The United States Government killed Iraqi citizens today.

I just watched the X-Men movie. I would say that it was a really poorly concieved movie, with a overly formulaic plot, which added nothing to the comics that it was based on. Problem is, that is how almost every Hollywood movie is. Let the director/writers put just enough thought into the script to hold it together, then dump huge amount of money into special effects (though I would hardly call them 'special' anymore), and voila, a financial success.

People still pay their $9.50 to go see those movies, and keep going back, so who am I to argue? My point is, there's not much point in noticing the aspects that suck about Hollywood movies, because those aspects are omnipresent in close to everything that appears on the silver screen. Let's raise the level of debate. All Hollywood movies suck, but the FX are fun. What's next?

In other news, I walked past Film Forum, where I saw Rififi. The line was around the block, but I saw it on opening day, before anyone knew it was cool. I feel so hip. If you're in NYC, it plays til the 10th, so if you want to see a really amazing piece of cinematography, go check it out.

Monkeyfist: Act now to support jailed activists. Arrested protestors are, for the most part, not being charged, have not been allowed a phone call, have bail set from $100 to $400,000, and are basically being held in storage until the conference is over. Some have not eaten in more than 10 hours. More info from the IndyMedia Center.

Reasons to Protest the Conventions.

The Anarchist Statement on the GOP Convention has some interesting views and history.

Bill Gates interviewed: "Dot.net is not the same as other completely open systems. It is, instead, a Microsoft platform -- just like Windows."

What's the deal with the press letting Gates and others screen questions before an interview? To me, this screams "I am dishonest, and there are aspects of the truth that I don't want to publicly recognize".