Dirty Harry to Spike Lee: “Shut Your Face”

I love Clint Eastwood. I hope I’m that cool when I’m in my seventies.

“Clint Eastwood folds his gangly frame behind a clifftop table at the Hotel Du Cap, a few miles up the coast from Cannes, sighs deeply, and squints out over the Mediterranean. “Has he ever studied the history?” he asks, in that familiar near-whisper.

The “he” is Spike Lee, and the reason Eastwood is asking is because of something Lee had said about Eastwood’s Iwo Jima movie Flags of Our Fathers, while promoting his own war movie, Miracle at St Anna, about a black US unit in the second world war. Lee had noted the lack of African-Americans in Eastwood’s movie and told reporters: “That was his version. The negro version did not exist.”

Eastwood has no time for Lee’s gripes. “He was complaining when I did Bird [the 1988 biopic of Charlie Parker]. Why would a white guy be doing that? I was the only guy who made it, that’s why. He could have gone ahead and made it. Instead he was making something else.” As for Flags of Our Fathers, he says, yes, there was a small detachment of black troops on Iwo Jima as a part of a munitions company, “but they didn’t raise the flag. The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn’t do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people’d go, ‘This guy’s lost his mind.’ I mean, it’s not accurate.”

Lee shouldn’t be demanding African-Americans in Eastwood’s next picture, either. Changeling is set in Los Angeles during the Depression, before the city’s make-up was changed by the large black influx. “What are you going to do, you gonna tell a fuckin’ story about that?” he growls. “Make it look like a commercial for an equal opportunity player? I’m not in that game. I’m playing it the way I read it historically, and that’s the way it is. When I do a picture and it’s 90% black, like Bird, I use 90% black people.”

Eastwood pauses, deliberately – once it would have provided him with the beat in which to spit out his cheroot before flinging back his poncho – and offers a last word of advice to the most influential black director in American movies. “A guy like him should shut his face.””

LO-fucking-L!

Read the whole enchelada. Seriously, it gets even better.

“Dirty Harry – the story of a cop railing against bureaucracy and pursuing criminals according to his own whim – has been so imitated that it is hard to imagine the revulsion that spilled over it upon its release. The New Yorker’s critic, Pauline Kael, called it “fascist”, and other reviewers heaped similar scorn on it. They wondered whether holding a .44 Magnum in a suspect’s face was the best way to pursue justice; they wondered whether the San Francisco setting was a slap at one of America’s most liberal cities; even the CND belt buckle sported by Scorpio, the serial killer in the film, was interpreted as a swipe at the left. With the cop thriller supplanting the western as Hollywood’s action genre of choice, Eastwood was surely the political as well as cinematic successor to John Wayne.

But moviegoers took little notice of those who attacked the film. They flocked to the cinemas, Dirty Harry’s dialogue passed into common parlance, and it now occupies an important if uneasy place in film history.”

Dirty Harry trivia you probably don’t know:

“(John) Wayne had turned the film down, as had Steve McQueen, Robert Mitchum and various others. Frank Sinatra was set to star until, according to showbiz lore, tendonitis in his wrist prevented him from handling the Magnum’s heavy recoil. “Probably just bullshit,” says Eastwood. But Ol’ Blue Eyes’ loss was Young Blue Eyes’ gain. Eastwood brought director/collaborator Don Siegel to the project. And, courtesy of a much misquoted line – “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?” – the picture turned Eastwood from cowboy star into everyman icon.”

Personally, I loved this bit:

“These days Eastwood doesn’t really look back on his old films, though he mentions a viewing of The Outlaw Josey Wales, a film some regard as his masterpiece. He meant to watch for five minutes, but ended up sitting all the way through. “The films that I’ve done in recent years are the ones I remember the most,” he says. “I guess I’m living in the present more than the past.””

The Outlaw Josey Wales is my all-time favorite Clint Eastwood flick.

Josey (To the indian chief): “Dyin’s easy for men like you and me, it’s livin’ that’s hard.” LOL!

First Pitch Surprise!

