Author: FaaQ

Count Gottfried von Bismarck, who was found dead on Monday aged 44, was a louche German aristocrat with a multi-faceted history as a pleasure-seeking heroin addict, hell-raising alcoholic, flamboyant waster and a reckless and extravagant host of homosexual orgies.

Really the only thing missing is severed pig heads… oh wait

The great-great-grandson of Prince Otto, Germany’s Iron Chancellor and architect of the modern German state, the young von Bismarck showed early promise as a brilliant scholar, but led an exotic life of gilded aimlessness that attracted the attention of the gossip columns from the moment he arrived in Oxford in 1983 and hosted a dinner at which the severed heads of two pigs were placed at either end of the table.

Really, no shit he is. I was downright stunned after I read his review of Fatburger Customer of the Month, Michael Moore’s latest propaganda film Sicko.

Unfortunately, Moore is also a con man of a very brazen sort, and never more so than in this film. His cherry-picked facts, manipulative interviews (with lingering close-ups of distraught people breaking down in tears) and blithe assertions (how does he know 18,000* people will die this year because they have no health insurance?) are so stacked that you can feel his whole argument sliding sideways as the picture unspools. The American health-care system is in urgent need of reform, no question. Some 47 million people are uninsured (although many are only temporarily so, being either in-between jobs or young enough not to feel a pressing need to buy health insurance). There are a number of proposals as to what might be done to correct this situation. Moore has no use for any of them, save one.

As a proud socialist, the director appears to feel that there are few problems in life that can’t be solved by government regulation (that would be the same government that’s already given us the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Motor Vehicles). In the case of health care, though, Americans have never been keen on socialized medicine. In 1993, when one of Moore’s heroes, Hillary Clinton (he actually blurts out the word “sexy!” in describing her in the movie), tried to create a government-controlled health care system, her failed attempt to do so helped deliver the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives into Republican control for the next dozen years. Moore still looks upon Clinton’s plan as a grand idea, one that Americans, being not very bright, unwisely rejected. (He may be having second thoughts about Hillary herself, though: In the movie he heavily emphasizes the fact that, among politicians, she accepts the second-largest amount of political money from the health care industry.)

Awesome!

Anyone who watched the series finale of the Sopranos will enjoy this rather long analysis of the last episode that points with near certainty that Tony got wracked in the final moment.

Not.

Apparently not

. has optioned a Thundercats script by new screenwriter Paul Sopocy to turn the popular 1980s animated series and toy line into a live action feature.

Variety says Warner-based Paula Weinstein will produce through her Spring Creek Productions, along with Dick Robertson and Lew Korman.

Thundercats revolves around a group of humanoid cats (with feline names like Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) who must flee their planet of Thundera after it’s destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer, bent on killing them off.

Sopocy has written the script as an origin story expanding on the major heroes and villains from the animated series, with the plot focusing on Lion-O coming of age as the leader of the Thundercats.

Warner Bros. recently teamed with Joel Silver to produce a live-action He-Man movie, based on the toy and cartoon franchise, as well as a feature based on the DC comic book Teen Titans

Mum-Ra is not pleased.

My home slice Blair made this little tribute to the most Ism-ish of Isms, A Tribute to Communism

Almost anyone could wear this t-shirt with pride:

I’ll be taking orders very soon.

American Protests has finally released their long awaited DVD documentary covering the recent years protests that have occurred all over the U.S. From New York to San Francisco, protestors gathered to voice their opinion about such controversial topics as the Iraq War, the WTO, and Mr. Roger’s funeral.Sometimes violent, sometimes naked, but always entertaining, these activists angrily exercise their right to free speech. Are they making any difference?Featuring discussions from the filmmakers, this hilarious and thought-provoking documentary looks at the political mayhem unleashing in the streets of America. My good friend Blair and his team have spent months working on this movie, and I highly recommend it. This documentary covers both angles of the protest movements in the United States and no side is spared. Go watch the trailer and then buy the DVD! You can spare 10 bucks to help a brother out.

P.S. One more Shameless Plug

(AP) – C.O.B.R.A. militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken a G.I. Joe soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release C.O.B.R.A. mastermind DESTRO from prisoner. The U.S. military said it was investigating, but the claim’s authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried the terrorists statements, included a photo of what that statement said was an Joe soldier “ROADBLOCK”, wearing desert fatigues and seated on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back. The figure in the photo appeared stiff and expressionless, and the photo’s authenticity could not be confirmed.

A G.I. Joe commanding officer Clayton “HAWK” Abernathy, said he had no information on the claim but “we are currently looking into it, and remember kids, knowing is half that battle!”

“Our serpentine heroes of C.O.B.R.A’s Snake Battalion were able to capture American military man Marvin Hinton after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest,” said the statement, signed by the “Snake Battalion” “God willing, we will behead him if The Baroness and DESTRO are not released from Joe prisons within the maximum period of 72 hours from the time this statement has been released,” the statement said.

The posting did not show any ID card for the alleged captive and no organization’s name was written on the black banner, as have appeared in some past claims of kidnappings. The man’s uniform had no U.S. insignia or names visible.

Check out his latest release. And you guys thought he was going to Law School. Sheet negro, he just branching out in all kinds of new directions.My personal favorite: I got my pants on…(all by my self)