Johnny Robertson is paying good money for this...?

Very strange night of cult leader Johnny Robertson's usual broadcast on WGSR this evening. The first hour was a recording of this morning's "service" at Martinsville Church of Christ. And that in itself was notable because to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that I've ever seen Johnny Robertson praying. Except that his "prayer" was straight out of Luke chapter 18, in that it was practically the same as that of the Pharisee in the temple who prays "God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers..." etc. Yes folks, that apparently is the substance of "prayer" among the cult (which again, is not the real Churches of Christ at all).

Then Robertson went on a vicious rant, boasting about how his "church is the most authoritarian!" among other things, and then devoted much of the rest of the "sermon" to evolution and Charles Darwin, mostly in order to attack that same museum in Danville that he has some kind of beef with.

And then the recorded service ended and the program went to this...

That's it. For the next half-hour, it was a DVD menu that went out on live television. People who happened to tune in to WGSR between 9:30 and 10 got to see waves rolling on a beach as earthy "New Age" music played in the background of the DVD main menu, and nothing else.

So unless I'm mistaken, Johnny Robertson paid between $500 and $1000 to broadcast a DVD menu on television tonight.

Parse this as you will.

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Scientists teleport matter across a meter distance!

(Okay, for us stubborn Americans we're inclined to say "yard" instead of "meter" but since this is dealing with physics I'm going to use the metric system out of principle!)

Teleportation of matter has been achieved over a distance of one meter, scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute of the University of Maryland along with colleagues at the University of Michigan have announced. 'Course, the matter in question was a single atom, but to transmit the information of its quantum state from one location to another - via that spooky "entangling" thingy - is still a huge milestone to have achieved. And if you read the Fox News story, it does sound suspiciously like the "beaming" used in the Star Trek franchise, right down to the "Heisenberg Compensators".

But if I were an editor on the Fox News website, I would have chosen a better picture to accompany this story...

...they actually used a still of the "transporter malfunction" scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture - the most violent teleportation accident ever depicted on screen - to go with the article.

That is not a particularly encouraging juxtaposition :-P

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Gun-loving teacher's Facebook photo gets her suspended by Stasi-ish school officials

Betsy Ramsdale of Wisconsin apparently likes guns. Nothing wrong with that. And she likes them so much that she posted a picture of herself aiming a rifle on her Facebook page. Nothing wrong with that either: it's her own account, she gets to do with it on her own time whatever she likes and if Facebook doesn't think it violates the terms of service, nobody else should hassle her about it.

Except that Betsy Ramsdale is also a teacher employed by what is all too often the modern monstrosity of public education. And when officials at Beaver Dam Middle School were "alerted" to the photo, they immediately placed Ramsdale on administrative leave.

So what it all comes down to is that Betsy Ramsdale is being punished for practicing her freedom of speech and right to privacy, by her implied advocacy of the Second Amendment. That's a heckuva civics lesson to be teaching the kiddies, ain't it?

Some of the comments in the linked article are downright hysterical. One parent says that "With the way things are going these days, with the kids bringing guns to school and bomb threats, (photograph) is something to be concerned about."

Funny thing: I used to go to a private school and the head of its board of education once put a picture of himself with a shotgun in our yearbook 'cuz he was an avid hunter. To the best of my recollection, nobody from that school ever killed anyone with a shotgun. And I'm also kinda reminded of what Dick Cavett once remarked: there's more comedy on television than there is crime... so how come comedy isn't breaking out in the streets?

This kind of harassment of teachers, parents and students for asserting their Constitutional rights, on the part of public school administrators, has got to stop! All it's doing is breeding more - I'm not sorry for saying this - cowards who are now intimidated by even the suggestion of a thing!

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Man gets over 50 traffic citations... in one day!

Elvis Alonzo Barrett of Boynton Beach, Florida has learned the hard way: real life is not like Grand Theft Auto IV.

