So it turns out that Joe Biden was given the choice to be either Secretary of State, or Vice President. Of course, like the typical hollywood gossip, we get the part where he initially tries to stop his wife from spilling the beans, and the natural spokesperson denying that was the story to the media.

Truth be told, I'd have done the same given the opportunity (one can only dream!) but as much as the handlers will deny the truth behind it, you can believe that the Hillary team is secretly seething.

As turmoil between Obama's team is already in place with the battling between cabinet members and czars, another fight between the number two and the Secretary of State is the last thing the new administration needs.

Tomorrow is a new day for America - For or against Obama/Biden in the 2008 election, we are moving in a new direction, and should work together, rather than against the other side.

As the drama winds down with the appointment of Roland Burris by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to President Elect Obama's Senate seat, the Democrats have been put in a no win situation by the embattled Governor.

The appointment of Burris by an allegedly corrupt Governor has caused a furor from both Republicans and Democrats alike. Anyone who is as blatant to not only be caught on tape trying to sell a Senate seat, but to also dare law enforcement to monitor him is clearly delusional, and in Rod Blagojevich's case - The poster child for political corruption.

In a common sense move, Democrats refused to seat Burris to the Senate due to the corruption scandal surrounding Blagojevich. This isn't necessarily an implication on Burris, but on Blagojevich.

I'm of the belief that Blagojevich knew exactly what he was doing by appointing Burris. First, it takes the heat off of him somewhat and spreads it out to Burris as well. Second, if Burris is seated, it gives Blagojevich a sort of legitimacy, because if he is truly guilty, the appearance is that he wouldn't be allowed to appoint someone. Now, remember that President Elect Obama was the only black Senator in the country. By selecting another African-American to replace Barack Obama, it turns the appointment into a race issue - even though it is not one.

The Democrats who originally blocked Burris did so without considering race, but rather, the corruption of the Governor. However, a feeling of being considered racist, in my opinion, is what has caused many Democrats to switch positions. The African-American voting bloc votes roughly ninety percent of the time for Democrats, and is a major reason why the Democrats have been able to win elections in not only 2008, but in years past. To even give the appearance that they are going against someone who would continue to be the only black Senator is a political fear they aren't willing to risk.

This is where the no win situation presents itself. If Democrats take a stand against Burris, they have the possibility of alienating a group of voters who have staunchly supported them. By supporting Burris however, they then associate themselves with the corruption brought on by Governor Blagojevich. Unfortunately in this 24/7 news cycle, keeping a voting bloc happy is more important than taking a stance and sticking with it, because the public will forget the details if you change the subject for long enough.

As I'm in a hotel on vacation, awaiting the five inches of snow we'll be getting tonight, I saw the best article on the sham that is global warming / climate change / whatever buzzword the environmentalists are using. Here are a few snippets that stand out:

"...temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models"

"...global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century."

"All those hysterical predictions...have infuriatingly failed to materialise.

"...hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world's most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that "consensus" which was only a politically engineered artefact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions."

"...panicking politicians are waking up to the fact that the world can no longer afford all those quixotic schemes for "combating climate change" with which they were so happy to indulge themselves in more comfortable times."

Every day we see that "going green" isn't for the environment, but for green in the wallets of those purporting the global warming hoax. Use some logic people. It doesn't take Einstein to figure out that the predictions made were wrong when temperatures have stayed the same for 10 years and then dramatically decreased, erasing nearly 100 years of "warming."

The best argument I've heard is that it isn't warming, but "extreme" weather conditions and cooling is a byproduct of warming. Huh? Just admit the argument is lost, don't change the way it was defined and avoid the question. The ocean levels are not rising and the polar caps are not melting, at least not in the doom and gloom scenario that is thrown out there. Lets exaggerate and say the temperature has magically risen by ten degrees. Think basic science for a moment - the ice is frozen. Unless that ice was at the borderline of melting - which the polar caps are not - then they'll still be frozen. Even taking into consideration the ice close to the melting point which would turn to water, it wouldn't be close to enough to cause any changes. The Earth is ~ 70% water, with the amount of ice required to melt to cause any discernible changes to be vastly more than any of us could imagine. The numbers don't add up - not in the volume of ice, not in the measured temperature and not in the amount of variables which aren't taken into consideration, such as variances in temperature gathering, natural occurrences, historical trends over thousands of years, not the thirty or so we've been recording them with any semblance of accuracy, etc...

Global warming is about greed and control. The average citizen sees through the scam, but the elitists are blind to that and keep feeding lies, knowing that if you say something enough, people will assume it to be true.

"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans. Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all...The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else." - President Theodore Roosevelt

In the current time we live in, as multi-culturalism and diversity have taken over our culture, we have lost what it means to be Americans in this melting pot of a country.  Rather than following the motto "Out of many, one" we have been driving towards the mistranslated version "Out of one, many."