Fox News Blog On The Scene/Adam Housely

As many of you know I am a huge baseball fan and have covered many a story that crosses over to the news side of things. This one takes the cake for our national pastime. Last year we covered military opening day with the San Diego Padres and no other professional team goes as far as they do to support our men and women in uniform. While covering the Padres on this occasion and a few others, we became friends with their PR staff’s which include George Stieren and Warren Miller. They just had their colleague Erik Meyer send me the story and video of 11-year-old Brad Warnick, joined on the mound by mother Irene and 8-year-old sister Ashley, who thought they were just representing the USS Midway Museum in San Diego in honor of their fathers service in the Navy. BUT…..dressed in full Padres catching gear behind the plate was Petty Officer 1st Class Rick Warnick, their father & husband. Petty Officer Warnick is part of the crew currently deployed on the USS Nimitz, scheduled to return next month. Warnick was flown home early to surprise his family on the field through cooperative efforts of the USS Midway Museum and the Navy. This video is what it’s all about.

Error

This video doesn’t exist

Obama denies a rumor and questions the question….

Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday batted down rumors circulating on the Internet and mentioned on some cable news shows of the existence of a video of his wife using a derogatory term for white people, and criticized a reporter for asking him about the rumor, which has not a shred of evidence to support it.

“We have seen this before. There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mails and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about it,” Obama said to the McClatchy reporter during a press conference aboard his campaign plane. “That gives legs to the story. If somebody has evidence that myself or Michelle or anybody has said something inappropriate, let them do it.”

Asked whether he knew it not to be true, Obama said he had answered the question.

“Frankly, my hope is people don’t play this game,” Obama said. “It is a destructive aspect of our politics. Simply because something appears in an e-mail, that should lend it no more credence than if you heard it on the corner. Presumably the job of the press is to not to go around and spread scurrilous rumors like this until there is actually anything, an iota, of substance or evidence that would substantiate it.”

The above relates to this, Politico AND this where DEMOCRAT STRATEGIST BOB BECKEL NOT THIS BLOG, YOU LEFTY ASS HATS…indicated there would be a video, starring Michelle.

Now…if one does surface…Hussein has been boxed and closed, by his answer and denial. We shall see.

All have heard about the genius writings of Jules, Tim’s move and possible burnout with Sir Iowahawk…

Wanted to let all know….This Blog is NOT going anywhere, BUT UP (notice there are NOT two T’s in but, please).

This place was started for highly intelligent and gifted souls, who can Blog anything they wish, whenever they wish. True…It Don’t conform…LOL.. ..But hey, I’m a bit of a non-conformist like every one else here, seems to be. Yes we try to follow the guidelines in and of life…BUT there are times when going a bit (or in my case always)  sideways, is great for the heart, soul and mind.

I do however (and yes, I know being busy) want to know, as well as the rest…Has anyone heard from Sir SwinishCapitalist? Another is Texas Bob.

I screwed up, by NOT keeping in constant contact with the dear lady, Saltydog. I’m not about to let that happen, again…with any and all here. Hell, I even traced her, to one of the hundreds of the boats she indicated that she lives/lived on in the San Diego Harbor. Google Earth® and Virtual Earth®.

Ooppsss!

Both pinpointed a specific boat, but I could not zoom in close enough to catch the name on that boat*.

For all to know, I have plugged into News Paper Atlas and have checked several times the San Diego, CA area Newsies Obituaries. So far, so good (I think) I have not found anything on Janet Busch, aka Saltydog.

*asterisk explained…NO YOU ARE NOT BEING WATCHED BY “Big Brother”…LOL.

Denmark: Al-Qaeda’s New ‘Itsy Bitsy Satan’

I saw no panic or calls for surrender in Copenhagen after the deadly attack on the Danish embassy in Pakistan: Denmark is standing impressively steadfast in the face of its new ‘status” as the third enemy of Islamists after the US and Israel.

I happened to be visiting Copenhagen at the time of the recent car bomb attack on Denmark’s embassy in Pakistan for which al-Qaeda claimed responsibility today. Hence, I was able to witness a Danish politician looking into the television camera and declare that their little Denmark appears to be up at the top of the terrorist target list with the United States and Israel.

What’s amazing about the statement is that he’s right.

Why has this tiny state, with a population smaller than that of little Israel and best known for its quality cheeses and butter, become Public Enemy Number Three in much of the Muslim world?

