BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 20: What's In A Name?

Renesmee? RENESMEE? RUH-NEZ-MAY!?! Holy shit. Of all the fucking stupid ideas in all the fucking stupidest gin joints in all the fucking dumbest paranormal romance books on earth: RENESMEE! That is the name that, in this chapter, Bella says she will be giving her baby, if it is a girl. So obviously it will be a girl because S. Meyer never met a crazy idea she didn't UGHHHH. Bella and Edward are going to have a daughter named fucking Renesmee, a portmanteau of Renee and Esme if that wasn't ABUNDANTLY FUCKING CLEAR. Bella and Edward just signed their daughter up for a lifetime, nay, an ETERNITY of well deserved mockery and/or a well deserved job at a strip club. OY GEVALT. I mean, as parents there is actually very little you can do to help your kids in this fucking world of ours, right? You can show 'em right from wrong, show 'em how to change a lightbulb and drive stick or whatever, and after that you're pretty much just hoping for the best and praying that your kid will sort the rest of the shit out for himself or herself and find love and peace and happiness and not get struck by lightning or something. As it should be! Best of all possible worlds, you are powerless, as a parent. Each and every one of us is on our own, really, and it's important not to be under the impression that it's some other way. But as a parent, if you want, you still have godlike power over the fate of your children. If you want it. There IS a way. After you push the kid out and the doctor slaps it on the ass and you recover from whatever drugs you were on the nurse comes in with a form. And that's when the sword of Damacles is hanging over your kids head and you've got those scissors that the fates use to cut life strings or whatever. You're Sisyphus, you made it up the hill, and you're holding the rock wondering if you should let it roll back down, see what it hits along the way. You can either give your kid a normal name and set the scale at zero, or, IF YOU WANT, you can dangle them over the fucking flames and name them whatever crazy ass set of sounds you like or can think of. You can willfully FUCK with their LIVES like that if you want. That's the power you can reach out and take, if you are so inclined. And then maybe your kid will work to overcome the name you've saddled them with, like the guy in the Johnny Cash tune. Maybe they'll be better for it. Or maybe it will be the very first nail in their coffin. You are rolling the fucking dice, and the safe thing to do is DON'T BET. You don't lose ANYTHING! But some people can't turn away from that opportunity. And I understand that need, intellectually anyway I do, that need to exercise what destructive power you have or are given. There are days when I understand it, I mean. Why do people throw furniture out of windows? Some of us apparently get sick of feeling the earth do the same lap, year after year, and we want to switch it up, flip the script. Who says you have to try to help your kids, right? Fuck it. Fuck him or her! Name her Renesmee! FUCK IT! My father's name is Dean, my father-in-law's name is Don. Maybe my kid will be named DeanDon, a thing like that, huh? Why not? The world keeps on fucking spinning no matter the fuck what. Renesmee! RENESMEE!

Razzie Awards Decline To Strike Dead Horse

The Razzie Award winners were announced today, and Eclipse did not win any, save for a Shitty Actor award or whatever for Jackson Rathbone which was technically split between that film and The Last Airbender. I pretty much called this play, as nominating Eclipse for nearly every category was a lukewarm joke in the first place and to actually award them much of anything would be even more redundant. Obviously I'm not saying Eclipse is a good movie; it isn't. It's also not a bad movie. I didn't expect much from it, and there wasn't much to it. That doesn't speak well of anyone involved in the production, but awarding it with whatever the opposite of a superlative is (evillative?) is still a stretch.

Try To Guess The "Twilight Oscar Surprise"

Well, this sure is stupid! Twilight producer Bruce Cohen was on Ryan Seacrest's radio show the other day (big week for radio by the way, huh?) dropping cryptic hints about why Twi-hards should watch the Oscars. Via Twilight Moms:

… Bruce furthered “Robert, Taylor, and Kristen will not be on the show but, the next best thing is going to happen and it will blow people minds.” Although Cohen wouldn’t reveal the surprise, he did let on what it is not, including it’s “not a live element at all…not technically CGI…and not the trailer for ‘Breaking Dawn.’”