This past week Barrett fled police who were already trying to ticket him for one traffic violation. He led authorities on a high-speed chase that had him running through red lights, crashing into another car and then a fence. When he was finally caught, he was also found in possession of a quantity of crack cocaine.

When the final tally came in, Barrett had racked up more than FIFTY traffic citations in a single day, including one for not wearing a seat belt. He was also driving with a suspended license.

I wonder if the cops missed any. I mean, after thirty or forty citations it's hard to keep up...

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Les Misérables: Gold teeth for sale in New Orleans

From Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis...

The person who submitted the photo writes...

"Got the photo from a friend. The white sign that has been blacked out used to be the Toy Center. The biggest & best toy store in New Orleans in the late 50's early 60's. The Coca Cola bottling plant & Tulane Shirt Company were just to the left on S. Jefferson Davis Parkway. Times have changed."

I remember back in the early Nineties when Haiti was being torn apart following the military coup that overthrew Aristide. People there became so hard-up for money, that they had resorted to looting cemeteries: digging up graves to steal jewelry, gold teeth and even silk casket linings to sell. That's the kind of desperation that whenever I see a picture like this or hear somesuch else so similar, I have to wonder how far we really are from the edge of that abyss.

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Joshua Ortega hints at GEARS OF WAR prequel (and teases about single-player DLC)

All kinds of good stuff coming out of New York Comic-Con tonight for Gears of War fans. Joshua Ortega, the writer of Gears of War 2, heavily suggested that a PREQUEL to the original game is in the works: one that would deal with the events of E-Day. That was the day, 14 years before the first game takes place, when the Locust Horde burst out of the underworld and began their genocidal war against the humans of Sera. So that's potentially ten years worth of story that players might be able to experience and fight through. And if we're able to play as Marcus Fenix then I guess that could mean his tale as a COG soldier right up to the day he chose to abandon his post and try to rescue his father: the action that ultimately sent Marcus to prison.

"You will not be disappointed in the next ten years," Ortega said. "It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber."

If you played through Gears of War 2 then you know there's all kinds of dangling threads waiting to be exploited. If Epic Games plays their cards right, they could wind up with the video game equivalent of Lost in terms of high-brow storytelling.

Ortega was also asked about single-player centric downloadable content for Gears of War 2. "Keep watching," Ortega said. "You won't be disappointed." Which as one who is primarily a single player, makes me happy :-)

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Broke states turn to exploiting seat belts for fast cash

I've never liked mandatory seat belt laws. For one thing, it should be a matter of personal preference whether one chooses to wear a seat belt or not. In my mind such legislation embodies all the worst aspects of the "nanny state". I understand that statistically, seat belts do tend to save lives. But I have also known plenty of people for whom seat belts are physically uncomfortable, because of medical conditions or something similar. My grandmother, f'rinstance. Whenever she got into a car she simply looped the belt around her shoulder and rode like that (something that I'll admit to doing every so often as well :-)

And then there are those who have argued that seat belt laws have nothing to do with safety at all: that they are designed to be reliable revenue streams for the states that have them. That case is certainly bolstered by the number of states that want to empower law enforcement officers to pull over drivers simply for not wearing seat belts. And this time the various governors and other officials are admitting that it's because their states "don't have enough money".

(If this is going on in the state of Washington I suppose that if you don't buckle up the state can also take your DNA as a consequence.)

The only other observation that I know to make from this, is that government at all levels is running out of funding. The entire system is beginning to buckle beneath its own weight and simply spending and looking for ways to maintain that spending, isn't going to maintain it for much longer. Sooner than later, it's gonna come crashing down.

Maybe it'll be a good thing. We can start fresh and clean again. And do away with so many of these laws that have nothing at all to do with protecting us and our rights. Scrapping the seat belt laws would be a good start...

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James Whitmore has passed away

Veteran actor James Whitmore, probably one of the most well-recognized and beloved faces to have ever graced the American stage and screen, passed away today after a struggle with lung cancer. He was 87.

