Scrubs, Iron Man, New Line and Amy Adams

Scrubs to ABC? - With NBC continuing to treat Scrubs with zero respect (why end a 7 year tradition), it appears that ABC is willing to take up the slack and order an additional 18 episode season so the show can sign off with the honor it has earned. Doesn't hurt that ABC's comedy line-up is in its death throes. However, as Las Vegas shows, NBC seems to take pride in treating its shows like shit so it wouldn't surprise me if it renews the show for the remaining season, treats it like crap, and then tries to trick the audience into thinking it was gone forever. On a side note, the show returns April 10th with 5 pre-strike episodes.

New Iron Man Trailer - I have to admit at first I wasn't particularly excited about this movie but now starting to change my mind. It looks like it will be darn entertaining. I just wish the idiots at the WB would learn to use their DC properties as well as Marvel does.
Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

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New Line Fallout - With Time Warner absorbing New Line, the fall out has begun. Bob Shaye, the CEO of New Line, the gambler who greenlighted the now legendary Lord of the Rings Trilogy, who started on A Nightmare on Elm Street and generally is the man that got New Line where it is (the good and the bad), has been forced to resign. I think it is a shame because something like Lord of the Rings would never have existed under the traditional studio system. In addition, and ironically, the firing of Shaye will probably help clear the way to get the Hobbit films produced since his creative accounting was a large source of the legal problems plaguing the project. Also it appears that New Line will return to its horror, cheap flicks origins from the 80s so no more Lord of the Rings scale projects which will probably end any chances of a Golden Compass sequel. Also ironic considering its overseas success which New Line and hence Time Warner made no money on, may have been the final straw.

Amy Adams and David Letterman - The two make fun of the mistakes Lisa Rinna made on the Oscar red carpet. Not posting because of that but because Amy just looks so damn amazing. It’s the lust, not the funny that got me to watch the video.

Get Smart, New Line, Superman and Moment of Truth

Get Smart Trailer 2 - The second trailer for Get Smart is out and it does appear the movie should be interesting and faithful to the original TV shows. It includes appearances of the shoe phone, cone of silence and few Smart-isms. Personally I am seeing the movie because of the stunning Anne Hathaway. HD versions of the trailer at the link.


New Line No Longer Independent - The House that Freddy Built and the Lord of the Rings rebuilt has been absorbed by Warner Bros. after a string of failures losing its independent status. The company will now operate much like DreamWorks, where projects have to be approved by WB and work with them rather then separate from them. Basically the New Line name no longer has meaning beyond its history.

Superman: The Music CD Set - Screenarchives.com is releasing an 8-disc CD set of the entire Superman music produced from 1978-1988. It a remaster of the original music and marks one of the few opportunities to get music from Superman III, Superman IV and the '88 animated series. The set is $120. To learn more, click the link above. An interview with the set producers is here. The set is limited to 3000 copies, can be ordered here.

Wife Destroys Marriage on TV - During a recent airing of Moment of Truth, a marriage ended before the audiences eyes as Lauren Cleri just seemed to embrace the idea of airing her dirty laundry. Despite an opportunity to bail and collect $100k, she decided to go for the $200k. The result is she admitted to loving and will to leave husband for ex-bf and cheating on her husband. Ironically, she still lost because it turned out she lied about believing she was a good person. Shows what an idiot she it, few people really believe they are a good personal as there is always some past event that haunts people. The girl is hot, its pretty clear once you see the ex-boyfriend compared to the husband that the two are nothing alike physically. It’s been my experience that people have a physical type they prefer and when they run contrary to it, it should send up a red flag in your head that something isn't right.

Bush on $4 Gas and McCain the Foreigner

Bush: What $4 Gas? - Apparently Bush was surprised that gas could go as high as $4 by summer. I don't know why, gas always goes up for the spring/summer vacation season and since $3 is the new regular price of gas, it can only go higher. His response was the belief that making his tax cuts permanent would fix it. What gas prices have to do with it is beyond me but then Bush isn't particularly bright. Then again he is a gas man and gas companies continue to experience record profits so that might have something to do with it.

McCain A Foreigner? - Apparently John McCain was born in Panama Canal back in 1936 raising doubts that he can run for President. According to the Constitution he has to be natural-born and Panama isn't the US. However, back then the Panama Canal was US owned landed, protected by US troops, paid for by US funds. Generally, much like army bases and embassies, this usually marks the land as a pocket of the US right in the middle of another country. As a result, yes, McCain is a natural born US citizen.

Justice League, Recession, Battlestar Spoilers, and a Mayor in Lingerie

Major Fired Over Photo - Apparently the small town of Arlington, Oregon didn't take well to Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist's sexy picture she posted on MySpace. As always the problem is less the sex and more about money. Apparently the 42 year old dared to cause an impact on the town's elite by laying off two workers who helped maintain the local golf course. As any one knows, do what you want until the rich get impacted. I don't blame her for refusing to take down the pics. It’s her personal time and frankly she should be proud of her looks. She looks damn good. If more mayors looked like her people might actually care more about local politics.

Justice League a Go - After multiple false starts related to budget, casting and the Writer's Strike, it appears that Warner Bros has finally signed off on a live action Justice League movie. The script is from Kieran and Michele Mulroney and will be directed by George Miller with shooting occurring in Australia. The plan is to have the movie come out in summer 2009. Good news I guess but WB's ability to exploit their characters in an effective and good manner is spotty at best so my hopes are low. Ultimately I don't think WB management "gets" comics and so they just don't take the properties seriously and it shows in the final work (and no, one good Batman movie isn't proof of a turnaround in management think).

Food and Gas Increases - CNN reports how the cost of food and energy is squeezing consumers and reducing disposable income. Even worse, experts believe that gas will climb up to $4.00 a gallon by spring. Considering that Exxon is continuing to enjoy record profits ($40 billion last quarter), it doesn't really surprise me since greed begats more greed. So while the republicans continue to ignore fears of a recession, news like this doesn't do anything to make me believe them.

WGA Contract Approved - The strike has already ended but now the new contract has been approved by 93.6% of the WGA membership. So ends a work stoppage environment until June (when SAG contract expires) or three years from now when the DGA and WGA new contracts expire.

Battlestar Galatica Season 4 Spoilers - Canada's Hypaspace aired a five minute advertisement where the cast briefly teases and shows images from the upcoming season of BSG season 4. Video below. The show is excellent and highly recommend. Doesn't hurt that the stunning Grace Parks is a cast member.

Diebold Releases 2008 Election Results

The Onion has released a hilarious faux news report where Diebold accidentally reveals that John McCain wins the 2008 election with 48% of the vote. It is not a scandal but a company mistake and they apologize to their overlords while imploring the public to continue to participate in the fake election as planned. It is hard to explain, it's funny and SNL should consider stealing it.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Elizabeth Banks F$@#ing Seth Rogan

The joke continues, getting close to dead horse territory, this time with Elizabeth Banks, Rogan and others from Kevin Smith's in production movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." This follows in the steps of Sarah Silverman's I F$@#ed Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel's I F#!%ed Ben Affleck videos. The only reason I even gave any attention is because of my crush on the gorgeous Banks. The one below doesn't bleep the cuss words so consider it not work safe.

