Iran v Britain

Please tell me that the mullahs aren't stupid. We know they are insane, but let's hope that they aren't stupid to boot. If they actually harm or execute those British sailors, they may be setting of the powder keg for WWIII.

Or, is it possible that they are testing everyone's resolve? Just as UN sanctions tighten, they flex their muscles. More importantly, just as the US legislative branch signals a clear unwillingness to be involved in the area, Iran starts feeling invincible.

Everyone has lines. I pray that Iran doesn't push the Brits too far.

Separation of Powers

Gadzooks, this is off-putting. In some unholy way, the entire premise of the separation powers in our government has been annihilated. It is not only recent developments, but a long, steady decline that makes me shake my head and wonder why these things are not commented on more often, or more strongly.

The executive branch is able to modify the intent of legislation, or mimic the passing of legislation via executive order. The judicial branch has taken to legislating from the bench, creating law via decision. The most famous example of this might be Roe v Wade, where the Supreme Court did not interpret a law, or try a case, as much as they created what many see as a Constitutional right (despite a right to privacy not being in the original doc, but I digress) and essentially wrote legislation for all 50 states. Full disclosure note...I am pro-choice, but anti-Roe. I'd never kill my own child, but I recognize the need in some cases for termination.

Then, most recently, we have the legislature trying hard to be the executive branch. The House of Representatives should not have such direct control over tactics and strategy for troops on the ground in harm's way. It would be asinine for a NFL owner to change a play at the line of scrimmage, and it is just as ludicrous for reps from BFE who majored in poli sci and got law degrees to play at battlefield tactics.

Bottom line, Pelosi, if ya wanna be the Commander in Chief, do what Hillary is doing. Run for the top office. Until then, don't try to do the job from the bleachers.

Portland Peace Rally

So, in a recent peace rally, a U.S. soldier was burned in effigy. Insufferable as that is, there are the requisite "Bring the troops home" signs, and the omnipresent peace symbols. Ever notice how the peace sign looks like a chicken foot? Seriously. Take another look.

Anyway, I started thinking about those signs and wondering how much thought goes into them. I know that they are referring to Iraq. But how about Korea or Kosovo? I may be confusing issues with facts...but damn. Even more frustrating are those "War is Not the Answer" signs and bumper stickers. "War is not the Answer" is the bastard brother of "You can't judge a book by its cover." To borrow from Jim Norton, if there is a picture of a girl on the cover with a guy's unit in her mouth, it's porn. If the girl is 17, and the guy is black, it's great porn.

War is not the answer?

Yes, it is, stupid. That's why humanity wages war. Some issues, like slavery, Nazism, fascism, and militant expansionist Islam have only been checked because of the use of force. Uncomfortable to admit? Maybe. There are things that one fights for. Of course, there are those who thought Lincoln was nuts for taking on the South, and more than a few didn't think Hitler was important or dangerous enough to waste American blood or treasure on.

Even the threat of force has its uses. Only those with perceived strength and the potential will to use it are taken seriously. Witness the Killing Fields as one example. America made it clear that it was sick of people dying, and we withdrew our troops from the theatre. Without a credible threat, the Khmer Rouge slaughtered millions.

Iran is going to be a much larger problem because they can clearly see a lack of will to respond significantly to anything they do. Darfur is still raging with horrors including genocide and rape because the UN is involved, which means, essentially, that real military action is out of the question. Kim "so ronery" Jong-il continues to develop nuke technology and missiles, because all he has to do is not piss off China.

So what do these protestors do? They burn a symbol of the one thing that can stop the true horrors of the world. It's hell, but sometimes war is the answer.

Hillary unhinged, or is the base this dumb?

Oh my sweet Christ...the woman who said this could actually win.

"I turn off a light and say, ‘Take that, Iran ,‘ and "Take that, Venezuela.‘ We should not be sending our money to people who are not going to support our values," she said.

So.....is she totally full of it, does she do this, or is the dem base so vapid that she thought that they would eat this up? As for myself, I buy electricity from a local concern which employs local people, and uses nuclear power. Many other firms use various forms of coal, wind power, and other domestic forms of production.

