tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70408802024-03-07T19:44:36.906-07:00A Pax Americana and other fun stuff ........Charles King Byrne Author of <i>America- The Last Will and Testament</i>, Inventor, Father, Lead Singer, Architect, 40-something Irish American Catholic, Elvis Impersonator.... how could this kid *not* have an opinion?
BOOK CHARLES KING AT
www.5staracts.comCharleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-61207944657586324532012-10-18T18:50:00.000-06:002012-10-18T19:05:53.592-06:00More pictures I've created<br />
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<br />Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-36561309008398619192012-07-24T18:22:00.001-06:002012-10-18T18:06:54.191-06:00Mass Murder in Aurora<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Unfortunately, due to a court ordered gag order, I had to remove this post</div>
Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-32043228237319382022012-07-24T16:08:00.001-06:002012-07-24T16:08:27.143-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Just a collection of pictures I've created through<br />my Paint.net program (<a href="http://download-paint-net.com/">http://download-paint-net.com/</a>)<br /></div>
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<br /><br />Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-20291274202720848572011-11-14T21:59:00.000-07:002011-11-14T21:59:55.341-07:00My sincerest apologiesI have had very little time to devote to the blog. I try to take my time and give you a blog worth reading, and I just can't do that between work, Army training, and starting up my new 13-piece band, Knight Shift. Find me on Facebook!<br />
I will return to the blog as soon as I am able, especially as the Presidential Election gets into full gear.<br />
GO NEWT!!!!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-19235900969728319792011-03-10T06:23:00.000-07:002011-03-10T06:23:55.836-07:00Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A PeopleOkay, so my fiance Tess is taking a Multicultural course as part of her masters program. And an assignment was to watch this video......<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/Ko_N4BcaIPY/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ko_N4BcaIPY&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ko_N4BcaIPY&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>The full video can be found here.....<br />
Reel Bad Arabs<br />
<a href="http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/reel-bad-arabs/">http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/reel-bad-arabs/</a><br />
<br />
I watched it with her tonight and then, after coming home watched it again with a critical eye... here is my review.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The webpage accompanying Dr. Jack Shaheen’s “documentary” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People</i>, states “</span>By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives….”<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, there is no critical thinking involved in the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is one sided and terribly biased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At times it takes comedies and tries to illustrate that they are serious and at other times it negates the fact that Arab groups, individuals, and movements have proudly taken actions he considers<br />
‘unfair stereotypes’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Part I – Intro </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">First of all, inasmuch as this is an advertisement for a book </span>Dr. Jack Shaheen <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(the “documentarian”) has written, there is obviously no objectivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for this reason he never addresses movies like The Kite Runner or Lawrence of Arabia that show Arabs is an even-handed light.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Only 24 seconds into the film, he begins equating Hollywood’s (Westerners’) views towards Arabs with those of the Nazi’s towards the Jews - an obviously ad hominem argument, a fallacy often referred to as “Playing the Nazi card” or “Reductio ad Hitlerum” – it makes all further contentions of<br />
the “documentarian” suspect at best, but we must press on with an open mind.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He states that he has studied “more than 1000 films” (2:05m) – the majority of those movies must have had white guys as the villain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to see the statistical evidence of how often an Arab is portrayed as the villain in contrast to a Westerner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of this review I will make a list of villains, and see what I can come up with.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Myths of Arabland (3:21m) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The “documentarian” sets up a false premise that ‘all movies dealing with Arabs have a certain set of ‘fabricated’ images’ – ominous music, desert…etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ominous Music – Nearly all movies have ominous<br />
music at one point or another<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Desert, always the desert” – inasmuch as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> movie dealing with Arabs most likely will take place in Egypt (97% desert) Saudi Arabia (80% desert) Syria (70% desert) Iraq (29% desert) Iran -formerly called “Persia”- (50% semi-arid or desert), odds are the events <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i><br />
take place in a desert.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Desert as a threatening place” A desert can be considered nothing but a dangerous and threatening place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lack of water for a human is the quickest route to a non-violent death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A desert by its very nature is life-threatening to humans. The description of the oasis is merely a geographical reality, not sure how it reflects on Arabs in general.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The palace that has the torture chamber in the basement… the Pasha sitting on his posh cushions with maidens surrounding him, none of the maidens please him, so they abduct a blonde woman from the west who doesn’t want to be seduced…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems he is taking a very specific plot from a handful of movies and attributing it to ALL movies about Arabs – again,<br />
the scarecrow argument.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Belly dancing and scimitars – is he suggesting that there are no belly dancers in the Middle East, or that earlier Arabic warriors didn’t use scimitars – what would he prefer an Arab fighter to be shown with? An AK-47 assault rifle?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Flying magic carpets and snake charmers – refer to #4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t believe every Arab<br />
movie shows these, nor do the majority – yet he sets this up as a ‘typical’ view of Arabs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">(5:25m) “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aladdin</i>”<br />
– the story of Aladdin was taken from the 14<sup>th</sup> Century SYRIAN fables “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Thousand and One Nights</i>” – as dictated to Antoine Galland by Youhenna Diab “Hanna” – an <u>Arab Syrian </u>storyteller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to make an argument that Aladdin is a white man’s stereotype of Arabs when the original story came from an Arab. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(5:50m)<br />
“They cut off your ear if they don’t like your face” that line was removed after the movie was released - exactly FOR the cultural sensitivities he espouses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his desire to vilify the white producers, he neglects to mention this. The replaced line was, “where it's flat and immense, and the heat is intense."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The perception of Arabic ‘barbarism’ (a perfectly chosen word, since it comes from the Greek word for the Persians - meaning “not Greek” or “not civilized) is born of the fact that some Arabs will cut off the hand of a thief, they will not touch another with the left hand since that is the hand they wipe themselves with, Sharia law calls for the stoning death of an adulteress…etc..etc… actions that are, indeed, uncivilized to Western eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not derogatory; it is a statement of fact. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To Western eyes, such actions are uncivilized and barbaric.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">(6:40) “Arabs as buffoons” Referring to an obscure and disregarded movie such as “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Happy Hooker</i>” does little to boost his argument, unless he’s also suggesting that a prostitute would be called into a Congressional hearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hollywood “buffoons” come in all shapes and sizes, Gomer Pyle, Barney Fife, Larry the Cable Guy, Forrest Gump, Sancho Panza, Bill & Ted, Wayne & Garth…on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time, in any number of the movies he alludes to (and others he avoids) Arabs are seen as skillful and intelligent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although in movies such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Siege</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingdom of Heaven</i>, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Hawk Down</i>, those Arabs skills are used to a malevolent ends other movies, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lawrence of Arabia</i> are not nearly so malicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, it cannot be said that Arabs are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">consistently</i> or exclusively shown as buffoons.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Portrayal of Arab Women<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">(8:00m) He then lists a number of movies in which women are treated as chattel (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cannonball Run2, Jewel of the Nile, Protocol, Never Say Never Again and Sahara</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although few Hollywood movies are NOT built upon hyperbole, does this not reflect the FACT that women are considered “less” than men in Arab cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Sharia-following Taliban government in Afghanistan (pre-2003) forbade women from going to school, learning to read, leaving the house without a male escort, speaking to any man without her husband’s permission, wearing anything more revealing than a hijab or burka.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It maybe unpleasant to face such facts, but exaggerated or not, women are considered little more than animals in many Arab cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later in the movie he speaks of how Arab women of today are “exceeding in all professions”(12:50m).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do I have to ask if that includes the Sharia-ruled countries where women are not allowed to go to school or learn how to read?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A clip of Indiana Jones is used to show how the image of Arabic women are “locked in the past”(13:42m), yet in this example, the movie is set in the 1930’s. A modern woman of any culture would be out of place.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Immediately following this tirade of how Arab women are not treated as intelligent, he bemoans how recently Arab women are ‘projected as a bomber… a terrorist.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(13:15m) This recent change in perception has followed the recent inclusion of women as suicide bombers and jihadists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You might say in this case art is imitating life, not visa-versa.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When he moves on to attacking “Father of the Bride 2” (10:58m) I realized how much he was relying on comedies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is hardly a credible argument for “typical treatment of Arabs” any more than Larry The Cable Guy is illustrative of all white guys, or any of Adam Sandler’s characters are “typical Jews”… the intent of some comedy is the absurdity of exaggeration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All cultures are subject to the exaggerations of extreme when dealing with comedies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you never seen a drunken Irishman used as a joke in a film?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or a stupid white guy in an episode of Roseanne? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Gladiator” – slave traders who take Russell Crowe back to Rome are Arabs. (11:46m)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fact1 - Arab slave trade took place during the Roman Empire, and this scene, in all likelihood, is factually accurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the author claims that Hollywood is “injecting Arabs” in movies “having nothing to do with the Middle East” (12:10m) he is showing an ignorance of the worldwide trade of the Roman Empire during the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Romans traded with Arabs, and they traded with Arabs for slaves and gladiators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The movie is factually correct.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fact 2 – The only countries in the world in which slave trade still takes place on a wide scale are Sudan, Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Chad – all countries claiming the sanctioning of slavery by Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the country with the largest human slave trade is Indonesia – which is also the country most populated by Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To portray Arabs and Muslims as slave traders is not some conjured “slur” against Arabs and Muslims, only an accurate portrayal of their culture.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Arab Threat: Mideast Politics & Hollywood (13:49m)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dr. Shaheen tries to assert that Arabs have been singled out for the villain role in American movies - specifically Network (16:20m).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing a culture, any culture as an enemy is nothing new, and it is not limited to Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During WWII, it was Germans or Japanese (Kelly’s Heroes, Von Ryan’s Express, Bridge On The River Kwai…) and during the Cold War it was the Russians (Red Dawn, Failsafe…) sometimes even our own government (Dr. Strangelove, War Games, The Day After…).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Movies often reflect their times and the threats (perceived or real) of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And once again, for good measure, he associates Hollywood with the Nazi’s. (17:50m) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Terror, Inc: Demonizing Palestinians and Muslims</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s almost laughable how Shaheen condemns the Hollywood association of Palestinians with Nazi’s when he, himself, just utilized that same comparison for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> purpose not two minutes before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He states how unfair it is that Palestinians are portrayed as a people who will kill “anyone, anywhere, at any time, for any reason.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, is it not the Palestinians who suicide bomb wedding receptions, public markets, and buses of tourists or take hostages of innocent Olympic athletes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– with no concern for the number of innocent women and children being killed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do they not, in fact, kill anyone, anywhere, and at any time?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The documentarian states Palestinians are portrayed as a people “intent on injuring all Americans.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would not only be the view of Hollywood/Washington DC but has been stated as much by the Palestinians themselves in countless “fatwas” or ‘calls to war.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many major Muslim, Arabic, and Palestinian groups have in fact called for just this sort of attack on America, its citizens, its interests, and its allies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not an invention of Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The torture scene from Death Before Dishonor (the drill into the hand) (22:36m)was confirmed to be an ‘approved’ Al Qaeda torture technique when an Al Qaeda handbook was retrieved in Iraq in May of 2007 (</span><a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/torture-manual.