If America is the Great Satan and Israel is the Little Satan, then Denmark seems to be the Itsy Bitsy Satan. The immediate answer, of course, is the cartoon controversy, which in itself is a pretty bizarre story. Back in September 2005, the magazine Jyllands-Posten decided to show support for freedom of speech by running critical cartoons about Islam and its founder, Muhammad. But the resulting explosion of hatred-which included burning Danish embassies and flags-did not just happen spontaneously.

Less well-known is the fact that a group of Danish immigrant imams set out to provoke the protests. In doing so, they also added to their publicity package cartoons that had not been published in the newspapers’ series, in fact had never been published anywhere. These proved to be the most “provocative” in making Muslims angry. The cartoon controversy affected far more countries than Denmark, but what was most significant was the Danish reaction. Contrary to fellow Scandinavian states Sweden and Norway – where, in one case, the foreign minister pressured an Internet site off the air so as not to “offend” Muslims – the Danes stood firm.

Copenhagen hasn’t been strident but it has been tough, clearly to the dismay of some companies that have big export interests in the Middle East. A thousand years ago, the Vikings were the consummate international terrorists, looting monasteries and blackmailing rulers into a policy of paying to avoid being attacked. Today, the roles are reversed, at least in Norway and Sweden. There does seem to be a civilizational death wish among large portions of Norway’s intelligentsia and officialdom, one of whom said there was no Swedish culture worth protecting. Ironically, the extreme permissiveness that northern Scandinavia, with its virtually one-party social democratic states, has been famous for, has caved in all the faster.

A century or so ago, Denmark was a pretty poor place. Things were changed not by a welfare state but by a lot of hard work, entrepreneurship, land reform, and cooperatives. And, of course, during World War Two, of course, the Danes saved almost their entire Jewish population, an achievement no other European country even approached. Still, tendencies toward nervousness or fatalism are not altogether absent from Denmark.

Notably, a recent history of the country ended in the year 2000 not just because that’s a convenient date but, according to the author, due to the fact that Denmark doesn’t have a future. Yet here there is much more confidence. There is no rush to self-censorship, no over-the-top political correctness or smug multi-culturalism. Yet immigrants are treated pretty well, even compared to countries which make a fetish out of loving the “other” and hating the self.

Talking about limiting immigration is not taboo but there’s no shortage of immigrant hijabs among passers-by, yet Danes don’t seem to feel that what others choose to do should affect how they live. Especially significant is the fact that Denmark is the only place in Europe where there is a significant moderate Muslim political presence, personalized in the popular politician Naser Khader. Khader comes from parents who are Palestinian and Syrian, spent his early childhood in Syria, and is named after Egyptian radical nationalist president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Yet Khader’s devotion to Western democratic values is such that a radical Danish imam threatened to kill him.

Khader’s New Alliance party is small but plays a key role in coalition building. As proof of Danish “exceptionalism” the attack in Pakistan provoked no calls for surrender. Obviously, the Danes aren’t thrilled at their new-found notoriety but they don’t seem to think it possible to do much about it.

The left wants to increase aid programs in Muslim-majority countries; the right advocates back. But no one is panicking. Why did al-Qaeda attack the Danish embassy in Lahore?

That’s a very interesting question. It is important to note that this has been a bad year for al-Qaida. Its ability to stage attacks has declined; its insurgencies in Algeria and Saudi Arabia have been largely shut down; and it has not been too successful in penetrating Lebanon, Jordan, or the Palestinians. Most notably, the U.S. military surge in Iraq along with the Sunni tribes (albeit motivated by big American pay-offs) has caused many to turn away from al-Qaida. So the group had to do something, to prove it still has teeth. On the list of target toughness, a Danish embassy is simply going to lack the security invulnerability of its U.S. counterpart.

Another factor: Al-Qaida has been criticized for killing so many Muslims in Iraq, Algeria, and elsewhere. It needs a target that’s going to be popular. By going after Denmark, al-Qaida is saying that it’s fighting for the most basic Muslim interests, protecting their most cherished leader. Denmark is tailor-made for this reputed bad guy role.

That doesn’t mean there will be a wave of attacks on Denmark or even that the Lahore bombing is going to make al-Qaida more popular, but it’s a reasonable strategy from that group’s standpoint.

