A Real American Hero

So, some Hollywood idiots have decided to ruin another beloved treasure of my childhood. Some people will be tempted to see it, even though they know better. They have only my contempt.

But I expect better of you, my imaginary readers. You know where I stand on this contemptible betrayal of a cherished American icon, and I hope I can count on you to stand with me.

In the good news department, I am pleased to announce that IDW Publishing is re-releasing the classic G.I. Joe comic books from the 1980s as trade paperbacks. If you have a jones for G.I. Joe, I highly recommend these books. (Especially good is volume 3, which has issue 21, the acclaimed and groundbreaking "silent issue." It's the first appearance of Storm Shadow. So awesome...)

Yo Joe!

--MAJOR BLUDD

Indian summer

Tonight one of my roommates invited some of our friends over and cooked Indian food. Yum! Everything turned out really well, but I was especially proud of the mint chutney I made. So I thought I might share the recipe.

Basically, all you do is take a bunch of herbs and stuff and chop it up in the blender. Here are the ingredients I used:

half a bunch of fresh cilantro, minus stems
a 3 oz package of fresh mint (about half as much as the cilantro)
one smallish onion
one green pepper (or two jalapeno peppers) including seeds, etc.
four cloves of garlic
a teaspoon of sugar
salt to taste
several dashes of cumin
a little canola oil (like one or two tablespoons, probably)
maybe a cup of water

I just chopped all these things up and then put them in the blender until it was smooth. Delicious! I was very pleased with how it turned out. It was as good as any of the mint chutneys I've had at Indian or Afghan restaurants.

The only problem is that this makes a LOT of chutney. Like five cups. And it doesn't keep very long. So I'm going to have it on my corn flakes tomorrow.

Super yum!

--"SUNSHINE" DAVE RAHIMI

(PS - I wanted to try this with avocado. I think it might make an interesting dip. But that's for next time.)

[UPDATE 5/12 : Leftover mint chutney is great with pork chops and grilled chicken. Not bad with pasta.]

Look, Ma! No hands!

I don't know what that title means, but I have been asked to speak for ten minutes in church this Sunday. So, what would you, my imaginary readers, want to hear someone say on Mother's Day? (And what would you not want to hear?)

Let the comments flow like hot, hot tears.

--SAN GIOVANNI UMILIATO

(UPDATE: My congregation is composed of single people age 25-40. So there won't be many actual mothers in the audience.)

I'm sorry, internet

You know I didn't mean those things I said. After all, you've given me so much. How could I stay mad at you?

--PAN YUE-HAN

Google is ruining everything!

The old internet is dying, and it is all Google's fault-- somehow.

When I first returned from my mission in 1894, I got a free CD in the mail and installed America Online on the computer that had been handed down from my father to my sister to me. (Its hard drive held less than 100 MB.)

I put up my first personal web page there on AOL, and when I left I exported my web page to Geocities. A few years down the road, Yahoo purchased Geocities, and that made me happy because I thought Yahoo was a company with staying power.

Then I stopped updating my webpage. And I guess everyone else did, too. And now Yahoo is dropping the axe. In a few months, Geocities will be dead. It's sad. But I guess the internet changes.

Even worse, Yahoo killed Launchast a few months ago. I'd been using that site for almost ten years, and had rated tens of thousands of songs on the way to building the most awesome personal internet radio station in existence. Now it's all gone.

Thanks a lot, internet.

--DAS SCHMERZHAUS

PS - Enjoy this before Yahoo buys it and kills it, too.

Poor Old Hugo Chavez

President Obama has been making a lot of diplomatic gestures aimed at improving US relations with other countries, including rogue states like Cuba and Iran, and rogue-ish states like Venezuela and Russia. Trying to improve foreign relations is a good goal, and of course to do this will involve lots of high-level talks between representatives of our government and their governments.

Obama wants to do more than improve intergovernmental cooperation, though. He wants to conduct public diplomacy, to speak to foreign publics directly and try to improve their feelings about America. That's also a fine goal.

But Obama needs to remember one important thing: all heads of state represent their governments, but not all heads of state represent their people. This is particularly important to remember when you are feeling apologetic. Because dictators like Hugo Chavez do not represent the oppressed. They are oppressors.

Consider Cuba, where the case is even clearer. Many people believe that President Obama will relax the half-century-old US embargo on trade with Cuba. When he does so, it would fit with his foreign policy style to apologize for the suffering that the embargo has caused in Cuba. Okay, but who can he apologize to? Not Castro. Because Castro does not represent the suffering Cuban people. He is the chief cause of the suffering of the Cuban people. He is an oppressor.

Obama needs to remember as he goes around the world that some of the smiling men who shake his hand are vicious thugs who have murdered their political rivals, chased them out of the country, or thrown them in jail. It's the fate that lots of loony lefties kept thinking was right around the corner for them during the Bush years. Except that Bush was not a dictator. He didn't cancel the elections. Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore and all the other paranoid moonbats spent the Bush years on CNN, not in jail.

But in Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, etc., the people who speak up against the oppressors really are in jail. So as President Obama travels around the world, I just wish he would ask himself one question before he shakes anyone's hand: "How will this look to the people in the camps?"

--"SUNSHINE" DAVE RAHIMI

Return of the right-wing terrorists

So the Department of Homeland Security has published a report warning that the US might see increasing numbers of right-wing terrorists in the next few years.

Here's the key paragraph:

The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

I have two responses.

1) Duh. Of course.

2) No, this doesn't mean that Obama thinks all Republicans are terrorists.

Any questions?

--YAHYA AL-RIIFI

PS - Read the report. It's only like seven pages long. And it's a little bit interesting, even for non-specialists.

Unfortunately true

Interesting thoughts on habits from 4-Block World. Share and enjoy.

--JUAN PENA

Some stuff I read about

Nerd news:

* Some guy rates movie trilogies. He's mostly right, although totally wrong about Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

* The SciFi channel is changing its name to SyFy. John Scalzi has even better reasons for thinking this is stupid than I do.

* Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away. Nerds, pour out a Mountain Dew for a fallen brother.

* The last book in the Wheel of Time series is going to be released in three volumes, with the first being released this November. Hooray!


Wastes of time:
* Ever wonder what anagrams could be made from your name? Wonder no longer! My favorites: Jean Navy Did Hop, A Hand-Jived Pony, Vend Any Jihad Op.

* Robot Chicken video clips from Adult Swim. Awesome!


Crazy foreigners:

* Japanese people are paying money to hang out with cats. Oddly enough, this insane new fad from Japan appears to have nothing to do with sex.

* French people who are afraid of getting fired lock up their bosses until they get what they demand. Apparently, kidnapping is not a crime over there. (Although I would advise French people to beware of Liam Neeson.)

* Swedes + Guidos = Swedos!

* Yet more proof that Brazilian prisons are the world's crappiest. Or that Brazilian prisoners are the world's awesomest.

--REDBEARD


BONUS: Cry havoc and unleash the scooters of war!

SUPER EXTRA DOUBLE BONUS TIME WASTER SUPREME : TV Tropes!

Super freaky

I just learned that Richard Alpert and Batmanuel were played by the same guy. That's freaky.

You got one freakier than that?

--FABULOUS J