She does know that not all energy comes from dictatorial regimes, right? It's a little thing, but it's one little thing in a mountain of crap that infuriates me about this woman. The other recent bit had to be her reaction on the firing of 8 U.S. Attorneys.

Everyone in that post, say it with me, "...serves at the pleasure of the President." So yes, politics quite often plays a role, whether it is a senator writing a letter about a local choice for the job, or to carp about one they don't like.

Hillary seems to forget that her husband fired and replaced ALL 93 of them. Well, that's not fair, she did say that every president does that...it's just cleaning house. But wait, no other president has done that. You don't suppose she knows that? Could she just be a bitter, lying, partisan hack who, like Eva Peron without the looks, is famous because she bedded the right guy?

Sigh. I'll rant more and with a more objective eye later, and for the record, I have a knee jerk, borderline pathological disklike for her. I'll try to be fair, but I promise nothing.

300

I've done my rants about theaters, concessions, et al before, so I won't rehash them here. I took myself out to see 300 today, and found it a damn good Sunday afternoon popcorn muncher. It is based very closely on the graphic novel by Frank Miller.

Frank Miller is the genius who made Batman cool again with the Dark Knight graphic novels, and the man who penned Sin City. For those who don't do geekspeak, graphic novels are the term we use instead of comic books for the ones that rock.

Don't go see this looking for great performances or character development, this flick is all about the action. The story is solid, and follows history well enough. I would have liked a text screen epilogue, briefly recalling the naval victory that ultimately drove Xerxes back.

The movie does a very good job of recreating the impenetrable phalanx of the Spartans, and the choreography is tight and crisp. No movement is wasted, the shield and spear techniques are elegant and ruthlessly efficient. In another time, this movie may well have set the standard.

Unfortunately, it will be unfairly held up to the Lord of the Rings series, which set the bar for epic medieval battle scenes perhaps impossibly high. That said, it was a good time, and I think it will find a booming second market in DVD sales. The double X chromosome set and the alternate lifestylers might find all the beefcake too much to resist.

A quick postscript...as I write this, it looks like a $70million opening weekend...not bad for openers, the DVD will probably make a killing too. Christ, that was bad. Time to end this post.

WoW PvP Goodness

I had a great couple of hours on Warcraft this afternoon. A bunch of players from the Alliance side (Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Dranei, and Gnomes) raided a Horde (Orcs, Trolls, Undead, Tauren and Blood Elves) town. Game on...begin mass chaos as armies of about 50 players per side squared off in a long give and take.

Fortunately, PVP (player vs player) is one of the things that the class I play is great at. Not so much because of any one thing, it is because Warlocks can do so many little things. One of my favorite weapons is using attacks that do damage over time (DoTs), because then I can hang back, and make several targets miserable at the same time, making life easier for the melee types up front. In doing so, I apparently got some attention after the same people had to do corpse runs a few times at my hands.

Fast forward a bit, both sides are beginning tactical retreats. 3 players a couple levels below me decide to take their best shot. I lay down multiple DoT spells, and weather the storm the best I can...but numbers were on their side. Down I go. Then came the smack talking in the form of emotes. One celebrant danced on my body, pointed and laughed. I was going to let well enough alone. Really. Everyone takes a beating once in a while. And I had wreaked no small amount of havoc before I went down, no shame in it. But some brokeback looking Night Elf dancing over my valorous fallen form...

Remember when I said that Warlocks can do a lot of little things? One swell little gimmick is called a Soul Stone. This little orb allows a lock to store someones soul, which allows them to come back from death, with a fair amount of hit points/mana left. I had just happened to store my soul before the fight.

I do regret that I couldn't see the look on the dancer's face when I popped up and killed him and his friends, all of whom were 3/4 dead from the first round with me. I pointed, LOLd, and busted out a little move myself. Once again, all I ever needed to learn, I learned from Spaceballs. Evil will always win, because good is dumb.