Garfield Jones - Modern Renaissance in the Making

Google+

2012-01-22T08:24:00.000-05:00

Gotta check it out if you can do this with it

LIFE and TEAM

2011-12-19T12:22:00.001-05:00

8F's
Finance, Faith, Fun, Family, Freedom, Following, Fitness, Friends

Join and learn, join and teach.

www.the-team.biz/MV2475822

Election Season entering the 2nd turn

2011-12-16T17:18:00.000-05:00

Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 18 days

Countdown to New Hampshire primary: 25 days

Countdown to South Carolina primary: 36 days

Countdown to Florida primary: 46 days

Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 50 days

Countdown to Super Tuesday: 81 days

Countdown to Election Day: 328 days

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9493331-first-thoughts-its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-romneys-super-pac

Web Coffee

2011-12-14T21:22:00.000-05:00

http://webcoffee.organogold.com

Coffee that's good for you? YUP!!!
Hot Chocolate
Latte
Ganoderma

Ganoderma according to Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganoderma

Medicine

Ganoderma lucidum

Several species of Ganoderma have been used in traditional Asian medicines for thousands of years. Collectively, the Ganoderma are being investigated for a variety of potential therapeutic benefits:

anticancer effects ^[15]^[16]
immunoregulatory effects^[17]^[18]
antioxidant activities^[19]^[20]
liver-protecting effects^[21]^[22]
hypoglycemic effects^[23]^[24]
antibacterial effects^[25]
antiviral effects^[26]^[27]
antifungal effects^[28]
reducing blood cholesterol^[29]
inhibiting blood vessel regeneration (angiogenesis)^[30]
antifibrotic effects^[31]
protection against radiation-induced damage ^[32]
reducing lower urinary tract symptoms ^[33]
increasing endurance for vigorous exercise ^[34]

TEAM

2011-12-14T20:55:00.000-05:00

www.the-team.biz/MV2475822

Join the TEAM

Have Fun, Make Money, Make a Difference

corporate welfare costs ontario 3 billion per year

2011-12-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

corporate welfare costs Ontario 3 billion per year

Ontario’s massive “corporate welfare” spending is unfair, inefficient and costs more than $3-billion per year, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/08/corporate-welfare-costs-ontario-3-billion-a-year-report/

200 Trillion Dollar Question

2011-12-14T11:55:00.002-05:00

This was interesting

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/200-trillion-world-owns-wealth-184822710.html;_ylt=Avx7wtBhnYb4CRskNESHBzOiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTRiZmNqcDdrBG1pdANGUCBDb21tZW50YXJ5IGFuZCBBbmFseXNpcwRwa2cDMzlkNzEwMjctYTEwNC0zZmZlLWE5N2UtNjFmODA1MWI4OTRkBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgMxMGVhNjRjMC0yNjYzLTExZTEtYjVjMi1kMzU5NTNiNjM2NTE-;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

other charts available that are easier to read here - Click

10 Buzzwords to Avoid on Your Resume

2011-12-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/power-your-future/10-buzzwords-avoid-resume-182951302.html

I'm going to add all 10 to my LinkedIn profile :)

Creative. Effective. Motivated. While you may think that you're using words on your resume that will appeal to hiring managers, some words can actually turn them off. On Tuesday, LinkedIn released the top 10 words that job seekers overuse in resumes and job applications. Here's the list:

-- Creative

-- Organizational

-- Effective

-- Extensive experience

-- Track record

-- Motivated

-- Innovative

-- Problem solving

-- Communication skills

-- Dynamic

Natural Health by Sue Anne Hickey

2011-11-20T08:26:00.001-05:00

‎http://www.facebook.com/natural.health.with.sue.anne

http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/

" My personal nutritional approach is simple. If it grows, eat it. If it doesn't grow, don't eat it." Louise Hay - You Can Heal Your Life

"Despite the efforts of the Obama administration against childhood obesity, the US congress passes a law to keep pizza and french fries as the mainstay for school lunches. Bowing under the pressure of the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) whose members include... McCain Foods and JR Simplot, (the supplier to McDonald's) H.J. Heinz Co, General Mills and Kraft Foods."

‎"One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine." - William Osler

"Healthy glowing skin happens with a healthy diet and exercise. Also, ensure enough essential fatty acids from things like flax seeds, walnuts, salmon, extra virgin olive oil. Most do not get enough from diet alone and a high quality omega 3 supplement is necessary."

‎"Always take supplements with a full glass of water. Water enhances the absorption and is needed to aid in carrying the nutrients to the cells." Phyllis Balch, - Prescription for Nutritional Healing.

"Get enough sleep to lose weight. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. article reported a study in which men who were sleep deprived ate 22% more calories and felt more hungry before breakfast and dinner."

"Xylitol is a natural sweetener that looks and tastes similar to sugar, replaces sugar one to one, and has a negligible effect on glycmic levels."

‎"As we grow older, our digestive system tends to get weaker. Hydrochloric acid and enzyme production diminishes with age and is usually quite deficient by the time a person is 50, although it may start becoming deficient in many people much earlier than that. This deficiency of digestive secretions is a major part of protein and mineral deficiencies in the elderly. It is also why Digestive Enzymes is practically a “must-have” product for those over 50." - Steven Horne

"Nutrition isn't a bunch of "do's" and "don'ts" - it's about nurturing and nourishing yourself."

‎"What is rarely acknowledged or understood is that as these hormone driven changes (menopause) affect the brain, they give a woman a sharper eye for inequity and injustice, and a voice that insists on speaking up about them." Christiane Northrup, - The Wisdom of Menopause.

"To avoid calcium deposits (that also accumulate in the arteries, cause kidney stones etc) ensure you get enough organic sodium. Good sources include celery, carrots, sprouts, strawberries, oats, safflower oil and sun dried sea salt. A dandelion supplement will dissolve calcium deposits over time."

‎"A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs." -
Joan Welsh

Rather than getting a flu shot, boost your immune system with these healthy foods: Fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, fish, poultry, eggs, raw organic seeds and nuts,first cold-pressed oils, whole grains, sprouts. http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/strengthen-immune-system.html

The Top Strengthen Immune System Tips

www.health-and-natural-healing.com

The best ways to strengthen immune system, what weakens the immune system, natural immune system boosters, all can be found here.

Have you had your snack today? Often, it's better to have a healthy snack when you need one than to deprive yourself and then overindulge at meal time. For great, healthy snack ideas...http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/healthy-snack-recipes.html

Healthy Snack Recipes and Healthy Snacks and For You and Your Family

www.health-and-natural-healing.com

Delicious, Healthy Snack Recipes, including a healthy food list to always have on hand, healthy snack recipes and the best high protein snacks to take care of your sugar cravings.

Take my quick "Liver Quiz" to see if your liver needs some help.

Liver Cleanse Recipe - Lemon Detox Diet Recipe

www.health-and-natural-healing.com

The best natural liver cleanse recipe. How to follow a natural liver detox program. Find out how easy it is to lose weight with detox. Liver gall bladder cleanse as well.

Amiri Baraka "Wailers"

2011-11-19T11:00:00.001-05:00

Amiri "Somebody Blew Up America"

2011-11-19T10:58:00.001-05:00

Revolution!

2011-11-19T09:51:00.003-05:00

In the interest of self preservation the structure must first brutalize the people before the structure can change.

ENDURE!

Hypocrisy

2011-11-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

I'm curious how people who think that 'if you don't have a job, it's your fault' can now turn around and perpetrate this kind of hypocrisy?!

Someday

2011-11-19T09:50:00.002-05:00

Someday I'm going to stop writing poetry and start living it!

it's poetry to me. Haille Selassie:

2011-11-18T01:37:00.002-05:00

it's poetry to me. Haille Selassie:
"That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation;

That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race;

That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained;

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed;

Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven;

Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil."

PC Financial® MasterCard®

2011-09-13T19:38:00.000-05:00

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Sue-Anne Hickey - Natural Health

2011-08-16T05:48:00.000-05:00

Natural-Health

Those over the age of 50 don't absorb and assimilate vitamins as well, supplements are essential. Case in point; if a 35-year-old women and a 65-year-old women walk in the sun for ten minutes the 35-year-old will manufacture 3 times as much vitamin D.

Sue-Anne Hickey

http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/http://www.facebook.com/natural.health.with.sue.anne?sk=app_112078882147346

http://www.illuminartyoga.com/

Left Right and Left again

2011-08-11T18:02:00.001-05:00

Poor Obama. He plays the part of referee and statesman to the "T" and cannot get any love. The right hates him for being a liberal democrat, the left hates him for not being a liberal democrat...poor bastard! He better start pissing people on the right off a lot more since they will not vote for him no matter what :)

Barack Obama

2011-08-09T09:52:00.000-05:00

The rhetoric grows stronger that Barack Obama is not up to the task of being President of The United States (POTUS); I am of the belief that the rhetoric is way off the mark, he has been an excellent POTUS. He is in the process of transforming and strengthening the office of POTUS. He has been reasonable to a fault and now it is time for him to be somewhat unreasonable.

One thing I keep in mind when making this judgement is remembering what he has faced up until now, namely a hostile opposition which has made it a mission to deligitimize Obama at every opportunity, with every conceivable weapon at their disposal. "NO" has been their favorite weapon, blocking every iniative, refusing every compromise, going so far as to question whether he was really born...in the USA. If memory serves me right, that argument over his right to claim American citizenship went on for 2.5 years; some people still doubt it. All of this has culminated with their refusal to sensibly compromise on the deficit reduction and the debt ceiling increase effectively holding the US economy hostage with the threat of a default.

They were given 98% of what they asked for and it was not enough. They are entirely gleeful about the S&P ratings reduction to AA+. They say they have all the answers and refuse any other point of view and are entirely willing to destroy the country in order to rebuild the country in their sacred image.

What's puzzling, what's troubling is that this philosophy, this ideology is the same espoused in right-wing, conservative, Republican musings such as Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and that William Luther Pierce piece of crap "The Turner Diaries", coupled with the destructive extreme evangelical thinking that the world must end and it is their duty to do God's Will and bring about that end.

These people are dangerous yet it is Barack Obama whose measured even tone which gets attacked. I believe he needs to do more and move to left of the spectrum to counter this growing menace to America. He needs to end those wars, resolve the Guantanamo situation, and give the other party NOTHING. He needs to create jobs in America, balance the budget, educate America, and prepare America for a new age in science, transportation, medicine, technology, etc.

Do all this Mr. President and let the American people decide, some of them are reasonable, moderate, conservative Republicans and they will always ask for more, but they will appreciate progress, hold their nose, and vote for you.

Sue-Anne Hickey

2011-08-09T06:10:00.000-05:00

Natural-Health

Did you know... that in order to absorb the beta carotene from raw carrots (good for vision and also boosts the immune system) you need to eat some healthy fats or oils with your carrots, as beta carotene is fat soluble.

Sue-Anne Hickey

http://www.illuminartyoga.com/

http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/

http://www.facebook.com/natural.health.with.sue.anne?sk=app_112078882147346

Natural Health 2011/08/03

2011-08-04T07:30:00.001-05:00

"For optimal health or if you want to lose weight, Never skip a meal. When you skip a meal your body will try to protect itself because it does not know when the next meal is going to be. Your metabolism slows right down and the next meal is stored as fat."

Sue-Anne Hickey

http://www.illuminartyoga.com/
http://www.health-and-natural-healing.com/

Conservative Republicans

2011-07-31T19:50:00.000-05:00

The game is simple, if you don't play it our way, we are going to take the game ball, which isn't ours by the way, and let the whole thing crumble.

Chinese Billionaires die every 40 days?!!!

2011-07-27T05:59:00.000-05:00

"A Chinese billionaire dies every 40 days

So here's something you don't want to be: a billionaire in China. In a bizarre report, China Daily released numbers on Friday that showed 72 billionaires in that country have died in the last eight years. So what about the current 115, including Chen Guangbiao, at left? They should be a little nervous. But Daily's report revealed more alarming

truths: of those 72 dead billionaires, 15 were murdered, 17 committed suicide, seven died from accidents and 19 from illness. The remaining 14? They were executed. Guess it's smart to keep that bank balance at $999 million, boys and girls!"