Movies and Junk

Jon Stewart at Oscar, Critic Approved - The critics have spoken on Jon Stewart's Oscar performance and they declare it good. Their criteria seem to be that some people laughed and no one was offended. At this point I don't know why they bother with a host since he basically just opens the show, introduces the next presenter and then says "good night!".

From Lex to Freddy? - Michael Rosenbaum, on probably his last full season as Lex Luthor on Smallville, was apparently seen having a business lunch with Michael Bay. From that has come the rumors that Rosenbaum was meeting either for the lead Freddy Krueger role in the Nightmare remake or a voice in Transformers. Or it could have just been lunch and probably talking about some new starlets they are banging.

Bourne 4 - Universal plans on making a 4th Bourne movie with agreements from star Matt Damon and Director Paul Greengrass. Details on when, what, and so forth as it’s too new for those details. There was a 4th Bourne book but the movie series never followed the book series anyway except with the use of some names.

iTunes #2 Music Retailer - The success of iTunes continues has it has jumped past Best Buys and Amazon to claim the number 2 spot for selling the most music. The reason was its 4 billion songs sold last year. All that is left is Wal-Mart. This is why Amazon has started digital downloads and while the music industry, despite hating the lack of control iTunes gives them, continues to do business with Apple.

Kimmel: I'm F#%@ing Ben Affleck

Jimmy Kimmel has aired his response to Sarah Silverman's video "confession" that she was F@#$ing Matt Damon. It is a star-studded affair (think USA for Africa) and hilarious. Now to just find the unbeeped versions of the videos.

Oscar Winners, Mint Apple //c, and Final Fantasy Tech

Oscar Winners - The awards have been given out, the jokes made and the montages aired. Overall a boring show with no surprises. Well not quite true, I am still dumfounded by the attention that No Country for Old Men is getting. It just wasn't that good to me and playing an unemotional killer isn't Oscar worthy to me. But then considering the Oscars gives out awards based on what movies could have fit right at home in the '50s and '60s I can't say I am not surprised. Jon Stewart was good but barely was on screen for 20 minutes of the 3 hours plus program which makes me wonder why bother with a host at all. The low ratings reflect the safe choices the Oscar continue to choose and this years winner will join the previous in the march to becoming trivia answers.

Apple //c Unboxing - Click the link to see the unboxing of an Apple computer built in 1988 but only opened for the first time 20 years later after the dropping $3k in an ebay auction.

Final Fantasy XIII Crystal Engine - If you like the Final Fantasy series, you might find this article about the developer engine that is being developed by Square to help in the building of the game and future games called the Crystal Engine. This "engine" is basically a set of tools and scripts that allow developers to more quickly and cheaply build games so that the same set of instructions do not have to be built from scratch for each game. For example if you know that its a shoot em up, you don't have to keep reprogramming the controls, aiming, movement etc, the engine would already have that.

Ralph Nader Enters Presidential Race

Ralph Nader has once again entered the presidential race as an Independent for the 5 time. Apparently he is seeking to repeat the 2000 election when he helped the Republicans win the election. I could go on about all the reasons why this is bad but instead I will stick with the first thought I had when I heard - "What an idiotic arrogant asshole." He isn't worth any more thought then that.

Maximus Keyboard, Sprint and Las Vegas

Maximus Keyboard Demo - The very expensive Maximus Keyboard is out and Engadget has posted a preliminary review of the keyboard. The keyboard uses OLED to display what each key, which you can program, will do. Perfect if you use a lot of shortcut keys for various programs or love online games. Based on the video below, its looks impressive but its price is high. Its something to keep an eye out on though because OLED displays and TV's is considered the next wave, but so new that its going to take a few years before it hit the mass producing mainstream that results in price drops.


Sprint Customer Service Go Boom - Apparently Sprint is hemorrhaging customers do to no longer focusing on customer service but instead just watching the bottom line and stats. Its something I have seen occurs first hand the sad reality is most companies don't seem to learn the lessons. They pay it lip service, but usually they just think the reports are not good enough or numbers just need to be improved. It’s rarely about improving something as difficult to count as actually pleasing the customer.

Las Vegas Cancelled - Sadly it appears that NBC is going to cancel Las Vegas. Considering it was dumped to Fridays I figured this was the final season but I am very angry that NBC isn't giving the show the chance to complete the season so can have a true series finale. It’s earned the opportunity. Even more, with DVD sets and the like, I as a customer would be incredibly angry to pay for the sets and have it end on a freaking cliffhanger. It’s a horrible way to treat your viewers much less the production crew and cast. NBC and its properties is famous for doing it and more and more, as a result I just don't bother to watch NBC programs figuring that they could get cancelled at any time for any reason so why bother getting attached.

McCain vs New York Times

The political talk of the moment is the New York Times revelation that Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain might have cheated on his wife with lobbyist Vicki Iseman back in 2000.

The article is very careful to not outright state it as fact, instead going with "convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself." It is the usual adding "alleged" to a sentence on the assumption it makes it all right. Similar to saying the "alleged murderer," the stain sticks whether a true statement or not.

The fallout has now begun with the 24 news networks making as much hay out of the article as possible. While amusing to watch as they desperately want to prove the allegation true so they will have fodder for the next few weeks but instead must engage in careful word choice to fuel the speculation while not at the same time confirming it. This careful use of words is a dance the media thrives on while avoiding their own culpability in this behavior of grandstanding and false statements.

Could the allegation be true? I think he probably did cheat on her. It fits really. Just like few doubted that Clinton/Lewinsky scandal when they first it. No facts but it seems right. He clearly likes them young, youthful looking and blond. Vicki damn near looks like a younger version of his wife. Republicans already have a history of cheating and corruption and he is a man in power. Temptation is probably everywhere. The Huffington Post is tracking the story and has several links that may even confirm the story.

I don't like John McCain (anymore). I don't think he would make a fit president. Whether the story is true or not, I just don't care. I don't think changing the discussion to the possibility of him cheating on his wife rather then the issues and problems facing this country is a good thing. McCain possibly cheating on his wife is not a measure of his ability to run the country. That can be better measured with his policies, broken promises and actions. Something the media loathes to discuss because it is not as sexy.

Bionic Cancelled, ABC Schedule, The Munn, Sharper Image, Book Staircase, and Wii Upgrade

Bionic Cancelled - TV Guide is reporting that Bionic Woman has been cancelled. While NBC hasn't made it official, it’s been an ongoing rumor which considering the cost of the show (I read somewhere its millions per ep), it wouldn't surprise me that they just decided to cut their loses. It’s a shame to, the show idea has potential, the problem was the lead casting and the execution. Ho hum storylines, pointless family drama and a blah lead. It is pretty bad when the main villain upstages the lead actress.

ABC Shows Return Dates - Follow the link to determine when several ABC favorites return and number of esp. that will be produced. Essentially new shows begin to return in April with most back for May sweeps. The freshman series from this year, that haven't been cancelled, will return next season.

Olivia Munn on Lohan Nudes - Click the link for a video where the lovely Olivia Munn gives her unvarnished opinion on the recent Lindsay Lohan nudes. I personally saw nothing wrong with the pics.

Another Justice League: New Frontier Review - I am looking forward to this DVD cartoon that is coming out next week. Getting it the day of and watching it that night.