The folks of my generation probably best remember Whitmore from The Shawshank Redemption. He played Brooks in that film: the "institutionalized" prison librarian who is released into a world that he no longer recognizes. Director Frank Darabont liked him so much that he also put Whitmore in The Majestic a few years later.

Whitmore's remarkable career went all the way back to the World War II era. He won a Tony in 1948 for his lead role in Command Decision (also his first Broadway performance). A year later he made his first movie, The Undercover Man. And for the next half-century he was a fixture in film and television. But he still returned to the stage on occasion, especially with his one-man shows in which Whitmore portrayed Harry Truman, Teddy Roosevelt, and Will Rogers. Most of those were eventually adapted to screen, with Whitmore again assuming the roles. Many people will also remember that Whitmore was the orangutan that presided over Taylor's "trial" in the original Planet of the Apes. And there was that terrific performance that he turned in for The Twilight Zone episode "On Thursday We Leave For Home", among many other things.

But for some reason, along with The Shawshank Redemption, I most remember James Whitmore for all of those television commercials that he did for Miracle-Gro. I did not know for certain that he was such an avid gardener until I read his obituary, but just from watching him in the ads, I got the sense that he was sincere and definitely knew what he was talking about. The man was apparently gifted with a green thumb along with his extraordinary theatrical presence.

Frank Darabont has written a wonderful tribute to James Whitmore on Ain't It Cool News.

He will be missed.

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Bend over, here it comes again: "Stimulus" deal reached

Awright, I'm prepared to go ahead and say it: the Obama Presidency is already a disaster. And this legislation is gonna be about as successful as the Smoot-Hawley Act.

Word out of D.C. tonight is that a tentative agreement on the "stimulus" package has been reached in the Senate. It's probably going to be enacted law over the weekend or soon afterward.

Said "stimulus" is going to cost me and you, Fellow Taxpayer...

$780,000,000,000

According to one senator, James Inhofe out of Oklahoma, the bill is only 7% stimulating and the rest of it is just more spending.

I remember the big budget battle in 1993. It's what really started opening my eyes on all the waste that goes on in the federal government. And I never thought that I would see anything that outrageous again.

If the phone lines to Washington D.C. don't burn up with angry calls starting tonight and into the next several days, if this thing passes, well... I can't help but wonder if this might even eclipse Smoot-Hawley in terms of economic destruction.

But on the bright side of things, at least Matthew Lesko will have plenty of new government money to stay happy for a good looooong time...

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New WATCHMEN video journal stares into abyss of Rorschach's mask

Exactly one month from today we'll finally get to see the Watchmen movie. And I think it's safe to say: the biggest anticipation of the past twenty years has been for how well Rorschach will translate to the big screen. Empire has the exclusive premiere of this latest video journal, which focuses on Rorschach's background and that very neat mask that he wears.

And if you've read the book, perhaps it will interest you to know that this clip has a fleeting glimpse of our favorite antihero in a certain pose wielding a meat cleaver...

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FANBOYS opens in limited release today

It starts playing on 44 screens. But you know what? Even if it were to open on just one screen, that would still be cause for applause and celebration. Ernie Cline has tried to make this movie since 1998 (the year the film is set in) and more than a tenacious decade later, he gets to see his hard work pay off as his tale of friends who attempt to break into Skywalker Ranch so that a terminally ill pal can see Star Wars Episode I flickers to life at last.

Ain't It Cool News has a list of cities and theaters that are showing Fanboys. Unfortunately the closest city to my own location that's playing it is Philadelphia, and doesn't look like my schedule is gonna allow for a trip up this weekend. But to those of you who are lucky enough to catch it: feel free to post a comment about what you thought of it, 'cuz we're eager to hear the word!

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Where's the hope?! Obama evokes fear if "stimulus" isn't passed

Remember all that talk of "hope and change" during the past election cycle? What happened to it? Because now President Barack Obama is sounding like the dire opposite of Franklin Roosevelt, warning that if the "stimulus" bill isn't passed...