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;"></span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/torture-manual.htm)%20“They">http://science.howstuffworks.com/torture-manual.htm</a></span><a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/torture-manual.htm)%20“They"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">) </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“They burn an American flag…” (22:45m) Is he suggesting Arabs don’t do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then “dispatch a suicide bomber to blow up [the American Embassy]” Again, is he suggesting these aren’t things Arab terrorists do?<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">His bringing up the obscure “Cannon Films” B-movie productions (23:17m)skirts very near the canard that America and Hollywood are ‘run by the Jews’ and was discomforting to hear, to say the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had never heard of, much less seen, any of the films he portrayed as standards of American film work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hell Squad</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(23:39m) Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington</i>, maybe he’s making a case that really crappy, unwatched B-rate movies engage in Arabi-phobia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he’s making a better case that he, personally, watches imbecilic, stupid, soft porn b-flicks and expects from them some deep interculturally significant message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good Luck with that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He claims that the movie “The Delta Force” is one of the ‘most popular and most racist’ films to project derogatory images of Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(23:50m) Unfortunately for him, the entire scenario of taking an airplane filled with people and then separating out the Jews for execution was not a Hollywood invention, but a scene repeated on numerous airplane hijackings during the 70’s including the Palestinian hijacking of Air France Flight 139 in 1976.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also why Leon Klinghoffer was singled out for execution during the taking of the Achille Lauro in 1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than ‘propaganda’ as he claims, it is an accurate portrayal of what commonly took place when airline hijackings took place in the 70’s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is at this point that Dr. Shaheen tilts his hand to show us his underlying premise; he refers to Palestinians as a populace “under occupation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(25:14m) This is a short, but very telling phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saying that Palestinians are under occupation is to say the Israelis have no right to occupy Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He then goes on to ask why Hollywood cannot ‘humanize’ Palestinians the way we humanize Israelis. (25:37m) Perhaps because it is difficult to humanize any culture that condones and glorifies the wanton murder of innocents and children through suicide bombings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israelis, Americans, Europeans, and Westerners anguish-over and regret ANY collateral damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Military officers are punished and demoted if enough care is not taken to minimize civilian casualties (often at the expense of our own soldiers’ lives).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Arabs, however, take glory and pride in larger and larger death tolls – military or civilian, it doesn’t matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tactics used by terrorists (yes, I realize not all Muslims/Arabs are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists have been Mulsim/Arabic) are in fact barbaric and inhuman… it is for this reason it is difficult to ‘humanize’ a culture that embraces terrorism.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Only Good Arab (26:07m)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A quick montage of movie posters accompanies a derisive commentary regarding movies made ‘in connection with the Department of Defense’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’d have to freeze frame to see which movies are highlighted, but it’s curious the ones he chose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did the hard work and will present them (in order) for you…</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Executive Decision (1996) Arabs hijack a plane to get their leader released from American custody – reflecting the real life Palestinian “Dawson’s Field Hijackings” of Sept 1970 as well as the Palestinian hijacking of Air France Flight 139 in June of 1976, the Palestinian hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 in October of 1977, the hijacking of Kuwait Airways flight KU561 in February of 1982 as well as the 1985 Palestinian hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648 (Although that type of rescue has no historical basis, the plotline of Palestinians taking hostages to get a comrad free was hardly invented by Hollywood!</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Death Before Dishonor (1987) An American Embassy goes lax in its security measures and is overrun by terrorists, similar to the fall of the American Embassy in Tehran in 1978</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Black Hawk Down (2001) It is very telling that Dr. Shaheen doesn’t address this movie directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps he avoids it because according to all accounts it is a very accurate telling of the events that took place in October of 1993 in Somalia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is difficult to argue bias and stereotype in a factually based film.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Patriot Games (1992) I find it laughable that this is included in the montage as it has nothing to do with Arabs, Palestinians, or the Middle East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The terrorists in this Tom Clancy story are members of the Irish Republican Army.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Navy Seals (1990) Yes, it’s American S.E.A.L.s vs. MiddleEastern terrorists.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rules of Engagement (2000) I find it curious that Dr. Shaheen includes this movie, and in fact uses it as an example of stereotyping later in his documentary (27:02m), calling it the “most racist.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it curious because throughout the majority of the movie, the Samuel Jackson character is ASSUMED to be guilty, with the presumption of innocence placed upon the Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, much of the film shows the US government doing its damnedest to convict an American soldier who <u>isn’t </u>guilty of breaking the rules of engagement <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- in order to be politically correct and Arab-sensitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure this is the best movie to use if one is trying to show Americans as ‘hell bent’ to railroad Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also shows the after-effects<br />
of American bullets (not exactly showing Arabs as ‘inhuman’)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">True Lies (1994)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay another Good guys vs Bad guys in which the bad guys are Arabs.</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Iron Eagle (1986)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More in common with a US vs Saddam than Western vs Arab… but we might give this one to the Doctor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are a good 25-30 more minutes in the film, mostly repeating what has already been stated – Arabs and Palestinians are victims of propaganda and stereotyping in American films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing they do is wrong and nothing Hollywood (Westerners) have to say about them is right.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Among my friends and associates, I am one of the first to defend the Palestinians as a group (while condemning the actions of the few), but even I can’t call this “documentary” objective in any manner, much less an exercise in critical thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a one-sided diatribe that assumes the worst in Americans and Hollywood, and sees nothing but goodness and purity in the Palestinians and Arabs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Critical Thinking by definition should never take such an absolute view of anything!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We do ourselves a disservice to ignore facts in the pursuit of ‘understanding’ and ‘tolerance’; and the facts remain that Palestinians and Arabs cheered at the murder of thousands of innocents in the World Trade Center on September 11<sup>th</sup>, 2001.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact remains that they have declared war on us, our country, and our culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact remains that the ‘torture’ of Abu Graib prisoners pales when compared to men being beheaded with agonizingly slow cuts of a knife as seen in Al Qaeda videos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact remains that many (if not all) Arabs have customs, ideals, and beliefs that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> barbaric to Western eyes and can never be explained-away or rationalized (the aforementioned beheadings and treatment of women for example).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact remains that until more Arabs clearly, unequivocally, and vocally condemn these barbaric customs and actions, they must accept being identified with them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Oh yeah! The list I promised you.......<br />
HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS IN AMERICAN HISTORY<br />
Movie …. Enemy or Villain<br />
1) Gone With The Wind – Poverty, Yankees, war…… no Arabs<br />
2) Star Wars – Darth Vader, Old white guy in a black suit, the Empire (a buncha’ guys with English accents) Stormtroopers…. No Arabs, unless you want to make the leap that Sandpeople = Arabs, in that case they have a bit-part<br />
3) The Sound of Music – White guys, namely Nazis<br />
4) ET – The Extra-Terrestrial – The Federal Government, a buncha’ white guys in white suits, not an Arab in sight<br />
5) The Ten Commandments – hmmmm, it does take place in the Middle East but I’m not sure if Phararoh counts as an “Arab”.. he certainly wasn’t Muslim, as Mohammed was still 6,000 years in the future<br />
6) Titanic – Iceberg, rich white guy, class warfare… lotsa’ challenges, but no Arabs<br />
7) Jaws – daaaa dum daaaaa dum dumdum dumdum… mmmm 1 shark 0 Arabs<br />
8) Doctor Zhivago – Russians, Communists, or was it the Tzarists? Either way.. not a single Arab<br />
9) The Exorcist – Lucifer, Belzebub, Legion, Lilith… not an Arab<br />
10) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – I don’t think the Wicked Witch was an Arab or Muslim<br />
11) One Hundred and One Dalmatians – never clearly defined, but I think DeVille is an Irish or Scott name, isn’t it?<br />
12) Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back – same as #2, except add Boba Fett… ethnicity unknown (Are Mandelorians Arabic?)<br />
13) Ben Hur – Takes place in the Middle East but A-Salaam! The bad guy is a Roman! In fact ALL the Romans are bad guys! (accept for Ben’s adopted Dad)<br />
14) Avatar – Rich, greedy, Capitalist white guys<br />
15) Star Wars – Return of the Jedi – Still no Arabs in the Galaxy far, far Away<br />
16) The Sting – non-Arabic Chicago thug (Italian, maybe?)<br />
17) Raiders of the Lost Ark – Nazis (again), competing French archeologist. Oh yeah, and one scimitar-wielding Arab another bit-part villain.<br />
18) Jurassic Park – Reconstituted Dinosaurs, none of which pray to Allah… oh yeah, and greedy, rich white capitalists again<br />
19) The Graduate - Been a while since I watched this one, pretty sure it isn’t an Arab<br />
20) Star Wars – Phantom Menace – Jar Jar Binks, no! wait, he was the annoyance… bad guys? The old white-guy senator, a bunch of robots, and some Nimodians that if anything resembled Orientals<br />
21) Fantasia – I remember alligators, runaway broomsticks, a mountain sized demon, but no Arabs or Muslims<br />
22) The Godfather – Italian mobsters, not ONE of whom was named Hakim!<br />
23) Forrest Gump – villain? Not one I can think of, except maybe his own disabilities<br />
24) Mary Poppins – ahh the rich old white guys again, this time MAJOR capitalists!<br />
25) The Lion King – Was Scar a Muslim? An Arab? Depends on which part of Africa he’s from, I suppose. Let’s be nice and say maybe.<br />
26) Grease – Mmmmm I don’t think Americans knew what an Arab was in the 50’s<br />
27) Thunderball – SPECTRE, much more Soviet than Arab, and the Nassau scenes… mmm.. nope!<br />
28) The Dark Knight – Joker’s not an Arab or a Muslim, but definitely a terrorist. Gotta’ say no on this one <br />
29) The Jungle Book – depends on how you anthromorphize the animals. I’m saying no.<br />
30) Sleeping Beauty – nope<br />
31) Shrek 2 – nope<br />
32) Ghostbusters – the Federal Government and Zool who happened to come from the Middle East – but neither a Musim nor Arab he be.<br />
33) Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid… nope, nada, zilch<br />
Okay, you’re getting the point. After these it’s Love Story, Spider-Man, Independence Day, Home Alone, Pinocchio, Cleopatra, Beverly Hills Cop, Goldfinger, Airport, American Graffiti, The Robe, Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Around The World in 80 Day, Bambi, Blazing Saddles, Batman, Bells of St. Mary’s… the top 50 highest grossing movies in history and not a single major Arab or Muslim villain in any of them! (In Airport the villain is a white guy, American businessman played by Van Heflin)<br />
The rest of the list is here - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_Canada_and_the_United_States">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_Canada_and_the_United_States</a><br />
In AFI’s list of 100 best villains, I couldn’t find a single Muslim or Arab in the top 50 (I didn’t find numbers 51-100)<br />
So, in summary, White guys, Capitalists, Nazis, Wicked Witches, black guys, Orientals, women, and even children are found on our list of movie villains… but not a single Arab or Muslim.Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-62619732155636117312011-02-03T03:32:00.000-07:002011-02-03T03:32:33.079-07:00"The Rite" StuffMovie Review - The Rite<br />
<br />
For those who would believe, no explanation is necessary, for those who wouldn’t, no explanation is enough.<br />
<br />
<br />
The movie <em>The Rite</em> is to exorcisms what The Right Stuff was to space travel. Sure, today’s audiences love <em>Armageddon</em> and other ‘space’ movies filled with action and suspense… but both Tom Wolfe’s book, and the movie <em>The Right Stuff</em> also dealt with the tediousness of the never-ending medical tests, the selection process, the indignity of ‘space chimps’ and the mendacity of press conferences. Why? Because Wolfe wasn’t writing an action packed thrill-a-minute joy ride… he was documenting the early American space program.<br />
<br />
So it is with <em>The Rite</em>. The vast majority of the beginning of this latest exorcism fare is spent introducing us to priest-in-training Michael Kovak (<strong>Colin O’Donoghue</strong>). Above all, we learn that he has chosen his path reluctantly and without any particular calling. After four years at seminary school, he is ready to give up the whole idea of priesthood but his plans for an exit are interrupted when his Father Superior (<strong>Toby Jones</strong>) sends him to Rome hoping that training as an exorcist might intrigue him and entice him to stay. Father Kovak takes to Rome a full suitcase of disbelief, cynicism, and agnosticism. He challenges his Roman instructor (<strong>Ciaran Hinds</strong>) at every turn and makes no qualms in expressing his disbelief. For those viewers with short attention spans, this is the interminably long part of the film. <br />
<br />
It takes nearly half-an-hour before we see what most viewers have come to see – Hannibal Lec…… errr… I mean <strong>Anthony Hopkins</strong>. This will prove to be, however one of Sir Hopkins best roles (insomuch as range of character, playing opposite ends of humanity and still being credible, and giving more than a taste of what we loved so much in <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>).<br />
<br />
