or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
July 31, 2007
The Primal Forces Of Nature
From CNN today:
Crude jumped $1.03 to $77.86 a barrel by 1:30 pm ET in volatile trade that saw oil just shy of the record high of $78.40 struck on July 14, 2006
From CBS:
The Bush administration said Monday that a new multibillion-dollar military sales package for Arab nations will help secure Iraq and the Persian Gulf while promoting stability and U.S. influence...Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the proposed U.S. package, estimated at up to $20 billion, "will help bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran."
Uh huh. Too bad we're only allowed to tell the truth in fiction:
ARTHUR JENSEN: The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance.You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.
Posted at July 31, 2007 02:33 PM | TrackBack
What immortal lines from Paddy Chayefsky, one of the best screenwriters to ever walk the face of the Earth.
Ned Beatty delivered something similar in "Shooter", anyone saw that? Probably a progressive-minded Rambo if there was ever was one, even though it cuts too close to conspiracy theorist territory.
Posted by: En Ming Hee at July 31, 2007 03:46 PMNetwork should be required viewing in all schools. It is one of the most depressingly prescient movies ever made, and the really sad bit is that what was considered satire only 30 years ago is now banal reality.
Chayefsky's language was not over-the-top: it was spot on.
Posted by: Mike at August 1, 2007 01:56 AMHah! Fukuyama's "end of history" with meaningful pauses. Discredited, fatalistic, corporatist claptrap.
So ner.
Posted by: me at August 1, 2007 05:44 AMBusiness as usual for " BUSINESS AS USUAL". AMERICA sells guns, that is OUR business in the world, that's what we do. (and if you think about it, it's probably one of the LAST manufacturing base we have left)(perhaps it's time for FRANKENSTEIN to look in the mirror and see what he REALLY is)
Posted by: Mike Meyer at August 1, 2007 09:52 AM
