

Bill Clinton, of that fabulous acting duo of Bill and Hillary.

Before the hoopla surrounding Clinton's new memoir arose this week, I was actually starting to change my opinion of the former president. I began to look back at his accomplishments, and acknowledge, that he was a fairly successful president.

Now however, I am once again reminded why I dislike him so much. Clinton, like his wife, is an egomaniacal, mendacious, Megalomaniac. For a man who could remember absolutely nothing for eight years, he suddenly has an awful lot to say.

Although I have not read the book (and will not waste my time doing so), I have read enough about it to know that it contains nothing revealing, and that if anything it is just another frantic attempt by Clinton to cement his legacy. Clinton does not confront his decision to pardon Mark Rich, a billionaire charged in 1983 with evading $48 million in taxes as well as running illegal oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis. Rich fled to Switzerland to evade the charges, but essentially bought a pardon with the help of his wife. The pardon was heavily criticized by both Republicans and Democrats.

Clinton also fails to discuss the 1996 funding scandal involving Johnny Chung, a Chinese businessman who used his business connections in China to funnel millions of dollars into Clinton's campaign fund for the 1996 election. In exchange for the money Clinton altered US Arms sales restriction laws to allow US companies to sell China military technology. Democratic senator Joeseph Lieberman later said: "The fundraising scandal of 1996 was a very real tragedy, with very real consequences for our democracy."

Finally, in an attempt to keep up with Hillary, Clinton also compares himself to Nelson Mandela. (Hillary compared her forgiveness of Bill with Mandela's forgiveness of White South Africans). If this does not smack of Megalomania, I do not know what does.

So, for those of you still believing this is the best administration of the century, I leave you with this: his rap sheet.

If Kafka ruled the world

Listening to the events of and discourse over the Iraq war, I cannot help but think the world is ruled by one of my favorite authors, Kafka.

The Americans invaded the country in an attempt to remove the weapons of mass destruction, and end human rights abuses, yet turned out to be worse than the deposed.

We have also learned that France and Russia, two of the staunchest defenders of peace, actually fought the war out of the fear that the massive corruption of the oil for food program would come to light.

The list goes on and on, reading exactly like something Kafka himself would write.

Everyone argues that this war is the fault of the US, and that the US should therefore pay the price alone. However, I think if anything, this is just exacerbating the problem. Yes, the US occupation has been a disaster, but conditions could very easily be better if the world was just be more open to helping.

I'll conceede, the US hasn't been willing to ceede authority over Iraq, but who ultimately does that hurt? Iraqis! As the international community tries to stick it to the US for being the unopposed superpower, the situation just gets worse and worse inside Iraq. Neighboring middle eastern countries do not want to see Iraq succeed out of the fear that a democratic government there will create problems for their despotism.

There's nothing we can do now about the war. The US is there, and to completely pull out now would only make things worse. Although this may be an opportunity to challenge the American unipolar order, the only losers in this are the Iraqis.

Everyone criticizes the US for acting, asking why it was so important to go to war over this. As the corruption within the UN proved though, the relief was not achieving its desired end, and the enforcement of the No-Fly Zones was just a waste of money, material and life. So, as my communist friends ask me all the time, why was it so wrong to take a chance? Instead of continuing to plod along in a stagnant international environment, content contain Saddam, as long as he only made his own people's lives miserable, the Bush administration wanted to remake Iraq in the shadow of Western Liberal Democracy.

Perhaps if we start to work together, we can end this Kafkaesque nightmare.

Photoshopping, Soccer, and the 5678's

I'm doing more photoshop work right now, listening to my favorite English radio station on ITunes. Yesterday, England beat Croatia 4-2, to advance in the EM 2004. To celebrate, the English have combined Wuhoo by the 5678s (a la Kill Bill fame) with a bunch of Soccer play by play calls and cheers. Its kind of catchy, and they play it every 30 min. Now having said that, its time for the daily 1:45 playing of Travis. . .

9/11 Commission

The Zelikow Report

In today's New York Times, William Safire comments on the recently released Zelikow Report, an "interim report" issued by the Commission's staff. The report, picked up by news media under headlines that dismiss any Iraq-Al Qaeda connection, has clearly been misconstrued. As Safire clearly demonstrates, the report combines the issues of Iraqi-Qaeda relations (which there were), and an Iraqi connection to 9/11 (which there was none). It attempts to argue on the basis of Iraq's 9/11 involvement (or lack thereof) that no connection between the two entities existed whatsoever.

