This is my 601th post.

The next poem,will be the 250th i write in my blog.

i will be crossing 40,000 hits(mostly would have by the time you come here to comment,see the sidebar).

So that is a lot of number and stat crunching And talking about stats my blog has been hit by the recessions too But i am sure,i will recover before the economies do(all it takes,is a couple of movie reviews and it will be jumping again).

So 600 posts,seems a lot,doesn’t it.Maybe that is why my page rank is 6

Ha well funny thing how these numbers give us satisfaction.

Anyway,i found a few questions in Lena’s blog. 
So lets see what are your answers

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. Something I have and YOU want?
4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
5. Describe me in one word.
6. What was your first impression of me?
7. Do you still think that way about me now?
8. What reminds you of me?
9. If you could give me anything what would it be?
10. How well do you know me?
11. How do you see me in the future?
12. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?
13. Are you going to post this in your blog and see what I say about you?

Well and since its been a long 601(even though most of you are pretty new here) ,lets see what you all think of my blog.Thanks Nita for this idea.

Ha,its been good blogging

When Apple opens a new retail store, they typically mark the occasion with an opening day giveaway and free t-shirts. The story will be different in Modesto, California when Apple Store Vintage Faire opens on Saturday, November 14th at 6:00 PM Pacific.

Apple Store Vintage Faire will be Apple’s 250th retail store, and they’re celebrating with a week of special events, including classes, workshops, presentations and more, all free of charge. As usual, visitors who show up on opening day can grab a free T-shirt and register for the grand opening giveaway.

Apple Store Vintage Faire is located in the Vintage Faire Mall, at 3401 Dale Rd in Modesto, between Coach and Bebe. It sounds like fun, so let us know if you attend.

A week of free events is cool and all, but for my money, you can’t beat

For several years, I’ve been writing about Bushenfreude, the phenomenon of angry yuppies—who’ve hugely benefited from President Bush’s tax cuts—funding angry, populist Democratic campaigns. I’ve theorized that people who work in financial services and related fields have become so outraged and alienated by the incompetence, crass social conservatism, and repeated insults to the nation’s intelligence, of the Bush-era Republican Party, that they’re voting with their hearts and heads instead of their wallets.

Last week’s election was perhaps Bushenfreude’s grandest day. As the campaign entered its final weeks, Barack Obama, who pledged to unite the country, singled out one group of people for ridicule: those making more than $250,000. At his rallies, he would ask for a show of hands of those making less than one-quarter of $1 million per year. Then he’d look around, laugh, and note that those in the virtuous majority would get their taxes cut, while the rich among them would be hit with a tax increase. And yet the exit polls show, the rich—and yes, if you make $250,000 or more you’re rich—went for Obama by bigger margins than did the merely well-off. If the exit polls are to be believed, those making $200,000 or more (6 percent of the electorate) voted for Obama 52-46, while McCain won the merely well-off ($100,000 to $150,000 by a 51-48 margin and $150,000 to $200,000 by a 50-48 margin).

Right-wingers tend to dismiss such numbers as the voting behavior of trust funders or gazillionaires—people who have so much money that they just don’t care about taxes. That may explain a portion of Bushenfreude. But there just aren’t that many trust funders out there. Rather, it’s clear that the nation’s mass affluent—Steve the lawyer, Colby the financial services executive, Ari the highly paid media big shot—are trending Democratic, especially on the coasts. Indeed, Bushenfreude is not necessarily a nationwide phenomenon. As Andrew Gelman notes in the book “Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State,” the rich in poor states are likely to stick with the Republicans.

But in the ground zero of Bushenfreude, Fairfield County, Conn., it was practically an epidemic last week. Bushenfreude’s most prominent victim was Rep. Chris Shays, the last Republican congressman east of the Hudson River. For the past several cycles, Shays, who played a moderate in his home district but was mainly an enabler of the Bush-DeLay Republicans in Washington, fended off well-financed challengers with relative ease. Last week, he fell victim to Jim Himes. Himes, as this New York Times profile shows, is the ultimate self-made, pissed-off yuppie: a member of Harvard’s crew team, a Rhodes Scholar, a former Goldman Sachs banker, and a resident of Greenwich.

Shays claims he was done in by a Democratic tsunami in Fairfield County and the state. And Connecticut’s county results show Obama ran up a huge 59-41 margin in the county, which includes Bridgeport and Norwalk—densely populated cities with large poor, minority, and working-class populations. But an examination of the presidential votes in several of Fairfield County’s wealthier districts (here are Connecticut’s votes by town) shows the yuppies came out in the thousands to vote for a candidate who pledged to raise their taxes. In the fall of 2003, I first detected Bushenfreude in Westport (No. 5 on Money’s list of 25 wealthiest American towns). The telltale symptom: Howard Dean signs stacked in the back of a brand-new BMW. The signs of an outbreak were legion this year. On our route to school, my kids would count the number of yard signs for Obama and McCain (the results: 6-to-1). On the Saturday morning before the election, I stopped by the Westport Republican headquarters to pick up some McCain-Palin buttons, only to find it locked. On Election Day, Westport voters went for Obama by a 65-35 margin. (That’s bigger than the 60-40 margin Kerry won here in 2004.) Bushenfreude spread from Westport to neighboring towns. In Wilton, just to the north, which Bush carried comfortably in 2004, Obama won 54 percent of the vote.

Perhaps most surprising was the result from Greenwich, Conn. The Versailles of the tri-state metro area, the most golden of the region’s gilded suburbs, the childhood home of George H.W. Bush, went for Obama by a 54-46 margin—the first time Greenwich went Democratic since 1964. Who knew the back-country estates and shoreline mansions were populated with so many traitors to their class? (In the 2004 cage match of New England-born, Yalie aristocrats, George W. Bush beat Kerry 53-47 in Greenwich.) Some towns in Fairfield County were clearly inoculated from Bushenfreude. In New Canaan and Darien, which ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Money’s list of 25 wealthiest towns, McCain-Palin won by decent majorities. (In both towns, however, the Republican margins were down significantly from 2004.) What’s the difference between these towns and their neighbors? Well, New Canaan and Darien are wealthier than their sister towns in Fairfield County. (In both, the median income is well more than $200,000.) So perhaps the concern about taxes is more acute there. Another possible explanation is that these towns differ demographically from places like Greenwich and Westport, in that they are less Jewish, and Jews voted heavily for Obama.

While there has been job loss and economic anxiety throughout Fairfield County, I don’t think that economic problems alone explain the big Democratic gains in the region. In Greenwich, economic stress for many people means flying commercial or selling the ski house (while maintaining the summer house on Nantucket). There’s something deeper going on when a town that is home to corporate CEOs, professional athletes, hedge-fund managers, and private-equity barons—the people who gained the most, financially, under the Bush years and who would seem to have the most to lose financially under an Obama administration—flips into the Democratic column. Somewhere in the back country, in a 14,000-square-foot writer’s garret, an erstwhile hedge-fund manager is dictating a book proposal to his assistant, a former senior editor at Fortune who just took a buyout, that explains why many of the wealthy choose to vote for a Democrat, in plain violation of their economic self-interest. Working title: What’s the Matter With Greenwich?

Who is paying the taxes?
And who will pay the tax increases?

Obama claims he will raise the taxes on people making $250,000 or more.
And somehow this will pay the additional $1.4 trillion in new spending he proposes.

