Is It Just Me . . .

. . . or does anyone else out there have no interest in politics these days?

By the way, this is pretty cool.

My Top Fifteen Favorite Motion Picture Comedy Scenes

This was a difficult list to compile. Your mileage may vary and I'm sure I left out some killer scenes, so feel free to chime in. I essentially chose these scenes based on how hard I laughed when I first watched them.

Anyway, here is my list (in no particular order -- viewer discretion is advised on some of these videos):

(1) The Marshall Lucky commercial in "Used Cars"
(2) The Don't Take Those scene in "Up In Smoke"
(3) The Oktoberfest scene in "The Pink Panther Strikes Again"
(4) The Filth Farmers scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
(5) The Master Exploder dream from "The Pick of Destiny"
(6) The Gene Wilder in Blackface scene in "Silver Streak"
(7) The part in "Tootsie" where Dustin Hoffman reveals his identity
(8) The fight scene in "Borat" (not suitable for viewing anywhere)
(9) The de-thawing scene in "Austin Powers" (here is part of it)
(10) Peter Sellers' final scene in "Dr. Strangelove"
(11) The Sex Scene in "Team America" (unrated version)
(12) The I Have a Gweat Fwiend In Wome Scene from "Life of Brian"
(13) Unkle Phukka from "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut"
(14) The Weed Fantasy scene in "Harold and Kumar I"
(15) The Ruprecht scene in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

Honorable Mention: Mongo's arrival at Rock Ridge in Blazing Saddles, The Sweating Scene from Broadcast News, the "Stupidest Man On Earth" scene in Ruthless People, the "That's Our Hitler!" scene in The Producers, the "Nobody F*cks With The Jesus" scene from Big Lebowski, the scene in All of Me where Steve Martin is trying to walk, the "Severed Hand v. Man" fight scene in Evil Dead 2, the "Go to Eleven" scene in Spinal Tap, the scene in Office Space where Peter meets with the Two Bobs, the "Pros From Dover" scene in MASH, the "Boy Visits Cockpit" scene in Airplane!, and the Battle of Wits in The Princess Bride.

Cool Clouds Over Rainier

Thanks for the photo, Barb:

By the way, Franken has taken the lead in Minnesota (h/t Sparky).

Quote Of The Week

From Barack Obama yesterday:

"His appointment should send a signal to all that my Administration will value science, we will make decisions based on the facts, and we understand that the facts demand bold action."

Obama was referring to Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel-winning physicist who will be our next Secretary of Energy.

It's A Wonderful Line

I've gotten this line wrong for years, so here it is in all its glory:

"Hey look, Mister, we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint 'atmosphere' -- is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer?"

Sweet

Things are looking good in Minnesota:

Al Franken's chances of winning the Minnesota recount may have just gone up astronomically.

The state canvassing board just voted unanimously that absentee ballots that were initially rejected because of clerical errors -- and the current estimate from the hearing is that there could be nearly 1,600 of them, based on some extrapolation -- should be counted, probably the single biggest issue that the Franken campaign has been hammering ever since this recount began, and which really seemed up in the air going into this hearing. * * *

The canvasing board voted earlier to compensate for the loss of 133 ballots that went missing in Minneapolis by going back to the recorded Election Night vote totals for the precinct in question. A decision the other way would have cost Franken a net 46 votes.

Hilarious

From MSNBC:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich embarked on "political corruption crime spree" and tried to benefit from his ability to appoint President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate, federal officials said Tuesday.

At a news conference in Chicago on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called it a sad day for the citizens of Illinois and alleged that the governor tried to "auction off" the Senate seat "to the highest bidder".

He said the alleged behavior "would make (Abe) Lincoln roll over in his grave." ***

Obama appears to be in the clear on this, at least for now. Prosecutor Fitzgerald said this in his statement:

In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them."

By the way, it's fun to see Patrick Fitzgerald back in action on another high-profile case. He summed up Blagojevich's position this way: "He wasn't against a corrupt deal, he was against being stiffed in a corrupt deal."

SCOTUS Just Says No To Overturning Obama's Election

From The New York Times:

The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.

The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth -- his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject -- he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president. * * *

I'm glad it's over, because this case was a huge distraction from more important matters, such as the search for Sasquatch or the investigation into whether we really did land on the Moon.

