It's that time of year again!

Here's wishing everyone a Patrick Swayze Christmas!

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 12:19 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Since we haven't had a good comments fight in minutes

Let's fight about what the best movies of the decade are!

My list, in no order except number one, is:

5.  Old Boy - Violent, creepy as hell and the ending, oh the ending.  I knew it was coming from a mile away and it still ripped me to pieces.

4.  Banlieue 13(District B 13) - Yes, yes, it's on here primarily for the parkour and Cyril Raffaelli's hotness.  But there's also a lot going on underneath the surface.  I am fascinated by Besson (yes he's the writer not the director but this is utterly a Besson film) setting this so near future.  Given the current state of things in France, it is making a statement about what the French are willing to do with the less desireables.  Also parkour and hotness.

3.  Infernal Affairs - The whole trilogy, actually, but the first one is simply stunning.  God, I want to beat Scorsese with a bat for turning this into The Departed.  Ahem.  Andy Lau and Tony Leung are both spot on perfect in their roles.  This movie spares no punches in showing the destruction that these decisions are making on both of their lives.  Another film where it has to end that way no matter how much I hate it.

2.  Kill Bill Vol. 1 - I do love Volume 2 as well but, oh, Volume 1.  The Fight at the House of Blue Leaves is utterly spectacular but it's the tiny moments that really make this memorable.  The sequence where O-Ren is walking into the House of Blue Leaves and she and her entourage turn the corner and O-Ren just looks up through her lashes is amazing.  That and Gogo Yubari.  Not to mention that I consider all of Kill Bill to be one of the strongest pro-life movies out there.  Don't laugh, I mean it.  The Bride's entire motivation is for her child.  This is expressly stated in Vol. 2 when The Bride tells Bill that before she was pregnant she was his woman.  But once she found out that she was going to be a mother, her entire life was for the child.  Yes, yes, the violence is way over the top.  But The Bride is avenging herself on those who stole her baby.  Don't bother telling me that her actions aren't motivated.  I can't think of a single better motivation and I am the least maternal person in the world.

Plus Lucy Liu is hot like the center of the sun.

1. The Incredibles - I placed a self-imposed only one Pixar movie on myself otherwise this list would be all Pixar all the time.  I am Pixar's bitch.  Hell, the utter hagiography that is The Pixar Story makes me bawl because if there was no Pixar there would be no Toy Story.  No Nemo.  No Monsters, Inc.  No Wall-E.  No SQUIRREL!  And there would be no Incredibles.

Oh, how do I love this movie.  Let me inject the politics into it.  This is a conservative film.  This is a movie about the power of family and the recognition that if everybody is special than no one is and that suppressing greatness for the greater good ends up being a loss for the entire world.  Brad Bird mentions on the commentary that there was a deleted scene were Elastigirl confronts a woman who is being very condescending to her about not working and Elastigirl points out that she chose to stay at home because it was the hardest and most important job in the world.  He said this was based on something that actually happened to his wife.  It is difficult for me to watch this and not be struck by just how powerful a slap at most lefty conventions is it.

Second, and more importantly, this is the Best Bond Film ever.  No, seriously, it is.  There's even a Bond Babe.  This film isn't a loving send up of Bond, it's an utter celebration of All Things Bond.  There's a freaking lair inside of a volcano, people.  Of course I'm going to love this.  God, I want a lair.  Just a little one.  Also minions.  And possibly sharks with freaking laser beams.  But I digress. 

Third, the BFF did not see this in the movies.  She first saw it while watching with me in her living room.  She actually fell out of her chair laughing when Edna Mode started whapping Elastigirl.  I have no idea why that could be.

As far as what's not on here, fuck, no, I was not going to include The Dark Knight.  Far too long and the Batman voice makes me laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.  Also, I don't think that I was supposed to cheer when Rachel blew up.  Gary Oldman makes that mustache sexass though. 

So have at it.  What are your best movies?  And, yes, I suck for not including Gran Torino.  Or Hot Fuzz.  Or Zombieland.

Posted by: alexthechick at 09:45 AM | Comments (27) | Add Comment
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Rules are made to be broken

Editorial policy here at DPUD is such that we're not supposed to send any traffic toward Andrew Sullivan, and I'm one of the strongest proponents of that policy, but this has to be seen to be believed.

I'm not going to even bother to excerpt any of it.  Read it all. 

(And try not to laugh/scream.)

Posted by: Sean M. at 05:39 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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That's RAAAACIIIIST!!!eleventy!!!1!1!!!

Racism is, apparently, spreading like wildfire:

Posted by: Ember at 07:32 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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FAIL Is Now Spelled C-B-O.

I mean, is this shit a surprise?