According to the US Census online figures, I found this:
There are approximately 1,086,000 people that reporting earning at least $250,000 per year
These people, one way or another, has 40% of their income going to the federal government and that comes to $100,000 per year each.
If we increase their “contribution” by 10% to 44% (10% of 40% = 4%), then these people will now be contributing $110,000 per year. That is an additional $10,000 per year per “rich white guy”.

So, 1,086,000 “rich white guys” paying an additional $10k per year comes to: $1,086,000,000.
Or, approximately $1 billion.
Even if he doubles the tax increase on them to 20% more, that is still only $2 billion per year.

Now consider this.
There are 100 million middle class Americans who earn, on average, $100,000 per year each.
I know what you’re thinking, you don’t make $100k but you consider yourself middle class.
This is an “average”. The low end is single people making around $40-50k per year. The high end is up to, but not including, $250k per year.

Now, this group pays, on average (hook or crook) about 30% to the feds.
That comes to about $30,000 per person.
If Obama increases their “contribution” by 10% to 33% (10% of 30% = 3%), then these people will now be contributing (patriotically, of course) $33,000 per year. That is “only” an additional $3,000 per year each.

Now, the liberals look at this and say, “those rich b@$tards are now paying $10,000 more per year (or $20k). They’re finally paying their “fair share”.”
They won’t mention the extra $3000 per year all of us are paying.
And if that fact is brought up, they dismiss it as a “small contribution” to help the overall economy. Or as Biden put it, “patriotic” contribution.

But, let’s look at how this “small” contribution adds up:
100 million middle-class Americans each “contributing” another $3000 per year comes to $300,000,000,000 per year!  Yes, that’s $300 BILLION per year.

NOTE: consider this: if you took ALL of the money from 1,000,000 people making $250k per year, you would net $250 BILLION. So you wiped out the entire upper class and didn’t even get as much money as all those “small” contributions added together.

Obama is planning to give away, er - I mean “spend” an additional $1.4 TRILLION.
$300 billion per year (extra $3k per year from you and me) for 4 years comes to  $1.2 TRILLION !

Even with the extra $8 billion ($2 billion per year for 4 years) from all the “rich white guys”, this is still only $1.208 trillion. Not enough Swami Obami.

And finally, $1.4 trillion is ONLY what he has promised to give away here.
He still has “promissary notes” out to the UN and most of Africa totalling almost another $2 trillion.
I guess he’s already planning for the 2nd term……
40% of $250k on 1 million people = $100 billion per year.
30% of $100k on 100 million people = $3 TRILLION per year.
2008 Federal budget: almost $3 trillion per year.
Question:  who pays the taxes in this country???
Followup question: who actually CAN pay all the taxes in this country?

Scrivo un post sul campionato europeo solo per esprimere il mio rammarico per la fine a cui sta andando incontro questo trofeo. Già gli anni scorsi nutrivo forti perplessità sul futuro dell’europeo: poche gare, pochi piloti e livello inferiore a molti campionati nazionali non facevano certo ben sperare per gli anni successivi..
Addirittura nel 2008 il campionato è stato eliminato trasformandolo in una ‘prova unica’ sul circuito di Cartagena alla quale erano invitati a partecipare i migliori piloti di vari campionati nazionali e alcuni esponenti della Coppa Europea (4-5 gare confezionate in qualche modo, giusto per farle..).

La malattia del campionato è grave, ma va curata e la prova unica non è la soluzione.. d’accordo, i piloti erano tanti, ma un campionato europeo che si rispetti deve avere per i piloti (possibilmente giovani) una valenza formativa che un campionato nazionale (o una gara unica) non può dare.
Soluzioni: intanto eliminare qualche categoria.. che senso ha avere 10 categorie (125, 250, supersport, stocksport 600, stocksport 1000, stock 600 femminile, stock 1000 femminile, Supermono, 250 vintage e 350 vintage) quando ci sono massimo 15 piloti iscritti??
e poi accorpare le categorie rimanenti.. le ragazze potrebbero tranquilamente correre insieme ai colleghi uomini (magari con classifiche separate)
lo stesso vale per le 4 (quattro) categorie 600..
secondo. unificate i calendari! che senso ha tenere i campionati femminili lo stesso giorno degli altri, ma su piste diverse? o_O
terzo. create un vero campionato, magari con poche gare, ma createlo.. basterebbero 5-6 gare a stagione (spagna, olanda, italia, inghilterra, repubblica ceca?) con le classifiche finali stilate eliminando i risultati peggiori per evitare le trasferte più lunghe ai vari piloti.
quarto. ingolosite i piloti… “il vincitore dell’europeo avrà come premio un posto nel mondiale l’anno successivo” altrimenti, chi volete che venga a correre??

Vabbè.. diciamo due parole sulle gare di Cartagena
come era prevedibile, quasi tutte le categorie sono state dominate dai piloti spagnoli, che ovviamente conoscono molto bene il tracciato.. inoltre, la sfortuna ha voluto che i turni di prove venissero rovinati dal maltempo, tanto per complicare ancora di più la vita a chi non conosceva la pista…

Europeo Superstock 1000

Dominio spagnolo in Superstock, con il podio riempito dai piloti di casa (tutti su Yamaha). Vincitore della gara e del campionato è Carmelo Morales, attualmente in testa al campionato spagnolo.
Quarto il tedesco Jorg TEUCHERT, già campione mondiale Supersport che attualmente corre nel campionato tedesco. Subito dietro il bravissimo Xavier Simeon (Suzuki) quest’anno impegnato nel mondiale Superstock, primo nella classifica Junior.
Ottavo Stefano Cruciani (Ducati) migliore degli italiani, che chiude davanti a Andi Meklau. 11° Fabrizio Pellizzon (Kawasaki) e 15° Luca Verdini (Yamaha).
Solo 14° Nina Prinz (Yamaha) che comunque conduce la ‘pattuglia europea’. Desolatamente diciassettesimo il polacco Skopek, vincitore della coppa europea di categoria…
___________

1. +00.0″ Carmelo MORALES - Yamaha
2. +02.3″ Bernat MARTINEZ - Yamaha
3. +02.4″ Javier DEL AMOR - Yamaha
4. +13.6″ Jorg TEUCHERT - Yamaha
5. +18.4″ Xavier SIMEON - Suzuki
6. +18.4″ Diego LOZANO - Honda
7. +23.3″ Ivan SILVA - Yamaha

Europeo Supersport

Anche qui vittoria per uno spagnolo, Angel Rodriguez (Yamaha) che dopo aver vinto tutte le gare del CEV spagnolo, ha pensato bene di impadronirsi anche dell’europeo. Secondo il giovane inglese Koghlan (Honda) che corre anch’egli nel CEV, vincitore del trofeo riservato ai piloti Junior.
13° e 14° Alessandro Brannetti (Yamaha) e Danilo Marrancone (Yamaha) che arrivando “a punti” salvano il salvabile, ma si beccano 2 secondi al giro. Solo 28° Mattia Roncoroni.
Imbarazzante la prestazione dei piloti provenienti dalla Coppa Europea: Loris Valjan (Yamaha) ha chiuso 18° con un distacco di 1′14″ dopo 20 giri, gli altri ancora peggio..
___________