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/dailyinsider#!wallState=0__%2Fpolitics%2Fjuly-26-zuckerberg-digs-jay-z-and-ivanka-trump-and-wendi-murdoch-team-up-10510.gallery%3FphotoId%3D43284

Tales of Survival

2011-07-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

This was a great story of survival.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43638590/ns/today-today_people/

By Scott Stump

TODAY.com contributor

updated 7/5/2011 8:50:40 AM ET

Floating in the Sea of Cortez alone in shark-infested waters, his body nearing exhaustion and his mind starting to replay his entire life, Charles Gibson was in the midst of a 16-hour ordeal that concluded when he washed ashore on a nearby island.

Conservatives win a majority in Canada

2011-05-03T06:07:00.000-05:00

Some are happy...me...NOPE!

great, more battles about gun freedoms, abortion, more corporate welfare through tax cuts, bigger deficits, less healthcare, less education, more people on the streets, more grief and strife for the incredibly shrinking middle-class, higher gas prices, higher energy prices, more wars, a more polluted environment, and a camera in every bedroom so the government can monitor our every move- naturally they will call it fighting terrorism. We asked for it, we got it, we will own the results until level-headed people can get back into power.

Osama Bin Laden Death

2011-05-03T06:06:00.001-05:00

Great, he's dead.

The Nature of Being Free

2011-05-03T05:41:00.000-05:00

Freedom is not in being able to choose your leaders but being free from having to choose between those who desire to lead you.

Are they Mad?!

2011-04-07T15:55:00.001-05:00

Conservative Republicans are MAD

They are mad they lost the civil war
They are mad that people received civil rights
They are mad women vote
They are mad that women have choice

They are mad that corporations need to pull their weight
They are mad that gays exist
They are mad that people seek the American Dream
They are mad that there’s more than one religion

They are mad about guns
They are mad that time marches by
Mad that technology advances
Mad about people NOT dying on the streets for free vs receiving universal care

Mad that people can band together to fight for safer work places, a safer environment, a safer world
Mad that they have to wear helmets
Mad that they have to wear a seat belt
Mad that they can’t beat their wives
Mad that they cannot drink and drive

Mad that freedom for others contravenes their world views
Mad if diplomacy is not at the end of a barrel
Mad about the Presidency
Mad about the President
Mad if it is not their GUY…
Mad that they are losing THEIR country
Mad! Mad! Mad!

Farrakhan on Libya

2011-03-21T05:45:00.001-05:00

Words worth listening to from a man I never listen to

Come Live With Me And Be My Love - Christopher Marlowe

2011-03-16T18:55:00.000-05:00

Come Live With Me and Be My Love
by Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.

Tragedy in Japan

2011-03-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

Insane! Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Fires, Nuclear Radiation...just when it all seems hopeless, it gets worse!

John Donne - The Good-Morrow

2011-03-15T18:11:00.001-05:00

THE GOOD-MORROW.

by John Donne

I WONDER by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved ? were we not wean'd till then ?
But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly ?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den ?
'Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be ;
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear ;
For love all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone ;
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown ;
Let us possess one world ; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest ;
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west ?
Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally ;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.

Charlie Sheen is too much...and way too funny!

2011-03-12T09:44:00.003-05:00

Charlie Sheen's WINNING recipes

8.9 Magnitude Quake hits Northern Japan

2011-03-11T06:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42023385/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Good thing this was not Tokyo.

Sympathies to the dead, dying, and those who must face their survivor's guilt.

Sampsonism

2011-03-01T20:38:00.001-05:00

I think the world is ready for a new religion, Sampsonism.

http://sampsonism.blogspot.com/

a simple prgmatic, versatile way of life which does not include pulling the wool over your eyes to make you feel better...or do it if it does.

Passion

2011-03-01T15:18:00.001-05:00

Your answer is a questionable "No" due to the ethics and moral obligations you feel must bely a wise and thoughtful position. I say it should be "Yes" not based on obligation, but yes based on passion. Unquestionably what is being offered is what you seek, passion at the highest levels it can be offered. Passion which combined is more explosive spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually than your highest expectations.

What is being offered is a love so intense, so divine, so powerful as to make time speed up as it slows down. The perfect paradox.

Follow it and two energies will exist that feed and care for each other long after earthly death has claimed our bodies, and two souls stream together across the universe.

I Say Phoque!

2011-02-27T02:39:00.001-05:00

I say Phoque!

You wanna know the truth?

I say Phoque to a system that blames poverty on the poor...how did everyone on wall street avoid jail time?

I say Phoque to a system straining to shield the wealthy
I say Phoque to a system actively trying to make the wealthy even wealthier...even if I should be counted among them.

I say Phoque to governments whose only goal is their own existence

I say Phoque to people whose interests are purely self-interest

Phoque to the uncaring

Phoque to the unwise

Phoque to rising energy costs! I mean really $1.32/liter ($5/Gallon)...REALLY!!! C'MON!!!

Phoque to no one denouncing it as profiteering

Which leads to Phoque the MIDDLE EAST while hoping freedom reigns throughout

Phoque to anyone willing to behead a woman for adultery
Phoque to anyone who does not believe in the right to self-determination

Ya...those last two thoughts may clash, but we should have all evolved past the point where cutting heads off is the COOL thing to do...waterboarding, stress positions, GUANTANAMO too.

And Phoque anyone who would want to pay less for gas if the price was freedom

I say Phoque to anyone who does not see giving the bottom 80% choices between food, clothing OR shelter as an immoral Phoque'd up choice!
Phoque to anyone that judges OUR actions as somehow morally superior to others when not faced with the same circumstance.

I say Phoque to those interested in making sure that FAKE people (CORPORATIONS) are better fed (Profits) than the people who work for them.

Phoque you to companies that believe their R&D should not be taxed to drive INNOVATION, while the profits from the products derived from their R&D should not be taxed to drive JOB CREATION!
Phoque those who believe that no matter how much they pay in taxes it is too much.

Phoque those on the flip side who believe we can never pay too much in taxes.

Phoque abortionists, but Phoque to the people that would kill them even harder.

NH says it best, LIVE FREE or DIE!
Phoque those who believe they know how you should be free.

Phoque capital punishment, and the people who deserve it.

Phoque religious freedom and the people who pervert it...not to mention those who say it but refuse to believe it...War on Christmas?...what a joke!

Phoque Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama...can you really tell the difference when it comes to the substance...oh wait, at least one of those should be brought up on some very serious charges...

Phoque Socialism, Communism, Capitalism, and every other "ISM" that gives but one choice

I say Phoque YOU to anyone that believes it is ok for anyone to die on the street for lack of a medicare card, or insurance.

Phoque, to anyone that believe it is ok to die for an immoral cause...

Democrat, Liberal, Conservative, Republican, NDP, Green, Socialist, Libertarian, Tea Party, Grass Roots, Marxist, Rebel, Freedom Fighter...all are part of the same coin who when in power allow ideology, geography, religion, gingoism, and the root of all evil to manifest itself and control....pervert their vision of a perfect world...

Compromise is the killer of rational ideas, and also the fertilizer for good deeds...

Phoque it all! Phoque the world!!!...again...like the 60's and 70's all over...again

and Phoque?...Yeah, it's the Canadian SEAL of approval to anyone who cares

The Grio's 100 History Makers in the making

2011-02-17T06:47:00.001-05:00

http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/

Cool!

Thunder and Lightning Snowstorm

2011-02-01T22:51:00.001-05:00

Thunder and Lightning during a SNOWSTORM???!!! I don't even want to think about how violent that storm has got to be for that to happen.

UC Baby 3D

2011-01-27T12:45:00.001-05:00

Too COOL!

http://www.uc-baby.com/en/image-video-gallery/videos.php

Movies to watch

2011-01-26T19:09:00.001-05:00

Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do

"The King's Speech" gained momentum against the Facebook drama "The Social Network," which dominated early Hollywood awards. Along with those two films, other best-picture nominees Tuesday for the Feb. 27 Oscars were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception"; the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right"; the survival story "127 Hours"; the animated smash "Toy Story 3"; the Western "True Grit"; and the Ozarks crime thriller "Winter's Bone."

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41248994/ns/today-entertainment/

Milk vs Crack

2011-01-26T06:40:00.003-05:00

If I were inclined to poetry

I would write this story

One is good as mother's milk is sane

The other crack cocaine

Which is not to say one lacks delight

Or is not one to excite

Rather best to gauge the stimuli

Measured against one's life

And put to rest the constant craving

Envy misbehaving

Insulated from all detriment

Living a life content

Thanks to a comment from MSNBC for this post

2011-01-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

To the deniers...

1. SARAH PALIN: “Don’t Retreat…RELOAD!”.

2. RUSH LIMBAUGH: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus – living fossils – so we will never forget what these people stood for."

3. SENATOR PHIL GRAMM: "We're going to keep building the party until we're hunting Democrats with dogs."

4. ANN COULTER: "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too."

5. ANN COULTER: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."8. Clear Channel radio host GlENN BECK said he was "thinking about killing Michael Moore" and pondered whether "I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it," before concluding: "No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong?"

6. SHARON ANGLE: “There are 2nd amendment remedies to take down an out-of-control” congress”

Bachmann compared Washington, D.C. to "enemy lines" and urged her supporters to become "armed and dangerous" and fight a "revolution" against cap and trade legislation.

On Nov. 9, the day after West announced he had hired Kaufman, MSNBC liberal commentator Rachel Maddow's 9 p.m. show had a piece that included a clip of Kaufman at a July 3, 2010, rally in Broward County in which she said:

"I don't care how this gets painted by the mainstream media, I don't care if this shows up on YouTube, because I am convinced that the most important thing the Founding Fathers did to ensure me my First Amendment rights was they gave me a Second Amendment. And if ballots don't work, bullets will."

Barack Obama called 'terrorist' at Republican rallies as US election campaign turns nasty

Republican rallies have adopted an increasingly incendiary tone towards Barack Obama, with shouts of "kill him", "treason" and "terrorist" interrupting speeches by John McCain and Sarah Palin.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3174101/Barack-Obama-called-terrorist-at-Republican-rallies-as-US-election-campaign-turns-nasty.html

- Joyce Kaufman, Radio host, Tea Party activist

"I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous . . . The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."- Currently serving United States Congresswoman from Minnesota Michele Bachmann, leader of the Tea Party Caucus, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson

"Sarah Palin has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district and when people do that, they've gotta realize there are consequences to that action."

