Sports, Drugs, Marriage, etc.

Some of my posts on Facebook the past few weeks, each one a separate paragraph:

Some idiot sports reporter from Minneapolis was on Colin Cowherd's show, and lauded his state's legislature for giving the Vikings a billion-dollar bailout. People talk about the popularity of the NFL, but most of its team owners lobby cities and states to get more taxpayer money. If the NFL is really so great and so popular, why would this be necessary?

Where does either the New Testament or Old Testament prescribe criminal penalties for getting drunk, let alone getting high?

‎"Marriage is sacred, which means it belongs to God. But what the hell, why not get Caesar involved, too? Oh, wait, Caesar isn't defining marriage the way I want. Lesson learned; let's get a new Caesar!" Cry me a river.

Finally saw the movie Serpico last night. Classic. While I admire Serpico's integrity and courage, the problem he ran into was inevitable. Once the State's laws move from protecting lives and property, to PROHIBITING certain voluntary activities such as gambling, and certain forms of property such as drugs, then cops WILL be on the take. This seems so obvious, that it seems like an in-built feature. Corruption of the police is the PURPOSE of prohibition.

I finally saw The Third Man the other night. I'm not a movie aficianado, but I'd say that if you could only see ten movies made before 1950, it would be on my list. Regarding the "cuckoo clock" speech: what makes it so memorable is that it is so profoundly inaccurate and untrue. There is NO wisdom in it, but the character who says it thinks it is wise. THAT's what makes it powerful.

George W Bush sounded like an idealistic high school senior: "everyone deserves democracy." In 2004, Kerry didn't have the rhetorical tools to beat Bush's buffoonery. Barack Obama sounds like an idealistic 8th-grader: "everyone deserves a good job." and Romney doesn't have the rhetorical tools to beat Obama's buffoonery. If Obama and Romney are the viable options, remember that you are legally and ethically entitled to NOT VOTE AT ALL.

The fact that I'm happy Laura Nyro is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't diminish the fact that that organization denies more deserving artists like the Guess Who and Rush for no apparent reason.

When you have better things to do, you watch Wrath of Khan instead. (At least I do.) So I looked up where Khan ranked on the 50 Greatest Villains list of the American Film Institute. Not even on the list, which speaks to the cluelessness of the AFI. Ricardo Montalban saved and resurrected Star Trek. Without Khan, Star Trek is a 60's cult favorite tv show with a failed 1979 movie. Montalban, and Kirstie Alley who had an "it" quality playing Saavik, are why Star Trek is a franchise today. Star Trek couldn't have survived another bad movie, and they made it a good movie.

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