Some bad-ass movies are in store

As I was looking at Rotten Tomatoes I came across some very good news.

First, Frank Miller is adapting a script on a Raymond Chandler story, Trouble Is My Business. If you didn't know already, Raymond Chandler is responsible for the hard-boiled character Phillipe Marlow. Clive Owen is set to star in this upcoming picture, teaming up for the second time with Frank Miller (first being Sin City). Looking at Millers past adventures in the film business, this will be good if not great when completed.

Second, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are teaming up for the film Frankie Machine. The Oscar winning Director Martin Scorsese is set to direct with De Niro in the lead star role. This will be the 9th time they have worked together on a film. Mean Streets to Casino, it's a long history of great movies by the men. It should also help De Niro with his acting career, recently being in such lackluster films as Hide and Seek and Godsend. But to give the guy credit, The Good Shepherd was pretty damn good. Frankie Machine is sure to be a treat.

Hopefully re-makes and sequels are on the outs, and Hollywood gives us more of this talent driven work.

Polls, Polls, Polls, Presidential Polls

RealClearPolitics has a very comprehensive polling list, showing national and state data, that is worth looking over. Here is the Democratic Poll data. Here is the Republican Poll data.

For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton seems to have the edge nationally, with Obama starting to lag behind. I'm pretty sure this is due to his performances at the Debates, with Obama struggling to find his ground. Clinton seemed extremely confident, though looked coached. Edwards is slipping considerably, though holding Iowa. Edwards does not have a chance realistically with the Democratic competition being a toss up between Clinton and Obama.

We will find out how the next debates, on July 23rd, will affect the polls. In many respects, these debates become more of a rehash of the previous ones, with little or no speaking time for the realistic candidates. They should scrap those that have no chance, and then the debates will have more content on what the candidates stand for.

For the Republicans, it is Giuliani staying in the lead (with slight disturbances by Fred Thompson, who is starting to make his mark). Thompson is known nationally, yet the state data shows him nonexistent on the radar. He has been dodging his seriousness with the prospect of leading this nation, and until he shows he is committed, he will stay behind in the polls. Giuliani, still reaping the benefits of leading New York after the 9/11 attacks, instills confidence in the Republican voter (Yet a strong security over social values? Will conservative social values be the stepping stone as it was with the 2000 elections or will it be overtaken by security issues?). McCain, with his stubborn approach to everything, is dropping, and I am having doubts he will recover. Immigration reform (nobleness does not equate with being liked) has killed him in the polls. Most likely it's going to be a battle between Giuliani and Thompson (once he gets into motion), with Romney and McCain struggling to keep up.

The next debates for the Republicans is in August. That is plenty of breathing room for them to get their acts together and PR opportunities they should defiantly not miss.

We will see if both Democrats and Republicans can get over their hollow talking points and get to the core of the average Americans concern, whatever it may be.

In other news...Palestine

Hamas has taken over many government offices in the Gaza. Letting the world know that if they thought the unity government between Hamas and Fatah was a failure to begin with (with countless infighting), it was really a disaster. Abbas is ruling ineffectively on presidential decree after liquidating the government. Hamas begs to differ, yet that's not really a surprise.

Hamas seeks it's own government to confront Israel; they have been preaching this since the late 80's (and backing it up with rockets). They went on to oppose the PLO and now Fatah. The first things they did when they ransacked the offices the other day was trample over Arafat's picture (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since Arafat engaged in terrorist acts too).

They want to take on Israel, and Israel is moving closer to confronting them. If this seems to play out in Hamas' favor, and Palestine moves towards a Hamas ruled regime, then we'll have Episode Two (with Lebanon/Hezbollah being the first): Israel brings fight to Hamas. Don't know how close this one will be, defiantly with Israel giving the thumbs down on Olmert and Peretz (now former Israeli defense minister) on their past adventure to Lebanon. Yet it seems plans might already be on the way, with the new defense minister Ehud Barak already preparing the military for a possible entrance into the Gaza. We'll see in the coming months.

