October 23, 2003 by s.z.

Jesus Actor Struck by Lightning Actor Jim Caviezel has been struck by by lightning while playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion Of Christ. The lightning bolt hit Caviezel and the film's assistant director Jan Michelini while they were filming in a remote location a few hours from Rome. It was the second time Michelini had been hit by lightning during the shoot. Um, Dude, did you ever think that maybe this was a sign that God didn't WANT Mel Gibson making this movie?  I mean, if Fox can sue Al Fraken for using the words "Fair and Balanced," what could God do for unauthorized use of his Son? 8:05:33 PM

Note: Atrios has some interesting background info on that item about CB Radios and Reagan.  It turns out it was written by Instapundit.  Go to the Atrios entry called "Instafactless" for an amusing read. 7:38:08 AM

The REAL Meaning of Stuff First, from a piece from TechCentralStation.com (Convoy!), in which the author makes note of John Markoff's likening of weblogs to CB Radio in the 1970s -- and then goes on to defend CB Radio: Citizens' Band radio became popular because of widespread resistance to another example of regulatory overreach: the unpopular 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. Actually passed in 1974, but popularly identified with Jimmy Carter's "moral equivalent of war," speed limits were for the first time set not for reasons of safety, but for reasons of politics and social engineering. [snip] In fact, it's probably not too much of a stretch to say that this combination of resentment over Big Brother intrusiveness, coupled with the means of resisting those intrusions, laid the groundwork for the anti-government explosions of the 1980s. A lot of people used CB radio to evade the unpopular speed limit, and Carter wound up losing to Ronald Reagan, who preached individual freedom and deregulation. It's hard to know which way the causality runs here -- did CB make Reagan's election more likely, by fanning the flames of anti-bureaucratic sentiment? Or was it just an early indicator of that sentiment? Who knows?   So, did CB cause Reagan, or was it just a symptom of him?  Either way, C.W. McCall has much to answer for. And if the blogging fad is indeed like CB radio was in the '70s, then I think we should be alert to the fact that it could be bringing us (or be the harbinger of) the reincarnation of Reagan.  Keep watching the blogs, and stay out of the moors at the time of the full moon.    Next, from a NYT article (Few Viewers and Network Executives Scratch Their Heads) about how the Nelson ratings indicate that nobody is watching TV this season, with men between 18 and 24 showing a particularly big (20%) drop-off in viewership. The drop-off in these viewing figures tabulated by Nielsen Media Research is inexplicable to industry executives. "Frankly what we're seeing strains credulity," said Alan Wurtzel, the president of research for NBC. Executives are demanding an explanation from Nielsen for these discrepancies, which, if they continue, could leave the networks on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called make-goods, free commercials to make up for falling short of guarantees to advertisers. Jack Loftus, the corporate spokesman for Nielsen, said the ratings company had assiduously checked its data and was confident the numbers were accurate. He said that while the drop in young men watching television was highly unusual, it was real. Mr. Loftus said Nielsen was examining several possibilities to explain the decline, including some unexpectedly high use of video games and DVD players by the young men now absent from television, and even the possibility that a certain number of the young men who are supposed to be in the sample may have been called to duty in Iraq by the National Guard. So, the fallout from the Iraqi war is all around us, and the most tragic victim so far might be the TV networks, who will now lose millions in revenues because the young men who should be home watching "Joe Millionaire" are off in Iraq.  War, what is it good for? Not selling Maxim Haircolor for Men, that's for sure! Well, there could be other factors causing the decline in TV watching besides the war, of course: One possible factor is more basic, Mr. Sternberg [a research executive in the advertising industry] said — the quality of the new shows. But the TV execs aren't buying that, because who WOULDN'T watch "Skin" or "Whoopi" if they weren't out of the country.  Or dead.  Or both! And lastly, an opinion piece by Arthur Bruzzonem (Masculinity Returns to Politics--Decline of the Democrat's Feminized Male) which, like the first item, was recommended by Town Hall: A televised election debate -- actually, the only televised debate during the recent California gubernatorial campaign -- captured a revealing picture of the American political male. A feminized Democrat, Cruz Bustamante, like a subservient husband beaten down for years, could only repeat annoyingly "Yes, Ariana," in response to attacks on his record by candidate Ariana Huffington. But macho man Schwartzenegger reacted without hesitation to the taunts of an aggressive Ariana Huffington. He counterattacked, smiling, enjoying the counterpunches, confident in his superiority. He had the unmistakable look of an alpha male. [snip] The recent victory of Arnold Schwartzenegger was a dramatic step. He epitomizes the defeminized male. Schwartzenegger dominated the world of muscle building, he dominated the Hollywood of action heroes, and now he dominated not one, but two feminized democrats, Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante. Now he must deal with one of the Democrat's last red-blooded alpha males, California State Senate Speaker John Burton. Burton champions the causes of the poor; but he does it ruthlessly and viciously. At least he wears no masks. Nor does Howard Dean, the leading Democrat presidential candidate So, we are returning to brute politics, with a purity and directness that has been missing. Politicians have been triangulating, accommodating and appropriating. Let the battles surge; ideas against ideas, passion versus passion, and straight forward attack and counterattack. The world has become too dangerous for feminized males. It's a luxury our families and our nation can't afford. Our enemies are brutal and heartless. The time for feeling our enemies pain is long gone. Our enemy's aggression has rekindled the masculinity in our leaders, fortunately, for all of us. Yes, fortunately for us.  Because our enemies in California State politics are brutal and heartless, and they would rape our women and kill our children if we didn't have masuline leaders to keep them in check.  So, let us now return to the purity of brute politics, where the game is attack, counterattack, and then eat the livers of our defeated foes.    And thank heavens we now have an alpha male like Arnold (who has, after all, been an action hero several times in movies) to lead us and to push women's heads in toilets for us.  Hopefully we can see Arnold and Howard Dean in a Steel-Cage Match for the presidency--the winner gets to grope the loser's women, and give swirlies to any of them who get too mouthy. 5:29:28 AM

