Bush Doctrine = Epic Fail

Is there anything more pathetic than a person scrambling against time in a vain effort to ensure that history will be kind to him or her?

Perhaps only if that person happens to be a current President of the United States.

George W. Bush was at West Point yesterday, trying to spin his eight years in office as a blazing success. The most foolish man to ever occupy the Oval Office actually defended his policy of pre-emptive war (something that had never been done before in American history) and declared to the assembled cadets that "With all the actions we've taken these past eight years, we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build."

The Decider also boasted that the present condition of the United States military is ""stronger, more agile and better prepared" than how he found it when he first took office. I am somewhat reminded of how Adolf Hitler furiously insisted that entire divisions of the German army were still awaiting his orders in the waning days of World War II. If Bush seriously believes that the American armed forces are better today than they were in 2000, then either somebody should have been fired a long time ago for giving him faulty information, or there is a severe disconnect in his gray matter from reality. I suspect the latter.

So what is the result of the Bush Doctrine? The Middle East is today more destabilized than it has been since perhaps before World War I... and there is no "order from chaos" that is apparently arising. It is the legitimate opinion of many that Al Quaeda is getting stronger because Bush let its members have a safe haven in Pakistan, which as the past few weeks have witnessed has become a far greater base for terrorism than most were ready to acknowledge. Iraq is still a much worse mess than it would have been had we just left it alone, and it will be yet decades before the final cost of that fiasco is known.

I could go into his horrible domestic policies, but I've said enough of those lately already. But I will dare say that more than any other elected official, it will have been George W. Bush who most destroyed the America that we had come to know.

(And now I'm wondering how long before the loons from "that church" in Winston-Salem arrive to proclaim Bush as the "greatest President ever" like they have done recently...)

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DOOM: Fifteen years of Hell on Earth

Fifteen years ago this morning, on December 10th, 1993, id Software uploaded a zipped-up file to a bulletin board system and an FTP archive on the Internet. The file contained the setup, executable and WAD for the shareware version of the first official release of a new computer game called Doom.

And video games haven't been the same since.

Yeah, Wolfenstein 3D (also an id Software product) is generally considered to have been the original first-person shooter. But Doom was the one that really made everybody stand up and take notice. Being thrown into the part of a Space Marine on a Martian moonbase who must fend off hordes of demons from Hell itself was wildly addictive fun. Some estimate that the original free shareware episode of Doom, "Knee Deep in the Dead", is the most installed piece of entertainment software in history. That the game was so easily modifiable (I still laugh whenever I think of the "Barney the Dinosaur" mod) is no doubt the biggest reason why Doom, a decade and a half later, is still being vigorously played. Doom became its own industry, just as at the same time it changed the video game industry forever.

I'll never forget the first time I played it. My good friend Johnny Yow came over one evening so we could carpool to an evening history class. He told me to "give this a try" and handed me a box containing the disks for the Doom shareware game. When I got back that evening I installed it, started playing... and it was like 2 in the morning before I quit for the night. The next evening I showed Dad how I had found the chainsaw and was using it to slice up the bad guys. Hee-hee-hee... I won't forget how he shook his head at seeing that, either :-)

Think I'll celebrate the occasion in style this morning by playing a few rounds of Doom on my Xbox 360.

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Redundancy is... (Blagojevich did business as usual, the wrong way)

Today's edition of the News & Record (the big newspaper in Greensboro) has a front-page story - like most other papers across the country this morning - about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich getting arrested for corruption regarding the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

The headline in the News & Record reads: "Senate seat alleged for sale"

So when was the last time a Senate seat wasn't for sale in this country?

If he did this, then Blagojevich should be thrown in, no... under the jailhouse and left to rot. But let's get real folks: politics in the United States has become a high-stakes poker game with a buy-in that drastically exceeds the means of the average citizen. Unless you are filthy rich or otherwise have socially astute connections, you have no chance of running for high office.

Hell, it takes a fortune just to hire enough lawyers who will be able to go through all the legalities that are now on the books for a candidate to adhere to.

And it is precisely the mechanisms of modern American politics that not only allow, but even encourage the sort of corruption that we are seeing (again) happen around Chicago.