Sharper Image Files Chapter 11 - Apparently the overcharging for tech toys isn't the booming business it use to be. Sharper Image, the king of the pointless expensive tech, has filed for Chapter 11 and plans to close half its store. It appears they are following the CompUSA survival plan of cutting off limbs rather then addressing core problems. As a result it will probably end the same with the remaining stores closing the following year. I would pretend to miss them but I have never bought anything and don't even bother to check them out anymore.

Book Staircase - Often London homes have limited space so when someone remodeled their home, Levitate Architect decided that the staircase to the second level could do more by creating shelves. Not entirely sure how functional it is, I image it could only hold paperbacks, but pretty good idea. Can you image accidentally spilling a drink though going up those steps?

Wii As a Media Center - Using a program from Orb, you can apparently turn your Wii into a media center that can play videos and music streamed from your home computer. Even better, because of Orbs ability to translate video into Flash on the fly, it is format independent. I would have tried it but it turns out my 8 year old computer doesn't mean the minimum specs of the program. The instructions are at the link and below is a demo video.

Toys and Movies

$1,000,000 Transformers Collection - 275 Generation 1 Transformers from the 80's. All mint in box, as if fresh from the shelves. I still have vague memories of searching the aisles of Toys R Us and Lionel Toy Store. This would be the collection I would have had if was an adult at the time with the deposable income to spend. Be sure to follow the link for a fantastic gallery of Transformers and the tragic story behind this collection.

Wolverine Cast Grows - The cast of Wolverine has grown by 3 with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Lynn Collins as Silverfox, and Will.i.am as John Wraith. The movie starting to sound more and more like the Wolverine origin as these characters all play a part in the origin of Wolverine.

Kristin Chenoweth Sings For Oscar - The 4'11'' 37 year old stunner of my fantasies will be performing "That's How You Know" from Enchanted Sunday for the Oscar ceremony. I am going to watch the Oscars because of Jon Stewart but it will be nice to see her sexiness on the stage too.

Large Star Wars Collection - Follow the link to a huge gallery of Rob Foster's ginormous Star Wars collection.

Robert Englund Talks Nightmare Remake - The man who is Freddy from a Nightmare on Elm Street commented on the remake of Nightmare. It’s a long piece basically saying he supports the idea of a remake, hopes they respect the original and is game for a cameo, perhaps as a "dream psychiatrist."

Doc Brown Returns! - Check out the link for a behind the scenes video of Christopher Lloyd returning to the role of Doc Brown and driving the Delorean made famous in the Back to the Future movies. The return is for a music video for O'Neal McKnight.

Wilson's, iPod, Mobile Wars,

Wilson's Leather Closing - Apparently starting 2/14 Wilson's Leather is going out of business. A liquidation company bought the business is will be selling off its products and closing stores. Note that returns are no longer allowed and more then likely the % of starts at the maximum price they charge for an item, not its normal day to day price.

iPod Shuffle Changes - Apple has updated its store to reflect a change made to the iPod Shuffle line. The 1GB model has dropped in price to $50 and a new 2GB model is now available for $70. The colors and design remains the same.

Mobile Wars! - Well maybe a skirmish. Verizon kicked off a little price battle by introducing plans that allow for unlimited calling. No more counting of minutes. However the price isn't right, with the Basic Plan starting at $100 per month. Unlimited voice and data is $140. AT&T responded with their own unlimited plans, $100 for voice and $35 for data. Sprint then said "me too!" and has their unlimited voice and data at $120 but it’s currently limited to San Fran, Philly, Tampa and Minneapolis. Finally T-Mobile, always last to join the band wagon, has created a $100 unlimited voice and text message, making it the best all around deal if that’s all you do on your phone, but no mention of what unlimited data costs. Whatever you go with, just make sure to shop around for what meets your needs. Personally those plans are still outside my price range.

Batman Trailer, Justice League Bump - Justice League is being pushed back to 2010 and do reduce consumer confusion will remove Superman (killed by Doomsday) and Batman (kicked out of the JL) from the movie. Considering Warner Bros inability to use its DC property to maximum effect, I expect the project to get cancelled. Frankly if they are going to continue to assume their audience is retarded and unable to track multiple versions of the same character across different platforms, I really don't care. I don't appreciate the insult to my intelligence and rather not encourage them to continue to idiotic policy. Basically just because the suits are not smart enough to keep track, don't assume your audience is as brain dead. Also, the Batman Trailer is expected to be attached to 10000 BC which is coming out on March 7rd.

Fidel Resigns, Musharraf Loses, and McCain's Quest

Fidel Castro Resigns - In a bit of a landmark, Fidel Castro, president of Cuba, finally resigned after years of medical issues. He has been running the country since 1959 and is generally beloved by the people. It’s assumed his brother Raul Castro will take over but he is getting up there in age so there is some speculation on what the order of succession may truly be. While Fidel is irrelevant to me, it’s probably a significant event for my parents’ generation with the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.

Menazir Bhutto's Party Wins - Assassinated Menazir Bhutto's party has successfully defeated currently leader's Pervez Musharraf's party to possibly gain control of the control. This assumes that Musharraf will give it up willingly which many doubt considering his rise was the direct result of a coup back in 1999. The defeat can probably be tied directly into the assassination by creating a martyr for the people to support. To bad Musharraf wasn't enough of a student of history to know that assassinations don't work in a democracy. He could have used the political process of smears and lies to turn people on Bhutto's party but once dead she became a perfect angel representing the perfect party. You can't smear or hope to defeat that.

What Price The Quest for McCain - A blog posts that pretty much summarizes the many reasons I no longer trust McCain and feel he is no longer fit for President. I would have supported him back in 2000. Now I wonder if the US didn't dodge an even more dangerous president when Bush beat him in the primaries. He is "dangerously flawed" and you don't have to look any further then his support of torture to know this when he willingly ceded "...a personal principle the he need only look at his scarred body to realize it's terrible impact?" You may not like Hillary or Obama, but McCain is simply unfit to be President of even the local PTA.

Death of HD-DVD Press Conference

Toshiba held a press conference and announced that HD-DVD is finally dead and gone. After reading off a press release stating the obvious, a brief Q&A was held. As for why HD-DVD failed, that was blamed on the switch of Warner Bros to the Blu-Ray camp. Toshiba currently doesn't have plans for Blu-Ray or another next gen disc and instead will work on next generation of NAND flash memory.

As far as HD-DVD players sold, "600,000 players in the US -- 300,000 of which were Xbox 360 HD DVD drives. 100,000 units were sold in Europe. And about 10,000 players and 20,000 recorders in Japan. So about 730,000 units worldwide." Also Toshiba plans on buying enough HD-DVD discs for Japanese HD-DVD recorder and sell them online.

So there you go, Blu-Ray is king. Now I am just going to wait on that rumored PS3 price drop now that they developed a smaller chip. No rush anyway for next gen as have entirely too many DVDs as it is.

Lindsay Lohan Naked

Not a slip or accident, but a formal photo shoot that shows off the gorgeous body of Lindsay Lohan in its lovely glory. The shoot, for New York Magazine, is a remake of Marilyn Monroe's "The Last Sitting." The photo's are tastefully done and once again remind you that Lindsay Lohan is quite the beautiful woman currently making bad choices.

