iowahawk's Comments

Big Hollywood : Announcing: Big Hollywood's Countdown of the Top 25 Greatest Left-Wing Films

Tue, 7 Dec 2010 17:55:15 +0000

John Ford's Grapes of Wrath, with Henry Fonda.

Big Journalism : More Reasons to Defund NPR

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:07:56 +0000

It's misleading in the extreme to claim NPR gets only $4 million from CPB. That's only the direct part. Of its $400m budget CPB doles out $100m+ to NPR station affiliates, which turn shovel a large portion back to NPR for programming. In fact $20m+ of CPB radio funds are "restricted," meaning they must be used for "program development" -- i.e., buying programming from NPR or a "competitor" like PRI. As a practical matter, if taxpayer CPB radio funds went away tomorrow NPR would lose a good 30% of their revenue ($75m or so of $250m)

Big Journalism : NPR: A Mission Failed Should Not Be Funded

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:58:04 +0000

That "2%" is utterly laughable. NPR's real DC sugar daddy is 100% taxpayer funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In their most recent FY2011 budget request CPB asked for $600m+. $400m for TV, $136m for radio. Of the radio money $100m is "unrestricted" grants to local public radio stations, $35m "restricted" meaning by law that it must be spent on programming made by... whuddayaknow! NPR and PRI. In truth, a huge portion of local public radio station budgets (funded primarily by CPB, NEH, NEA and state appropriations, not to mention free studios and equipment) is "spent" on NPR programming. NPR pretends that this this is all some sort of private enterprise, although the shell-game financial practices are enough to make an Enron accountant blush. If NPR is really a "private non-profit," let's see how much they can make by selling their programming to commercial radio stations. http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/financials/appropriat...

Big Journalism : Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Andrew Sullivan

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:35:31 +0000

Media Ethics 101: Reveal classified military plans and troop locations in wartime: Pulitzer bait. Reveal our online chats: totalitarian McCarthyism.

Big Journalism : I'll Take a Cashier's Check, Mr. Breitbart

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:31:01 +0000

Who said I agreed with Breitbart? Personally, I think $100,000 for the deep musings and top-sekrit girl gossip of this collection of inane J-school dipshits is about $100,000.05 over the fair market value. But hey, whatever, it's his money. On reflection, it was probably unfair for me to compare them to 14-year old girls. I apologize to all 14-year old girls.

Big Government : Blago Accomplice Running Chicago Census Bureau Office

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:49:42 +0000

in Chicago, "pizza franchise owner" doesn't always mean "pizza franchise owner."

NewsReal Blog : Success! American Academy of Pediatrics Shamed into Reversal of Female Genital Mutilation Policy

Fri, 28 May 2010 11:00:22 +0000

Speaking of words the New York Times cannot bring itself to use, note what's missing from this desperate bit of PC fainting couch euphemism: "immigrants from some African, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures." Odd, wondered the reader; how did such a bizarre and barbarous practice randomly arise in Cameroon, Israel and Japan? When reporting on pedophile priests, does the Times report it as "a cultural practice associated with some Euro-Irish immigrant communities"?

Big Hollywood : Daily Gut: Obama's Coffin/T-Shirt 'Moment'

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 23:03:36 +0000

Is it the one that says "I'm With Stupid?"

Big Hollywood : Daily Gut: Obama's Coffin/T-Shirt 'Moment'

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 22:59:32 +0000

You know who's also getting buried in Obama t-shirts? People who sell Obama t-shirts. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/blogs/...

Big Hollywood : Hitchcock, #1 Overrated Director?: Bravo, Ben Shapiro!

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:01:49 +0000

I like Ben, but that list was just plain excruciating in its stupidity. Any list of overrated directors must begin with Robert Altman.

Big Hollywood : David Brooks' Sentimental Education: Bruce Springsteen

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 23:07:33 +0000

Great point about the faux-populist mythology around Springsteen, the whole hardbitten desperate soulful small-town hero affectation. The funny thing I've observed is that Springsteen mainly appeals to upper middle class suburban NPR boomers. Yep, they love all them songs about down-n-out unemployed haunted-by-Nam factory workers; it's the real life versions they can't stand. Those little people Springsteen sings about? They're listening to Motorhead and ACDC.

Big Hollywood : Angelina Jolie: No Fan of Obama?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:57:15 +0000

Angelina, it's long past time for you dump that deadend husband of yours. Girl, you need a conservative man who will appreciate you for the fine stone cold fox you are. A man who will treat you to the finer things in life, like fine $8 wines and Jagermeister. A man who is known as Iowahawk. Do you crave romance? Enter my lust upholstered Econoline of Love, and you will discover why the Mexicans refer to velour as el fabrico del amor Let me explore your erogenous zones under my van's erotic lava lamp, and together we will abandon ourselves to a wild 3-minute marathon of passion. Girl, let Iowahawk show you a conservative man will treat you with respect. I insist that we keep our money together in a joint checking account, to show we our equals in this relationship. And while you are off at the studio filming, I promise to yell at the maids to pick up my empties. Because this is the kind of man Iowahawk is. Are you ready for that upgrade, Angelina? Don't be afraid, call me. PS -- call before 10 pm, that's lockdown time at the halfway house

Big Hollywood : 'The Road': Bleak and Unforgettable

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:03:56 +0000

McCarthy didn't elaborate on the disaster in the book. Whether it was an asteroid or nuclear war doesn't really matter, because it was incidental its central moral theme of the man's struggle to maintain his individual humanity. The most haunting bit of the book was the man's realization that as the human race was dying, so were the abstractions of the human mind... memories, words, language itself. The thinking man's "2012."

Big Hollywood : 'Newsweek's' Snobbish Stand-Up Slam

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:49:28 +0000

It's not that I disagree with who's on the list, it's who they left off: Sandra Bernhart Louie Anderson Margaret Cho Janeane Garofalo In what universe are any of the above funny?

Big Hollywood : The Worst Song of All Time: 'Imagine'

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:30:29 +0000

Not sure if it's the worst song of all time (I believe the title belongs to "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks) but a schmaltzy bongload of delusional hippie bullshit all the same. Arguably the worst song by a member of the Beatles, though some might cite "Ebony and Ivory." Lennon earns some redemption with an earlier "message" song: Let me tell you how it will be It's one for you, nineteen for me 'Cause I'm the Taxman Oooh yeah, I'm the Taxman

Big Hollywood : J-School Rappers Rhyme Against Fox News

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:16:01 +0000

Smells like Teen Spirit! And also, mindless conformity.

Big Hollywood : J-School Rappers Rhyme Against Fox News

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:03:57 +0000

"My parents cosigned a $180,000 student loan, and all I got was this lousy YouTube video"

Big Hollywood : J-School Rappers Rhyme Against Fox News

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:26 +0000

Catchy! It'll be a big hit down at the unemployment office.

Big Hollywood : Daily Gut: Wolf's Confusion, Fred's Misery

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 20:07:35 +0000

SNL finally decides how to make fun of Obama: mildly, from the Left, and with so much half-hearted, tentative self loathing that there will be no danger of actual laughs.

Big Hollywood : Naming Names: The 'Free Roman Polanski' Petition

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:32:07 +0000

You know who else got the shaft from the criminal justice system? John Wayne Gacy. Say what you want about his personal life, but the man did some hauntingly beautiful clown paintings.