1. +00.0″ Angel RODRIGUEZ - Yamaha
2. +03.8″ Kev KOGHLAN - Honda
3. +04.5″ Daniel RIVAS - Suzuki
4. +06.2″ David SALOM - Yamaha
5. +12.4″ Josè CARRION - Honda
6. +12.5″ Miguel CORTES - Yamaha
7. +20.5″ Raymond SCHOUTEN - Yamaha

Europeo 125 GP

A sorpresa (ma non troppo..) vittoria dell’italiano Lorenzo Savadori, 15 anni, che ha regolato l’olandese Joey Litgens e lo spagnolo Richard Cardus, entrambi provenienti dal CEV. Savadori aggiunge così il titolo continentale al già conquistato titolo italiano 125.
Gli italiani: 4° Riccardo Moretti (Honda), 12° Ferruccio Lamborghini (Aprilia), 15° Luca Vitali (Aprilia), ritirato Gennaro Sabatino.
___________

1. +00.0″ Lorenzo SAVADORI - Aprilia
2. +04.4″ Joey LITJENS - Seel
3. +04.7″ Richard CARDUS - Derbi
4. +04.7″ Riccardo MORETTI - Honda
5. +15.8″ Pere TUTUSAUS - Aprilia
6. +19.1″ Jasper IWEMA - Seel
7. +20.7″ Marcel SCHROTTER - Honda

Di seguito i risultati delle Coppe Europee:
Coppa Europea - Supersport

1. 79 pts. Ionel Petru PASCOTA - Honda
2. 71 pts. Loris VALJAN - Yamaha
3. 64 pts. Mattia RONCORONI - Yamaha

Coppa Europea - Stocksport 1000

1. 95 pts. Pawel SZKOPEK - Yamaha
2. 58 pts. Marek SZKOPEK - Yamaha
3. 45 pts. Per BJORK - Honda

Coppa Europea - Stocksport 600

1. 60 pts. Olmo SPIGARIOL - Yamaha
2. 56 pts. Igor KALAB - Yamaha
3. 56 pts. Tomas SVITOK - Kawasaki

Coppa Europea - 250 GP

1. 92 pts. Alvaro MOLINA - Aprilia
2. 81 pts. Giacomo LUCCHETTI - Aprilia
3. 66 pts. Toni WIRSING - Honda

Coppa Europea - 125 GP

1. 41 pts. Kim LIFVENBORG - Honda
2. 41 pts. Filip HELLBERG - Honda
3. 38 pts. Michal PRASEK - Honda

particolarmente deprimente il risultato della 125 GP: i primi due piloti (a pari punti) non sono MAI andati a podio nelle 4 gare disputate…

LINKS
Unione Motociclistica Europea - UEM

Ducati 749

Am 4. November 2008 hat Garmin die Firmware des Edge 705 in der Version 2.50 offiziell freigegeben. Die Verschlimmbesserungen  seit Version 2.40 können hier nachgelesen werden. Laut Garmin soll das Update ausschließlich über den WebUpdater auf den Edge 705 überspielt werden. Da zur Installation des WebUpdaters auf einem PC aber Administrator-Rechte notwendig sind, ist dies für den einen oder anderen Nutzer nicht umsetzbar. Linux-Anwender schauen ohnehin in die Röhre.

Möchte man dieses Problem umgehen, kann man sich die Firmware-Datei hier direkt herunterladen und anschließend in den internen Speicher des Edge (Ordner \ Garmin) kopieren. Dort muss die Datei dann in gupdate.GCD umbenannt werden, eine ältere Datei mit diesem Namen kann dabei bedenkenlos überschrieben bzw. vorher gelöscht werden. Beim nächsten Anschalten des Edge 705 wird die neue Firmware automatisch installiert.

Numa comparação entre as 250’s (Twister x Fazer x Comet), para os quesitos potência na roda, torque máximo na roda e velocidade máxima real os resultados foram:

Leia mais…

its me again!

day: 7th november

time: 3:00pm cpt

why: 250 hits in one month

hosts: admins of the site (not poilcesquad)

where: iceberg

in other news:

tomorrow i will talk about the band and they will do a live preformance at my igloo

it is cold here our hits are going up up up and AWAY!!! last month i got 250 viewers on my site!

so i am gonna have a party for 250 viewers in 1 month!

in other news:
10 views in a month: nothing

20 views in a month: a thank you for visting sign on a post

30 views in a month: a contest

40 views in a month: meet the cast of club penguin tv (channel 123)

50 views in a month: a party (small)

100 views in a month: a party (little big)

150 views in a month: a party (big)

200 views in a month: a party (big huge)

250 views in a month: a party (huge)

Nick Jonas donated time to help kick off National Diabetes Month by attending the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. As one of the faces of Juvenile Diabetes, Nick addresses his personal diabetes often, on a special Living the Dream on Disney, during Concerts, he even wrote a song, “A Little Bit Longer” about waiting for a cure.

Jonas has a partnership wih Bayer Diabetes Care, which is one of the multiple reasons why he took part in the walk to raise money for awareness and research. To walk with Nick Jonas costed a minimum $250 registration fee, along with sponsorship funds. It’s expensive, but I’m glad to see he’s donating his limited free time to help a good cause.

Da er jeg tilbake igjen, for å gi nettopp deg det neste innlegget. Kun 4 igjen. Det er ikke særlig mange. Vi hopper på toget og drar i fløyta. Den 4. beste filmen jeg har sett er

Se7en (1995)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/

Regi: David Fincher

Manus: Andrew Kevin Walker

Med: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow og Kevin Spacey.

Spilletid: 127 min

Nok en gang er det altså David Fincher som er regissøren. Han ble presentert tidligere i denne listen i innlegget om Fight Club, og har også laget Zodiac, The Game, Panic Room og Alien3. Han er da naturlig nok en av mine favoritter, og Se7en er etter min mening det aller beste han har laget.

Hovedrollene spilles av Brad Pitt, også i Fight Club og Snatch (min omtale) og Morgan Freeman, også kjent fra The Shawshank Redemption og The Dark Knight (min omtale). I tillegg har vi Gwyneth Paltrow, kona til Coldplay-vokalist Chris Martin, men også en god skuespillerkarriere, med for eksempel Iron Man og The Talented Mr. Ripley, og Kevin Spacey, kjent fra The Usual Suspects (min omtale) og American Beauty.

Se7en handler om to politimenn på jakt etter en syk seriemorder. David Mills (Pitt) er ny i jobben, og får William Somerset (Freeman) som en slags mentor. Det varer ikke lenge før de begynner å finne lik, alle myrdet på forferdelige, utenkelige måter. Etterforskningen fører dem frem til motivet bak mordene. Det virker som om morderen dreper folk som begår en av de sju dødssyndene, ved å overdrive dødssynden så mye at de dør av det. Og som om ikke det var nok, så kan det vise seg å være risikabelt å komme for nær en person som er såpass mentalt ustabil…

Dette er det jeg vil kalle den ultimate thrilleren. Bare for å starte kan jeg nevne stemningen. Det er mye mørkt og dystert, det regner ofte, tett. Lyssettingen er ganske low-key, vi får en slags noir-stemning på hele filmen. Visuelt sett ser den altså helt fantastisk ut.