And speaking of kooks, this is hilarious:

If someone were to make a list of all the things a federal prosecutor could spend his or her time on to distract from fighting the war on terror, organized crime and other top Justice Department priorities, that list would mirror Mary Beth Buchanan's most touted accomplishments during her previous seven years as a US Attorney.

Now the Bush-appointee -- who spent $12 million to put that oh-so-notorious kingpin Tommy Chong behind bars for nine months -- has been struck with another bout of headline-grabbing obstinance. Buchanan says she won't step down once President-elect Obama takes office next month.

"It doesn't serve justice for all the U.S. attorneys to submit their resignations all at one time," she told a local paper last week, adding, "I am open to considering further service to the United States." * * *

There's some talk that firing this idiot would be a bad thing for Obama to do, but if I were the president-elect, it would be the very first thing I do as president. In fact, I would sign the letter firing her immediately after I took the oath of office.

Interesting Article On Online Poker Cheats

From The Washington Post:

Whenever Todd Witteles signed on to an Internet poker site, the first thing he did was look around for inexperienced players. One day in August 2007, the Las Vegas poker pro thought he had found an easy mark on AbsolutePoker.com.

A newcomer using the name "Greycat" was making unusually big bets off weak hands. "He seemed like a bad player who had just been getting incredibly lucky," Witteles recalled. "When you see someone like Greycat, you stop everything you're doing to play."

But in a series of one-on-one games, Witteles quickly found himself down $15,000. Worse, Greycat began taunting him. Soon, some of Witteles' online poker friends began wondering publicly whether Greycat was cheating. It was almost as though he could see Witteles' hole cards.

It turned out that was exactly what Greycat was doing. After months of pressure from a small group of players who took it upon themselves to investigate the claims, AbsolutePoker was forced to admit that a cheater had cracked its software, and it refunded $1.6 million to Witteles and dozens of other players. * * *

If you've ever sent money to an online poker site -- or are thinking about doing so -- you'll probably want to read the rest of the article.

The Universe Tends To Unfold As It Should

It's prison for OJ:

A broken O.J. Simpson was sentenced Friday to as much as 33 years in prison for a hotel armed robbery after a judge rejected his apology and said, "It was much more than stupidity."

The 61-year-old football Hall of Famer stood shackled and stone-faced as Judge Jackie Glass rattled off the punishment. Moments before, Simpson made a rambling, five-minute plea for leniency, simultaneously apologizing for the holdup as a foolish mistake and trying to justify his actions.

He choked back tears as he told her: "I didn't want to steal anything from anyone. ... I'm sorry, sorry." * * *

Simpson could serve up to 33 years but could be eligible for parole after nine years, according to Elana Roberto, the judge's clerk. * * *

Happy Holidays

From The Washington Post:

U.S. employers shed more than half a million jobs in November, accelerating a steady decline in the labor market with the worst monthly showing in 34 years.

The Labor Department report showed monthly jobs losses of 533,000 spread across the economy, hitting construction firms, computer makers, auto dealers, clothing stores and banks and insurance companies alike.

The new data translate the steady stream of pink slip notices coming from companies as diverse as financial titans like the Carlyle Group to discount retailers like Linen 'n Things into evidence of broad economic weakness. The headline number alone -- the worst monthly job loss since Dec., 1974, amid a steep downturn and in the wake of an oil embargo by Arab states -- is likely to raise fresh concerns about the depth and length of an ongoing recession. * * *

Obama will undoubtedly try "New Deal" type tactics in order to prevent the economic collapse of America, and the response from the Extreme Right will undoubtedly be ferocious.

FDR is viewed as a type of demon by these people. The fact that programs like social security even exist in this country is nothing less than an outrage for America's radical right wing. That's why they desperately want to privatize it -- if social security was privatized, then it would be much easier to kill. These people claim they love America, but the truth is that they really hate it.

Weird Buildings

Check out more unusual architecture here.

Hilarious

From TPM:

In a briefing going on right now with reporters, Al Franken's lead recount lawyer Marc Elias made a stunning announcement: According to the campaign's methodology of tracking the recount results, they believe Al Franken now leads Norm Coleman by a margin of 22 votes.