- Currently serving Congresswoman from Arizona Gabrielle Giffords

Thanks http://a--smith-1451820.newsvine.com/

Crazy Coincidences? :)

2011-01-05T22:55:00.001-05:00

2012 End of the world prediction

May 21, 2011 End of the world prediction

What's going on in the world the last couple days?

list sourced from Godlike Productions Forum

FALLING/Dead BIRDS

Kentucky
QTY < 100
Type: Small Birds (not Stated)
Suspected Cause Cold Stress
Actual Cause : Unknown
[link to www.wpsdlocal6.com]

Louisiana
QTY 500
Type: Starlings and Blackbirds
Suspected Cause : Weather
Actual: Unknown
Links:
[link to theintelhub.com]
[link to www.wbrz.com]

Arkansas
QTY ~5000
Type: Blackbird, Starling, Grackle
Suspected Cause : weather/fireworks
Actual Cause : Unknown
Links:
[link to www.eturbonews.com]
[link to www.theglobeandmail.com]

Arizona
QTY >65
Type: Bats
Suspected cause : Weather
Actual Cause : Unknown
[link to www.azcentral.com]

Illinois
QTY: 50-100
Links:
[link to www.associatedcontent.com]

East Texas
QTY: 100's
Suspected Cause: birds got hit by motor vehicles
Links:
[link to www.allvoices.com]

Georgia
QTY: 3
Links:
[link to www.courier-journal.com]

Tennessee
QTY: > 100
Links:
[link to www.wsmv.com]

Japan
QTY < 30
Type: Various (Mainly Swan/Heron)
Suspected Cause : Bird Flu
Actual: Unknown
Links:
[link to www.upi.com]
[link to www.nytimes.com]

Sweden
QTY: abous 100 jackdaws
Suspected cause: cold stress, starvation, fireworks, etc
Links:
[link to www.aftonbladet.se]
[link to www.thelocal.se]

Italy
QTY: about 300
Type: Doves
Links:
[link to www.geapress.org]

DEAD FISH

Arkansas
> 100,000
Type: Drum
Suspected Cause
Actual Cause Unknown
Links:
[link to www.todaysthv.com]

Maryland
QTY> 2,000,000
Type: Menhayden, spots and croakers/various
Suspected Cause: Cold Stress
Links:
[link to www.wbaltv.com]
[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

North Carolina
Type: Pelicans
Links:
[link to www.enctoday.com]

Lincoln Park, Michigan
QTY: 100's
Suspected Cause: Cold Weather
Links:
[link to www.clickondetroit.com]

South Wales (UK)
QTY>~ 100's
Type: Various Carp/Bream/Other
Suspected Cause Cold Weather
Actual Cause Unknown
Links:
[link to www.bymnews.com]

Brazil
QTY: ~Millions (100 tons)
Type: Sardines
Suspected cause :Unknown
Actual Cause : Unknown
Links:
[link to freerepublic.com]
[link to www.parana-online.com.br]

Italy (Scarlino)
QTY 100,000s
Type: Clams/Small fish/Shellfish/Crabs/Flatfish
Suspected Cause : Pollution
Actual Cause : Unknown
Links :
[link to corrierefiorentino.corriere.it]

New Zealand
Type: Snapper
[link to www.nzherald.co.nz]

Ontario, Canada
QTY: 100's
Suspected Cause: Temperature Shock
Links:
[link to www.torontosun.com]

Haiti
[link to www.france24.com]

Vietnam
QTY: 150 tonns
Type: Red Tilapia
Suspected Cause: Frequient Ebb tides and high density of fish per pen:
[link to business.asiaone.com]

Britain
QTY: 40,000
Type: Crabs
Suspected Cause: Cold weather
Links:
[link to economictimes.indiatimes.com]

Very very interesting...I wonder if similar happenings have always gone on but have just remained unreported? Doubt it.

So, say your prayers, love your kids, smoke em if you got em, drink, laugh, love, party hard, cause we's all going down! Except for me.

To Wikileak or Not

2010-12-06T20:07:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I have seen so many people so angry. I have a few thoughts on the whole Wikileaks saga:

1) Secrets are only supposed to stay secret if you had not previously shared them with 2.5 million people.
2) When the whole world is mad at you for exposing the unseemly underbelly of politics at its rawest, you must be doing something right.
3) Freedom marches on!

The biggest point though is that if the press were doing its duty instead of feeding us a nonsensical diet of Britney, Harry, Lindsay, Kimmie K, Jen, Brad, Angelina, Dancing With The Stars, the latest faux news, water cooler gossip, How bout them Cowboys, Bieber- He's so cute!, Did Kanye meltdown again, who's dating who, did you hear the gruesome tale of, and He said She said Bullcrap, maybe we would not need a Wikileaks.

There was a time when it was responsible journalism to explore government secrets and report on them to keep a bright light shining on what is arguably the most corrupt of professions...or the most corrupting.

Republicans and governing

2010-11-01T20:22:00.001-05:00

First off, congrats to my baby sister for winning her case in front of the Maryland Court of Appeals.

Today she had a status about Republicans and Obama...this is the rant I added to the conversation:

Govern...do they know how? :) I guess we'll have 2 more years of just say no, maybe even some Newt Gingrich style 'let's shut down the government!' basted with a few laws curtailing personal freedoms (gays, abortion, civil rights anyone?) throw in a few 'let's bomb Iran!' mixed with some 'let's cut welfare and the minimum wage' and a whole lot of tax cuts tax cuts tax cuts...hmmm trillion dollar deficit....no no no TWO trillion dollar deficit! Which of course will be blamed on Obama and be what they campaign on to try to get him out of power in 2012 :)

Find All Mdoels

2010-11-01T20:19:00.000-05:00

Find All Model seems to be working quite well under the new platform. I have a Fresh Face of the Day, Model of the Month, and Baby Face of the Day. Gonna add a weekly feature as well, plus work with these guys until Magg Jacobs gets up and running...provided they opt to offer a partnership program.

MySpace

2010-10-27T05:52:00.000-05:00

Seems to me that MySpace is not just gonna lay there, play dead and let FaceBook walk all over them. They are improving their product and rejoining the fight. The new profiles are cleaner which makes visiting a friends page not such a aesthetic nightmare. They still leave room for self-expression, not to mention you can upload music to your profile...a big plus for aspiring artists.

This could get interesting very fast, especially now that you can link your MySpace account to your FaceBook and Twitter and share all the same things in 3 places automatically.

Thank you Anonymous

2010-10-12T18:06:00.000-05:00

Some of the best quotes are attributed to anonymous and here's another good one

"The day I know you're in my bed is the day I know my mother's dead."

Spoken today by a close friend who mentioned that I cannot divulge the source of the quote until 25 years after her death :)

Like Peace

2010-10-09T07:08:00.002-05:00

War is much easier to wage than peace and our leaders the world over do it in our perceived interests. It is time to let them know where our interests lie. It is easier to strap on a bomb to highlight a grievance, it seems far less difficult to invade and occupy, than to wage a war of ideas to win the hearts and minds of others. Peace is tough! What is crazy is that everyone waging war believes they are just and justified to kill, destroy, maim, and displace, after all, the "enemy" is far too superior, far too richer, far more ideological, far more committed to destroying us than we are to them, so we must escalate. We are right, they are wrong and fight we must. God is on our side! War has its place, but that place is not perpetual. We are now in the process all over the world of waging war not for riches, not for ideology, not for religion, not for rights, but simply because we have not figured out how to wage peace for those very things. We now do it because it is the simplest solution. It is time to stop! Like this group, sign the wall, and share this page with your friends and family. LIKE PEACE!

Polyvalente

2010-10-03T20:32:00.001-05:00

It's a sad statement that I can remember so well the name Marc Lepine but not the names of a single one of his victims. :(

It's an Ode to ME!

2010-09-27T20:28:00.002-05:00

Narcissistic?...NAWWW!!!

The New Look

2010-09-27T19:52:00.000-05:00

I like these new look and feel templates and designs...so much easier to use

Too funny

2010-07-13T17:53:00.001-05:00

Call this number 514-373-2054

Movies I need to see

2010-05-11T18:12:00.000-05:00

Pretty much anything on this list
The Most Controversial Movies Ever
http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/movies/galleries/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=24195543

Jesus Christ

2010-04-05T18:59:00.005-05:00

If I were merely musing that Jesus Christ was just another ex con who found God, would Christians want to kill me?

Rambling Thoughts

2010-03-27T19:18:00.000-05:00

I see art in mathematics, science in music and art...The universe is my God and science is Jesus. For nothing happens on its own and there is an explanation for all things...the path to that knowledge is through observation and experimentation.

Relationships

2010-03-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

Relationships are tough. DOn't kid yourself, the hardest thing you will ever do is create and maintain a relationship and it is unavoidable for any number of reasons...work, school, home, church, etc

This blog has moved

2010-03-11T06:47:00.001-05:00

This blog is now located at http://garfieldajones.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://garfieldajones.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Dream Warriors

2010-02-24T19:36:00.002-05:00

I went to the winter leadership conference in St Louis and was quite pleased with most of what I saw and heard. I now have it in my head that my mission, my purpose is to become rich by helping other people become rich.

MonaVie

2009-10-14T18:11:00.001-05:00

I like it!

http://www.the-team.biz/mv2475822/tabid/148/Default.aspx

Thai Travel

2009-09-09T18:38:00.000-05:00

Hey Garfield, I just discovered this awesome event called the Ultimate Thailand Explorers, hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. I really think you should apply. Basically, they are giving five teams of people from around the world free holidays in Thailand. If you are selected, all you have to do is spend six days exploring one of five awesome destinations (Bangkok, Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Pattya) and then write stories, take pictures and shoot videos about what you do each day.

After you upload the pictures, stories and videos onto the internet you then tell people to vote for you. How easy and fun is that??! The team whose profile gets the most online votes wins $10,000 cash and $5,000 in prizes (including more free Thai travel, Blackberry cell phones, and Sony video recorders!) The other contestants get some pretty cool prizes too.

You have until October 15th to shoot your audition video and apply for the contest. Judges will select 25 semifinalists so your video needs to be good. The whole rest of the contest will be determined by online voting, so it helps if you have lots of facebook and/or myspace friends and know how to utilize the internet to get people to watch your videos and vote for you. I think you would be perfect for this.

Go to www.ultimatethailandexplorers.com so that you can apply.

My You Tube Channel

2009-08-02T10:29:00.002-05:00

Nothing there yet, but I have a few thoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/user/gajventures#user/D69D55A04C4AF2FD

Michael Jackson - Exclusive behind the scenes funeral photos

2009-07-27T18:39:00.003-05:00

There were rules to me getting these:

1) copyrighted, so I cannot sell them

2) I can't give them away

3) I can't tell where I got them

RIP Michael Jackson 1958-2009

The Long Road to Obama

2009-07-25T10:35:00.002-05:00

1803: Marbury v. Madison was the first instance in which a law passed by Congress was declared unconstitutional. The decision greatly expanded the power of the Court by establishing its right to overturn acts of Congress, a power not explicitly granted by the Constitution. Initially the case involved Secretary of State James Madison, who refused to seat four judicial appointees although they had been confirmed by the Senate.

1819: McCulloch v. Maryland upheld the right of Congress to create a Bank of the United States, ruling that it was a power implied but not enumerated by the Constitution. The case is significant because it advanced the doctrine of implied powers, or a loose construction of the Constitution. The Court, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, would sanction laws reflecting “the letter and spirit” of the Constitution.

1824: Gibbons v. Ogden defined broadly Congress's right to regulate commerce. Aaron Ogden had filed suit in New York against Thomas Gibbons for operating a rival steamboat service between New York and New Jersey ports. Ogden had exclusive rights to operate steamboats in New York under a state law, while Gibbons held a federal license. Gibbons lost the case and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the decision. The Court held that the New York law was unconstitutional, since the power to regulate interstate commerce, which extended to the regulation of navigation, belonged exclusively to Congress. In the 20th century, Chief Justice John Marshall's broad definition of commerce was used to uphold civil rights.

1857: Dred Scott v. Sandford was a highly controversial case that intensified the national debate over slavery. The case involved Dred Scott, a slave, who was taken from a slave state to a free territory. Scott filed a lawsuit claiming that because he had lived on free soil he was entitled to his freedom. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney disagreed, ruling that blacks were not citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court. Taney further inflamed antislavery forces by declaring that Congress had no right to ban slavery from U.S. territories.

1896: Plessy v. Ferguson was the infamous case that asserted that “equal but separate accommodations” for blacks on railroad cars did not violate the “equal protection under the laws” clause of the 14th Amendment. By defending the constitutionality of racial segregation, the Court paved the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws of the South. The lone dissenter on the Court, Justice John Marshall Harlan, protested, “The thin disguise of ‘equal’ accommodations…will not mislead anyone.”

1954: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka invalidated racial segregation in schools and led to the unraveling of de jure segregation in all areas of public life. In the unanimous decision spearheaded by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court invalidated the Plessy ruling, declaring “in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place” and contending that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall was one of the NAACP lawyers who successfully argued the case.

1963: Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed a defendant's right to legal counsel. The Supreme Court overturned the Florida felony conviction of Clarence Earl Gideon, who had defended himself after having been denied a request for free counsel. The Court held that the state's failure to provide counsel for a defendant charged with a felony violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. Gideon was given another trial, and with a court-appointed lawyer defending him, he was acquitted.

