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Over the next couple of months there are some important things happening. Basically, it’s my chance to tell you what awesome books and games are being released, as well as some holidays and their history - for both U.S. and Canada (Annual Bathtub Races!). I don’t really have a beat on what’s happening for movies because they’re so expensive and so lame as of late that I haven’t really been paying attention. But if you know of any that needs mentioning, post below in the comments section with a date. Or if I missed anything else that you feel is particularly worth noting, comment below.

Wednesday, September 21
ABC’s Lost – That’s tomorrow people, so get on the ball! If you want to catch up, here is a site that gives you a general rundown for each episode. For more details and spoilers, click “Recap” under each episode listing. It’s definitely worth catching up on for tomorrow night.

Monday, September 26
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is released for PS2 – Great game for all ages, fun quests and puzzles, a whole lot of fun. Thumbs up for Sly and the gang. I have a friend who has played the last two with his six year old daughter, and confirms that they are age appropriate – for the both of them.

Tuesday, September 27
Family Guy: Stewie Griffin, the Untold Story DVD. Previously unseen material except by those who have been downloading it for free. He commands you to buy it.

Monday, October 3
Oktoberfest Ends — Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to drink as much beer as you possibly can until Oktoberfest ends. Do we have any readers who are beer connoisseurs? Post below with your recommendations and we’ll get it added here.

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John Roberts has been in hearings with the Senate Judiciary Committee for a week now, and we still know very little about the man. He did give us a clue in responding to a pointed question that he does believe the Constitution protects the right to privacy. What that right to privacy means, though, can be interpreted in many ways.

Roe v. Wade, for example, is based upon one’s right to privacy. A law was struck down in Texas that barred consensual sodomy on the basis of the right to privacy. The concept of privacy, if expanded, could include matters like the right to die, the right to participate in armed service, and other issues. So John Roberts believes the Constitution protects the right to privacy. What’s he going to do with that belief?

He also, in response to questioning this week, stated that he does believe in respecting judicial precedent — a concept known as stare decisis. Under stare decisis, law continues to be shaped by previous court cases. However, stare decisis does not mean a court case once decided will stand forever — Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed for “separate but equal” public schools and other facilities, was later struck down by Brown v. Board of Education, which made segregation illegal. Prohibition was repealed in a consitutional amendment. So Roberts’ saying he does respect judicial precedent isn’t telling us terribly much.

So where does he stand, and where will he stand, on the issues that will shape the rest of our lives in this country? He ain’t telling. To which I say, damn, that’s slick. And a little scary.

Once again, it’s time for another weekly news update. But this time, politic-lite. Truth be told, I’m getting sick of writing about politics, and I think everyone’s getting sick of reading it. Besides, that’s why you read my articles, right? Because I bring you all the news that no one gives a rat’s ass about. So, let’s get down to the more interesting stuff that you may have missed.

If you live in a freaking cave or just don’t care about sports, you may have missed the NFL Kickoff. The game was preceded by a one hour concert of a strangely chosen mix of artists that no one really cared about, especially after Ozzy Osbourne got on stage and kicked the ever-living crap out of everyone with his performance. I’m not even a big Ozzy fan and I have to say that he was absolutely amazing. The guy is nearing 60, and he’s still kicking our asses. Of course, he looks like an extra from Night of the Living Dead with his phosphorescent skin and wickedly black eyeliner, but he could still rock your ass with the greatest of ease. In fact, I was absolutely amazed at how easy he made it look. About half way through his performance, I couldn’t help but think, “Ozzy’s almost 60 and he’s doing this so naturally, and Ashlee Simpson can’t even lip sync correctly .”

Yeah, I really was thinking that. By the way, has anyone else noticed that her website is called “ashleesimpsonmusic.com”? There’s a joke in there somewhere, but she already has so much more to laugh at that I don’t think we should linger. For some reason, MTV is letting her come back for another season of her stupid reality show that no one watches or cares about. I think the only thing the world will be watching is her reappearance on Saturday Night Live, since she botched the first one up so bad. In fact, there are quite a few petitions out on the net, begging, in fact, pleading, for anyone who can to stop her from “singing.” Yeah, she hurts me too.

Speaking of hurt, Steve Guttenburg is allegedly going to be making another Police Academy. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news or anything but, I think God has forsaken us.

In Pedophile news, Michael Jackson has written a new song for Hurricane Katrina relief, and Mariah Carey is going to sing it. Er, wait a minute. Did I really say “relief” and “Mariah Carey” in the same sentence? Well damn, I meant “obnoxious screeching from a psychopathic slut in high heels and a mini-skirt.” Sorry for the mix-up, everyone.

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There’s no escaping it – everyone in North America will be talking about Katrina for a long, long time. I’ve been wracking my brain for something a little lighter, something more entertaining that I could soothe the tension with, but there’s no point because all there is right now is Katrina and the fury of politics surrounding the disaster.

