Addendum to Harvey Korman

This is worth checking out. Hat tip to Poliblog.

Tim Conway and Harvey Korman Predicted the TSA in the 1970s!

Harvey Korman

I guess I've been remiss in keeping up with the news; Harvey Korman passed away this Thursday, and I found out this morning. If you're not familiar with his work, you don't know what you're missing -- his work on The Carol Burnett Show (especially with Tim Conway), his role as Count de Monet in "History of the World, Part I," his scene-stealing greatness as Hedley Lamarr in "Blazing Saddles," and so much more... thanks, Harvey.

The Singularity is Here:The Joker and Barney

I know Heath Ledger is all the rage right now, but a friend and I just noticed the similarity in wardrobe between the Cesar Romero "Joker" of the 1960s and everyone's favorite purple dinosaur.

Hillary does it Again!

A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.
H.L. Mencken, (1880-1956), writer, journalist.

Mamet on Political Correctness

"A laudable disposition to open-mindedness decayed, in the late twentieth century, in America, into an inability to arrive at conclusions."

Yes, David Mamet. Yes, the "Glengarry Glen Ross" guy. The quote is from The Wicked Son, and it's a great read for all members of the tribe (and you know who you are).

Get the book.

Cooley Confidential

Should I be so bothered by the fact that Steve Cooley's statement in the ballot for this June's Democratic primary includes a testimonial from novelist James Ellroy? To wit, "Cooley focuses attention on cold cases and DNA."

I'm sure Ellroy is a smart guy, but is a cop novelist really the best Cooley can do?

Wish I had a picture to share with you.

This evening at Souplantation I was treated to the site of a late-teen wearing a death metal t-shirt featuring the word "cannibal" in large, dripping letters... while he chowed down on a nice iceberg lettuce salad.

Family Guy "Bullfrog" Clip

I have nothing to be ashamed of when I saw I like "The Family Guy" -- I'm a guy, after all, and therefore allowed to have such amusing shortcomings. (The fact that my wife watches it with me? Well, that's her big ball of shame.)

Tonight there was a great sequence that I had to share with a friend, and this seemed like the best way; so please enjoy the accidental largesse therefore laid at at your feet.

Fans of the show know it is characterized by drawn-out sequences that usually have nothing to do with the plot; this is a case in point, in which Peter's son is upset about girl problems and so he tries to cheer him up with a gift. (Please forgive the rough quality and the Frankenstein's monster-type splicing -- all I had handy was my point-and-shoot phone, which has a 30-second video capture limit.)

On The Mark -- Performance Anxiety

Exxon Mobil yesterday announced its financial results for the last quarter. Analysts and investors are up in arms about it. They're unhappy. The company's unhappy. Consumer activists are unhappy (for different reasons).

Exxon made ONLY $10.9 billion in PROFIT.

Shame on them.

Proof ABC News is the New Fox

I have simplified my politics into an utter detestation of all existing governments; and, as it is the shortest and most agreeable and summary feeling imaginable, the first moment of an universal republic would convert me into an advocate for single and uncontradicted despotism. The fact is, riches are power, and poverty is slavery all over the earth, and one sort of establishment is no better, nor worse, for a people than another.
Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet

Is Obama getting a fair shake over this nut job of a preacher? Apparently not.

Tip of the hat to Truthdig. This is Robert Sheer's newspage and it's right on the money.

On The Mark -- The Ghost of Nabokov

Dmitri Nabokov, the son of the late, great author, Vladimir Nabokov, must be hard up for a buck. The New York Times reported yesterday that Dmitri has decided to go against his father's last wishes before he passed away in 1977.

His father asked Dmitri not to publish the incomplete novel, "The Original of Laura," he was working on at the time of his death. It's currently composed on a collection of 50 index cards and stored in a bank vault in Switzerland.

Thirty-one years later Dmitri has decided that it would be very disturbing that no one would ever read the manuscript. But he didn't decide alone. It seems that Vladimir appeared before him and said, "You're stuck in a right old mess. Just go ahead and publish."

I guess the only question I have is: if Vladimir took the time to "appear" before Dmitri, why didn't he have the decency to finish the novel while he was there?

May he rest in peace after he gets done rolling over in his grave.

Blackmail from the President

“We can't allow the world's worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world's worst weapons.”
George W. Bush, president, talking about his own administration apparently

Okay people, wake up! Do you realize that our president and his administration are blackmailing the U.S. people? He just played his hand this morning in his speech.

Because you didn’t let us drill in ANWR you are now paying the price. If you want prices to go down here is what you can allow us to do: drill the crap out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which is a National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern corner of Alaska. Hmm, I wonder why they just use the acronym?

What will this do; more short-term solutions? It will allow us to put off the day of reckoning just a bit longer, so we still won’t deal with the problem at hand.

Hello, Hello, anybody awake out there?