The quote "United we stand, divided we fall" works perfectly in this context. By trying to force our "diversity" on others and creating dozens and dozens of subgroups, we are no longer united, but divided, and it shows in our political, social and economic struggles being faced today. Do not take this to suggest that we should abandon all pride in our heritage. Rather, understand that most Americans have much more in common with their neighbor of a different background than they would if returning to the place of cultural heritage, be it Germany, Africa or wherever.

With Christmas upon us and new TV episodes dwindling down, my wife and I have been catching up on more movies in our queue. Here are a few of them we recently saw, and my thoughts:

21 was a movie about how MIT students were able to "beat the system" in Vegas and count cards at Blackjack. It was somewhat interesting after hearing the book which it was based on, Bringing Down the House, mentioned multiple times from Jim Rome. A bit more Hollywood-ized, but still enjoyable, especially with Kevin Spacey playing a great role as usual. Just a rental unless you are a gambling fiend and/or big fan of Spacey.

 

 

 

 

The Astronaut farmer sounded interesting at first - a NASA astronaut is forced to retire to save his family's farm, and then still itching to return to space, creates a rocket in his barn. The movie is a bit far fetched, but isn't about NASA or space or rockets, but about people. Billy Bob Thornton is an underrated actor, perhaps due to the name Billy Bob, or his previous relationship with Angelina Jolie. He does well in this picture (which also features a nice cameo from Bruce Willis.) Very family friendly, unlike my previous review of Death Race :) and recommended for rental.

 

 

 

 

After all the hype surrounding this movie with the great ensemble and the Golden Globe nomination, along with the direction from the Coen brothers, I was very disappointed. There were a few funny moments throughout the film, but overall the purpose of the movie was non-existent. While most critics will look toward acting subtleties and how well something was directed, I look toward how much enjoyment I had from the movie. Perhaps there was too much emphasis on the cast - Clooney, Malkovich and Pitt did a great job - but there was too high of an expectation that it fell short. A rental, at most.

 

 

 

 

Vantage Point was one of the better movies I have seen in some time. A "thinking movie," it takes the perspective of eight different people to piece together the attempted assassination of the President while overseas. I'm a big fan of William Hurt, Matthew Fox and Dennis Quaid and they played great roles in this. The movie requires great attention to detail, as we found ourselves rewinding just a bit to replay a scene or see more detail. Each of the perspectives offers only a small amount of detail into the greater picture, which is finally revealed at the end with some nice plot twists. Highly recommended for rental, and perhaps purchase.

Despite the title and average rating on IMDB, this was the quintessential action movie. A remake of the 1975 film, Death Race 2000, which starred Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine, the new film isn't without it's fair share of star power.

Fittingly, as we are without any real top-notch action star since the glory days of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Segal and Van Damme, Jason Statham delivers once again and in a remake of one of Stallone's first films.

More fanfare is given to Tyrese Gibson and Joan Allen, but I enjoyed seeing Deadwood's Al Swearengen himself, Ian McShane, and Brotherhood's Jason Clarke.

The plot of the movie is straightforward - After the US economy collapses in 2012, prisons are all privatized and the prisoners in the movie are involved in a Pay Per View event that is extremely popular, even more so by a disfigured driver, only known as Frankenstein (played by Statham.)

Understandably, with a name like Death Race, the movie is extremely violent and bloody. Watching the unrated version doesn't help much with that either...

That being said, the action was intense and very enjoyable. I understand that the theatrical version leaves out many plot elements key to the movie, as well as going as far to cut out dialog. As with most movies, the "unrated" or "director's cut" version in recommended to see the movie as intended.

Looking for an enjoyable time and not squeamish? Then check out Death Race when it hits DVD and Blu-Ray on December 21. Probably not worthy of a purchase unless you're a big fan of Statham or one of the other actors, or simply have money to burn, but is good for a quick rental.

 

Santa Claus was taken in to custody earlier today after law enforcement officials raided his North Pole home.

The icon and hero to many children across the world was taken by surprise, but released a statement claiming to be innocent of all wrongdoing and chided the incident as a cheap political stunt by the US Government.

Senators Chuck Schumer (D - NY) and Harry Reid (D - NV) issued a joint statement at the capitol today:

"It seems some people feel that they are more important than the community as a whole. Mr. Claus appeared to be a stand-up citizen from the outside, but inside was secretly destroying our planet year after year."

Each year, Santa Claus, also known as Kris Kringle, carries out a goodwill mission for children across the world, delivering presents and joy to all with his team of reindeer. However, in recent years, speculation arose with the increasing number of children in the world, and how Mr. Claus would be able to meet the time constraints with only nine reindeer.

Environmental activists speculated that Santa was using a highly efficient form of fuel to be able to reach every home on Christmas Eve. After some investigation, officials discovered that bad children were no longer receiving coal in their stocking with quite the frequency as in years past. Children weren't getting nicer, but the coal was still being used. That's when the breakthrough came - Santa was using the coal for naughty children to help power his Sleigh.

Former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore also had some words to say for Father Christmas:

"In this day, one would think that instead of using an archaic form of energy such as coal, Santa Claus could be a leading example for all by using an electric powered sleigh!"

