Book Review: An Inconvenient Book

"An Inconvenient Book" is the first Glenn Beck book I have read. A friend of mine lent it to me a couple of months ago and I finally finished it. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

If you've ever watched Glenn Beck's TV show or listened to his radio show, you'll find that the book is just like those shows. Beck sprinkles funny and offbeat humor with some really insightful commentary on society's biggest problems, from global warming to choosing a movie to watch with your wife. Probably my favorite chapters were the chapters on parenting, poverty and global warming. Beck applies common sense to these topics and uses statistics to back up his commons sense thinking. There are also funny graphics and "A.D.D. moments" throughout the book to help keep it light.

Much like the movie "Next", the ending of "An Inconvenient Book" left me feeling a little unfulfilled. There were 21 great chapters, followed by 1 really not so great chapter on Illegal Immigration. Beck may be correct in his theories on illegal immigration, but it came across as conspiratorial, and sort of unbelievable.

I would still recommend this book to all conservatives who like Glenn Beck. I realize he's not for everyone, but I enjoy his humor and his insights. He is a thinker. If you are a liberal and are interested in changing your ways, this would also be a good book for you to read.

Movie Review: Next

Against my better judgement, I decided to watch "Next" which is a Nicholas Cage flick. If you recall, I had an earlier theory that Nicholas Cage is no longer capable of making a good movie, unless it has "National Treasure" in the title.

"Next" had its positive points, in fact, for about 85 minutes of the 95 minute movie, "Next" was encroaching upon a 4 star rating. But, as one Netflix reviewer put it regarding the end of the movie: "Perhaps worst of all is the ending which feels forced and incomplete." I can't sum the ending up any better than that. I ended up giving this movie a 3 star rating.

The other big problem in the movie was Julianne Moore. She went from being annoyingly mean, to almost too nice. There was nothing to explain the switch. I didn't have as big a problem with the terrorists they were trying to catch. A couple of Netflix reviewers said that it was frustrating to not really understand the motives of the "bad guys", but it was fine with me. I don't like to think too hard during movies.

I really did like the premise of the movie...a guy who can see approximately 2 minutes in the future is a pretty cool idea. This ability lead to some really cool chase scenes. And, even the part where Chris (Nicholas Cage) tries to meet the girl, played by Jessica Biel, was entertaining. Basically, he played out a bunch of possible futures in his mind before he found one that would work.

Now onto my Nicholas Cage soapbox. Nicholas Cage is not a good actor. Sure, he won an Oscar, but I'm not sure how he did that. In my opinion, Cage has had 4 really good films: "The Rock", "Con Air", "National Treasure 1" and "National Treasure 2". What do those films all have in common? Action, adventure, no really stupid plot twists, and an ending that leaves you feeling fulfilled in what you watched. Cage needs to get back to making those types of films. "Next" could have been in that category if they just would have given it a good ending.

Haiku

Tonight, Nicholas (my the 5 year old) was attempting to make up a Haiku. He was very carefully counting on his fingers, making sure he was following the 5, 7, 5 syllable phrases. After I got over the shock of a 5 year old attempting a Haiku (how many 5 year olds do that?), I listened to what he was saying. Unfortunately, I can't recall it all, but it didn't make much sense. I remember the word 'butt' ended the first phrase. The final 5 syllable phrase was "The couch is Brow-un." Hey, he's trying, and that's a good thing, although our couch isn't brown or brow-un.

However, this encounter made me think of one of the funnier things I've ever read. It was a Haiku that a coworker had in his office, written by his daughter. Here it is...

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

I hope you found that as funny as I did. If not, read it again. If it's still not funny, then I can't help you.

Absolute Power Corrupts...

This week, all the buzz on talk radio and the news has been about AIG paying $165 million in bonuses to sales people and executives. These bonuses were promised to these people in contractual agreements long ago, well before any bailouts started. However, AIG has accepted $170 billion in Federal Bailout Money, so Washington is pitching a bit of a fit about these bonuses. Apparently, they can't do the math in Washington, because the bonuses amount to slightly less than 0.1% of the bailout money. Furthermore, AIG was contractually obligated to pay these bonuses (i.e. they would have gotten in legal trouble if they didn't pay them).

That hasn't stopped some of our Democratic Lawmakers from trying to get that money back, by any means necessary. Here's what Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had to say:

"My colleagues and I are sending a letter to Mr. [AIG CEO Edward] Liddy informing him that he can go right ahead and tell the employees that are scheduled to get bonuses that they should voluntarily return them, because if they don’t, we plan to virtually tax all of it. He should tell these employees if they don’t give the money back, we’ll put in place a new law that will allow us to tax these bonuses at a very high rate so that it’s returned to its rightful owners, the taxpayers."

But, it didn't stop there. Today in Congressional hearings, Representative Barney Frank, demanded that AIG CEO Edward Liddy give him all the names of the people who received bonuses. When Liddy said he would only do that if he could be guaranteed the names would remain anonymous, Barney said he wouldn't guarantee that, and reiterated his demand. Again, Mr. Liddy stated his conditions and expanded on them by stating that he feared for his employees' safety, reading 2 death threats he received to justify his concern. Apparently threats against American citizens doesn't phase ol' Barney because he reiterated his demand and threatened to subpoena the names if necessary.

