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Last week on MSNBC we heard the head of the Senate "Bailout Oversight Committee" (or whatever they're called) talking about the questions they're only now getting a chance to ask (such as, how's the money being spent, for instance), and expressing some concern that we may have rushed to get this bailout approved without fully vetting the whole plan. (At least, that's my take on what she was saying… to which I can only reply "gee, you think?"). Later in the week we learned that, due to a cute little loophole in the whole bailout plan, none of the banks and financial institutions that received money are subject to the restrictions Congress attempted to put on outrageous CEO compensation and other potential abuses. Turns out that the only institutions subject to such restrictions are ones that were bought at auction, as this was the original plan for distributing those funds. Instead, the banks were simply handed their bailout money and, apparently, tol

About the 90 minute mark or so, I was thinking to myself that at least some of the negative/mixed reviews for The Day the Earth Stood Still must stem as much from an (arguably understandable) overly-reverential appreciation for the original as it did from any faults of the new movie. 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still is, of course a classic piece of 50's sci-fi. But it's not Citizen Kane , so a contemporary update doesn't seem out of the question. This is not to say I hadn't already recognized issues with the remake. The military 'shoot first and ask questions later' single/simple-mindedness for instance, while true to the original, is an antique SF trope that I would love to see retired. (All the while acknowledging that the past 8 years of our current foreign policy and military stance doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that we've really any more evolved than that 1950's mentality would indicate.) And don't even get me started o

Let me get this straight… We're okay with writing a blank check for $700 billion dollars to bail out Wall Street, no strings attached (no prohibitions on ludicrous bonuses, no salary caps on multi-million dollar CEOs — who certainly seem to be earning those salaries and bonuses — not even a 'maybe you shouldn't have those executive retreats this year' suggestion). But when it comes to bailing out the Auto industry, keeping those three corporations from going under and taking millions of jobs with them (along with those workers making significantly less than those Wall Street CEOs), well $15 billion is just TOO MUCH TO ASK! Especially with that damn United Auto Workers gunking up the works. Let's face it, nobody's had anything good to say about this Congress, and I'm sure we're almost as ready for a new session of Congress to begin as we are for Obama to take office. (Well, those of us that aren't still freaking out that Obama won, of course). But Sen

We moved out of Hollywood several years ago when it came time to buy a house. Short of winning Lotto, selling that screenplay that's been moldering on my hard drive for years, or getting discovered doing waiver Shakespeare, there was no way we were buying in our neighborhood at that time. When we moved, we expected we'd miss a lot of things. The cool neighborhood we lived in, the coffeeshops, bars and restaurants all within walking distance, the 'life' of the city… turns out that not having to worry about finding a parking space after 6 PM alleviated that need to be able to walk to the cool stuff, and that most of the things we thought we were going to miss we really didn't notice. And not having to deal with the afore-mentioned parking issues, and the daily nightmare that IS driving in LA, tended to outweigh a lot of those lingering doubts. But every once in a while, I get slapped in the face with how 'suburban' it can get here. Take today. I've got a v

Really, all I need here is a link… Clean Coal Carolers from an Industry Run By Morons : TreeHugger 'nuff said.  

Merrill Lynch CEO Thain eyes $10M bonus I don't care what his argument, if your company lost $10 billion dollars this year, and is only surviving thanks to a massive government bailout and last minute bank merger, telling the world you think you deserve a $10 million dollar bonus because "at least you're still in business" puts the "ch" in chutzpah . (That's the choking sound you have to make to correctly pronounce chutzpah, in case you were wondering about that 'ch' reference.) Fortunately, cooler heads seem to have prevailed .