This would be the first time that Franken has claimed a lead in this drawn-out process, and was clearly made possible by the discovery yesterday of ballots in the suburban St. Paul town of Maplewood, which gave him a net gain of 37 votes.

A few caveats are necessary. The Franken camp's methodology involves taking down the opinions of the local election officials regarding the challenged ballots, and assuming that all the challenges will result in those local officials being upheld by the state canvassing board. As such, we are dependent on the Franken camp being complete and accurate in their homework, and also on their underlying assumption proving to be correct.

There are also still about 138,000 ballots left to count, which could contain a whole lot more surprises.

Given that I intensely dislike Norm Coleman, I would love it if Franken was somehow able to pull out a win.

On a completely unrelated subject, I thought this was interesting:

Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson tells Esquire how his new boss saved him during a Democratic primary debate:

"As I'm chatting with Obama, the moderator says, 'Governor Richardson, what do you think of that?' And I look at him like a deer in the headlights. I was about to say that I hadn't heard, when Obama puts his hand over his mouth and says, 'Katrina.' So I gave my four-point plan on Katrina. When I was done and the debate moved on, I looked over and said, 'Thanks, you're okay.' He said, 'Nothing to it, brother.'"

And here is some good stuff on Sarah Palin:

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, fresh off his victory in a runoff election against Democrat Jim Martin, says Sarah Palin gave him the boost he needed. "I can't overstate the impact she had down here," the Republican Senator said in an interview on Fox News Wednesday morning.

"We had John McCain and Mike Huckabee and Gov. Romney and Rudy Giuliani, but Sarah Palin came in on the last day, did a fly-around and, man, she was dynamite," Chambliss said. "We packed the houses everywhere we went. And it really did allow us to peak and get our base fired up."

"When she walks in a room, folks just explode," he added. And they really did pack the house everywhere we went. She's a dynamic lady, a great administrator, and I think she's got a great future in the Republican Party."

Please God -- let Sarah Palin be the future of the Republican Party. That's not too much to ask, is it God?

And finally -- payback can really be a bitch sometimes.

And The Answer Is -- It's A Mortal Sin

From McClatchy:

Parishioners of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto have been told they should consider going to confession if they voted for Barack Obama, because of the president-elect's position condoning abortion.

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously," the Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph's, wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21.

The letter was sent to more than 15,000 members of the St. Joseph's parish. It is one of 34 parishes in the Stockton Diocese, which has more than 200,000 members in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and four other counties.

Illo also delivered this message in a homily.

Obama's support of abortion rights angered many Catholics nationally during the campaign, and Illo's letter, while the first in Central California from a priest to his parishioners on the topic, is not the first nationally.

A Greenville, S.C., priest told parishioners earlier this month that those who voted for Obama risked placing themselves "outside of the full communion of Christ's church" by their vote. * * *

I sent that Greenville S.C. priest an e-mail, and I just got done sending Fr. Illo one as well. This is a family blog, so neither e-mail could be fully quoted here, but I did refer to the priest pedophile scandal in both e-mails and I did tell Fr. Illo that I would "see him in hell," given that I voted for Obama.

If you want to let Fr. Illo how you feel, you can contact his parish here. You cannot contact him directly because they took down his e-mail address (imagine that), but the addresses of his associate pastors are still up.

To be fair, the bishop of Stockton does not agree with Fr. Illo:

[T]he Most Rev. Stephen Blaire, bishop of the Stockton, Calif., Diocese, said he disagrees with Illo. He said Catholics should not feel compelled to disclose how they voted to their priest.

Blaire said Catholics who carefully weighed many issues and settled on a candidate, such as Obama, who was supportive of abortion rights, were not in need of confession. He said confession would be necessary "only if someone voted for a pro-abortion or pro-choice candidate -- if that's the reason you voted for them."

"Our position on pro-life is very important, but there are other issues," Blaire said. "No one candidate reflects everything that we stand for. I'm sure that most Catholics who voted were voting on economic issues.

"There were probably many priests, and I suspect many bishops, who voted for Obama."

There are a lot of good, thoughtful Catholics out there, and Bishop Blaire is clearly one of them. And he's right -- I'm sure that many members of the clergy voted for Obama.

And speaking of thoughtfulness, here is an article JTom sent me which examines Obama's victory from a Buddhist point of view.