Phallic Symbols for Your Dining Pleasure While I did say that the project was concluded at the completion of Ketchup Cake, what I mean was the EXPERIMENT was concluded.  The Regrettable Food Project will continue until we've found fame and fortune and a book deal, or died of food poisoning.  Speaking of which, SOMEBODY (you know who you are) sent me a recipe for marshmallow/Cool-Whip/creme de cacao/sauerkraut pie -- I will keep this one in mind for the future.  The distant future, when we all have personal robots, jet cars, and food pills to meet all our nutritional needs. But before we get to the candidates for next Regrettable Food Experiment, I want to share with you some dishes that come from actual cookbooks instead of advertising booklets.  They are really disturbing. First, something taken from Better Homes and Gardens: Famous Food From Famous Places, a 1964 effort, taking us common folks to fine restaurants all over the country, and giving us some recipes to try at home so we can PRETEND to that we are dining at Antoine's or the 1964 World's Fair.  So, here's Sugarbush Bombe, as served at New York's Tower Suite restaurant (i.e., by a hooker dressed up in a French maid costume).  The, um, "bombe" is actually a custardy pudding made with gelatin, egg yolks, ground hazelnuts, and maple syrup, topped with fake maple leaves.  I have no idea what the rolled-up condom at the base is -- it's not mentioned in the recipe. This next dish comes from Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls, a primer from 1957 designed to teach kids the joys of constructing fruit Carmen Mirandas (complete with raisin eyes, a cherry mouth, and a flamboyant hat) to float on the top of their bowl of cereal. But the salad below sends all the wrong mesages to kids, if you ask me: Anyway, I don't want to make Sugarbush Bombe, because I don't have a bombe pan and I don't feel like grinding up hazel nuts.  So, instead I propose something from another recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens book: Potato Salad from Disneyland's Main Street USA!  It's just potato salad, but it's from Disneyland! And while Candle Salad is easy to make (stand a banana on a pineapple slice; top with a cherry), I don't WANNA eat it.  So, instead from the Betty Crocker book for kids, I suggest Three Men in a Boat.  It has hollowed-out baked potatoes for the boat, Kraft cheese slices for the sails, and three men for the little lady. Get your votes in by Saturday afternoon, and you can help decide history.  1:54:35 AM