Below is a not work safe image of five of the better pics thrown together by me via the wonder of copy and paste in MS Paint.

With her looks and talent she can rebuild her career, she just needs to learn to focus and party less. Note that her freckles are everywhere. Lohan should notice that blond or shorthaired, she is not nearly as amazing looking as the long haired redhead of yesteryears. If she would return to that look, she really is without equal in the beauty department.

All the stunning photos can be found here or here.

McCain and Torture, Journalism and Voting

McCain Pro Torture - Once again McCain’s actions run counter to his words as he voted against a bill to clearly ban torture so that the White House has no more excuses for ignoring the law. For a man that has first hand experience with torture, his stance is a bit curious. Of course, he has proven to be an easy sell out, to me proving he is unfit to be President.

Journalism and Voting - Jeff Jarvis commenting on how journalists attempt to "prove" they have no bias or opinion by not voting even though how they cover the candidates and the word choices they make seem to prove otherwise. It not only advocates that journalists should vote, as citizens, but they should be transparent in their choices so that the viewers and readers can "judge their roles in the stories they are covering" accurately. It’s a noble idea that journalists will never do because they like the current status quo.

HD-DVD Officially Dead

Toshiba has officially thrown in the towel on HD-DVD for reasons previousily discussed. Blu-Ray is now the official high definition disc. Toshiba will lose hundred of millions of dollars in the lost and is going to halt production of HD-DVD players and recorders as it exits the business.

If you have been waiting, you can now buy with piece of mind. My recommendation is to just go ahead and get the low end Playstation 3. Even if you’re not a gamer, it costs about the same as a separate Blu-Ray player but can use it to download movies, music and of course play games. More bang for the buck so to speak. Of course if you don't own a HDTV (like me) don't even bother to get a player, it would be just a waste of money until you do and by then the players and discs may be cheaper.

Special Commentary: FISA

Keith Olbermann aired another Special Comment last night, this time on President Bush's FISA legislation. His anger was directed at Bush's continue use of the fear card to shove legislation through that benefits no one but himself and his corporate partners. In this case the legislation confirms broad powers to eavesdrop on anyone the government sees fit to and also gives the telecom industry amnesty to help out. It has nothing to do with protecting the American people, or as Keith put it "You are a liar, Mr. Bush, and after showing some skill at it, you have ceased to even be a very good liar." The full transcript is here.

CBS Renewlas, God of War, McCain and Torture

CBS Renews 11 - CBS has renewed 11 of its programs with the fate of the rest possibly determined when its Fall schedule is announced in May. The saved are Big Bang Theory, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, all 3 CSIs, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and A Half Men, and Without A Trace.

God of War PSP Screenshots - More screenshots from the upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP.

McCain and Torture - A video that is should remind voter that McCain isn't the man of integrity has he claims. On the fundamental issue of torture, something he experienced himself for four days before signing a false confession, McCain has flip-flopped on the issue. Early in his campaign he was suddenly all for torture as he attempted to secure the votes of the base and far right conservatives of the Republican Party. When that failed he once again decided he was against torture. Now that he is the Republican nominee, guess what, once again he is for it. He uses tortured sentence structure to try and say no and yes at the same time, but as always its the actions that prove what a politican will do. To me, when it’s an issue in which you have direct and horrible experience to support your belief, suddenly selling that belief so cavalierly automatically disproves the notion you deserve to run this country.

HD-DVD Format Unofficially Dead

Today the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart announced that by June 2008, it would sell only Blu-Ray discs and players and currently has its only HD-DVD hardware model on sale. This, along with Best Buy, Blockbuster, and Netflix declaring their intent to go Blu-Ray, its all over except Toshiba throwing in the towel (which they are rumored to do soon).

The end of the war began when the Blu-Ray camp successfully bribed Warner Bros with $300 million the balance of power squarely onto their side and hasn't moved since. Now with the retailers announcing defections, it is over. So for you with HD-DVD players and disc, you soon will own a piece of history. Don't buy any new movies either; soon the ones that exist will be on clearance anyway. In the end, it seems those that are willing to bribe the most, won. I am just glad I sat this format war out but I do wish that consumers, not bribery, had been the deciding factor.

Anonymous vs Scientology

Anonymous has posted an excellent video that summarizes the battle that has begun between Anonymous and Scientology that was recently notched up with a worldwide protest against Scientology outside their buildings on February 10th and an invitation to join another on March 15th, the birthday of L Ron Hubbard, the creator of the cult. More important it illustrates some of the wrongs the cult is responsible for and those only scratch the surface.

ROAD TO FEBRUARY 10, 2008 - FINAL VERSION
Uploaded by SA-Anonymous

Romney Endorses McCain

Mitt Romney has officially endorsed John McCain as President, clearing any further obstacles McCain has experienced as the conservative base of the Republican party has been very vocal in there dissatisfaction with the nominee. I believe this continues the plan to get Mitt Romney the Vice President nomination. With this endorsement, the Romney delegates are likely to vote for McCain which give him 1013 delegates, just 78 short of the total he needs. That gap will be easily closed within a few weeks.

Huckabee indicated he will remain in the race as "a lot of Republicans around this country who have yet to vote, many of them who feel like their voices still ... [need] to be heard." Huckabee said. "I owe it the people who got me here."

Legos, Battlestar, Firefox, Cosby, and Google

Lego Military Airplanes - If you like Legos and military aircraft, check out the gallery at the link that shows different Lego craft including a B-1B bomber, Su-27 Flanker and several others. All very sweet and something wouldn't mind seeing at retail one day. Ralph Savelsberg is the master that created the craft along with an interviewing detailing the why and the how.

Battlestar Galactica Returns April 4 - The sci-fi channel has announced that the first 10 episodes in Galactica's final season debuts April 4 at 10:00pm. The week before that, March 28 at 10PM will be two 30 minute specials that will summarize and celebrate the previous seasons with interviews and clips. I guess that means that Stargate: Atlantis' season will be completed before then.

FireFox 3 Beta Out - If your a Firefox fan, Beta 3 is now out for you to download. It includes new malware protection, download manager, associate with podcasts, friendlier with Linux and Apple, greater speed, and other tweaks. My opinion is wait and let others discover the bugs for you.

Cosby Kids Reunite - With the power and budget of Oprah, the Cosby Show kids came together once gain to discuss stuff. The re-created original set from many moons ago was pretty amazing and also the recognition of how much time has passed since the last episode aired. The link is the first few minutes of the Oprah Show showing that set.

Funny Goodbye from ServerBeach to Google - ServerBeach created a hilarious video that says goodbye to YouTube and Google now that the company is no longer hosting the video site. Apparently the account was not an easy one.

Indiana Jones IV Trailer

The official trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is out. To see it in theatres, check out the Spiderwick Chronicles and possibly Jumper. If want to see it now, scroll down or if want it in hi-res click here. The official Indiana Jones site is here.

Writer's Strike Officially Over

With 92.5% of the Screen Writer's Guild approving, the Writer's Strike is officially over and the writers will return to work on Wednesday. All that is now left is to cross the ts by getting the guild members to sign off on the contract which will take a few weeks and expected to pass by overwhelming numbers (otherwise why end the strike).

