Will Godzilla Start A Revival Of Monster Movies?

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 12:03 pm

And by a revival, we’re talking about remaking many of the old ones, from the start of film making through really about the early 1960’s. That’s the question that was discussed briefly on WTTK here in Raleigh.

The genre never really went away. There are certainly movies here and there. Some are remakes. Ho many vampire movies have there been? Werewolves? King Kong was remade for the 2nd time a few years ago. Personally, I like the one with Faye Dunnaway the best.
Can you remake those old ones for the theaters? Good question. Something like Tarantula might work. Others, like The Tingled, might not, even as a fun summer flick. Making them for a network like SciFi or Chiller might be better. Lord knows SciFi needs some quality movies, instead of the normal drek.

Could many be remade without being silly or modern preachy, hosed much like was done with Noah? And be interesting for modern movie goers, who would shell out quite a bit more than decades ago? Would the subject matter interest them? Here’s some to consider:

Creature from the Black Lagoon: I never really like the original. The concept was great, but rather schlocky.

Phantom of the Oprah? Hunchback of Notre Dame? Nosferatu, done properly, to really scare the crap out of people, give them a serious case of the willies, would be good.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Kinda have that with the Hulk. The Invisible Man? That could be tough, unless set in an earlier era. Need to see and feel the madness.

Black Cat and Black Sabbath might be good. How about a modern version of The Blob?

If Hollywood wants to reach in the bag for remakes, why not use good material? Sometimes people just want to see a fun film without a deep message, though, of course, so many of those 50’s movies were linked to the Cold War and nuclear weapons. Like Them. Would one want to remake Jaws? How about campy stuff like Blood Beach? They remade Piranha, which was silly, campy, lots of gratuitous nudity, and hearkened back the 70’s and early 80’s movies, attempting to be fun, along with scary and gory.

Mummies are kinda out at the moment. The one with Brendan Frasier was great. How about a proper Wolfman? The recent one was bad. Would The Skull or It Came From Beneath The Sea work? Hey, maybe an American version of The Host?

What do you think? Anything you’d like to see remade, if done well? What’s your favorite monster movie? Could Godzilla bring on a Renaissance?

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Hooray! You Can Fast To Stop Climate Change Typhoons!

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 11:04 am

It’s all so simple

(Yahoo News) Could fasting once a month make a difference when it comes to climate change? That’s the question behind a growing global movement coalescing around the hashtag #fastfortheclimate.

Remember Typhoon Haiyan? The colossal superstorm, by some estimates the largest typhoon ever to make landfall, decimated parts of the Philippines last November. Although it left more than 6,000 dead and displaced millions, for a lot of us the tragedy passed like these things often do: A flurry of heartbreaking reports and terrible images for a few days, only to disappear from the headlines and slip into a kind of half-forgotten memory.

Is this reminding anyone of a pesudo-religion? Fasting, then linking a typhoon to the issue behind the reason to fast.

“In solidarity with my countrymen who are struggling to find food back home, and with my brother, who has not had food for the last three days,” Sano went on, “I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate.”

That was Yeb Sano, the head of the Philippines delegation, who took a fossil fueled flight to Warsaw for the UN IPCC Conference On The Parties last year. Seriously, these people think they can change the climate by not eating for a day once a month (which most won’t do, even though they’ll flog the hashtag). Much like they hold their “Earth Hour” once a year, and turn a few lights off.

This is also one of those 1st World Problems. Those in 3rd world shitholes developing nations would be happy to take that food, as well as live half as well as those in even the Philippines live.

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Expectation Met: Obama Heard About VA Issues From News Reports

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 7:19 am

The big question is, how does this administration have any credibility left? Can you imagine the response had any of Bush’s press secretaries tried this?

(Real Clear Politics) JIM ACOSTA, CNN: When was the president first made aware of these problems? Of these fraudulent lists that were being kept to hide the wait times, when was he first made aware of those problems? And when did other White House officials, top White House officials, become aware of these problems?

JAY CARNEY: When you say these problems, the fact that there have been bureaucracies —

ACOSTA: The delays have been known for some time.

CARNEY: You mean the specific allegations that I think were reported first by your news network out of Phoenix, I believe. We learned about them through the reports. I will double check if that is not the case.

But that is when we learned about them and that is when I understand Secretary Shinseki learned about them, and he immediately took the action that he has taken.

Of course, we know that this is a lie, unless Obama has horrible memory retention. Does anyone in the media have the cajones to call Carney and Obama out on this? As Allahpundit notes

Exit question: When Obama told veterans in 2007 that we need a “new sense of urgency” in making sure sick and injured vets are quickly seen, what else did he mean if not proactive investigation and resolution of the problem by the new president?

We also know that Obama was specifically told about this issue back during the transition in 2008.