1964: New York Times v. Sullivan extended the protection offered the press by the First Amendment. L.B. Sullivan, a police commissioner in Montgomery, Ala., had filed a libel suit against the New York Times for publishing inaccurate information about certain actions taken by the Montgomery police department. In overturning a lower court's decision, the Supreme Court held that debate on public issues would be inhibited if public officials could sue for inaccuracies that were made by mistake. The ruling made it more difficult for public officials to bring libel charges against the press, since the official had to prove that a harmful untruth was told maliciously and with reckless disregard for truth.

1966: Miranda v. Arizona was another case that helped define the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. At the center of the case was Ernesto Miranda, who had confessed to a crime during police questioning without knowing he had a right to have an attorney present. Based on his confession, Miranda was convicted. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that criminal suspects must be warned of their rights before they are questioned by police. These rights are: the right to remain silent, to have an attorney present, and, if the suspect cannot afford an attorney, to have one appointed by the state. The police must also warn suspects that any statements they make can be used against them in court. Miranda was retried without the confession and convicted.

1973: Roe v. Wade legalized abortion and is at the center of the current controversy between “pro-life” and “pro-choice” advocates. The Court ruled that a woman has the right to an abortion without interference from the government in the first trimester of pregnancy, contending that it is part of her “right to privacy.” The Court maintained that right to privacy is not absolute, however, and granted states the right to intervene in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

1978: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke imposed limitations on affirmative action to ensure that providing greater opportunities for minorities did not come at the expense of the rights of the majority. In other words, affirmative action was unfair if it lead to reverse discrimination. The case involved the University of Calif., Davis, Medical School and Allan Bakke, a white applicant who was rejected twice even though there were minority applicants admitted with significantly lower scores than his. A closely divided Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of rigid quotas was not permissible.

2003: Grutter v. Bollinger upheld the University of Michigan Law School's consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions. In her majority opinion, Justice O'Connor said that the law school used a “highly individualized, holistic review of each applicant's file.” Race, she said, was not used in a “mechanical way.” Therefore, the university's program was consistent with the requirement of “individualized consideration” set in 1978's Bakke case. “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity,” O'Connor said. However, the court ruled that the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions system, which awarded 20 points to black, Hispanic, and American-Indian applicants, was “nonindividualized, mechanical,” and thus unconstitutional.

My Thoughts – The ‘Gates” Affair

2009-07-24T19:04:00.001-05:00

My Thoughts – The ‘Gates” Affair

You know me, never at a lost when it comes to having an opinion on the zeitgeist. The last few days, it has all been about race and race relations, sparked by ‘The Gates Affair’. For those who are unaware, here is the back story.

Harvard University Professor, Henry (Skip) Louis Gates Jr., returns home from a trip and finds that his door will not open. He and his black driver try to force the door which is witnessed by a resident in the neighborhood. The neighbor dutifully calls the police because it looks like two men are trying to break into a house.

Once the police arrive, Prof. Skip Gates has found his way into his home, and answers their knock on the door. From there it’s all downhill and a matter of whose story you choose to believe. You can read the newspaper accounts of the incident by clicking here.

President Obama during his press conference commented on the situation with a reckless choice of words. It was almost as though the visceral reaction churning in the pit of his stomach found their way to his mouth before his brain could coordinate with his mouth to deliver his thoughts in polispeak. Instead he chose to say that the police “acted stupidly.” That you can read about by clicking here.

I am writing this though not to regurgitate facts or figure out fiction but to let you know what I think, so here it is.

I think that everyone started off right and ended up wrong. Prof. Gates was not wrong to try to enter his own home, the neighbor was not wrong in calling the police, the police were not wrong to investigate. Where everyone went wrong was with the events that led up to the arrest of Prof. Gates.

If the neighbor had not called to report a possible break in, and it was, then this would have been framed as a racist neighbor not caring because they knew it was the home of a Black Professor.

If the police had not shown up to investigate, and there was a break in, this would have been framed as the racist police department not caring that the home of a black intellectual was being broken into.

If the police had not insisted on making sure that there was no one else in the house because they had a credible report that there were two men trying to force open a door, then this would have been framed differently had there been people in the house that the professor was not aware of. The police had to make sure that the story fit all the facts in front of them.

The Prof. Gates could have been more cordial with the men and women in blue who were looking out for his best interest when they showed up to investigate a report of a break and enter at his home.

Now here is where it gets tricky, maybe he was. Maybe he was cordial and tried to explain the situation about the door being jammed, but the police needed to be sure he lived there…or did they? It is possible that they did ask him for the one thing that they would not have asked of anyone who was not black…absolute proof that he belonged in that house.

By “absolute” I don’t mean show me your driver’s license with your address on it, but show me that you are the legal owner of this house. I can see that happening and it would easily explain the Professor’s rage, if indeed that did occur. There is thorough, and then there is thorough! But I have no proof that did happen so it is a thought that I am just callously tossing out there.

What we do know is that Prof. Gates was arrested in his home. This is the real tricky part of the scenario. How do you get arrested in your own home without having committed any crime? And this is where the police were wrong in their actions and to what the President might have been referring to as acting stupidly.

Before I explain, let me just say that I believe the police officer, Sgt. James Crowley. I believe he is an honest man, a good man, a decent man. I believe he believes he had every right to arrest Prof. Gates, and the facts, of the case, prove that he did. The only problem, I have, is with the discretion used in making this particular arrest.

The police finally figured out that this middle aged, walking with a cane, 155 pound, unarmed man really was the owner and they arrested him for being verbally abusive? I mean, he didn’t threaten them, in his home, in any way except with his tongue. That you can be arrested in your home for being verbally abusive to strangers in your home- notwithstanding the badges- is outrageous! Where was the cause for this arrest? He was mean to me…so I arrested him?

All of this brings me back to the question, what do I think? I think this was not a black and white issue. This was a pure intellectual brute power struggle. This was Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley engaged in a battle to exert futile intellectual control, one over the other. It was UFC Battle of the Brains part 1.

Prof. Gates never believed he was being picked on for being black, he just felt he was being picked on and chose the tools/words which he felt were appropriate to defend himself. The Officer was never threatened but felt that his stature as an office of the law was being maligned and he used the tools and remedies at his disposal.

At the end of the day both were right in their actions and both were so very wrong. That these two good men could allow a clear misunderstanding to lead the President to make his unfortunate comments is inexcusable. They really all should just meet up in the White House, have that beer that the President offered and have a good laugh at how silly they all were.

Chris's answer and my follow up

2009-07-15T18:39:00.003-05:00

Chris

While I appreciate your opinion I must point out 2 very fundamental differences in the WWII and present day scenarios...
First, inside Germany there was not the same level of "as it happened" media attention on the atrocities - there was no free press reporting the crimes as they happened whereas in the US these crimes happened right under our noses - there was a congressional debate on whether or not waterboarding constitutes torture for chrissakes!
Second, the military tribunals were conducted immediately upon the ending of the war and the German public was able to purge and move on with their lives with some sense of justice. This has already dragged on for 6 years with nothing but lack of accountability and denials.

Garfield

Sure, but your point of view comes from the same breeding grounds of the philosophy terrorists adopt. Americans pay taxes, taxes buy bombs and bullets which kill our people therefore every American deserves to die.

Not every American agreed with the Bush administration, not every American ever agrees with their President but they are not all cut from the same cloth and need to be condemned as criminals.

I will agree with one thing, without an investigation into any wrongdoing and consequences for any wrongdoing, then it is possible that a great crime may have been committed which may go unpunished. Worse yet, it sets a precedent that can easily be followed in future similar situations which is the real problem with not deconstructing events to figure if and how mistakes were made.

My Answer to Chris Sapienza

2009-07-14T18:30:00.001-05:00

Ok dear friend, here is why I don't agree 100%. The idea of punishing the entire collective for the crimes of a few is in itself a war crime...though I must admit, I am a big fan of embargoes. Even after WWII the entire German population was not declared as war criminals, nor were the citizens of Japan or Italy or any other country for that matter. In Serbia, Sudan, Rwanda, etc only those directly involved in war crimes were considered for trial or even accused. When you start accusing the entire population of a Democracy of war crimes because of what their leaders do- or do not do- then you criminalize their votes and their voice. There are those in the US who have always fought against what they considered to be "evil," now because of the lack of a positive result to your liking you would label them as war criminals?

Chris Sapienza's Politics

2009-07-14T18:15:00.002-05:00

OK, my buddy Chris wrote this and I'm a wee little jealous since I have been speaking about this but have not written anything on the subject:

"Why every citizen is a war criminal: A letter to America.

Dear America,

In 1945-46 the Nuremberg trials were conducted in front of US Military Tribunals to prosecute the heinous crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis in World War II. While the first of the twelve trials prosecuting top Nazi officials was was the most famous, the third should be of particular interest to you right now.

Officially called The United States of America vs. Josef Altstötter, et al., this trial is more commonly referred to as "the judge's trial." In this case, the US prosecuted 16 high ranking justice officials, including 9 members of the German ministry of justice.

While 4 were acquitted, 12 were indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity for "the abuse of the judicial and penal process, resulting in mass murder, torture, plunder of private property." Essentially, the German justice department had manipulated the laws of the land to "make legal" the conduct of Hitler and his team."

read the rest here:

http://myopinionshouldbeyourstoo.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-every-american-citizen-is-war.html

The Greatest Truth

2009-07-11T00:11:00.002-05:00

What would would be the transaltion of I Think, I Spoke, I believe! Because those would be truest expression of what it means to be human, The truth is lost in all of that to what I firmly believe must be reality because "I" think it. Not as some expression of a psychopathic lunatic but as the thoughts of a rational person.

I mean really, how could "I" be crazy when I'm so sane and normal and people think "I'm" funny, amusing, personabble, quaint, etc?

Tonight, "I made" a girl expose her "boobies" to a bar full of people not because I thought it was fun, but knowing that I could do it. I never met, never knew her before 9:30pm EST, but knew I had that power...and I abused it. I feel somewhat sad, somewhat amused and entirely ambivalent about the whole affair. Would I again abuse a power that is not explicitly thrust upon me but which I implicitly knew I had because of experience, worldliness, etc?...Of course I would...it's human nature. Do I feel good about that? stay tuned...life keeps changing.

Vene Vidi Vici

2009-07-09T22:44:00.003-05:00

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Nowadays it should be pense, dice, veritas -- correct my Latin please -- but anyways, after listening to a few people spewing I was led to believe that people think Think It, Say It, It's True! no matter how non-sensical it is.

Cheney

2009-05-16T04:08:00.000-05:00

Cheney must believe that Orwell's 1984 was a training manual and not a warning.

Joke of the Day!

2009-05-07T20:50:00.000-05:00

It was once said a black man would be president “when pigs fly”…indeed 100 days into Obama’s presidency…SWINE FLU!

The Gospel According To John

2009-04-13T19:02:00.002-05:00

I was watching a tv movie about the Gospel according to John and it jogged my memory that this was not a particularly great depiction of Jesus Christ. Then I recalled that it wasn't the fault of the movie but the gospel itself which paints the man as a whiny, self-centered, self-absorbed, pompous, megalomaniacal, arrogant SOB prick that I would have happily seen hanging fromn a cross had I lived at the time.

I was thinking, this must have been what Jimmy Jones was like when he was alive and kicking.

Fiddle Widdle

2009-04-04T08:33:00.001-05:00

http://fiddlewiddle.com/

Day 3

2009-04-02T19:45:00.002-05:00

Day 3 in the books except I feel I cheated sort of. Chereece was hungry and wanted me to find something for her. I suggested a few places one of which she agreed to. I needed to run so I suggested we park the car at home and walk to the restaurant. She agreed.

It was a 10 minute walk.

She went in and I continued by starting to run while she ordered takeout. The plan was to run for 10 minutes; 5 minutes one way, 5 minutes back. It ended up being more like 10 minutes one way and 10 minutes back.

She was just coming out as I walked up to where I left her- I was hurting. We walked back home.

In total I was out there for 42 minutes but I felt as if I did not get as much out of it as on day 2. I'm sure I did though.

