Sign Of The Times - Law & Order Cancelled

Law & Order has been cancelled after twenty years, although yes, it seems like much longer.

In related news, let me just say that the revised "Law & Order - Criminal Intent", with Jeff Goldblum replacing Vincent D'Onforio, is unwatchable.  And I say that as a fan of Jeff Goldblum going back to the Big Chill. 

In this incarnation Goldblum's character is so low key that after I flip the show on at night I find myself wondering - did I decide to stay up for a bit of television, or am I already in bed, asleep, and having a tedious dream?  Somewhat disorienting.

So forget "Criminal Intent".  "Justified", starring Timothy Olyphant and based on characters created by Elmore Leonard, is riveting in a Seinfeldian "Nothing is happening but these people are fascinating" sort of way.  Not to suggest it is a comedy - it has some shockingly violent moments and the parental warnings are entirely appropriate, but I am loving it.

Comments

[Clarice]

Hmm, I haven't watched tv is so long--But if I do I;ll surely take your recommendation to heart.

Here's mine: Plug Eric Cantor's You Cut,a website which describes various programs every week and asks people to vote which ones they want next year's Republican majority to cut. You can also nominate programs for next week's vote. (No indication I can see how many weeks this will run.)

[PaulL]

Goldblum was excellent in the first couple of episodes of Criminal Intent but, after that, not.

Blame the writers, not the actors. Goldblum didn't mysteriously lose his talent one week to the next.

[RJ]

As a generally ardent hater of television, let me just say...

"Justified" is one of the few programs I rarely miss. The other one is "Breaking Bad".

And my guilty pleasure (even though I don't watch it every week) is "Burn Notice". Even though Jeffery Donovan is kind of a smirking d-bag.

[Captain Hate]

Doe this mean that all the skinheads, gun nuts and white supremecists that caused 9/11 have been prosecuted?

[jimmyk]

L&O has been a parody of itself since Jerry Orbach left. You can guess the perp by whoever is rich or a businessman. The poor, black, or Muslim suspect is always innocent. The regulars spend have the show preaching PC twaddle. Good riddance. The writers ruined what was once a decent show.

[Strick]

Law and Order got a little better with the latest cast, but it was never the same with Lenny gone. Shame they couldn't go on to beat Gunsmoke, though.

Couldn't agree more with you on Justified, my favorite new show of the season.

[peter]

There are very few tv shows that interest me for more than a few episodes. I liked Monk for a season or two, and The Office, but grew tired of their formulae.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Unmissed, after Fred.

[PD]

Now if we could get rid of the commercials that the L & O actors endlessly grace our screens with. (TD Ameritrade ... Gold! ...)

[Captain Hate]

I'm trying to remember all the little known things I learned about prosecutors from L & O in the last 20 years. One of them was hot lesbian assistant DAs are allowed to pretty much do whatever the hell they want with no regard to the Constitution or the direction of the people she reported to. I had previously been unaware of that.....

[daddy]

Glen Beck just said on his radio show that the Dedication of the 13th story Mosque, being built just across the street from the Twin Tower's hole in lower Manhattan, is going to be dedicated on a very particular date, colloquially known as 9/11.

He was wondering if that was culturally very sensitive or not?

No answer yet from Mayor Bloomberg.

[PD]

Speaking of Gold! ...

[bgates]

I'll add another vote for "Justified", though "Seinfeldian "Nothing is happening"" is an odd description for a show with a body count in the low double digits after about six episodes.

"Breaking Bad" is even better. I just wish AMC wouldn't vandalize its own programming for running popup ads for its own shows during its own shows. "AMC: TV and movies for people who love tv and movies, brought to you by people who ooze contempt for tv and movies and people who watch them".

Slate had a montage of Goldblum on Law & Order that was pretty awesome, but not awesome enough to get me to watch another of those shows.

It's too bad Fred Thompson didn't go back to the Senate. Then he could have been the vote to sustain a filibuster to keep Kagan off the Court, and she could have confronted him with the question, "Is it because I'm a lesbian?"