At this point, I’d love to say the pace of the movie picks up, there are trembling walls, spinning beds and Linda Blairs left and right, but this isn’t a horror or gore movie. At this point we learn about Hopkin’s character (Father Lukas Trevant) and a bit more about the beliefs behind exorcism, as well as the day-to-day ministering to the sick and possessed.<br />
<br />
All the slow time is not without reason. Like society’s impression of demonic possession in general, we are lulled into thinking this is going nowhere, it’s a sham, it’s parlor tricks and much ado about nothing. At one point, Hopkins gives a line quite similar to the famous, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist” from <em>The Usual Suspects</em>.<br />
<br />
The climax is worth every moment spent watching celluloid as thrilling as home movies. You realize what a prefect skeptic Fr. Kovak is; how unprepared he is for the task at hand, and we truly wonder what the outcome will be.<br />
<br />
This movie takes turns and gives insights no previous exorcism movie has taken – perhaps because it was based on the true account of a California priest (Fr. Gary Thomas) and journalist Matt Baglio (changed by Hollywood to the very attractive <strong>Alice Braga</strong>). The special effects are spectacular without breaking the illusion of reality. Your greatest fears will come from the possibility that this is real, rather than any overblown, unrealistic horror effects.<br />
<br />
Rating – Not quite The Exorcist for spectacular Horror/Thrill, and more believable than even Emily Rose.<br />
<br />
(4 out of 5 spinning, pea-soup chucking heads)Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-14626110289187288742011-02-02T16:05:00.000-07:002011-02-02T16:05:27.923-07:00I'm looking for help here!With Chucky Schumer's lastest display of genius<br />
(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG0Jpu9geWY">Chuck Schumer's definition of the 3 Branches of Government</a>)<br />
... I thought back to other Greatest Hits of Democrat perspicasity..<br />
(<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=1&ved=0CDAQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXK3rTUgoQD4&ei=OuJJTam3O46osQPxo8m2Cg&usg=AFQjCNEfK4HOBPoiC7RDc0TZeo_ZpaHjeA">Sheila Jackson Lee and the two Vietnams</a>), (<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzNZczIgVXjg&ei=W-JJTaqTJorSsAO2zInYCg&usg=AFQjCNG42tfOok4MQpOKLRdhkV3RxUvapA">Congressman Hank Johnson worried Guam will tip over</a>)<br />
.... and I came up with 3 "Epic Failure" pictures. Other than Obama's 57 States, can you think of any others that need to be immortalized before we forget them?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6P43XZFdclY03QZGL53yNuGhT-XWy2vf4HnukY_h6Dk4uhLiARnp-IiatGcC9UYnBeD9IYfSa4q8RX_pMBVXqznUTSHLoL-L3QhErrST9XotqMOGN1D6DhzsnheEveGrA0Vzq9Q/s1600/schumer+cnn+FAIL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6P43XZFdclY03QZGL53yNuGhT-XWy2vf4HnukY_h6Dk4uhLiARnp-IiatGcC9UYnBeD9IYfSa4q8RX_pMBVXqznUTSHLoL-L3QhErrST9XotqMOGN1D6DhzsnheEveGrA0Vzq9Q/s320/schumer+cnn+FAIL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNejr1VdcEopyD_NO-qdwwCk0QX3x-akCKww4OH55Xbc5zDqABRnn6ac7QStAGFhpHNsSKcncWdsJR2j96NuyfRyH_UOuo6QZly78tZZ9eM7jSYNLG69jegEvUD4A16JdHQJGeNA/s1600/Lee+FAIL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNejr1VdcEopyD_NO-qdwwCk0QX3x-akCKww4OH55Xbc5zDqABRnn6ac7QStAGFhpHNsSKcncWdsJR2j96NuyfRyH_UOuo6QZly78tZZ9eM7jSYNLG69jegEvUD4A16JdHQJGeNA/s320/Lee+FAIL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdCWtEqBa36_kMwRtBhTYuOnQHksugyI1nGNUv2sY5fduGZoK2V0jTv28C_-I0g67Lj8xRt4vAWs34G5kKfTbD4cvLiIWaFhK3hhRqq1vyw6R0tcEkYlrcxmmYolt0vA-tyQvAA/s1600/Johnson+FAIL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdCWtEqBa36_kMwRtBhTYuOnQHksugyI1nGNUv2sY5fduGZoK2V0jTv28C_-I0g67Lj8xRt4vAWs34G5kKfTbD4cvLiIWaFhK3hhRqq1vyw6R0tcEkYlrcxmmYolt0vA-tyQvAA/s320/Johnson+FAIL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-77093394412635119232011-01-29T01:24:00.003-07:002011-01-31T16:27:59.001-07:00My 43rd... a landmark birthday!I usually try to spare the gentle readers from the oh-too-personal style blog - "Today I got up and brushed my teeth......... yada yada yada.."<br />
<br />
But yesterday was my birthday and a truly remarkable one... so I shall remark. Actually I'll just paste the note I put on Facebook.<br />
<br />
Okay, I'm almost to the point of tears, here. This birthday has been incredible! Over the last few years, I've found a home in the hearts of Tess' family... mainly her, her Mom & Dad. Tonight, when I refered to Stephen as my battle brother, I did so just as a play on the phrase we use "battle buddy." But when I started thinking about it, it moved me more and more...<br />
<br />
<span data-jsid="text">Stephen truly IS my brother... along with Derek and Eric... we would do anything for one another. Seems obvious, considering we would lay down our lives for one another. But it goes beyond grandiose heroics... in everyday lives, there's nothing we wouldn't do for one another. We stand up for one another, respect one another, care about one another, help one another... with no pissing contests, tit-for-tat or unfairness.</span><br />
<br />
<span data-jsid="text">There is no "do you deserve my firendship?" "Do you deserve my concern... my help.. my love..." "are you doing things as I would do them in your shoes?" There's none of that! There is true brotherhood! It's taken 43 years, but finally, I have the love of my life... and I have a family! Thank you Lord! As I said, I'm almost to tears at the thought!</span><br />
<br />
<span data-jsid="text"><span data-jsid="text">So to Chaz, Tess, Jim, Jo, Derek, Eric, and Stephen... thanks for giving me a family!</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="255" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytvYnH9CKLkcbdJ28QyNP3If3kz8lPBf2V4TkN12bRwYe1MgJEg4qKgRojc6561FydLIFUzU8Bblr2_l5M5MOCkE3R87hixfYZ1dNOM6TIQj6XRh8WMcxay-A0AVZ5iAPNJf_PA/s320/Chaz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chaz</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJvylWU1XwcSAeh14pH_GAjxn6waO2b49cA_ObArScJCiekLEVMIXa04ddQb96fu1A6epoJi8R3byUytqpzezaYjhU-eGlKnGcI9A8dgtOQbmhvogPZSgUzdi2jhNAeJ1Cp6EYg/s1600/CK-Tess+smilin.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJvylWU1XwcSAeh14pH_GAjxn6waO2b49cA_ObArScJCiekLEVMIXa04ddQb96fu1A6epoJi8R3byUytqpzezaYjhU-eGlKnGcI9A8dgtOQbmhvogPZSgUzdi2jhNAeJ1Cp6EYg/s320/CK-Tess+smilin.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Tess</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7ExDORxn-QTU-sKelbLdYuLNhXQUxjEx5Elst6qBe3LC4pph-fgOP3BqQrCbAITrPUCSpzkuoVGLx-Rn2FqWET3kFvuoib73yERKhtWAHuP_yRDWPyM4Ma9dKwm8N6uyObtu7w/s1600/Jim.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Professor (and Major Ret.) Jim Moravec </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJT7IaraMK-Q4panAeVPxhAR87bEZpdPNymqMtk_hjf_PP0vXQNUh6nhX6YW7EOD4zQzT8XlowFTxQr5gv7dpUb9OkyVevJThv7NbSa3noLs0OfgMPCDK9n8Ckrbh-oL-_UEkltw/s1600/Jo+Moravec+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJT7IaraMK-Q4panAeVPxhAR87bEZpdPNymqMtk_hjf_PP0vXQNUh6nhX6YW7EOD4zQzT8XlowFTxQr5gv7dpUb9OkyVevJThv7NbSa3noLs0OfgMPCDK9n8Ckrbh-oL-_UEkltw/s320/Jo+Moravec+2.bmp" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jo Moravec</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreoS9QrXyNCtGHXbD_asAFw7ugfvIhaYFMtx5zLTWCgbVrfXKVvwWXKwD8WpMP4ksIpZgAD8q1ccA3p9YOlIn1p2bYTw0LdvgpI8UvLm828wwjBUZLCEDb86Y2RjjRxfGCtCqcQ/s1600/Derek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreoS9QrXyNCtGHXbD_asAFw7ugfvIhaYFMtx5zLTWCgbVrfXKVvwWXKwD8WpMP4ksIpZgAD8q1ccA3p9YOlIn1p2bYTw0LdvgpI8UvLm828wwjBUZLCEDb86Y2RjjRxfGCtCqcQ/s320/Derek.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derek</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFt1FFwCRzoUGKeVG0V_XScd4U-acGz9S6DBu9cXGz0EHodHxQ1hwADdKEV8AhBuuMTumZJLbwlG4XcOmgaWzTXjaiWP94mEW9x1Tdsnpo6xgvVde2t7SexwvtRM46iPaMnYjrzg/s1600/Eric.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFt1FFwCRzoUGKeVG0V_XScd4U-acGz9S6DBu9cXGz0EHodHxQ1hwADdKEV8AhBuuMTumZJLbwlG4XcOmgaWzTXjaiWP94mEW9x1Tdsnpo6xgvVde2t7SexwvtRM46iPaMnYjrzg/s320/Eric.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEhDW0w-PEtGPhrXdrnfBJo_bVNo7iHBrOZ4Ygo83ZqYvZb3t9hqTC6fgGWdEv4O8-e-0wX0pfBfaPgy3FanLIlkFd3AiBTKyaxKiaXJLJjst23uaFDbVtKm_gMyXYa12q31-XQ/s320/Steve+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="258" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-58565739421845767372011-01-28T12:11:00.000-07:002011-01-28T12:11:45.130-07:00Cairo in flames and riotsWelcome to the Return of Jimmy Carter!<br />
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The scenes on television are so reminicent of 1978 Tehran. <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fhostednews%2Fcanadianpress%2Farticle%2FALeqM5hQbF7kM-hR5bhj3GqXaQZDx2KBpA%3FdocId%3D5785999&ei=8Q9DTbaTBpP4sAPio7mPCg&usg=AFQjCNFq0VdC0qZGDVtjOngZH4b9gWgCXg">I'm not the only one feeling this way.</a> Could we be seeing confirmation that we are witnessing the 2nd term of Jimmy Carter? I have no doubt Obama will once again sit back and watch, as he did with the protests in Iran back in June of 2009.<br />
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We could very well see an overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak administration. Then what?!?!? A fundamentalist Caliphate government?<br />
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This is exactly what I've been afraid of (though not with Egypt - I've been more concerned with the Glenn Becks of the world <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glennbeck.com%2Fcontent%2Farticles%2Farticle%2F198%2F5609%2F&ei=FhNDTaGhAYX6sAOTodG7Cg&usg=AFQjCNFaYtjGzbjEiFkhFEVaW3Rvc93LfQ">railing </a>on Saudi Arabia) I've seen Glenn many times repeat how "the 9/11 hijackers were mostly Saudi's" Yes... they were Saudi's .... EXILED Saudi's. If the Mubarak regime falls that's not good... but if the Saudi family is overthrown, that is catastrophic! Not only in the terms of Jihadists having their paws on the oil spigot, but the de-stabilizing effect it would have on the nascent democracy in Iraq, the wave of liberty spreading through Jordan, Lebannon, Lybia, and yes, Egypt.<br />
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Once again, a weak president (like Carter in '78) will be shown to have long-ranging, detrimental effects effecting the entire world!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-41732361764182877732011-01-25T20:47:00.003-07:002011-01-26T12:18:42.904-07:00The State of the Campaign Speech<span style="color: blue;">The State of the Campaign Speech</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6AubM_sbFBKvFazmkBDkezhdXZ4IPg1wGlQz-BWxHEEc4Uv5hyphenhyphenhQ22KdRKA_iccmMpTqEAidMfg7nObPV_as08dBiADaofxWK5XtvT-giFJ-GWsna0VMSLeX8h4a01h2wutEi4g/s1600/SHUT_UP%252C_TOTUS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6AubM_sbFBKvFazmkBDkezhdXZ4IPg1wGlQz-BWxHEEc4Uv5hyphenhyphenhQ22KdRKA_iccmMpTqEAidMfg7nObPV_as08dBiADaofxWK5XtvT-giFJ-GWsna0VMSLeX8h4a01h2wutEi4g/s1600/SHUT_UP%252C_TOTUS.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This AWESOME Picture courtesy of <a href="http://totus-blog.blogspot.com/">http://totus-blog.blogspot.com/</a></div><span style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">He started out by once again connecting the Tucson shooting to <span style="color: red;">“noise and passions and rancor of our public debate.”</span> Just had to get that dig in, didn’t he? Not much else jumped out in the 2011 State of the Union speech, save that Obama is still pushing to punish big oil and ‘the wealthiest 2% of Americans’. Oh yeah, and has great but foggy dreams for the future – putting Americans to work building roads… he wants to see more Americans graduate high school, he wants college ‘within reach of every American’… he wants firefighters to be able to download building schematics on a handheld device, he wants 100,000 new teachers... He still wants to transform America into a ‘green’ nation (it’s worked so well for Spain, hasn’t it?)</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">It was basically a campaign stump speech to get rid of the tax loopholes, hire more people, spend more money, create rail systems… It was Obama at his vague and magical best; conjuring images in the air with no substance and no specifics. It had many well-worn staples like ‘simplifying the individual tax code’ and getting rid of fraud and waste :::::yawn:::::: “We need to out innovate, out educate, out build…. Yada yada, yada…” </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">He begged kids to think about becoming teachers without addressing how CURRENT teachers are leaving in DROVES because of how horrid the teaching profession is right now... paperwork, class audits, bureaucrats assessing teachers, more paperwork... lifelong teachers are having breakdowns, fighting suicidal tendancies and having heart attacks from the stress. I asked a professor what he would say to someone getting into teaching, he said, <span style="color: black;"><em>“Don’t! You'll have ulcers, sleepless nights, and you won't get to teach the kids without the government making your life hell... all the good teachers are leaving.”</em></span> Obama didn't tell the prospective teachers THAT, now did he?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Obama proved he is still painfully out of touch with the main street American,,,”<span style="color: red;"> We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.“</span> Really?!?!? Give me a break! </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">He threw so many ideas at the wall, some are bound to stick while most others can be shunned aside and forgotten. Those forgotten ones will be on the same shelf as closing Gitmo, getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan <span style="color: red;">“immediately… not next week, not next month… but the day I'm inaugurated”</span> Remember him promising that back in 2008?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">So, there were a lot of generalities, a lot of programs, a lot of spending… then a cursory talk of cutting 12% of domestic spending. So which is it? Are we going to cut spending, or spend on new programs? He spoke of the “<span style="color: red;">10’s of billions of dollars”</span> the Pentagon is willing to cut, but he’s also proposed increased spending on Family rediness, psychological treatment..." Again, throw both side of the issue at the wall, and someone’s gunna’ like it. This was also true with the talk on Afghanistan “<span style="color: red;">we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you”</span> (but troops are coming home in July regardless.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">There was a lot more joking and down home Palin-isms than I was expecting… talking about government oversight for salmon in fresh water, versus salt water…”<span style="color: red;">I hear it gets even more complicated when they’re smoked.”</span> Yuk Yuk Yuk… what a funny guy. Does he not realize that there are 20 million unemployed Americans out here that don’t want to see their President yucking it up as if everything’s hunky dory - HEY! let’s have a beer summit and some laughs?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">What is it with Tunisia and Somalia? <span style="color: red;">“And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people…”</span> (but if you’re fighting for freedom in Iran, you’re on your own, bud!)</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">And again, on the military, “<span style="color: red;">Tonight, let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation is united in support of our troops and their families. Let us serve them as well as they have served us – by giving them the equipment they need; by providing them with the care and benefits they have earned; and by enlisting our veterans in the great task of building our own nation. “</span> ---- of course he’s freezing military pay, raising TriCare Insurance premiums, eliminating any benefits of shopping at the PX, and try and get us to cover battlefield wounds on our own private insurance. Oh! And his great example of supporting the troops? Getting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell - a move 77% of combat military members were AGAINST!</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">In short, he said everything for everybody, making broad strokes and few specifics. He didn’t acknowledge the ‘spanking’ he and his party got in November. He was completely tone deaf to the shouting cries of the American public… again, reiterating that “out of touch” image the jokes and cutsie-cute remarks instilled.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">It’s sad that with all the double talk, grandiose palaver, unfulfilled promises and directly contrary-to-the-desires of the American people strong-arming (ObamaCare, Stimulus…) he’s done in the past…. I can’t trust anything the man says, even the things that sound like great ideas. He promised ‘transparency’ yet every major bill he signed was negotiated and horse-traded behind closed doors with untoward back-room deals. He promised to ‘reach across the aisle’ yet told the Republicans ‘it’s my way or the highway’ on every major bill. So, what am I to believe?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">As far as refering to this as our "Sputnik moment" - rudely and grostequely ironic considering HE gutted NASA and stripped them of their madate to explore space.... does he not realize when he's being perverse, or is he just that openly dishonest? This was a speech filled with sound and fury signifying nothing, a carefully vague and nonspecific ruse for the rubes that will follow him like children after the pied piper. I want my 60 minutes back!</span><br />