I think Safire's column is yet another reminder of why the 9/11 commission is nothing but a joke. It was designed to be a bipartisan effort to determine the root causes and failures that led to the terrorist strikes. However, it has been more concerned with assigning blame solely on one party or the other. As current and former top officials were questioned by the commission, the only member to question both sides with equal vigor was Bob Kerry.

The Zelikow report is yet another example of the commission's failure to do its job correctly. Supposedly published without the commissions knowledge, the report seeks to discredit Bush more than uncover the truth.

I do not think you can completely blame either Republicans or Democrats for 9/11. Yes the Bush administration did not fight the terrorist threat with as much zeal as it should have, but at the same time, Clinton had his chance to get Bin Laden in the late 1990's and failed. There are also many other root failures that can be traced back to earlier administrations.

I sympathize with those families that lost relatives in the attacks. However, I do not think it prudent to brand the Bush and Guilianni administrations as a band of murderers. Giulianni had New York City arguably more prepared for a terrorist attack than any other American City. Unfortunately his anti-terror headquarters was destroyed in the bombings. At the same time, the mayor himself admitted that he believed an attack would most likely come in the form of a chemical or biological bomb, not kamikazi Boeings. Yet, in the face of so much chaos, Gulianni's stoic leadership arguably prevented the situation from being much, much worse. As the mayor himself has said, if anyone is to be blamed for the attacks, how about the 19 individuals who actually carried out the attack?

If we truly want to get to the root causes of the 9/11 failures, the commission must do what it was intended to do. As Safire argues, it must show how Clinton's failure to respond to the USS Cole bombings contributed to 9/11. It must demonstrate how Bush's refusal to replace George Tenet as CIA director would be beneficial, and finally it must demonstrate "how Congress's intelligence oversight failed abysmally." Only then, when all parties are criticized equally will the commission regain the credibility it has so shamelessly lost.

More Sudan

Kristof continues his saga on Sudan in today's editorial.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/19/opinion/19KRIS.html

Time for Action on Sudan

href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/18/opinion/18FRI1.html">Time for Action on Sudan

Many people may not be aware, but a brutal massacre has been raging in Sudan. Although it is part of a greater civil war that has been raging nearly non-stop for decades, the last several months have seen a dramatic rise in the rate of murder. Instead of recounting everything here, I will leave it to you to search for info on the background. The American media (surprise surprise) hasn't covered this too extensively, but I have found the Economist and the New York Times to provide decent reporting. Keep an eye out for Nicholas Kristof http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/16/opinion/16KRIS.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists>Dare We Call it Genocide? he has been writing regularly on the subject for the past couple months, and provides a vivid description of the situation.

Although a discussion on Sudan has been active for a while, I am moved to post on it because of today's NYT op-ed column. As the column clearly argues, although there has been much discussion and condemnation in diplomatic circles, there has been absolutely NO ACTION. China, Pakistan and Algeria stonewall any attempt made by the UN to act, doing more to actually protect the Sudanese government.

At the same time, the Bush administration is too busy examining whether or not the disaster in Sudan legally meets the definition of Genocide. I am abhorred by the failure of the Western democracies to do anything on behalf of the Sudanese people. After the Holocaust, we hear all to often "Never Again!" in reference to preventing another Genocide from breaking out. Yet, the remainder of the twentieth century is marked by the West's failure to take any action to back up this statement. Nothing was done in Cambodia during the 1970's, and in the mid 1990's, the UN just stood around, and monitored the massacres in Rwanda.

President Clinton often points to the NATO action he led to end the killings in Kosovo (a little delayed, but better late than never right?), but where was he when the UN needed someone to lead a force into Kosovo? In the one month the UN spent debating what to do, almost 1 million people were hacked to death.

Rwanda was supposed to change everything. This was supposed to be the real eye opener. Now we know that Genocide doesn't take months and months to develop, so expedited reaction is an even greater necessity.

Once again though, many thousands of people are dying, and those that can make a difference are sitting on their hands, claiming that they cannot act until they are positive that Sudan meets all the legal requirements of Genocide.

Does it really make a difference? People are people! Is it considered less morally reprehensible if it is deemed that the Sudanese government did not really attempt to wipe out every Black African/Christian/Animist?

Bush does deserve to be praised for negotiating a peace in the civil war, but permitting the Genocide now in exchange for maintaining the accord is pointless. The same can be said for travel restrictions and sanctions. As the Times points out, what good will that do on a government that is already banned from half the world and has no assets to freeze?