[daddy]

I've never watched a single episode of Law and Order, Boston Legal, 24, JAG, Desperate Housewives, Army Wives, Navy Wives, Marine Corps Wives, Numbers, Monk, Lost, Hill Street Blues, this Cop show, that Legal show, some other Cop show, Bones, BayWatch, The Girl from Uncle, Bionic Man/Woman/Hermaphrodite, that chick as President show, Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, British Idol, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne's Dysfunctional mess, and a ton of other forgettable shows I've forgotten.

But if I ever do, should they be watched with lukewarm Budweiser in a can, or some other beverage?

[Bill in AZ]

yes

[matt]

daddy;

let's go out and buy one of those big ass model airplanes and fly it into the side of the mosque.....

[daddy]

Sounds okay to me Matt.

Have you got a culturally sensitive day in mind?

[RJ]

let's go out and buy one of those big ass model airplanes and fly it into the side of the mosque.....

Full of pork sausage.

Jimmy Dean akhbar!

[matt]

Mohammed's B'day?

[centralcal]

okay - so who is holding Clarice hostage? Have we received any ransom notes yet? Should we be forming a posse?

[Extraneus]

Billy Idol had a show? It appears I've seen the same shows that daddy has, but I've had a soft spot for Billy idol ever since riding in a van that used to go between buildings at a very large high-tech site in the early eighties, with all the suits (myself included) hearing "White Wedding" for the first time, turned up loud by the smirking driver. I still like that song, even more so because of that.

[Danube of Thought]

I'm such an Elmore Leonard freak that I'm going to catch the next episode of "Justified," even though I don't know how much watchability they can siphon off of "characters created by" the guy.

[Mystery Crash]

TVs been shit for 20 years. Gee, that went fast. Maybe we can get CSI to make everybody. Wonder where the money went?

[rse]

Hopefully Clarice is in DC.

Maybe she can be our ground reporter for the "Showdown on K Street" on Monday. May 17.

Looks like all our favorite radical groups will be marching "To Take Back Our Democracy".

Somebody's making a lot of money this weekend coming up with the requisite preprinted T shirts and signs.

[PaulL]

Daddy,

You missed a lot by not watching The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.: Stefanie Powers.

[Extraneus]

In case anyone hasn't seen the whole Lars Vilks video.

[Melinda Romanoff]

DoT-

I love justified, but also, Modern Family and In The Middle.

Only three things we watch, besides Alton Brown and Lidia Bastianich.

[Clarice]

Thanks for the suggestion about attending the rally but I am sure the media will be there in force.
Mel, Lidia has a lovely restaurant in NYC-small and nice with of course great food.

[Melinda Romanoff]

The one in Flushing?

I've been to the one in Pittsburgh, when she was there, and the boys knocked it out of the park.

Needed a cot after dinner. Toasted pappardelle with a light red wine sauce and duck confit. Salad. Super Tuscan wrapper.

And Blue Cheese burgers from The Daily Grind for dinner tonight!

[Porchlight]

I watch TCM and the History Channel almost exclusively, unless on maternity leave when I also watch a lot of HGTV for some reason. Lately I've become addicted to Pawn Stars on the History Channel - kind of a "guy" version of Antiques Roadshow. Love it.

Can't tell you how many people have told me I ought to watch Mad Men because of my decades-old obsession with vintage 50s and 60s everything. But I don't do fake, sterotyped, staged vintage, so I have taken a pass thus far.

[srp]

Justified is OK--the deadpan acting by the lead guy is terrific--but I'm not that invested yet. Burn Notice is great, In Plain Sight is very good, and Saving Grace is hard to stop watching if you like Holly Hunter and don't mind a lot of mumbled delivery by the whole cast.

I agree that Goldblum was great in his first couple of appearances on L&OCI but the writers let him down the last couple of times. Saffron Burrows is a nice addition, though.

There's actually a lot of good stuff on TV right now. HBO's Pacific miniseries is also one that some JOMers might like, although it's sure not sugar-coated--it makes Band of Brothers look like an old John Wayne movie.

[Porchlight]

HBO's Pacific miniseries is also one that some JOMers might like, although it's sure not sugar-coated--it makes Band of Brothers look like an old John Wayne movie.