So... what the fuck is it, then? That's basically everything it could be! Was Eclipse nominated for a technical award or something? It should NOT win if it was, but maybe that is what he means? He didn't specify that Ashley Greene isn't coming. Is that "not technically CGI" thing a dig at her nose? Or at Joe Jonas's heterosexuality? Maybe noted Twilight scholar and Oscar co-host James Franco is doing a parody sketch or something. If that is the correct answer, please kill me in advance of Sunday's broadcast.

Feel free to speculate in the comments what the Twilight Surprise will be! I find that generally when it comes to Twilight, the best trick is to try to imagine what the WORST POSSIBLE THING would be. And that's usually it!

Or more generally: the Oscars. Are you going to watch them? Who do you think will win what?

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 19: Pine Barrens

I hope people are still reading this blog and that you haven't given up on me just because S. Meyer is being so fucking boring. I'm trying to keep it readable, but it might only be in comparison to the original text. The good news is we learn in this chapter that Bella is likely to give birth sometime in the next four days. So page-wise that means soon, probably! I mean, sure, there have been days that last two hundred pages in this series before, but that means that in the absolute worst-case scenario, we only have 800 more pages of mind-numbingly bland bullshit before Bella is dilated enough to go! Stay with me, here! How many centimeters dilated will she need to be, by the way, do you think? Thirty? Forty?

All In The Family

Recently the Westboro Baptist Church scheduled a protest in Portsmouth NH to object to an upcoming production of The Laramie Project at the Seacoast Repertory Theater. Among the counter-protesters who turned out in droves last night was my uncle Jeremy, above. As is becoming a pattern, representatives from the Church didn't show anyway.

WRITING BREAKING DAWN: Seth Clearwater Tries To Have Sex With Alice Cullen

“How are you?” Seth Clearwater asked. “How's your head?”
“Better, thanks.” Alice shifted gingerly on the couch. “I mean, I still feel like I got face-fucked by a rhino. But a rhino with a smaller cock than the one before.”
“Oh,” Seth said. This was the third or fourth time Alice had said something so vulgar he'd been mentally incapable of coming up with a response. He liked the Cullens a lot, and Alice had always seemed cool to him, but now that he was really getting to know her he was a little scared. When, earlier that day, she'd told Jacob to “get raped by the business end of a pitchfork,” he'd just thought that was the normal vampire-werewolf animosity. But later she'd actually used the same expression to thank Rosalie for bringing her a blanket.

Ashley Greene Birthday Edition Content Recycler/ Real Exclusive Drug & Sex Rumors

It's Ashley Greene's proper (as in non-corporate sponsored) birthday today. Theoretically she's having a real(er) party right about now. Yesterday our old exclusive anonymous source wrote me to say that Jessica Szohr's absence from the Fiji Water/Angel Management party was notable. She and Greene are good friends, Szohr "isn't shooting anything" right now, and would have come for a real party with "condoms and coke." So I hope that means that version of the party is happening now! So here's a few of Ashley Greene's greatest hits, containing some of my favorite lines (well, I don't know about that part for sure-- just COCAINE JOKEZ over here!). Happy birthday AG!

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 18: Limited Omniscient

Jacob returns to the house and finds that Edward has laid out clothes for him. (What, a fucking flesh-colored turtle neck and some cargo pants? Maybe a nice vest?) There's (too) much made of the fact that the clothes smell like vampires; S. Meyer's conception of how scents stick to clothes and trees and, you know, THE AIR is a little extreme. Jacob considers his vagrant status as he puts on Emmett's ill-fitting threads in the woods, and realizes that having no possessions will eventually get annoying. I never really got the idea that Jacob couldn't just return to the Rez and pick up some of his crap, did you? It's like, right down the street! One thing S. Meyer likes to do is keep nebulous threats surrounding her story at all times, which is why the danger presented by the wolfpack, which could easily be very specific, has lately been undercut by the meeting with Jared in the last chapter. We don't know what the rest of the wolves are after, if anything. Much like the Volturi, the threat is entirely based on our heroes' suspicions. And I don't trust our heroes' instincts! Threats are always kept vague like this so that S. Meyer can dispose of them quickly, if needed. I understand the temptation to not write yourself into a hole, but our author is way too guarded. In the comments recently, Kira likened these books to a rough draft that somehow got published by accident. That feels especially true these days, where S. Meyer seems to still be trying to decide what to do next. Write an outline or something! Don't leave us marooned in the middle of your book for a hundred pages while you work this shit out!