Dennis Miller: This is Your Brain on Conservatism You know, I used to think that Dennis Miller was funny, smart and interesting.  But I lost track of him, and then the next thing I know, he's on the Fox News Channel all the time.  And he's not funny, not smart, and only interesting as a case study of a life gone horribly wrong.  What the hell happened to him?  I do recall him being a sports commentator, and getting fired--and now he's looney.  Just like how Rush was a sports commentator, got pressured to resign, and is now a drug addict.  How many times are we going to let this happen before we outlaw ESPN??? And speaking of the judicial system, here are the highlights of Dennis' latest column or monologue or whatever it is he does for "Hannity & Colmes" (Malvo's Insanity Defense is Nuts): We’re about to enter the morass of the D.C. sniper trial, a trial in which one of the snipers, John Lee Malvo, told an interrogator that he shot a sixth grader in the chest to see how the chief of police would react on the nightly news. Now he’s going to plead insanity. Well you know something? That’s just not good enough, pal.    Why does insanity always get you off the hook?  It’s like a “Get Out Of Reality Free Card.” All you have to do is say you were a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and all of a sudden caring people with zero regard for the victim’s loved ones will convert some of their Delta miles and fly in to attend an anti-death penalty candlelight-vigil in your honor. All of a sudden people are feeling sorry for you, because you killed someone, because you were crazy! Of course you were crazy! That’s the point!      Lawyers have to start passing on guys like this. When a guy admits to shooting a sixth grader on a playground as a goof, you have to walk away. . . . I say we let the surviving family members decide what should be done to him. It’s their cataclysmic loss, simply let it be their decision. Who could possibly argue with that? And if that was the case, I’m pretty sure John Lee Malvo wouldn’t last too long after the final verdict is rendered. As a matter of fact, maybe this is the case where we install a hair-trigger derringer in the judge’s gavel and as Malvo is standing to be sentenced the judge can close the case and even the score in one fell swoop. Got that?    Scary, huh?  Miller's remodeling of the criminal justice system has lawyers deciding that defendants who appear really guilty (to the lawyers) get no defense; the victims' family members in charge of sentencing; and judges doing the executions.  Even Judge Dredd offered you a better shot at justice than Dennis.  (And speaking of Judge Dredd, I'll post Scott's hilarious deconstruction of the Sylvester Stallone movie later this week, for your legal edification.)  While Miller probably meant this to be funny, you know, it's just not.  It reminds me of what our local coot writes in his daily Letters to the Editor, which he hand carries to the local paper so the post office won't steal them.  (Admittedly, the coot's letters are a longer,  and usually cite Bible verses to explain why anybody who doesn't love Bush is going to hell, but they are as judgemental and irrational as Dennis's piece, and give you that same feeling that you should pity the writer for his shabby life.) And Dennis, who used to be smart, must know that the insanity defense does NOT "always get you off the hook" -- less than one percent of defendents use it, and only 25% of them are aquitted (and in 80% of those cases, it's because the prosecution agreed it was appropiate, and agreed to a plea deal before trial began).  And those defendants that are aquitted on a "not guilty by reason of defense" verdict end up spending, on the aveage, at least as much time, or more, locked up than those found guilty.  Well, Denis does know it, since he has his Kumbaya advocates for mentally-ill criminals just seeking to get the death penalty taken off the table, not trying to free anyone.  And I would posit that all Malvo's defense team realistically is hoping for is to get their their youthful client sent away for life instead of executed.  So, all of Dennis's outrage is over the fact that a teenage boy who has been in the total control of a psycho for the past several years might get life in prison instead of the death penalty.  Well, actually, I don't think Dennis really cares what happens to Malvo: he just wanted to use the phrase "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" in public, sound like he's doing something for the families of crimes victims (many of whom, by the way, don't want to see anybody fry), and make fun of compassion.  Sad, really. Bottom line: Dennis demands that the public feel no sympathy for anyone who has done bad things, even if there might be mitigating factors involved.   Dennis, FYI, striking out at the Dittoheads this way is not a good move for somebody who's thinking about running for State office as a Republican.  Sure, you can claim that you were not thinking straight when you wrote what you did, but I doubt they're gonna buy it.  1:48:29 AM