The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

The saying goes, "With friends likes these, who needs enemies?" When it comes to Donald Trump, the phrase could read, "With allies like him, who needs adversaries?" President Trump has been notorious for treating our allies like adversaries and our adversaries like allies. As a recent Pew Research Poll shows, our allies are noticing. Let's compare those numbers to how the world, our allies in particular, viewed us at the end of Obama's presidency: Confidence in Obama: 64% yes, 23% no (net +41%) in Trump: 27% yes, 70% no (net -43%) Difference: Obama +84%/Trump -84% Views of U.S. Obama: 64% favorable, 26% unfavorable (net +38%) Trump: 50% favorable, 43% unfavorable (net +7%) Difference: Obama +31%/Trump -31% Allies' Approval Australia: Obama 84%, Trump 54% (Obama +30%) Canada: Obama 83%, Trump 39% (Obama +44%) France: Obama 84%, Trump 38% (Obama +46%) Germany: Obama 86%, Trump 30% (Obama +56%) Greece: Obama 41%, Trump 36% (Obama +5%) Ital...

Over the past couple of weeks, I've viewed two of the best movies I think I've ever seen and felt the need to share a bit about them. In addition to these two, I also saw the Daniel Day-Lewis-led film, There Will Be Blood , and highly recommend that as well. Lewis is electrifying and deserved his Oscar for Best Actor. Since that film was released over a decade ago, though, I'll focus the brunt of my attention on the two more recently released films which caught my attention upon first watching them and haven't let go two weeks later, The Square and The Shape of Water . What these two films have in common are they're both: Unique/unusual; powerful; well produced, directed, and acted; are not what they may appear to be; and will likely stay with you long after the closing credits. The Square is a Swedish film directed by star writer/director in-the-making Ruben Ostlund. It is essentially a satire on modern society, where a well respected art museum curator present...

The third and (thankfully) final installment of the Fifty Shades of Grey  series, Fifty Shades Freed , is out. To this point, critics have felt about the same about the three films as they have about the books on which they're based. Fifty Shades Freed  currently has an 11% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com . Here are some of my favorite review headlines: - "There are unintentional laughs in the plodding, clunky story, but the biggest laugh is the one this series has had on the audience for three movies." - Adam Graham ( Detroit News ) - "If Christian Grey was ugly and worked at McDonald's he'd be either arrested or on an FBI watchlist." - Robert Kojder ( Flickering Myth ) - "I'm not certain if Fifty Shades Freed is marginally better than its predecessors, or if I've just grown accustomed to the awfulness of the franchise." - Christopher Lawrence ( Las Vegas Review-Journal ) - "Lazy, vapid, unsexy, mind-numbing and poor...

I could go on ad nauseum about the seemingly never-ending line of exaggerations and flat out lies Donald Trump told in his first State of the Union address, and provide a grade for his performance, but I'm not going to do that. If you want a thorough fact-check of the speech, I recommend checking out Glenn Kessler's work at The Washington Post . As for me, I'm just going to look at a series of numbers today. First off, the president's speech was just 10 minutes shy of breaking Bill Clinton's record of 1 hour 29 minutes. Having said that, while Clinton uttered 9,190 words in his 1995 speech, Donald Trump's speech was just 5,830 words long. Clinton: 9,190 (words)/89 (minutes) = 103.3 words per minute (wpm) Trump: 5,830/80 = 72.9 wpm Now, granted, it's all but clear Donald Trump set the all-time record for self-standing ovations, but I digress. Let's now look at the approval ratings of the State of the Union address. Overall, the speech received rat...

Like a lot of people, I have a love-hate relationship with the media. While, generally speaking, I have a great deal of respect for the mainstream media in keeping us informed, even going to such great lengths as to place their own lives in jeopardy in order to garner and report news, they also have a tendency to frustrate and annoy me. At no time is this more apparent than when a devastating storm, such as Hurricane Harvey, hits the country. Sure, I think such a storm and story are of great significance and should be reported as such, but while I feel it's important for the people at large to be informed about such a horrific event, I think it's incredibly stupid and insensitive for many of these reporters to, instead of actually reaching out to and helping the victims, asking them questions when they're in their worst state, such as: - "So, how's it going?" (Uh, how do you think?) - "What's the water like where you live?" (You know it's...

I thought I'd tone things down a bit today and provide brief reviews on what shows I've been watching. Here we go... Mondays Kevin Can Wait (8 pm on CBS): Here's the latest vehicle for comedian Kevin James, who previously starred on the show King of Queens . Well, if you liked King of Queens , chances are you're going to like Kevin Can Wait . The formats are nearly identical. The only difference, from my vantage point, is the removal of the anger element which often followed King of Queens around like a shadow, limiting its replay value. So overall, I'd say I like this show better than James' old series, but it's not Emmy-worthy material either. The characters are fairly likable and seem to have a natural chemistry with one another, but the writing is rather formulaic and leaves much to be desired. Grade: C+ Man With a Plan (8:30 on CBS): Mondays on CBS should be called, "Middle-Aged Stars Trying to Rekindle Their Pasts," as like with Kevin...

