The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This is for those posts that we wish to feature here at Deep Sand. It implies that these are a bit extra special.
Finally people seem to be waking to the ridiculousness of the TSA’s “security theater” at the airport gates, just not before Micheal Chertoff, former head of Homeland Security, got to sock away a nice retirement package from selling us taxpayers the bogus x-ray machines. Don’t want to go through those, then get yourself a rub down from a TSA agent, but I’ve found a way to get through the rub down pretty fast.
Read moreAs I picked up my rental car here at Dulles Airport Monday morning, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was on C-Span Radio trying to defend TSA’s ridiculous and overly intrusive pat downs and use of the prono-x-ray machines. I noticed she kept talking about people who opt out of the backscatter machines can get a “same-gender” pat down. She kept saying “same-gender” over and over.
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There’s not much of a silver lining in a foreclosure, but some foreclosed homeowners can take a little stab of enjoyment from this story on TBO.com. The DAL Group, LLC of Plantation, FL, has defaulted on it’s $15 million loan from Bank of America. DAL Group is owned by Attorney David J. Stern, and is one of the many foreclosure mills operating here in Florida.
Read moreAs you head out to vote tomorrow (if you haven’t already, I’d suggest watching this. It’s about remembering which party took a record surplus and turned it into a record deficit, which party thinks the rich need tax cuts, and that big corporations don’t have enough freedom to pollute and send us contaminated food. Remembering which party wants to end Social Security, and which party started a needless war in Iraq, and which party was in power when Wall Street was given a no-strings-attached bailout.
Read moretwo Sunday’s ago, I was teaching my Sunday School class (as I’ve done a number of times), and took a few minutes at the end of the class to deliver the following statement. I have been amazed at the outpouring of concern and support, and a number of them are willing to attend the Council meeting with me in November. I will reintroduce the resolution leaving out the section about trying reasonably to deal only with other organizations with similar statements. The council members previously used this as their primary objection.
Read moreOn October 18, 2010, members of Dallas’ Turtle Creek Chorale joined singers from over 30 area religious institutions and students from Southern Methodist University in a performance titled, A Night For Peace. WIth just three rehearsals to prepare, the 300+ “Partners In Harmony” massed chorus offered a full-length concert, which concluded with Bach’s DONA NOBIS PACEM (Grant Us Peace) from his Mass in B Minor. All stories are real. Featured speakers are current members of the Turtle Creek Chorale.
Read moreAnd the crazy continues with Alex Jones, nationally syndicated “libertarian” radio host. Jones says it’s our juice boxes. Jones claims he has the documents to prove that it’s a chemical warefare action by our government. They’re putting estrogen in the pastic lining of juice boxes, and apparently in lime flavored soda, to encourage homosexuality to lower the birth rate. We didn’t have juice in boxes when I was growing up, but who knew all that Juicy Juice was preparing kids for a lifetime of tasteful decorating choices and? sunday brunches?
Read moreDoug MacRay is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang’s latest job, when they briefly took a hostage–bank manager, Claire Keesey. Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.
Read morePictures of Lay’s family over for the Labor Day weekend. We had loads of fun swimming, and making giant bubbles out of a soap solution. Bubbles are a favorite thing with the nieces, and giant bubbles just secured my place as favorite uncle for a while longer.
Read moreApparently Terry Jones (I refuse to use the Reverend honorific for a person like this) of the Dove World Center in Gainesville has flown to New York, and won’t be burning in Quran’s. In the process, he finally got his 15 minutes of fame for he and the loser that is his Associate Paster, and created even more division in America…but hey, he managed to get what he wanted…attention.
Read moreI couldn’t make any sense out of this film. I swear there is no story whatsoever. Do not let the trailers fool you, there is about 10mins total of action in this film. The bulk of this film is long shots of Clooney, coming to grasp with his life and going about completing his last job. Most “one last job” movies are high-energy action flicks driven by a veteran actor playing a character with a troubled history, but Anton Corbijn’s “The American” operates as a character-driven mood piece, a precise and quiet visual portrayal of a man trying to quit his dangerous profession who is constantly haunted and pervasively paranoid.
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