"This recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse."

Not even three weeks into the job and the man's already done did a "malaise speech".

Dear President Obama: if you seriously want to stimulate the economy across the board, you cannot do it with more spending! That might seem to buy some time in the short term, but what is really needed is to cut taxes and CUT SPENDING!

That may not win Obama any early accolades, but posterity would ultimately judge him to be a wise president if he were to adopt such a sober-minded fiscal policy.

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State of Washington considers swabbing DNA from EVERYONE who gets arrested

It's like Barney Fife gone zealous with a genetics lab: legislators in the state of Washington are mulling the idea of getting DNA samples from everyone who is stopped by law enforcement for anything at all, even something so minor as a traffic infraction. And no, they don't wanna wait until a conviction in court either: everybody arrested would have to yield over their personal deoxyribonucleic acid. Although supposedly the DNA would be destroyed if there is no conviction (yeah right).

Y'all in Washington, you need to fight this as hard as you can. This is a huge intrusion of personal rights and screw what the "bigger government" types are saying about how this is "needed" to be "safe". It's not a question of "will this be abused?" because history has proven that if a thing such as this is tolerated, it will be abused!

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Bad WATCHMEN costumes

No wonder Alan Moore is so hesitant to see his work become major motion pictures...

I agree with Matthew Federico: the guy on the right in what's supposed to be the Comedian outfit, looks more like the third Mario Brother. But that's still much better than what we're expected to believe is a convincing Ozymandias getup (left).

Find this pic and those of the Rorschach, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre duds at WatchmenComicMovie.com.

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Digital television switch moved to June 12

Those annoying "There are ## days left until digital television" bumpers that run during your favorite TV shows have suddenly vanished, and for good reason: instead of having until February 17th to make sure your television is compatible, you now have until June 12th. Both the U.S. House and Senate approved the DTV Delay Act, and President Obama has vowed to sign it once it reaches his desk.

Anyhoo, you now have four more months to buy that shiny new HDTV that you've been lusting for. Maybe by then there'll be some more "stimulus checks" coming our way that'll help you get it :-P

(DISCLAIMER: The Knight Shift blog and its author are against so-called "stimulus" programs)

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Bill Gates pours out plague of mosquitoes on captive audience

This has been one of the most hyperactive days for crazy news. First it was the "Klingon convenience store robberies", then the zombie street signs. Now this...

At some kind of pretentious pow-wow called TED, Bill Gates spoke to the audience about the efforts his foundation is undertaking to wipe out malaria. But being not content to deliver a simple speech, Gates engaged in some rather disturbing performance art... and unleashed a swarm of mosquitoes on the assembly of technocrats. "Not only poor people should experience this!", Gates declared, as he released his airborne vector of blood-sucking insects at the crowd.

Doesn't this come awfully close to being an act of biological terrorism? I mean, it's not too far a stretch from this stupid stunt by Gates, to purposefully introducing mosquitoes laden with weapon-grade pathogens into a major metropolitan area.

And then again, some people will say that Bill Gates has been disseminating bugs all his career, so why should this be any different...

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Reaction to tonight's LOST: "The Little Prince"

That sound and probable accompanying seismic activity you might have sensed in the past ten minutes was millions of Lost fans bellowing out a collective "Whoa!!!"

Four episodes into Season 5, and if anything Lost is gaining momentum, not losing it. I thought "The Little Prince" was even better than last week's "Jughead". It seemed perfectly balanced with everything that makes this show, perhaps the best on television right now. It had action, it had humor, it had the depth of character (I especially liked Locke's line about how he didn't want to undo the pain in his life, that the pain is what made him who he was). And it had an abundance of new mystery.

And yeah: he's back and he's alive!

"The Little Prince" might be the best episode of the new season so far. Up next week: "This Place is Death".

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