My concern from reviews that they sugar-coated the Japanese treatment of POWs and civilians in order to maintain a moral equivalency stance. If that's true - and I haven't seen it myself - no thanks.

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

Daddy,

You know how you hate all the T.Vs turned to CNN and the BBC, well you will love this tweet from snarkandboobs from earlier today:

Reason 7,334 that I love the South: At McDonalds, Glenn Beck was on their big screen tv. And everyone was watching it.

LOL

[Ignatz]

Mad Men makes me wretch with it's modernist condescension.
Breaking Bad, just when you think it's going to make a wrong move and disappoint just gets better. Can't believe how fast an hour goes by.
Otherwise we're on the Porchlight viewing cycle.

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Reason 7,334 that I love the South: At McDonalds, Glenn Beck was on their big screen tv. And everyone was watching it.

Now you know why Moochelle is waging war against Happy Meals...

BTW that Moochelle with package pic was originally posted by me.

Maybe she was hiding evidence of her latest food binge?

RELUN to an excellent Hillbuzz post on Obama's nemesis.

[nathan hale]

And the irony is, Michelle's on the board of Treehouse Foods, a supplier of cheese sauces
and other items to McDonalds and other fast food establishment.

[Clarice]

No, Mel, she has or had a restaurant in Manhattan. She's friends of friends and we dined there one night with them when she was in the kitchen.

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

Stephanie:

I loved the "Thrilla from Wasilla" article. It is nice to read positive things about her especially from democrats.

Love "Moochelle" too. Perfect!

[srp]

Porchlight:

I haven't seen much showing the Japanese as noble. It's mostly a foxhole-level view. The last episode on Okinawa showed them using civilians as human shields and strapping dynamite around a civilian's waist, which isn't too PC.

Mostly the Japanese are like space aliens to the American characters. The Marines can't wrap their heads around how they won't surrender, although eventually they get used to it. But the result depicted is an eagerness to "kill Japs." It seems psychologically plausible, although obviously I wasn't there.

[Clarice]

Just checked==and she has a number of restaurants in Manhattan..I believe we ate at Felidia but am not certain if that was the one.
http://lidiasitaly.com/restaurants

[Melinda Romanoff]

Stephanie-

Did you ever see HillBuzz' economic retort to the DNC's (and AARP's) constant solicitations?

This treatment just drops my jaw in its awesomeness.

And I need more rocks and have to re-register with the DNC. Heh-heh-heh.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Clarice-

I think her first restaurant was in Flushing Meadows, before things, and a husband ago, got to where they are now. At least that's what my Flushing friends tell me...

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

Mel:

Here I thought I was so clever loading tea bags
in return RNC envelopes. Never thought of a box but now I am thinking of a crate or a garbage can. Thanks for the idea. :)

[Clarice]

Well our mutual friends are from NJ..so that's certainly possible,Mel.

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

MR.. total awesomeness. I used their procedure to return some stuff to a particular fitness center named after the city of Angels that was giving me fits about canceling my membership. The return postage was more than the monthly dues. They got the hint and retroactively refunded to the date for which I had tried to cancel (and had proof). I just happened to mention that a few more months of their sending me past due bills for the services canceled would make us even.

Them boyz are crazy smart!

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

Ann.. I think that referring to the Hillbuzz Boyz as democrats would find them objecting to that moniker. And that's a good thing! They are even souring on Hillary cause the Cuda is so awesome in her awesome snarkiness to the Obummer and Hillary is now an Obummer hanger-on.

[Stephanie says Obama sux]

My daughter (no fan of O or Hill)is reading over my shoulder just commented that Hill is a dingleberry.

I snorfled.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Ann-

Thank Chicago, the home of the fraud free elections.

But do, please dump your displeasure on the DNC, they have so magnificently earned it. The RNC we can have displeasure with but take the DNC's cash right now. Especially in ways they don't expect.

A 1978 Sears catalogue, or two, would really do the trick, plus a phone book to find all their missing customers.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Other than here, Clarice, we have mutual friends? Going to find out tomorrow, BTW, I'm meeting Chaco and Roger.

[Clarice]

No--I meant Lidia and my mutual friends.