Så kommer vi til skuespillet. Jeg syns det er Brad Pitt’s beste film, og Morgan Freeman gjør en veldig god jobb. Paltrow gjør det godt nok til sitt formål. Rosinen i pølsa er som så ofte Kevin Spacey, som er en av de beste skuespillerne som er der ute. Han håndterer skurken på en veldig bra og skremmende kald måte, sannsynligvis hjulpet en del av manuset, men likevel.

Historiemessig så er det jo et veldig fascinerende konsept, og et av de bedre i forhold til andre filmer om seriemordere. Åstedene er utrolig ekle og fæle, som de må være for å gi oss den rette mengden avsky mot morderen. Men det som er det beste med historien er utvilsomt slutten. Jeg vil faktisk gå så langt som å si at det er den beste slutten jeg vet om. Den aller beste slutten jeg har sett. Skuespillet er helt fantastisk, og måten twisten blir bygd opp på er helt unik. Vi blir med på forskrekkelsen til karakterene, og når alt er over, henger det sammen på en perfekt måte. Bra gjort av David Fincher å ha laget 3 filmer med twister i slutten (denne, Fight Club og The Game), hvor alle er bra, og folk aksepterer det glatt (det gikk jo ikke like bra for M. Night Shyamalan). Bare for å fullføre tanken min, så har jo da også Se7en den beste sluttreplikken, som summerer opp budskapet til filmen.

Det var då åpningstekstene, som også er blant de beste jeg vet om. Vi får se morderen jobbe med “loggboken” sin i en bra klippet montasje, med veldig passende musikk. Du får en slags følelse av uhygge, som så blir gjennomført i hele filmen. Effektivt.

Se7en ble kun nominert til en Oscar, for Beste klipp. Her føler jeg den ble skikkelig snytt. Det hadde vært på sin plass med nominasjoner for Beste film (Babe ble nominert!), Beste mannlige hovedrolle (Brad Pitt), Beste mannlige birolle (Kevin Spacey, som rett nok vant den prisen, for The Usual Suspects, men burde blitt nominert for denne også), Beste Regissør (nok en gang, Babe. Var virkelig den sååå bra?), og de kunne gjerne slengt med en for Beste kinematografi og Beste manus direkte for film også.

I det minste blir Se7en anerkjent av folket. På IMDb har den en rating på 8.6/10 med 209 002 stemmer. Det plasserer den på 34. plass på top 250. Som alltid presenterer jeg traileren nedenfor. Den er ganske bra, men klarer likevele ikke å yte filmen det den fortjener i det hele tatt. Dette er en film jeg virkelig har lyst til at du skal se, gjerne en gang til.

Hva er din mening om den ultimate thrilleren? Legg igjen en kommentar.

As I discussed before here

I think McCain says it all right here

During a rally in Hershey, Pa., McCain told supporters the gaffe revealed the Democrats’ true tax-and-spend intentions.

“It’s interesting how their definition of ‘rich’ has a way of creeping down,” McCain said.

“Senator Obama has made a lot of promises. First, he said people making less than $250,000 would benefit from his plan.

“Then, this weekend, he announced in an ad that if you’re a family making less than $200,000 you’ll benefit - but yesterday right here in Pennsylvania, Senator Biden said tax relief should only go to ‘middle-class people’ - people making under $150,000 a year.

“At this rate, it won’t be long before Senator Obama is right back to his vote that Americans making just $42,000 a year should get a tax increase.

Then there is the Wall Street Journal’s take on the situation…

Well, will families making less than $250,000 get a tax cut under President Obama, or not? Senator Obama has been saying this for months, but on Monday Joe Biden put the tax-cut income threshold at $150,000 in an interview with a TV station in his beloved Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Biden campaign later clarified — or at least tried to clarify — the matter by saying that anyone making between $150,000 and $250,000 wouldn’t get a tax cut but also wouldn’t pay higher taxes.

We suspect what’s going on here is more than Mr. Biden’s normal gift of gaffe. As with his admission that a President Obama would quickly be tested by our enemies, the Delaware rambler was stumbling into the truth. An Obama Administration couldn’t possibly pay for a tax cut for 95% of Americans by raising taxes on a mere 5%. Those 5% don’t make enough money, or at least they won’t after they find ways to shelter more of their income when their tax rates rise.

Just as Bill Clinton promised a “middle-class tax cut” in 1992 only to raise taxes on the middle class in 1993, Mr. Obama will quickly find that his tax-revenue math doesn’t add up. Add in the demands on Capitol Hill to spend more and to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax, and our bet is that even $150,000 would soon prove to be a moving tax target. Remember when the AMT was only supposed to hit 21 millionaires? Next year, without relief, it could hit 26 million taxpayers. Tax increases always hit the middle class because that’s where the money is.

Add this slip up to the reality of the tax plan explained here where the author explains 4 different ways that the Obama tax plan will result in higher taxes for everyone making $50,000 a year… and I am none too thrilled, not only with the tax plan but the continued lies and the pass on the lies the media gives him.

As McCain has said repeatedly… Obama is very eloquent, he will lull you into a sense of security with his beautiful words, but to get the real meaning, you have to listen to what he says very carefully.

Now, Bill Richardson has pegged the number at $120k…

FoxNews

For the second time in a week, a prominent Democrat has downgraded Barack Obama’s definition of the middle class — leading Republicans to question whether he’ll stick to his promise not to raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000.

The latest hiccup in the campaign message came Friday morning on KOA-AM, when New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pegged the middle class as those making $120,000 and under.

Click here to listen to Richardson talk about Obama’s tax plan.

“What Obama wants to do is he is basically looking at $120,000 and under among those that are in the middle class, and there is a tax cut for those,” Richardson said in the interview, according to a clip posted on YouTube.

So which is it?

Back in the days cand Seria 1 nici nu era planuita si recesiunea din urma celui de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial ii restrictiona pe oameni in ceea ce privea achizitionarea unui automobil, Renzo Rivolta, CEO al Iso Spa, un mic producator italian de frigidere, scutere si camionete pe trei roti, si-a imaginat lumea pusa in miscare de un automobil mic, economic si usor de condus.

Visul sau s-a materializat in 1952 cand inginerii sai, Ermenegildo Preti si Pierluigi Raggi au prezentat Isetta. Se spune ca cei doi au conceput Isetta alaturand doua scutere peste care au „trantit” un frigider. Iar pentru ca rezultatul nu era cel asteptat, au modelat caroseria dupa forma unei picaturi de apa care se scurgea pe geamul atelierului.

Tocmai aceasta forma ciudata i-a dat nick name-ul micului model. Prima porecla a fost Bubble Car. Mai apoi, Isetta a devenit cunoscuta in Germania sub numele de rollende Ei (oul care se rostogoleste) sau Sargwagen (masina cosciug-din pricina spatiului mic dintre ocupanti si exterior). Francezii o numeau yogurt pot, brazilienii la bola de futebol de feneme (mingea de fotbal a FNM-ului-marca locala de camioane) iar in Chile si astazi localnicii se refera la Isetta ca el huevito (ousorul).

Isetta a fost prezentata presei in noiembrie 1953 si a facut senzatie prin design-ul avangardist si prin simplitatea constructiei. Accesul catre bancheta se facea prin intermediul usii gigantice ca de frigider care era, de fapt, singura portiera. Volanul si ceasurile de bord erau prinse de aceasta si se pliau inpre exterior atunci cand soferul tragea de usa. In caz de accident, ocupatii puteau iesii din autovehicul prin trapa de panza cu care Isetta era dotata.