The key point is that the savings to the HI trust fund under the PPACA would be received by the government only once, so they cannot be set aside to pay for future Medicare spending and, at the same time, pay for current spending on other parts of the legislation or on other programs. Trust fund accounting shows the magnitude of the savings within the trust fund, and those savings indeed improve the solvency of that fund; however, that accounting ignores the burden that would be faced by the rest of the government later in redeeming the bonds held by the trust fund. Unified budget accounting shows that the majority of the HI trust fund savings would be used to pay for other spending under the PPACA and would not enhance the ability of the government to redeem the bonds credited to the trust fund to pay for future Medicare benefits. To describe the full amount of HI trust fund savings as both improving the government’s ability to pay future Medicare benefits and financing new spending outside of Medicare would essentially double-count a large share of those savings and thus overstate the improvement in the government’s fiscal position.

Fuck this. Fuck this with the Sarbanes-Oxley Code Soaked In Government Grade "Fuck You". In my line of work, and with the numbers I have to deal with, this would be called fraud or criminal negligence. People in the "real world" would go to jail for this. But in Obamaland? You get a school named after you in Nebraska.

If this was intentional, then people need to fucking go to jail. If it was an accident, then people need to get fired and serve me my next pizza.

Fuck you, Congress. Fuck you forever.

Thanks to Alice

Posted by: eddiebear at 02:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Moron of the Day: Hell, maybe the year.

So, your neighbor won't turn down his music.  Ever.  24 hours a day.  For more than a week.

And that music is Robbie Williams.

What would you do?

A 45-year-old man has been jailed for 16 years for killing his neighbour after he played the same Robbie Williams song at full volume non-stop for more than a week. Alexander Alexandrov snapped after he'd heard Angels more than a thousand times through the wall of his apartment in Pernik, Bulgaria. He was caught when his car ran out of petrol as he tried to dump his throttled 27-year-old victim Martin Kromov's body, the court heard.

I lol'd.  Yes, I most certainly did. 

Let's hear from the murderer:

"I was in constant terror of his music. I could no longer think about anything but making him turn it off," said desperate Alexandrov, who intends to appeal his sentence.

Sounds like a case of justifiable homicide to me.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 02:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Oh, delicious schadenfreude

I swear, schadenfreude tastes like bacon and Grey Goose and chocolate all rolled into one. Hmmm, that might be a good dish...

The parents in the "Balloon Boy" ruse have been hit with a tab of $42,000 from local, state and federal agencies for their October stunt that briefly left many fearing for the fate of their 6-year-old, their lawyer said Monday.

I wish we could slap each and every reality star wanna-be with a $42,000 fine.  Idiots would have to seriously consider whether they're going to reap a profit before faux-sending their kid into space or crashing the White House. 

UPDATE!!!  Jail time!

Posted by: Alice H at 01:57 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Awww....Too Bad!

Ember the Excellent sent this BBC article along about the collapse of the Copenhagen Climate Manbearpig Fuck The Global Economy Up Forever Conference, and it is full of the standard issue Euroweenieism and whining one would expect from our betters across the pond. Now, that in and of itself would be par for the course and unremarkable, except for this bullet point:

2. THE US POLITICAL SYSTEM

Just about every other country involved in the UN talks has a single chain of command; when the president or prime minister speaks, he or she is able to make commitments for the entire government.

Not so the US. The president is not able to pledge anything that Congress will not support, and his inability to step up the US offer in Copenhagen was probably the single biggest impediment to other parties improving theirs.

Viewed internationally, the US effectively has two governments, each with power of veto over the other.

Doubtless the founding fathers had their reasons. But it makes the US a nation apart in these processes, often unable to state what its position is or to move that position - a nightmare for other countries' negotiators.

OK. My response

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Posted by: eddiebear at 10:39 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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OHAI, FITTYTOO PERCENTORZ!

CAN WE HAZ TRANZPARENCEES?



To be fair, I guess they're not allowed to show prostitution on C-SPAN, so I guess there's there's that.

Posted by: Sean M. at 07:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That Kid Has A Future As A Moronblogger

Posted by: eddiebear at 01:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Proof That Claire McCaskill Is An Idiot

She didn't even hold out long enough to get a porkola payoff, and now she is hinting that she may try to get one later.



Good luck on that one. That envelope on your dresser will always be empty, Claire.

Posted by: eddiebear at 01:10 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Does This Qualify As WIN! Or FAIL Britannia?

I mean, the WIN! portion is the fact that alcohol is cheaper than water in the UK. The FAIL part is the fact that the tossers in the Nanny State have their knickers in a pinch over it.

Sainsbury’s in New Cross, also in south London, was selling four 440ml cans of own-brand lager and bitter for 91p and 94p respectively. A two-litre bottle of basic cider cost £1.21, or 6.1p per 100ml. A litre bottle of Highland Spring mineral water, meanwhile, was on sale for 8.5p per 100ml.

The Tesco Extra in St Rollox, Glasgow, was offering four 440ml cans of its value lager for 91p. The supermarket charges 85p for a litre of Highland Spring water.

