Bush Administration is violating the Bill of Rights... again

This time the government is examining the bank records of Americans "suspected" of having terrorist links.

How are we supposed to have faith that the government is not also examining the records of people who have come out with open disagreement about what this administration is doing? How can we possibly believe them that they have only the best of intentions at heart when they do things like this?

Well, how can we?

Amendment IV of the Constitution of the United States:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

So where are the justly-issued warrants in these searches?

Or is it that in the name of fighting "the terrorists", that things like that don't have to be adhered to any longer?

Why do "they hate us for our freedoms" when we don't really have freedoms to begin with anymore anyway?

Why should anyone believe that the America that is going to result from what these people are doing is going to eventually be an America worth defending at all someday?

What's going to keep another presidential administration from really abusing these powers sometime in the future, and probably sooner than later?

How can anyone, with a clear conscience, defend what the people in this administration are doing to this country?

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Lend me your ear: ROME Season 2 starts tonight on HBO

At the end of the finale of the first season of Rome, Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) was holding the body of his wife and we saw Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) holding hands with his ex-slave... who seemed to have already forgiven Titus for bashing the brains out of her fiance. Meanwhile the corpse of Gaius Julius Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) was starting to attract flies on the Senate floor.

Presumably, tonight's opener for Rome's second season will have the funeral of Caesar and the beginnings of the seizing of the empire by Mark Antony (James Purefoy) and Gaius Octavian (Max Pirkis), who is going to wind up becoming Caesar Augustus.

The first season of Rome was like The Sopranos B.C., and some of the most brutal yet captivating storytelling I've seen on television in recent years. Season 2 will hopefully bring more of the same. Enjoy it while you can though: word is that HBO won't be funding any more Rome beyond this season because of the production's high cost. Meaning that Rome is probably going to be like Carnivale: another HBO show that was ended before it could live up to its potential. Sic transit gloria mundi...

The revels begin again tonight at 9 p.m.

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This little droid does everything but holograms

Rolling out from Nikko Home Electronics is the R2-D2 DVD Projector.

It projects DVDs up to an 80 inch width onto walls or ceilings with apparently really good image quality. "Artoo" also boasts an iPod port so you can play music through him, as well as playing standard music CDs. He also moves around with motorized wheels in his legs, and you control it all with a remote control shaped like the Millennium Falcon. He may not be able to project real holograms and he probably doesn't have any stolen plans for the Death Star inside him (or maybe he does, who knows?) but this still seems like a pretty snazzy toy for any Star Wars fan willing to pay $2000 for it. Thanks to "Weird" Ed for this great find and sending it this way!

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2160p HDTV gets unveiled at CES

Westinghouse this week at the Consumer Electronics Show revealed their new HDTV technology: a 52" screen showing pictures at 2160p!

I don't know if the last two Star Wars prequels were even shot at resolution that high. It might even be something that rivals an IMAX image. Westinghouse is saying this new HDTV technology is meant for "high-end" uses like industry and medicine... so it'll probably be a while, if ever, that we see something like this in our living rooms.

Incidentally, the new set we bought a month and a half ago is a 37" set with 1080i HD resolution. A lot of people have told me that unless you are watching on a set bigger than 50", no one is able to tell the difference between a 1080p image and one at 1080i. I've been watching ours for any tell-tale flicker and so far I haven't seen any. So I'm expecting this set to last us several more years to come before we buy either a 1080p set... or one at 2160p :-)

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HD-DVD versus Blu-ray: Let the pornographers decide!

The format war for what kind of high-definition DVD player you might be buying may have been won already by HD-DVD. Blu-ray, the high-def disc being pushed by Sony, is shying away from being used by creators of pornographic movies... which is leading them to adopt HD-DVD as their standard.

This is almost beat-for-beat what happened in the early 1980s between VHS and Betamax. Back then the porn industry chose to go with VHS, partly because of Sony's policies (Sony also made the stupid decision to only let their consumer units record about an hour of stuff, thinking that "nobody would want to record anything longer than an hour"). The result was that a lot more VHS players were bought as opposed to those who bought Betamax. A quarter century later and Sony is doing almost the same thing. You wouldn't think that something like porno would encourage that widespread an adoption of technology... but I guess enough people wanted VHS instead of Betamax just because of that.

I'm sort of hoping that HD-DVD will bear out in the long run, but not because of this. It has to do with the name: "HD-DVD" just sounds like the natural progression of DVD, where a lot of people will be told about Blu-ray and wonder "what's that?"