Masina de doar 2.3 metri lungime si 1.4 latime, era pusa in miscare de o motorizare de 236 cmc si 9.5 CP gasita pe anumite scutere ale companiei Iso si care era pornit prin intermediul unui contact Dynastart. Transmisia era asigurata puntii spate de o cutie manuala in patru rapoarte. Isettei ii trebuiau 30 de secunde pentru a atinge viteza de 50 de km/h, iar top speed-ul era de 75 km/h, o valoare potrivita unei masini de oras. Cu rezervorul plin, 13 litri, o Isetta putea sa parcurga pana la 112 kilometri, depinzand de modul in care era condusa.

Iso oferea doua modele ale celui mai interesant produs al companiei. Isetta Turismo sau Isetta conventionala cu forma caracteristica de ou si ecartament spate scurt, 50 cm si Isetta Autocarro, model cu punti egale. Acest ultim model a fost declinat in numeroase utilitare, cum ar fi masina de pompieri, salvare, pick up sau van.

In 1954, creatorul Isettei, Renzo Rivolta, isi dorea sa se concentreze asupra masinii sport Iso Rivolta si, cautand fonduri, a vandut licenta pentru mica Isetta mai multor fabrici de Europa. Cea mai importanta dintre acestea a fost BMW, care incepe productia lui BMW Isetta in 1955. Recunoscut pentru tusa sportiva cu care isi inzestra masinile, BMW a personalizat Isetta si i-a dat un motor nou, de productie germana. Noua motorizare dezvolta 13 CP dint-un cilindru si 247 cmc. BMW nu s-a oprit insa aici si a refacut in totalitate partea mecanica a micului model italian, astfel ca nicio piesa de la BMW Isetta Moto Coupe, nu se potriveste la o Iso Isetta. In mai 1962, la doar doi ani dupa ce a lansat Seria 700, BMW a incetat sa produca Isetta. In toti acesti ani compania bavareza a asamblat 161.728 de masinite din aceasta serie.

BMW Isetta

BMW a produs trei generatii de Isetta, 250, 300 si 600. Fata de modelul produs in Italia, Isetta nemteasca are farurile montate pe laturile caroseriei si, evident, sigla BMW pe usa. Caroseria a fost usor modificata pentru a putea face loc motoarelor ceva mai mari pe care BMW le producea, spre exemplu propulsorul de 250 cmc preluat de pe motocicleta BMW R25/3 sau cele de 298 si 582 cmc. Ultimul era capabil sa arunce Isetta la viteze de pana la 103 km/h. In primele sase luni de productie, BMW a asamblat si vandut 10.000 de modele.

Luna octombrie a anului 1956 a adus lumii o noua Isetta, a carei principale schimbari au fost motorizarea, acum de 298 cmc si geamurile laterale culisante. Isetta Moto Coupe DeLuxe dezvolta 13 CP si putea atinge o viteza maxima de 85 km/h.

BMW Isetta 600 a fost primul din serie care a dobandit patru locuri si doua usi spate. Daca botul a ramas neschimbat si accesul se facea inca pe partea din fata pentru sofer si pasager, ampatamentul lungit si axul spate de dimensiuni normale a permis adaugarea unui nou rand de scaune, care inlocuia spatiul pentru roata de rezerva si portbagajul Isettei normale. Acest model este dotat cu o motorizare de motocicleta BMW R27 si putea rula cu pana la 103 km/h.

Die 250er Coin in Fikkis Pfote

Nein, hier muss nicht die Coin rennen, sondern die Cacher!

Der Fikki hat eine 250-Found Achievement Coin erstanden,

und möchte sie nun im engsten Dunstkreis abgeben.

3 Cacher, welche nun seit längerem um die 200 herumdümpeln, sollen sich angesprochen fühlen:

Forn

(184)

Herrschröder

(208)

SUPABEE

(220)

Auch wenn die Startnummern ungleichmäßig verteilt sind, glaubt der Fikki,

daß alle drei eine ähnlich gute Chance haben, die Coin zu Gewinnen.

Die Coin mit Pin

Der Cacher, welcher als erstes die 250 erreicht,

bekommt diese unaktivierte Coin mit dem dazugehörigem Ansteck-Pin.

Viel Spaß wünscht der

Fikki

**PLEASE NOTE** This blog has been relocated. For updates to this post and to view more recent postings, click here.

$120,000 must be the new $150,000, no, it’s the new $200,000, no, the new $250,000. Huh??

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, in a radio interview on Denver, Colorado radio station 850 KOA today stated that people with incomes under $120,000 would receive tax cuts:

After months of stating that Obama would give tax cuts to “all working families” that made less than $250,000, that number has changed four, perhaps five times this week.

Those numbers for people who will have tax bulls-eyes tacked to their foreheads just keeps changing. In the whole “spreading” or redistributing the wealth scheme, those who will have their wealth “spread around” seem to be making less and less from one day to the next.

On Wednesday, “Oh, That’s Just Joe Being Joe” Joe Biden said the Obama-Biden tax plan would lower taxes for everyone making less than $150,000:

Perhaps in a “slow economy” or “financial crisis”, we just need to redefine the definition of “rich”. Wednesday, apparently, rich was $150,000, during Obama’s thirty minute indoctromercial, it was $200,000.

Perplexed by the four different numbers now floating, Fox News Stuart Varney, filling in on Neil Cavuto’s Your World, invited an Obama spokeswoman on to clear things up.

**Warning - Duct Tape Alert**

Please wrap your head securely in Duct tape prior to viewing as your head is likely to explode about 90 seconds in:

This link will take you to the Fox News site where you can view the video.

Miss Law seems to lower the threshold now to $45,000 - $50,000 if I get anythinng that makes any sense out of what she said.

If Mr. Obama, his running mate, a former Ambassador to the U.N. and sitting governor, or his “spokeswoman” can’t walk a straight line, let us do so here. Let’s examine some of the ways in which Miss Law tried to tap dance around directly clarifying which particular number is the one we are to believe:

1. $150,000 and $120,000 were amounts used because they fall inside $250,000, and so does $200,000
2. It’s not Mr. Obama who stated anything but $250,000, it was Joe Biden, and Governor Richardson
3. Since it wasn’t Mr. Obama himself, we’d have to ask Joe Biden and Gov. Richardson what they meant
4. Gov. Richardson and Sen. Biden were just saying those particular amounts because of the people they were talking to probably don’t make more than those amounts of money
5. Mr. Obama did say $250,000 and then $200,000, but that’s not equivocating
6. The discrepancies in amounts just reflect the struggle to define what “middle-class” is
7. Middle-class is really $45,000 - $50,000

Miss Law really cleared things up, didn’t she? Let’s see if we understand her correctly, taking these explanations, one at a time and correcting the circular logic:

1. It’s not a question of what falls inside the amount in question, and that’s not the context or language that was used by any of the speakers. It’s a question of where the threshold lies.
2. First, it was Mr. Obama who was among those confusing the issue. But also, if a candidate or campaign sends out someone to speak on their behalf, they are obligated to have their facts straight. If they don’t have those facts straight, don’t send them out. If they say something that represents the candidate’s point of view, we will take the person at face value. Otherwise, the candidate himself should call a press conference and clear things up. Besides, since Miss Law was speaking on the campaigns behalf, hence the word, “spokeswoman”, are we not to believe anything she says either.
3. We don’t need to ask Biden or Richardson anything. They already spoke. Were they rogues out there without campaign permission? Can we have Miss Law’s cell phone number so we can call and ask her what she meant?
4. So the campaign is admitting that they say things to different people in different places?
5. Huh?? Then what the heck is it?
6. The discussion is not regarding the “struggle to define middle-class”, it’s an effort to nail down a dollar amount at which certain incomes will be taxed higher and others given cuts. Apparently we are being clearly told that until the “struggle” is resolved, we’re not going to be clear on that murky middle-class definition. Hence, the threshold for “rich” is TBD. In other words, we won’t really know what the amount is until after Sen. Obama is elected.
7. Now we’re getting down to it. That $45,000 figure is suspiciously like the $41,600 figure we’d heard about earlier in the campaign: Sen. Obama had at one point in the U.S. Senate voted to raise taxes on  people with incomes above that amount.