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</span>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-35053948941072323652011-01-22T02:47:00.005-07:002011-01-22T03:24:29.824-07:00Obama, GE, and Crony CapitalismThe press is swallowing the "I'm pro-business" elixir that Obama poured in abundance during his recent trip to Albany New York. <em><span style="color:#000099;">(How many frequent flyer miles does he have on Air Force One, already... can we exchange them for any free trips? Like maybe a one-way trip to Cuba?) </span></em>Anyway....They say this is a beta version of his upcoming State of The Union Address.<br /><em>"He's turning a corner, modifying his message, changing his image to a more pro-business look."<br /><br /></em><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Malarkey!!!!!<br /></span></strong><br />This is no different than anything he's done over the previous two years. It's not pro-business, it's pro-GE!!<br /><br />He announced the appointment of GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head a new team of economic advisors. Wasn't he already the head of a group of economic advisors??<br /><br />Ahhhh yes.... according to Wiki, " In February 2009, Immelt was appointed as a member to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the president and his administration with advice and counsel in fixing America's economic downturn<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._Immelt#cite_note-6">.[7]" - Jeffrey Immelt</a><br />And yes! The economic recovery is going just soooooooooooo well, no wonder he's being rewaded with more power and influence!<br /><br />Okay... the recovery sucks.... so what could possibly be the reason for the Federal Government cuddling up to GE and getting so cozy with GE and its CEO?<br /><br />Maybe.... just maybe it's because of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Climate_Exchange">Chicago Climate Exchange</a>... an organization run by close Obama political cronies and set to earn 1 TRILLION dollars a year when Cap-And-Trade is implemented. So what does GE have to do with the CCX? Well, GE owns the rights to much of the technology that will be used by CCX.... GE is set to make billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars when Cap-And-Tax is rolled out. On top of that GE Heathcare (The division Immelt formerly ran) cashed out like gangbusters with Obamacare. There is nothing new about this.... this kind of favoritism, graft, crony-ism has been around since the so-called trust-busting of Teddy Roosevelt (which actually made the trusts much stronger and richer than they were before.)<br /><br />Remember GE also got the largest (non-banking institute) bailout from the porkulous....errr... stimulus package.<br /><br />There is nothing new about this. Obama came to office promising "no more business as usual." Well, maybe he's right... the cronyism in crony capitalism used to be subtle and under the table (or in some back room) now, it's right there out in the open - obvious and blatant. Is this the change you voted for, America?Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-78676991310921682372011-01-18T22:27:00.004-07:002011-01-18T23:35:55.899-07:00Memorial ?!?!?!?! Service<strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Comparing Memorial Services</span></strong><br /><br />T-Shirts?? Really???<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wItFnJCKDWMU1ppE7S6JI4-IPMeyQGBNXL2zdGCKmzPjfrw3eQ3KsuYEDzwKvXvf6VhvZOol5Q1-rA2hyphenhyphen_Mxb3j8Cj5tNxGp0Yjb6JTgTaP4WU6eVB84czdJs984QWFA69HRAA/s1600/l1201803369.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 140px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563779893392221474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wItFnJCKDWMU1ppE7S6JI4-IPMeyQGBNXL2zdGCKmzPjfrw3eQ3KsuYEDzwKvXvf6VhvZOol5Q1-rA2hyphenhyphen_Mxb3j8Cj5tNxGp0Yjb6JTgTaP4WU6eVB84czdJs984QWFA69HRAA/s200/l1201803369.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLdrnX2km5BBOm2g1sg33XIb5qcvfi2GaVBNAw7BASHW3z9Tbqwlwj4d3jN4pS1oeF5kuxcXsK_z0B2v7GhoV7JWLDJBQNGyueZittvY-N1agExVFLQsU-FV7iP7Qnl1cVipQSA/s1600/billbadger.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 132px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563779886037544274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLdrnX2km5BBOm2g1sg33XIb5qcvfi2GaVBNAw7BASHW3z9Tbqwlwj4d3jN4pS1oeF5kuxcXsK_z0B2v7GhoV7JWLDJBQNGyueZittvY-N1agExVFLQsU-FV7iP7Qnl1cVipQSA/s200/billbadger.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCcdeaVuf4ASmLgXAmCOPSrKPqdVH0yCXOIHUB7RWLTEJvhcmOzs3n3gvQs7dAjOWlF2GJWX24cQIMZXhUou7eyWqUAf7E1lORcZTEYypNEmE4NiDw9FW0kiQ9tYxbl1w3y7USA/s1600/arizona-memorial.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 130px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563781112518975058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCcdeaVuf4ASmLgXAmCOPSrKPqdVH0yCXOIHUB7RWLTEJvhcmOzs3n3gvQs7dAjOWlF2GJWX24cQIMZXhUou7eyWqUAf7E1lORcZTEYypNEmE4NiDw9FW0kiQ9tYxbl1w3y7USA/s200/arizona-memorial.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><span style="color:#000066;">I've been mulling over in my head how to approach this... collecting pictures, article quotes and contentions.... </span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Essentially, from Gore at Columbine to Paul Wellstone's Memorial to the Arizona Shooting Memorial it seems that when liberals gather "memorial services" become political pep rallies.</span> <br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#000066;">I will give proper credit to</span> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DgXx_evi6Q">Bill Clinton's Oklahoma City memorial.</a> <strong><span style="color:#000066;">(Notice how at the beginning of his speech President Clinton gives a "calm down" motion to keep the crowd appropriately solemn!)</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="http://bloodthirstyliberal.com/?p=14499">BloodThirstyLiberal</a> <span style="color:#000066;">and <a href="http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/13/video-flashback-yes-some-college-students-do-know-how-to-act-at-a-massacre-memorial/">Michelle Malkin</a> have good takes on this, but let me add a few links.... for comparison.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8uuz9x7-1IMMua-7Qa9qA2siJ8X0LahVX-aEnxCT5tRt1lrl48E9qlWjPROwvjppfFICgKtzCSxiukVxLr87BLAanl2t_EkmrZbzP3WyYO89iy-u4f-IXo5AUldkyMRvZ4dgNg/s1600/Reagan-Challenger.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 90px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563779887948781026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8uuz9x7-1IMMua-7Qa9qA2siJ8X0LahVX-aEnxCT5tRt1lrl48E9qlWjPROwvjppfFICgKtzCSxiukVxLr87BLAanl2t_EkmrZbzP3WyYO89iy-u4f-IXo5AUldkyMRvZ4dgNg/s200/Reagan-Challenger.bmp" /></a>Video - Ronald Reagan - <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=1&ved=0CD0QtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSNPFLnEDTK0&ei=rXc2TYmUPIuasAOrnunvAQ&usg=AFQjCNHCx5i5aO4m1-7xwqMNb46kE8uvog">Challenger Disaster Memorial</a><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHMT3GCC-NYOi_1EW2fbGSL3MOE4Jhc4Lz63SStKJlheZD8xxtnk2z7TWW3ar6LFoFwV80KgV5cqaLGcHaV9TC_3NYiDfiR3Thj4EbBbsEKt52zRqO8ZIeznvBqt5JFsNLzmUAQ/s1600/GW+VirTech.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 151px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563781106509313330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHMT3GCC-NYOi_1EW2fbGSL3MOE4Jhc4Lz63SStKJlheZD8xxtnk2z7TWW3ar6LFoFwV80KgV5cqaLGcHaV9TC_3NYiDfiR3Thj4EbBbsEKt52zRqO8ZIeznvBqt5JFsNLzmUAQ/s200/GW+VirTech.jpg" /></a>Video - George W Bush - <a href="http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/news/watch/v433791kAaXWDbB">Virginia Tech Memorial</a><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>and<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhedd_tzlvLtV8i3J0AfZu7oQeaK-TuJ95BUKkXoXes6SjbHExvdLYkj8MogI84NrHYoVq3WorFSgP-hgo6Zv_9Caq6j39WEYVOAyEM8Osw6Oj5177lB9Z6xbpoolAXcmIzvP5csA/s1600/gore+-+Columbine.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 159px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563779901682883042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhedd_tzlvLtV8i3J0AfZu7oQeaK-TuJ95BUKkXoXes6SjbHExvdLYkj8MogI84NrHYoVq3WorFSgP-hgo6Zv_9Caq6j39WEYVOAyEM8Osw6Oj5177lB9Z6xbpoolAXcmIzvP5csA/s200/gore+-+Columbine.jpg" /></a>Video - VP Al Gore at the <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/122805-1">Columbine High School Memorial </a><span style="font-size:85%;">(his speech starts at 1hr, whooping and hollering starts at 1:04) I'll forego his politicizing the tragedy for this blog</span> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yRr9h-uFK9TScDi2jHxLwcb0mLwV06loEbGSOUNTiUheUauXf71XZERkt8-YsT5QdWDFn5HxvX5QZBTR0PJEX3RBRpVxSrzItKEt6uoJ-YROQep0j5QeCzOkk1vjNdZESPtYMA/s1600/Clinton-at-Wellstone_Memorial.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 128px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563779898601132098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3yRr9h-uFK9TScDi2jHxLwcb0mLwV06loEbGSOUNTiUheUauXf71XZERkt8-YsT5QdWDFn5HxvX5QZBTR0PJEX3RBRpVxSrzItKEt6uoJ-YROQep0j5QeCzOkk1vjNdZESPtYMA/s200/Clinton-at-Wellstone_Memorial.jpg" /></a>Video - The Paul Wellstone <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/173566-1">campaign rally...errr... "memorial service</a>"<br /><br />I'll let the videos literally speak for themselves!</div></div></div></div></div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-51318947732929429112011-01-18T20:25:00.006-07:002011-01-18T21:09:40.348-07:00Voter ID Proposed<strong>FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR and SENATOR and <span style="font-size:130%;">CONTACT THEM!!</span> (Colorado)</strong><br /><br />Today as I was riding on the bus to the Buckley AFB BX, I read that <em>"...Republican lawmakers are again looking to pass a bill that would require Coloradans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote."<br /></em><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Well, why the Hell NOT???</strong><br /></span>This seems to be a no-brainer! Who would it hurt? According to the article, opponents figure that it will somehow disenfranchise <em>"...homeless citizens, senior citizens and some low-income voters who may not have proper identification but are still eligible to vote." </em><br /><br /><span style="color:#000066;">I'm not sure about the homeless, although I'm sure arrangements can be made so that they can get an ID with a shelter's address or some such thing... but I don't remember any signs at the Department of Revenue saying you couldn't get a photo ID if you were too poor or too old. That is <strong>such</strong></span><strong> <span style="color:#cc0000;">B!!(*#$%(</span></strong><a href="mailto:*@#$%"><span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong>*@#$%</strong></span></a><span style="color:#cc0000;">!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000066;">There is only ONE conceivable reason to be against such a bill - you want illegals to vote - and nothing could be more undermining of the fabric of our Constitutional Republic than having non-citizens, undocumented....</span> <strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">$%^#^#</span></strong> call them what they are - <strong>ILLEGALS!...</strong> <span style="color:#000066;">voting for our representatives!</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Ya' know... when the Constitution was originally ratified only property owners could vote. Was it because the rich land owners were just a buncha' big wigs hording the power all to themselves and trying to create a hidden oligarchy? <strong>No!</strong></span> <em>(After all, if they wanted an oligarchy they could have created one! They were starting from scratch and could have made the new nation anything they wanted.)</em><br /><em></em><br /><span style="color:#000066;">They (the founders) felt no individual should have any say in the government without a VESTED INTEREST in the actions of that government.</span> <em>- For those of you in Boulder/San Francisco/the state of Oregon let me explain.... most people renting an apartment don't really care if property taxes rise because they don't own any property... see?</em><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Okay so now we are going to allow (through lack of enforcement) illegals who have absolutely NO interest whatsoever - except the perpetuation of their leeching and parasitical bloodsucking the chance to voted unabated? What is wrong with a bill enforcing the law? Have we really gotten so far down this "illegals do no wrong" Politically Correct rabbit hole that we can no longer differentiate between citizens and non-citizens?</span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">What's next? Allowing foreign nationals to contribute to elections through website bundling? Oh! Wait! Obama already did that. Nevermind.<br /><br />This bill needs to be passed and passed NOW!<br /></span><span style="color:#000066;">Contact your State Legislator at:</span> <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2011A/csl.nsf/directory?openframeset">The Colorado General Assembly</a><br /><span style="color:#000066;">and if you need to, enter your address</span> <a href="http://comaps.org/allsearch.html">HERE </a><span style="color:#000066;">to find out who your Legislator and Senator are.</span><br /><span style="color:#000066;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">The time has come to draw the line -</span> <strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Votes for Citizens ONLY!</span></strong>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-40386494150099892862011-01-17T14:52:00.015-07:002011-01-17T15:54:03.876-07:00Movie Brothers and SistersI’ve always had a thing for seeing similarities in individuals, sometimes in looks, sometimes in voice or character… and I’ve always had an informal list of actors I would love to see play siblings. Some could play brothers or sister on looks alone (Jeremy Irons & Hank Azaria, Hans Matheson, Jerod Leto) while others just seem like they have a similar presence (Dennis Haysbert & William Clark Duncan)<br /><br />So…. Purely for fun and “thoughts to ponder” I present my list of actors who should play brothers and sisters…..<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7lY9MTV9VE2Q0zkDN0whw2rBb9TysyseVyYa-prrMaoQiFt5ndSOCCaUPOXERuIHDAX-raiBMxFLQ7aFDQ8bDOa4XB7sLL3NawS36cCvqx1_xWIZZeKC4c7sv9JNXedAJTAGUA/s1600/william-h-macy.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 93px; HEIGHT: 132px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286694526818194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7lY9MTV9VE2Q0zkDN0whw2rBb9TysyseVyYa-prrMaoQiFt5ndSOCCaUPOXERuIHDAX-raiBMxFLQ7aFDQ8bDOa4XB7sLL3NawS36cCvqx1_xWIZZeKC4c7sv9JNXedAJTAGUA/s200/william-h-macy.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3JmyD58v9AbFKNeEFKo2L_w74pp-0tYy2rl7t8UP8c65TS2QYCwPSW5l9HRkAawHwfMzM7-5SMRk291ZF447Lj78QdjG04m3ZoBMKOv4pOAsnWrGNAegLU4M67iqkcENBc-5qA/s1600/DavidCarusoART456.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286691994310706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3JmyD58v9AbFKNeEFKo2L_w74pp-0tYy2rl7t8UP8c65TS2QYCwPSW5l9HRkAawHwfMzM7-5SMRk291ZF447Lj78QdjG04m3ZoBMKOv4pOAsnWrGNAegLU4M67iqkcENBc-5qA/s200/DavidCarusoART456.jpg" /></a><br />William H Macy and David Caruso<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4r73WYCEg7zOaprAziVjEkTi0B2fHiJhYzvVN_6oOy_LPcMUYEklATuHrvvgT77MmnoFSj_7fGgzM9GoJoeu_JE5FtV0OM1A-NM5ePdbzRBEmPYHZ0T_po5y_rhsg1io4JpK2A/s1600/Rush.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 138px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286688777719826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4r73WYCEg7zOaprAziVjEkTi0B2fHiJhYzvVN_6oOy_LPcMUYEklATuHrvvgT77MmnoFSj_7fGgzM9GoJoeu_JE5FtV0OM1A-NM5ePdbzRBEmPYHZ0T_po5y_rhsg1io4JpK2A/s200/Rush.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_NUh8jXXnPE3Odz4qX6lqxwYePfTZJ2rXckIsgFBcMWYYNmBTjlFDj6LVLfA_TBmGfDuPV-VFslkdHBFFryBDCxUACampDwfncn9Mvo5PaGkKBlwYDlu-_HB3H9shkuysifxww/s1600/James+Woods.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286683484388258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_NUh8jXXnPE3Odz4qX6lqxwYePfTZJ2rXckIsgFBcMWYYNmBTjlFDj6LVLfA_TBmGfDuPV-VFslkdHBFFryBDCxUACampDwfncn9Mvo5PaGkKBlwYDlu-_HB3H9shkuysifxww/s200/James+Woods.jpg" /></a><br />Geoffrey Rush and James Woods<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMXbTc9CQpSWwM-TNg9wt2uvkX6V18if-GLy7WSIWTqjFzaHNKzFs7cN6c9uOJkjadVIAIosCdg9Fvok5t5Dmz8hLPjI4SP5it-8luNpr_8Aq0YcPNA4_sZGC9UHhGhF3_TXmdw/s1600/Jodie+Foster.