URLs du Jour

2008-11-03

I think we have (approximately) one more day of our "You can't say you weren't warned" theme here at Pun Salad.

  • There will be big tax cuts for the middle class under President Obama! Well, unless you buy food. Or electricity.

  • A belated entry into our "how are libertarians voting" category: at Volokh, Randy Barnett provides data points from Reason founder Manny Klausner and Mike Rappaport. The Sowellian "disaster vs. catastrophe" dilemma appears, and it's well worth reading in its entirety for the liberty-minded.

  • The same goes for Shawn Macomber, who points out Peter Suderman's case for not voting at all.

  • Obligatory quote from Catch-22:

    Major Danby replied indulgently with a superior smile, "But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way."

    "Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?"

  • I also am reminded of a back-when-he-was-funny quote from Woody Allen:

    More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

    I think I'll be looking up a couple of Mencken's quotes on democracy in the next few days.

  • You'll want to check "The 6 Most Insane People to Ever Run for President" by Adam Brown at Cracked. One may be on the ballot in your state.

    (I can hear you saying: "Only one?" Wiseass.)

  • Lileks. Screedblog. 'Nuff said.

  • And I should just point out that my employer, the University of New Hampshire, has had a whore-free faculty for many, many months now.


Last Modified 2022-10-04 2:37 PM EDT

Panic Room

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)
[3.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

This is a neat little thriller that slipped by us when it first came out. But it was on the tube recently, and a UFO (unexpected familial obligation) forced me to miss the ending. I hate that. So into the Blockbuster queue it went.

Jodie Foster plays Meg, in the process of splitting up with her unfaithful husband. As revenge, she moves with her daughter into a huge expensive brownstone, to be purchased by aforesaid hubby. As you might guess, it has a panic room, a fortified space with lasers and TV monitors. (Doesn't appear to have plumbing, though.)

As you also might guess, Meg and her diabetic daughter need to use the panic room on their very first night, as three desperate criminals break in to abscond with some loot that the previous owner was alleged to have stashed away. (Want to try to guess where? Ah, you're right.)

Fortunately, Meg pees ahead of time.

Jodie Foster has become kind of an action movie star lately, and it's a good fit for her. The home invaders are played by Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, and Jared Leto; Yoakam is well-cast as the creepy, psychotic one.


Last Modified 2024-02-01 5:15 AM EDT