Let us examine the definition of the word “equivocate”, courtesy of Merriam-Webster’s:

equiv·o·cate

1 : to use equivocal language especially with intent to deceive 2 : to avoid committing oneself in what one says

2 : to avoid committing oneself in what one says

Seems like the whole loopy discussion is the definition of “equivocate”.

Finally, let’s move totally into the land of common sense and sound reasoning. Is there any real doubt about what’s going on here? We’re being bombarded with so many amounts at this stage, so later, if elected President Obama can stake a claim on whichever amount is most convenient.

But is that something to celebrate about?

I’ve seen a few occasions lately where either Barack Obama or Joe Biden asks the crowd, in a mocking manner, how many of you make less than $250,000 a year.  And almost everybody’s hand goes up.  Or how many plumbers do you know who make over $250,000?  And everybody is laughing and applauding as if it is the biggest joke ever told.  What’s to be so proud of?

Something about that scene just really hits me the wrong way.  It’s not how many make more than $250,000 a year but how many would like to make that much.  That’s what Joe the Plumber was talking about.  Not that he made that much, but that he wanted to some day.  This is America.  Anything is possible.  And for asking a question, he got investigated.  And I have heard the argument that it was McCain’s fault for bringing him up without “vetting” him.  But just don’t go there.  Nobody has the right to investigate a private citizen like that.  He has plenty of grounds for a lawsuit and I hope he sues.  Maybe he’ll get his $250,000 or more after all.

And so what are we going to get from Mr. Obama for that negative distinction?  No tax increase?  A tax cut?  A government check?  Maybe, at most, $1000 a year.  I mean, how little are we willing to trade for the American dream and the American way of life?

I was extremely opposed to the bailout because I believe it was caused at its core by the forced lending of money to those who had no ability to pay it back.  There’s a lot of dishonestly going on there and I hate it.  But the answer to owning a home is having the opportunity to make more money so one can truly afford it.  I wish everybody made over $250,000 a year.  But how does it help a person to give them something they can’t afford and then come back a few years later and take it back?

In so many ways, Barack Obama just doesn’t seem to see America as I do.  I believe the least dependence a person has on the federal government, the better.  And why his choice of words in a recent speech, “the American people have been vindicated?”  What were we accused of?  Somehow when he speaks it seems he is referring to Americans as some great unwashed mass that he is not a part of.

And then I hear him complaining about the Constitution, the same Constitution he is supposed to Preserve, Protect, and Defend, the one that gives him and all of us our rights in this country.  And Joe Biden says, “the world is watching.”  That we will have an international crisis to test Obama’s mettle, he guarantees it.

If he is elected, there will be change, all right.  A lot more change than I want to see.  I don’t want “real and lasting change.”

Vote McCain/Palin.

(I’ve already voted for them, by the way - early voting.)

Oops, I just this minute heard him say the $250,000 is now down to under $200,000.

Posted:  10.29.08

Che Tristezza.. potrebbe essere la mia prima ed ultima occasione per scrivere un articolo sulla 250.
Ma vi rendete conto? la 250 GP che fino a ieri vedeva correre talenti come Rossi, Biaggi, Phil Read, Toni Mang… verrà distrutta in nome dell’audience televisiva.. e così i piloti scappano, le case abbandonano (KTM) e la Honda corre con una moto vecchia di almeno 3 anni.
Per l’anno prossimo si sono iscritti 10 (dieci) piloti e cosa dicono i responsabili dell’IRTA?? “stiamo facendo di tutto per salvare la categoria”

ma state scherzando? l’avete ridotta voi così!!
sapete cosa vi dico? VAFFANCULO!!!

ma lasciamo da parte la politica e cerchiamo di dire due parole sul campionato

250 GP
bè, che dire? meritatissima vittoria di Marco Simoncelli.. confesso che non ci avrei scommesso neanche 2 euro, perchè secondo me Bautista è più forte.. però sulla vittoria di Sic niente da dire, anzi… Ha fatto una splendida stagione chiudendo proprio davanti allo spagnolo. Marco è andato a podio praticamente in tutte le gare che ha porato a termine quindi, a parte qualche polemica di troppo, sul piano sportivo il suo campionato è stato impeccabile..
Altrettanto bene si potrebbe dire di Bautista. Forse un po’ meno incisivo dell’italiano però secondo me si conferma un buonissimo pilota.
Terzo Mika Kallio con un’ottima KTM considerato il fatto che la casa austriaca abbia debuttato nel mondiale velocità praticamente l’altro ieri.. Il finlandese è un ottimo pilota (a mio parere).. speriamo di non bruciarlo con la Ducati Desmo16…
Dietro di loro, però, il vuoto … non so neanche cosa scrivere..
Debon? pilota discreto. se avesse 10 anni in meno direi che deve crescere..
Pasini e Barbera? mah.. secondo me sono molto forti, ma quest’anno hanno deluso assai. per di più lo spagnolo è incostante e incoscente (sono stato diplomatico..) e non ha mancato di farsi male di brutto finendo la stagione prima degli altri..
Aoyama e Takahashi? .. mmhh.. pfff.. non so.. sono anni che non vedo un pilota giapponese degno di questo nome (Haga a parte..)
e poi non lo so… scorrendo la classifica gli unici due piloti degni di un commento sono Julian Simon (che perlomeno è molto giovane) e il grande Roberto Locatelli che a dispetto degli anni e degli incidenti si fa sempre un culo quadrato
sì insomma .. l’avrete capito che questa categoria così com’è non mi piace.. piloti e costruttori scappano dalla 250 (anche per protesta verso la dorna), piuttosto si ritirano ma in questa categoria non ci vogliono stare. e intanto il livello si abbassa….
ormai si vede chiaramente che la 250 GP è un malato terminale (è stata eliminata anche dal campionato europeo, l’unico posto dove ancora resisteva) quindi piuttosto sopprimiamola e smettiamo di soffrire

capitolo scorrettezze
scrivo solo poche righe, dato che odio i processi post-gara.. mi sembrano le polemiche arbitrali al lunedì sulla gazzetta..
però vorrei dire che avete rotto le palle con ste scorrettezze.. e Barberà andava squalificato e quell’altro mi ha buttto fuori e Simoncelli ha quasi commesso un omicidio (neanche troppo colposo)…. BASTA!
correte e stop, questo è il vostro lavoro. se uno vi dà una sportellata state zitti e incassate, la prossima volta andrete talmente veloci che la sportellata non ve la potrà dare perchè sarete troppo lontani. punto.
e finiamola con i ricorsi, i ricatti, le vendette in pista… finiamola pure di parlarne sui giornali! simoncelli (e colleghi) ha 20 anni e non può reggere la pressione dei media di tutto il mondo che montano un caso per ogni toccatina ‘di gara’..
gli incidenti ci sono sempre stati e sempre ci saranno. se si va oltre ci vogliono le sanzioni. basta, discorso chiuso
(ma non era meglio quando ci si chiariva a ceffoni dietro ai box, nel dopo-gara??)
__________