My question to Barney is...what are you going to do with those names? Have them arrested for taking money that was contractually obligated to them? Enact laws requiring specifically named AIG employees to pay higher taxes? What? This isn't the 1950's, and we certainly don't need another Joe McCarthy.

It appears to me that our friends on the left have forgotten the old adage about Absolute Power...it corrupts absolutely. The boldness of these statements is shocking. The Democrats are overreaching in their power, and I hope the American electorate is smart enough to realize it and vote as many of these bums out as they can in 2010. But, I also fear the damage these people can do in the next 2 years. With a Congress this liberal, and the most liberal President in history, the amount of havoc they can create is scary.

The part of this I find most sickening is, most of these officials would have no problem writing $165 million in Pork Barrel projects for their district or state into a spending bill, but when American citizens work hard and earn $165 million, they are outraged. That might be irony, but don't quote me on that, as I'm always fuzzy on the definition of irony.

The T.O.T.U.S.

What is the T.O.T.U.S.? Why, its the Teleprompter of the United States, of course. Rush Limbaugh coined that term today to describe President Obama's teleprompter. Perhaps you've heard P.O.T.U.S. (President of the United States) before. All week long, Rush has been giving life to Obama's Teleprompter, by saying things such as "The Teleprompter told Obama to say...", "Does the Teleprompter have a name?" and so on. It's one of the funniest things I've heard in a while.

Making it all the more funny is a little tidbit from Sky News. Last night, at a St. Patrick's Day Party there was a teleprompter malfunction, and the wrong speech was displayed. President Obama didn't realize it soon enough, and ended up thanking himself for putting on the event. Slightly embarrassing.

Now, far be it from me to question this behavior too much. President Bush could have used a teleprompter to save himself from quite a few embarrassing moments. But, it appears to me that President Obama is too reliant on the teleprompter. Eventually, he'll have to sit down with foreign leaders, and during these meetings, he won't have a teleprompter.

Oh, and I'm not the only one who has noticed. I found the following website, devoted to "The Teleprompter President."

http://www.teleprompterpresident.com/

Update: 3/19/09
I couldn't resist adding a new blog to my list of blogs I follow. Apparently, the T.O.T.U.S. has its own blog. Enjoy!

I Know Where the Morons Work

They all work for the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament selection committee. The South Dakota State Jackrabbits Women's Basketball team found out that they will be a #7 seed in the NCAA tournament. There are 4 brackets, each seeded 1-16. So, with a #7 seed, the committee has decided that the Jackrabbits are between the 25th-28th best team in the country. Not bad until you consider the following:

• The Jackrabbits were 31-2 this season, the 2nd best record in the country.
• They were ranked 17th in the AP poll and 14th in the ESPN poll.
• They outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points per game.
• They went 11-1 in their non-conference schedule, 17-1 in conference and won the conference tournament.
• Their only losses were to Maryland, the #4 team in the country, and Oakland who finished the season 26-6 (note: they also beat Oakland twice).

I can understand them getting a 5 or even a 6 seed. This is their first tournament at the Division 1 level, and they play in a relatively weak conference. But, they beat 3 Big 10 teams, a Big 12 Team and a Pac 10 team. They also beat Gonzaga who had a good women's team this year. A 7 seed is awful because it puts them up against the #2 seeded Baylor team in the 2nd round, plus they get stuck playing a very good TCU team in round 1. A 31-2 regular season should earn a team something in the tournament. Instead, they get screwed by a committee that obviously hasn't paid attention.

Adding insult to injury was ESPN's coverage of this. First, Trey Wingo screws up and calls them San Diego State University. And then, when their bracket spot is announced, no one questioned it. They barely even discussed it. Honestly, how many people watch the Women's NCAA Tournament Selection Show? I'm guessing it's not a widely viewed event, and I'd be willing to bet that most of the people watching it were people like me, rooting for the smaller school and want to see where that school is going. So, give some love to the smaller schools and do more than just mention them next time ESPN!

Think calming thoughts....take deep breaths...zen...

Grow Up!

Today is a bad day for me to be a sports fan. Nuke always tells me that he is glad he didn't follow sports as closely as he sometimes wishes he could have because of days like today.

It started out this morning when Jay Cutler, starting QB of the Denver Broncos asked the Broncos to trade him. About 2 weeks ago, the Broncos foolishly participated in trade talks that would have sent Cutler to Tampa Bay in a 3 team deal that would have brought Matt Cassell to Denver. Cassell was the starter in New England last year under Josh McDaniels, who is the Broncos new head coach.

Following so far? Cutler, understandably was upset and felt betrayed. This was 2 weeks ago! Cutler still hasn't talked one on one with anybody in the Broncos front office, including McDaniels. Cutler insists on having his agent present for all talks. By all accounts, his agent isn't helping matters at all. Initially, I was on Cutler's side in this, but as this has dragged on, one thing is clear to me...Cutler is acting like a petulant child! Things didn't go quite as perfectly as he expected, so now he's pitching a fit.

At this point, as a Broncos fan, I say trade the big baby. If he can't grow up and be the bigger man in this, then they might as well let him go now, because he'll always be problematic. If I had my wish, Cutler would get traded to the Cleveland Brown for Brady Quinn and a 3rd or 4th round pick.

No matter what happens, it's time to grow up Jay!