In a way this does help Abbas, already nations around the world are moving closer to side with him. The U.S. is turning around on aid and so is the EU. The Arab League is calling it a "crime". In a way, if things work out (which is pretty rare in the region), Abbas could be sitting on a legitimate chair to a future independent state. Yet that's a pipe dream at this point.

One thing I found really depressing is a Palestinian respondent on the incident:

Today everybody is with Hamas because Hamas won the battle. If Fatah had won the battle they'd be with Fatah. We are a hungry people, we are with whoever gives us a bag of flour and a food coupon," said Yousef, 30. "Me, I'm with God and a bag of flour.

It really goes to show you, that those in economic desperation could care less about this. They want at this point food and faith, not words and bullets. Hamas was the reason why aid stop coming to Palestine. That is why countries (or The West) stop giving aid. Democracy brought forth an IRA style political group called Hamas in power, not afraid to bring destruction if the ballots didn't turn out in their favor. They brought this man a missing bag of flour, and his feeling should be hatred of Hamas. Yet there isn't any hatred, death is too powerful of a weapon to keep him, along with the populace, contained. Politics of a hungry stomach, I tell you.

Was avoiding Palestine in response to Hamas winning in the elections good? Who knows? We could have sat at the table, set things out with the unity government. You know, gave it a chance. Yet infighting between the two has been going on since the result of the elections, so if they as a government can't stay together, neither can "productive" talks.

If things go right, Abbas will gain control, get more legitimacy by the world (and Israel), and move closer to an independent Palestinian state. The only problem is, we've been talking about this independent Palestine thing for so many years now it's leaving a sour taste in everyone's mouth.

Hamas has just proved that that the saying "Keep peace in the Middle-East" will never go out of usage.

Rescue Me pushes towards 4th season

This Wednesday, the FX TV show Rescue Me returns for a fourth season. Throughout the seasons, Tommy Gavin (played by Denis Leary) struggles with sanity with his fellow firefighters in post 9/11 New York. He sees visions of Jesus, struggles with drugs and the dead haunt him. In many ways the seasons have not been consistent in respect to the plot, it is very convoluted (with ideas appearing and disappearing sometimes half way through the season); yet the charm of the show is unmistakable.

Gavin is a bigot, arrogant, alcoholic, and a loser by everyday standards. Yet Gavin is also witty, caring at times, and a likeable person despite his faults. This mixture of anti-hero elements along with the hard-edged comedy he brings keeps the series alive. In a way, the show is a mishmash of every problem in today's America, all being shown through the life of Tommy Gavin.

The firefighters that accompany Gavin support and confront him, with ties of unity being broken as tensions set them apart. The season left off with everyone going their different ways, but unable to due to problems or fate have you. We last see Tommy Gavin in a burning house, due to a fire by Sheila (his mistress), not knowing if he will come out alive. The fourth season starts at 9 PM central time on Wednesday.

Rescue Me starts a new season, its fourth, this Wednesday. Will the show "rescue me" from the Summers lukewarm entertainment?

Jericho Saved from the TV Gallows

Someone at college this past semester suggested I watch a CBS show called "Jericho". I had no time in college to view it, yet right when I got home, I watched the show in a 2-3 day sitting. I was amazed by it, with top-notch acting and a plot that no American wishes. The TV show follows the aftermath of the fictional city Jericho, when America is hit by several nukes. The town faces internal troubles as well as troubles past city lines. It's a post-apocalyptic story, through American eyes.

When I was done watching the 22 episodes, I went to find word on the next season. Yet the news I found on season two was troubling, there would be no second season. It was cancelled by CBS for a ratings drop after a hiatus in mid-season. I was crushed, until of course I found out that there was a movement to revive it. The Jericho fan base was part of a grassroots movement to make CBS reconsider; and it worked. With over 40,000 pounds of nuts sent to CBS headquarters, both in New York and LA, to floods of phone calls and letters, CBS reconsidered.

The news came today, June 6th, that seven more episodes will be shown in the mid-season. This was a relief to me for it has become one of my favorite shows. I also won't be left asking questions (the end of season one was a cliffhanger). So thank you Jericho fans, and thank you CBS, for continuing the Jericho series.

So Jericho was saved from the TV ax. Now that it's back, I can feast on my addiction that is Jericho. Hope is a strange thing; it can turn to gold in a blink of an eye.