The Oscars will go on as planned with Jon Stewart as host (yay!!) but awards giving out and other boring junk. TV writers will be back with some shows done for the season and others shooting for as high as 8 episodes put in the can to finish the season.

Obama Takes Delegate Lead

Thanks to a very successful week for Barack Obama, he now has taken the delegate lead and the election momentum from Hillary Clinton. He has 1186 delegates while Clinton has 1181. Neither are close to the needed 2025 votes needed to lock the nomination and unlikely to get there. Unless Clinton starts turning things around, she may just lose this primary election as the people tend to enjoy voting for the perceived eventual victor. Right now the numbers say that is Obama.

If she focused more on her message and less wishy washy in words and decisions (such as not voting on the Telecom Immunity bill) then she might not be struggling now. People get tired of long non-answers and she is quickly becoming all too much an expert on that. Now is the time to focus less on stupid comments from reporters and start paying attention on getting her message across clearly. She apparently has decisive opinions, maybe its time to communicate them.

Senate OK Telecom Immunity Bill

The Senate once again caved to pressure from the White House and its theatrical war on terror by passing a bill that grants retroactive immunity to telecoms for illegally snooping on US citizens at the Bush's administration behest. The claim is that the snooping was done to protect from foreign activity but it’s since been discovered that most of the wiretapping was done on US citizens talking to other US citizens. Its original mandate was pretty much ignored for whatever the Bush admin saw fit to do.

The main problem with the bill is it allows the telecoms to continue to do whatever they want with whoever they want as long as it’s cloaked in the "war on terror" disclaimer. In addition it allows the Bush admin to easily cover up its continuing illegal behavior.

What are worse are the Democrats that caved on this bill, probably after the telecoms promised campaign financing assistance. The list isn't exactly a who's who of the respectable, but Senators that have proven to be easily purchased.

In regards to the Presidential candidates votes - John "more Bush, just better" McCain voted yes, Hillary "I can't give a straight answer" Clinton didn't vote, and Barack "change chant, no plans" Obama voted no. Of the three, I have the least respect for Clinton who chose to dodge the controversy by providing no answer of record. The more I see Clinton in action, the less confidence I have in her as a potential presidential candidate.

Clinton Still Obsessed with Shuster

Clinton's campaign, despite the states it lost over the weekend and probably today, remains obsessed with the Chelsea related "pimped out" comment from MSNBC's David Shuster, who was suspended over it. Apparently the suspension wasn't enough with Clinton once again discussing the topic on Sunday after she wrote a letter saying "No temporary suspension or half-hearted apology is sufficient." When asked by John Harris what a sufficient action would be she replied ""That's not my job John. That's the job of the people who run the network."

Basically she demanded the man be fired...but then dodges that demand with a "not my job" response. Considering how her last two weeks of primaries have gone, I would hope her priorities would be a bit higher. I vote for her a few weeks ago but now I am having serious concerns over her ability to run the country if a comment from a reporter on TV can send her off in such a tizzy and distract her from the larger issues and her failing campaign. If it’s that easy to get her off her game, what will happen when the attacks grow in magnitude against her and her family once she is in office?

The press isn't making it any easier by giving her more power then she should have on this issue. The media shouldn't be so easily fold out of fear of losing access. The question itself was valid even if the phrasing itself wasn't. The simple reality is Chelsea shouldn't be campaigning for Clinton if they still expect the media to respect the hands off approach that was honored back in the nineties. Clinton wants it both ways and apparently the networks will let her.

Video Game News

God of War PSP Goes Gold - God of War: Chains of Olympus has gone gold which means it will easily hit its release date of March 4th. It’s a game I plan on getting after thoroughly enjoying the two games for the PS2. I just hope the PSP still works since I haven't had a reason to haul it out in over a year.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sells One Million - In only 11 days, the game managed to break the one million mark in Japan. I imagine it will do just as well in the United States and already have my pre-order ready to go for its March 9th release date.

GI Joe the Video Game - With a movie in the works, it’s inevitable that a video game on multiple platforms would follow and EA got the deal to do it. I expect it to be of the usual mediocre quality that has been the EA hallmark for the last decade or so.

TV News

Eccleston Joins GI Joe - Christopher Eccleston, previously of Doctor Who and Heroes, has joined the cast of GI Joe as Destro. Previously reported in the role was David Murray but apparently that was either incorrect or he dropped out. Destro will be the main villain of the movie and in the Joe mythology he is the supplier of weapons and technology to Cobra and assists in their efforts to rule the world.

ABC Renews Nine - ABC has announced that it has renewed 9 of its programs for the 2008-2009 season, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Samantha Who, Desperate Housewives, and Ugly Betty. This had led to specualtion that Boston Legal and Men in Trees might be cancelled.

Blake Lively's Letterman Interview - Based on the body language, it appears that David Letterman only had to ask and Blake would give him a night to remember. She is one of the stars of Gossip Girl, generally gorgeous, and sister of my childhood crush Robyn Lively.

Anonymous' Scientology Protest

February 10th Anonymous held a boycott of various Scientology facilities around the world in an effort to get the public informed on the cult and its vicious practices. Part of the reason for the name "Anonymous" is due to the cult's Fair Game Policy which basically means that anyone that dares to question or attack the church should be destroyed by any means necessary, legal or not. One such experience is described by Paulette Cooper here.

If you want to see what locations participated in the protests and any video and other information that may have been posted, check out the Project Chanology Wiki. If want to know more about Scientology, its beliefs, teachings and so forth, try Xenu.net.
Atlanta Protest Part 1


Atlanta Protest Part 2


London Protest

Writer Strike Fallout and Android

Showrunners At Work - Television showrunners reported to work pretty much proving the strike is over except for dotting the i's which should occur on Tuesday's member vote. This in turn means the writer's should be reporting to work by Wednesday.

Was the Strike Worth It? - Variety asks was the 3 month strike and the loss in revenue worth the gains from the new agreement. From what I read, the summary is yes if you’re a newbie writer and no if you have regular writing gig.

TV Season Changes - With the strike over, the remaining television season will be quite brief with an average of only 4 new episodes to possible to produce in the time remaining. As such, it’s possible that many shows will simply bank those episodes and roll them into the fall season. This could also bring the death knell to bubble shows as the networks decide they are simply not worth the trouble to pay out for such a truncated season. In addition, the aborted pilot season means that the networks will have to order carefully since they will not have the usual pilot episodes to base decisions off of which will probably lead to fewer shows premiering next season.

Android Demo - Gizmodo has posted a brief demo of the Android OS that Google and its partners are creating for the smart phone market, basically a cheaper alternative to the iPhone. So far I am not impressed but this is still at least a year away from release.

Roy Scheider Dead, Grammy Winners and More Munn

Roy Scheider Dead - The man from Jaws died at age 75 with indicates it was due to complications related to myeloma that he was being treated for. He was also in such films as the French Connection, All That Jazz, and also multiple television programs.

Grammy Winners - I have had zero interest in the Grammy's for years as the winners often made little sense to me and often flame out shortly after winning. Considering that drug addict Amy Winehouse won four today for Rehab, it looks like the tradition continues.

