Religion Explained

I think this is an explanation everyone can agree upon.

Movie Recs

I watch a fair amount of movies and unfortunately forget them very quickly. Here are a few I watched this week that haven't yet exited the grey mass:

"Let the Right One in" - non-traditional treatment of a vampire's quest to live in modern society, two thumbs up

"Party Monster" - based on true story of drug addicts known as Club Kids in late 80s/early 90s NYC, one thumb up because the movie seemed to assume you knew the details of the case (or at least read the Wiki entry), which I didn't. There is an impossibly annoying website as well.

"Night at the Museum" - this was pretty much what I thought it would be. Ben Stiller is a continuous cycle of hits and misses for me but the hits (scene with monkey slapping face) are worth it, one and a half thumbs up

MJ Sighting

The first of what I presume will be many:

Is There Any Such Thing as a "Fact" Anymore?

This has been bothering me for awhile.

Maybe it's just me getting older but it seems like things - at least some things - used to be a little better defined and the cause of less dispute. We used to call those things "facts". I'm not sure if they exist anymore.

Food industry activists argue that "sustainable farming" is a matter of opinion - what one person calls "sustainable" may not qualify as such to another person. This falls under the "puppy mill" category - that is, no real definition of the term and therefore a target for argument from all sides.

What about subjects that are written out, at length, for all to read such as the various health care reform bills? There should be some "facts" there and yet, we seem to hear differing interpretations. Even when those interpretations have been soundly and widely debunked (e.g. the "death panel" claim), they live on as "facts" to many who oppose health care reform.

As someone who enjoys following court cases, I used to think something like DNA evidence was generally accepted as "fact". Now though, it seems like all one side has to do to refute DNA evidence is get an expert to testify using terms such as "junk science". I actually saw an attorney argue recently that because the lab worker who conducted the DNA testing in the case made a typo in her report, she could have made other errors - implying that perhaps the DNA test results were incorrect. While I might dismiss this argument out of hand, I can easily picture a juror mulling the words "reasonable doubt" over in his head.

As I said, maybe I'm just getting nostalgic for the non-existent good ol' days but there is something very appealing to at least half my brain about the phrase "Just the facts, ma'am".

Let's Play Oddball

If you're gonna be a fake nurse, you might as well strive to be the best

I'm sure this man is fun to live with

Sears Rep's explanation on this is pretty good akshully

That chick had a major hard-on for that soccer ball

NM man charged after hooking up with his car while 2 kiddies watched

Nuh-uh Dick Armey!

If this week's Meet the Press wasn't enough of a Dick Armey smackdown for you, The Raw Story keeps bringing those good vibrations:

In his opening remarks, Armey claimed that Democratic activist group MoveOn.org had "ran those ads" comparing President George W. Bush to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
[...]
At no point did MoveOn promote, "run" or even publicly condone the video which Armey's group now circulates. The clip Armey attributes to MoveOn was apparently submitted as part of a contest to help determine how the group should advertise against the Bush administration in the run-up to the 2004 election.

MJ News Tidbits

The LAPD and DEA continue their raids with glacial swiftness. Anyone who knows he's guilty would have had time to shred docs, compost the remains, fertilize a vegetable garden with the compost, and enjoy a crisp Summer salad with the produce while waiting for authorities to show up.

Interesting Egyptian bust comparison to MJ

Crikey - people are strange

Schmaternity

I'm going to try and keep track of these over time but alas, the task may prove too difficult.

Peeps who've tossed their hat in the ring for MJ's kids so far (I'm only including those who piped up and/or have taken legal action after MJ's death):

Claire Elisabeth Fields Cruise - claims to be bio Mom of all 3 kids, married to MJ and engaged to Prince's bio Dad. Also says MJ is not the bio Dad of any of the 3 kids but the two of them did have a kid together - Connor Cruise - which MJ gave to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman because he didn't like the color of the baby's skin.