When the common man and his virtues are shut out of the process, then where will those virtues be found at all?

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Baldwin: Conservatives are practicing "Selective Constitutionalism"

I figured this was going to happen if Barack Obama won the presidential election: self-professed "conservatives" would be quick to blast Obama and the Democrats for violating the Constitution... when in fact those same conservatives have turned a blind eye at every opportunity during the past eight years when "their guy" George W. Bush did the same.

That's the kind of hypocrisy that I cannot forgive. And so far as the "Christian" ones go, it tells me that they are not interested in the truth at all.

Chuck Baldwin agrees, writing in his latest essay. The "Constitutional crisis" that many conservatives claim is there because of the dubious nature of Obama's birthplace is diminished, because these conservatives refused to condemn their own just as equally...

Many conservatives seem to be obsessed with this controversy, calling it a "constitutional crisis." The fact is, however, we have been in a "constitutional crisis" for years! The problem is, most conservatives only get worked up over a potential abridgement of constitutional government when it serves their partisan political purposes. In other words, when a Democrat appears guilty of constitutional conflict, conservatives "go ballistic," but when Republicans are equally culpable of constitutional conflict, they yawn with utter indifference.

(snip)

But, again, most conservatives care little about the Constitution's requirement that a President be a "natural born Citizen." Like liberals, most conservatives are afflicted with a very debilitating disease that I call Selective Constitutionalism. They only want to apply constitutional government when it helps Republicans or hurts Democrats. Most of them really could not care less about adherence to the Constitution. If they did, they would have been up in arms for the last eight years as President George W. Bush repeatedly ignored--and even trampled--the U.S. Constitution.

Where were these "constitutional" conservatives when George W. Bush was assuming dictatorial-style powers and contravening Fourth Amendment prohibitions against warrantless searches and seizures? Where were they when Bush was ordering our emails, letters, and phone calls to be intercepted by federal police agencies without court oversight? Where were they when Bush was obliterating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments? Where were they when Bush overturned Posse Comitatus by Executive Order? Where were they when Bush dismantled the constitutional right of Habeas Corpus? Where were they when Bush lied to the American people about the invasion of Iraq and took the United States to war without a Declaration of War from Congress? Where were conservatives when Bush turned nine U.S. military installations over to the United Arab Emirates? Where were they when Bush ordered his Department of Transportation to open up America's airlines to foreign ownership? Where were they when President Bush nullified (using "signing statements") over 1,100 statutes he did not like? Where were they as President Bush and his fellow Republicans reauthorized one of the most egregiously unconstitutional pieces of legislation in modern memory: the USA Patriot Act? Where were they when Bush signed the blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold Act? I could go on and on...

Baldwin is correct, again. But to those who are looking more for rationale supporting their ideology than daring to question whether that ideology is even right, it won't matter.

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Another classic GARFIELD AND FRIENDS: "Invasion of the Big Robots"

Garfield and Friends rates with The Tick as having some of the most twisted humor done for a Saturday morning cartoon. Like this episode, where Garfield wakes up one morning and finds that he's in the wrong cartoon! I love how the regular kind of Garfield and Friends animation gets mixed up with the futuristic Eighties-style for the Starwolf sequences. And then the Disney-ish look toward the end.

First airing on December 2nd 1989, here is "Invasion of the Big Robots"...

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"With sport-utility vehicles at the altar..."

You know, Jesus beat and chased the money changers out of the temple because they had turned His father's house into a den of robbers.

So what would His reaction be if he saw His father's house turned into an automobile showroom?

A single photo demonstrates how screwed-up America has become...

Three vehicles - one from each of the major domestic auto makers - were brought to the altar of Greater Grace Temple, one of Detroit's largest churches. They were there to help with an appeal to Heaven: that God might do a work in the souls of the President and members of Congress and move them to give Ford, General Motors and Chrysler a fat juicy bailout package.

Sayeth the Reverend Charles Ellis...

At one point, Ellis summoned up hundreds of auto workers and retirees in the congregation to come forward toward the vehicles on the altar to be anointed with oil.