Day 2

2009-03-31T19:10:00.002-05:00

Better day. A little more running, more distance in the same amount of time...plus I don't feel completely in agony today. Don't get me wrong, I'm still hurting but never had the same pain moment as yesterday when I thought, "What the heck am I doing out here, I like being chubby."

And so it begins

2009-03-30T18:35:00.002-05:00

Day one of my nightmarish descent into the pits of hell of exercise. 30 minutes running and walking...more of a long painful walk after a brisk little jog. The good thing though is it was better than what I did the day before and the day before that which is to say, absolutely NOTHING!

Hopefullt tomorrow and the day after, it will become more of a long run with a little bit of walking. The ongoing barometer will be how far I can go in those same 30 minutes.

THUS ENDS THE 5 MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

2009-03-26T18:59:00.001-05:00

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob , the next-door neighbor.

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob , after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.

The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'

The priest apologized, 'Sorry sister, but the flesh is weak.'

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily, got out of the car and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to his room to look up Psalm 129. It said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas , driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'

Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina' Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.

The manager scratches his chin and says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'

The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'

'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally, after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:

Bull Sh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.

(3) And when you're in deep crap, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE 5 MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC to you

2009-02-24T19:48:00.001-05:00

I went to KFC today and they ran out of chickens.

Michael Steele wins RNC chairmanship

2009-01-30T19:11:00.002-05:00

More relevant evidence that America has matured from her toddler stage and is now entering her pre-teen years. First Obama now this from the Republican party, picking a Black man to run the party! My My My, what fruits shall this tree bore?

Why might it be a bigger statement of America's evolving face? Because, the Democrats choosing a Black man to lead the party is one thing; but the Democrats have always been cast as the party of the minority coalitions after they cast off their white hoods and cloaks.

Conservatives and Republicans however were stuck in a rut. They fully embraced all the buzz words of White supremacy; state's rights, southern pride, smaller government (euphimism for no government intrusion into my rights to segregate)...at least it was seen as such. They visited Bob Jones University with malicious contempt, they flew the stars and bars with utter arrogance, they embraced and encouraged a dying dead ideal that America was in its infancy.

They surrounded themselves with people who clung to belief that people may not be property but they should be marginalized, ghettoized and given limited opportunity to succeed. They hated the idea of co-mingling, they hated the idea of inter-racial, they hated the idea of equality.

Now with this news, it may once again be possible for Blacks to take Conservatives and Republicans at face value when they say that they believe in complete equality, that they believe in States rights provided it does not impose upon human rights. It's possible to believe that smaller government and personal responsibility are no longer code words for something sinister. It's possible to believe that they support full civil rights for all.

Mind you, the election of one Black man does not change all minds in one day, but it's a good start on the road to reformation of a once proud party that stood for equality and freedom for all God's children.

I have a Dream

2009-01-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Martin Luther King Jr speech

Movies

2009-01-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

• "Bride Wars"As if to assuage the anxieties of the millions of same-sex couples deprived of the right to wed in this nation, here comes “Bride Wars” to make the entire institution of marriage look almost as awful as last year’s dreadful “27 Dresses” did.
• "Not Easily Broken"Somehow bypassing a Promise Keepers’ weekend marriage encounter and going directly into mainstream theaters, “Not Easily Broken” takes a moralistic view of relationship problems by suggesting that everything will be fixed if the wife spends less time in the office and more time having children. This may well be the first film ever made about the male biological clock.
• "The Unborn"The Kabbalah. Hot college students. An abandoned mental institution. Gary Oldman. Jogging. Twins. Nazi scientists. A suicidal mother. A lost blue mitten. What do these things have in common? They’re all pieces in the convoluted mythology of “The Unborn.”
• "Good"Jean-Luc Godard once said that the best way to review a movie is to make another movie; sometimes, all it takes is seeing a second movie about a certain subject matter to highlight everything that the first movie did wrong. Such is the case with “Good,” which deals with an intellectual who gets swept up into the Nazi party without ever thinking about the larger issues at stake; it’s a powerful film on its own merits, but it also points out how tame and impotent “The Reader” is in examining similar issues.
• "Defiance"“Defiance” director Edward Zwick certainly isn’t afraid of archetypes: We know who the villain’s going to be (it’s the guy with the bad teeth), we know who’s going to marry the hero (it’s the one woman who looks stunning with apparently no makeup on) and we know who the hero is (it’s Daniel Craig as the movie’s one blond, blue-eyed Russian Jew).
• "Revolutionary Road"I genuinely regret never having read Richard Yates’ novel “Revolutionary Road,” not only because its admirers tell me it’s a compelling look at mid-century ennui but also because any future attempts to read it will be tainted by the dreary film adaptation currently being inflicted upon audiences.
• "Valkyrie"Mark Twain might have subtitled “Valkyrie,” “The Not-So-Private History of a Campaign That Failed.” Director Bryan Singer is a master of forward motion in his storytelling, but he never distracts us enough from the knowledge that doom is around the corner for our heroes, a cadre of Nazis who sought to kill Hitler and negotiate with the Allied forces in the waning days of World War II.
• "The Spirit"The previews and trailers indicated this movie would be “Sin City” 1.5 in terms of art direction. I knew enough about the comic books to know that this style might conflict a bit with the source material. Despite this conflict, or perhaps because of it, somewhere inside “The Spirit” is a great film. Its potential can be seen in bits and pieces all over the screen.
• "Bedtime Stories"Even though “Bedtime Stories” represents a first for Sandler — a comedy that’s appropriate for all ages — it still feels like a giant leap backward for him. As Skeeter Bronson, the handyman at a boutique Los Angeles hotel, Sandler is doing that same silly, growly voice he uses in his “Hanukkah Song.”
• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"Screenwriter Eric Roth is no doubt hoping that you won’t notice how many of his ideas from “Forrest Gump” have made it into his adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novella “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” And even fans of that earlier film may find themselves overburdened; “Gump” director Robert Zemeckis isn’t exactly known for his light touch, but next to “Button” man David Fincher, he’s practically Ernst Lubitsch.
• "Last Chance Harvey"If there’s such a thing as the Laptop Lotto for screenwriters, “Last Chance Harvey” writer-director Joel Hopkins hit the Superball. Hopkins, best known for his award-winning 1998 short film “Jorge,” somehow scored Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson for a screenplay that, by rights, should have snagged Daniel Hugh Kelly and Catherine Oxenberg before winding up on one of the channels you’d ignore on a trans-Atlantic airline.
• "Waltz With Bashir"Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, “Waltz With Bashir” will change your ideas about the possibility of film. It’s an animated documentary, which probably sounds like a contradiction in terms, but even describing it that way threatens to place it in the kinds of tidy, well-defined boxes that “Waltz With Bashir” consistently defies.
• "Marley and Me"A word of warning to parents out there who have been seduced by the adorable-puppy-in-Christmas-bow advertising of “Marley & Me” and are considering taking their youngsters to see it: Don’t. The dog — and this may technically count as a spoiler, even though the movie is based on a best-selling book — dies. And “Marley & Me” milks audience grief (and will traumatize children) more than “Bambi” and “Old Yeller” combined.
• "Yes Man"“And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself” isn’t just a line from “A Visit from St. Nicholas” — it’s how I felt about Jim Carrey’s performance in the new comedy “Yes Man.” Having been annoyed by his antics in many of his recent outings — take “Fun with Dick and Jane,” please — the world-class mugger dials it down and delights in this breezy (if somewhat formulaic) flick.
• "Seven Pounds"“Seven Pounds” slogs about, impressed with its own supposed depth, as we watch Will Smith play a man attempting to pay for his past sins. Director Gabriele Muccino (“The Pursuit of Happyness”) seems to think he’s in Ingmar Bergman territory, but he’s actually made the longest, most dour episode of “My Name is Earl” imaginable.
• "The Wrestler"It’s hard not to look for traces of the off-screen Rourke, ’80s movie legend gone off the rails, in his portrayal of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, past-his-prime ’80s wrestling legend, in “The Wrestler,” and perhaps director Darren Aronofsky would rather we didn’t. But Rourke’s work in the film transcends mere stunt-casting; his performance is a howl of pain that seems to come from a very real place, and it’s a potent reminder — as was his compelling role in “Sin City” a few years ago — that even if Rourke has made a mess of his career, his talent remains intact.
• "The Tale of Despereaux"Which came first, the rat or the mouse? Doesn’t really matter. Even though Kate DiCamillo’s book “The Tale of Despereaux” came out in 2003 — and won a Newbery Medal for outstanding children’s literature — the animated film version still feels like a rip-off of “Ratatouille,” which was only released last year.
• "The Day the Earth Stood Still"If you’re looking for chuckles this holiday season, bypass the miserably unfunny “Four Christmases” and go where the real comedy is — “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” a clumsy, moronic remake of Robert Wise’s brilliant 1951 classic about an alien invader trying to save the human race from its own self-destructive impulses.
• "The Reader"I’ve generally been a defender of the films of Stephen Daldry, but seeing “The Reader” made me understand why some people hated his previous movie, “The Hours.” That film, they said, was fussy and airless, tamping down truth and humanity in favor of the brand of dry “culture” that lures certain segments of the moviegoing public with the promise of a tastefully prim Sunday matinee.
• "Gran Torino"You’ll pretty much figure out exactly where “Gran Torino” is taking you within the first 30 minutes, but it’s a testament to the vehicle that you’ll mostly enjoy the ride anyway. Director-star Clint Eastwood brings his advancing age front and center here — he could have called the movie “Grandpa Torino” — with a performance that’s almost shamelessly crowd-pleasing at times.
• "Nothing Like the Holidays"Like the plantains and empanadillas that adorn the film’s Christmas dinner table, “Nothing Like the Holidays” is comfort food. Though its title suggests uniqueness, “Nothing Like the Holidays” is exactly like most holiday films, with the notable exception of an almost entirely Latin cast.
• "Doubt"I never saw John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt” performed onstage, but Shanley’s film version certainly doesn’t shy away from theatricality. Light bulbs explode, telephones ring insistently during tense arguments, literal and metaphorical winds whip up — heck, an actual cat chases an actual mouse, just to make sure the audience knows what’s going on.
• "Che"Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” is by no means a perfect film, but in a season laden with dopey historical movies like “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “The Reader,” it’s exhilarating to watch a film that doesn’t hit all the usual biopic script beats.
• "Frost/Nixon"You know how a comedian can completely ruin his own joke by stopping to explain the punch line? The filmmakers behind “Frost/Nixon” do the same thing, undercutting some of the film’s most powerful moments by tossing in scenes where the characters tell the audience what it has already seen.
• "Cadillac Records"While it tells the story of an exciting period in American pop culture, “Cadillac Records” winds up being so trite, tidy and two-dimensional that you would swear you were watching a late-night infomercial for the great music of Chess Records. All that’s missing is a toll-free number and a paid walk-on by Frankie Avalon.
• "Nobel Son"Just in time for year-end “worst movie” lists comes “Nobel Son,” a movie far too confident in its own cleverness and charm, two elements it lacks in abundance. “Nobel Son” is so utterly idiotic, that I can’t even bring myself to explain the plot.
• "Four Christmases"Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon star in this holiday comedy that starts out casting a sardonic eye on marriage and family but winds up being a treacly advertisement for those very things.
• "Milk"“Milk” brings the politician’s story to life, but it almost mechanically ticks off all the moments you’d expect to see in a biopic. Watching director Gus Van Sant tamp down everything that makes him interesting as a filmmaker to make a big mainstream movie is rather disheartening.
• "Australia"Nobody does “outsized” like Baz Luhrmann, who most recently juiced up both the musical and the tragic romance to heart-exploding intensity with “Moulin Rouge!” Now he’s back to give the business to romantic epics with “Australia,” a sprawling ode to his home country that throws kangaroos, didgeridoos, the outback, a cattle drive, Japanese air raids and Nicole Kidman into a slightly overboiled stew that’s never less than compelling.
• "Twilight"“Twilight” is a vampire movie, but it’s not a horror movie. It’s never an easy task to bring a hit book to the screen, but by filling the screen with stares, stammers and silences, director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg tread into the territory of unintentional hilarity.
• "Bolt"One could forgive a movie aimed at children for shamelessly cribbing plot points from “The Last Action Hero” and “The Truman Show” — which “Bolt” totally does — since its target audience is ostensibly not familiar with movies that came out way back in the ’90s. But when the canine protagonist of “Bolt” borrows a character arc from Buzz Lightyear, even youngsters will smell a rip-off.
• "Quantum of Solace"As played by Daniel Craig in “Casino Royale” and now “Quantum of Solace,” there’s a case to be made for 007 as masochist. Craig’s Bond lets the audience feel the impact of every blow to the head, every bullet to the shoulder, every face-first landing into the side of a building.
• "Slumdog Millionaire"“Slumdog Millionaire” is a movie so compelling and, ultimately, upbeat, that it left me grinning wider than anything I’ve seen in ages.