Mark Lester - played in Oliver as a kid, claims to be godfather of all 3 kids and bio Dad to Paris (via sperm donation)

Dr. Arnold Klein - MJ's dermatologist, says "to the best of my knowledge, I'm not the father" of Prince & Paris but did donate to a sperm bank once. Klein sent an attorney to kids' custody hearing but judge said he had no standing. (I'm hearing "I'll be bach" in my head.)

Nona Paris Lola Ankhesenamun Jackson - London Satanist, claims to be married to MJ and bio Mom of all 3 kids. She's been suing MJ for years over this but did continue her legal battle after his death so you gotta give her teh crazy props.

Billie Jean Jackson: another one who's been in it for the long haul, she's filed legal papers now claiming to be Blanket's mother. If memory serves, I'm pretty sure she's been claiming to be married to MJ for years and complaining to the courts that she gets arrested every time she goes to her "husband's" house.

Fundraiser for Kid with Painful Skin Disease

Payton Thornton has a disease called EB which may ultimately kill him in his teens. His family wants to get him a stem cell transplant treatment (from a baby they are expecting in January) which would require extensive aftercare at significant expense. $100 raffle tickets are being sold for a Jonesboro, GA lake house to try and raise money for the family. You can also follow the raffle on Twitter.

3 Things that Made Me Laugh This Morning

or at least chortle:

Wedding Cakewreck - don't worry, you CAN click on the photo for a larger version

Oh my, Alfafa has really hit the skids

Deep Thoughts with Meghan McCain

MJ News Tidbits

MJ tribute shows canceled, dancers et al told they were retroactively "volunteering"

The Daily Beast looks at Propofol addiction

Various songs on YouTube claiming to be "new" - can't say if they are or aren't but here's one I heard today:

Taste Test

My Birthday is Coming Up

Just sayin'.

Let's Play Oddball

Totally unforeseeable freak accident

Of course when a loved one dies, you'd have to have this

In an economic crunch, we all have to reuse resources as much as possible

This lady's husband cheated on her so obviously she had to do something

I just love this story:

A man armed with handgun walks into a jewelry store and demands baubles.

What do you do?

"The employees told the male to leave and he left without obtaining anything," said London police Const. Amy Phillipo.

[...]

Police released a video surveillance image of the suspect, described as a white man, in his late 30s or early 40s, about 5-foot-9, with short hair, yellow or orange sunglasses, red shirt and a dishevelled appearance.

...hands jammed in pockets, head down and a rather dejected look on his face

TNTC

TNTC=Too Numerous To Count. It's a term I learned doing veterinary lab work years ago. And it describes the levels of wrongness in this article:

Ryan O'Neal wishes he'd never had children and is so estranged from his own kids that he didn't recognize his actress-daughter Tatum -- and shamelessly flirted with her -- at Farrah Fawcett's funeral, the actor admits in an explosive new interview.

"I had just put the casket in the hearse and was watching it drive away," O'Neal, 68, said, "when a beautiful blond woman comes up and embraces me. I said to her, 'You have a drink on you? You have a car?' She said, 'Daddy, it's me -- Tatum!'

MJ News Tidbits

I troll the MJ "news" updates so you don't have to. How Public Service-y of me. Although I admit, I skip over 99% of what I read because it seems off-the-chain-speculative and/or irrelevant. Now for the "good" stuff:

A "gifted spiritual traveler" hooked up with MJ in the aether 2 days after his death for an interview. Luckily, that conversation is available for dl as a FREE e-book! (If anyone actually reads this, please do give me a summary.)

The LA Times has an interesting story naming names of Drs. associated with the death investigation. Among them, an ear, nose and throat specialist from NYC, David Slavit:

Slavit was chosen by an insurance company this spring to give Jackson a physical so promoter AEG Live could get coverage for the singer's comeback concerts.

Seems a bit of an odd choice for an insurance company looking to guarantee the overall health and fitness of a performer in L.A. At any rate the article indicates investigators are looking for any possible connections among MJ's many Drs.

Shop 'til You Drop!

The story is - well, not good:

Parent Of The Year Arrested After Dragging Kid Through Verizon Store On a Leash

But the comments are real knee slappers. Read 'em! (My personal fav is by Elvisisdead although truly they are all swell.)