Apparently Bush has developed a new view of the executive branch: it can ignore pretty much any laws it doesn’t like.
Best quote:
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush’s assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ”to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ”execute” a law he believes is unconstitutional.
Man. I wish I could just ignore laws I don’t like. And I’m not even sworn to uphold them, I was just born here.
Seriously, he’s adopted the “If the President does it, it can’t be illegal” defense doctrine. Since when does that fly?
So, as many of you might already know, the feverishly anticipated (by all right-thinking gamers, and if that doesn’t apply to you, well, you’re wrong) next-gen Nintendo system, previously known only as the Revolution, has a stupid new name.
It’s called the “Wii”. According to Nintendo, that is pronounced as “we”. But I am ignoring Nintendo in this, and will forever after be pronouncing it “why”. When I pronounce it at all. Perhaps I’ll just continue referring to it as the Revolution. That’s a much better name.
PZ Meyers of Pharyngula takes a look at Ann Coulter’s upcoming book/diatribe, Godless.
And he’s going to read it. For us. To save us.
In case you missed the memo: Ann Coulter doesn’t have bats in her belfrey. There’s no room for bats, on account of the horde of stampeding buffalo.
Apparently people are starting to ask the FDA very pointed questions about Plan B contraception.
Why is the wackjob right against Plan B?
Simon Heller, one of the attorneys, plans to quiz Woodcock about a March 23, 2004, staff memo suggesting she was concerned Plan B might lead to teenage promiscuity.
In the memo released by the FDA during the discovery process, Dr. Curtis Rosebraugh, an agency medical officer, wrote: “As an example, she stated that we could not anticipate, or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an ‘urban legend’ status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B.”
…
…
Yes, because these are valid scientific, medical reasons for the FDA to rule on. Whiskey, tango, foxtrot, over?
(Title shamelessly stolen from the RPG.net forum thread I found this on.)
This video is freakishly cool. Watch people be completely awesome, and also, ninja-like.
Last night (more aptly, this morning, at 2 am…), I finshed Steven Erikson’s sixth volume of the Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Bonehunters.
There’s no review I can give without spoiling volumes one through five, but let me just say that it continues to demonstrate Erikson’s frankly amazing writing ability. It may be his best work to date, though I still have much love for volume three, Memories of Ice.
Six volumes in. A point where Jordan’s Wheel of Time was clearly starting to lose some steam, but Erikson is still ramping it up. I continue to describe it as therapy for people who read George R. R. Martin as therapy for Robert Jordan, but it’s also a damn fine series in its own right, and you should be reading it.
This evening’s pre-dinner Ziggurati conversation:
Hierophant: Did you know Sir Ian McKellen is gay?
Fool: Yeah.
Hierophant: Well did you know that, for the next X Movie, he requested there be a steamy gay sex scene between Magneto and the Professor?
Fool: No.
Hierophant: I think if that happened, the slash writers would cry. It’s like they would be left with nothing to do.
Fool: I think it would be hilarious and awesome.
Hierophant: I don’t see how it would even work! The Professor is parapalegic!
Fool: Well, he is the master of magnetism…
Hierophant: *blink*
Fool: I mean, get some ankle cuffs and a cock ring, and you’re pretty much set.
Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted miscellanii: The Dalek Song.
Via the nerdly heart of the internet, I give you research that allows blind people to find doorways, avoid other people, and catch balls, all while experiencing a pleasant “pop rocks” sensation on their tongue.
Don’t believe it? Try this on for size.
If you’re in Cleveland, then Mirrormask was really only in one theater (the Cinematheque) for a very limited time. But fear not! At Film Society, we’re showing it three times this coming Friday: 7, 9:30, and midnight (the times on our web site are wrong, since our webmaster can be horrible about updating things). It’s a very cool movie, and a very visual movie, so the chance to see it on the big screen is nice. For those in the Cleveland area (I’m looking at some of the other Ziggurati here), it’s not only cool, but cheap–$3, precisely. We at Film Society are definitely excited about it.
Apparently Animage is reporting that Fox has purchased the rights to Sailor Moon, is planning an all-American-cast live action film, and would like Whedon to write and direct it, and Lindsay Lohan to play the lead.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Found in this post on Random Curiosity.
Ong Bac (link 2) is just as good as Enter the Dragon, the gold standard for martial arts movies to me, which is pretty damn amazing, considering Tony Jaa’s acting abilities are nothing compared to Bruce Lees, his on screen martial arts, though, are just as good, and I’m now really pissed that I’ve had this DVD for a couple of months and haven’t watched it till now; This movie has every great element of a classic martial arts movie (young warrior out to get the stolen town artifact back, selfish money grubbing sidekick, arena style pit fight, foot chase, car chase, etc), but the execution of those elements are really fresh and well done, the part that are meant to be funny are genuinely funny, and don’t rely on throwaway comic relief characters with funny teeth fronts, the music is a fusion of Thai and techno that really works for a lot of the action scenes, scenes that are done without the help of computers, or even wires for that matter, basically if you are even marginally entertained by action movies, you should pick this up at some point, if you would say you enjoy a good martial arts movie, you need to watch this asap.
So, you know those little online quiz thingies? Almost always, they should be relegated to the dumping ground of the internet, but there are some exceptions. This one merits it for several reasons.
1) Its from a website with a hilarious name: www.rumandmonkey.com!
2) It’s a quiz about which giant robot you are, and I am nothing if not a giant robot fanboy
3) I tested as Gigantor, which is right and proper.
So, go, Ziggurati! Take the quiz! Kill all humans!
And from the “News that I think I should probably care about, but really, really don’t” department: There’s a new Star Trek movie in the pipeline. Directed by J. J. Abrams, which could be good (he created Lost and Alias, which people tell me are good, though I never got into them), or very bad (he also wrote and directed Mission Impossible III, which, eagh).
Apparently the movie will focus on original Trek characters Kirk and Spock and their time in Starfleet Academy, meeting, and first voyage. So, slash writers rejoice, but I’m not sure there’s any good here for the rest of us.
The Carnival of the Mobilist links to a Darla Mack post that I find moderatly funny.
Federal Excise Tax - The War is Over!!!
How many of you pay attention to your wireless bill each month? Did you ever wonder or show concern for that section that says “Taxes, Fees and Surcharges”?
The Federal Excise Tax or FET was first instituted in 1898 to finance the Spanish-American War. Each month there is a 3% tax added to the bill of every wireless user in America. I’m sorry… do they not know that the war is over? An article posted last year from USA Today mentions that the general excise tax has so far cost consumers about $300 billion. The entire Spanish-American War cost only about $6 billion, adjusted for inflation.
No, its not new news, but for some reason, this always makes me chuckle.
Cinerati talks a bit about a Wall Street Journal article on comic book advertising. Its probably nothing really ground shaking, but it’s noteworthy because its not showing up on newsarama or the pulse, it’s showing up in one of the most widely read business papers.