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-05T21:14:00.003-05:00

OK, so I figure I'm going to at least give the vegetarian thing a half-hearted attempt. I'm not going to eat meat from Monday to Thursday inclusive. I am not going to be one of those fake vegetarians that say that chicken and fish don't count as meat but I'm not going to be one of those crazy psychos that wont eat eggs or drink milk. I'm simply going to give up meat for 4 days a week.

Already I'm hearing the gasps of incredulous disbelief and comments like;
"you're body needs meat everyday"
"it's too big a change for your body to adjust to"

Like really...come on!

What you're really trying to say is that you like me fat and unhealthy so you can always point to me and say, at least I'm not like Garfield.

The other resolutions are to study more, read more, and continue to expand on my activities.

New work

2008-11-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

Destiny Paired

Creation of a busy mind-
Flashbacks of long forgotten thoughts;
Mirages best off left behind;
Melded from a million parts.

What was but distant dreaming
Of the carnage of broken hearts-
Those coming and of those leaving-
Ups and downs with the leftover scars

Of loves and battles lived and fought.
Through all of this comes life’s clichés;
Hard to think past what love brought;
Ray of hope beckons shines this day.

Each morning awakens new hopes-
Thrilled at the prospects of sharing
Life’s moments and joys for the post;
Screams to the world of this pairing.

T'is rare to have founded two near
Souls and spirits evenly matched;
Kindred wanderers over years
Are found, though the differing paths.

An eye towards the future bright-
Of lives and love together true,
Such feelings are forever right,
Wanting every night with you.

November 13th, 2007
Garfield Jones

UN in Iraq

2008-11-10T23:27:00.001-05:00

What to do, what to do...what do we do with Iraq? That certainly has to be a refrain that runs through the mind of the President-elect Obama- what to do with Iraq? Thus far, we- and I use the term "we" loosely to mean the entire world who supported and supports him- have heard about US combat troops pulling out within 16 months. I say pish-posh, let's do it in 6.

I know, I know it sounds insane and implausible but I believe 16 months is far too long. I believe it is time to trade in the red berets, the green berets, etc for the blue helmets of peacekeeping. It is time for the rest of the world to step up and clean up this bloody mess.

You might be tempted to rightly think, why should we? The answer is that the UN was formed for this very purpose. It does not ask who started or who was wrong, but how can we best bring about peace. Now granted, even Americas has tacitly admitted to betraying the world's trust, love, and admiration by wrongfully invading Iraq. They went too far, too fast without the kind of consensus needed for global participation against an alleged "rogue" state.

Back in 2002 Bush made what was actually a pretty good case in his UN speech on why something needed to be done about Iraq. Problem was that he followed all of that rhetoric up with lies and deception that were so cleverly played and propagandized that it inexorably led to an unjust invasion. Yet, I will maintain to this day, had he simply stayed true to his reasons that September day that the UN as a whole had to do something about Iraq.

I can understand his administrations reasons for choosing the path of lies and deceit that they did; quite frankly, they hated the UN and did not want it to be part of any solution...in other words, they figured out a means by which to try to kill two birds with one stone. It was a strategic misguided mean-spirited tragic blunder.

Anyways, the time for recriminations and finger-pointing has long past...kidding, we can absolutely still do that: somebody other than Iraqis need to pay a price (if only politically). The time though for a reconciliation of sorts and positive actions are at hand.

As mentioned, none of that matters. The UN's peacekeeping arm is not about warring but conflict-resolution and peace-keeping. As a gift to the new President-elect, I believe the best gift the world can give is unanimous consent to make Iraq more than an "American" problem...provided America can accept that the time for this war is at an end.

It may also mean that the Iraqis and the rest of the world would have to accept something incredibly outrageous on the face of it, that those who have waged war (America) can shift gears and become keepers of the peace. I believe the good-will generated by the election of Obama makes this belief possible. This does not mean that the world can idly sit back and watch only America attempt to keep the Iraqi peace, au contraire, the rest of "us" will have to commit treasure and troops to the effort. Again, that is all made possible by recent electoral events.

The thought makes eminent sense for America considering that as UN troops move, US troops can move out. They can divert some of those troops to places where they are needed, Afghanistan anyone? Or simply use the saved resources to help rebuild an economy that still has yet to hit bottom. Let's face it, the cycle of credit markets freezing up, leading to tightened spending, leading to frigid sales, leading to massive layoffs, leading to considerable amounts of misery is nowhere close to rock-bottom. We have a long hard road ahead of us, so the sooner funds can be freed up for more economically sound endeavors in America, the better for us all.