Ashley Greene's Birthday Party (Brought To You By Pure Nightclub, Angel Management Group, Fiji Water and Caesar's Palace) Open Thread

So we're seeing a few of the pictures of Ashley Greene's heavily-corporate-sponsored birthday party this morning, and so far it looks like a Party Down episode came to life. First of all: it was Candyland-themed. What. I mean, my sister once had an American Girl Doll-themed birthday party, but she was 11 years old. Ashley Greene is 24. There's a weird, pedophiliac vibe to that lollipop picture that should make Joe Jonas (and everyone else) a little worried. Second of all, Greene brought in her VIP guests to Vegas in with goofily ostentations displays of wealth: private planes and stretch hummers, oy vey!

But whatever, our girl looks good!

There was a minor controversy, caught by the great 247Greene, when the friend I singled out on Friday posted a negative tweet about Pure Nightclub and Caesar's Palace and then deleted it, only to later post this:
Trouble in corporate-sponsored paradise? We'll see! I'll update this post when (and if) there is more to report.

UPDATE 12:50pm: More weird pictures!

CATCHING UP: Happy Birthday Ashley Greene Edition

I don't really feel like believing that Ashley Greene is at war with Denise Jonas, even if it seems like she totally is. Life is too short. So when Denise Jonas reassured her followers that Joe was with the family for the Superbowl, I didn't think twice about it. They are not at odds, even though it makes perfect sense that they would be, they are not. But IF they WERE at odds, Ashley Greene WOULD HAVE found a GREAT way to get revenge: she's having her 24th birthday party this weekend in Las Vegas. She couldn't have picked a more symbolic location unless she chose Premarital Pussy, PA (and that's a former Shaker village and the VFW hall is the only place big enough but it was booked for Bingo already). She's having a party at a club, and I guess you can actually like, go? For thirty bucks? I don't know. It's weird. Is Ashley Greene going to profit from her own birthday?

But anyway, I'm not going to investigate that shit, that is for the Tom Haverfords of the world and I am more of a Ron Swanson. The point is, it's Ashley Greene's birthday this weekend. Happy birthday, Ashley Greene! Many happy (box office) returns!

(Let me take a moment here to randomly endorse the Twitter feed of AG's friend and party guest Andrea Kelley, who is clearly AG's coolest friend. I am basing my opinion purely on this tweet: "Fuck, I love Thom Yorke.")

In terms of Breaking Dawn, these last two weeks we've been slogging through some pretty boring crap. It's getting better, though. We're almost out of this, I can feel it. But in the meantime, if you want to discuss ridiculous vampire/werewolf biology, the squandered feminist potential of Leah Clearwater, or the pros and cons of Jacob as a narrator, now would be a great time. Or, in the comments, you can just speculate as to what Alice, Jasper, and Emmett have been up to lately, as I did here.

• Part 15: Division Day
• Part 16: Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes
• Part 17: To The Dogs Or Whoever

I'm going to continue to try and connect the many threads I've started over these last few months. Usually the impetus to do so comes from strange places. Like Justin Bieber going off-script about abortion, or crazed fans writing Real Person Fanfiction. If you have not read "Maybe It's Not Too Late" and my thoughts on it, please do. I need other people to reckon with that thing.

Previously:

• Happy Valentine's Day From The Cast Of Twilight
• Catching Up: Feminism Week/Week Edition

WRITING BREAKING DAWN: Alice, Emmett, And Jasper Get Bored

Previously: To The Dogs Or Whoever

“Holy living fuck, when is this going to be over?” Alice moaned, tossing another beer can into the corner. There were a lot of them over there now. "This boring-ass wolfpack/baby drama is killing me!"
Emmett muttered incoherently and handed her another beer from the cooler while Jasper stared meaningfully in her direction.
“Yeah, I'm really not feeling it, babe,” she said, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate on the vibes he was sending her way. “You're giving me dime bag-level shit, I can tell. I need you to give me like, 'mother during Amber Alert.'”
Emmett snorted. Jasper furrowed his brow in concentration.
“There it is,” Alice sighed, leaning back in her chair. “God damn, baby. Just like that.”
“I feel like I should leave you two alone for this,” Emmett said, watching her writhe in her chair.
“And yet earlier when I asked you to leave, you claimed you couldn't bear to be around Bella,” Alice said flatly, without opening her eyes.
“I was curious,” Emmett said. “Rosalie won't do... that.”