June Grooms

For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked.
Bill Cosby, comedian

A cautionary tale for all those coming June grooms:

On The Mark -- Crackdown on Undocumented Workers

Businesses in Los Angeles are quietly raising hell out of fear of being put out of business. Why? Because they're employing hundreds or thousands of undocumented workers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security) has launched an aggressive crackdown on these companies. It's gotten quite a bit of play in the local newspapers and radio, and this week's Los Angeles Business Journal has an excellent article by Howard Fine reporting on the issue.

ICE has sent letters to companies demanding that they produce documentation proving that their employees are legal and, in other cases, they've raided businesses and carted away busloads of undocumented workers (and probably some legal workers who got mixed into the crowd).

Businesses are crying foul because they say they're already suffering due to a downturn in the economy and rising costs, such as energy. Not to mention the effort they'll have to put forth to find documented workers to fill their factories and businesses.

It's probably a safe assumption that ICE has been heavy-handed in its actions, but I have to say that I'm glad it's happening.

Saturday at the Rose Bowl

“What do you call love, hate, charity, revenge, humanity, magnanimity, forgiveness? Different results of the one master impulse: the necessity of securing one's self-approval”
Mark Twain, (1835-1910), writer

Doing my part to improve or help society, I spent my Saturday morning supporting Autism Speaks. Truly a worthy cause and very humbling as you see and hear some of the heartbreaking stories to you and me. However, the truly heartwarming sight is seeing and hearing stories of how the parents of these children and teens continually find small and meaningful victories through the challenges of raising a child on the autistic spectrum.

I am delighted to have done my small part to help raise awareness and dollars to the tune of $1,700 personally and nearly $50,000 from our group.

Bloggers: This is Note is for You

I'm disgusted with having to deal with the commercial side of our band at the moment and as a reaction, I'm becoming more uptight and complaining more. And it feels like I'm adapting a rock star attitude.”
Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) singer/song writer

To all the bloggers who take advertising this note's for you!

Outrageous Health Care Costs

Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill health.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), playwright

Below is the letter that I opted not to send because even the insurance only pays a percentage of the total bill. I am not sure what I will be stuck paying, but either way it's sickening. Our health care system is a convoluted mess, so it’s not even worth the stamp. Enjoy and I hope you can’t relate.

April 24, 2008

President & CEO
Chairman of the Board
Roseville, CA 00000

RE: My health

Dear Messrs president and CEO:

There must be some mistake on my statement dated 4/02/08, account NO: 000000000-1. Someone has confused my treatment for a painful stomachache with a cup of Pepto-Bismol for a frontal lobotomy or a brain transplant with the woodenheaded Pinocchio.

Your fees of $2,947.70 are absolutely outrageous bordering on illegal, if we had proper oversight for health care costs.

I was given a cup of Pepto Bismol, and an x-ray. After the pink stomach-relief medicine I was ready to leave, but the doctor seemed surprised and said I should have an X-ray while I was there. If I knew what your prices were I would have suffered rather than be held up or have my insurance company pay for another wing of your hospital.

I had no indication of such costs. I believe you need to post prices and costs in the emergency room and/or in the rooms for patients who are not in a life or death situation to make prudent cost/risk assessments rather than leave patients completely in the dark about such scandalously high costs.

This is not community service or caring, it is corporate greed masquerading as health care.

Sincerely,

The Misanthrope

On The Mark -- Stephen Hadley: Give the Guy a Break?

Heard on NPR last weekend that President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, head of the NSA, spoke on national television on a recent Sunday about whether Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in China this summer.

It's been well-reported in the blogosphere that in his response defending Bush's planned attendance that Hadley referred several times to China's problems with Nepal instead of saying Tibet. Not once or twice did he say Nepal instead of Tibet, but six times or more. I also believe this occurred at a couple different Sunday morning news shows, so he didn't even correct himself after he had a chance to go off-camera.

But the real story is that AP, Reuters and the New York Times reported on these interviews and they took the liberty to change Nepal to Tibet in Hadley's quotes. The Times concluded their article by noting that Hadley had misspoken, and that the Bush Administration later confirmed that he meant to say Tibet.

If Hadley had misspoken once, then I might be able to understand why these reporters and their editors would take the liberty to make it accurate, but the fact that he did so repeatedly should be grounds for quoting the precise words he spoke.

In what other stories have these media outlets corrected statements based on what they believe a spokesperson meant, but did not actually state?

Hillary -- A Bad Movie

One might say that the true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilization represses and oppresses.
Robin Wood, film critic

Hillary is like a cheap horror movie where the monster will not die. Please Obama drive a stake through her presidential hopes already.

From the NYTimes editorial today:

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

Hillary's philosophy is that if she can't win, then the people will get a Republican. She has become the Ralph Nader of the Democratic party.

An Idea

“If you think there's a solution, you're part of the problem”
George Carlin, comedian

Tell me where I am wrong.

If we were to attempt to bring manufacturing back into the country by offering companies tremendous tax advantages if they gave employees a living wage, capped CEO salaries at three or four hundred thousand dollars a year, and if the companies were successful and went public stock options would have to be shared equally among all employees, and tax benefits would decline proportionally.

Is it possible and does it make any sense?