Read: Expectation Met: Obama Heard About VA Issues From News Reports »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Barry Obama, Current Affairs, Democrats | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: U.S. Ready To Evacuate Embassy In Tripoli

By William Teach May 20, 2014 – 7:04 am

Obama’s Big Libyan Adventure is working out so well!

(CNN) The U.S. military has doubled the number of aircraft standing by in Italy if needed to evacuate Americans from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, CNN has learned.

A decision to evacuate as violence in the Libyan capital grows is “minute by minute, hour by hour,” a defense official told CNN on Monday.

Fierce fighting swept across the city Sunday after armed men stormed the country’s interim Parliament. Sporadic bursts of gunfire and blasts could still be heard on the outskirts of the capital Monday evening.

The violence appeared to be some of the worst since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

There was always the possibility that the country would turn Islamist even if Mr. Obama kept his eye on the ball. Since he treated Libya like a child treats a toy, as in, playing with it hard then forgetting about the damage caused, the nation has turned into a hotbed of radical Islam. Say what you will about Gadhafi, he kept the hardcores out. And, now, there will be a hardcore Islamist country right in the heart of the Mediterranean shipping lanes. The new interim-government is, in fact, using hardcore Islamist militias.

It’s so bad that the Saudis temporarily shut down their embassy in Tripoli, and

Turkey took similar measures, shutting down its consulate in Benghazi, Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu news agency reported.

Speaking of Benghazi, it’s interesting that military planes can be put on alert to evacuate Tripoli. Why were none on alert on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2012? Was the administration so incompetent that they failed to note the warning signs as to how bad Benghazi had become? Did they just not care? Was it too inconvenient for Obama to do his job? We did have multiple ships that could have launched helicopters and attack jets in the Med, and since there was no idea how long the attacks would last, what, exactly, did the Obama admin do, other than watch the attacks on monitors?

Anyhow, heck of a job, Obama. Bomb a country then walk away, watch it turn into a hardcore Islamist nation.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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How To Save The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry?

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 2:52 pm

Warmist Bill Moyers is utterly concerned with saving the planet from “climate change”, so, obviously, he recommends that Warmists practice what they preach, and has promised to give up his own use of fossil fuels! Oh, wait, no, he wants spreading awareness and a carbon tax

How to Save the Planet

blah blah blah

We reached out to a handful of scientists, policy experts, writers and activists to ask: “If you could require America to do just one thing — any one thing — to combat climate change in 2014, what would it be?” Here’s what they said:

Hyper-warmist David Suzuki wants projects akin to the space race. Guess he’s not going carbon neutral himself. William D. Nordhaus says

People ask, what can I do? My answer is that people should address the threat of climate change in ways that best fit their personal interests and capabilities. Students can learn, and teachers can teach. Citizens can inform themselves. Engineers can develop low-carbon technologies. Politicians can confront the realities and speak the truth. Media can avoid meaningless balancing of good and bad arguments. As an economist, I can explain why carbon pricing (such as through carbon taxes) is the most effective mechanism to reduce emissions. There is much to do, for everyone.

So, spreading awareness, passing laws that restrict freedom, a carbon tax, destroying economies, and, of course, restricting freedom of speech. Annie Leonard of Greenpeace

If I could require Americans to do one thing, it is to get active! Already millions know and are concerned about climate change, now we need to move that passive concern into action. That action could take many forms depending on each person’s skills and interests: shut down coal-fired power plants, get your university to divest from fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy economy, encourage companies and state and local governments to switch to renewable energy, demand leadership from our elected officials. It doesn’t matter so much which thing we do, as long as we all do something.

How about changing your own life, Annie? Give up fossil fuels.

  • Kerry Emanuel wants a carbon tax, and even wants “Finally, I would start a movement to amend the Constitution to make it illegal to influence (whether by voting or through money) elections outside one’s own district.” Actually, I’m good with that. I’ve always hated money coming in from outside districts. Not sure what that has to do with Hotcoldwetdry, though.
  • Kumi Naido, another Greenpeace executive director, compares “climate change” to slavery, and wants civil disobedience to fossil fuels companies, failing to note that they aren’t Government, and also failing to tell us that he has given up all fossil fuels usage himself.
  • Bill McKibben, part of the nutty 350.org, wants a carbon tax, and to treat this like its WWIII, and to break the fossil fuels industry. Yet, he still takes lots of fossil fueled flights and vehicle trips.
  • Vandana Shiva, a philosopher (has an S in her name) and environmental activist, wants to stop corporate greed. But not go carbon neutral herself.
  • And, finally, Sandra Steingraber thinks we’re approaching the last-straw-breaks-the-camel’s-back moment, would ban fracking.

