Once again, it turns out that newly discovered WMD aren’t actually WMD after all. However, Poland and the US agree that the chaos in Iraq has resulted in a great opportunity for Al Qaeda to get access to previously unavailable Iraqi scientists with WMD know-how. Well, OK, they don’t put it precisely like that. Sixteen rocket warheads found last week in south-central Iraq by Polish troops did not contain deadly chemicals, a coalition spokesman said yesterday, but U.S. and Polish officials agreed that insurgents loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and foreign terrorist fighters are trying to buy such old weapons or purchase the services of Iraqi scientists who know how to make them. ...

Ouch.

Of course, if I went to Fantasia for a weekend — say, July 30th through August 1st — I could still catch about a dozen movies and have a great time. Say… Hillside Strangler for weird American avant garde serial killer cinema (or Heaven’s Seven for the Thai take on Vietnam, it’s a hard choice). One Missed Call (original) cause who doesn’t love Takashi Miike? This looks like his take on Ringu. Deadly Outlaw Rekka (original). Two hours of Miike is good; four hours is superb! Um. Porco Rosso, Miyazaki, yes. Harry Knuckles and the Pearl Necklace (original), for cheap laughs. Executioners From Shaolin (original), the classic Shaw Brothers movie. Enter… Zombie King! (original), cause masked wrestlers and zombies can’t be skipped. Toolbox Murders (original), because it’s the only thing in that time slot and I like to hurt myself. Malice@Doll (original) (or maybe Freak Out (original)) — ooo, wacky CGI anime! Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles (original), classic machinima, and I would love to see this on the big screen. Robot Stories (original) makes a nice contrast to the machinima. Into the Mirror (original) — Korean horror is not always good but so far in my experience it’s been interesting. The Bodyguard, cause I want to see more Thai martial arts action. ...

Turns out that I’m not, in fact, going to be able to develop a time machine and go back in time and clear off enough of my schedule to make it possible to go to Fantasia Festival 2004. Which is a damned shame. The only silver lining is that I won’t have to make any choices about which movie to see, this way. Pale lining indeed. Well, maybe next year I can arrange to take a month off.

The saga of the anonymous CIA author continues. According to the Boston Phoenix, Michael Scheuer is compelled to publish anonymously because of CIA restrictions. He’d rather let his name out, but can’t. This means I was more or less wrong in my fevered speculations a couple of weeks ago. He’s pissed off, but he’s not a kamikaze. Although I suppose if he gets fired in the next couple of months, there’s something to be said for the notion that he’s too angry to care about his career.

Minor blogroll readjustment: people whose blogs I read because they are a friend (among a multitude of other estimable qualities) have been moved to my Bloglines account. If you would like to share my brainspace in this regard, you can read those blogs there in one easy-to-manage chunk.

Nader is cozying up with the far right, yes. He’s cutting into Kerry’s support, yes. It is still wrong to play legalistic games (original) in order to keep him off the ballot (original). I don’t doubt that Nader may have violated the letter of the law in Arizona, and maybe he doesn’t yet qualify for the Florida ballot on a technicality. Great. Does that mean it’s morally right to control ballot access? Fuck no. Controlling ballot access is a method of controlling who can be elected, pure and simple. It is a way to say “minority opinions of a certain size don’t count.” I dislike Nader vastly, but let the hypocritical bastard run.

So Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, Frederic van Coppernolle, Jamie Oliver, and Alton Brown get kidnapped by Princess Florimel to compete for the post of Head Chef of Amber Castle… Cooking ensued. Lots of fun, despite the fact that I am somewhat Food Network challenged. Mostly posted for the sake of my foodie friends, who can now proceed to be properly amused.

Yep, I saw it. Chances are most people reading this will have seen it or will intend to see it (and for the rest, read on for a special offer). So instead of reviewing, I’ll ramble. It’s a Michael Moore movie. From some comments I read previously, I expected it to be less of a polemic, and perhaps more objective. Nope — he’s narrating the thing and even if he doesn’t come out in front of the camera much, it’s still got a heaping helping of Moore sarcasm and innuendo. I think I could have done without mocking members of the Iraq War coalition; even if I don’t think Costa Rica made a significant contribution to the war, I still believe the country deserves the same respect as any other sovereign nation. And I noticed that Moore left out England and Spain when listing coalition members. ...

Doc has taken over the Game WISH, renaming it the Game Dream. Cool! Question 1: When Role Playing Games are discussed, the subject of first-person versus third-person character narratives sometimes surfaces. When you play a character, do you assume first-person, using your voice as his or hers, or do you use third person, simply describing what he or she is doing? Do you switch between first and third person, or try to adhere to one? When other players are in character, does the use of first or third person affect your immersion in the game? ...