doctor who good news bad news

since the first episode opened pretty strong, the bbc has already renewed the new doctor who series.

unfortunately, Christopher Eccleston will exit the series shortly. fear of typecasting and a 'grueling' schedule are cited as reasons for the move. since i'm not that aware of the brit acting scene, i can't speak to possible replacements. but, the article names names.

the even worse news is the continued lack of US distribution of new Who, let alone the classic series--my pbs affiliate is apparently one of the last outlets.

note: my own review of the possibly leaked-on-purpose doctor who episode.

judiciary under attack

it's been a bad bit of time to be associated with the judicial system lately...

- brit lawmakers consider jury changes for cases heavy on science.
- but, the problem isn't just science as a death sentence was struck down in colorado due to the use of a bible during jury deliberations.
- meanwhile, the LA DA calls the blake jury 'stupid' partially blaming a 'CSI effect'.
- unfortunately, literal attacks include the murder of federal judge Lefkow's family and the atlanta courthouse shooting
- and of course the terri schiavo case which some consider federal meddling.

6 month ANWR myth

salon.com continues (fighting the last war with) its opposition to ANWR drilling, Apprehension in Alaska. (salon's uk partner the guardian sports the more foreboding title Oil clouds gather over Alaskan eden)

while locals very well may be split, i take issue with the repeated claim that ANWR would yield only 6 months of oil:

The oil is thought to be of low quality, and the average estimate is that there is only enough down there to keep the United States going for six months. [emphasis added]

the sierra club naturally opposes anwr drilling. my favorite lines:

The cost of drilling in the Arctic Refuge is so high, in fact, that the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) says if the price of oil fell to $16 a barrel, there would actually be NO economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain.

$16 a barrel? crude oil has been consistently above that level for the past 25 years, let alone today's $50+ handle. the sierra club continues with its own version of 6 months

Each day, the United States consumes about 19.5 million barrels of oil, an annual total of about 7 billion barrels each year. Given this rate of consumption, if Arctic oil was our nation's only source, it would fuel America's demand for less than 6 months. [emphasis added]

that's a big "if"...that means no other source of oil in the world...not canada, not mexico, not even gabon

this myth is effectively de-bunked based on the USGS assessment and analysis.

how does one become an expert in that?

starvation 'experts' the MSM consulted say starvation is not painful, possibly even leading to a euphoria-like state.

i suppose the people in these images [warning disturbing images] haven't reached that lucky euphoric state yet...

i thought people who were 'brain dead' couldn't feel anything anyway.

different rules for software

the software industry operates as if rules and conventions of quality, disclosure and liability under which other industries operate should not apply.

before i rant, let it be known...
i am opposed to the get-ourselves-out-jail-free nature of end user license agreements for several reasons. further, i reside in maryland which passed UCITA which all but grants the software industry immunity.
try eff, affect, and gripe log to do something about these issue...

sybase has threatened to sue reseach security firm next generation security software if it disclosed security holes in a sybase database software package. NGS disclosed the flaw to sybase first, planning to go public only after a patch/update was released.

unlike the apple-blogger case which involved leaked propietary trade info, sybase simply doesn't want the flaws in its products to be publically disclosed.

the software industry should at least admit flaws and/or defects, let alone be held liable for these flaws and defects.

the liberal engine that couldn't...but keeps trying

the wacky funsters over at the perpetually struggling salon.com apparently have never met a democratizing moment they couldn't undercut....

note the emphasis added in the following selections are all mine:

defeatist approach to lebanon's cedar revolution:

Twisted "Cedar" -- As crucial elections approach, the Lebanese opposition is divided about its next move. Are these differences merely tactical -- or could they plunge Lebanon back into chaos?

salon archives reveal a litany of negative articles about the iraqi elections

"An explosion waiting to happen" Iraq expert Amy Hawthorne discusses the possibilities -- but mostly the pitfalls -- of Sunday's elections. (01/29/2005)
Vote and/or die -- [must've slipped through: mentions bombs but also one positive iraqi] (01/29/2005)
The view from Morocco -- ...a kaleidoscope of hope and failure, promise and despair. (01/29/2005)
Ballots and bombs in Baghdad -- ....The biggest question in Iraq: Is voting worth dying for? (01/29/2005)
The next hurdle to democracy -- Although Shiites are the majority in Iraq, they remain deeply split....(01/31/2005)
Democracy taking root? (01/31/2005) [comparing iraqi elections to s vietnam elections]
More ballots, more bombs (01/31/2005)
The Kurds take Kirkuk -- Election Day was jubilant for Kurds returning to the oil-rich city. But if rivals question the vote, they might call in reinforcements (01/31/2005)
A proud day in Iraq -- At crowded polling places in Baghdad, excited citizens explain why they voted and how -- for one day, anyway -- hope suffused their country. (01/31/2005)

you might think (...i'm crazy, to hang around with you...) i've picked stories to prove my point, but those are all the relevant articles at salon...