"It's all about hope. You can't dictate how people will think, how they will respond, how they will vote," Ellis said after the service. "But you can look to God. We believe he can change the minds and hearts of men and women in power, and that's what we tried to do today."

I barely know where to begin.

Okay, first of all, using the cars in this way reeks of idolatry.

But so too does this attempt to get God to "change the hearts and minds of men and women in power". These people do not understand - as well as too many other Americans - that God did not grant power and authority over America to the government. He let "We the People" be the authority. It's up to us to make do with the free will that He graced us with. This church is in effect making this a prayer to man and the institutions of man, rather than to God for wisdom and guidance.

And so far as the Big Three auto makers go: they don't deserve a bailout. And neither do the members of the auto unions deserve any more sympathy than is absolutely necessary. Both of them are at fault for what is happening right now to the auto industry. They had decades to clean up their act. Why the Hell should the American taxpayers be called upon to "help" them when they refused to help themselves?

Let economic Darwinism runs its course for once. And if the government dares give them a "bailout", then I'm gonna petition Congress for a ten million dollar "stimulus" package for KWerky Productions to help with the economy here in North Carolina.

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The first weekend of OLIVER TWIST has wrapped-up

Last night's show played to a fairly strong crowd and this afternoon we had a larger than expected audience that thrilled and laughed at the adventures of Oliver Twist, Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Nancy and the rest. My parents and aunt came to today's performance, and the word from them was that they really enjoyed it.

So now we have the rest of the week off until this coming Friday night, when we do it all over again. Which, y'all are most certainly invited! The Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist runs for three more shows. Visit the Theatre Guild website for more information.

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Forrest J Ackerman, greatest fanboy ever and coiner of "sci-fi" term, has passed away

My good friend Bmovies was the first to pass along the sad word that Forrest J Ackerman, the self-styled renaissance man who was without a doubt the biggest enthusiast of science-fiction ever, who founded the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, the man who discovered Ray Bradbury and helped launched not only his but the successful careers of countless other writers and filmmakers, and also the man who created the word "sci-fi", has died at the age of 92.

Ackerman was also an actor, and possessed what is widely considered to be the most legendary collection of science-fiction and horror memorabilia ever accumulated. At one time he even owned the cape that Bela Lugosi wore in the classic film Dracula. His "Ackermansion" was always open, and he reveled in sharing his passion with others... just as much as he enjoyed others sharing their passion with him.

And once again, there's that feeling: that we as a culture are losing more of our unique characters. There is no doubt: Forrest J Ackerman was one of the foremost.

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After-action report from Opening Night of OLIVER TWIST

The first performance went very well! So far as I can tell we got through the whole thing without a single problem. 'Course, I'm knocking on wood as I say that 'cuz we've got five more performances to get through. Afterward the entire cast and crew congregated at Thom Thom's Pizza on Freeway Drive in Reidsville for an opening night party.

Oliver Twist plays again tonight at 7:30 at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, North Carolina. Visit the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County website for more information.

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He was just as God made him, sir! Paul Benedict has passed away

Sad news out of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts: veteran character actor Paul Benedict, who was perhaps best known as British neighbor Harry Bentley on the classic sitcom The Jeffersons, has died at the age of 70.

If you grew up in the late Seventies and into the Eighties, Benedict was just about everywhere. His portrayal of Mr. Bentley was the biggest reason why a lot of people tuned in to The Jeffersons every week... 'cuz Bentley was probably one of the funniest characters in television history.

Benedict also did quite a bit of film work. One of the earliest roles that I remember him from was Jeremiah Johnson, which was a drastic - and dramatic - departure from much of the rest of his resume. A lot of people will note that he was in This is Spinal Tap, where he uttered the immortal line "I am just as God made me, sir!" And he was also seen as a bizarre film professor in The Freshman.

But child of the Eighties that I am, I would be remiss if I did not mention what to many of my generation was Paul Benedict's greatest role: that of "The Mad Painter", the strange man who went all over New York City painting numbers - for reasons which were only clear to him - in a serious of classic short films that ran on Sesame Street. So in toasting the memory of a fine actor, let's see him paint "9" one more time...

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Behold... Darth Mystra

Okay, I'd better explain how this started...

