From the guy who wrote Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt, another idealized weirdo biopic…

Big Eyes (2011):

A drama centered on the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.

UK Telegraph:

Yesterday, it was due to demonstrate its deep commitment to “standing together against homophobia” by hosting a gala dinner with one Uthman Lateef, a homophobic preacher who has stated: “We don’t accept homosexuality… we hate it because Allah hates it.”

The technique of saying one thing designed to appeal to white liberals, while in fact doing the exact opposite, has been brought to a fine pitch by Islamists generally, and the East London Mosque in particular. (…)

Why does the East London Mosque tell such obvious lies? Simply, because lies work. There is a part of liberal white society which would rather ignore or deny the problem of extremism, hatred and bigotry in some parts of some Muslim communities. The lies give them a form of permission to do so.

In that same council press release, the chairs of the Rainbow Hamlets LGBT Community Forum, a local gay group, condemned the anti-gay posters but added: “We also condemn those who use these incidents to create a moral panic and stoke up racist or Islamophobic sentiment…”

Great news from the FBI:

In 1961, Ted Kennedy went to Chile at the behest of his big brother — and rented an entire brothel for the night!

So… the point of having an FBI, to maybe warn Americans about dubious, criminal people in their midst (and who also want to be President), is what now?

Terry Mattingly on the iConfession app:

For generations, Catholics carried these simple leaflets inside their handbags or wallets, short texts topped with titles such as “A Guide For Confession” or “A Personal Examination of the Conscience.” (…)

That was then.

In recent weeks waves of Catholics, along with curious members of other flocks, have downloaded a new “Confession” app for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices that combines private journaling, spiritual readings and traditional pre-confession leaflets into one password-protected digital package. Why carry scribbled notes into confession when for $1.99 one can work through the rite while being bathed in the cool blue glow that is the symbol of the social-networking age?

Scribes in newsrooms around the world sprang into action.

“Bless me father for I have sinned. It has been 300 tweets since my last confession,” noted CNN.

In London, The Times opened its story by claiming: “Roman Catholic bishops have approved a new iPhone and iPad app that allows users to make confession with a virtual ‘priest’ over the Internet.”

The Economic Times report was even more blunt. The headline noted, “No time to visit church? Confess via iPhone.” (…)

The problem is that these statements were just plain wrong.

Michael Coren observes:

Thousands of people have now been murdered by Arab and Iranian governments and Arab and Iranian soldiers. In Libya, ordinary mourners attending the funerals of people shot dead in the streets were themselves targeted by snipers. (…)

Yet where are the massive street protests in Europe’s large cities? Where are the calls to boycott countries? Where are the labour unions demanding action? Where are the student groups using words like “apartheid” and “Nazi”? Where are the moralistic editorials condemning Arab intolerance, Islamic barbarism and the need for Arab countries to be banned from international sporting, cultural and literary events?

All of that is said about Israel, whether it engages in conflict or not.

because they didn’t like his politics.

Which doesn’t surprise you. What may surprise you is just how horrible and evil people in show biz really are. I thought I knew. Hey, I’ve seen Sunset Boulevard! Five times!!

Then I started listening to the Adam Carolla podcast; his candid descriptions of, say, what happens during a development deal and the process of shooting a TV pilot and how people build you up, just to knock you down, and how you do people favors and they never pay you back, will make your soul shrink as you listen. He names names, too. And posts unflattering photos of them. And swears a lot.

(In a previous episode, he talked about how “They” wanted to make his movie into a TV show, but of course, “They” also wanted to change to old Nicaraguan guy into a 20 something black kid or something — oh and instead of a roofer and a boxer, can we change it to…?)

If you think you want to be in show biz, you’re wrong. Unless you’re a sociopath.

Now it’s a TEDTalk!

With liberal urban sophisticate idiots giggling in the audience, of course. They hated Falwell too. See, Falwell was a “hypocrite” (!?) Yeah, I know. Sad, isn’t it?

PS: I rewatched The People vs. Larry Flynt last night and was amused by the last “card,” which informs us that “Charles Keating was part of the Savings & Loan scandal that cost American taxpayers $2-billion“! Wow. That’s like the Koch Brothers and their big $2-million contributions to Republicans. And/or Dr. Evil…

Too bad the film was made too early to include one of the most fascinating aspects of story: the friendship that Flynt and Falwell developed after the trial and which lasted up until Falwell’s death:

In the years that followed and up until his death, he’d come to see me every time he was in California. We’d have interesting philosophical conversations. We’d exchange personal Christmas cards. He’d show me pictures of his grandchildren. I was with him in Florida once when he complained about his health and his weight, so I suggested that he go on a diet that had worked for me. I faxed a copy to his wife when I got back home.