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Fish 'n Flush toilet and aquarium

This is the second post in a row that has to do with toilets somehow: weird trend, that. The Fish 'n Flush has a standard toilet tank core surrounded by a transparent aquarium. Among such uses for this novelty, "Some people think we're nuts but other just love it and parents are using it to help their children with potty training." For $300 you too can have a school of fish swimming around the family throne.

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Crapshoot #1: Responding to the Iraq speech tonight

Yes this is what it's come to ladies and gentlemen: sitting on a toilet while laying down some smack about what needs to be said...In this first (last?) edition of what I'm calling "Crapshoot with Christopher Knight" I'm responding to President Bush's speech tonight about the Iraq war. Among things getting discussed are why American involvement in Iraq was doomed from the start, why Iraq is currently incapable of sustaining "democracy", and the hypocrisy of Bush wanting to protect Iraq's borders while doing nothing about our own.

This is a much better video than my first video blog post that I did yesterday. Think I've gotten into a good groove now when it comes to speaking into a camera for an audience of... what, four or five? :-) Some friends provided great feedback on that first video, that I'm trying my best to take to heart. Anyway, here's a new one. Enjoy!

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George W. Bush has become John Kerry!

I'm following my usual custom with political speeches like this: listening to the TV, without actually watching it. That way I can home in on what the message really is, without being distracted by visual imagery.

So I'm laughing at Bush right now because the man has very obviously become John Kerry...

John Kerry in 2004: "I have a plan."

George W. Bush in 2007: "This plan can work!"

How did America get to the point where someone this shallow and disattached from reality could become President?

EDIT 9:32 PM EST: Bush said that "...our policy should focus on protecting Iraq’s borders..."

When is he going to get around to protecting OUR borders? You know: the borders of the country that he swore an oath to uphold and defend?

Good lord, we really do have a deranged man in the White House, don't we?

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Finally beat MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE

This was by far one of the most satisfying videogame experiences I've ever had. I've been hooked on this game and the other two that I got for Christmas. The Godfather: The Game is an incredibly deep and immersive work of art that I've gotten a bit into but wanted to give myself a lot more time to explore and really "get involved" with it. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is kicking my butt: I still can't get past that first Stalingrad mission.

So I've been playing the heck out of Marvel Ultimate Alliance and a short while ago finished it, with just less than 30 hours put into the effort. I used every character at least once except Daredevil, who I couldn't unlock until late in the game. For the final battle I used Spider-Man (wearing the Stark Armor), Wolverine (in Classic costume), Deadpool (in Assassin gear) and Thor (wearing Asgardian Armor). It's a very tough battle involving not just Doctor Doom - who now has god-like powers - but multiple evil duplicates of the Fantastic Four. By the end of the fight only Deadpool and Thor were still standing and fittingly enough I was able to use Thor to deliver the finishing blow.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance delivered what may be the most awe-inspiring moment I've ever beheld playing a videogame. Last night I got to the missions on the Skrull planet. As soon as I saw Galactus walking in the background I was like "Daaaaaaaammmmmm..." The guy is positively huge! We're talking as big as a mountain. And then he finally takes notice of you and when he starts coming after you... well, let's say that I'm keeping the saved game from just before that point, just to show anyone who comes over so I can see their eyeballs get all bugged-out. When you finally engage Galactus, you are in for one of the coolest videogame sequences in the history of anything as the Silver Surfer zips all around the world devourer's head. Just simply amazing. This was from the original Xbox version: if/when I get an Xbox 360 I can't wait to see what this scene looks like on that.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is one of the most epic games I've ever played, and the ending sets itself wide-open for a follow-up that might be just as staggering. Yeah it has a number of bugs (that I hope will get ironed-out in the sequel) but those are easily overlooked for how fun it is to play. Definitely recommended no matter what platform you happen to own.

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Closing out the books

Five months after its inception, a little while ago I closed out the Knight for School Board 2006 Committee. So legally I am no longer a committee and can go back to being an individual :-)

Today was the deadline for the fourth quarter reports, which if you miss it then it becomes a $50 a day fine up to $500 until you do file it. Which I'm not really a procrastinator: I just like to make sure EVERYTHING is in order before turning it in. There wasn't much to report: between the last report I made a few weeks before the election I had only made one expenditure - which was $250 for the newspaper ad - and no contributions. So while I was there I turned in the paperwork that officially closes out the campaign.