1. 281 pts. Marco SIMONCELLI - Gilera
2. 244 pts. Alvaro BAUTISTA - Aprilia
3. 196 pts. Mika KALLIO - KTM
4. 176 pts. Alex DEBON - Aprilia
5. 167 pts. Yuki TAKAHASHI - Honda
6. 142 pts. Hector BARBERA - Aprilia
7. 139 pts. Hiroshi AOYAMA - KTM
8. 132 pts. Mattia PASINI - Aprilia
9. 110 pts. Roberto LOCATELLI - Gilera
10. 109 pts. Julian SIMON - KTM

Costruttori:

1. 343 pts. Aprilia
2. 300 pts. Gilera
3. 245 pts. KTM

LINKS
motogp.com
Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme

Ducati 749

I think McCain says it all right here

During a rally in Hershey, Pa., McCain told supporters the gaffe revealed the Democrats’ true tax-and-spend intentions.

“It’s interesting how their definition of ‘rich’ has a way of creeping down,” McCain said.

“Senator Obama has made a lot of promises. First, he said people making less than $250,000 would benefit from his plan.

“Then, this weekend, he announced in an ad that if you’re a family making less than $200,000 you’ll benefit - but yesterday right here in Pennsylvania, Senator Biden said tax relief should only go to ‘middle-class people’ - people making under $150,000 a year.

“At this rate, it won’t be long before Senator Obama is right back to his vote that Americans making just $42,000 a year should get a tax increase.

Then there is the Wall Street Journal’s take on the situation…

Well, will families making less than $250,000 get a tax cut under President Obama, or not? Senator Obama has been saying this for months, but on Monday Joe Biden put the tax-cut income threshold at $150,000 in an interview with a TV station in his beloved Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Biden campaign later clarified — or at least tried to clarify — the matter by saying that anyone making between $150,000 and $250,000 wouldn’t get a tax cut but also wouldn’t pay higher taxes.

We suspect what’s going on here is more than Mr. Biden’s normal gift of gaffe. As with his admission that a President Obama would quickly be tested by our enemies, the Delaware rambler was stumbling into the truth. An Obama Administration couldn’t possibly pay for a tax cut for 95% of Americans by raising taxes on a mere 5%. Those 5% don’t make enough money, or at least they won’t after they find ways to shelter more of their income when their tax rates rise.

Just as Bill Clinton promised a “middle-class tax cut” in 1992 only to raise taxes on the middle class in 1993, Mr. Obama will quickly find that his tax-revenue math doesn’t add up. Add in the demands on Capitol Hill to spend more and to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax, and our bet is that even $150,000 would soon prove to be a moving tax target. Remember when the AMT was only supposed to hit 21 millionaires? Next year, without relief, it could hit 26 million taxpayers. Tax increases always hit the middle class because that’s where the money is.

Add this slip up to the reality of the tax plan explained here where the author explains 4 different ways that the Obama tax plan will result in higher taxes for everyone making $50,000 a year…  and I am none too thrilled, not only with the tax plan but the continued lies and the pass on the lies the media gives him.

As McCain has said repeatedly…  Obama is very eloquent, he will lull you into a sense of security with his beautiful words, but to get the real meaning, you have to listen to what he says very carefully.

The WSJ editorial staff knows.

Well, will families making less than $250,000 get a tax cut under President Obama, or not? Senator Obama has been saying this for months, but on Monday Joe Biden put the tax-cut income threshold at $150,000 in an interview with a TV station in his beloved Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Biden campaign later clarified — or at least tried to clarify — the matter by saying that anyone making between $150,000 and $250,000 wouldn’t get a tax cut but also wouldn’t pay higher taxes.

We suspect what’s going on here is more than Mr. Biden’s normal gift of gaffe. As with his admission that a President Obama would quickly be tested by our enemies, the Delaware rambler was stumbling into the truth. An Obama Administration couldn’t possibly pay for a tax cut for 95% of Americans by raising taxes on a mere 5%. Those 5% don’t make enough money, or at least they won’t after they find ways to shelter more of their income when their tax rates rise.

Just as Bill Clinton promised a “middle-class tax cut” in 1992 only to raise taxes on the middle class in 1993, Mr. Obama will quickly find that his tax-revenue math doesn’t add up. Add in the demands on Capitol Hill to spend more and to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax, and our bet is that even $150,000 would soon prove to be a moving tax target. Remember when the AMT was only supposed to hit 21 millionaires? Next year, without relief, it could hit 26 million taxpayers. Tax increases always hit the middle class because that’s where the money is.

If the new new deal and the second bill of rights comes to pass, we can all expect our taxes raised. There is no way to ensure that everyone has an income, everyone has health care, everyone has a house and that all businesses are regulated without a lot of money being poured into the system.  Imagine something like 10 Iraq wars with no end in sight.

Da er vi endelig inne i topp 5 på listen over favorittfilmene mine. Vi kutter småpraten, og går rett på. Dagens film er

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/

Regi: Irvin Kershner

Manus: George Lucas, Leigh Brackett og Lawrence Kasdan.

Med: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz og Alec Guiness.

Spilletid: 124 min

Den andre filmen og femte episoden i den store sagaen om stjernekrigene, og også den beste av dem alle. George Lucas har i denne gitt fra seg regien til Irvin Kershner. Kershner har aldri laget en bedre film enn dette, av andre kan det nevnes Never Say Never Again, en uofisiell Bond-film, og RoboCop 2. Lucas stod bak historien, men gav selve manusskrivingen videre til folk som før og etter jobbet med filmer som Rio Bravo og Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Vi har stort sett det samme castet som i Star Wars (som kapret 15. plassen på denne listen), med unntak av Billy Dee Williams, som senere skulle spille i Episode VI og også dukke opp som Harvey Dent i Batman. Ellers har han kanskje i likhet med de fleste andre skuespillerne i Star Wars-filmene slitt litt med karrieren, og dukket opp i forskjellige gjesteroller og småting.

The Empire Strikes Back begynner på isplaneten Hoth, der opprørerne er under angrep av Imperiet, og må flykte. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) følger et råd han fikk av Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guiness) i et syn, og reiser til Dagobah for å få opplæring i jedi-kunsten av læremesteren Yoda (Oz). Han Solo (Ford) og prinsesse Leia (Fisher) klarer å flykte til Bespin, der Han’s gamle venn Lando Calrissian (Williams) styrer. Men det varer ikke lenge før de blir tatt til fange av Imperiet og Darth Vader (Prowse). Luke klarer å sanse det, og må velge mellom å fullføre treningen og å prøve å redde vennene sine.