More Olivia Munn - More from Olivia Munn's Complex magazine shoot and cover, this time with video and the full interview which continues her anal sex teasing. She is quite the hot but strange girl. Warms my nerdy heart.

Writers Reach Tentative Agreement

The Writers and Studios have reached a tentative agreement that may end the strike. The agreement was delivered Saturday morning around 2:30am, presented to around 3500 members in Hollywood but still needs to be accepted by the WGA's 10,500 writers. This process will take up two weeks do to most of the votes will be delivered by mail (nuts considering probably all 10,500 writers have email).

If approved, this means that many TV shows will have time to get 4-6 episodes completed to finish off the season in May. Probably more important to Hollywood, it means the Oscars will go on as scheduled. It appears that the writers did get concessions in the area of internet revenue and apparently the DGA played a huge part in helping shape a deal as it provided the needed blueprint to move forward in negotiations. Considering the WGA leadership is supports the agreement, its doubtful that the majority of the membership will reject it, especially since it’s been suggested that if its not approved the studios will not renew negotiations until June when the Screen Actors Guild contract expires. That would mean at least another 4 months of striking and no payments on top of the previous 3.

The full summary of the deal is here, but here are some highlights:
- Contract expires May 1, 2011
- Minimum rates will increase 3.5% per year but with exceptions.
- Writers will get payment for internet content with minimum payments for each minute of a program depending on how used.
- Internet content will now provide credit information with the program.
- Internet content that airs on TV or becomes a TV series or film will then operate under the various TV agreements. (I.e. more money)
- First 13 weeks of online content is residual free if the content is free and 26 weeks if content is not free with a few exceptions. After that the residual fee is 1.2% of the distributor's gross rather then producer's gross.
- Receive 1.2% of distributor gross for rentals and ad-supported streaming (for movies made after July 1, 1971).
- Receive 2% of distributor's gross for ad-supported television for programs made after 1977.
- Receive .36% of distributor's gross for 1st 100,000 download of TV program and 1st 50,000 of a movie. After that its goes to .7% for TV and .65% for films.

There are more details then that but that’s the important stuff. The strike was to get money for online content in whatever manner it was used whether for promotion, ad-revenue or outright purchase. Another win is changing the value from the producer’s gross to the distributor’s gross. This will help avoid the creative accounting that was used by the producers to avoid residual payments. In addition, since the contract is only 3 years long, the WGA will have the ability to adapt faster to any changes or tricks that may arise in the meantime. The studios probably will also consider this a win considering that the WGA's goal had been a 2.5% fee for any and all online content and that number has been cut in half in most cases with a window of up to two weeks before any fees kick in. Long story short, the middle ground was found.

Update: The WGA leadership has indicated it supports the agreement which pretty much gaurantees it will be approved by the membership. There is also a plan to try and hold votes on Tuesday to get the majority approval to go ahead and end the strike. Assuming that happens, you can click here to find out what the preliminary plans are for the remaining TV season for various programs.

Daily Show "F^%@ You" to Mitt

The Daily Show had some choice words about Mitt Romney's concession speech when he "suspended" his campaign. The speech was wrong in many ways but in the biggest it was his inferring that voting Democrat was "a part of aiding a surrender to terror." Jon Stewart gave what is really the only proper response, "FUCK YOU" Mitt Romney. God what a dick, thank god he lost. More jokes and crap from his speech below.

Indiana Jones, Munn, Pimped Out, Britney, and Scientology

Indiana Jones Trailer Date - It has been officially confirmed that the first Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull teaser trailer will premiere on February 15th with The Spiderwick Chronicles. The trailer will be 1 minute 43 seconds in length.

Olivia Munn Pics - The Attack of the Show host and just general knock-out has scored the cover Complex magazine with some outstanding pics. Follow the links to see more. Probably not work safe though.

Chelsea Clinton Pimped Out - Apparently MSNBC commentator made a boo-boo by asking "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" This resulted in the Clinton campaign threatening to bow out of an upcoming debate (therefore costing the network ad revenue) so they in turn suspended Shuster. To me it’s a valid question. Also it is a good indication of why the media just ape each other now. Other then competition, it creates safety in numbers. Personally I think MSNBC made a mistake by kow-towing to the Clintons. If they don't want their daughter attacked, then she shouldn't be on the front lines campaigning. I voted for Clinton but stunts like this make me doubt my choice.

Tragedy of Britney Spears - Rolling Stone has published a story of the fall of Britney Spears in a pretty blunt manner that makes for a fascinating read. Its probably one of the few stories I have read that doesn't take an "ah poor thing" approach to her. I am a little tired of the sympathy she gets, especially since she doesn't to deserve it. This course of destruction was done all by her lonesome. She is an adult who is making adult decisions and therefore forced to live with the consequences. She complains about the paparazzi while dating them and inviting them on rides. She lets them know where she will be and when. She constantly demands attention and then complains about it. She wants to be miserable, fine but can't she leave the rest of the world out of it. She just needs to go back to Louisiana, find a house in the words and work her shit out in the privacy of her home and keep it in her family.

Scientology Speech - The more I read and see about Scientology, the nuttier it and those involved become to me. I am not a fan of organized religions but this cult is just crazy. Listen to the speech, its like listening to Star Trek techno babble, only this babble can cause harm. I like how they take credit for stories in the paper that they had little to do with. Most where FDA released a report about antidepressants and of course the media talked about it. This is one story, rewritten and distributed across the media landscape, much like a viral video, and they are taking credit for every location it appears in. It would be like me taking credit for the popularity of the "I F$@@ed Matt Damon" video because all these websites happened to talk about it around the same time I did. Even more amusing is acting like this grand campaign to sell books it’s a new concept. It is very difficult to take this cult seriously.

Mitt Romney Quits Presidential Bid

Mitt Romney has officially ended his bid for the 2008 Republican nominee for President. For reasons I don't understand, the media is using the word "suspend" as if it’s a temporary condition. It’s rather odd. Any case, Romney cited that old chestnut, "war" in saying why he quit "In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding surrender to terror."

With Romney bailing, this means McCain is the Republican candidate for President. Huckabee is out; it’s just a matter of him making it official. Despite platitudes to the contrary I think some behind the scenes deal was made. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Romney was promised the Vice President spot if he quit. Romney knew he was defeated; it was just a matter of time. This way he is an excellent position to get the bid the next go around in 2012 or 2016.

More important this allows the Republicans to now focus all their energy on the Democrats be it Clinton or Obama. With this consolidation the war chest can now be built and plans made. Essentially the Republicans will have a 4 month campaign lead on the Democrats. It’s a bold and smart move on their part and as they have shown before, the Republicans have no equal in getting American sheep to eat shit and ask for more.

Daily Show Has Fun With Charts

The Daily Show, despite the lack of writers, continues to do what it does best - highlight just how idiotic the media can be in reporting, really selling, the news story of the day.

007, Star Trek, Kitt, Yo Joe, and Monster Cable Rip Off

007 Teaser Poster - Bond 22 is coming and the teaser poster for "Quantum of Solace" is out. Not particularly impressive to me. The movie will be in theatres November 7th, 2008.