You're meeting Chaco and Roger? Have fun and stay out of trouble.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Too late for that!

For them, heh.

G'night all.

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

Some time ago, someone said that Benioff's book "City of Thieves" was a great book to read (Clarice?). Just finished it and it was great.

Of course, if you listen to Glenn Beck and read that book at the same time, it will make you think of having a chicken coop in your backyard asap. My brother-in-law (Rambo) with the arsenal has already started one.

Mel:

That is just down right depressing considering the Chicago thieves are in charge of Washington.

Wow, have fun Mel. Who is Roger? I have a gmail account just for this sort of thing...annatjom@gmail.com. Soylent (RJ)?

Sad I know everyone's JOM birthday after all this time yet I don't know who Roger is.
Chicago, Roger = Roger Ebert? Please that is just to disgusting to think about. Kidding, of course. :)

[Clarice]

I'm pretty sure he meant Roger Simon. PJM is having a big climate conference in Chicago.

Benioff's book was recommended by TM. I said it was great, too.

[JorgXMcKie]

srp, my father was a charter member of Carlson's Raiders. He fought on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Once I brought home a friend from college and he asked dad about the War and a lot of things. Even in the late 60s there were already a lot of anti-war types around, and he was one.

He seemed especially interested in the Iwo battle. He asked dad about Japanese prisoners. Dad said, "There weren't any." [Actually he knew that there were a couple of dozen taken in a hospital too weak to do anything.] He said, "we learned on Bouganville, and [other places] that they don't surrender, they don't quit trying to kill you, and you can't trust them as prisoners." So, "when we saw a 'dead' Japanese soldier we either shot him or bayoneted him. It was just being safe." "When we landed on the Island, there were 25,000 Japanese soldiers. When we reached the north end of the Island there were 25,000 dead Japanese soldiers. We had won."

My friend was appalled, but Dad was pretty adamant about it. He respected the Japanese as soldiers, but said he didn't see any other way to win the war.

He also spoke very briefly over the years about the things he saw on Okinawa. The civilians had been convinced that the Marines would do very terrible things to them, and many women committed suicide, taking their children's lives too, due to this. It was pretty bad, evidently.

Anyway, my Dad was convinced that basically killing them all was the only way. He was incredibly pleased with the atomic bombs, since he was being trained as a 2nd Lt and figured he'd live about 30 seconds in the invasion of the Japanese home islands. [Something like 95% of the 1000 original Raiders were killed.] And he guessed that the Marines [and others] would have had to kill millions of Japanese soldiers *and* civilians to end the war.

[JM Hanes]

Don't look now, but they're already baaack:

[Dick Wolf] also will shepherd the just-announced "LOLA" (short for "Law & Order: Los Angeles") premiering this fall.

Personally, I thought Sam Waterston sucked the first time I saw him romping around in some Shakespearean number back in the Jurassic age, and it's been all down hill since then.

Law & Order could probably have survived another 10 years if they'd just made it a half hour show, and cut out the part where they go to court.

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

Thanks, Clarice.

Was there marketing or publicity for that event. Hope Chaco takes notes and reports back. Never heard about it until this evening.
Wonder why?

I remember you mentioning Malaparte's Kaputt. Should I read that next?

Benioff acknowledges and recommends Harrison Salisbury's masterpiece, The 900 Days?

[Clarice]

Yes. Beniott's book was inspired by Kaputt and Curzio Malaparte was an incredibly good chronicler of WWII who never received as much of an American audience as he merited.

[srp]

Jorg:

Thanks for the input from your father. It comports with what I heard growing up (I was born in 1960) and what I've read from military history. So the HBO/Tom Hanks program may not be too far off. I know it's based on the memoirs of a couple of Marines.

For a long time practically everyone had the same attitude about Little Boy and Fat Man. Obviously the Japanese were not prone to surrendering and it took two A-blasts to convince them. Picture Okinawa times 10 or 100 if Operation Olympic had gone forward. I can't even imagine what the postwar relationship would have been like. It's only fairly recently that the anti-nuke anti-American crypto-pacifist view has gained substantial mindshare.

[daddy]

Interesting.