Note that none of these folks advocate for other Warmists to make significant changes in their own lives to go carbon neutral. Nor do they seem willing to make significant changes in their own lives. This is why I say this is all about politics. Oh, and

Read: How To Save The Planet From Hotcoldwetdry? »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 15 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible rising ocean which will swamp the coasts back hundreds of miles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post noting proof that liberals are wussies.

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Obama Warned About VA Problems In 2008

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 9:17 am

A quick follow up to the earlier post, where I wonder why Obama wasn’t getting ahead of the VA scandal, because it really wasn’t his fault, and would be a way to show his leadership, and, instead, was seemingly treating this the way they treat all the scandals created by his administration. Perhaps this is why

(Washington Times) The Obama administration received clear notice more than five years ago that VA medical facilities were reporting inaccurate waiting times and experiencing scheduling failures that threatened to deny veterans timely health care — problems that have turned into a growing scandal.

Veterans Affairs officials warned the Obama-Biden transition team in the weeks after the 2008 presidential election that the department shouldn’t trust the wait times that its facilities were reporting.

“This is not only a data integrity issue in which [Veterans Health Administration] reports unreliable performance data; it affects quality of care by delaying — and potentially denying — deserving veterans timely care,” the officials wrote.

The briefing materials, obtained by The Washington Times through the Freedom of Information Act, make clear that the problems existed well before Mr. Obama took office, dating back at least to the Bush administration. But the materials raise questions about what actions the department took since 2009 to remedy the problems.

You can also Blame Bush for not taking action, provided he was informed, as multiple investigations said there was an issue. A big issue. This issue apparently continued to grow, to the point that Obama was told about it during the transition. And did nothing.

Oh, and let’s throw out a Democrat talking point: “who’s president now?” Liberals did not want to hear about all the failures regarding 9/11 that occurred during the Clinton administration, nor other issues that passed from his admin to the Bush admin. Well, Obama is president now. What did he do?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Whew! Obama’s “Madder Than Hell” When It Comes To VA Scandal

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 8:32 am

Just not mad enough to say it himself

(The Blaze) The White House chief of staff said President Barack Obama is “madder than hell” about reports of treatment delays at veterans’ hospitals across the country.

Top aide Denis McDonough told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday added concerning his boss’ take on the situation: “I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings that I’ve given the president…”

McDonough added that Obama is demanding that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and others in the administration “continue to fix these things until they’re functioning the way that our veterans believe they should.”

Nor does he seem mad enough to actually fire anyone. Of course, it’s hard to do that when he’s playing another round of golf (and sent the pool reporter to a maintenance shed).

https://twitter.com/Seattle_D/statuses/468065091091304449

Via Twitchy, which has more comments.

The sad part is, this would really be a perfect issue for Obama to come out and lead. Unlike so many other scandals, does anyone truly think that Team Obama had any part in the VA scandal? I just can’t see anyone in his top administration ordering, suggesting, etc, that VA employees do what they did. There’s no benefit for them to do that. Top leaders cannot know everything all the time, so when a problem appears, they take the issue, get ahead of it, and do something to fix it. People get fired, the issue gets resolved. Yet, Obama doesn’t seem to want to really do anything about it, other than let others speak for him.

Instead, as Mary Katherine Hamm noted the other day, we seem to be entering the “silly press corps, stop asking questions” phase. Soon we will get to the “this is only crazy right wingers talking about it” phase, followed by the referring to the scandal as phony stage, followed by slow walking the investigation and release of documents, ending with saying “dude, that was over a year ago”. The only thing missing from her post is the Dem talking point used to blow off the issue, noting that “Democrats are focusing on the issues that Americans”.

Perhaps Obama is doing something behind the scenes. Though, it seems that yelling and telling others to Do Something seems to be his ultimate involvement. It highlights that Obama is more concerned with Being President than Doing President. Also, that he’s in over his head, even after 5 years in office. Finally, we see he just doesn’t care, even with an issue that he could use to make himself look good by taking strong action.

Read: Whew! Obama’s “Madder Than Hell” When It Comes To VA Scandal »

Posted in Barry Obama, Current Affairs | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Republicans Like Really Back Comprehensive Immigration Reform!

By William Teach May 19, 2014 – 8:10 am

It’s apparently Monday Poll day at Politico. They have one saying that most people favor legislation that tightens background checks for gun purchases. That’s rather common sense. It’s when Democrats start adding all the restrictions on legal purchases by law abiding citizens that we run into trouble. Then there’s a poll that shows Democrats are in serious trouble come the mid-terms. We’ll come back to that in a bit. And now we come to the immigration poll, which Politico trumpets the Republican backing in their headline

Comprehensive immigration reform enjoys broad bipartisan support, but is particularly intense among Hispanic voters, who are most likely to weigh the issue heavily as they assess candidates, according to a new POLITICO poll of voters in places with the most competitive House and Senate races.