Star Trek Remastered - "New" episodes are out coming out as the Star Trek Re-mastered project continues. The next completed episode to air is "The Ultimate Computer". The project is designed to update the TOS with better effects, improved picture quality and sound while retaining the "feel" effects wise from the series. Comparisons shots and where to find the show are at the link.

K.I.T.T.'s New Voice - Do to contract with General Motors Will Arnett could not do the voice of KITT for the upcoming Knight Rider movie/pilot. Somehow NBC managed to tag Val Kilmer for the role instead. If the show does well and gets ordered as a series they may regret that decision as has-been movie stars tend to be very demanding, expensive and high maintenance.

G.I. Joe Finds a Cover Girl - The casting for the GI Joe Movie continues, this time with the casting of Czech model Karolina Isela in the role of Cover Girl. The character is a Joe member who uses her good looks to help in missions.

A-Team Script Review - A movie is in the works based on the 80s series and apparently the script is pretty darn good and invokes the series very well. The reviewer was very pleased and especially got joy out of the idea of tanks being tossed at jets.

Monster Cable Rip-Off - In case you didn't know, never buy Monster Cables. They are overpriced rip off that do nothing different then the cheaper versions. If anything use the Monster Cable con as a way to tell if a salesman is honest or not. If some guy tries to sell you them for the "superior sound and video" then you know not to trust him and go elsewhere. If want to know why stores sell them and push them then check out the link to see the high market (up to 80%) on the cables and other links to why Monster is a rip off.

Super Tuesday Summary

The results from Super Tuesday is in. Twenty-four states, 1681 delegates for the Democrats, and 1,020 delegates for the Republicans and the Presidential picture remains as murky as ever. Clinton holds a narrow lead over Obama but he continues to close in. McCain remains the strong front runner, Romney is in second and Huckabee is nipping at his heals. Basically between Monday and today, nothing has really changed. For once, every state is going to be important in deciding the nominees rather then just a few. It cannot get better then a close election right up to the conventions.

Thanks to Rocketboom, you can see why people make fun of people in Tennessee and Alabama as their though processes in deciding who to vote for is sad, mis-informed and pretty pathetic. With the advent of the internet, there is no excuse for not being aware of at least some of the facts about the various candidates. Sadly, the lack of though is share by the children. Watch the video here.

To a degree the rise and fall of candidates can be seen by how much time the media decides to give them. For reasons I don't understand, the media feels its job is to tell a "story" and they are willing to manufacture "truths" they need to in selling that story. Personally I would rather have facts. The ability to tell a story seems to tie directly into how much coverage a candidate gets. The more coverage, the better for the candidate. Thanks to this site, there is a nifty series of charts that show just how much coverage the various candidates are getting and its interesting to see. Basically those the press feels have a chance to win, get more coverage, which gives them a better chance to win, which gets more coverage, which well you get the cycle. If you name isn't Clinton, Obama, or McCain, your kind of screwed because you don't help in the "story" of the '08 election.

Atlantis, Ledger Update, and Video Games

Stargate Atlantis - Production of season five has begun with hints of the upcoming end of season four and the future. Some characters will die but the core cast will remain, Amanda Tapping will guest star (as now will be lead on Sanctuary) so Robert Picardo (as Woolsey) will join the cast as leader of Atlantis. The gorgeous Jewel Staite remains on the cast and Paul McGillion and Michael Shanks will guest star. Also the season finale will also be the show's 100th episode. Atlantis is coming into its own but I still miss Stargate SG-1.

Heath Ledger Cause of Death - The New York Medical Examiner's office has ruled Heath Ledger's death as an accidental overdose on prescription drugs. Specifically, the cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a statement. Or, to put the commercial name on them, OxyContin, Valium, Xanax, Restril and Unisom. The man was a walking medicine cabinet. Now dead for the same reason.

Conan v Stewart v Colbert Feud - It must be a slow news day as CNN.com is reporting about the "feud" between the nighttime talk show hosts that ended in a hilarious "fight."

Old Games = Money - Nintendo is reporting that they have sold 10 million copies of their virtual console games. In addition, Gamestop is making money hand over fist with the selling of used games (and new as used without your knowledge) resulting in it accounting for 44% of their profits (see chart). Not surprised considering the high cost of new games and they pay around $5 for a game and then sell it for $20.

Target Clearance Days - Want to know when Target tends to hit its various department to determine clearance and other sales, then click the link. The only one that matters to me is Monday for Electronics.

Mario Kart Wii - Its coming, no release date, but apparently promising 32 courses, mid-air tricks, Mii use, 12 player online matches (drool), ghost downloads, and 16 new players.

XBox 360 Price Drop - The price at retail has officially dropped to $130 and possibly still subject to the five free titles offer. I recommend Transformers.

Stewart vs Colbert vs Conan

The hilarious saga of who created Huckabee came to an end last night with the Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien all dropping by on each other's show to prep for a brawl between the three of them. The entire series of gags where entertaining and hopefully a beginning of a tradition. When late night starts having fun with each other, the audience wins.

WGA, iPod, 700 MHz, Legos,

WGA Strike Agreement? - Reuters is reporting that terms of a contract have been reached. What's left is language in contract and getting the members to agree.

iPod, iPhone Upgrade - Starting today, Apple has added a new hard drive tier. The iPhone now has 32 GB of memory and the iPhone is at 16 GB. The price for the new models is $500. You can order them today at the Apple store or wait a few days for them to show up at stores.

Freddy Gets Cast - Robert Englund may be out of the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street but he has managed to line up new work as the director of "The Vij" based on a novel by Nikolaj Gogol.

700MHZ Fact Sheet - The details on why the 700MHz spectrum (about to be vacated by TV for HD content) currently for sale is important. To sum, if Verizon or a telecom gets the spectrum, expect the same o same o. If Google or others get it, the sky is the limit in potential.

200 Star Wars mini-sets - Take a bored Lego fan, Star Wars and lots of bricks and you get bunches of vehicle and sets from Star Wars, in tiny sizes.

Superbowl Most Watched - Sunday's Superbowl was the second most watched event in television history with 97.5 million viewers. This is second to the final of MASH which had 106 million. Thanks to that, House got a boost by becoming the highest rated scripted program in the last two years.

Olivia Munn - She talks anal sex and on the cover of a magazine in a bikini. I am in lust.

Super Tuesday: Who To Vote For?

Super Tuesday is tomorrow. In the past I have skipped the primaries mostly because they where irrelevant as the nominees had already been decided at that point. This year that is no longer the case. Also, this year is probably the most important election in decades as the ship of state is seriously damaged from the Bush years and the person that is put in charge can either finishes the job or right it.

With the previous month's worth of primaries, the choices have narrowed down to five, three on Republican side and two on the Democrat. For me, the choice is easy on which party to vote for. The Republican candidates, without invoking the word "Bush", have made it pretty clear that they believe in his policies, just not in the execution. Essentially they think they can do what he did only better. The fundamental problem is I don't agree with what he did and believes. I think continue his policies are the worse thing that can be done to this country right now. Obama is right; change is needed, not more of the same done differently which is exactly what the Republican candidates proudly represent.