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 154px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286376480930898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMXbTc9CQpSWwM-TNg9wt2uvkX6V18if-GLy7WSIWTqjFzaHNKzFs7cN6c9uOJkjadVIAIosCdg9Fvok5t5Dmz8hLPjI4SP5it-8luNpr_8Aq0YcPNA4_sZGC9UHhGhF3_TXmdw/s200/Jodie+Foster.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF51V3_y82GHjsnlZm2ElGMDRSLW3833MuailxfdWcKKZKGSf5Gu-mlSbWXJJyhVtXWyNf5SYuLG5eIAEE8P01OpV6eyAJReI8mNuaijc1yefU8CkkVMiq05m8nHjG5Ro2Ind7IA/s1600/Helen+Hunt.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 160px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286362356800658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF51V3_y82GHjsnlZm2ElGMDRSLW3833MuailxfdWcKKZKGSf5Gu-mlSbWXJJyhVtXWyNf5SYuLG5eIAEE8P01OpV6eyAJReI8mNuaijc1yefU8CkkVMiq05m8nHjG5Ro2Ind7IA/s200/Helen+Hunt.jpg" /></a><br />Jodie Foster and Helen Hunt<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT637_4w3Td5puJvl018symAn8R5JH4em3NWJEYzy6pAC0zL3hyphenhyphenYlixqJ0BSKU7xrqu-x2YMvE4-oz3rsbUbt8t4yl0YgEKXSaprC8fU9VrFAK5-bcZlWV9VVtQpYPBaxG5i0Lg/s1600/melanie-griffith.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 191px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286357227544498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT637_4w3Td5puJvl018symAn8R5JH4em3NWJEYzy6pAC0zL3hyphenhyphenYlixqJ0BSKU7xrqu-x2YMvE4-oz3rsbUbt8t4yl0YgEKXSaprC8fU9VrFAK5-bcZlWV9VVtQpYPBaxG5i0Lg/s200/melanie-griffith.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4m0ho4BbL5fj_9LRVqt74dBIqeOYjvYO6fktuvcVBvwCjkXrSKmpRtLyHqrnp3idsfL-GsfG3474DCBMj8IdvLiPdHDl0QI95sqWrYvHRsA1aSmCdVrXTWcBdEOgLNHdJmvdvQ/s1600/meg-ryan-.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 176px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286350025954354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4m0ho4BbL5fj_9LRVqt74dBIqeOYjvYO6fktuvcVBvwCjkXrSKmpRtLyHqrnp3idsfL-GsfG3474DCBMj8IdvLiPdHDl0QI95sqWrYvHRsA1aSmCdVrXTWcBdEOgLNHdJmvdvQ/s200/meg-ryan-.jpg" /></a><br />Melanie Griffith and Meg Ryan (Actually these two with Jodie Foster and Helen Hunt could ALL play sisters... maybe for an older version of "Little Women" lol)<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVTigtKBVco55JtDMzhk1Wx1rqwa7balgm_hCwqG74fUl_B3yKEbavzAi1jCNVJGLcjebjxjYQBQ8IyDbuih30QlcPtbYDDSmD1P8iO7VzGxJTMgiNhXTaIznWiO1hK1A3LXOiQ/s1600/mel-gibson.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 138px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563286335806975762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVTigtKBVco55JtDMzhk1Wx1rqwa7balgm_hCwqG74fUl_B3yKEbavzAi1jCNVJGLcjebjxjYQBQ8IyDbuih30QlcPtbYDDSmD1P8iO7VzGxJTMgiNhXTaIznWiO1hK1A3LXOiQ/s200/mel-gibson.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxTRj6mHyN1IjpvpafDNF76jEBIg7zpx4NlOE80QZUOfM_cRKpEwWEn8FGj84P_3Yuwu_yA-U0Xyu6WKFL78ot3hERTky4Wi349I_7LMzobaInEIVt1OBad-fgoi5VQC4wtV8VA/s1600/Kurt+Russell.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285946494609586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxTRj6mHyN1IjpvpafDNF76jEBIg7zpx4NlOE80QZUOfM_cRKpEwWEn8FGj84P_3Yuwu_yA-U0Xyu6WKFL78ot3hERTky4Wi349I_7LMzobaInEIVt1OBad-fgoi5VQC4wtV8VA/s200/Kurt+Russell.jpg" /></a><br />Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyK12agXkppuNO0Skw1b2nQjNuNvX-MZvrqPV3K54eJK1qS12rA6VDQgoGWd28KZLTdq0N7QUz5q4TI0BRnhtQ3ttzZcnFFxGicbeEVwCrcgOGJKRNTV9v8dwzXpumY9OIlnS7NQ/s1600/hilary_swank2.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285942495894146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyK12agXkppuNO0Skw1b2nQjNuNvX-MZvrqPV3K54eJK1qS12rA6VDQgoGWd28KZLTdq0N7QUz5q4TI0BRnhtQ3ttzZcnFFxGicbeEVwCrcgOGJKRNTV9v8dwzXpumY9OIlnS7NQ/s200/hilary_swank2.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrYHK-Dz61YCg5xbpod_BfihyAjttoKQdetRoIs1-6EhsA67rQhUaBBvTnt0ZZ5J1IU5Wb7RE8Xh7uBa_cf5-WeKtq8BNES1z42kYQjzVBEulaZ-mZdqo5x7eynU26dkbiNL6Zg/s1600/Julia+Roberts.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 146px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285937541684834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrYHK-Dz61YCg5xbpod_BfihyAjttoKQdetRoIs1-6EhsA67rQhUaBBvTnt0ZZ5J1IU5Wb7RE8Xh7uBa_cf5-WeKtq8BNES1z42kYQjzVBEulaZ-mZdqo5x7eynU26dkbiNL6Zg/s200/Julia+Roberts.jpg" /></a><br />Hilary Swank and Julia Roberts<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDcn2S2r7EgfygInVsB0ohnM5cRzNcoCKim3_jG4BvQiy6KYEAuwa9xn_togm7UCvtBlFYq59QTmvoOEbh87SyHnRhZzQHBctiBD9QXniTM7zWYU8I71g_YwL0CMES8xaqW71pQ/s1600/patrick-dempsey.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285934277636322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVDcn2S2r7EgfygInVsB0ohnM5cRzNcoCKim3_jG4BvQiy6KYEAuwa9xn_togm7UCvtBlFYq59QTmvoOEbh87SyHnRhZzQHBctiBD9QXniTM7zWYU8I71g_YwL0CMES8xaqW71pQ/s200/patrick-dempsey.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnJhgoJv2wNG1ylQhzjLyCYpEreTrCuYAta8Gzmw4E3W-wIfKQGlN2h2LsdhiVRLzzzPnmzdpsoG-Ubjf8KpD1L4VGbKBmpLKWVs_zW1aGkzw8mYVxv3ZLTSu1D6cEij9Xvmz6Q/s1600/seanpenn.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 142px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285927493492898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnJhgoJv2wNG1ylQhzjLyCYpEreTrCuYAta8Gzmw4E3W-wIfKQGlN2h2LsdhiVRLzzzPnmzdpsoG-Ubjf8KpD1L4VGbKBmpLKWVs_zW1aGkzw8mYVxv3ZLTSu1D6cEij9Xvmz6Q/s200/seanpenn.jpg" /></a><br />Patrick Dempsey and Sean Penn<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7KqsC9M9TtV7VH3-3FJl2VjU1rNY_GBj5t0gOgQO5b2vnQkl8VTvEXUetVxyNONgd2ARxKt5fDVFDTi2GYIPLE0lQvBu8HgsFMH867TM-sdjUPq3tH_9b766CKeCGlmCYi1FDw/s1600/craig-ferguson.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 192px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285330301649058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7KqsC9M9TtV7VH3-3FJl2VjU1rNY_GBj5t0gOgQO5b2vnQkl8VTvEXUetVxyNONgd2ARxKt5fDVFDTi2GYIPLE0lQvBu8HgsFMH867TM-sdjUPq3tH_9b766CKeCGlmCYi1FDw/s200/craig-ferguson.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5FBm4G1GRZ3IjSblxMYLLGycvSlMXsClt-vKf9yXofXJ8m7D61YVUQDkv_5IHp2Yf_rmbPcW-p21KPPHDdVG33Ty1kVBgz7b-36eTqI6XU4VI5Sss0XkAfyneDsqmLZPn9fGVw/s1600/gabriel-byrne1.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 138px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285326494558882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5FBm4G1GRZ3IjSblxMYLLGycvSlMXsClt-vKf9yXofXJ8m7D61YVUQDkv_5IHp2Yf_rmbPcW-p21KPPHDdVG33Ty1kVBgz7b-36eTqI6XU4VI5Sss0XkAfyneDsqmLZPn9fGVw/s200/gabriel-byrne1.jpg" /></a><br />Craig Ferguson and Gabriel Byrne<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEv3kZewVh5SBIpjs7upq9sz0QJlfPz7CdTt2AiU7GhRDshyphenhyphenGugabxvXEFn0y-uG94bQOvsZAo9nk3bDmFvG7fI6yWJwLT9kIEICUfKnyHJaSkznbT3WVYcCSftBpQ7dlh6G3uQ/s1600/Ben+Kingsley.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 195px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285318715350434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEv3kZewVh5SBIpjs7upq9sz0QJlfPz7CdTt2AiU7GhRDshyphenhyphenGugabxvXEFn0y-uG94bQOvsZAo9nk3bDmFvG7fI6yWJwLT9kIEICUfKnyHJaSkznbT3WVYcCSftBpQ7dlh6G3uQ/s200/Ben+Kingsley.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCHfpHDnLQz3MDbK8bEJKJ64zGn4Y8wecfQjDakZNv5PKgO_8OXDDDgP7uneDFOLPS3K-NTD-Zy9KJQqBPMf7kWOZUjn4sZsLRRIRFCQgWOTUgvBYxlvBUKYuhP8s7ngNEd4ACQ/s1600/F+Murray+Abraham.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 126px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285312335841378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCHfpHDnLQz3MDbK8bEJKJ64zGn4Y8wecfQjDakZNv5PKgO_8OXDDDgP7uneDFOLPS3K-NTD-Zy9KJQqBPMf7kWOZUjn4sZsLRRIRFCQgWOTUgvBYxlvBUKYuhP8s7ngNEd4ACQ/s200/F+Murray+Abraham.jpg" /></a><br />Ben Kingsley and F. Murray Abraham<br /><br /><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOCEpwqqAmS2ifnjLDMss0ipJjmzohgE7Z2RB_ExuotOftY_F8AovmHpD9B-0L2op3ZjD2dKsuZeEgQyLG0v4xN8Vklu-ilZf5YJlKz9wWUCbexAjXTG1TIK-iuTcXnkwkDVt6w/s1600/billy-bob-thornton.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 173px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563284353279054306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyOCEpwqqAmS2ifnjLDMss0ipJjmzohgE7Z2RB_ExuotOftY_F8AovmHpD9B-0L2op3ZjD2dKsuZeEgQyLG0v4xN8Vklu-ilZf5YJlKz9wWUCbexAjXTG1TIK-iuTcXnkwkDVt6w/s200/billy-bob-thornton.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqo18oETpeQI4l1eGoWxHubBa01X8xKzPd0Hg3aeNOkzeVpykcJ7sDNP6jL_GuKBtB6alD2_rC6kjn3rc9-n0-VIh-78zQ6NYeyEDa8wL62ybXh0nUF0BQ9KMjmjia81wXUJ5Jg/s1600/john-malkovich.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563284343306512370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqo18oETpeQI4l1eGoWxHubBa01X8xKzPd0Hg3aeNOkzeVpykcJ7sDNP6jL_GuKBtB6alD2_rC6kjn3rc9-n0-VIh-78zQ6NYeyEDa8wL62ybXh0nUF0BQ9KMjmjia81wXUJ5Jg/s200/john-malkovich.jpg" /></a><br />Billy Bob Thornton and John Malcovich</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qFCfNqlWFFat4oAf8b9fiZVVmGQZFa81NURIHx41BAlnkzPDD2zzumX9j5JI0mdrXarcHLc_Jl1x7AL1iv8pOUazM6GUlJwZFCv8QKRuWJpcRvTvpgCpK4RYh9pClnnOJ-88sw/s1600/Tobin+Bell.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 157px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563284341028434498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qFCfNqlWFFat4oAf8b9fiZVVmGQZFa81NURIHx41BAlnkzPDD2zzumX9j5JI0mdrXarcHLc_Jl1x7AL1iv8pOUazM6GUlJwZFCv8QKRuWJpcRvTvpgCpK4RYh9pClnnOJ-88sw/s200/Tobin+Bell.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JH2NTkfkmtNQboouzAcFqRPGZK4Uw-kIMp3TaHnpDvcyHwKb8ksxeWNz-UZl2tdJqEPV77Lw1t_CNY1lm3ctkwA_AJXT2i-GLboV9fndcUTPzyR32OR6uOcRvA8cpt3iJBDevw/s1600/malcolm_mcdowell.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563284333611180962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JH2NTkfkmtNQboouzAcFqRPGZK4Uw-kIMp3TaHnpDvcyHwKb8ksxeWNz-UZl2tdJqEPV77Lw1t_CNY1lm3ctkwA_AJXT2i-GLboV9fndcUTPzyR32OR6uOcRvA8cpt3iJBDevw/s200/malcolm_mcdowell.jpg" /></a> </div><div><div>Tobin Bell and Malcolm McDowell<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-79ZoAr1fBME509XnN4cHqri3a5rewsATgf2cgul-JV3dKLBVWKd495d7fzbKXlzGXZJIqf_0Dli0vfOyyR5jcQ6LE7q_X_vor7XkquXqUkJfw4n9XxmEkogNQkG16iI6GGKB5g/s1600/bill+pullman.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 144px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563284329432285618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-79ZoAr1fBME509XnN4cHqri3a5rewsATgf2cgul-JV3dKLBVWKd495d7fzbKXlzGXZJIqf_0Dli0vfOyyR5jcQ6LE7q_X_vor7XkquXqUkJfw4n9XxmEkogNQkG16iI6GGKB5g/s200/bill+pullman.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZKRT2uc2Z1kJ296tM4ftg4us6bPSkYQPkmqiJju2kurz36aK0YekDUCcwpTy4zqOrIdTSXYK21QxUNn-IxNu8O__T6yxOwjxOp3myogIxaEV_qYp88UCwmi1dnfGLoJz5x2uxg/s1600/Jeff+Daniels.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 190px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563285307776896290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZKRT2uc2Z1kJ296tM4ftg4us6bPSkYQPkmqiJju2kurz36aK0YekDUCcwpTy4zqOrIdTSXYK21QxUNn-IxNu8O__T6yxOwjxOp3myogIxaEV_qYp88UCwmi1dnfGLoJz5x2uxg/s200/Jeff+Daniels.jpg" /></a><br />Bill Pullman and Jeff Daniels<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTqjIiRhd0pNvhgcnxbx8XnDUK9y6wH9rzbCqsVFO4VXBo76Zjudg-N98Din4skTj4t5jH9r6NAHIzAohHVbfkw9E6I55ascf4oor9V3aCDGftPAr-DSGkORLIGLow8Uave_L_A/s1600/tom-sizemore.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 162px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563283037235312130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTqjIiRhd0pNvhgcnxbx8XnDUK9y6wH9rzbCqsVFO4VXBo76Zjudg-N98Din4skTj4t5jH9r6NAHIzAohHVbfkw9E6I55ascf4oor9V3aCDGftPAr-DSGkORLIGLow8Uave_L_A/s200/tom-sizemore.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ2aTS1CTaYASi-T7G-pF-i1nvwVLIAxjM12ZowLFOkh7mvQtjkzQGGmThoDT1CG9nx71jRvf2vTac44uea5GMwkRDb-lpnYA-mtbLFCWU85h-UQQb_ZldTxqZg-dwZkWsBGXFw/s1600/colm+meaney.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 137px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563283041091083778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ2aTS1CTaYASi-T7G-pF-i1nvwVLIAxjM12ZowLFOkh7mvQtjkzQGGmThoDT1CG9nx71jRvf2vTac44uea5GMwkRDb-lpnYA-mtbLFCWU85h-UQQb_ZldTxqZg-dwZkWsBGXFw/s200/colm+meaney.jpg" /></a><br />Tom Sizemore and Colm Meaney<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYhwYa8WdVU8Y2mt2jnWJ6pZaNuZnqX5JfLX1SdR4Lp08BtE91J_eEDADINVal4fOoEztXU9gIMOXao6dr40CSu2J81Fei-GBMzGfQCmjqPUJsZ6u44eshBIENuXd34UmBvXLgw/s1600/jason-isaacs.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 192px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563283500263809138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYhwYa8WdVU8Y2mt2jnWJ6pZaNuZnqX5JfLX1SdR4Lp08BtE91J_eEDADINVal4fOoEztXU9gIMOXao6dr40CSu2J81Fei-GBMzGfQCmjqPUJsZ6u44eshBIENuXd34UmBvXLgw/s200/jason-isaacs.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq3eKb-OwZ6GSsCtzce45IBLu97RuJgwKgCrM2EuuoatKeb6sKNfuPw_LsTJh5fneZwwLi5WC10FqQE61KydrqQxCemkWhgaDQ1vtyYVzc8MZDapY27HygWcTNzWZNm5hv4nYpA/s1600/mandypatinkin.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 154px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563279161378719794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq3eKb-OwZ6GSsCtzce45IBLu97RuJgwKgCrM2EuuoatKeb6sKNfuPw_LsTJh5fneZwwLi5WC10FqQE61KydrqQxCemkWhgaDQ1vtyYVzc8MZDapY27HygWcTNzWZNm5hv4nYpA/s200/mandypatinkin.jpg" /></a><br />Jason Isaacs and Mandy Patinkin<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPS64VA_MnuJ22y0cH1iaewR-1fC4aBwLB5N5EmfXZB7l9zcXNP3hfhcSvzlM-D8F_kYVnt4O35bHaA-cjeCiqUgAqcBNIQnWXnmfIdH_6fkQ3rGt6vHayP0C1CJB-MwrM0NUrRA/s1600/Michael_Madsen.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 164px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563279160210051186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPS64VA_MnuJ22y0cH1iaewR-1fC4aBwLB5N5EmfXZB7l9zcXNP3hfhcSvzlM-D8F_kYVnt4O35bHaA-cjeCiqUgAqcBNIQnWXnmfIdH_6fkQ3rGt6vHayP0C1CJB-MwrM0NUrRA/s200/Michael_Madsen.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAE4Pe-wdIm75pxBnKr-ODuHzHLl3li9FspArOD1NUchn603JLojeAkO66tUbhX3kG4145n8EeiKE4awFyottKkvfsOF5RmU2w5z_eDpGuFeSuqo6kGn2lMeXBbFyI3UI6XyvvxQ/s1600/tom-sizemore.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 162px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563279153286873154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAE4Pe-wdIm75pxBnKr-ODuHzHLl3li9FspArOD1NUchn603JLojeAkO66tUbhX3kG4145n8EeiKE4awFyottKkvfsOF5RmU2w5z_eDpGuFeSuqo6kGn2lMeXBbFyI3UI6XyvvxQ/s200/tom-sizemore.jpg" /></a><br />Michael Madsen and Tom Sizemore<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkucUQeENj_9Zlecb3Y_njXHGGvdOGLHHho01cOipZMJTL4Cr8dyLDrR4jIuJFjEDUGfPU1rFqUgpkc-K2YhhU-SIsaLFx5UsYICiGioKwdWsz3Ti58odZfqYrco1QVAUnbXt-dA/s1600/michael-keaton.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563279149100808146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkucUQeENj_9Zlecb3Y_njXHGGvdOGLHHho01cOipZMJTL4Cr8dyLDrR4jIuJFjEDUGfPU1rFqUgpkc-K2YhhU-SIsaLFx5UsYICiGioKwdWsz3Ti58odZfqYrco1QVAUnbXt-dA/s200/michael-keaton.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUs-k3HgXyrelv74NedvmfGiX6C0l7Ju_uso9lA7y4F9D92USdFclPwHQhZdzIAAAOCQqajg51m-DfeNHbDteUdCzs20r67UP_FViWEaiMjQhnNi-i7b0na2lWEgbUJYci8Itjig/s1600/howie_mandel.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 165px; HEIGHT: 149px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563279146704199554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUs-k3HgXyrelv74NedvmfGiX6C0l7Ju_uso9lA7y4F9D92USdFclPwHQhZdzIAAAOCQqajg51m-DfeNHbDteUdCzs20r67UP_FViWEaiMjQhnNi-i7b0na2lWEgbUJYci8Itjig/s200/howie_mandel.jpg" /></a><br />Michael Keaton and Howie Mandell<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRjm3TEdjrrLJQYpL7ZXfxzyXPIUChhQGfzDgvBlXSP2PJ-qzuR-1-dIxAlk_uBWg5-444rfr-DdHDj2gvp8SwlLSNmSMOPw54v3t6r6ImgkJzDFSTJtK1rC5oBjEC6rog24mYw/s1600/Pete-Postlethwaite.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 158px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563278394113846210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRjm3TEdjrrLJQYpL7ZXfxzyXPIUChhQGfzDgvBlXSP2PJ-qzuR-1-dIxAlk_uBWg5-444rfr-DdHDj2gvp8SwlLSNmSMOPw54v3t6r6ImgkJzDFSTJtK1rC5oBjEC6rog24mYw/s200/Pete-Postlethwaite.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRqL0UnUllNcQSxQpkT92TtwH5hCNamCb_RACOmIcsUkanqLRS0sq0GSmsKhN39VA8_AJFEZAODkmVv-8f46XcUERTwOJzjG84EBmp853LkPXFM7gWTtMykIatF4NX4VzxjS75g/s1600/ian-mckellen.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 160px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563278392528312594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRqL0UnUllNcQSxQpkT92TtwH5hCNamCb_RACOmIcsUkanqLRS0sq0GSmsKhN39VA8_AJFEZAODkmVv-8f46XcUERTwOJzjG84EBmp853LkPXFM7gWTtMykIatF4NX4VzxjS75g/s200/ian-mckellen.jpg" /></a><br />Pete Postlethwaite (R.I.P.) and Ian McKellen<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6YfdKAcu2IIOWOCvbLKCh9PzzZxHtV3Wv-RVafOWiupnkR9dmABQLkDKZQbdOlMJ6B91t9W5yKohP7-RmB0IpZ2caSv3vo96gnGF5EkB9p6HiAtwhC6Gne9Rh21QRK6tyQMX8w/s1600/hank_azaria.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 144px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563278385615146162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6YfdKAcu2IIOWOCvbLKCh9PzzZxHtV3Wv-RVafOWiupnkR9dmABQLkDKZQbdOlMJ6B91t9W5yKohP7-RmB0IpZ2caSv3vo96gnGF5EkB9p6HiAtwhC6Gne9Rh21QRK6tyQMX8w/s200/hank_azaria.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJb_BebOAvFfKqBSMHVZP4BpnMRH3U5Jlb3JTJfHt4Xi0laR_27fWxFW-4ywVXmthe0uMT9DKFSUZgQcS0w3m5khWRzZ6q-nQ0QWZlWNN0k8hR9VflKngUUkhE9_aYCMSKvjaN-Q/s1600/jeremy_irons.