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 17: To The Dogs Or Whoever

It took me almost a week to get down to writing about this chapter, but I'm glad I took a break to do a few other things on here. I read and reviewed a scary piece of fanfiction that better illuminated a lot of the cultural problems we've observed over the last few weeks, and then Justin Bieber spoke up about abortion and we were really off to the races. Plus, we all got Valentine's Day wishes from the Cullen clan. And how often does that happen? It sure beats this boring bullshit, anyway.

Chapter 13: Good Thing I've Got A Strong Stomach

Carlisle and Rosalie go upstairs to get some blood for Bella, and Jacob chuckles morbidly at the “house-of-horrors” stuff he might later encounter: “Torture chamber? Coffin room?” God, I hope so. Meanwhile, Edward and Bella are staring meaningfully into one another's eyes. Any kind of flowery window-dressing Bella might have forced us to endure during this is absent; I've never been more grateful to have Jacob as our narrator. He thinks back to Leah and resolves to “never blame her again.” What is going on here? We keep coming back to this. Why? Whither Leah? Later Bella makes a big deal out of her joining the wolfpack, but like every other time she comes up, it doesn't amount to anything. Is Jacob going to start dating her? Will he imprint on her somehow, like maybe he hasn't “really” seen her yet? Maybe Jacob has been wearing sunglasses this whole time!

The Devil And Demi Lovato

Earlier this year, the 112th Congress tried to redefine the Federal definition of rape. The (eventually abandoned) language in the bill specified "forcible rape" and incest as the allowable cases in which victims could seek Federal help in paying for abortions. An altered bill still stands, despite the notable efforts of Anthony Weiner and others, as a GOP attempt to make the Hyde Amendment permanent; the 112th Congress will still be in session for nearly two years.

On Monday, a bill hit the State House floor in South Dakota that would, in some cases, legalize the murder of abortion providers as "justifiable homicide." Changes to the language are being considered, but HB 1171 is scheduled for a vote today.

Yesterday, GQ filed an mostly incomprehensible interview with Billy Ray Cyrus who seems to blame, among other people, Satan himself for Miley Cyrus's problems. From the more cogent Vulture summary:

Shaken by a stretch of highway near the Disney studios that was adopted by Atheists United, Billy Ray calls it "a physical sign. It could have easily said 'You will now be attacked by Satan.' 'Entering this industry, you are now on the highway to darkness.'" Does he think the Cyrus clan has been under siege by the dark lord? "I think we are right now. No doubt. There's no doubt about it."

I Will Never Get Tired Of Doing This

Happy Valentine's Day From The Cast Of Twilight

Ashley Greene Continues To Pick Films Based On Shitty Titles

Oh dear. So Ashley Greene is rumored to be starring alongside Christopher Walken and Shirley MacLaine in a film produced by Bono and Wim Wenders. Quite the pedigree, right? Unfortunately it's called The Boom Boom Room. I wish I was kidding. Here's the plot synopsis from the Arclight Films site:

In a mystical and magical town in the California desert, once great Vaudeville stars, JIMMIE (Christopher Walken) and DIXIE (Shirley MacLaine) have long awaited the day the baby girl they were forced to give up will return to them.

When mysterious and beautiful ADELINE (Ashley Greene) appears she’s not the girl they were waiting for. But with her arrival their lives will be changed forever as a family searches for redemption, salvation and each other.

Set in a fairy tale world with a flamboyant dance club as its heartbeat, THE BOOM BOOM ROOM is a tale of miracles, love, and faith in all things good that brings hope to everyone who journeys into its magical world of wonderment.

Miscellaneous Quotes

"I believe one of the reasons the vampire genre appeals so much to women is that it takes us to that dangerous, dark place in our minds but still lets us sleep at night...I may think a Criminal Minds episode about a group of serial killers targeting exotic dancers sounds awesome on paper, but after seeing the promo with a woman being chased through a cornfield, I may decide I don't need to see that. Also, it helps that we tend to identify with the woman the vampire wants to save or screw, not suck dry."

