to be this awesome ... kudos to Mr. McCarthy.

All the little boys and girls wanted to grow up not to be engineers, but to work on Wall Street.

The growth in hedge funds was dramatic and causing some concern.

 In my continued investigations into the Hedge Fund Saga, and the one man bank known as Bernie Madoff who schlocked  millions of clients from their money, I discover that an effort was made to legally require all hedge fund managers to at least register, alerting  states to who was operating these funds and where.

 Alas, the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court (!!) finding that requiring  hedge fund managers to register was intrusive and arbitrary, and contrary to their freedom to make a profit!

 Now that Bernie has bilked the rich for millions, they cry "But where was the SEC? Where was the oversight? Well the hedge funds managers were 'free' to operate anyway they saw fit. That kind of 'freedom to profit' turned out to be catastrophically expensive for the clients of Bernie Madoff. 

as defined by me, of course =)

I have stated over the past few days that I believe that the primary impetus behind the Obama team’s reluctance to speak out about Blagojevich is due to Obama’s reluctance to interfere or impair the federal investigation. As time has gone on, it has become increasingly clear that this is the case. Frankly, I find it admirable that the incoming president-elect is willing to take a political and reputational hit to do the right thing by helping Fitzgerald put Blagojevich behind bars.

Of course, what’s even more damning about our insipid media-driven culture is that it’s even necessary to say this. [...] Put simply, there was no need for any kind of immediate reaction to the charges against Blagojevich from the Obama team at all. It wouldn’t serve any useful purpose except to satisfy a smug political pundit class that demands that politicians need to condemn something right away, even if there’s no evidence of involvement, or else risk being smeared with complicity.

Just watched the new Hulk.  The word that best describes it is "vapid."  It is almost entirely deoid of plot.  The screen writer evidently believes dialogue exists purely to lead the most braindead audience by the nose to the next action sequence.

Said action sequences are well done, but the flashiness can't save the film.

The casting is rather painful, particularly in comparison to the earlier Ang Lee version.  Whomever decided to cast Liv freaking Tyler as Dr. Ross should be shot in the nuts.  Liv tyler's acting talents are best shown by a plunging neck line.  Putting her in the role of an intelectual is a rather cruel joke at the young lady (and audience's) expense.  I think Jennifer Connolley played a very good Ross (to be fair she had a much better script to work with) but there are other people who could play the role well.  I would have liked seeing Famke Jensen for one.  Liv Tyler was just embarrasing.

I generally like both Tim Roth and Edward Norton, but neither managed to excel under the weight of the leaden script.  The guy who played thunderbolt Ross had one saving grace- he was utterly forgettable.  Sam Elliot was perfect for that role.

Other than nice effects the best aspect of the movie (and the only way it actually exceeded Ang Lee's version) was in the little nods to the marvel continuity (Tony Stark, The Leader, DocSamson, etc).  Those are nice for long time fans to get little kicks from and they don't have to detract from movie as a whole.

If this review is mostly a comparison to the 2003 Hulk there's good reason- the studio and many fans were disappointed in Lee's Hulk and hence the latest movie was essentially a "re-do."  Which is really too bad because the Ang Lee movie was actually very good, it just wasn't what you'd usually expect from a superhero movie.  It had some fantastic direction, good acting, good plot.  It had good effects but didn't rely upon them to distract the audience from an inadequate story because the story was perfectly servicable.  The movie did run a little long and probably should have lost maybe 15 minutes, but I can forgive that pretty easily, personally.

Unfortunately the precedent is now set- vapid action wins out over solid movies that require a little intellectual investment.  When a Hulk movie is too cerebral for the american hordes it's time for me to break out the margarita glasses.

I would place Spiderman 1 + 2, Ironman, Xmen 1 + 2, and the 2003 Hulk on the top tier of recent superhero movies.  Second tier I'd rate the new Batman movies, Spiderman 3, and Xmen 3.  Distinctly lower I'd rate Ghost Rider, Fantastc Four 1 + 2, and the new Hulk.

(I need to see Superman Returns again, I can't remember it well enough to rank it)