Steven Spielberg, HBO, and Tom Hanks have teamed up again to make The Pacific, a follow-up to their mini-series Band of Brothers, that focuses on, as its name suggests, the Pacific theater of operations during WWII. I have posted the first trailer below. If someone in it looks familiar, it’s probably Joseph Mazzello, who played Tim Murphy, the boy in Jurassic Park.
My hope is that this mini-series does as much justice to those men who fought the Japanese as Band of Brothers did to Easy Company, the entire 101st Airborne, and those who served in the European theater. The trailer looks like it will.
The last couple of weeks of events in Iran have been an interesting display of civil disobedience and a look inside of a country who’s younger population is usually ignored.
My thoughts on the politics of Iran are simple, we do not have an obligation to interfere with a country’s democratic elections, no matter what the feelings are for the leader. The unrest and violence against protesters is something we should all agree is wrong, but to suggest that President Obama stand-up and condemn what is happening in Iran as far as the elected official is concerned is hypocritical. Our defense of democracy cannot be blurred by the social issues that infect other nations. If Obama was to step in and declare Mousavi the winner then he has done nothing for democracy or for the people of Iran. This ties directly into the fact that Ahmadinejad may have actually won the election by a bigger margin than what his own polls suggested.
We should be watching the unrest and making sure that our feelings towards using violence to quash protests are known, but our politics on who we want elected need to be left out of the discussion. What happens in Iran is important but our meddling in their affairs is no better than other times we’ve done so, no matter how noble some think it is.
The protests against David Letterman in New York City make me a chuckle; Sure what he said about Palin’s daughter and A-Rod was in poor taste, but to take time out of your day to go yell at the building where he works seems a bit over the top, don’t you think? Even funnier are the protesters protesting the protest, of course they turn it into a political opportunity rather than a look at what was said as being inappropriate.
Yet, halfway around the world people are protesting and dying for change in their country. Seems like our priorities are out of whack. We’re worried about whether restaurants should be serving trans fats while Iranians are being told they are not allowed to gather in public places. Let’s get our priorities in order and worry about the things that matter, which, I’m sorry to say, do not include what talking heads say on television.
As I was sitting on the couch the other night, I looked over and saw our dog Sofie dozing off. I waited for a few minutes and slowly pulled my phone out to take a picture. Why slowly? Sofie has a knack for knowing when her picture is about to be taken and does everything in her power not to be caught with her eyes shut. She failed this time.
EveryBlock, a site that focuses on local data, has expanded to include Houston in their database. They do not have our neighborhood, the Heights, populated yet, but over time I am sure it will show up.
It is a great site with a great team behind it and allows users to look at their local communities from a granular level. Users can see crime statistics, restaurants, businesses, food inspections, and tons of other useful information.
Today marks the anniversary of the turning point on the Western Front during WWII. Some will say that the battles in North Africa marked the turning point and others will reply with mentions of Sicily and Salerno, but the truth of the matter is, the events that took place on June 6, 1944, from the beachheads to the hedgerows, changed the course of the war to a direction from which the Axis powers could not recover.
Watching the ceremonies that took place today in France made my eyes water. I saw war veterans being stopped in the street and asked for their autographs, being treated like royalty, and being thanked. The news station interviewed some of them and their humbleness was unbelievable, most explained that they were just doing their part and that the ones who deserve our thanks are the ones who did not come back. Those who paid the ultimate price do deserve our gratitude, but the ones who lived through the war deserve to know that their hard work is not unnoticed and was not in vain.
The generation that stormed the beaches that morning is slowly dying, we need to thank them and take as much time as we can to know their stories.
June 6, 1944 changed history. Americans, British, Canadians, French, and Australians stormed the beaches of Normandy and parachuted into places like Merville and Ranville. They fought for every inch of beach and in doing so, started a chain reaction to overthrow the evil that had infected Europe.
Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer for most families and they use the holiday weekend to visit the beach or have friends over for BBQ. It’s fun and enjoyable but it views the “holiday” in the wrong light.
Today is a somber day. It is a day to remember those who have fought in service of their country and paid the ultimate price. From the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, millions of men and women have served in the armed forces.
So take a moment to think about the freedom that we all share and the price that was paid for it.
Bloggers, Beware: What You Write Can Get You Sued – More and more bloggers are coming under legal fire from different industries and companies. Sure, libel has no place on the internet, but as the line blurs between journalists and everyday citizens, where does the court go?
The Next iPhone – John Gruber makes a few informed predictions about the next iPhone. Time to start saving up for a new one.
Taco Trucks are Feeling the Crunch Across the U.S. – I do not necessarily think the people instituting the laws are racists, I just think they feel the trucks bring bad things into communities (loitering). We have a number of taco trucks near the market by our house and have never had a problem.
The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More – An interesting look at poverty and the headaches it causes. Some of the examples are a tad bunk in my opinion, like the guy losing his license and not being “recognized as a human” by his bank. Get a new license and put your money in the bank. The example of the convenience store is also a bad one, you’re paying for “convenience”, that’s the whole point.
4-Alarm Blaze Strikes Gallery Furniture Warehouse – A Houston icon’s warehouse burned to the ground last night. I remember seeing Matress Mac’s commercials when I was a kid and going to the store with my parents. Hopefully the store is able to recover and stay on its feet.
