Category: Blogging

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when the United States did not take Islamic fundamentalism as seriously as it does today.

Manute Bol, who died Saturday at 47, was a 7’7 shot-blocking phenom in the NBA. In 1989, hell broke loose in Sudan as Omar al-Bashir took over in a military coup. Military transgressions led to the death of many Christians in the tribal south. Bol returned to his country, outraged at what was transpiring. This was around the time when the Sudanese government granted a haven to Osama bin Laden, who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden helped the Sudanese government with its matters, and built up a little club known as al Qaeda.

Bol says he had warned the State Department about the threat in Sudan, but says he was ignored. He also said that he had warned the Clintons about Osama bin Laden. During the last election, he answered without hesitation that he wanted McCain to be president. Why? Because, apparently, Clinton and the Democrats had dropped the ball when Bol was warning them about this trouble in Sudan.

To the United States’ credit, it did list Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism in the 90s, and barred U.S. firms from doing business there. Sure, in 1998 the U.S. fired a few cruise missiles at Sudan and Afghanistan, but what good did that really do?

Even the Sudanese government saw Bol as a threat, and had lured him back to the country to take part in peace negotiations. When he arrived, they seized his travel documents and he was a virtual prisoner in his own country while suffering health issues. He only escaped back to the United States when the government didn’t want to make an international scene in front of reporters at the airport.

So here’s the question. If the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon, and the Clintons listened to Bol, and taken the absolute necessary action, would the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have been prevented?

There is no shortage of blame going around for what happened Sept. 11. But one thing is for certain. Had the United States understood the threats and intervened in earlier conflicts, particularly in Sudan in the early 90s, things could have turned out differently. And who knows? Perhaps Bol would have been that person who convinced these U.S. officials of the threat.

When I was a kid my parents took me to Universal Studios in Florida. It had an Alfred Hitchcock exhibit. I fell in love. For a few years Nick at Night showed Alfred Hitchcock Presents reruns, and I watched it all the time.

Today marks the 50th year since Psycho was released. It’s not my favorite Hitchcock film, but it’s a close third behind North by Northwest and Vertigo.

However, from a pure nostalgia standpoint, it’s my favorite. When I was a kid I had a shirt that said Psycho. I bought a Bates Motel washcloth and beach towel. I visited Universal Studios in Hollywood and saw the House (which was right next to the set of How the Grinch Stole Christmas).

The one thing about Psycho I regret is that like many people, I knew the twist before I saw the movie. But it hasn’t stopped me from watching whenever it’s on!

Okay, that’s a stretch, but writing an article about Princess Leia’s wardrobe and letting readers vote on their favorite is as close to fashion writing as I’ll ever get.

Also, to be clear, I have no obsession with Princess Leia. My market research has indicated that dorks on the Internet have an obsession with Princess Leia, so I write about her, and people read, and I get paid. Yes, the article did go on the front page of Digg and got tens of thousands of page views.

Anyway, here is the Princess Leia wardrobe article, vote on your favorite. And here are the results as of today:

There are several characters who possess extraordinary powers (especially in Stephen King and M. Night Shyamalan creations), but they never made the extra effort to put on a mask and cape and use their powers to fight evil. I call these people selfish, because as we learned in Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility, yet these folks don’t really use their powers to their full potential.

Here are eight characters with remarkable powers who should be superheros.

Being able to see and talk to the dead has major advantages when it comes to solving crime. Even in the movie, The Sixth Sense, Cole finds out from a dead girl that her mother had poisoned her. Now take Cole, put a cape and mask on him, set him out into the world, and he can solve all sorts of cold cases by talking to murdered people and hunting down their killers.

Dress this girl in a burqa, send her to Iran and have her single-handedly destroy its nuclear arsenal with her telekinetic powers. That would be so much more useful than getting revenge on jerks at a high school prom.

Just like Carrie, another Stephen King creation from this list, the possibilities with Charlie are the same. The Taliban will burn in hell on earth as we set this girl loose in Afghanistan on a secret mission to become a child slave to those fanatics.

Perhaps the most obvious one on the list. Though he’s autistic, Eric has perhaps the most amazing powers as he can fly around Manhattan and capture fleeing criminals.

Can someone explain to me what a girl like Sookie Stackhouse is doing working at a dive bar and hanging with vampires when she could be out solving mysteries? Reading people’s thoughts can lead to much good, and not just knowing to give a customer more ketchup. This girl can be the ultimate superhero spy and provide oodles of intelligence to law enforcement. Plus, she’s not the only one with these powers. She met another guy who could do it, who worked as a bellhop at a hotel.

This guy actually is a superhero, but it takes quite a bit of convincing on the part of Elijah Price, who is (SPOILER ALERT) the villain. His powers? Physical strength, something I’m sure he would’ve noticed before lifting weights with his son one day. Also, extra-sensory perception, so he can get a sense of immoral acts of people he touches. What to do with him? Simple, let him be an undercover agent for the SEC, set him loose to shake the hands of Wall Street bankers, and let him uncover some of the greatest Ponzi schemes and incidents of corporate fraud to save the economy from taking.

Yet another creation from Stephen King, Johnny can see the someone’s future by touching objects that belong to that person. He winds up (SPOILER ALERT) preventing a nuclear holocaust through drastic means, but had he strapped on a cape and mask and went about it differently, he could have used his powers to prevent other future tragedies, as well. Like what happened in The Stand.

Like the kid in The Sixth Sense, Danny has the ability to detect supernatural spirits, but also to talk to others with the same talent no matter where they are. But how can Danny be a superhero, you ask? Good question. I’m thinking that he can be sent to places where atrocities have been committed, and to investigate unsolved aspects of those crimes and identify the elusive people who committed them. If these adventures turn into an Indiana Jones-style chase scene, I’m sure his power to talk to others will come in handy.