fanboygeeks

Vote buying? Surely not...

My American wife received the these items in the post this week, two days apart.  One is an "economic stimulus cheque", the other a Presidential Election Voting Ballot.  Is the timing co-incidence?  No?  How dare you...

Stu ;-)

Jobs surges ahead with new product

From MadTV, a particularly incisive mashup of geekery and politics...

Stu ;-)

Chasing Terrorists

The Chaser is a topical Australian comedy programme on ABC.  It originated from a popular satirical newspaper which hit the headlines when they published Australian Prime Minister John Howard's private, unlisted home phone number on their front page.

Their current award-winning TV show, The Chaser's War on Everything is deemed so subversive that during Dick Cheney's visit to Australia in 2007, The Chaser team were included on the official list of terrorists, anarchists and protesters deemed to pose a threat to the US Vice-President.

This week the team decided to test what happen when an American tourist films a bridge and a nuclear facility, and what happens when a pantomime-style Arab tries the same.  The results are predictable, but still extraordinary.

Stu ;-)

(Tipped off by Wired)

Funny songs about ignorance, war and greed

The US Senate has voted to approve a bill which requires US troops to start withdrawing from Iraq by October.

The Senate voted 51 to 46 in favour of the bill, which makes $100bn (£50bn) in further funding for the war conditional on a timetable for withdrawal.  It says the pull-out must start by 1 October this year, and sets a target of completion by 31 March 2008.  President George Bush has said he will veto bill.

This tenous link is to point you in the direction of American satirist Roy Zimmerman.  Zimmerman performed the song "Chickenhawk" (below), an indictment of those who think militarism is a fine idea as long as they and no one they know has to be directly involved, at the counter-events to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.

Jeff Penalty of the Dead Kennedys is a fan, so do yourself a favour and check out other Zimmerman songs on his YouTube Channel.

Stu ;-)

Cartoons - neither black nor white

Here are a couple of cartoons from the mind of Wellington Grey.

Obviously not scared to stir up a bit of controversy...

Stu ;-)

Click to enlarge:

"Just Say Yes"

I'm not advocating drug use, on the contrary, but having lived through the patronising "Just Say No" campaigns in my teenage years, it's just plain funny seeing the pious Reagans advocating the use of drugs.

In this day of digital mashing, editing this on video tape in 1988 was no mean feat either...

Stu ;-)

Mr Sulu takes on Homophobic Basketballer

After his cool cameo as Hiro's father on NBC's "Heroes", George "Sulu" Takei has taken on homophobic basketballer Tim Hardaway in a powerful Public Service Announcement..

Hardaway was on radio discussing the coming out of NBA's John Amaechi on Miami's 790 The Ticket.  He said "First of all I wouldn’t want him on my team. Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think he should be in the locker room when we’re in the locker room - I hate gay people. I let it be known I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people. I’m homophobic".

After NBA banishment and all-round condemnation, Hardaway has retracted his comments, but George Takei, who came out himself in October 2005 has dished out the best punishment of all..

Stu ;-)

Al Franken for President!

Yesterday on his last radio show on Air America Radio, Al Franken formally announced that he will be running for the U.S. Senate for Minnesota in 2008.

Franken, former Emmy-award winning Saturday Night Live comedian, political commentator and author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" is a good man, and I wish him well.

Stu ;-)

JFK and "The Snipers Nest"

The window from the Texas School Book Depository that Lee Harvey-Oswald learned out of to shoot (or not) JFK is up for sale on eBay.

The current bid price as of today is just over $3 million - but if you buy it you'll have to collect it.

Meanwhile, an astonishing enhanced and stabilised version of the Zapruder Film has been produced showing the assassination in incredible detail.  Watch how JFKs head snatches forward before it goes flying back, suggesting a bullet from behind...

Watch the clip below, but to really live the moment, download a very high-quality Quicktime here.

Stu ;-)

Osama Team Hunger Force

I'm assuming you're all bored reading about the  "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" devices that had Bostonians running for their lives thinking they were bombs, leading to Ted Turner coughing up $2 million in compensation, and the Cartoon Network Executive Vice President resigning.  Utter madness.

Well, IF it HAD been a terrorist plot, here's how it COULD have happened...

Stu ;-)

(Picture Credit: Rekha Murthy)