In fact, the politics are screaming out so loudly now that it’s hard to hear anything of value regarding the matter, like trying to locate children or get people some clean underwear. Earlier in the week, I mentioned the media frenzy that’s come out surrounding Kayne West’s anti-Bush comments during a fund raiser being held for those stricken by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, everyone has been talking about it, and I have to say, I actually feel sorry for the guy. From what I’ve been reading, it sounds like he realizes that the media responses to his comments have now been overshadowing the more important issues such as relief efforts, and he seems to be genuinely sorry. Not sorry for his anti-Bush comments, but sorry because he really could have chosen a better time and place to make a statement. And he’s right; he should have picked a different time to spew his venom because those comments hurt more than they helped.

Unfortunately, Kayne West’s comments have fueled more Democrat criticism about FEMA Director Michael Brown. Allegedly, (I heard this on Fox News, I didn’t actually see this myself so I use the word “allegedly”) there was an email or website that polled people on how they felt about the FEMA Director, and whether or not they thought he should be removed from his position. If a person voted to remove him from the Director position, a window would pop up asking for donations to the Democratic Party. And of course when the criticism poured in about the Democrats trying to profit off of a tragic situation, the Democrats were very embarrassed, removing the site immediately. Poor Democrats. They just really, really suck at this whole politics thing.

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Someone get on the horn and call Snake Plissken. Just when we thought the devistation from Hurricane Katrina couldn’t get any worse, it did. What more can I say that hasn’t already been said? The area is destroyed, homes and lives are devastated, families are separated and the dead are everywhere, threatening the living with sickness… And somehow, assholes are making matters worse. Reports are coming in of bands of young men raping women, police no longer tolerating looting, even if it’s for food — which is ironic because earlier in the week, there were reports of police looting going on. I ask you: Why in the hell is it that when we are faced with tragedy, danger and anarchy, a handful of assholes see fit to make things worse? If aliens exist on other planets, it’s little wonder as to why they avoid Earth.

And here I am, ready to hit you with another PSA: When the water has been pumped out and the city has been cleaned, don’t forget that many of these people were in poverty conditions to begin with and will have no money to rebuild their homes. Right now it’s estimated that the water in New Orleans will be drained within 36 - 80 days. When that happens, the people who were too impoverished to have insurance on their homes will have nowhere to go. Many, many people will need your help as much as they do right now. When the water is gone and relief seems near, don’t forget.

Also, if you have not yet heard, rapper Kayne West has his head up his ass. A celebrity telethon was being held to raise funds for the hurricane victims, and because Kayne West is now suddenly en vogue, he was paired up with Mike Meyers to speak. Instead of sticking to the script, he turned it into his own political agenda, saying George Bush hates black people and that the only reason the government hasn’t moved sooner to help is because the people in trouble are black. Unfortunately, he probably would have done a lot more good had he just stuck to the script instead of turning it into a Bush-jihad. I’d like to take this time to point out that if this had happened in California, it would have been predominantly Latino and if it had somehow miraculously happened in Kentucky, it would have been predominantly white trash. It’s the demograph.

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I’ve been hearing a lot in the past few days about looting and rioting in New Orleans, and isn’t it terrible — all these poor people running around with guns, scaring the daylights out of reporters, holding nice middle-class people in terror, etc, etc. I don’t mean to be rude, but really — is anyone surprised?

It’s self-evident that we continue to live in a racially and economically divided society — although those of us who live on the upper sides of those divides don’t have to think about it much, unless we drive through the barrio or the ghetto or the bad area of town that doesn’t have a name. So we can ignore that part of town, that part of society, and that’s fine in theory until something like, say, a natural disaster forces us to confront the existence of that part of society. And here it is — and it’s pissed.

Nice Middle-class White Person: Well, gosh, why are they all so angry? Why the guns and the looting and the rioting? It’s so scary!

Erm, let’s think about this. A hurricane is a predictable event. What to do in a hurricane is to leave the area. Those in town who could, left — which means they gassed up their cars, bought food and bottled water, and drove away. The part of society that’s rioting right now didn’t have that option — they don’t have cars that work, they couldn’t afford gas, they couldn’t get everyone in the family into the car, whatever — leaving wasn’t an option. Now they’ve been stuck in a flooded town with little relief aid for several days, and they’re asking why they’re not being helped. In the absence of a concentrated and immediate relief effort, they’re helping themselves to what they want.

A similar phenomenon occurred in Nicaragua over a decade ago — only in this case, the hurricane that swept through in 1994 was absolutely predicted and the upper class was absolutely told about it. The government just neglected to tell the lower classes about it and then provided no relief aid. The fallout from the event is still occurring, and the people have lost any faith in the government, because the government’s lack of action basically said “we don’t care if you live or die.”

Rioting and looting can be selfishly motivated, sure. Most of us wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for free stuff if we could get away with it or if the situation were right, even if we think stealing is wrong. But rioting and looting as a mass phenomenon spring from another place, I think: desperation and anger. When it’s been demonstrated (again) that you’re at the bottom on the scale of whose life is worth more, breaking the rules of the society that deems you worthless has got to become easy, if not necessary.

It’s all bad. But the system that allowed this to happen was laid in place long before the hurricane hit.