and it continues through several other recent democratizing moments

palestinian elections coverage:

The heat is on -- Expectations for what Mahmoud Abbas can do for the Palestinians are high, but will he be able to deliver? (01/11/2005) [a valid point though]
"I want the whole of Palestine, from the river to the sea" -- Palestinians elect Mahmoud Abbas as their new leader, but some refuse to take part, fearing he will give everything away. (01/10/2005)

orange revolution - salon was a bit late picking this story up, with skimpy if sunnier coverage

Democracy inaction (11/30/2004) [contorts to connect Ukrainian election fraud to US election 'fraud']
Where democracy refuses to die (12/01/2004) [actually pretty positive]
Fresh start for freedom (01/24/2005)

afghan elections coverage was stunningly inadequate - perhaps due to prez debate coverage

Coping with warlords and votes delivered by donkey -- "organizers fear violence and hope for legitimacy" (10/04/2004)

i suppose there wasn't too much to nitpick with ukraine or afghani elections. but i believe ignoring the act of omission is telling but i believe ignoring afghanistan and ukraine is a telling act of omission

update: if you clicked any of the salon links, you may have come smack-dab with salon's ridiculous interface...that may be contribute to its struggles....

summaries/rundowns in media

i've been noticing a trend in media lately....
- cnet has been doing it a while...
- i just read a scotsman article that does it...
- msnbc seems to do it incessantly throughout the day...

...giving a summary of an article or schedule (cnet uses "what's new"/"bottom line", scotsman "key points"/"key quote", while msnbc a story "rundown").

while these are basically media standard 'tease(r)s', sometimes i simply take in these bullet points and move on. i imagine these must be effective in gaining and maintaining audience (otherwise they wouldn't keep doing it)...

but couldn't it also be counterproductive?

when is a grassroots campaign...not?

john fund expands on ryan sager's expose of Pew Charitable Trusts 'envelope-pushing' efforts behind campaign finance reform.

former Pew official Sean Treglia all but bragged of these efforts:

"The idea was to create an impression that a mass movement was afoot. That everywhere [Congress] looked, in academic institutions, in the business community, in religious groups, in ethnic groups, everywhere, people were talking about reform."

in truth, a bunch of lefty groups basically created/supported seemingly partisan outfits to tout the reform.

A study last month by the Political Money Line, a nonpartisan Web site dealing with campaign funding issues, found that of the $140 million spent to directly promote liberal campaign reform in the last decade, a full $123 million came from just eight liberal foundations.

apparently George Will came close to revealing the hanky panky (i tried to find the link to no avail)...

"But you know what the good news is from my perspective?" Treglia says to the stunned crowd. "Journalists didn't care...So no one followed up on the story."

the MSM dropping the ball on a news story...that never happens...

fund summarizes:

McCain-Feingold did little in last year's elections to limit the influence of money in politics, but a great deal to benefit incumbents and harm true grass-roots politics. . . . The next time Congress debates further 'reform' of the rules for conducting elections, it would behoove all of us to learn who is really behind the effort, and what their true motives might be.

terri schiavo case

while i can see both sides--her husband claims she would not want exhaustive measures while her parents holds out hope for their daughter--the courts have extensively examined and re-examined the issue.

i don't understand the legalities, but i'm still not sure why her husband who is apparently engaged to another woman would maintain guardianship. if he has plans to move on with his life, perhaps guardianship should revert to the family.

that being said, this last minute effort by congressional republicans appears to be (at least partially) an attempt to appease a 'right-to-life' base.

march 19th update: after reviewing a solid summary (as objective a source as i have found) of this terrible case, i believe once the courts determined (based partially on michael's word) that terri would not have wanted extraordinary life-prolonging efforts, this would be a difficult ruling to overturn.

'selflessness' killing social security reform?

lefty bloggers are off-and-running with a victory lap prompted by a washington post social security reform poll.

strangely though talking points memo (basically echoed at washington monthly) are heartened by the fact that the "public is not quite as selfish as the conservatives thought", evidenced by a 69 year-old gentleman proclaiming worries about his children and grandchildren.

lemme get this straight...a member of the 'great society'...which guaranteed itself hefty massively unfunded healthcare benefits via medicaid and medicare... while creating an enormous national deficit...which will all have to be (re)paid by their children and grandchildren...is selfless?

i thought giving yourself a bunch of pricy things, expecting someone else to pick up the tab is pretty much the definition of selfishness.

oh i forgot, people hate the bankruptcy bill too.