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563278380460779426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJb_BebOAvFfKqBSMHVZP4BpnMRH3U5Jlb3JTJfHt4Xi0laR_27fWxFW-4ywVXmthe0uMT9DKFSUZgQcS0w3m5khWRzZ6q-nQ0QWZlWNN0k8hR9VflKngUUkhE9_aYCMSKvjaN-Q/s200/jeremy_irons.jpg" /></a><br />Hank Azaria and Jeremy Irons<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GFaqyq5_Rp3wTlVPn9KYE0wJ8HM5K6VpNY85En7Nl-pCyo0nlj84r77t8yMWg4J7DQaFVYy03SBlzmmx8aewx0lKhon-BbKpOfZf9fgsoDtUq-p7AOiEaahLz5dDvJMKEU4gZg/s1600/Keira_Knightley.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563278376976403714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GFaqyq5_Rp3wTlVPn9KYE0wJ8HM5K6VpNY85En7Nl-pCyo0nlj84r77t8yMWg4J7DQaFVYy03SBlzmmx8aewx0lKhon-BbKpOfZf9fgsoDtUq-p7AOiEaahLz5dDvJMKEU4gZg/s200/Keira_Knightley.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XS9P4QBywdI_X28ZP6rK3HBUukJxdvRrlQHQhwTRk-UiCDx13kfFRTIrm53OLBfac_OL0DO8NKQD8SOJ6D35TxpKG5AfZsEA0OLVOqpDuvU2zBkaR8iJq5HU65pDQXijW-BDGQ/s1600/natalie-portman.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 122px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563277805836182434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XS9P4QBywdI_X28ZP6rK3HBUukJxdvRrlQHQhwTRk-UiCDx13kfFRTIrm53OLBfac_OL0DO8NKQD8SOJ6D35TxpKG5AfZsEA0OLVOqpDuvU2zBkaR8iJq5HU65pDQXijW-BDGQ/s200/natalie-portman.jpg" /></a><br />Kiera Knightingly and Natalie Portman<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt-CZdZhQjSomNn94RcV-5hkYyC9teh4HpkAsjfS6PlEhhlC2lckdVngIGXkBNMyW8lNP3ndDYqP55pAPe9IiWxEdj-S7pjPtq9d_wjaVca5jRJ7HBJ_5RNmXlCnqWxB1YKxsOQ/s1600/laura_linney.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563277797674471714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDt-CZdZhQjSomNn94RcV-5hkYyC9teh4HpkAsjfS6PlEhhlC2lckdVngIGXkBNMyW8lNP3ndDYqP55pAPe9IiWxEdj-S7pjPtq9d_wjaVca5jRJ7HBJ_5RNmXlCnqWxB1YKxsOQ/s200/laura_linney.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3FXwLm5eepbyM2Wyfo3srRLAJeRfliww2wefF9cTLH3g7sf0QZKPAnageAJ7Ack7lPbTrIX0ZEm5zwGQPQ7hJCc1D9keoAcMK1m1lr1wpMoBZKfLO5bfRoT3bODKXO7CqwRbRg/s1600/Tia+Leoni.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 148px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563277799031429554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3FXwLm5eepbyM2Wyfo3srRLAJeRfliww2wefF9cTLH3g7sf0QZKPAnageAJ7Ack7lPbTrIX0ZEm5zwGQPQ7hJCc1D9keoAcMK1m1lr1wpMoBZKfLO5bfRoT3bODKXO7CqwRbRg/s200/Tia+Leoni.jpg" /></a><br />Laura Linney and Tia Leoni<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUfpVJ1G78-NUq50qNdBEee3di7gLmYhpR0Jg6u6f8T7nqXHjMJLfbYPcmQostWmz949kZk2lhSpT2RJwBcoVU5_FgdWc3I0ocT5fySJzNjiOVBui2EMjfcz35tBc2QIfkM1KJw/s1600/Dennis-Haysbert.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 142px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563277795498552562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUfpVJ1G78-NUq50qNdBEee3di7gLmYhpR0Jg6u6f8T7nqXHjMJLfbYPcmQostWmz949kZk2lhSpT2RJwBcoVU5_FgdWc3I0ocT5fySJzNjiOVBui2EMjfcz35tBc2QIfkM1KJw/s200/Dennis-Haysbert.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxXR2MQrxoalnlnC0alzCqqxG7NBiYAp5d4PK_UGEw9ZxDczIfjD_DdxeRI2ihxyEyFMb6-PHvSY0BaBt4ewKefErFfTVQXbVF_eOdeHmfGcjTH5xOleiX4_ktQWzXifdgUV14w/s1600/michaelclarkeduncan.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 147px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563277787588670978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxXR2MQrxoalnlnC0alzCqqxG7NBiYAp5d4PK_UGEw9ZxDczIfjD_DdxeRI2ihxyEyFMb6-PHvSY0BaBt4ewKefErFfTVQXbVF_eOdeHmfGcjTH5xOleiX4_ktQWzXifdgUV14w/s200/michaelclarkeduncan.jpg" /></a><br />Dennis Haysbert and William Clarke Duncan<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPiAriPNmbswMJN1MtFCTRCy1LmHyqiHlepol3hRzfbEfhj19F4k6644HXeSt8sadJoYk8orMG8dXB_ceosgCngc1W3J-5BoQublFrrvzW0796G29FTKd-St6b7icVh-HfG8j2Q/s1600/Ed+Begley+Jr.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 136px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276984804770114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPiAriPNmbswMJN1MtFCTRCy1LmHyqiHlepol3hRzfbEfhj19F4k6644HXeSt8sadJoYk8orMG8dXB_ceosgCngc1W3J-5BoQublFrrvzW0796G29FTKd-St6b7icVh-HfG8j2Q/s200/Ed+Begley+Jr.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwQ83nE27_07AfPb7wHclT9h6NZqcsvfVgRPeK3kF9L3IJ8CRduz8Mm9BcEllIOXPlfZ833lwCTKwjNFht8YDq2g-CMW3tAXTPo2hqjgpSeDSyxtTsVdjtH2-fJyKNszD_mAMAg/s1600/bruce-davison.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 130px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276981741818194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwQ83nE27_07AfPb7wHclT9h6NZqcsvfVgRPeK3kF9L3IJ8CRduz8Mm9BcEllIOXPlfZ833lwCTKwjNFht8YDq2g-CMW3tAXTPo2hqjgpSeDSyxtTsVdjtH2-fJyKNszD_mAMAg/s200/bruce-davison.jpg" /></a><br />Ed Begley Jr. and Bruce Davison<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBoXPmyqNTbgNI_n5OQv45YWhMML7y5lo3t7WHFd-lEB8AIHO96r9_SQxRuwbeKCy07qqQO5GubciiWE4jl17BG2abHkNWjC4WBvWrEbAQbMJOFj2i-KUZngTo45npdkW7AN6_A/s1600/ray+liotta.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 130px; HEIGHT: 159px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276974461101602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBoXPmyqNTbgNI_n5OQv45YWhMML7y5lo3t7WHFd-lEB8AIHO96r9_SQxRuwbeKCy07qqQO5GubciiWE4jl17BG2abHkNWjC4WBvWrEbAQbMJOFj2i-KUZngTo45npdkW7AN6_A/s200/ray+liotta.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s9TuUqdFlsW7jPYbBQWrYNPStPOHH74led4RzH2wEBSIbZOgjzsDGQJlUuQWpv4UomPwIWsx0kEKRhG-YXPS78QUWGA_EUKByZjdH7YOLPdBenh78R_puIcTH44jMukajIIW1Q/s1600/Kevin+Bacon.bmp"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 159px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276971093720418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s9TuUqdFlsW7jPYbBQWrYNPStPOHH74led4RzH2wEBSIbZOgjzsDGQJlUuQWpv4UomPwIWsx0kEKRhG-YXPS78QUWGA_EUKByZjdH7YOLPdBenh78R_puIcTH44jMukajIIW1Q/s200/Kevin+Bacon.bmp" /></a><br />Ray Liotta and Kevin Bacon<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8I-3sR8nlcryltvLfdNeFwKkE3qru3FP7cAqhV_EET9Tr-AjGKCihVgc9FrMAg-xwgMf2jMbxCTlFqda38N3u4dUrmTk0JKZcjWyt0DnEYNa2jRG2pMdYGRPJBvNNHrEPqTl7w/s1600/viggo-mortensen.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 132px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276966405584706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8I-3sR8nlcryltvLfdNeFwKkE3qru3FP7cAqhV_EET9Tr-AjGKCihVgc9FrMAg-xwgMf2jMbxCTlFqda38N3u4dUrmTk0JKZcjWyt0DnEYNa2jRG2pMdYGRPJBvNNHrEPqTl7w/s200/viggo-mortensen.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSMR31W4Yeknj43V-28NODRl1di9TTmVU3sNFPL9QrOVbEAjU8zKGO2OItrFAvcl7pROPOb-bvxrMlafwSY8jRK-X-G3E9D5-hXrucUden14ylIcSoOyf5uXN7r-PZ1I9T2DjsA/s1600/ericbana.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 160px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276440721371698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSMR31W4Yeknj43V-28NODRl1di9TTmVU3sNFPL9QrOVbEAjU8zKGO2OItrFAvcl7pROPOb-bvxrMlafwSY8jRK-X-G3E9D5-hXrucUden14ylIcSoOyf5uXN7r-PZ1I9T2DjsA/s200/ericbana.jpg" /></a><br />Viggo Mortensen and Eric Bana<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjv3MbpbkEcjIKCLtcORlbs0gtW4J5KixEctAM6vznVUX6RA-9IOzaPE6-yDc6dHZDMAzVvjMH2TM784I2IvLufvt1fGKJdtnDWMlWAZLg8RkbUOyFf1C3VsOtPzOAFXFxiyD8TQ/s1600/helena-bonham-carter.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 148px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276433122981474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjv3MbpbkEcjIKCLtcORlbs0gtW4J5KixEctAM6vznVUX6RA-9IOzaPE6-yDc6dHZDMAzVvjMH2TM784I2IvLufvt1fGKJdtnDWMlWAZLg8RkbUOyFf1C3VsOtPzOAFXFxiyD8TQ/s200/helena-bonham-carter.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhqs-LWwINTrspj-558i3cL1mf-jS0sltonDTEx78mtyYmiE7wPXKNEi7RadWOOvQMJuggc8tMy2SRIHrg4DQXf8ZxbEEOYc4isRwyNm4NQOETwKd7wC2qdy0-V614mx84ud-Ew/s1600/rachel_mcadams.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 121px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276427995022434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhqs-LWwINTrspj-558i3cL1mf-jS0sltonDTEx78mtyYmiE7wPXKNEi7RadWOOvQMJuggc8tMy2SRIHrg4DQXf8ZxbEEOYc4isRwyNm4NQOETwKd7wC2qdy0-V614mx84ud-Ew/s200/rachel_mcadams.jpg" /></a><br />Helena Bonham Carter and Rachel McAdams<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmezUoSumUciJs9qYDUDJrNY42JnlsxxFA_DMWSB5yNAzsY4qplHC2o6EBlc_MSTLCd0niC8JqCXKypk8I-AYLqvNSG7g_NBRdSHHWsmZQYusJzV_pk_MOnYTUp3c8z5w8xQ34A/s1600/Hans+Matheson.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 116px; HEIGHT: 142px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276423958798594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmezUoSumUciJs9qYDUDJrNY42JnlsxxFA_DMWSB5yNAzsY4qplHC2o6EBlc_MSTLCd0niC8JqCXKypk8I-AYLqvNSG7g_NBRdSHHWsmZQYusJzV_pk_MOnYTUp3c8z5w8xQ34A/s200/Hans+Matheson.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFZqHaH7qE7BOZ8FfsdWjVKHSn6UHSfhCaCohtSTa6qpGSX7VK9ermzNhLjNmfmcqcCWP9C_8Z7DMr84B0eZer8_B7TLQL9nFzMyXk-A9v8laFuAETGZCqNLGlWI-urce7Pn-uA/s1600/jared+leto.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 143px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563276417754196530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFZqHaH7qE7BOZ8FfsdWjVKHSn6UHSfhCaCohtSTa6qpGSX7VK9ermzNhLjNmfmcqcCWP9C_8Z7DMr84B0eZer8_B7TLQL9nFzMyXk-A9v8laFuAETGZCqNLGlWI-urce7Pn-uA/s200/jared+leto.jpg" /></a><br />Hanz Matheson and Jerod Leto<br /><br />Do you agree? Have any other suggestions? It's kinda' a fun mental exercize!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-10960864647808264092011-01-17T04:03:00.006-07:002011-01-17T04:10:18.584-07:00Tucson Shooter Mug Shot - Separated at Birth?This has <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPu1vkmTtlfS4uV_oCr0kZz3s2XNwd5WYXt5SVgvR2YjAdU4fb9g5b2N6dwgXguI728QtjxsoRB9qN3YXIuEDAmkuEdGOG8X4f0Z8thIirMQge6tinYmwesdtoG0mRcry8D_PX1w/s1600/TucsonShooterLoughnerMugshot.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 139px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 129px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563109345596827858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPu1vkmTtlfS4uV_oCr0kZz3s2XNwd5WYXt5SVgvR2YjAdU4fb9g5b2N6dwgXguI728QtjxsoRB9qN3YXIuEDAmkuEdGOG8X4f0Z8thIirMQge6tinYmwesdtoG0mRcry8D_PX1w/s200/TucsonShooterLoughnerMugshot.jpg" /></a>really been on my mind lately.... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzvxvakUFqtgtk2yTQFqFuqi9JjMVL9qTsaQTn0iKcrxU-oyMRDuNRyuvq05mw1eHmP_Dzp0rYPHW828wfA6GANyQUUYFa7pB13qlA6oonqodf5BXhi2cCTd8ods3sUN6zOb4_Q/s1600/goonies_sloth.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 186px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 123px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563109558249540034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzvxvakUFqtgtk2yTQFqFuqi9JjMVL9qTsaQTn0iKcrxU-oyMRDuNRyuvq05mw1eHmP_Dzp0rYPHW828wfA6GANyQUUYFa7pB13qlA6oonqodf5BXhi2cCTd8ods3sUN6zOb4_Q/s200/goonies_sloth.jpg" /></a>brothers separated at birth?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjVUxaECF0PcarbUIYB2njad7tXEUVM0Wx4qUJt2KcuMKTWXBwup5ElqwwRJsm78mEsS_hvZGFTpyU5qqaBpeeRyFT7dxPoO7tyY5b4rLIDCswISFBGoAELo3fcP3-6sY9z_QWQ/s1600/young-frankenstein-peter-boyle.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 107px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563109449835804418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjVUxaECF0PcarbUIYB2njad7tXEUVM0Wx4qUJt2KcuMKTWXBwup5ElqwwRJsm78mEsS_hvZGFTpyU5qqaBpeeRyFT7dxPoO7tyY5b4rLIDCswISFBGoAELo3fcP3-6sY9z_QWQ/s200/young-frankenstein-peter-boyle.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1) Mug Shot of the psycho-shooter Jared Lee Loughner<br />2) "Sloth" from Goonies and<br />3) The Frankenstein Monster from Young Frankenstein<br />....... all three could be brothers. Coincidence? I think not!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-85571219353731527792011-01-15T15:14:00.003-07:002011-01-15T15:52:13.216-07:00Taking on the Mexican<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj4QEID3ZHmGRthmsEM7FUoqNUAOnbEXDMFymIRY5DSs1KBMqS2hlzKJIEn_4Tp6gJ7JpW6UUyfKjsNKi7-iCDXh_dOOwNwsFud9LZyqbaYgFFcLi40S9g4JGONHc_PNBIrl6Ng/s1600/Ask+a+mexi.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 194px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562548675123085442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoj4QEID3ZHmGRthmsEM7FUoqNUAOnbEXDMFymIRY5DSs1KBMqS2hlzKJIEn_4Tp6gJ7JpW6UUyfKjsNKi7-iCDXh_dOOwNwsFud9LZyqbaYgFFcLi40S9g4JGONHc_PNBIrl6Ng/s200/Ask+a+mexi.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Our Westword here in Denver has a column called "Ask the Mexican" that routinely excuses, explains, and justifies any and all things illegal. I finally got fed up with his constant "illegals can do no wrong" and wrote in. The following is the published letter -<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">How can Mexico piss away such potential?<br /></span></strong>By Gustavo Arellano Thursday, Oct 7 2010<br /><br /><strong>Dear Mexican:<br /></strong>Mexico is truly an amazing, beautiful country! Huge oil reserves, mineral deposits second to none, tourist potential unparalleled! God gave Mexico every possible advantage. And yet the Mexicans, in all their wisdom and intellect, have turned it into a backwater, undeveloped, narco-ruled Third World cesspool of corruption and poverty. How were you able to achieve such an accomplishment? Are you and other Mexicans just that stupid? I mean, really! How could you take such potential and turn it into a steaming pile of dung? Mexico should have a GDP rivaling that of any civilized country, but it remains a shithole to a level rarely seen outside of impoverished Africa. It seems to me that, like locusts, you ruined your own country and are now moving on to our fertile ground with nothing more to offer than knocked-up teenagers, gangbangers, illiterate generations, drug warfare, killings and kidnappings, with a generous dose of arrogance. First, how can a people totally piss away such potential? Second, with that track record, why should Americans expect you to achieve anything greater here in the States?<br /><em>Someone Who Sees You for What You Are — Failures!<br /></em><br /><br /><br />And his response ---<br /><br /><strong>Dear Gabacho:<br /></strong>Gracias for your amazing insights. You're a funny guy, and by "funny," I mean "drunk off your cabeza." Mexico a Third World country? I established last year that Mexico is firmly in the bottom rung of the First World, thank you very mucho. Mexico not possessing a high GDP? Ranked fourteenth last year, behind Australia but ahead of South Korea — and that's not including our narco profits. Mexico undeveloped? You obviously think Mexican skyscrapers are limited to saguaro cacti and Aztec pyramids. Mexicans piss away such potential? Sure, we can always improve, but I think Americans are hardly in a place to criticize, given our self-made Great Recession. Mexicans locusts? We're cockroaches, silly! And finally: Mexicans achieve anything greater in el Norte? Already doing that — and if you don't believe me, talk to all those undocumented college students who graduate every year from college, pinche puto pendejo baboso.<br /><br />The dialogue continues<strong><a href="http://www.westword.com/2010-10-07/news/how-can-mexico-piss-away-such-potential/"> HERE<br /><br /></a></strong>Other issues I've commented on are here:<br /><strong><a href="http://www.westword.com/2010-12-16/news/ask-a-mexican-mexico-has-defective-culture/">Reader claims that Mexico has a defective culture<br /></a></strong>and here:<br /><strong><a href="http://www.westword.com/2011-01-06/news/trash-dump-sonoran-desert-arizona-ask-a-mexican/">Ask a Mexican: What's with the trash dump in the Sonoran Desert?<br /></a></strong><br />Essentially, I'm standing my ground on these opinions. I am NOT judging people by their race but by THEIR ACTIONS! My frustration is not with a people, but with a small group of criminals (again... it's not the individual, but the individuals' actions.)<br /><br />I am DONE with the illegals! I am done with those who are in America, but have no desire to assimilate in our melting pot. My Great Grandparents didn't expect the USA to cater to them and print voting guides in Gaelic. They wanted to BECOME AMERICANS. Learning and speaking English was something they were proud of... they wanted to be part of their new family. In fact, TODOS OTROS IMIGRANTES have learned to read, speak, and use English because they came to this country with the desire to BECOME Americans (the 7 million imported slaves obviously excepted.)<br /><br />For the first time in American history we have an influx of immigrants who have no desire to become Americans. At some point I will have to flesh out a post I'm percolating... one that delves into how since the 1960's our own national self-depreciation and self-flagellation has brought this upon ourselves. </div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-28170634362911236302011-01-10T15:55:00.003-07:002011-01-10T16:14:34.843-07:00The Right, The Left, and The Arizona shooting<span style="color:#000066;">January 10, 2011<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">Wow! I’m out of it for a while….<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">I was down at Ft. Carson this weekend for drill and didn’t watch the whole Tucson Shooting as-it-unfolded, so I’m playing a bit of catch-up.