-Mandi Bierly (EW)

"Take the best sex you've ever had in your life and multiply it by 100, and that's vampire sex."

-Ashley Greene (Maxim)

As Wind In Dry Grass: Understanding The Jonas Brothers and Twilight Through Fanfiction At The End Of The American Empire

Late last year I spent quite a lot of time researching what came to be known as Jashleygate, a gossip-rag scandal that launched a bizarre and still on-going Twitter campaign of scorn and rage directed at Twilight star Ashley Greene. Because the other principal celebrities involved were of the Disney/child-star variety, there were all sorts of dark undercurrents: overbearing parents, drugs, mental illness. Several weeks and thousands of words later, we were knee deep in a river of psychotic tween angst, fighting against an unstoppable current, darkness all around us. It was an inconclusive experience, to be sure, but a nonetheless profound one.

The Crushingly Sad Universe Of Twilight RPF

I can understand completely the urge to write Twilight-themed fanfiction. Twilight is a series in need of some deep correction, and the accepted practices like "retconning" and re-imagining characters provide the base-layer imaginative leap a lot of people need to start writing and therefore fixing S. Meyer's busted universe (even if they don't know that's what they are doing). Following that line of logic, I never really understood why anyone would write RPF, or Real Person Fanfiction; Ashley Greene's life is morbidly entertaining enough, Robsten's romance is sufficiently mysterious. What I was missing was that corrective urge is still there, but it's going in the other direction. I think I may write at more of an intellectual distance than a lot of people, but I certainly write to make myself feel better. I've just never thought to do it as literally as the authors of the RPF I sat down to read today.

There's a new post over at MOBFD, the first of a four-or-five part series in which I summarize some of the Biterion Collection findings so far: Careerism pt. 1.

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 16: Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes

Here's a hard truth about Breaking Dawn: even as we approach some kind of day of reckoning involving Bella and her baby, we are still mired in (by far) the most boring section of the entire Twilight Saga. And there have been some really boring sections! Chapter 12 drags and drags, so let's do this one like a band-aid: 1, 2, 3. (Previously: Division Day)

Chapter 12: Some People Just Don't Understand The Concept Of Unwelcome

1. The next morning, Leah Clearwater turns up and joins Jacob's and Seth's wolfpack. There's a lot of S. Meyer's pitiful tough talk: Leah refers to Jacob as “most high Alpha” and later “Captain Obvious” and that's about as harsh as she gets. And just because the wolves communicate telepathically doesn't mean our author should be allowed to get away with dialog this stilted:

I'm just pointing out that being unwanted is not a first for me. Not really a motivating factor, if you know what I mean.

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 15: Division Day

Previously: Killing Yourself To Live

Chapter 10 [cont'd]: Why Didn't I Just Walk Away? Oh Right, Because I'm An Idiot

Jacob leaves Bella's side after she more or less laughs off his (Edward-prompted) offer to be her sperm donor. Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, Jacob is hurt by this rejection even though he knew it was coming. I mean, when you offer to make a baby with a girl after she aborts the possible monster she's pregnant with-- that's really putting yourself out there. Bella asks if he'll be visiting again, and he says no; their ostensibly final goodbye is brief and uneventful, and there isn't even a chapter break. No one is trying to convince us this is real, and not even Jacob or Bella acts like it. See you next Tuesday (or maybe sooner) Bella!

Forgive the expression, but am I the only one having a “boy who cried wolf” problem with most of this book? So many potential threats (and therefore plot threads) have evaporated that tension has just completely ceased building. It dissolves into the misty Forks air every few pages, and now I can't take anything seriously. The only real problem left is Bella's baby, and it's hard not to feel like that one is going to resolve easily and then thinly segue into whatever the next story is. (There's nothing necessarily wrong with an episodic novel, but that's what New Moon was. This is supposed to be the final installment-- one would think it would feel sort of, uh, final.) I knew Bella and Jacob would see each other again before it happened, and I knew that the situation that is about to arise with the wolfpack would be over before it began. If everything always works out, happy endings stop feeling happy. They just get boring. This book is making me feel dead inside.