Today Senator Mark Begich was on a local call in talk show on my drive home. Because I listened to Governor Chris Christie's video yesterday many times, and because it's been all over the news today, I was startled to hear almost verbatim the exact same words coming out of Begich's mouth in response to some question.

Christie said, "The fact is, this is who I am. and this is who the people elected...I came here to do what people sent me here to do."

Begich was within a whisker of that phrasing. Didn't copy it down, as I was driving, but it startled me.

What that tells me is that Christie's performance is making a huge effect back in DC, and those unprincipled word weasels like Begich are going to try to immediately incorporate similar sounding phrases to try and capture some of that straight talk luster for themselves. But as for the bluntness and direct honesty, somehow Begich couldn't exactly fit that in. HealthCare is great, it'll be wonderful for us all and reduce costs, and he's really really happy to be back there working so hard for all Alaskans.

Would be interested to know if over the next few days you guys hear other Dem's suddenly channelling Chris Christie phrases.

[daddy (not Warbucks)]

Leapin' Lizards!

Who cares if Law and Order's getting cancelled. Here's some real Tragedy.

First they came for Calvin and Hobbes.
Then they came for The Far Side.
Now this much more horrendous story tells us that after 86 years ">http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/05/13/2010-05-13_little_orphan_gonnie_from_the_daily_news.html"> Little Orphan Annie's biting the dust:(

I mean I was glad to see that crappy left wing reporter Brenda Starr get the ax. (Who wasn't?) And good riddance to Boondocks---why our canary's didn't even enjoy pooping on that moron.

But pulling the plug after 86 years on Orphan Annie?!? Gad!
No more Sandy (Arf!)
No more wondering where the hell are Annie's eyeballs, or how come that fat cat Daddy Warbucks never sprung for a decent new dress for Annie in 85 stinkin' years? Argggh!
That rotten Capitalist Pig. Hope he completely lost his ass betting on the Euro. But more probably it was that big Islamic servant of his from Pakistan, ">http://madinkbeard.com/blog/wp-content/images/annie4.jpg"> Punjab, suddenly going Jihadi and offing the old Western Industrialist.

So what the hells next?

No more Mary Worth?
No more Apartment 3-G?

Bah, this countries going to the dogs I tell ya',---to the dogs.

Anyhow, for Annie fan's, here she is in her very first appearance ">http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5j5b-O5raIALGsb6gfeDRch5KAn9wD9FM6S6G4?index=0"> scrubbin' floors and saying her prayers. And in the very next panel, ">http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5j5b-O5raIALGsb6gfeDRch5KAn9wD9FM6S6G4?index=1"> knocking the stuffin' out of some kid who mouthed off to her.

[Thomas Collins]

San Jose over Chicago in 6, Philadelphia over Montreal in 7. Then San Jose over Montreal in 5 as Joe Thornton sips from his first Stanley Cup.

If I am wrong, let's hope everyone forgets this post!

[Thomas Collins]

And in the NBA, it will be Orlando over Boston in 6, and LA Lakers over Los Suns in 5. Then, in an epic NBA Finals, the Lakers will top the Magic in 7, with Kobe having a great game 7 to sew up the Series MVP.

And, in my bonus prediction, TM will have another thread on Hawaii vs. Kenya for Barry's birth place before the end of the NBA and NHL playoffs.

[A Silver Pearce Arrow gets the Gold.]

Rondo Mondo. I like Tex. Winter, that is.
=====================

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN (via Instapundit) for a short John Fund piece on the current state of the GOP in Massachusetts.

My view is that although Dems are still firmly in control, with efforts from folks such as our Jane, the GOP is making some inroads in the Bay State.

[More CO2, better grapes.]

You, too; Massa, too.
===========

[Thomas Collins]

Kim, if Michael Mann plotted a graph of the triangle offense, would it look like a hockey stick?

[The Piltdown Mann is walking dead.]

Cotton Fitzsimmons followed him at K-State. Whaddya think the Western Conference would look like without those two?
====================

[centralcal]

Good morning, just catching up on this thread.

Ann: AT has a blog about the Chicago climate conference and how the MSM ignores it, and the lefty bogs smear it.

