3/20/09: Manadtory Service in the US?

Congress passes a bill for more jobs in the military, hints at possible “mandatory service”: I don’t care if the entire article above was about America giving out free housing for the next five years, and just closed with that bit about Congress actually discussing mandatory service, I’d still be half-flipping out. How can this country even discuss something like that? I know unemployment rates are raising like gas prices a few years ago, but you can’t just go around forcing 18-25 year olds into jobs to “juke the stats.”

I’m sure that’s not the stance they’re admitting, but what other need does a few hundred thousand extra servicemen/women a year provide? The military is half a joke a this point anyway, and we all know any real shit goes down, the apocalypse is only a button push away… Oh wait, we’re still not admitting that to ourselves? It doesn’t matter. It’s certainly true.

Why send a bunch of ‘randoms’ into servitude against their own will? To fortify positions? This isn’t WWII, which was more than half a century ago, and even that ended with an f’n A-bomb. I think everyone can stop playing the (toy) infantry soldiers card. Oh I see now, to “strengthen the social fabric of our nation.”

Wait… What does that even mean?

Rating: 1 fat man and 1 little boy

A 15 year old saves his third period teacher from herself: This story is cute and all that, but if a high school teacher can’t even snack properly, how are we supposed to expect her to teach the children? What kind of lackadaisical people get hired to be school teachers these days?

Also, what are the chances of a kid wanting to be a firefighter being right there when this happens? Pretty damn slim, and dude handled the situation like a champ. Certainly good news to hear about a freshman saving a person’s life, just kind of sucks that his reward was a hug from his English teacher. As far as high school goes, that’s damn near a punishment.

Rating: “A few nuts”

3/19/09

Obama does Leno, people complain: This is apparently the first time a President is ever going to be on a late night comedy show during their actual tenure as Leader of the Free World. Obama has already attended multiple NBA games, and I’m sure he’s going to attend a bunch of other cool stuff that most other celebrities do for one simple reason… He’s cool.

That’s right ladies and gentleman. Barrack Obama, the 44th President of our great country, is a cool dude. He’s young, witty, and has good taste. Unlike many of the other men who attempted to serve this country in the same position, Obama has a grasp on current events, and the pulse of his nation. Sure, he may do things that seem a little too “celeb-friendly,” but that’s just one of his many clever tactics to connect with the people of this country.

This will not be the last “1st” in Obama’s Presidential run.

Rating: 50 stars, and 13 Stripes.

Danny McBride and James Franco to re-team with Pineapple Express director: A report from SXSW (South by Southwest) has Danny Mcbride taking on a minotaur in a possible fantasy-adventure-comedy film co-starring James Franco. Films like Willow and Conan the Destroyer were around long before Peter Jackson properly adapted Tolkien, and apparently McBride wants a shot at some mythical celluloid creatures as well.

McBride’s next film has him running around a world full of dinosaurs with Will Ferrel, in Land of the Lost. Franco, on the other hand, has nothing on his slate after a busy 2008, where he was able to tackle comedy and drama with equally positive results (Pineapple Express/Milk). The chemistry between the two actors certainly can’t be argued, and Gordon-Green’s penchant for making the most of a budget could be just what this type of film needs. I look forward to pretty much anything involving these three, and will probably catch this opening day… If it actually happens.

Rating: 5 sacrificial beasts out of 5 sacrificial beasts

USDA and IRS to share information… Protecting Privacy “utmost concern.”: I’m not sure if the use of utmost is proper here. If their “greatest concern,” was really protecting privacy, and not the monetary sum they will be saving, then why are they changing what has already been working? I understand the point of wanting to save 50 million dollars, but why not just say that’s your utmost concern? Clearly it is.

I’ve never been a fan of reading that two separate government agencies are going to share anything, so this troubles me a bit. Sure this could all be no big deal, and important tax information may not fall into any other hands aside from the IRS’, but it seems highly unlikely. These farmers are perhaps cheating on their taxes, the USDA wants to know if that’s the case, and the IRS is going to tell them. How is that not “actual tax data?” What do the IRS have besides “actual tax data?”

Rating: Sketchy with a hint of Shady

Testing for Prostate Cancer may do very little after all: Apparently knowing you have Prostate Cancer early may be more detrimental than the Cancer itself. The treatments one could undertake may have longer lasting effects than anything the Prostate Cancer itself could have. An interesting theory, and one that American Cancer Society is taking notice of.

There’s apparently a 49 in 50 chance that treatment would be unnecessary on cases that detect early Prostate Cancer, according to Dr. Peter B. Bach. That’s an astoundingly lopsided number against treatment. As someone who is too young to have worried about this yet, I’m glad the proper research is finally being covered, so that when it comes time for me to make a decision, it’s far more educated than the one’s of people in the last 22 years.

Rating: Less than 35 year olds… More than 35 year olds…

Bioshock sequel loses subtitle: One of the greatest single player experiences of the current generation of gaming has a sequel on the way, and it will be known only as Bioshock 2. There was a bit about dreams, and seas, but all that is over now, and the title will end at the number “2.”

The first game did all it could to tell an entire story, and by the end, there was hardly a loose end to be found. Sure, the ending itself was a joke at best, but after hours of listening to dialogue in the form of tape recordings, any more words would have been overkill. I can only imagine where a sequel in this series will wander, but I do not see the story having anywhere as profound of an impact on me, or gaming in general.

Rating: 21 Little Sisters