<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000066;">What I AM gleaning, however, is that the Leftwing Lame Stream Media did everything it could do to pin this on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party as quickly as possible. Without knowing the identity of the shooter, his background, or motives… they immediately started pinning the blame. </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">-Paul Krugman “</span><a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/assassination-attempt-in-arizona/"><span style="font-size:85%;">We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but…..”<br /></span></a></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">-CNN – “</span><a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-537721?ref=feeds%2Fnewsiest"><span style="font-size:85%;">If this shooting turns out to be a deranged supporter of Governor Palin, it…<br /></span></a></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">- Jane Fonda via Twitter - </span><a href="http://twitter.com/janefonda"><span style="font-size:85%;">"Progressive Arizona Rep Gabrielle Giffords is shot. In her ads, Sarah Palin had her targeted in a gun site. Inciting to violence."<br /></span></a></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">-Keith Olbermann </span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/"><span style="font-size:85%;">-“If Sarah Palin … does not repudiate her own part, however tangential, in amplifying violence and violent imagery in American politics,<br /></span></a></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas - “</span><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/8/934433/-Is-Palins-Crosshairs-Map-Relevant-Giffords-Thought-So"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin,” </span></a></li></ul><p><span style="color:#000066;">Reminds me of the rush to ERRONEOUSLY label the IRS suicide pilot as a rightwing extremist… even after his identity was ascertained.</span> <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/02/18/joseph-stack-and-right-wing-terror-isolated-incidents-or-worrying-trend.html">- Newsweek </a><br /><br /><strong>Above all, read this on the pattern of jumping to blame the Tea Party - </strong><a href="http://centristnetblog.com/daily/media-misleads-americans-about-left-leaning-attackers-bedell-stack-and-bishop/"><strong>CentristNet</strong></a><strong><br /></strong><span style="font-size:85%;">For some REAL investigative reporting, on who is Jared Lee Loughner check out this blog ….. </span><a href="http://www.marktalk.com/blog/2011/01/10/hippie-blog-daily-kos-on-giffords-shooting-mission-accomplished/"><span style="font-size:85%;">Marktalk.com<br /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">DirectorBlue also does some good detective work - </span><a href="http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-is-jared-loughner.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">DirectorBlue<br /></span><br /></a><span style="color:#000066;">The facts are never so clear cut as “Palin did it” “The Tea Party is to blame”, &tc &tc… and many blogs and articles are tepidly ‘defending’ Palin and conservatives. So I will let them dissect the biases, the spin and hypocrisy.<br /></span></p><p><span style="color:#000066;">What they are all missing is the longer-lasting and more meaningful effects of this knee-jerk ‘blame the right’ hysteria –<br /><strong>There are millions upon millions of Americans who consider themselves right-wing, Tea Partiers, or just conservatives. The more the left blames them (us) for things they (we) didn’t do, the more we will shut them out, ignore them and leather our skin to them. If they keep this up, we will write them off completely (instead of just viewing them with a wary eye.) They could be ringing the death knell for their own marginal influence (meager as it is.) The biggest result of this progressives practice of crying wolf could be their own irrelevancy. I can’t wait! </strong></span></p>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-65361004855791918912011-01-03T10:37:00.008-07:002011-01-03T11:40:32.062-07:00Looking at Obama from a new angle<strong>HAPPY NEW YEARS ALL!!</strong><br />I LOVE the library!! I have read more books in the last two years than I could ever have afforded. I always saw the public libraries in the same light as busses... some inferior government substitution that only the broke and busted turned to.<br /><br />Although the libraries have their fair share of bureaucratic drawbacks (right now the Denver Public Library has a kibosh on holds while they transfer to a new system…their hours are sucktacular… their choices on certain books is horrid…)… it still has allowed me to enjoy books I could never afford at the moment. The most recent is <em><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRoots-Obamas-Rage-Dinesh-DSouza%2Fdp%2F1596986255&ei=yBQiTffrA4eosAPQruXtCg&usg=AFQjCNHJ_PbxkWMGURjrjWnxT8fcrnrQFQ">The Roots of Obama’s Rage</a></em> by Dinesh D’Souza.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbq2x0izgLEF1O3pYxu-YtnFx0BK42YsdHXdCnm0X0i7saW8qfLjchURGExsPUQSRtVb2Apl9rBphHtkHg_38jd-PgaGP5EjeKxNddvW-emAz9H6tEGqyFnIXhQ6MAg2qxa18Vg/s1600/the-roots-of-obamas-rage-dinesh-dsouza.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 212px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558026235496737794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHbq2x0izgLEF1O3pYxu-YtnFx0BK42YsdHXdCnm0X0i7saW8qfLjchURGExsPUQSRtVb2Apl9rBphHtkHg_38jd-PgaGP5EjeKxNddvW-emAz9H6tEGqyFnIXhQ6MAg2qxa18Vg/s320/the-roots-of-obamas-rage-dinesh-dsouza.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I have been a fan of Professor D’Souza’s work since I picked up <em>The Enemy At Home</em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-At-Home-Cultural-Responsibility/dp/0385510128"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 131px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558027006066122658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA7SC8yjmG8ETdwJ-Kp3ThELnwMf6nN47Yd-JbqOY7G317oXMa5SZac3zTbWArN830NjdWgTbpKsOdmndCN2tOy_OXyU66cdz2YGqmdyfC_Ubnk4RXCHma1XAbaOgHyGE9uM_7w/s200/51KYWQQ6W6L.jpg" /></a><br />when I was working at Borders. That’s probably the best book for answering why the Islamoterrorists hate us, and well worth the read! But I digress.<br /><br />In <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRoots-Obamas-Rage-Dinesh-DSouza%2Fdp%2F1596986255&ei=yBQiTffrA4eosAPQruXtCg&usg=AFQjCNHJ_PbxkWMGURjrjWnxT8fcrnrQFQ"><em>The Roots of Obama’s Rage</em>,</a> Professor D’Souza comes across as a true seeker of the truth behind Obama’s motives and action. Although his predisposition towards conservatism is no secret, this book isn’t really judgmental until the final pages. For the most part, he doesn’t pass a judgment on the worthiness of Obama’s actions… only seeks a consistent source of these actions.<br /><br />In an earlier post <em><a href="http://charlesking.blogspot.com/2010/10/stop-saying-obamas-muslim.html">“Stop Saying Obama a Muslim!” </a></em>I addressed how the Obama-haters might be missing the truth of the matter in their attempt to just attack the man. Similarly, Dinesh D’Souza opens his offering by equally assailing Obama’s haters and lovers. He immediately shows that this will be an academic vivisection of Obama’s words, writings, and actions in an attempt to find <strong>some core philosophy</strong> that explains everything from the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gm-bailout-was-a-total-failure-2010-4">GM Bailout</a> to the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4623148/Barack-Obama-sends-bust-of-Winston-Churchill-on-its-way-back-to-Britain.html">return of the Churchill bust </a>to the British. He takes us along his journey of reading Obama’s tomes - <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Audacity-Hope-Thoughts-Reclaiming-American/dp/0307237699">Audacity of Hope</a></em> and <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-My-Father-Story-Inheritance/dp/B0029LHWFO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2">Dreams From My Father.</a></em> He also gives us his own first-hand experience with colonialism as a child in India… a childhood very similar to President Obama’s in many respects. By the end, he has found a hypothesis that not only fits the previous actions of the Administration (including healthcare ‘reform’ and ‘the apology tour’) but gives us a glimpse of what is probably coming in the near future.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQ1TbYyeYaweTmc3EyEhKc0-2oQykwhh94b0M38u_Mt_kc7p1Sk2OhGwg7470-RBIFPolWGokZPiy7ZLy5grJQ6bMYRuMTIoJhvRX20hpLwmUtpTjN0OX0v_NFP0liHrF1mY9Rg/s1600/dd.jpg"></a><br /><div><br />It’s a quick read that doesn’t become “textbook-y” and I found myself learning more about African colonialism than I ever imagined! With the feel of an NCIS, House MD, or Lie to Me… it takes evidence, observes it from different angles and then tries to read the tea leaves. One never gets the feeling that the evidence is being forced or twisted… just presented. In fact, Professor D’Souza from the outset clearly states his feeling that current judgments of Obama – from ‘he’s a Socialist’ to ‘he’s the greatest president ever’- need to shove puzzle pieces together to support their premises. He is in search of the philosophy that will fit all the pieces nicely. Does he accomplish this task? That’s for the reader to decide.</div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-67849532427386319022010-12-16T16:30:00.002-07:002010-12-16T17:01:40.843-07:00“BOBBY” The bastardization of history for the narcissistic need of a self-aggrandizing filmmaker.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TPf3GpcxLttc_-QnS_18GkRraneih6NkgAYhEfVvVJexH2gbHPccOs_-B53yOrxFIywXRPNuvzDG4abzXHY_hUzw33zbA2bUpeDn_TvdCzaTblh_ObJafteVLaca4uvahTbIiA/s1600/bobby.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TPf3GpcxLttc_-QnS_18GkRraneih6NkgAYhEfVvVJexH2gbHPccOs_-B53yOrxFIywXRPNuvzDG4abzXHY_hUzw33zbA2bUpeDn_TvdCzaTblh_ObJafteVLaca4uvahTbIiA/s320/bobby.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551434571991859250" /></a><br />December 9, 2010<br /><br />“BOBBY” The bastardization of history for the narcissistic need of a self-aggrandizing filmmaker.<br /><br />I finally got around to watching the movie “Bobbie” not too long ago. It’s a pretty good movie, detailing the lives of fictional characters inserted for the actual five individuals injured in the attack that took Bobby Kennedy’s life.<br /><br />As a story, it tends to fluctuate between intriguing and mundane. I found myself wondering, “why should I care about these individuals?” – of course, at the end you realize what they all seemingly have in common and you have that ‘Ohhhhhhh so THAT’s why!’ moment. So it ends up being an intriguing film afterall.<br /><br />But then, for a history purist like me, I was darn near pissed off that “Bobbie’s” characters were NOT based upon the actual individuals who were injured in the attacks. So many thoughts went through my mind – were the true stories not intriguing enough?… how can someone intentionally bastardize factual events?… How many people will walk away thinking these were the true events?… Don’t we have an obligation to honestly and factually report history?… Has the rewriting of history gotten so out of hand that it’s no long done subtly or subversively but blatantly and unapologetically? <br /><br />Soooo…. Being who I am, I immediately ran to the library to find a book stating the facts of the RFK assassination so I would have the real story. And yes, the stories of those also shot by Sirhan Sirhan were intriguing… as are the intrigues and possible conspiracy theories. <br /><br />So, why did Emilio Estevez have to tweak with history… change history… LIE about history… why?!? If he just wanted to present a cross-section docudrama about various social strata of the 1960’s, couldn’t he have done that through a completely fictional movie? Was he therefore using RFK and his assassination to project his (Estevez’s) own statement about the 60’s? At that point didn’t he cross the line of intellectual necrophilia and disgustingly dismiss historical fact as a disposable hurdle to his own creative juices?<br /><br />I admit I’m a historical purist… a somewhat intellectual snob… and an unapologetic, intolerant, passionate foe of dishonesty, spin, subterfuge, and lies. Emilio Estevez’s “Bobbie” goes beyond the Oliver Stone style of twisting history (which can be described as illuminating an alternative point of view) – this goes to out-and-out rewriting history and presenting as fact something that is any but! It is unacceptable!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-11833988329151316252010-12-03T17:26:00.005-07:002010-12-06T19:40:41.725-07:00America, The Last Will and Testament<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8KMh4asLiuBUiMNphR5Wp3q8CoPSp_JMfPfetLbaNlSmsVcMm4zm8V5HqO0dUGpsWK3zyiNpvbZkyQBxBX2ceaKPUr8e7-cApPf50s35FCiihyphenhyphenh7K0agw1N8SFcXEZpRfinxqg/s1600/wake+up.png"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547762095848345538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8KMh4asLiuBUiMNphR5Wp3q8CoPSp_JMfPfetLbaNlSmsVcMm4zm8V5HqO0dUGpsWK3zyiNpvbZkyQBxBX2ceaKPUr8e7-cApPf50s35FCiihyphenhyphenh7K0agw1N8SFcXEZpRfinxqg/s320/wake+up.png" /></a><br /><br /><div><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">The first few pages...</span></em></strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />James Montgomery Flagg Illustration<br />“Wake Up America!” Poster<br />1917, Library of Congress<br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>To my dearest children,<br /><br /><br />I’m afraid there is no easy way to put this. You, and the representatives you have been electing are killing me! It’s been slowly progressing since the late 1800’s, but I fear I am reaching a point of no return, a point where I will become irreversibly terminal, and it is for this reason I need you to listen to me now before it’s too late!<br /><br />As always develops in the relationships between offspring and their parents, the time has come for us to have a serious conversation. You see, I feel that my time on this Earth is coming to an end. And before I pass, there are things that absolutely must be said!<br />I call you my child although you are grown, matured, and independent far beyond childhood. I write this with full respect for your self-sufficient nature and your adult demeanor, but I can still call you ‘my child’ because you are. I am America and you, the beneficiaries of all I am, are an American – you are my child.<br /><br />It is not unusual for one to have misconceptions and false judgments about one’s parents even into adulthood, and so it seems we need to be frank with one another about who I am, my past, my nature, as well as my hopes and dreams for you and your future.<br />There are times I honestly feel you didn’t know me, and haven’t for some time. Let me set you straight on something before we begin. I am not a country! Let me repeat that. I am not a country! I am found primarily in The United States of America, but nevertheless, I am not a nation, nor am I any particular government. I am not even a geographical location, although all of those things have been attributed to me at one point or another.<br /><br />I am an ideology, a state of mind, and a way of thinking. I am neither Democrat, nor Republican. I have no political affiliation and I am not subject to one specific religion or another. Don’t take that to mean I’m Godless! Your government, press, and powers-that-be may be agnostic or atheistic, but my parents brought me up with a full understanding and appreciation for The Creator, and it is to Him that I am pledged to protect you. We will talk more about that later. I am greater than any political party or interest group. I have outlived, (and hope to outlive) every President, Congressperson, and Supreme Court Justice. Natural disasters and man-made tragedies have struck the United States time and time again, yet I live on uncompromised and unabated. My cities may fall into ruins, my population may be decimated through causes natural or not, but unless I am forgotten, I will still survive. I am an extraordinary entity consisting of ideas, beliefs, resolves, and character. I am of no race, but a beautiful bright light made up of all the colors of the rainbow. I have been described as a shining city upon a hill and a thousand points of light. My ideology is neither conservative, liberal, nor moderate but made simply of the love and adoration of the Divine human creation. I cannot be killed, but if I am forgotten I will surely die!<br /><br />I am America<br /><br /><br />Who am I?