Mel: Doncha just love the creativity of those Hillbuzz Boyz! They are Palinistas of the first order and are comparing her GOP male Presidential wannabes as "limp cucumber sandwiches on white bread."

And, to all who snark about "Moochelle", the MOTUS blog has a periodic snark contest where they award a trophy to the comment that gets the most votes. Sadly, my favorite did not win, but dang it was good! You can put this comment with almost any outfit FLOTUS wears: If it zips, it fits. (commenter srdem).

[Pofarmer]

Since ya'll are an open minded bunch, I'm gonna throw in a link to Mike Rowe, of dirty jobs, on a subject near and dear to my heart.

LUN.

[JM Hanes]

One of the things that irritates me the most on the tube is when a perfectly good drama or mystery or whatever series morphs into a running soap opera about who's sleeping with whom. By the time they cancel Grey's Anatomy there won't be anyone left who hasn't slept with everybody else, with nary a memorable plot to be found.

Then there are the two leads who almost get together in every show till some idiotic obstacle gets in the way--over and over and over again. Not a romance, not a mystery, just predictable and dull as dish water. It only works in a show like Burn Notice because the writers haven't gotten lazy yet, it's not the focus of every show, and the episodes still have some other identifiable raison d'etre.

[Clarice]

Thanks for the link, Po. I wish I could get you to write about the challenges farmers face and why those who want to limit domestic agricultural production are gaining ground--for AT.

[nathan hale]

I found Kaputt, on the net, through google books. I've been reviewing my Russian reading
giving another shot at War and Piece, with background from Zamostyin, for background on Kutozov and de Tolly, to Montefiori on Potemkin and Madariaga on Catherine the Great, among others, which shows the Turkish and Polish issues, in high relief

[JM Hanes]

Pofarmer:

I've searched in vain for a survey I saw in Time Magazine, long before the digital age, which had an astonishing statistic on how many people think hamburger is a manufactured product.

The average chicken transits half the country to market, and when looks-good-tasteless produce has to be picked before it's ripe, it doesn't much matter whether it comes from California or Israel. I read somewhere else that the tomatoes which are picked green meet the standards for automobile bumpers.

I have to laugh when urbanites talk about dividing up blue states and red states into separate countries, because they don't seem to realize that the red states will have all the food, all the soldiers and probably all the guns, which they apparently don't realize they rely on. Unfortunately, it's not really funny at all.

Farmers are the hardest working people in America, and they know a lot more about real risk than all those folks on Wall St.

[centralcal]

JMH: I read somewhere else that the tomatoes which are picked green meet the standards for automobile bumpers. No kidding. Tomatoes are planted all around me and drivers around here know to give tomato trucks on narrow two lane country roads a wide birth (accidents abound). The tomato's planted around here are "bred" for tough skin, because they are picked by mechanical harvesters. Only good, juicy ones, are those from small farmers who supply farmer's markets.

And, chickens have become more flavorless the bigger they have become. Foster Farms have bred all the taste out of theirs. We call chicken breasts here, "Dolly Parton breasts," because they are so huge. One breast could feed a family of five.

Now, griping aside, I am 100% behind agriculture. I just wish they wouldn't so focus on the mass market, that they diminish the product. Of course, this is all moot, since the Libs are trying (and succeeding) in destroying California agriculture.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for today's Rasmussen Presidential Tracking Report

[Old Lurker]

JMH, I agree completely with your 9:08.

My wife and I refer to it as the "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Cycle".

That long ago show started out fun, but over time became more and more extreme as to became unwatchable. Good shows inevitably degrade into PC nonsense (L&O), or outrageous soaps (Gray's) or silly wierd story lines (Lost, 24)...or combinations thereof.

[Pofarmer]

Thanks for the link, Po. I wish I could get you to write about the challenges farmers face and why those who want to limit domestic agricultural production are gaining ground--for AT.

Afraid it would look like War and Peace.

Would need to be pretty topical.

you can email me.

missourichad at Agristar dot net

[nathan hale]

I guess I should be relieved that only 35% oppose offshore drilling down here, I'm not
as relieved that Charmin Charlie's in the lead, I gueaa I'm going to move at some point

[Neo]

Wonder it this had anything to do with L&O end ...