Et ganske velkjent lite fun fact er at deler av scenene på isplaneten Hoth er spilt inn i Norge, på Finse. Disse scenene gir oss også en veldig god åpning på filmen, spennende og actionfylt. Vi blir introdusert for nye romskip og transportmidler på begge sider, hvor de aller gøyeste må kunne sies å være “vandrerne” til Imperiet.

Ellers er det veldig underholdende å få sitt første møte med Yoda, som er en velkjent karakter, sannsynligvis for folk som ikke har sett filmene også. Kanskje den mest kjente fra Star Wars-universet om man ser bort i fra Darth Vader, selvsagt. Selv om Yoda i denne filmen virker mye mer tøysete og barnslig enn han skal vise seg å være i de tre første episodene, så syns jeg det virker veldig bra. All ære til de som laget og styrte dokken, den er absolutt noe av det mest sjarmerende i filmene.

Det er faktisk vanskelig å dra fram det som er best med denne filmen uten å avsløre hele handlingen, men med tanke på at jeg er helt sikker på at alle kjenner til twisten i denne, tror jeg ikke det gjør noe å nevne den. Det bygges jo opp til en av de beste lyssaber-duellene mot slutten, mellom Darth Vader og Luke Skywalker. Og det er ved slutten av denne at vi får det som da sikkert er den mest kjente plot-twisten i filmhistorien. Darth Vader er faren til Luke. Hele verdenen hans raser sammen.

Den kjente replikken som alle siterer, “Luke, I am your father.”, er jo faktisk en av de mest feilsiterte replikker også. Den egentlige replikken er jo “No, I am your father.”. Men det har vel blitt sånn, sånn at alle tøysekoppene rundt omkring skal slippe å forklare den smarte referansen de nettopp gjorde til Star Wars. Jeg mener, en kan gjøre så mye etterligning av stemmen til Darth Vader en vil, folk forstår ikke hvor det er fra før man sier Luke.

I tillegg har vi den berømte scenen der Han Solo skal fryses i karbon av Darth Vader, for å lokke Luke i deres retning. Veldig stilig lagde kulisser, og en veldig god scene generelt. Der har vi også en godt kjent replikkveksling. Prinsesse Leia tar en sjanse og våger for første gang å si “I love you”. Han ser tilbake og svarer: “I know.” Så blir han fryst fast i karbon. Nok en av yndlingsscenene mine der.

Stemningen i The Empire Strikes Back er mørkere enn i den forrige, og den slutter jo også på en ganske trist plass. Det var ikke akkurat noen hemmelighet at det skulle komme en tredje og avsluttende film etter hvert. Ellers gjelder mye av det samme som jeg skrev i innlegget om episode IV og III. Detaljrikdommen i planeter, folkeslag og vesen er fantastisk, og historien er innenfor det klassiske eventyret, gjort på en gjennomført bra måte.

The Empire Strikes Back vant Oscar for Beste lyd og en spesialpris for de visuelle effektene, samtidig som den ble nominert i kategoriene Beste Kulisser/Set-dekorasjon og Beste musikk. På IMDb har den 8.8/10 med 221 009 stemmer, og ligger dermed behaglig på 9. plass på top 250. Som alltid kan du se traileren nedenfor (med 80-talls-voice over. Frenetisk og lysere stemme enn du kanskje er vant med).

Viss du ikke har sett denne og resten av den originale trilogien, så må du faktisk få fingeren ut. Har du sett den, så kan du si hva du syns i kommentaren din nedenfor.

So says Joe the hair plugger:

So, if you now make 150,000 dollars, that is the threshold for your taxes to go up.  Perhaps this is another example of Latent Patriot Theory. Joe Biden has gotten a chance to get to know Obama and he is trying to save us.

Sem Honda e sem Yamaha.

O salão não teve as duas principais montadoras do Brasil, no entanto mostrou as montadoras asiáticas e nacionais que vieram para disputar um espaço no mercado.

As grandes atrações do salão foram os lançamentos da Kawasaki, Suzuki e a moto flex da Amazonas. Fora isso foi mais uma exposição mesmo, sem grandes novidades.

Nada de Twister injetada ou nova Fazer, as dúvidas ainda continuam… Será que a Honda realmente vai mudar o visual da TW ou está fazendo esse auê informal para ganhar atenção como um bebê mimado?

Ainda essa semana divulgaremos fotos e um vídeo com entrvistas e contando detalhes sobre os lançamentos.

EDIT:

Assista ao vídeo AQUI.

La última carrera del campeonato de motociclismo reflejó la temporada para los españoles, se estuvo cerca pero siempre habí alguien mejor. Por ejemplo en MotoGp dominó toda la carrera Stoner, que no dejó a Pedrosa ni una vuelta en cabeza relegandole al segundo puesto. Y tercero el icombustible Rossi que se marcó otra de sus remontadas desde el décimo puesto hasta el tercer cajón del podium.

Ver resumen de la carrera de MotoGp

Lorenzo por su parte tuvo una carrera para olvidar y siempre rodó cerca del décimo puesto, acabando el octavo. De Elías se puede decir más de lo mismo porque fue 18º en un mal final de temporada con su Ducati.

La clasificación final del mundial quedó encabezada por Rossi con 373 puntos, Stoner fue segundo con 280 y Pedrosa tercero con 249. Lorenzo fue el mejor rookie firmando 190 puntos y Elías acabó 12º con 92 puntos.

250

Simoncelli quería despedirse del año ganando de nuevo, como no pudo hacer en Malasia y lo consiguió con clase. No salío muy bien, pero tras una pequeña lucha con Bautista pudo remontar al primer puesto. Allí tuvo un gran mano a mano con Kallio que acabó con el piloto finlandés por los suelos. Segundo fue Takahashi que igualaba su mejor resultado del año y tercero, aprovechándose de la caída del piloto de KTM, Bautista.

Ver resumen de la carrera de 250

Entre el resto de españoles, Faubel fue sexto justo por delante de Espargaró, Arcas entró 14º y Hernández 16º.

Simoncelli con esta victoria consiguió 281 puntos durante la temporada, siendo Bautista segundo con 244 y Kallio tercero con 196. Debón fue cuarto con 176, Barberá sexto con 142, Simón décimo con 109, Espargaró 12º con 92, Faubel 14º con 64, Hernández 23º con cinco y Arcas el 26º con dos puntos.

125

La lucha que tuvieron todo el campeonato Di Meglio y Corsi, por fin se pudo ver en carrera. Porque siempre se quedaba uno y ganaba el otro. Esta vez, sin nada en juego ganó el italiano que aventajó en apenas una décima a Terol y dos al campeón francés.

Ver resumen de la carrera de 125

Nieto en su última carrera como profesional acabó en novena posición comandado al resto de españoles, donde Rabat fue décimo, Vázquez duodécimo, Jerez 15º, Saéz 24º y Trabalón 25º.

Di Meglio terminó la temporada con 264 puntos, por 225 de Corsi y 206 de Talmacsi. Terol fue quinto con 176, Olivé séptimo con 142, Espargaró noveno con 124, Gadea 12º con 83, Márquez 13º con 63, Rabat 14º con 49, Vázquez 20º con 31, Nieto 21º con 25, Tutusaus 26º con nueve, Martín 33º con uno y Jerez 34 con uno también.

Ahora, toca el mercado de fichajes, los movimientos de escuderias y de categorías. Veremos si los pilotos españoles cogen buenas motos de cara al próximo año y no se repite esta temporada de sequía.