Meanwhile, Denmark has passed another test. Perhaps other Western countries will learn something from it.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin) and the paperback edition of The Truth about Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan)

Pajamas Media

This is the anniversary of D-Day, as posted earlier. This song was presented by a U.S. Soldier. Tough to get through, without welling tears. A rare breed, indeed.

If I Die Before You Wake

Report: Love Letters From U.S. Troops Increasingly Gruesome

Bits:

“Not only are U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq less likely to compare their lover’s cheeks to a blushing red rose,” the report read in part, “but most are now three times more likely to equate that same burning desire to the ‘smoldering flesh of a dead Iraqi insurgent,’ and almost 10 times more likely to compare sudden bursts of passion to a ‘crowded marketplace explosion.'”

“The more often U.S. soldiers are confronted with images of carnage, the more these elements become present in their subconscious and, ultimately, in their writing,” said Dr. Kendra Allen, a behavioral psychologist who reviewed the Pentagon’s findings. “This is precisely why we see so many passages like, ‘Darling, I miss the way your bright green eyes always stayed inside your skull’ and ‘Honey, how I dream of your soft, supple arms—both of them, still attached as ever, to the rest of your body.'”

“Getting love letters from my husband used to be my favorite part of the week. But these days, they’re almost impossible to get through,” said Sheila Miller, whose husband, Michael, has been in Iraq since 2004. “Yes, it’s still flattering to be told that you’re as beautiful as a syringe full of morphine, or that you’re as much a part of his being as the shrapnel near his spine. But I’m really starting to worry about him.”

The Onion

Kevni, isn’t alone….LOL.

Breitbart

An Australian’s View On Obama

Barack Obama is a bit of a conundrum for me. Here is a man who has captivated those that pay attention to the US the world over, whether they like the guy or not. He’s brought a renewed enthusiasm for US politics, and has drawn attention to what the President of the United States of America really means to other countries.

Obama really believes in what he stands for, that much I know. And that’s what scares me. It scares me because Obama hasn’t really made it clear exactly what he does believe, and what he does want for America, other than change. He hasn’t painted a vision of what he wants, and hasn’t really touched on what people are really concerned about.

Obama’s website is vague in the extreme. It doesn’t discuss action plans or how Obama is going to achieve anything. Just like the man himself, it’s full of platitudes and all the right words, but nothing on the plan. The way to win the world over is not to just say you’re going to do something, but to explain how it will happen under an Obama Administration.

For example, his plan on immigration doesn’t say a word about how he’s going to achieve his goals, it just says what the end result will be. How, for instance, will he manage to improve conditions and employment opportunities in Mexico? Will he offer a tax incentive for large corporations to move down to Mexico, where any money they get would then be squandered by the Mexican government, while at the same time causing legal employees and citizens of the United States to lose their job?

I’m sure I’m not the only person who has noticed how vague Obama is on his plans for change. Let’s take a look at his plan for healthcare. Will healthcare improve under an Obama Administration? Probably not, because his proposed system would have to involve a complete overhaul of the entire system, and would require the assistance of every State. It’s a plan he hasn’t actually outlined in any meaningful way. It’s also a very socialist system, and judging by the details Obama’s provided on his website, most of the initiatives involve extracting money from the public to pay for the huge administration costs that will be caused by any future overhaul. Again, however, I’m guessing, because he hasn’t provided even a lick of information about how he would properly manage the US Health System.

As for the enemies of the United States, Obama’s already stated he’d like a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and that he’d sit down and talk with countries like Iran. That’s all well and good when they don’t pose a tremendous threat, but Iran does. And Iran’s not afraid to talk big about what it’d do to the allies of the US, such as Israel. Iran is not a country that the US should be negotiating with. Obama isn’t a presidential candidate who can stand up to enemies such as Iran, and he wouldn’t stand up against them if another event as tragic and appalling as 9/11 was to occur. Obama is not the right man to keep up the good fight, and he won’t.

Those are just some of the reasons I don’t trust Barack Obama, and I don’t think he’s the man to lead the United States for the next four years. I don’t think he has the stomach to handle the pressures of the job.

