Casualties Of W’s Administration

TomDispatch.com posts about a Nick Turse article entitled Casualties of the Bush Administration:

Nick Turse has created the beginnings of a “wall” to quite a different legion of the fallen; in this case, the governmental casualties of Bush administration follies, those men and women who were honorable or steadfast enough in their government duties that they found themselves with little alternative but to resign in protest, quit, or simply be pushed off the cliff by cronies of this administration. Here are the first 42 names of those we thought might be put on such a wall (and brief descriptions of their fates)

One of the comments in the associated MetaFilter thread was “Heroes all. History will absolve them.” A response (and link) in the thread is quite appropriate and ironic: “Of course, that depends what kind of history we are left with.”

Sci-Fi Movie Canon

John Scalzi, editor of The Rough Guide To Sci-Fi Movies, has posted about the release of the book. Of particular interest is the chapter “Sci-Fi Canon,” in which he includes “Reviews and commentary on the 50 science fiction films you have to see before you die.” Here is the sure to be controversial list:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
Akira
Alien
Aliens
Alphaville
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Brazil
Bride of Frankenstein
Brother From Another Planet
A Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Contact
The Damned
Destination Moon
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
Escape From New York
ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
The Fly (1985 version)
Forbidden Planet
Ghost in the Shell
Gojira/Godzilla
The Incredibles
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
Jurassic Park
Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
The Matrix
Metropolis
On the Beach
Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
Robocop
Sleeper
Solaris (1972 version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The Stepford Wives
Superman
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Thing From Another World
Things to Come
Tron
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
2001: A Space Odyssey
La Voyage Dans la Lune
War of the Worlds (1953 version)

Discuss amongst yourselves…

W Half-Penny


Dale McFarland of The Specious Report has an interesting article entitled “Coin Collectors Divided over New Bush Half-Penny”:

Enthusiasm for the Thomas Jefferson buffalo tail nickel has not carried over to the George W. Bush horse’s ass half-cent.

The majority of numismatists quickly gave a big thumbs up to the new five-cent piece. But the half-penny, dubbed simply “The Bush” by hobbyists, has sparked a bitter debate.

“Each half-cent will cost about 0.81 of a cent to mint, creating an unnecessary deficit every year,” detractors of The Bush complain. “And it looks so much like a penny, The Bush will facilitate widespread dishonesty. The Bush is doomed to be a miserable failure.”

“These will come in very handy when the President’s Social Security reforms pass,” insist supporters of The Bush. “Once the program is forced into bankruptcy, each retiree will get one in the mail every month. Or they can just feel around under the sofa cushion.”

The traditional slogan “In God We Trust” is replaced by “Trust Me” on The Bush, which will make it highly sought after by collectors of U.S. coins with oxymorons.