As I've had to go through some health ordeals to start the new year, I've had more free time on my hands to sit down, (try to) relax, and take a peek at several new shows. Here's a brief rundown of what I've been watching and what I think about the shows thus far: Angie Tribeca (A+): This is my favorite new sitcom. It's the best parody series I've seen since... :: ponders ::... I can't even remember when! If you love  The Naked Gun as much as I do, be sure to check out this TBS gem! Rashida Jones is this generation's Frank Drebin, with bangs, and a few other differences. Besides that, they're like twins or something... Baskets (C): Zach Galifianakis stars as a clown in this FX dramedy. Week to week, I have a difficult time deciding whether I like it and should continue watching or give up on the series. The show is often dark and somewhat interesting, perhaps simply due to its unusual premise, but the chuckles are typically few and far between, a...

Up until about 12 years ago when I was living in Omaha (Nebraska), I had never tried Indian food. My parents recommended I give it a gander, and once I did, I became hooked. I've reached the point where I may have to attend IFA (Indian Food Anonymous) meetings, because if I don't eat it at least once a week, I start having (similar to nic-) fits. Since moving to the Columbus (Ohio) area, I've tried a dozen different Indian restaurants and thought I'd provide some brief reviews for anyone interested in trying the cuisine for the first time or for anyone in the central Ohio area looking for a suggestion on such a restaurant. As four of them have closed, I'll rank the restaurants in descending order, starting with #8: 12.  New India  ( http://www.newindiarestaurant.com/ ): If you're in the mood for an Indian buffet but are a tad short on money, this is the place to go. I'd give the buffet's variety an average grade (there are more non-vegetarian than vege...

Regardless of what people say, even that one time when at a pricey all-you-can-eat buffet, there is such a thing as too much. This is definitely the case with regard to publicity. Remember the first time you heard a song on the radio and you loved it? Remember the fifty-third time you heard that same song on the radio later that week and you hated it? Me too... ESPN seems to have trouble understanding this concept, however. While I thought former Denver Broncos starting quarterback Tim Tebow was a very mediocre NFL quarterback (yes, I'm being nice), I had nothing against the guy and kind of pulled for him at first. But then ESPN came a-calling, decided to seemingly devote half of its airtime to this one player, and before long, about 72.4% of die-hard football fans (including myself) couldn't stand Tebow. Our dislike for him had nothing to do with his character, or for the most part, not even how he played football (although, some of those throws were mighty painful to watch)...

There have been rumors and allegations that current Baltimore Ravens and future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Ray Lewis used deer-antler spray to heal more quickly from an injury. There have been mixed reports on whether or not the spray contains a substance which has been banned by the NFL.  I guess my question is this. Please keep in mind I'm not pro- nor anti-Baltimore Ravens (or Ray Lewis). Year in and year out around this time of year, the only things I really pull for with regard to the Super Bowl are great commercials and a great game. Okay, now, I completely understand why it should be illegal for players of any sport to use a list of banned substances which may give them an unfair advantage when they're actually playing. However, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to me for these substances to be illegal if these players are injured and simply trying to recover more quickly. I know people whom have been prescribed steroids, because the doctors believed it would qui...

Joe Muto - the former "Fox News Mole," who had been fired by the network after he posted some rather secretive information about it on the Internet, just recently had the following to say about the cable-news channel for whom he used to work: "The people at Fox are not stupid. They know when they have Dick Morris or one of these other pundits on predicting a landslide victory for Romney, the people behind the scenes know that it's all bluster. They know that this is sort of an entertainment. They know that a lot of these people are just hucksters ... we producers know that this is all a farce. The reason we don't step in and give a reality check to our audience is because that's terrible for ratings." As I've been saying since the network's inception, they are about as fair and balanced as Paula Abdul was stable and sober while a judge on American Idol . The cable-news channel should alter their slogan from "We report. You decide...

The News That’s Not At all hours of the day, We make our presence known, Near or far, At work or at home, From the time you awake, Until the time you fall asleep, During the time in-between, Never taking a break, All time slots must be filled, Regardless of the relevance, Mouths must be gabbing, Regardless of the content, Loud voices are heard, To garner viewers’ attention, Treating opinions as fact, No time for actual journalism, Political gaffes shall be a focal point, Car chases shown aplenty, Celebrity scandals and deaths, Random stories which mean nothing, Partisan to our base, Credibility lacking, Without a care for the truth, Only about our ratings.