The truth is, the reverend and I had a lot in common. He was from Virginia, and I was from Kentucky. His father had been a bootlegger, and I had been one too in my 20s before I went into the Navy. (…)  

(KEEP READING...)

Randall Denley writes:

Because I am a gun-owner, the government is curious to have an update on my mental health. I was perfectly fine until this renewal notice came in the mail. Thanks for asking.

The government would like to know whether any of us gun owners have been diagnosed or treated for depression, alcohol, drug or substance abuse, behavioural problems or emotional problems.

Is anyone dumb enough to tell the RCMP he has been treated for drug problems? And those terms “behavioural” and “emotional problems,” kind of a broad sweep isn’t it?

Also included is experiencing “a breakdown of a significant relationship.”

This could cover anything from your dog dying to being a Senators fan.

New column from Men’s Health:

If you go to a store today you can find unisex fragrances. This idea would have never worked in the ’50s. Women’s perfume came in a glass slipper and smelled like baby powder and lilacs; men’s cologne came in a ship or a football and smelled like a pine cone.

Go figure!!!

To better understand what’s going on, it’s worth a crash course in “sexual economics,” an approach best articulated by social psychologists Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs. As Baumeister, Vohs, and others have repeatedly shown, on average, men want sex more than women do.

Call it sexist, call it whatever you want—the evidence shows it’s true. In one frequently cited study, attractive young researchers separately approached opposite-sex strangers on Florida State University’s campus and proposed casual sex. Three-quarters of the men were game, but not one woman said yes.

I know: Women love sex too.

But…

Arnie recorded what went on.

Highlight: “CHILDRENS ARE OUR FUTURE” sign that guy gets sick of carrying and trashes.

From John Hawkins’ “Five Things You Can’t Say in America”:

There’s a simple reason why the Israelis and Palestinians have never been able to reach a peace agreement: it’s because the Palestinians are part of a sick, twisted, death cult.

Their “nation” is run by terrorists who openly admit that their goal is to destroy Israel and the average person on the street is a monster who wants to kill Israelis more than he or she loves his own children. Speaking of the children in that country, before they can even stand on their own two feet, they’re being taught that the grandest thing that they can ever do in life is blow themselves up and take some Israelis with them. No wonder the Israelis can’t get along with these people. No one could. Imagine the family from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre times a few million and you have the sort of neighbors Israel has to deal with.

When our ancestors started dealing with Indians who massacred and tortured settlers, they either bought their land, took their land at the point of a gun, or just killed them all and took their land.

Although genocide is no longer a morally acceptable choice, the Israelis would be perfectly justified in driving the Palestinians into the surrounding countries at gunpoint and taking their land.  

(KEEP READING...)

Review of The Wrong War:

What we have created instead, West shows, is a vast culture of dependency: Americans are fighting and dying, while the Afghans by and large stand by and do nothing to help them. Afghanistan’s leaders, from the presidential palace in Kabul to the river valleys in the Pashtun heartland, are enriching themselves, often criminally, on America’s largesse. The Taliban, whatever else they do, fight hard and for very little reward. American soldiers, handcuffed by strict rules of engagement, have surrendered the initiative to their enemies. Most important, the Afghan people, though almost certainly opposed to a Taliban redux, are equally wary of both the Americans and their Afghan “leaders.” They will happily take the riches lavished on them by the Americans, but they will not risk their lives for either the Americans or their own government. The Afghans are waiting to see who prevails, but prevailing is impossible without their help. (…)

West writes:

“For three years, the provincial reconstruction team had lived in a compound a few blocks from the scene of the tragedy. The P.R.T. had paid over $10 million to hire locals, who smiled in appreciation. Every time a platoon from 1-32 patrolled through town, they stopped to chat with storekeepers and to buy trinkets and candy to give to the street urchins. Yet the locals had turned on the soldiers in an instant. That the townspeople in A-Bad who profited from American protection and projects would believe the worst of O’Donnell’s soldiers — whom they knew personally — suggested that the Americans were tolerated but not supported, regardless of their good works and money.”

He writes about the March 7 move on Facebook.