There has been a longtime trend in the U.S. of younger Americans not taking an interest in following the general news. My hunch is that this is most likely what keeps so many from voting at election time. According to the U.S. Census, in the 2004 elections, only 51.5% of U.S. residents between 18 – 24 years registered to vote, and of those, only 41.9% actually voted. Of course, during every election year, a hundred celebrities will stand up on MTV and work themselves into a media frenzy in order to promote themselves – I mean, trying to get young people to vote. Election after election, they’re out there trying to “rock the vote” and nothing is being rocked except for their wallets. The problem is the obvious: MTV isn’t out there educating anyone on what the issues are. Instead, everyone is out there for the publicity and to make a buck, and it is showing in the polls. My wish is that someone would get out there and arm the general public for the elections, so when the time comes and the onslaught of media erupts, people would be armed and ready.

Well, someone other than Jon Stewart. In the “Who Can Make More Fun of George Bush” contest, he definitely wins first prize. There isn’t anything wrong with this if you’re a huge liberal and you hate Republicans. But if you’re a conservative like me, the Republican jokes get a little old. According to a statistic I heard during the last election, a large percentage of the 18 – 24 voting demographic gets most of their newsworthy information from satirical sources, the largest one being Jon Stewart. This frightens me, as he generally adds his liberal slant on all things. But I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s giving our young people something that they want to watch – he’s keeping them up on the news (sort of), and he’s giving them a good time while watching. When I was in that demographic, I didn’t pay attention to what was happening, and I found the news rather dull, boring, and extremely repetitive. Actually I still do, but it’s important to me that I know generally what is happening in the world. I hate to say it, but Jon Stewart is sort of on the right track - we need people informing the general public in an entertaining way.

There is a general feeling of apathy that also irritates me. In the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, people have said to me, “I really don’t care about the 9/11 thing. I mean, it doesn’t affect me. I live on the other side of the country so why should I care?” This may sound pretty extreme, but this is a general feeling held by a lot of people that when things do not directly affect them, they don’t care. And I don’t mind saying that if you’re one of these people, you’re an ignorant, selfish ass. Sorry. Wake up and take a little more notice of what’s happening in your world, even if it just means going to Google News and scanning down the headlines – that can tell you more than an entire day of watching CNN or Fox News.

It is my expectation that all Halffull readers vote at least in the Presidential Elections and have a general idea about what’s happening on planet Earth. If you don’t, I will help you. Here is the recap of what’s currently going on:

The MTV Video Awards was held last night in Miami, Florida. Once again, everyone who sucks won. Prior to the event, as the celebrities walked the red carpet, I happened to be flipping channels when they interviewed Jessica Alba briefly. The interviewer said, “We really lucked out with the weather here in Miami,” to which Jessica Alba replied, “Yeah, no rain. It allows us to wear less than normal clothing.” The interviewer blinked and said, “Uh, yeah…” Obviously no one clued Jessica in to the fact that a HUGE FOOKING HURRICANE is bearing down on the area. Hurricane Katrina has weakened to a category 3 (125-mph winds), but it’s still very dangerous and is moving inland. All of New Orleans has been evacuated at this point so Trent Reznor may show up on your doorstep with a satchel tied to a stick, looking for a place to stay. Anyway, I’m guessing Jessica Alba’s publicist decided not to inform her about the hurricane because she might have worn something a little more appropriate for the weather, such as a life preserver or perhaps even the state of Nebraska, as it is nowhere near the hurricane. CNN and Fox News feel that there is nothing else newsworthy happening, as they reported on this all day yesterday, non-stop. In other news, hundreds of reporters die in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.

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Ok, so I was about a week late announcing the goodness that is Backpack. But this is just so cool I couldn’t wait.

Google introduced a new homepage, something like My Yahoo, except that it doesn’t suck. I know that’s a subtle distinction for the Yahoo engineers sometimes - particularly the ones working on the homepage.

Take your normal Google homepage. Add custom content to the bottom that you choose. Make it fully drag-and-droppable via AJAX, which is incredible to see done well. Make sure the content is actually useful, that there are no ads, and that it integrates nicely with good sites, rather than the crap that Yahoo floods you with. Google gives you the power to flood yourself, if you like, but you can strip it down to nothing but a search box if you like. Another neat feature to note is that, at least for me, the site loads the search bar first, and the extra content in one block last. I’m not sure if this is a function of the browser, the site, or chaos theory, but it keeps it nice and speedy for a homepage.

It’s funny, because my project for the past few days has been trying to screen-scrape together a nice integrated homepage, and they went and did all the work for me…

[edit] One remaining minor annoyance was the hugeness of the Google logo on the personalized homepage. Greasemonkey has fixed that.

Why on earth is everyone so surprised about Constantine leaving? He chose an absolutely godawful song - not that he had a great theme to pick from, but Bo did damn well with the restriction. He was even worse this week than in previous weeks, and even his “crooner” moves like the tongue and the kick were lazy and moronic.

Then there’s this review which pretty much sums up how awful everyone did, though I think it’s a bit off the mark on Bo. His wasn’t the best song, but it was by far better than all the other craptastic options. 2000-2005 isn’t exactly an inspiring genre.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the new HHGttG trailer. (old trailer)

I cried when I saw it. I cried again when I noticed they moved the date up to April 29. Then I watched it again.