So for me that narrows the choices down to two - Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Most people seem to make choices based on popularity or "personality". What they believe, their platform is important, but I could care less if everyone else likes the person, of if they are even a likable person, sadly though it is important to others. I want them to be able to lead, to truly recognize that leadership is more then a title (something Bush doesn't). Leadership means making the right decisions, for the right reasons, while knowing they could become wrong. A leader should inspire but they should also establish how things can and should be done. Just as important, a leader can admit to failure, admit they don't know the best course of actions and recognize that so they can find experts that can. I don't mind hearing "I don't know" as long as I hear "but I will find the people that can make sure I do." I want a leader that recognizes the last thing they need is a bunch of sycophants. An egomaniac surrounded by yes-men, who refuses to believe he is capable of being wrong, has done more, then enough damage to this country. Finally, a leader, a President, must be effective. Good ideas with no means or will to implement them are of no help to anyone.

All these traits cannot exist independent of each other. A President can lead, but he has to inspire those to want to follow. He can be effective, but only if people like them enough to let them. A leader can admit failure, but they can't be weak in the process. It’s all a delicate and difficult line. It requires intelligence, skill, a touch of humility, and a whole lot of luck with good people backing them up.

Based on this belief in what a President should mean, I can only do that classic pro/con list for each Democratic candidate based on these key qualifications: platform, likeability, leadership, decision-making, inspiration, humility, effectiveness and support staff.

Platform
In this the two candidates are nearly alike. Both may disagree on implementation but on core areas they agree. Where they diverge from each other is the Iraq War where Clinton has indicated she wants to leave but is still wants to strive for the solution that isn't embarrassing for the United States. A solution that does not exist. Barack seems to recognize that failure can, and is, an option when it comes to getting out of the Iraq War. Something I agree with.

However, Hillary Clinton seems to recognize that the middle class is the US economy. When the middle class stumbles, so does the economy. Barack has indicated interest, but I don't think he really understands just how important the middle class is. Also, while both have health care reform plans, I don't think either have good plans but Hillary has the passion to get something out there. Right now anything is better then what the country has now.

The two candidates do diverge from me on issues, one is immigration. I think amnesty should be off the table, I think the border should be closed and I think existing laws should be enforced strictly with financial support from the federal government (the biggest problem right now). Neither candidate agrees, but then neither does the Republican ones. I also think that welfare reform is necessary, one that enforces diminishing returns for the longer someone is on it and the larger their family gets while under it.

Winner: Clinton

Likeability
I disagree with the notion that liking someone is that important to measure the skill or abilities, but others disagree and often it’s critical to getting anything done. This results in a hit to ability to inspire and prove effective in getting things done.

In this, the winner is pretty clear. Hillary is a polarizing candidate; you either love her or hate her. For reasons I don’t understand, there doesn’t seem to exist an in between. With Barack, people love him. He crosses political, racial, age and sex boundaries. In this area he is truly the universal candidate. It’s his likeability factor that makes him the worse case scenario for the Republicans as they will not be able to defeat him.

Winner: Obama

Decision-Making
A President has to be able to make good, consistent decisions, even if it will cost lives. Its really a two part thing – one part is experience, the other the willingness to make the unpopular decision for the right reasons.

With experience comes the ability to recognize the complexity and the consequences of a decision. As we saw with Bush, he utterly failed to do this at every turn. He truly simplified everything to an “A vs B” type mentality that fails to recognize the problems that can arise because usually much more is involved. With this experience also comes ability to weather a storm, to know to seek out more information and advice and hopefully far less pride on ones choices (again see Bush). It is here where you essentially want the anti-Bush.

On this, Hillary clearly wins out. She has the 8 years in the White House, years as a Senator, years supporting her husband as governor. She truly has the wealth of experience. Obama has two years as a Senator; most of it really spent campaigning for that seat and then the Presidency. He is a rookie and we have absolutely no idea about his decision making skills. With him it’s a far greater leap of faith then normal.

In the second criteria – making the unpopular decisions, I believe it is a wash. The days of the self-sacrificing politician for the common good are dead and unlikely to return with either candidate.

Winner: Clinton

Inspirational
An excellent President inspires people to want to do more for themselves and their country. In this Barack has no equal. His oratory skills are simply amazing. His speech writers are apparently some of the best in the world. In this area, Clinton doesn’t stand a chance, which is probably why her message is based on her experience.

Winner: Obama

Humility
As said before, a President has to admit they can be wrong and will not know everything. If you think your right all the time, you only surround yourself with sycophants; this usually results in bad choices.

This is a tough one. Barack hasn’t indicated any humility mainly because his lack of experience hasn’t presented an opportunity for him to. I don’t know with him. However, with Hillary Clinton, it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t have much. She still, after all this time, can’t even admit she made the wrong call about Iraq. When asked directly she gives this very long song and dance that can be summed up as “yes I was wrong” but it seems she is incapable of saying the words. Not exactly confidence builder for me.

Winner: none

Support Staff
This is important mostly because we have seen what happens when the President doesn’t have good people working with him. You name an important position in government and you probably have an unqualified sycophant that Bush put there. A President, to a large degree, is only as good as the people that represent them on various matters.

On this, again I don’t know. Barack’s inexperience means he doesn’t really know who is good and who isn’t. We know he recognizes good speech writing talent when he sees it, but that’s all we know. However, his ability to inspire may lead to him truly getting some of the best to stand up and take roles they normally wouldn’t but should. It’s a huge variable with a great deal of potential and a great deal of danger.

Clinton has the experience; she probably already knows who will do what once she takes office. How many are political only and how much are for effectiveness is the real variable. I have confidence that the government situation will improve, but compared to Bush that really isn’t much of a high bar to go over.

Winner: none

Effectiveness
Can a President get his agenda passed. Say what you will, Bush was very effective is getting his agenda done, thanks to a Congress that agreed with anything and everything. This is why the current crop of Republican candidates is not good choices as they are part of that group that enabled the President. The next president will not have it nearly as easy.

The next President has lot of damage to undo and their ability to do that is directly tied into how well others, especially Congress, will work with them. It brings all the above qualities together. A platform that people can get behind, a personality that people are willing to support, the experience and skill to make trusted, good decisions for the people of the United States and the world, the ability to inspire people to want to follow and finally the ability to seek out help and find the best to hold the roles of government to get decisions executed, all of will help or hinder their effectiveness.

Again, it’s almost to close to call. The ultimate President would be a combination of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Her experience and connections combined with his likeability and inspirations abilities. Sadly that is not the case. I want to call this category a wash, but it’s simply too critical for that.

In the end, Obama simply doesn’t have the experience, connections, or agenda to become an effective President. One year as a Senator simply isn’t enough. We all experienced the disaster of inexperience with Bush, we can’t repeat the mistake. He has developed connections and will develop more, but he needs that experience under his belt to recognize the good from the bad. He pushes for “change” but that seems to be the beginning and the end of his plans. He can’t seem to explain what changes he wants, only what he doesn’t want. He follows the Kerry platform of “I have plans”, but I want to know what those plans are. Hillary has all these things and then some. She has plans. Boring plans, hard to explain plans, but at least she has some ideas and knows that communicating them is hard, but willing to try.

Winner: Clinton

Obama is the leap of faith choice and Clinton is the practical choice. I am a practical man and with a score of 3-2-2 come tomorrow, I am voting for Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for President.