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MSNBC Movie reviews

2008-11-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

• "Role Models"With “Role Models,” Paul Rudd may suddenly find himself getting the attention he has largely avoided, because his work here is at a game-changing level for a young actor. The fact that he also shares a writing credit should provide a boost as well.
• "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"Seriously, “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” may not be the worst of the animated features that have been forced down our collective gullet since the genre’s rebirth with “The Little Mermaid” almost 20 years ago, but it feels like a collection of tropes and gags so familiar that even 4-year-olds could map out where they’ve seen all this before.
• "Soul Men"The plot outline for “Soul Men” could fit comfortably on a single note card, with room left over for a grocery list and a few phone numbers. A road-trip rip-off of “The Sunshine Boys” infused with soul music and vulgar, misogynist humor, this dreadful film marks a sad end to the distinguished careers of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes.
• "Repo! The Genetic Opera"“Repo! The Genetic Opera” is easily one of the worst movies of the year, if not all time. This goth garbage isn’t clever enough to be “Sweeney Todd” and it isn’t campy enough to be “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — it’s not even worthwhile in a culty, midnight-movie way.
• "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"The family drama “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” depicts the Holocaust through the simplistic eyes of a child: all the brutality, all the absurdity, crystallized by the innocence of an 8-year-old boy. Writer-director Mark Herman has created a needlessly overpowering film.
• "Zach and Miri Make a Porno"It’s a lovely, naughty little movie that allows writer-director Kevin Smith to indulge his twin penchants for scatological sex talk and heartfelt slacker romance. Having old friends realize they love each other during the making of a pornographic video might not be the usual romantic comedy convention, but no one could accuse the maker of “Chasing Amy and “Dogma” of pursuing the tried-and-true.
• "The Haunting of Molly Hartley"Points to “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” for defying conventions in its provocative final twist, but the movie really makes you work for it — to get to the finish line, audiences will be forced to endure trite dialogue, familiar situations and uninspired acting.
• "Splinter"The feature debut from British writer-director Toby Wilkins is a truly inspired mix of stripped-down, 1970s-style scares and vivid special effects. It has so many gnarly, oh-my-God-did-that-just-happen? moments, your jaw will hurt from hitting the floor so often.
• "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"Would that “HSM 3” contained a single new idea. This latest and last of the series is a stitched-together Frankenstein monster of an entertainment, featuring major components that were already trotted out the first two times.
• "Changeling"Working from a fascinating true story, director Clint Eastwood starts out with an interesting thriller-melodrama that drags its story out a full half-hour or so past its emotional climax. Rather than run one of those crawls that explains the rest of the story, Eastwood tells you every last detail, thus minimizing whatever power the movie ever had.
• "Synecdoche, New York"If a seasoned filmmaker created a work as funny, moving, perplexing, thought-provoking, poignant and powerful as “Synecdoche, New York,” that alone would be reason for exultation. The fact that this little gem — both intimate and epic, cerebral and emotional — marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman makes the achievement all the more worthy of celebration.
• "Pride and Glory"Everything about the dirty cop thriller “Pride and Glory” is formulaic and forgettable, even down to its generic title. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell chew up the scenery and spit it back out again as brothers-in-law and brothers in blue. When a cop killer takes down four of their comrades, years of schemes and resentments come bubbling to the surface.
• "W."Even though Stone can’t resist the occasional lapse into cartoonishness, “W.” winds up being a thought-provoking examination of a crucial turning point in American history. What may wind up being most shocking to the conservatives who have been pillorying Stone for months is how sympathetic the film is to its leading character
• "Max Payne"I’ve always wondered why, when I see a great Mark Wahlberg performance in a film like “I Heart Huckabee’s” or “The Departed,” I have to remind myself all over again that the artist formerly known as Marky Mark can be a very fine screen actor. But then I see “Max Payne,” and it reminds me; I forget how good he can be because of his frequent participation in brainless bullet-fests like this new big-screen adaptation of the popular videogame.
• "What Just Happened?"Hollywood producers are — speaking generally, of course — rich, pampered, selfish, spoiled and powerful. That doesn’t mean that a talented filmmaker couldn’t make a smart, compassionate movie that would make an audience feel some sympathy for one of these guys. “What Just Happened?” is not that movie.
• "The Secret Lives of Bees"Bringing Sue Monk Kidd’s novel to the big screen, Prince-Bythewood gets a lot of things right, but every time a mouth-breathing redneck pops up to torment one of the movie’s African-American characters, “Bees” loses a dimension. Still, the film has lots to offer.
• "Body of Lies"Add “Body of Lies” to the heap of snoozeburger films about the War on Terror. If you thought that director Ridley Scott, working with actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe and screenwriter William Monahan (“The Departed”), was going to break the Hollywood Goes to Iraq curse with his latest, get ready for disappointment — the Hollywood Surge still isn’t working.
• "City of Ember"Would that this new movie had a tenth of the charm or the smarts of the "Wall-E." All “City of Ember” offers are uninteresting characters in a grimy and bleak world — the production design all but screams “It’s a set!” — and instead of suspense or even empathy, there’s just noise and ugliness.
• "RocknRolla"To attempt to recap the plot of Guy Ritchie’s new film “RocknRolla” would probably require flashcards, a dry-erase board and PowerPoint; suffice it to say that while the movie never tires of adding more characters and plot twists to its runnething-over-cup, Ritchie brings enough flash and silliness to the proceedings to make it a fun, if exhausting, ride.
• "Happy-Go-Lucky"It’s the predictability of most movies that makes the work of Mike Leigh so refreshing. If you’ve ever seen one, you know that his films present unforgettable characters and fascinatingly intimate stories, but do so within structures that feel organic and lifelike, slowly and subtly working their way toward the audience understanding just who these people are and what guides their behavior.
• "Blindness"In his previous overrated hit films, “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener,” Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles has looked at humanity as wriggling specimens pinned to a board. His movies attach people-puppets to big, bold statements, but the films flounder when those people are supposed to be, you know, multi-dimensional human beings.
• "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People"After “The Devil Wears Prada” detailed an up-and-comer at Vogue magazine, “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People” attempts to do the same with Vanity Fair. Cross your fingers that Hollywood eventually gets to Field & Stream.
• "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"Despite an appealing cast and a tone of mildly sardonic sweetness, the movie is missing that X factor that makes you understand why the characters fall for each other and gets you to root for them being together.
• "Rachel Getting Married"Where “Rachel Getting Married” needs the fast-forward button is, oddly enough, when Rachel finally gets married. Up until that point, the film is a compelling mix of painful comedy and revelatory tragedy, but when we get to the wedding reception, director Jonathan Demme gets completely distracted by the musicians he’s cast to perform in the film.
• "Flash of Genius"Director Mark Abraham spells out for the audience exactly where he’s going with “Flash of Genius,” a bland David-and-Goliath tale of corporate greed and deception that’s based on true events.
• "Religulous"Bill Maher is preaching to the choir with “Religulous,” a documentary that dissects organized religion, but he’s doing it in his laceratingly funny, typically sardonic way.
• "Miracle at St. Anna"Director Spike Lee wins a lot of battles in his new film, the World War II–set “Miracle at St. Anna,” but he ultimately loses the war. A powerful cast delivers, and many individual sequences stand out, so it’s too bad that the sum total of the project feels so muddled and excessive.
• "Nights in Rodanthe"Many critics will no doubt tar this film with the dreaded “Lifetime movie” epithet, but I’d venture a bit further — “Nights in Rodanthe” is the world’s longest General Foods International Coffee commercial.
• "The Lucky Ones"Soldiers might be clamoring to re-enlist if they all saw as much action in their homecoming as the threesome in “The Lucky Ones.” This is the latest casualty in Hollywood’s unsatisfying parade of war-on-terror dramas, a movie built on improbabilities.
• "Choke"The novel from “Fight Club” writer Chuck Palahniuk, about a sex addict who pretends he’s choking in restaurants to make money to pay for his demented mom’s hospital care, wasn’t exactly great literature. But the characters felt vaguely real beneath the weirdness — or perhaps because of it — and the story had glimmers of poignancy at which writer-director Clark Gregg’s film hints only rarely.
• "Lakeview Terrace"If only “Lakeview Terrace” could have been as honest about its intentions. This schlocky suspense flick about African-American L.A. cop Sam Jackson blowing a gasket when a mixed-race couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in next door is no deeper than “Unlawful Entry,” but oh, how it wants you to think it has some resonant message about race in the post-riot, new-millennial Los Angeles.
• "My Best Friend's Girl"Want to spend a seemingly endless 100 minutes watching a dullard trying to decide between a douchebag and a eunuch? Then run, don’t walk, to “My Best Friend’s Girl,” a supremely irritating movie about idiots and their dull quest for unconvincing love.
• "Appaloosa"If the two paradigms for American Westerns are going to be haunting and beautifully evocative recollections of an era long past (“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) or unambitious but entertaining shoot-em-ups (“3:10 to Yuma”), put Ed Harris’ “Appaloosa” firmly in the latter category, with a few wispy suggestions of artifice lurking in the background.
• "Ghost Town"You can only wander down this comic road for so long; once you’ve run through a few sight gags, you have to go somewhere else with this old-fashioned, high-concept premise. Unfortunately, director and co-writer David Koepp heads toward sticky sentimentality — and that’s not nearly so good a fit for star Ricky Gervais. The way in which the ghosts find closure, and the visual effect that accompanies that moment, is too feel-good and looks especially cheesy.
• "The Duchess"If it comes as something of a shock to you that women — even rich, attractive, aristocratic women — weren’t treated particularly well in the 18th century, then you’re the perfect audience for “The Duchess,” based on the true story of Georgiana Spencer, an ancestor of Princess Diana.
• "Igor"A potentially original premise and an eager voice cast led by John Cusack and Molly Shannon are left to decay amid a clunky story vaguely reminiscent of “Monsters, Inc.” and a clutter of cartoon images often resembling visuals rejected from “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.”
• "Hounddog"I have no idea what the unfortunate audience at Sundance had to endure, but I can attest that what’s about to hit U.S. screens is a laughably lurid, vulgar parade of barefoot children, Gothic stereotypes, and “Fetch me a Co-Cola” dialogue you thought had gone out with “God’s Little Acre” and “Tobacco Road.” (I was more than once reminded of the humid 1961 sex melodrama “Claudelle Inglish,” which contained lines like “Tell me Ah’m pretty — pretty all ovah.”)
• "Righteous Kill"It’s not that “Righteous Kill” is despicably awful — and heck, compared to “88 Minutes,” Pacino’s previous collaboration with director Jon Avnet, it’s a work of art — but the movie is so dreadfully by-the-numbers and predictable that comparing it to a TV cop show would be an insult to TV cop shows.
• "Burn After Reading"“Burn After Reading,” the Coen Brothers’ follow-up to their Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men,” feels like an oddly tentative mix of genres; one gets the impression that with just a few cuts, the film could be a gut-busting laugh riot or a taut bit of suspense. What actually wound up on screen, however, feels like all and none of the above at the same time.
• "The Women"Writer-director Diane English’s version of “The Women” tries to stay true to the original work while giving all the characters jobs and relative independence, and the result rings false; as either a contemporary look at women’s lives or as a bubbly farce, “The Women” flops on all fronts.
• "Towelhead"If director Todd Solondz were to bring a Judy Blume book to the screen, “Towelhead” would be the result. With equal parts dark comedy and even darker drama, this coming-of-age tale takes an unflinching look not just at the awkwardness of growing up but the potential pain and humiliation.
• "Bangkok Dangerous"I suppose the title “Bangkok Tedious” wouldn’t have sold many tickets, but it’s a much more honest assessment of the flimsy “Bangkok Dangerous,” the latest in a series of films in which Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage dares us to ever take him seriously again.
• "Ping Pong Playa"By this point, we’ve seen so many movies about the underdog, the Big Game and the rescue of the family honor, that it’s almost impossible to tell that kind of story with a straight face. Which is what makes “Ping Pong Playa” such a surprising treat — this low-budget comedy keeps its tongue in cheek while simultaneously making us actually care about who wins the tournament.
• "Babylon A.D."When French filmmaker Matthieu Kassovitz (“Hate,” “Gothika”) recently complained that Fox chopped up his new movie “Babylon A.D.” to look “like a bad episode of ‘24,’” my heart went out to him. Having seen the film, however, it’s hard to know exactly whom to blame for its shrill mediocrity.
• "College"“College sucks,” observes one character in this new movie, and one can definitely say the same thing about “College.” Like a fraternity hazing, the film is sexist, gross, and simultaneously homophobic and homoerotic; like a freshman dying of alcohol poisoning, it’s not funny in the slightest.
• "Traitor"There’s exactly one interesting twist in “Traitor” — Don Cheadle’s character winds up being a double agent — but since the movie’s called “Traitor,” even that one surprise is squandered. (This information is also imparted in the trailer and TV spots, so relax, all you spoiler-phobes.)
• "Frozen River"“Frozen River” is a bit of a miracle itself: a small movie with hugely moving performances, one with a vivid sense of place that’s never pretentious in its indie aesthetic.
• "House Bunny"The only funny stuff in “House Bunny” is in that coming-attractions preview, and everything else is moronic, predictable, clunky and borderline misogynist.
• "Hamlet 2"“Hamlet 2” has lots more in common with “Tropic Thunder” than just an August release date. Both films feature the brilliantly funny Steve Coogan as a director who’s in way over his head, and both films hit their comic targets with deadly precision, resulting in wall-to-wall laughs.
• "Death Race"One gets the suspicion that the script for “Death Race,” a new remake of the brilliant 1975 violent political satire “Death Race 2000,” wasn’t so much written as it was cobbled together from ideas pulled out of the Cliché Hat.
• "The Rocker""The Rocker" might really have rocked if it didn't feel like a cover of a couple of superior comedies. The first and most obvious is "School of Rock." As a shlumpy, 40ish drummer who missed his shot at heavy metal stardom, Rainn Wilson is pretty much channeling Jack Black here.
• "Tropic Thunder"Actor-director Ben Stiller’s satire of pampered Hollywood actors and out-of-control action epics mines humor from a wide variety of sources, resulting in a film that delivers wall-to-wall laughs even if, by the time it’s all over, you realize you don’t give a tinker’s damn about anyone on screen.
• "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"Send the word to the legions of frustrated Woody Allen fans: “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is a glorious return to form. Funny, intelligent, provocative and heartfelt, the film will remind moviegoers why they ever loved Woody Allen. It’s too bad that Whit Stillman already took “Barcelona” as a title, because this film bookends nicely with one of Allen’s masterpieces, “Manhattan.”
• "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"“Star Wars” lovers have had to deal with lots of heartbreak in the past few decades, from Jar Jar Binks to dozens of different video versions to Greedo shooting first. And now there’s “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” an uninspiring animated addition to the series that takes us back to a time long, long ago that many of us never wanted to revisit — namely, Episodes I-III.
• "Pineapple Express"With “Pineapple Express,” however, the hit-making producer delivers another brilliantly funny comedy about man-children who finally decide to get their act together. As with “Superbad” — also written by “Pineapple” scribes Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg — Apatow and company uncover lots of laughs by working past gay panic to explore the furthest reaches of buddy-movie bonding.
• "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"You get the feeling that the makers of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies, as this sequel to the 2005 sleeper hit feels like the Teen People version of an old Hollywood “women’s picture,” the sort of vehicle that kept Joan Blondell and Ann Sothern busy before and during World War II.
• "Elegy"Sensitively directed by the talented Isabel Coixet — a Spanish director who’s a master at somber, rainy-day-at-the-rocky-beach movies — the film spins its tale of love and loss in a way that feels simultaneously shattering and hopeful.
• "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"No movie featuring a sword fight between Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li can be classified as a complete waste of time, but you’ve got to slog through a lot of stale clichés to get to those transcendent two minutes. And in a summer when even the latest Indiana Jones movie is a pale copy of its predecessors, who wants to see a second-rate Indy rip-off?
• "Swing Vote"It’s been eight years since the head-to-head standoff of the 2000 presidential elections, and all we have to show for it cinematically is “Swing Vote,” a disappointingly weak comedy about an entire election coming down to one drunken loser.
• "Man on Wire"The word “documentary” doesn’t begin to do justice to James Marsh’s achievement. The British filmmaker was inventive enough to approach the material as if it were a high-stakes heist, with some elements of character study and even French farce thrown in for good measure.
• "The X-Files: I Want to Believe"Here’s a mystery for FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) to solve: Why are the “X Files” movies so disappointing? Scully and Mulder return for “The X Files: I Want to Believe,” which often feels like a routine serial killer flick with some offensive plot twists.
• "Step Brothers"Oddly enough, though, this latest batch of emotionally stunted man-children from Judd Apatow (he co-produced) demonstrates that shocking, filthy humor may be the only way to present these kinds of characters without smothering them in sentimentality.
• "Brideshead Revisited"As “The Dark Knight” is comic-book nerd holy scripture, “Brideshead Revisited” serves the same purpose to fans of a genre I personally refer to as Fancy British People Sitting Around Staggeringly Huge Mansions Being Civilized.
• "American Teen"The intimate way in which director Nanette Burstein tracks the lives of a group of seniors in small-town Indiana brings this familiar story to life, and it should make viewers feel nostalgic, regardless of how long it’s been since they walked those crowded, chaotic halls.
• "The Dark Knight"Does “The Dark Knight,” director Christopher Nolan’s second take on the Batman legend, radically subvert the paradigm of the superhero movie? Not really. Does it shake up that paradigm with a smart script, consistently strong performances and a dazzling visual style? Boy, does it ever.
• "Mamma Mia!"While ABBA will no doubt augment their considerable personal fortunes thanks to this movie, nothing about “Mamma Mia!” boosts the group’s aesthetic legacy. Stay home with “Muriel’s Wedding” — or, even better, the “Thank You for the Music” CD box set — instead.
• "Space Chimps"This weekend, while the PG-13 audience gets the thrill of seeing “The Dark Knight,” the youngsters are stuck with “Space Chimps,” a G-rated mess of a movie that’s the worst thing to happen to the space program since loose insulation tiles.
• "Meet Dave"The premise of a man-sized spaceship filled with tiny aliens trying to figure out their way around Earth holds plenty of potential, but since it’s an Eddie Murphy family vehicle being directed by the hacky Brian Robbins (“Norbit,” “Varsity Blues”), “Meet Dave” becomes a mushfest where everyone learns to love and grow and whatnot.
• "Journey to the Center of the Earth"The idea of ancillary marketing for “Journey to the Center of the Earth” feels redundant — this movie is already its own video game and its own theme park attraction. And if you’re 12, that’s awesome. Adults, however, may find the movie somewhat rougher going.
• "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"Guillermo del Toro’s 2004 “Hellboy,” based on the popular Mike Mignola comics about a spawn of Satan who heroically helps humanity fight off beasts and bad guys from all dimensions, was no classic, but it’s certainly looking a lot better now that “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is hitting theaters. Despite a handful of creepy and visionary sequences, this sequel remains limp and unengaging.
• "Hancock"While the idea of a drunken and misanthropic superhero getting a P.R. makeover is certainly a promising one, “Hancock” mishandles the opportunity horribly. No expense was evidently spared on special effects, but it’s too bad the script didn’t get a similar level of TLC.
• "The Wackness"In “The Opposite of Sex,” Christina Ricci’s character disparagingly refers to the “and nothing was the same again after that summer” genre of movies. And while “The Wackness” technically fits into that category — and also into the category of “Sundance movies about quirky dysfunctional white people” — the strong performances lift it out of the world of cliché and turn it into one of the year’s more pleasant surprises.
• "Trumbo"Based on the play by Trumbo’s son, Christopher, director Peter Askin’s film features actors performing Trumbo’s letters, with archival footage and new interviews sprinkled in between. One at a time, they stand on a stark stage without the aid of sets or props, looking straight into the camera, often in extreme close-up. The lighting is crisp and provides a disarming intimacy.
• "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson"Director Alex Gibney, an Academy Award winner this year for the documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side,” explores the conflicting sides of Thompson’s larger-than-life personality in clear-eyed fashion. He has created a film that’s fair and thorough.
• "Wanted"If you like your summer popcorn movies to be bloody, frenetic, energized, adrenaline-pumping and utterly bananas, “Wanted” is the movie you’ve been awaiting.
• "WALL-E"Film tells a love story between two robots against the backdrop of an Earth that’s been destroyed by waste and consumerist overkill. While the film’s most daring gambits pay off in full, the inclusion of a standard outwit-the-bad-guys storyline dulls the magic that “WALL-E” so often achieves.
• "Get Smart"If director Peter Segal and writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember didn’t want Maxwell Smart to be a bumbling boob, fine, but they haven’t given him much of a personality.
• "The Love Guru"In the hands of Mike Myers, “The Love Guru” is a failed stew made up of mugging, penis jokes, horrible puns, and feel-good mantras but not one single laugh.
• "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl"The first two-thirds of “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” are engrossing for both parents and kids. Unfortunately, the film insists on a crime plot that simply goes nowhere.
• "The Happening"“The Happening” is a big snooze, riddled with awful dialogue and unconvincing performances, all underlined by a dreadful score. If this was the movie to rescue the reputation of self-styled genius Shyamalan after the disaster of “Lady in the Water,” then it’s back to the old drawing board.
• "The Incredible Hulk"While “The Incredible Hulk” will thrill fanboys with its many references to both the comic book and TV incarnations of the character, this new movie, in its own way, also leaves something to be desired. Letterier hits all the usual action-movie beats before building to an inert climax.
• "Kung Fu Panda"Plot-wise, it’s every “Rocky” and “Karate Kid” movie taken to a wonderfully ridiculous extreme, but even if you know exactly where “Kung Fu Panda” is going, it’s a mostly entertaining journey.
• "You Don't Mess With the Zohan"Coming on the heels of the superior “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay,” the new Adam Sandler vehicle “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” confirms that Hollywood comedies have moved past the “too soon” phase and are now ready to lampoon global politics after 9/11.
• "The Promotion"The writer of “The Weather Man” and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” directing for the first time with “The Promotion,” has taken a group of solid actors and thrown them together in a flimsy comedy. It’s weirdly off-kilter: The gags are steady and repetitive but the tone is all over the place.
• "Stuck"The title tells you everything you need to know about the tone it takes with this ghastly subject matter: “Stuck.” Cult horror director Stuart Gordon plays the material absolutely straight, but with a twisted sense of humor.
• "Sex and the City"Writer-director Michael Patrick King has cannily avoided trying to open up the material too much in taking it to the big screen. It’s simply an extension of the groundwork that the show already laid down, and for “Sex” fans who have waited four years for another fix, that’s all it has to be.
• "The Strangers"If you’ve ever lain awake wondering what Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games” would be like if it were remade as a dopey American slasher flick, your prayers have been answered. “The Strangers” is one of those inane fright fests that relies upon the victimizers being omniscient and omnipresent while the victims are complete morons.
• "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” has a strange hollowness, as if you were watching an action-adventure from someone who had borrowed all of Steven Spielberg’s script beats and pyrotechnics and none of the joy. Unfortunately, it’s Spielberg himself who’s the guilty party here.
• "Postal"Notoriously bad director Uwe Boll is back, this time with a comedy. And guess what, he doesn't do comedy any better than he does action. The main point of this pointless post-9/11 “comedy” revolves around two groups competing to steal a warehouse full of phallic “Krotchy” dolls with the hope of using them for various nefarious purposes.
• "War, Inc."“War, Inc.”, a new political satire co-written by and starring John Cusack, reminds us that it’s possible to agree with a movie’s agenda while simultaneously despising the movie itself. A thuddingly heavy-handed comedy about corporations profiting both from wars and from their aftermath, the film contains not one honest-to-goodness laugh.
• "The Children of Huang Shi"There’s an air of sanctimony hanging over “The Children of Huang Shi” like a shroud made of good intentions. Audiences with a weakness for photogenic children overcoming adversity may find themselves moved, but the movie’s creaky formula wears thin fast.
• "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"There’s a lot to like about this film, if you can make it past the “without faith you are nothing” message and the “crush the swarthy infidels” subtext. The Pevensie siblings are back to help Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) take back the kingdom of Narnia.
• "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer"America Ferrera plays the youngest among three generations of women who discover themselves, and their sexuality, during a long, hot summer in an Arizona border town. The film is definitely low budget, and won’t win any cinematography awards, but it is a charmer.
• "Speed Racer"Overstimulation, anyone? The Wachowski brothers update the animated "Speed Racer" series into a live action free-for-all, but unfortunately, they forgot to include a plot. The special effects also create the equivalent of a cinematic ice cream headache.