'Twas a heckuva neat ride, in spite of not winning a seat. If I could do this all over even knowing that I wasn't going to win a seat, I would definitely have still done it. Who knows: I might just go for it again next year :-)

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Video Blog #1: Various Rants

Behold, my first-ever video blog post!

Topics discussed: America without real leadership, individualism, political parties, Democrats, Republicans, the Iraq war, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, unsecured borders, manufacturing and industry, 2008 presidential election, history.

I may do more of these. It was a lot of fun putting together. The song is "Road Movie to Berlin" by They Might Be Giants, in case anyone's wondering.

EDIT 10:06 AM EST 01-10-2007: I'm watching this again and, it could have been a little better. Sometimes people notice that I tend to blink a lot, which is 'cuz my eyes are VERY sensitive to light (I can see much better at night or in a dark room than most people can, is one neat thing about it). It also tends to ramble a bit. But this was my first time trying this so this was something of a "trial run". The next ones should be more focused/concise and somewhat briefer.

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KING KONG Extended Edition DVD

Lisa got me the King Kong: Extended Edition DVD for Christmas and we finally found time this afternoon to watch the movie (I've already been checking out the extra content). This is the King Kong that Peter Jackson released a little over a year ago in 2005 and just as he did with The Lord of the Rings, he filmed a ton more stuff that he waited to put on a "special release" DVD. Here's the review I did when the movie first came out and since then, after watching it on DVD a few more times, Peter Jackson's King Kong is easily one of the most beautiful - and haunting - things I've seen so far as recent movies go. If you liked the original version, you'll love King Kong: Extended Edition. More than 13 minutes of new footage has been incorporated into the film including when the rescue party is attacked by a charging dinosaur not long after going through the gate. And another scene where Denham, Jack and the rest are ambushed by Skull Island's aquatic wildlife while crossing water on rafts. A few other additions give some more depth to the characters. Also included in the set are almost 40 minutes of deleted scenes, a few making-of documentaries and "The Eighth Blunder of the World": a hilarious blooper reel. Definitely something to add to your DVD collection if you already enjoyed Peter Jackson's King Kong.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Seasons greetings to our friends in many of the Orthodox churches who are celebrating Christmas today. Merry Christmas!

(Christmas is celebrated by a lot of Orthodox Christians on January 7th, because this is the original date of the holiday per the original Julian calendar.)

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Five things you didn't know about me

Shane Thacker "tagged" me so now I gotta play along and give five things that most people probably don't know about me...

1. I wrecked my first car when I was two years old.

2. One of my favorite things to eat is a home-made pepperoni pizza with lots of sauce, then drizzle it plenty with Paul Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing before putting it in the oven. Some people think that sounds gross but I think a pizza done "Chris Knight style" is delicious.

3. In eighth grade there was this girl who kept thinking that I was her boyfriend. She wouldn't leave me alone and she kept telling everyone that we were "going steady". So I put a stop to that... by sending her divorce papers.

4. I once got lost at night and stopped to ask for directions at a church... that was having a snake-handling service.

5. Whenever I'm in church I don't sing the hymns: I whistle them.

I'll tag Chad and Jenna.

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Christian theology and G.I. Joe

My friend Doug Smith has been posting some good theological musings on his Myspace page lately. Here's one that's particularly clever.

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Bizarre IT setups

Pretty hilarious thread on Slashdot where people are posting about all the whacked-out stuff they've seen on corporate IT systems. I'm still laughing about the accounting department that backed up its data on VHS tapes.

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Nancy Pelosi: THIS is leadership?

From new House speaker Nancy Pelosi:

"We have waited over 200 years for this time to come," Mrs. Pelosi said on the eve of her selection as speaker, a position that makes her second in line to the presidency after Vice President Dick Cheney.

"We will not just break through a glass ceiling, we will break through a marble ceiling," she said. "In more than 200 years of history, there was an established pecking order -- and I cut in line."

After calling herself "the most powerful woman in America," Mrs. Pelosi flexed her right muscle like a weight lifter to much applause at an event yesterday titled a "women's tea."

"All right, let's hear it for the power," she screamed as the jubilant applause continued.

"...Let's hear it for the power"?

Calling herself "the most powerful woman in America"?

I can't imagine any of the Founders talking like this.

Gerald Ford certainly would have never talked like this. This kind of thinking probably never even entered his mind.

Elected officials who are this blatant about love of power are... well, dangerous.

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