I think the biggest problem I have with the Bush administration's response is the sudden concern over legality. They were all to eager to invade Iraq, and remove Saddam, who was such an urgent threat to national security. Now, I supported the invasion of Iraq. I think there were too many broken resolutions to overlook. However, I think a much stronger case could be made for invading Sudan.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is much worse than the situation under Saddam. At least Iraq did have a central government that was half heartedly committed to distributing foreign aid (yes this was only after half of the aid was confiscated for Saddam himself).

At the same time Sudan can also be classified as a failed state, a state with a very weak central government. Its much more likely that the Sudanese government would support Terrorism, or allow terrorists to operate off of Sudanese soil. They did house Osama at one point, and I don't find it far fetched to believe they would do it again if the price was right.

Furthermore, as a result of the peace treaty, Bush is immensely popular in the South. It would be a perfect opportunity for him to deploy the military in a situation where he would not only receive immense praise from the international community, but also be openly embraced by the native populations!

Alas, this appears to be too much to ask. The world will once again passionately cry out "Never Again" while standing idly by and not lifting a finger.

The American Media

I'm hesitant to voice my grievances with the American Media, but I just cannot restrain myself right now.

This afternoon, two very newsworthy events occurred that deserved an immense amount of media attention. However, based on the medias coverage of these events, you would never know of the second one.

The first event I speak of is the tragic beheading of Paul Johnson. The story has dominated the headlines, and rightfully so. However, the second event I speak of has barely received any attention.

So, what is this event you ask? Well, I'll give you a hint: It will have a significant impact on the current Geopolitical environment. Don't know? Here's another: The combined economic strength of this area is almost equivalent to that of the United States. Still no clue? Ok, one last hint: The agreement reached today will help pave the way for this region to become a Superpower that will rival the USA.

If you still don't know, I would like to say I am disappointed in you, but I can't because this event has received virtually NO ATTENTION in the media!!!!!

Of course I'm speaking of the new EU constitution that was finally agreed upon today.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/18/eu.summit/index.html

Six months after failing to reach an agreement, European diplomats finally agreed on a constitution today. Of course it still needs to be approved by 13 of the 25 members to take effect, but this is still a significant event. However, this is the first step in creating a closer union among the EU states that could ultimately rival the US as a second superpower. The consequences of such a union would be immense for the US. If taken to an extreme, the EU could help usher in a new bi-polar age where the US no longer has the opportunity to create hegemonic order unopposed.

Sadly, this received no coverage in the media today. It is currently listed #3 on www.cnn.com under the WORLD section. That's right, this was not even important enough to make the normal headline section. Apparently McDonald's food testing, a rapper who made a video in jail, and Bill Clinton's admission that he slept on the couch after coming clean to Hillary about his escapades with Monica are all more important than the EU. As if this is bad enough, Fox News does not even MENTION the story. I guess if it is not wrapped in Red White and Blue singing the high praises of W., then it is an anti-American, Benedict Arnold, Liberal conspiracy that is out to deep six everything good and wholesome.

I understand that the primary goal of American news media outlets is to focus on those events which are of relevance to Americans. I also realize that my complaints are nothing new, and that I am just reiterating grievances raised by numerous others. However, I am nevertheless disappointed by the coverage given to the EU today.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

I just thought this was a really funny sign on my way to school this morning. 

Movie Theater: Picture 2

The view across the street from the movie theater of downtown Minneapolis. 

Movie Theater: Picture 1

The Movie Theater, part of a redeveloped stretch along the river. 

Dodgeball: The Movie

On the way home from school, I decided to stop by the movie theater and see the new Ben Stiller movie: Dodgeball. I had pretty low expectations for the film, but was pleasantly surprised in that it actually was pretty funny.

I thought the high point of the film was Jason Bateman's performance as Pepper Brooks, the color commentator for the ESPN 8 telecast of the dodgeball tourney. Bateman perfectly captures the role of the inane commentator that one all to often finds on professional sport broadcasts.

On a different note, I was disappointed by the audience's failure to pick up on a hilarious joke involving the German dodgeball team. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I thought it was very subtle, and well done.

I'll try to post some pics in a bit.

Photoshopping in Heller Hall

As I work on a photoshop project here at the U, I'm taking advantage of the office's subscription to ITunes. It's great, I've got a station in the UK, and I'm listening to the 80's at 8 0'Clock at 1:15 in the afternoon. Life is good :)

16. June 2004

Today I bought an invitation for Gmail on Ebay. It was the greatest $.99 I ever spent. I don't know why yet, but I just know that getting in on the ground floor of this new project will pay off down the road. When I find out how I will let you know.

First new post

After weeks of badgering, I've finally moved my blog to blogspot. I feel like such a tool. :)