And can anyone honestly say that they can’t picture Michelle wanting to pull a Hillary and running for the Senate herself, for a crack at the White House sometime in the future?

D-Day

Jennifer Rubin – 06.06.2008 – 11:04 AM

It is the anniversary of D-day. On anniversaries that aren’t “round numbers” few even remember to mark the day, the news coverage is absent and politicians tend to ignore it. When you review the losses not just of that day but the entire Battle of Normandy the numbers of staggering. One wonders if today the event would be characterized in the same way and whether over 10,000 Allied casualties in a single day would be reported as a great tragedy, a sign our military planners had failed us in some way.

This week I attended the Bradley Symposium at which frequent COMMENTARY contributor Victor Davis Hanson presented his essay “Memory and Civic Education: The Perils of Cultural Amnesia” and spoke of the arrogance and the lack of perspective which comes from ignorance about our history. His observations seem extremely pertinent with regard to WWII. How many Americans know about Tarawa, a true debacle in which the U.S. suffered 3000 casualties, or know the basic facts about the Battle of the Bulge where over 19,000 Americans were killed? Not enough.

Some basic historical literacy might provide Americans with some perspective on our current war and some understanding that even in the greatest triumph, mistakes, horrid mistakes, are made and yet through enormous bravery and determination we can persevere. At the very least we might have an appreciation for the enormity of the sacrifices needed to destroy fascism in the 20th century.

 

Commentary Magazine

via

Instapundit
 

Report: Israeli Minister Says ‘We Will Attack Iran’ if Nuke Program Continues

Gosh, betcha that makes Ahmadinejad feel all warm and glowy. Main reason is, he knows Israel can do it.

Big problem I can see is…Should the Obama/(possible Clinton) ticket win…Who would BO meet with? If he gets brave and decides to do it anyway, wont he need a Kerry Prophylactic?

Fox News

 

I Suck At The Technical Things

My computer’s been running slow for months now, and for some reason the hard drive’s free space kept dropping below 1 GB (it’s a 60 GB hard drive), and I couldn’t figure out why.

So I started hunting around, seeing if I could find more shit to delete.

I stumbled upon the Temp folder, which is the folder which stores all the crap I’ve ever looked at on this computer.

Problem found, it’s got so much shit in it that it’s become 20GB full.

Oops.

Incidentally, if any of you are encountering the same problem, this program is helpful.

Random Riddles

Try these out:

1. On holiday in the Pyrennees, Stuart and Matt are skiing down the mountainside when suddenly an avalanche strikes. Stuart is nearly saved, but Matt is nearly buried under the snow. Who is the more grateful?
2. Dawg, a naughty dog, is muzzled and tied to a lead 3m (9.84ft) in length. He spots a ball to play with 10m (32.8ft) away on the other side of the yard. How does Dawg succeed in reaching the ball without it rolling towards him?
3. Al Gore III and his girlfriend are going for a holiday to San Francisco in their little electric car. After driving for five hours, they stop at the nearest Macca’s and grab themselves some burgers, and then go through the drive thru and get a six pack of beer. They drink a few and Gore decides to sleep off the beer. Afterwards, they continue on their drive towards San Francisco, with the wind gusting at 60 miles/hr in exactly the opposite direction. In which direction will the car exhaust be blown?

I will go to hell for this post, the Aboriginal Spongebob….

Its from Kalgoorlie, the nearest large town from where I live.  It may not be politicly correct, but it is bloody funny.

I could even show you the bit in the street where this was taken, its quite popular spot for the “long grassers” to congregate.

 

And from the same author. One of the most disgusting stories of humankind

Java Jive

Bits:

HARTFORD, Conn. – A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.

One of the most touching tales of real life, I’ve ever read and felt..

Two very special veterans. Java Jive

Bits:

In his mind, had he not saved John that day, John would not have lived to become what he now was. He had had very little quality of life since the operation the late 50’s. While hugging his friend he repeatedly said, “I’m sorry, I saved you for nothing, I’m sorry, I didn’t know they would do this to you, I’m sorry, I thought I was saving you to live, but not like this…not like this”. John did nothing but stand there, showing no recognition or understanding.

Powerful stuff, people. A must read.

Meant to post this much earlier…but today was mountain clearing…Part Two.