The State of the News

During the summer I watch all the major news networks; CNN, Foxnews, MSNBC and CNN Headline News. I believe in looking at different sides of an issue, from many different sources, which is why I watch all of them. Now something they all had in common this past week or so is the Paris Hilton story. Apparently she is going to jail, for failing her probation. I'm not even going to link to it, because, quite honestly, IT'S NOT IMPORTANT.

Paris Hilton's escapades isn't a serious news story. It has nothing to do with anything. If it was mentioned in entertainment news, then that's fine, she in the entertainment business; yet to lead into Paris Hilton from the presidential debates or anything else for that matter is completely absurd.

What is the fascination? What is the importance? This isn't a story.

The news networks bring Paris to the spotlight and say tsk to her, but I say tsk to them for covering it.

JFK on the menu

Recently, four people were arrested in a plot to attack the JFK airport in New York. If you thought America wasn't under attack (or still under attack), think again. The plot is just a month after Fort Dix bust in early May. These individuals also came from South America and the Caribbean, stressing that even though we have a mission to "fight the terrorists over there", referring to Iraq/Middle-East, we still have a threat from inspired terrorists. These terrorists take a religion and bastardize it to their ideology. Islamic extremism isn't going away any time soon, yet with strength in intelligence, like the recent successes of the FBI, we can stop attacks before they happen.

This JFK airport incident comes just a month after the Fort Dix plot was spoiled by the FBI. What's troubling is that, like the Fort Dix incident, these would be terrorists seem to have no connection to Al-Qaeda. Their focus was simply to cause as much hurt to the United States as possible. Fort Dix is a military installation, the JFK airport isn't; this JFK airport attack was intended to kill a large amount of civilians, like that of the 9/11 attacks. What is really troubling about this incident and the Fort Dix one is the independence of it. These individuals were planning on their own, trying to inflict their own blow to our nation. Islamic extremism is growing to an un-unified effort, with disorganization being an asset to the extremist's goal. Islamic extremism is now growing and its reaching our soil, in many respects by people we wouldn't suspect.

The members of this JFK airport plot came from South America and the Caribbean. One was even a former member in the Guyanese parliament. The attack the nation is facing is more than a region in Asia, it's an international ideological movement, reaching parts of the world many people would scratch their head at.

The incident proves that we as a nation still need to be worried about Islamic terrorism. Extremists are taking the peaceful religion of Islam and are converting it to their political absurdities. They act alone, not from a higher power, but by themselves. We as a nation need to band stronger to the Muslim community and help them speak out more on these people.

These plots and attacks they pursue shouldn't be forgotten, the WTC 1993 bombing to the JFK plot; each should be remembered. The people involved might not be connected, but they all have a common goal; to disrupt our everyday life. Most likely, you're not going to be killed in a terrorist attack, you're probably more likely to die from a car accident. But with every large attack, it causes hurt to our economy, in which all us will eventually feel. Investigation and intelligence gathering are key areas we need to focus on in order to stop this enemy.

We cannot stop at Osama, they certainly won't.

The Great Disease Scare

Once again, another disease has hit the nerves of our nation. Yes, it's TB, a disease that though has a lengthy history of destruction, has caused a stir in the media recently. A man with a very drug resistant form of the disease was able to enter the United States. This has caused the news to go apeshit with TB; border scares, disease scares, etc.

Yet, where is SARS? Where is Bird Flu? I thought these were the disastrous diseases I was suppose to die from? It's odd how a life or death disease appears on the news and is gone in a half years time. These scares don't point out that we happen to be a nation of 300 million; the chance of someone getting infected to this form of TB or any other hybrid/out-of-control/super disease is very slim.

So, TB, it's part of the great disease scare. Should you be worried? A little. Yet sooner or later more drugs will be developed to fight this form of TB and eventually this fog of fear will be lifted from your consciousness.

The First Post

This is my first post for my blog The Stark Tenet. In the blog I will post my views on current events as well as random happenings in my life. I don't know how serious I will take this nor do I know how long I will keep this up. Hopefully I will continue (and actually start, this was sort of a half ass attempt).