All this week we've been doing dress and technical rehearsals for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist, which opens tonight. One of my fellow cast members, Sarah Al-Jouni, plays Miss Monks. And a few nights ago when I saw her in her full costume, well... she looked way too amazing to pass up the opportunity. I told her my idea on Wednesday evening and she thought it would be fun.

So during the intermission of last night's rehearsal I went out to my car and came back with my Star Wars Force FX Lightsaber (the one that's the Lightsaber Construction Set, which I did wind up buying :-). Before I left home I made the handle look like anything but a Jedi hilt, and switched the blade color to red. And then we took some pictures. And when I got home I started playing around in Photoshop.

And now, here she is: Darth Mystra.

Most of the cast was working to come up with a proper title for our very own Dark Lady of the Sith. "Darth Monks" and "Darth Emma" were suggested but in the end Sarah noted that Monks is mysterious and I "Star Wars"-fied it and gave her a bit of a background.

Looks positively Sith-ly, doesn't she? :-)

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ONE. MILLION. PAGE VIEWS!

So I got back home tonight from our final rehearsal for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist ('cuz opening night is tomorrow) and I'm goofing off online while I have a late dinner, and I check the stats on this blog...

...and sometime in the past few hours, this blog achieved its one millionth page view!

It's a bit ways from having its one millionth visitor (which is what the meter displays publicly) but still, to have served up a million pages is quite an achievement. Lately I've noticed that more people who visit this blog seem to be looking around, instead of just coming to one page and then leaving. So it seems to be attracting a regular audience.

Thank you everyone, who has visited this blog over the past five years (except for those with nefarious purpose... and you know who you are) who contributed to this place reaching such a landmark!

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Want to see a REAL Lancer from GEARS OF WAR?

I found this at the Kotaku website. Its creators have dubbed it the "Firearm Mounted Anti-Zombie Device". But fans of Gears of War will readily recognize it as a primitive version of the Lancer assault rifle, complete with chainsaw bayonet.

As you can see from this video, both the gun and the chainsaw work fine.

Click here for more pictures and videos of this thing in action.

This blog occasionally gets visitors from the United States House of Representatives and the Senate (I know 'cuz of the meter logs). Wonder how soon it'll be before some elected official with too much time on his/her hands sees this photo, and introduces legislation banning chainsaw modifications...

(And I wonder how soon it'll be before my Dad sees this and begins conjuring one up in his workshop.)

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A bunch of pics from OLIVER TWIST

Wanna see what the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist is looking like? The show opens tomorrow night, so here are some photos to whet yer appetite...

Oliver (Nathan Tolodziecki) makes good on his plans to run away as a furious Mr. Bumble (Rob Compton) and Mrs. Corney (Donna Compton) chase after him, while Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry (Chris Knight and Thresa Brown) and Charlotte (Jessica Wray) gawk in stunned disbelief at a traumatized Noah Claypole (Tyler Alverson)

The Artful Dodger (Jasper Thomas III) and Bet (Megan Watkins) demonstrate to Oliver how to play "the game" on a group of unwary window shoppers

Mr. Brownlow (Tony Hummel) persuades a London "bobby" (Mark Pegram) that there is no need to arrest Oliver

The sinister Miss Monks (Sarah Al-Jouni) seethes with rage as she watches Mr. Brownlow take Oliver into his care

Mr. Brownlow entertains dear friend Mrs. Grimwig (Lynne Chilton) in the parlor of his house, as Mrs. Bedwin (Kathy Morrison) serves tea with assistance from Rose (Jessica Gray)

Fagin (Tim Wray, right) plots mischief with his "business partner" Bill Sikes (Mike Morrison)

Nancy (Tish Owens) consoles Oliver in Fagin's den

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Chicken a'la Chris

No, this ain't burnt! Just an abundance of all the herbs and spices that I cover and marinade the chicken with (for about three hours), along with plenty of flour, before frying for 20 minutes...

It's my Mom's birthday tonight so I'm cooking her dinner. In addition to the fried chicken I'm making homemade biscuits and green beans. Since I didn't get to deep-fry a turkey last week for Thanksgiving, at least I get to compensate in some small measure here :-)

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THE KNIGHT SHIFT CONTEST: Win a copy of GEARS OF WAR 2: THE SOUNDTRACK signed by Steve Jablonsky!