Asda in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, was also selling four 440ml cans of its own-brand Smart Price lager and bitter for just over 5p per 100ml. Strathmore mineral water cost 8.5p per 100ml.

The fact that it is possible to buy beer cheaper than water is seen by campaigners as worrying. Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said government attempts to curb binge drinking were being undermined by supermarket discounting.

“Unless they tackle the problem of cheap alcohol, they are fighting a losing battle,” he said. “The evidence shows young people and harmful drinkers are drawn to very cheap alcohol.

“Supermarkets sell alcohol at a loss because they know it gets people into the stores. A lot of these sales are irresponsible.”

A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association added: “It is a real worry that you can buy alcohol cheaper than mineral water. We have a huge problem with alcohol abuse in the UK, so we want a clampdown on these cut-throat price deals.”

Yeah, leave it to the nanny staters to go after capitalism.

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:50 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Good on him for saying it

I am, of course, hesitant to say anything nice about our (heretofore) Worst President EVAR, but, on the other hand, better late than never.

Now, a little bit of condemnation of Palestinian terrorism might be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

Posted by: Sean M. at 12:28 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A Christmas Gift

To the conservatives who sat out the last presidential election because there was no difference between McCain and Obama or to teach those G.O.P. fat cats a lesson and also to those "smart" people like Althouse and McCardle who should have fucking known better...
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Posted by: Moron Pundit at 08:54 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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Just ... fail

Is this the ghost of America's future?

 Like other heavily indebted nations around the world, Ireland is borrowing vast sums from foreign investors to plug its budget deficit. Fearing that the country will buckle under the weight of so much debt, the Irish have an answer: Put the government on a diet.

 More than $4 billion in cuts coming into effect after New Year's Day will slash salaries for 400,000 government workers while making painful reductions in benefits for such groups as widows and single mothers to the blind and disabled children. A tax targeting rich Irish nationals living overseas — dubbed the "Bono Tax" in the Irish press — will help restock empty coffers at home. Even Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who earns about as much as President Obama, is taking a 20 percent pay cut.

Such drastic steps have put Ireland on the front lines of a global battle against runaway government spending and exploding budget deficits in the wake of the financial crisis. The world's richest nations, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are more indebted than at any time in at least the past 50 years.

[source]

Call me crazy if you will, but isn't this the kind of shit that the real conservatives have been saying about the American budget?  That we should stop spending, cut where we can, and through that simple process, work on lowering the deficit?  I mean, great for Ireland, but how can the author of this article even question if this is the future of America?

It has to be the future of America.  The Dems have to raise the limit on our credit to keep spending their way into oblivion; Obama has the balls to say that he's going to reduce the deficit by waving a magic wand while riding a unicorn; and they keep spending our money like it's nothing. 

I'm going to pull a little bit of an Eddie here.  Wish me luck.

more...

Posted by: Ember at 07:06 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Who Else Might We Pick Off?

The ACU ratings are not the be-all/end-all of political scoring, but I like 'em. Here are House Democrats with a lifetime ACU score over 40.

Unfortunately that means no freshman on this list since the scores aren't in yet.

Griffith's predecessor, Democrat Bud Cramer, had an ACU score of 46.62, and the district has a Cook PVI of R+12





For reference, Senators Snowe and Collins are 47.88 and 49.55 respectively, and Ben Nelson is 47.26.

These are sorted by ACU score, so one would imagine the top of the list is more fertile ground than the bottom.  In the past I've observed that most truly moderate (as opposed to liberal) Republicans score no lower than 60.  So my working thesis is that going the other way, any Democrats higher than 40 or 50 potentially ought to be in play.

In my own home state of Pennsylvania, a guy with a 66 ACU in an R+20 district would be a respectably conservative-to-moderate Republican, so I think the House Republicans have some phone calls to make.

Posted by: JoeCollins at 05:37 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Let's address the important issue

But will it play Crysis?

Posted by: alexthechick at 04:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fuck You, Build A Bear Workshop!

Seriously, fuck you. At this juncture, I am tempted to tell my daughter that a giant, surly teddy bear will eat her if she sets foot in this store again.

 

 

Posted by: eddiebear at 02:13 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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This almost makes up for Joseph Cao

Do you think since a Democratic representative who also happens to be a radiation oncologist thinks the healthcare bill is such an abomination that he's willing to switch parties, it might make at least a few other reps think about what the hell they're doing?

In other words, let's welcome our newest junior representative, Rep. Parker Griffith, Newly-R, Alabama.

Posted by: Alice H at 12:41 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Hey Harry! Here's Some Civility For You!

Give Harry Reid credit for being brazen. After the shit he pulled to secure 60 votes on Obamacare, you have to give him credit for asking us for civility.

“I would hope that everyone would go back to their gentlemanly ways,” Harry Reid said this morning. â€œLet's just all try to get along,” he added, invoking the words of Rodney King during the ’92 LA riots.  

Hey Harry! I have your civility below the fold.

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Posted by: eddiebear at 12:25 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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