Kong!

Just got out of a screening of King Kong (a day before release, nyeah, nyeah, nyeah).

For my money, Jackson has hit it out of the park again. It is not too long at 3 hours. (Just over 3 by my watch, before the credits start, as opposed to the just under 3 claimed by the studio.)

Lots of nice touches. Oodles of amazing set pieces. Laughter. Tears. Pathos. Giant bugs. And you gotta love a movie that puts screenwriters in cages.

That Giant Flushing Sound

Over on The Corner Jonah Goldberg just posted an email from a Senate staffer:

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government spent nearly $2.5 trillion during the 2005 fiscal year. This means that, on average, the federal government spent nearly $6.8 billion each day, or $78,418 per second. The Census Bureau estimates that in 2004 (the latest year for which data are available), median household income in the U.S. was $44,389.

In short, the federal government spends almost twice as much money in only one second as a typical American household earns in an entire year.