There's been resounding agreement across the board that Gears of War 2 is the must-play video game of 2008. The sequel to Epic Games' 2006 smash hit original is impressing people all over the place with its groundbreaking combo of technical achievement, poignant storytelling, and the hope and heroism and humor that's come to be expected from the Gears of War franchise.

And just as the game is being hailed as a mighty accomplishment, so too is the amazing orchestral score by Steve Jablonsky getting raves for being a profound work of art in and of itself! I've talked to several people who've bought Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack since it came out last week and without fail, each of 'em have told me that they have felt seriously moved by Jablonsky's music. And if you're a longtime reader of this blog then y'all know how I went a bit nuts for Transformers: The Score. Well like I wrote in my review last week, his work on Gears of War 2 might be even better (and that's sayin' something). My own iPod has been playing it like crazy, especially "Hope Runs Deep": a great track for driving on I-40 between Greensboro and Burlington to :-)

Soooooo last week I had a crazy idea, and I asked the man himself and he's happy to oblige...

And now The Knight Shift blog is pleased to announce that we are going to give away THREE COPIES of the Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack CD... signed by composer Steve Jablonsky!

So, you want one? Groovy! But like everything else with Gears of War, you’re gonna have to earn this. But don't worry: you won't have to chainsaw your way to goryglory this time.

Here's what you must do to offer yourself for consideration toward winning a copy (in legalese, these are the "Official Contest Rules")...

1. E-mail your entry to theknightshift@gmail.com with GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST in the subject line. GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK has to be in the subject line.

2. Include the following information in your entry:

- First and last name

- Mailing address

- Phone number

- The name of the Gears of War character you are impersonating

3. And then, attach a photo of yourself doing your best impersonation of a Gears of War character. It can be anyone from established Gears of War canon (the games, the comic book, the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields but you'll have to be especially imaginative, anything that's been authorized by Epic Games as being legit part of the Gears of War mythology). Keep in mind that this is not a costume contest! If you're the kind of person who likes to parade around Comic-Con and Dragon-Con wearing a full set of COG Gear armor, you're more than welcome to pose wearing that. But this is all about character. This is a contest focusing on raw persona. In short: do you "get" what Gears of War is all about? Can you make that come across with nothing more than your own countenance? If so, pick a Gears of War character and show us what you got! Doesn't matter if you're male or female: plop on a do-rag and show us your best Marcus Fenix mug. Or give us Dom or Anya or Baird or Cole or Dizzy or Tai (ooh-boy I'm eager to see if anyone attempts Tai) or heck, even a Locust grub or the Locust Queen herself! Extra points will be given toward creativity and originality, but as I said this is about channeling character more than it is about costume ingenuity. Also, please try to keep your image size to 1 megabyte or less.

4. No age limit but this contest will enforce a "one entry per person" limit. So like shootin' a gun in a Gears of War game, make it count!

5. You'll have between now and until 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 18th, 2008 to e-mail in your entry, so that gives you a bit more than two weeks to come up with something.

6. Judging for the contest will be conducted by a three-member panel that has already been pre-selected. Their decisions are final.

7. By entering you are giving consent to have your photo published on The Knight Shift blog (the one you're looking at right now). So make sure your photos are "family-friendly", folks :-)

8. In addition to the three final winners, this blog reserves the right to also publish "honorable mentions" if there are any.

9. Insofar as real life will cooperate, the winners will be announced sometime on December 19th 2008 and the signed CDs will be rushed to each of the winners as soon as possible.

Also, please bear in mind that this isn't a contest run by Epic Games or Sumthing Else Music Works or Microsoft or any other corporate entity. Neither am I personally profiting from it as the guy who runs the blog. This is just something that we thought would be way fun to do, for everyone who chooses to get involved.

Okay well, what are ya waiting for?! Get to work on your entry! :-)

(And thanks Steve!)

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Two minutes from the LOST Season 5 premiere

Uh-ohhhh... this doesn't look good for Kate, no matter which way you slice it:

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