WATERSTON: And we can now see that even exploration poses serious risks to the marine environment and coastal economies.

RUSH: Yes, of course it does. So we gotta stop. The Chinese are not going to stop. (interruption) He's an actor! That's what makes him an expert. He's on the board of directors there. It says here he's on the board. Meanwhile, the Mexicans... (interruption) I know he's never played an oil guy, but he's prosecuted plenty of them. Don't distract me here! The Mexicans aren't going to stop drilling, the ChiComs are not going to stop drilling, the Saudis aren't going to stop drilling. The Cubans are even making deals to drill, or at least licensing their share of the ocean floor. Angola is going to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Vietnamese! (sigh) Gee. Who woulda ever thought that the Vietnamese would be drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico while we have actors running around and Democrats saying, "We gotta stop drilling. We have to stop drilling. It's going to destroy everybody and everything"? But they don't make the ChiComs stop, and they don't suggest that the Angolans stop. (sigh) You know Ho Chi Minh has got to be having -- wherever he is, even if he's in hell -- the biggest laugh of his life.

[Pofarmer]

Here's the deal folks, if you want fresh, local grown produce, demand it, and, be willing to pay up. so far, I have a little demand, but nobody is willing to pony up the extra $$$ it takes to do things the old fashioned way. Modern agriculture is primarily geared towards being the low cost producer, which leads to, well, low cost production. Everything is sacrificed on the alter of per unit costs. This is unrelenting. Consumer demand for better quality, where it is, is generally shallow and fleeting.

[nathan hale]

It's things like this,in the LUN that make me think as Lileks, once quipped 'We lost the war didn't we' in regards to the handling of
the Korans by US military

[Janet]

Thanks for the link Pofarmer...really, really good.

[Pofarmer]

Heh, we don't need to worry about the deficit after all.

Galbraith: The danger posed by the deficit ‘is zero’

LUN

[Thomas Collins]

Two more 24s (one hour on May 17th and a two hour season ending finale on May 24th). My hope is that Jack's father reappears (I'm sure Jack's father got off that rig before it was bombed) and turns out to be the force behind all of this year's skullduggery. I hope the show ends with some type of un-PC ending, say Jack killing his father and being arrested. That will set up the movie, which will involve President Andrea Jackson Mahan (played by Sarah Silverman) pardoning Jack, and Jack trading life in prison for another venture against terrorists (combating Somali pirate attacks on the High Seas, with the Somalis having acquired a solid set of nukes and biological and chemical agents).

[Janet]

...and narciso, your link on that mosque is just too sad. I don't know what we are gonna do....our nation has become so muddled and mixed up. good is evil, evil is good, race doesn't matter vs. race is all that matters, our civilization is scum vs. all other civilizations are wonderful, religion is evil except Islam and the Gaia green beliefs,....
What is to be done?

[nathan hale]

Well, Janet, groundswell has kept Holder from
continuing to push for trials in the Big Apple, and right about now, even the most
jaded NYer isn't that keen on PC sentiments after May 1st, Bloomberg is still clueless, a bug not a feature. This project will probably
face the 'mother of all backlashes' to paraphrase a little.

[centralcal]

Loved the link Po. Brought back many wonderful memories of my own kids in 4H and FFA (showing dairy and swine from county fair to county fair). At the time, the majority of kids in our little farming/dairy/sheep community were involved in both 4H and FFA until H.S. graduation and off to college.

Not so much anymore, alas. Heard on the local talk channel yesterday, that the latest trend is dairymen leaving the state in droves (all those outlawed cow farts polluting the liberal atmosphere, doncha know). At the big International Ag Show this past March, other states were wooing them with all sorts of incentives.

California is a failed state on nearly every level.

[nathan hale]

TC, Jack should have iced Logan, back in Season 5, I don't remember right now, the
'man just needs killin' as they would say in TExas. It's too late in the game, to put Papa Bauer back in, specially since there's a movie involved. The previous season, they ripped off Vince Flynn's second novel with little attribution, so my patience was starting to wear thin, Bauer is coming to resemble Micah Dalton, the new hero, in the espionage thriller game, who is habitually abandoned by his bosses. Brad THor's latest
was kind of meh, but ironically is very prophetic of recent events

[centralcal]

Nathan: This project will probably
face the 'mother of all backlashes' to paraphrase a little.

