News Nuggets

Okay, so rather than go into a long essay covering what’s been going on during my absence (particularly after yesterday’s near-incessant rambling), I though I’d throw out a few individual items, with my own — brief — commentary.

I’m still working on finalizing my “A Rather Eclectic Chanukah” CD — I did have a working version finished before the holiday (including disc art), but there were a few late changes I wanted to make before I posted the info here. (Okay, so really, Pam thought the track order sucked, and she wants to take a look at it.)

There’s actually a movie titled The Number 23 in the works? Hell, I could have written that thing. (Your response being, naturally, “Well why didn’t you, smart-ass?”) I’m curious as to how closely it’ll cover the infamous “23 enigma.”

Speaking of movies, the new teaser (a ’net-only offering) for Clerks 2 is out. Don’t know if the movie’ll work or not (I’ll confess to having mixed expectations), but hey, casting Rosario Dawson sure as hell ain’t a bad idea...

On the television side of things, Battlestar Galactica’s back with a vengeance. Not to mention my guilty pleasure (along with the rest of the Y-chromosome set) 24. Yeah, I’ll be parked in front of the TV for a while. (Then again, with American Idol back on, so will Pam.)

I did get a kick out of the fact that right as I finished my own Pimp My Ride satire, The Boondocks came up with theirs. (Of course, they actually got Xzibit to appear in their version, while I had to work with an impersonator.)

Jon Stewart will most assuredly kick ass as the host of this year’s Oscars. That is, provided he can work within the horrifically stringent framework they insist upon. Frankly, I’ve seen almost none of the big contenders this year (I’m still pissed that “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” isn’t on the short list for best original song), so I don’t know if I’ll have much emotional investment other than Stewart’s hosting this time around.

His ties to Jack Abramoff may be derailing the rising career of Ralph Reed? Here’s the world’s smallest violin, Ralphie-boy.

And incidentally, is “Abramoff” pronounced with a long A or a short A? I’m hearing reporters use both pretty much arbitrarily. Can’t somebody just ask the guy and get it over with?

I’ll certainly give the GOP credit for having balls of steel. Here they are, corrupt to the core, and they have the sheer, unadulterated gall to propose lobbying reform? Since when do we let the criminals determine the punishment?

Not to make it sound as if the Democrats are rushing to actually fix the problem; their plan, though an improvement, doesn’t go nearly far enough. There has got to be independent oversight if there’s even going to be anything approaching reform here.

News flash: Alito will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Can we all just stop with the bullshit about not knowing exactly how he’ll vote? If ever there were a no-brainer of a prediction, this is it. and yes, he’s going to be confirmed. Wake up, America — this is the consequence of electing Chancellor Strauch in 2004: He gets to stack the court. Not that abortion rights is my own “hot-button” issue, but the chance to handle this was then. Alito’s a hardcore conservative (not as much as Thomas or Scalia, but definitely conservative), but that’s not enough to stop confirmation. Frankly, I’m more worried about his civil rights record, but that seems to be getting lost in the “will he or won’t he” nonsense.

And finally, so much for the theory that Bin Laden’s dead. Not to assume that he’s actually capable of carrying out any of his latest threats, but somebody remind me: Why did we effectively abandon our hunt for this guy again? Oh, yeah, we had to wage a totally different and unrelated war...