"have you no sense of decency..."

washington post media critic rather harshly reviews the cbs movie Saving Milly, a movie based on Mort Kondracke's novel chronicling his relationship with his wife Milly and their shared struggle dealing with her parkinson's disease.

kondracke is a genuine 'good guy' in a increasingly politically charged atmosphere--not an overly shrill knee-jerk partisan--yet shales personally dismisses him as "increasingly bland". after a series of critiques (including an unnecessary allusion to watergate figures john and margaret mitchell), shales appears overly cynical, going so far as to mention michael j fox "obligingly" suffering from parkinson's disease.

shales appears to lose sight of a main goal of the film, evidencedy by his ad hominem attack of the drug companies. the narrative framing of the movie involves kondracke's congressional testimony pleading for better funding for parkinson's disease research with an appearance by michael j fox to cements this advocacy.

this continues an off-the-mark trend for shales, who recently praised law and order: trial by jury, a decidedly weak entry into the franchise. in fact, shales' critiques of "Saving Milly" appear more harsh and personal than those advanced by dan rather critics which prompted a shales defense.

while shales is in the critical minority, the ratings were ultimately not too kind.

not for the the faint of heart

josh marshall's talking points memo prominently features a "Fainthearted Faction" pop-up listing democrats not towing the party line on social security reform efforts.

it vaguely reminded me of those abortion provider 'hit lists' from awhile back. unfortunately, visual comparison isn't possible since the internet archive doesn't archive the nuremberg files website.

while the "fainthearted faction" uses similar strikeout text denoting vanquished opponents, at least josh isn't advocating violence.

...i don't think...

new doctor who

i became a fan of doctor who thanks to my TiVo picking up midnight airings on my local pbs affiliate. i'm partial to tom baker's fourth doctor with pertwee's third a close second.

when my friend read that first episode of the new bbc series had been leaked, my friend 'secured' a copy for curiousity's sake.
(some spoilers to follow)

the title sequence remains faithful to some of the classic series openings.

• the visuals include the familiar 'spectrum flow' with the police call box tardis whisking to and fro. i know it's a chicken-and-the-egg thing, but the tunneling effect has a stargate feel to it


• not much theme song tinkering a la orbital's homage (which i like) or the klf mash-up pre-cursor "doctorin the tardis" (which i don't)

christopher eccleston's portrayal of the doctor is solid, but may suffer from the same comparison issues that coincide with every new doctor. he continues the self-deprecating tradition but appears a bit more condescending than usual at one point in particular.

billie piper certainly is fetching as rose. while her character is the typical showbiz device to introduce the audience, she wasn't solely the damsel-in-distress as she proves proactive on several occasions.

as far as the visuals and effects, they alternated between good and not-so-good.

• i liked how the autons weren't given too much of an update, maintaining the otherworldly version/vision of humanoids


• a doctor-auton fight invokes a batman animated series villain clayface--that's a compliment actually


• the tardis interior sports a decidedly industrial look with a star trek warp core looking console in the middle. interesting, but a bit claustrophobic


• while the nestene consciousness had its good and bad moments, the actual transmission scene was good

other observations:

• the conspiracy theorist also serves as exposition,
  but perhaps a nod to both internet fandom and even greek lore (?)


• the dialogue was witty at times, a bit too much at others


• physical comedy will be featured prominently


• and best of all...the return of the sonic screwdriver !

its unfortunate no US outlet has picked it up yet considering the networks picked up such sci-fi classics as meego and a show called homeboys in outerspace...

the most overrated movie villain

the promo to the impending star wars trailer to air during this week's OC renewed a long held belief of mine:

darth vader is the most overrated villain...ever.
the most villainous thing regarding darth vader so far has been the casting.

(spoilers to the various star wars movies to follow)

while i stipulate the voice, the suit and the ominous music certainly convey the requisite evil, the on-screen actions do not warrant the esteemed evil implied by the afi and the public in general

lemme go over the life and times of anakin skywalker/darth vader as i know it:

• kills baddies after the murder of a beloved family member.
  under that criterion, mad max and batman would be villains


• gets injured to the point where he needs that big (albeit stylish) suit to survive


• rematch with a ~65 year old obi-wan was kinda a tie until kenobi basically gives up


• chops off his newbie jedi son's hand, followed immediately by a "who's your daddy" and an alliance offer


• after his son subsequently busts him up, flip-flopper vader turns on his evil lord and master for one last attempt at sappy family reconciliation

if one is supposed to be cosmically evil, that person should live-breathe-and-eat-evil. don't pull this evil with a side of justification and some redemption for dessert.

vader apologists may point to the destruction of Alderaan....that should count for something. but i say any self-respecting intergalactic megalomaniac worth his evil salt would do this. frieza pulled that as a desperation move against goku

going forward, if villainous demonstrations from the upcoming movie consist mainly of defeating a not-so-slight mace windu and various anonymous jedi, that won't cement it for me.

better examples of true unmitigated villainy include de niro's version of max cady, the villain in the real manchurian candidate (avoiding another spoiler), doctor who nemesis the master, or the quintessential depiction of evil

please, mr lucas, do your worst...or at least have darth vader do his worst.