Seventy-one percent of likely voters surveyed — and nine of 10 Hispanics — said they back sweeping change to immigration laws. The support spans party lines: 64 percent of Republican respondents back comprehensive immigration reform, as do 78 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents.

So, doom for Republicans. Amnesty supporters will highlight this poll as proof that people want amnesty, er, a pathway to citizenship, in order to push Republicans to vote for that type of comprehensive immigration legislation. The problem is, what does the question asked mean? Let’s look at it (BTW, the numbers in the excerpt seem to be a bit off from the poll itself, which says 73% important and 26% unimportant)

How important is the issue of comprehensive immigration reform in determining which candidate you support in November?

The question is, what kind of comprehensive immigration reform? I back it, in a manner that will shut down illegal immigration and force as many illegals out of the country as possible, mostly through putting huge burdens on companies that hire illegals (both those who came illegal and those who overstayed their visas) and entities that sponsor them (in regards to those who overstay their visas). It would say if you’re illegal, you are gone, regardless of roots and anchor babies. There would be some carve-outs for those who truly want to be Americans, but those would be minimal.

Let’s also look at something else in the poll: just 3% find immigration to be the issue that concerns them the most. The economy tops the list at 50% in general. Health care at 12%.

The survey, which was conducted in both English and Spanish, found that 41 percent of Hispanic voters “strongly support” comprehensive immigration reform; while 28 percent of white voters and 17 percent of African American voters said the same.

The very fact that it has to be conducted in Spanish, to go with the English, highlights that many people do not care about becoming Americans and being part of our society. Let’s go to the Democrats are doomed article

By comparison, only 28 percent said that immigration reform was “very important” to determining their vote, and 16 percent who said the same of male-female income disparity.

That’s highlighting that almost 90% find that Obamacare would be important for their vote in 2014. So, not very for immigration.

In the congressional districts and states where the 2014 elections will actually be decided, likely voters said they would prefer to vote for a Republican over a Democrat by 7 points, 41 percent to 34 percent. A quarter of voters said they were unsure of their preference.

That said, 25% percent do not know yet, so the GOP needs to focus on what is important to people, not silly garbage like pushing amnesty.

Some other interesting points: people oppose gay marriage by 52-48%. I wonder why there’s no Politico article about that?

People oppose legalizing marijuana by 56-43%.

Only 19% support abortion with no restrictions. 35% want restrictions like parental notification and on late term abortion. 34% want an almost total ban, with allowances for rape, incest, and mother’s life at risk.

Furthermore, 60% say that the debate on Obamacare should not be over.

What this all says is that Republicans should focus on the dismal Obama economy and Ocare, highlighting the negatives under Democrat/Obama leadership, and offer real solutions.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Republicans Like Really Back Comprehensive Immigration Reform! »

Posted in Elections, Illegal Immigration, Politics | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Is It Time For San Francisco Residents To Become Mermaids Cause Climate Change?

By William Teach May 18, 2014 – 4:03 pm

That’s sorta the question Warmist Zachary Slobig asks

Is It Time for San Francisco to Declare Defeat in Its Battle With the Pacific?

In a future in which sea levels are expected to rise some three to four feet by the end of the century, San Francisco is in a precarious position—the city is surrounded by water on three sides. Its Pacific face is battered by winter storms and swells that scrape those sandy western fringes, chewing up the southernmost stretch of the coastal road, called the Great Highway. The ocean has slowly, relentlessly clawed at this byway since it was first fully paved in the late 1920s. For nearly a century the city has taken all sorts of approaches to defending its wild border from the Pacific—sea walls, man-made dunes, even gigantic piles of repurposed tombstones fashioned into crude revetments.

Apparently, they have some sort of Master Plan to deal with the problem, which is of course caused by Mankind. But, really, is San Fran Doooooomed by sea rise? Will they see 3 to 4 feet of sea rise by the 2100? The actual data says something quite different from the models

A trend of .66 feet. Big whoop. Like I wrote in regards to Florida sea rise

This is completely in line with the average sea rise over the last 7,000 years during the Holocene. That time period is used because that’s when the massive sea rise from the end of the glacial period ended. One would actually expect much more sea rise during even a low level warm period, since a cool period would see very low to decreasing sea levels, in order to create an average. We should expect more than three quarters of a foot. None of which would mean anthropogenic causation.

Looking at other parts of California

  • San Diego: .68 feet per century
  • La Jolla: .68 feet
  • Newport: .73 feet
  • Los Angeles, which has a nice long data set: .27 feet
  • Santa Monica: .43 feet
  • Alameda: .27 feet
  • And then there’s Crescent City, which has a trend of negative .21 feet, with data going back to 1933, and goes to 2006.

Obviously, Warmists think that models are more important than real world data.

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Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL
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