LOL, Hillbuzz is already on it! They are calling for pig art, pig monuments, and statuary to be installed all around the proposed Mosque site.

[Janet]

Great idea Centralcal...where do I send money for THAT art project?!

[centralcal]

Janet: Here you go.

Oink! Oink!

[JM Hanes]

nathan hale:

"I'm not as relieved that Charmin Charlie's in the lead"

Michael Barone reported that Bob Bennett is rumored to be considering running as an Independent. David Brooks may be outraged, but I think people are just as fed up with the sense of entitlement long term incumbents seem to feel as they are with specific votes. These days, nothing says entitlement like politically self-serving "independence."

And to think that the "establishment" was issuing dire warnings to the Tea Parties about splitting the vote in a naive attempt to form a third party. Brooks should be ranting about the hubris of the "Charmin Charlies," because they're the only thing standing in the way of any wave election in the offing. Of course, anyone who sees Obama as a moderate should have lost even his Republican, not just his conservative, cred by now.

[Danube of Thought]

For those who might be interested in a discussion of the constitutionality of the individual mandate, let me recommend a couple of video clips on the Volokh site, posted May 13. There are two clips, featuring James Sensenbrenner first and then Randy Barnett. They total about 19 minutes.

At this point it's hard for me to be sure, but I believe that the discussion is easily graspable by non-lawyers and was intended for a general audience. Barnett, in particular, sets the table very nicely. His presentation begins about two minutes before the end of the first clip.

[nathan hale]

JM, Brooks is blessing the Cameron/Clegg shotgun wedding, which suggests keep the receipts, MacDonald/Baldwin seems quite stable by that comparison

[Clarice]

DoT, I think Volokh is one of the most valuable sites on the internet. Had it been around when I was in law school I'd have read it daily before the case books.

[nathan hale]

I guess I understand the sentiment, in the LUN, but I don't like it,

[nathan hale]

This phrase, by Kate Schaidle covers a whole lot of ground, in the LUN

[Clarice]

Miguel is a class act. It's a pityhe's not on that court, narciso.

[Ignatz]

Got an interesting email this morning from some cat named Haenssgen Horst Dieter.
I've received many unsolicited but interesting offers previously from primarily West African individuals who wished me to accept a considerable commission on sums ranging from a mere $1,000,000 to over $100,000,000 which they wished to remove from their country of origin for various reasons. I have found most of these solicitations slightly suspect and have declined their generous offers.
But clealry Haenssgen is a name not of West African origin and Mr. Dieter, in an approach entirely new to me, wishes to give me the sum of $2,500,000 because he is dying of cancer and his wife was poisoned not long ago by his relatives whom Mr Dieter describes as

"a bunch of racists,drunks, whoremongers Murderers and drug peddlers, believe me I have never seen a bunch of awareful people as bad as this lot, funny enough it runs in all their blood and is not restricted to just one person, but both mala and female"

Unfortunately it is possible that our president, a man whose character I consider somewhat more suspect than the honorable Mr. Dieter's, may very well believe I have already made enough money, so if anyone is interested in accepting Mr. Dieter's generous offer let me know and I'll forward his information along. Be forewarned that he expects his funds will be used only for charitable purposes and you may have to provide certain personal information to complete tha transaction but he assures me with his dying breath that while

"this might sound very funny, and could pass for yet another internet, joke or scam, believe me it is not,this is the way that I could actually avenge the death of my late wife whom my relatives saw as a stumblying block or hinderance in them coming close to me in order to get hold of the funds"

So if anyone wishes to help Mr. Dieter avenge his late wife by sticking it to the whoremongers, let me know by please to be forwarding me 10% of Mr. Dieter's proceeds and I'll send his contact info along.

[Clarice]

HEH!
ut there's precedent for that kind of sharing here. I always sent my emails notifying me that I'd won the Brit or euro lottery to PUK who was closer and could more easily transfer the necessary good faith funds to the people offering me the loot.