Movies I've seen - Moneyball, The Debt, The Help, Enough Said, Star Trek: Into Darkness

 Moneyball - I've never thought about or understood the General Manager position in professional sports.  After this movie, I can understand why someone would find it a fun, challenging, and stressful job.

The Debt - I was bored by the use of flashbacks in the movie.  After the flashbacks were done, the movie picked up and I liked it.

(wonderful acting)

(I liked the relationship these two characters had)

The Help - I didn't expect to like this movie because one of the criticisms I'd heard of it was that, once again, the experience of black people in 1960's America is told through a white person.  But, the heroines of the story were likable and smart.  Given the history, it all made sense to me.  I liked it.

Enough Said - I liked all the characters in this movie.  They all seemed real and normal, but still entertaining.  I'm not sure if this is a compliment or not, but I thought Eva was Old Chrstine a little toned down and a few years later.  I liked "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; it made me become a big fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.  So, for my money - this was a good movie.

Star Trek: Into Darkness - I'm pretty sure I was awake for the important parts.  I believe I fell asleep during the action sequences.  Action movies of the last decade don't use plot - just action.  The story that holds the action sequences together is so thin you'd be hard pressed to remember the motivation 30 minutes after the movie ended.  That's my opinion.  At least with Star Trek there's a history to fall back on.  A line here and there that harkens back to Star Trek of the 20th century and the plot creates itself.  I'm going to rewatch those scenes again anyway - just in case I missed something important.  I REALLY liked the Star Trek theme at the end of the movie.

Power Pointless

PowerPoint:  Digital slideshows are the scourge of higher education.  On Slate, by Rebecca Schuman.

Amen.
I've been to enough PowerPoint presentations in my work life to see that most people don't know how to use PowerPoint as a tool rather than a visual aide.  For humans, it seems a natural step to go from using the tool to achieve a goal, to making the tool the goal itself.  (I bet there's a better way to write that sentence)
It takes an aware person to keep their eye on the true goal and not become emotionally attached to the tool.

Today (3/2/2014) in the Ukraine

The Russian parliament passes unanimous vote for armed troops to be deployed in Crimea.

It seems odd that so much goodwill was sent toward Russia just a week ago when the Sochi Olympics closed.  Putin is an odd throwback to a different era; he was in the KGB during the cold war years.
To the degree he has support in Russia, I wonder if it's because the chaos after the breakup of the Soviet Union was unnerving for the older population.  Putin's form of a new kind of communism and dictatorship may bring comfort to people.  Even if it's more aggressive, it's the aggressive a portion of the population understands.

The Russians have a base in the Crimean Black Sea and a lot of Russian speakers and supporters in Crimea.  So, in that sense, wouldn't we do the same to protect our interests?
Ukraine is having a lot of trouble economically, and Russia wants to make sure the part of Ukraine that has people who would naturally look to Russia for support (there are lots of retired Russian navy people in Crimea) are in their control.

I guess it's odd, but maybe expected that Russia would want this.  My question would be, who cares if Russia keeps Crimea?  Does it matter?  If most of those people support Russia, why not let them be part of Russia?

The problem would be if Putin tries to take the rest of Ukraine.  That's a different story.