Santa's claims that the electric sleigh wasn't slated for production for a couple years, and even then, would only get him a short 40 mile distance before recharging, fell on deaf ears. The carbon footprint that Santa leaves from his travels is astronomical and ineffecient. Critics point out that he could streamline his business in the 21st century and use the internet and dedicated shipping companies already on the road, even if it takes away from the Christmas spirit.

In other news, Santa has requested assistance from the government as it appears he will be unable to complete his mission from jail this year. He claims that he is too big to fail and will use the billions of dollars to retool and become competitive in an industry where there is no competition.

Yes, the global warming alarmists are offering the finest in logic here. AP writer Seth Borenstein offers up the latest gem in a story today:

"Ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. Experts say it's thanks to a La Nina weather variation. While skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming."

Someone must have missed the point where temperatures have been on the decline since 1998, when we peaked. If in the limited time we've been analyzing temperature data with any degree of accuracy is any indication, then ten years is definitely a trend.

Not only is 2008 cooler, but it is the coolest year since 1998. Going on a cooling trend doesn't illustrate the world is warming, but that it is...wait for it...COOLING!

They'll simply dodge the issue at hand saying things are being taken out of context etc...and that there is a consensus of scientists who have proved this and that we are simply believing the oil company propaganda or something similar. Using facts do nothing for the argument, as the only facts that count are those that help with the other side of the argument.

You can claim to save the earth by cutting back and living a green lifestyle because you genuinely care. You can also do the green lifestyle because it is a cash cow right now. Don't however tell us that the cooler weather somehow proves that global warming exists in an insult to our intelligence because the logic being used is too complicated for our simple peasant minds.

Global warming is only about two things now: Money and control. Not only is it extremely profitable to jump on the green bandwagon, but is also allows those involved to exert control on the rest of us. Watch - as soon as those involved realize that people are turning away from the sham purported will then somehow claim how by taking action early under their direction, we have stopped global warming - but we were a bit too zealous and have started a cooling process. To remedy this, we can do X, X, and X to get us back on the right track.

Control, money and an insult to the intelligence of millions upon millons of people.

I haven't read a book in quite some time. Frankly, I've been too busy to read much of anything other than the news. While listening to my normal radio routine over the last couple months, I've been bombarded with talk about Glenn Beck's new book - The Christmas Sweater.

My first reaction was along the lines of - The Christmas Sweater? It doesn't get any more lame than that. Not only do I not have time to read books, but if I am going to read one, it damn well isn't going to be about an article of clothing.

I have to applaud the marketing team Glenn has, however. The pseudo-commercials in the show for the book had other bestselling authors making fun of the book, along with Glenn's producer Stu. My favorite one was those making fun of the book by claiming that Glenn would write another book each year about other articles of Christmas clothing.

As I noticed it was a New York Times Bestseller, I kept an eye open for it in the stores. The local stores didn't seem to carry it, which irritated me a bit, if only because they had a "bestseller" section, yet didn't include the number 1 book. I didn't think it was a simple oversight either as the other bestsellers that came out that week were clearly on the shelf, with no ominous empty space left signifying that the book had indeed sold out.

In any event, I did see the book in the store eventually and decided to pick it up. The first thing I noticed was the production value of the book. It wasn't a simple hardcover book, but each page was artistically styled with a nice simple border that went above and beyond the standard text normally in books. In addition, a special paper was used which gave the book a unique feel. I'm not a paper expert so see for yourself if you want more detail than that.

As for the book itself, it started out somewhat slow,dealing with the life of a young boy named Eddie and how his perfect world was turned upside down. I'm not sure what Glenn's true intentions were for what the reader should get out of the book, but there were a couple strong messages throughout for me, namely The true meaning of Christmas / family and redemption. The story is loosely based on Glenn's childhood which explains quite a bit about the struggles he's gone through and how it has shaped the character of who he is today.

I was very happy to have read the book and recommend it to all. As long as he doesn't come out with The Christmas Boot next year, I've got no complaints. The book also has a stage show going from town to town, with a satellite broadcast in select theaters (similar to his previous stage show - Unelectable '08) which will be shown nationwide on this coming Thursday - December 18th. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see that and it will be as enjoyable as his last show.

I've seen some commercials on TV from a company calling itself "This is Reality" and speaking out about clean coal, with the logic being that no coal is clean.

The definition they use for "clean" is one that produces no pollution. That's nice in fairy-tale land, but in the real world, nothing is perfect. Absolute clean power isn't readily available yet in a form to power the country on a widespread scale.

While the organization is funded from global warming alarmist leftist groups such as the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, they fall into the trap that most environmentalist groups do by going too far to the extreme.

Nobody is legitimately saying that clean coal is the answer to every problem and that pollution will cease to exist. What they are saying is that it is a step in the right direction to making less polluting technologies and may not be the solution long term, but is at the very least, a short term bridge while new technologies are refined and developed.

Groups like this are so intent on issues like this that they have tunnel vision and fail to see the bigger picture. Until they do so, they won't be taken seriously by anyone outside the fringe groups that sponsor them.