Catching Up: Feminism Week/Weak Edition

Given how much time was spent this week discussing abortion and artificial insemination, I sort of feel like we should do a birds and the bees talk today, just to make sure everyone is clear on the basics. But there are more important things to talk about, like the hilarious fact that S. Meyer claims to have studied feminism at Brigham Young University. The only worse place than that would be like, Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. It's a great engineering school, though.

I Have No Problem With This

Via @GabeDelahaye: My Beautiful Dark Twilight Fantasy. I have no problem with whoever started this blog.

BLOGGING BREAKING DAWN, pt. 14: Killing Yourself To Live

In the comments last time, Kim articulated the theory that S. Meyer is just making this "as crazy as possible." Like now that we've gone off the deep end with the pregnancy, we might as well dig a hole in the bottom of the pool and see if we can get to China, you know? I think this is probably correct. There's an episode in the fifth season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia in which Frank Reynolds (Danny Devito) declares his intentions to have sex with the recently widowed sister of his dead wife. "I don't know how many years on this earth I got left," he says. "I'm gonna get real weird with it." Sub in "years" for "pages" and I think we've got S. Meyer's governing philosophy right now.

Chapter 10: Why Didn't I Just Walk Away? Oh Right, Because I'm An Idiot.

Okay Jacob, we get it with the long chapter titles. Enough.

Four Different Ways To Spin Ashley Greene In Teen Vogue

I've seen four misleading headlines so far in the online coverage of the interview I wrote about yesterday. Let me know if you can dig up something even better. Number four is my favorite by far.

1. Ashley Greene Talks Joe Jonas and "Squeaky Wheel" Demi Lovato?
2. Ashley Greene: Miley Cyrus Is Like a "40 Year Old"
3. Ashley Greene has "travelling relationship" with Joe Jonas
4. Ashley Greene: Butter carving is mind-blowing

Yikes: Twilight And Rape Fantasies

"With nearly all of us having some insecurity about our bodies and our desirability, its no wonder lots of us fantasize about being raped-which in our culture, means being desired by men.

I have to credit Twilight with me putting the pieces together."

-Uh, okay?

Kristen Stewart Reportedly Playing Everyone

Kristen Stewart as Franz Kafka

In a few months Kristen Stewart will be have an open schedule for the first time in years, so it only figures that we're starting to be bombarded with casting rumors. First came word that she was being looked at for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot. I think K. Stew would be fine in that role, but I'm sure that role will be a pretty boring one. So it is without much investment one way or another than I can report it is not happening. Via Slashfilm:

According to the New York Daily News, Stewart met with Snyder and his producer/wife Deborah to discuss the role. Snyder didn’t formally offer the role to her, but had “definite interest.” Stewart, however “ultimately passed” indicating she was “caught off guard” by the success of Twilight and wanted to concentrate on “smaller, independent films.”

Ashley Greene Says Some Weird Shit In Teen Vogue

First of all, isn't it weird that Kristen Stewart is on Vogue and Ashley Greene is on Teen Vogue when Ashley Greene is older? Whatever, I mean, I'm glad AG was spared Vogue's photographers, but it feels intuitively wrong. Then again, I am not the intended audience for either publication, which becomes increasingly clear every time I read one of these fucking things.

This article had me cringing away after the first sentence, which is just so horrible it's amazing no one has been so awful as to write it before. I'm a little pissed I didn't think of it, that is how bad it is:

It's not easy being Greene.

Oy gevalt. The author, Lauren Waterman, has to qualify that with an "at least, it's not always easy," in order to get away with it, and then she spends the entire first paragraph ping-ponging back and forth trying to prove the convoluted thesis she's stuck herself with:

The Workout Plan

Without a doubt, this will be an animated gif by tomorrow. Ashley Greene is everywhere! And by everywhere, I mean in three magazines.

(By the way: hopefully you will notice that longer posts now have "read more" jumps so as to create a theoretically more handsome and informative home page. Is this good or bad?)

Ferris Wheel Of Hatred

The war between the members of the Ashley Greene-Hating Twitter Community wages on while the rest of us go about our normal lives. Sometimes we forget that others are out there, fighting for us, and when we remember the war still is going on, battles being lost and won, we feel guilty. But only for a passing moment-- then it's business as usual. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, though. Maybe they are fighting, in a way, for our right not to care. It's hard to say. But at any rate, these people are attacking just about everybody these days, like the Viet Cong or something.