Books I need to read

2008-08-17T09:43:00.002-05:00

I hate censorship but these books are really evil. At least that is what I am told. Being told though that something written is bad and that I cannot expose my brain to it for fear that it will somehow rewire my circuitry and turn me into a raving racist, hitman, anarchist, satanist, etc, doesn't sit too well with who I am. That being said here is a list of books I either need to read or reread:

Hitman
The Turner Diaries
The Satanic Bible
E for Ecstasy
The Anarchists Cookbook
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

I'm sure there are a few others that I should add to this list, but this is a good start.

MSNBC has the best stuff

2008-08-06T23:15:00.002-05:00

As far as tips for qualifying for specific shows, "American Idol" vets offer tips here, 2006 "Idol" auditioner Whitney Henry shares her experience here, and some "Deal or No Deal" tips are offered here.

Here's our latest roundup of shows.

"American Idol": Are you the next Carrie Underwood? Upcoming audition cities include Kansas City on Aug. 8, Jacksonville on Aug. 13, and East Rutherford, N.J. on Aug. 19. You must be 16-28 years old as of July 15, and of course there are other eligibility requirements as well. Go to americanidol.com/auditions for full details.

"America's Next Top Model": Cycle 12 auditions are being held in August and September in nine cities — Albuquerque, Charlotte, Seattle, New York, Houston, Tampa, Chicago, Kansas City and L.A. The application and eligibility requirements are here.

"Amazing Race": Applications for season 14 were due on May 28. Miss the deadline? "Amazing Race" keeps its applications online year-round, so you can read over the form and start crafting those perfect answers for next time.

"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?": Well, are ya? Start proving it by successfully filling out the application, which is here.

"Bachelor": Want to be "The Bachelor," or date him? Here's that show's casting page. Note that the "Bachelorette" applications shown here are not for the show of the same name — instead they're for the women who date the "Bachelor." So far, ABC has always picked "The Bachelorette" by selecting rejected women from "Bachelor" seasons (Trista, Meredith, Jen, DeAnna). Shayne Lamas and Matt Grant just broke up, so she's available.

"Bad Girls Club": It's no "Starting Over" (still miss that show), but Bunim-Murray's "Bad Girls Club" has casting information here.

"Big Brother": The show is currently airing. Open casting calls were held in April and May. You can still read through the application and eligibility requirements at CBS's site.

"Biggest Loser": Ready to shed those pounds? Apply here to be a "Loser." The show is looking for teams of two who want to lose weight together.

CMT shows: Planning a "Big Redneck Wedding" or a "Big Redneck Christmas"? CMT's your network.

"Deal or No Deal": It's a game show, not a reality show, but we're asked about this one so much that we're including a link to the show's application (and here are tips for getting chosen).

"Extreme Makeover" (plastic surgery edition): This show has been canceled. It made a brief return in 2006, but was quickly canceled again after just one episode, and was replaced with reruns of "Grey's Anatomy." ("The Swan" has also been canceled, so if you really want a nose job or breast implants, you're going to have to pay for it yourself.)

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition": This page has all the details on how to nominate your own family or another deserving family for a home makeover. But here's a tip: Don't use your new mansion as collateral for a loan for a construction business.

"Hell's Kitchen": Apply for future seasons here.

"Make Me a Supermodel": Bravo has posted an online application as well as information about open casting calls on the Bravo casting page. (Also on that same page: Information about a show that wants to televise your marriage proposal, and audition info for "The Millionaire Matchmaker," a dating show.)

MTV shows: MTV is always looking for reality contestants, it seems. They're even casting for audience members to attend the Aug. 18 "Hills" premiere. They're also looking for young pregnant women, rural friends who want makeovers, late bloomers going on first dates, and sports teams getting ready for a big game. Their little-bit-of-everything casting page is here.

"Nashville Star": Here's the country-music show's audition FAQ, which directs interested singers to this page, which does not seem to list any current open calls.

"Opportunity Knocks": ABC's new game show is looking for lively families who want to win cash. The Web site describes the show as "a fun new trivia-based game where the game is brought to your house." The site has information about how you can e-mail your application.

"Project Runway": Think you can make it work while designing clothes out of groceries, all under the watchful eyes of Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum? While season 5 is airing, season 6 is casting. Here's the info.

"Real World": This long-running Bunim-Murray show is always accepting applications, it seems. And Michael Martin, who books the casts' off-the-show appearances, offers his tips for getting your tape seen here.

"Stand-Up For Diversity": It's not a show, but NBC has quietly offered "Stand-Up for Diversity" for the past five years. Comedians of diverse backgrounds audition, and the top funny men and women are brought to L.A. to show their stuff to "key industry players at NBC and industry-wide." Audition info is here.

"Supernanny": Here's the application, stressed-out parents. Oh, like you even have time to read this.

"Survivor": Think you can gobble down balut (almost fully developed duck embryo) for a million bucks, all while stabbing your tribemates in the back and somehow convincing them you're as loyal as Lassie? Then "Survivor" is your show. The Gabon (Africa) season has already been filmed and will air this fall, but bookmark the application site for the future, as it seems to maintain the same URL.

VH-1 shows: VH-1 has a page chock full of casting opportunities, including one looking for hip-hop designers, and one for couples throwing lavish weddings. But the ultimate show on their list is "Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels," which is seeking sexy single women to ride on a tour bus following the Poison lead vocalist across the country. Sounds horrible, but any groupies in training should apply now.

"What Not to Wear": The show is casting for its regular fashion disasters here. They're also coming to Philly, Chicago, New York, New Orleans and St. Louis for casting calls. You don't nominate yourself, but instead suggest a friend who has no sense of style. It's up to you as to how you remain friends with her after that.

If the links don't work, visit MSNBC.com

Should we be shocked?...Yawn!

2008-08-05T21:16:00.002-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26043931/

"WASHINGTON - The White House and the CIA on Tuesday adamantly denied a report that the Bush administration concocted a fake letter purporting to show a link between Saddam Hussein’s regime and al-Qaida as a justification for the Iraq war."

Color me jaded at the underwhelming news that this White House could conceivably do such a thing. I think when we are no longer shocked by the suggestion of outrageous behavior it's an indication of something.