<br />I need to set you straight about my youth. Although my character and essence were being formed for nearly 300 years before, I was technically conceived on July 2nd, in the year of our Lord 1776. The announcement of my impending birth was given two days later and you now celebrate that day as Independence Day. Fifty-six brave and somewhat eccentric men conceived me in that hot, humid Philadelphia summer. My fathers represented a multitude of different cultures, backgrounds, and social classes. Not true “diversity” by today’s standards, but for the late 18th Century they were a very eclectic mix of traders, writers, lawyers, cobblers, landowners and so forth. My parents were so diverse that those of the north couldn’t fully understand the dialects and drawls of my co-parents from the south. My southern fathers were primarily farmers and my northern parents were mostly traders. One was Catholic and many were Masons and Protestants. Over half were preachers or held degrees in religion. They were collected from thirteen separate geographic areas, held different ideals and dreams, different priorities and beliefs, different trades and incomes, but eventually they would all come together to give me my start in this world.<br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 206px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547762670442602770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iq5XUUca5dPFouc62ndXke-OfHUshU_aZk9vGikRKjc2ZtWAc-es0gf_BwTw_y-0e35EYl_H6hhgFWyXT-16yGvOYKXGS_vh0p4L5Kg2TgudccZ0sN1GTfuoH364vS-19RWHBQ/s320/dec+of+ind.png" /><br />These highly knowledgeable and respected men recognized that the society, the culture - the very nature of the colonists they represented were different than any population in history. On this point, my grandparents (the British) were in enthusiastic agreement! In their eyes, the colonists were brash, uncultured, rude, ill mannered and terribly violent. Even the exceptionally gifted and intelligent Doctor Benjamin Franklin was considered “beneath” the standards of English society. At a Privy Council in London on January 29th, 1774, Dr. Franklin was defending himself, and the prosecutor spat the word “American” at him as though it were the most base of insults! This much was true; the colonists were British only on paper. Their souls and minds were of an entirely new and different sort – they were Americans! My fathers therefore proposed a new nation be created, one that reflected the new ideals, dreams and state of mind of the new world - a mix of ideas, beliefs, resolves and character that was already in the air and running through the blood of the colonists. All that was left to do was to give it a name and an identity, and that’s what happened when I was conceived in the summer of 1776. Ever since that summer, my character has most readily been personified in the immortal phrase “all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”<br /><br />As you can imagine, it was not exactly a wanted pregnancy by the grandparents back in England. Revolutions may seem commonplace today, but before I was born, it was absolutely inconceivable for a colony or group of colonies to break away from a mother country. It just wasn’t done! Certainly there were revolts against the Roman Empire in one province or another, but the idea of leaving your mother country and starting an entirely new and untested form of government was, in a word – revolutionary! It took eleven whole years before I would actually be identified as a country. In that time, over 25,000 men would die to make sure I wasn’t aborted or miscarried. Of the signers of the Declaration, nearly every one had their property seized and destroyed by the British. Nine died during the war either through hardships or in battle. Five were captured and imprisoned. All of my parents were considered traitors by the British and had bounties placed upon their heads, the heads of their spouses, children and even their business associates and friends.<br /><br />On September 17th, 1787 I was born. My birth certificate, which I still cherish, is called the Constitution. According to my fathers, the pregnancy was not an easy one. I was nearly stillborn. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, disagreements between my fathers grew so great; it seemed they couldn’t agree on anything! It was only after heeding the advice of Dr. Franklin and taking three full days to do nothing but pray for guidance that they could finally come together and create what has become the longest surviving Constitution in history.<br /></div><div>Since then, relatively very little has changed about me. I am still the dreamer, the champion of the individual, and a lover of freedom. Liberty is still my favorite vocation and I still cherish the creation known as “man!” I don’t hold by ceremony as my grandparents did, and I still think that man’s problems are best solved by man’s ingenuity. I used to think the sky was the limit, but in that I have surpassed even my own expectations. I have never thought ‘inside the box’ and find it amusing when you, my children, need to remind yourselves to do so. Innovation is something that was instilled in my nature from before I was born. My character and nature are no different today than when my fathers conceived me in 1776. The government has shifted this way and that, and as a culture, you have grown. You have ventured in new directions. I have been heartbroken when I have seen you quibble, quarrel, and even kill one another. But at other times my heart has leapt with joy when you have been true to me and accepted all my children as “Americans.” And I am so proud to call you my children! Over 300 million souls each with its own dreams and solutions, each living his or her life in liberty and pursuing happiness, you have made me so proud!<br /><br />There are a few issues I wish to go over with you however. While in some cases, you have exceeded my hopes and dreams, in others you have either built away from the foundations my fathers laid or have disregarded the ideals of the American family all-together!<br /><br />No parent likes to chastise a child, and I will do my best to be as patient and understanding as I can. I am only telling you these things because I feel firmly that as you continue to deny the very ideals and foundations on which this family was based, you will wake up one day and will no longer be living in the greatest, most free, most advanced country in the world. I am America, and I don’t want you to lose me.<br /><br /><strong>What is “American” and “un-American?”<br /></strong>It’s sad that this even needs to be addressed. Basically, this has nothing to do with where you choose to stand on the political scale. A conservative can be just as un-American as a liberal. It has nothing to do with who you have voted for in the past, or to which party you belong. The only requirements for being an American are an acceptance of the ideals of freedom, liberty, and rule of law on which I am based, and the willingness to protect and defend those ideals. One can even be against the government in Washington DC and still be a true American through and through! In fact our brave men and women in the Armed Forces pledge to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, not some individual, not some administration or regime! What is “American” is anything and everything that promotes liberty over tyranny, self-sufficiency over dependence, the individual over the collective, the choice of the person over the dictates of the state, the rule of law over the rule of men; free will, entrepreneurship and individuality. Freedom! The true test of ‘what is American’ can be determined by answering a simple question, “That would the founders do.”<br /><br /><em><strong>“But why put such importance on your founding fathers? They lived 250 years ago, haven’t we grown, learned, and advanced beyond their primitive attempt at creating a government?”</strong></em><br /><br />This is an excellent question, my child. Keep in mind, however, that our founders knew more about government than most of today’s professors know about FDR. They were better versed in world history, Roman federalism and imperialism, Greek democracy, Russian, French, and English monarchy, tribalism, feudalism, oligarchies, autocracies (and every other type of governance ever tried) than most Ivy League graduates. When creating their new country from scratch they were free to choose whatever form they wished; they chose to create an entirely new type of Republic… gleaned from all the best parts of every system that had come before. Their greatest stroke of wisdom was in their reliance on the individual citizen. They realized if they divided power among the millions of citizens, no single citizen could become a tyrant. Furthermore, understanding human nature and the tendency of humans to unfailingly work towards their own best interests, they developed a system in which the counter-efforts of self-interest would keep society, the economy, and even the government in check. Their other great innovation was in forming a system based upon process rather than outcome. They weren’t as concerned with who, precisely, would lead the country, but rather the process by which that person would be chosen. This is akin to creating a detailed recipe rather than just saying, “You need to make a really tasty chocolate cake.” This founding belief (which has proven accurate) was that if the process was adhered to, the result will be assured. The process, and the foundation of that process… liberty and freedom… were what truly mattered. This trust and reliance on freedom, and this focus on the freedoms and liberties of the individual citizen are what makes America unique and exceptional! Free markets and freedom of choice within those markets are a major part of this! An American nature promotes life, liberty and an individual’s pursuit of happiness. It allows for difference of opinion without threatening to silence dissent. It recognizes that a person can rise from the lowliest of circumstances to the highest of heights through nothing more than their own hard work, faith and ingenuity. Again, I go back to Freedom and Liberty, for they are the core of everything American.<br /></div><div>In this manner, there have been individuals throughout history like Alexis de Tocqueville, the Marquis de Lafayette, and James Smithson who were not citizens of the United States, yet embraced ‘the American way’ and were more truly Americans than some of the actors and reporters you watch every night. Currently there is a modern heir to these great men, a member of the European Parliament named Daniel Hannan. I am proud to consider him an adopted son. I urge you learn about these cousins, and glean from them an understanding for why my birth was (and is still rightly) considered a ‘5,000 year leap’ in human evolution!<br /><br />There is yet one more aspect of an American that cannot be overlooked because it is at the very heart of everything that was created in 1776! Without this final key to the puzzle, everything else is mutable, secondary and meaningless! It is the glue that bonds everything else. Without it, there is no America!<br /><br /><strong>The source of human rights<br /></strong>It may pain you to hear this, but according to the wise men who laid this nation’s foundation, a true American must recognize that each individual is a creation of the Supreme Being, God, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah, or however else you recognize the Divine Creator! Furthermore because of this divine birthright, you are entitled to respect and self-governance. This includes respect not only from your fellow citizens but from your government. This may seem trivial, but it’s not! My grandparents in Europe ‘valued’ their subjects based upon who their parents were, or how much gold they had, or their family associations. This meant that if an individual wasn’t rich, ‘connected’, or a member of a wealthy and prestigious family, he or she was literally worthless! Sound familiar? Today the ‘elite’ maybe politicians, ‘experts,’ television commentators, or CEO’s of incredibly powerful companies -in short, only those who can give massive campaign contributions or can ‘boost’ a campaign through favorable coverage. They are treated better, given preferential treatment and favors.<br /><br /><br />There are, in the words of Senator John Edwards “two Americas.” But unlike the assertion of the privileged Edwards, the two America aren’t the rich and the poor, but the elite and the forgotten. How sad that you have returned to the very class system my fathers fought so hard to destroy! How sad you are once again in a world where all are equal, but some are more equal than others! My parents fought and died to change all that! You must discard this double standard, this idea of the “special” and the “ordinary.” There is no such thing as a common or ordinary American, and the sooner you learn to embrace that fact, the sooner you will be the happy, prosperous nation you were meant to be!<br /><br />You, the individual citizen, are worthy of great respect! In fact any citizen who is old enough and fulfills the residency requirements can be elected President. Not only that, he or she must be a citizen! If the candidate holds any title or rank in the military or elsewhere, they must give up that title and become a citizen before taking office. Only in America is the title ‘citizen’ considered the highest rank or position one can attain! Again, this is because only America recognizes the divine nature of each individual, only in America are the people considered the supreme authority over the government, rather than the other way around.<br /></div><div>In America, any governmental power over you comes from your own assent (as Thomas Jefferson phrased it) meaning your rights are given to you by God and you LEND those rights to the government! This is the single greatest difference between “American” and “un-American!”<br />Because even to this day, no other country recognizes that rights come from God and then the citizenry gives those rights to the government, you, and our entire system is different than anywhere else. We are the exception, and this is the foundation of American Exceptionalism! In most other countries, rights are given to the people from the King, the Parliament, the Caliphate or some other government ‘on high’. Now listen carefully! Those governments can take ‘rights’ back or pass them out willy-nilly. This very core belief in other countries (that the government gives out rights), prompts other governments to give rights to some while withholding them from others. They don’t distribute favors equally or fairly because under their definition of ‘rights’ such entitlements are not a gift of the Divine Creator. They do not believe all citizens are created equal, or have to be treated equally. Only here in America is that right to be treated equally guaranteed. And it is because you are all equally divine by your creation. You have the supreme power in the United States and this unique arrangement is evident throughout all the writings and speeches of my fathers! Those who do not believe in a God maybe offended by all this, but I view them in the same light as those who may feel the world is flat, Elvis is still alive, or Saddam Hussein was a nice guy… they’re an adorable lot, but not to be taken seriously. There is an Almighty, deal with it!<br /><br />Here, in America, the government can never hold any right that you do not hold yourself. Nor can the government deprive you of your rights without your permission! The government is ALWAYS the servant of the citizen (individually and collectively) and never, ever dictates to the individual! Does is sound as if I’m talking about some foreign country? It’s not! This is what it means to be American! It was defined this way by my fathers in their speeches and writings, and is still true today. ANYTHING that runs contrary to those beliefs, no matter if it is “legal,” “set in precedent,” or accepted as fact… ANYTHING contrary is by definition un-American! Sadly, many things are in place right now, both legally and culturally, that are un-American but you mistakenly call ‘American!’<br /><br /><strong>State sponsored lie: “a total separation of church and state”</strong><br />My children, I would never have imagined we would become a country that would even consider that there wasn’t a Divine Creator! It baffles me and would sadden and dishearten my fathers. I often hear you bastardize a phrase my father Thomas Jefferson used… the ‘wall of separation between Church and State.” When Mr. Jefferson used this phrase he was writing to the Danbury Baptists to assure them that the Government could not interfere with their Church’s beliefs and practices – NOT the other way around! He wrote of freedom of religion, not freedom from it! In fact, my fathers had no problem with each individual state having its own official religion; they only forbade the Federal government from forming a nationally established faith.<br /><br /><em>“But what is wrong with a faith-neutral stance in the courts, schools, and government?”<br /></em><br />From my point of view, as the personification of the America my fathers created, there are two major problems. Firstly, the absence of faith is considered Atheism, and when the government removes all references to the Divine Creator, it in fact creates a State-mandated “approved” series of thoughts and beliefs. In other words, you have created, or allowed to be imposed, an established religion – that of Atheism. Atheism is the absence of religion, and the government sanctions the absence of religion in its......"</div><div></div><div>These are the first few pages of America - The Last Will & Testament by C. K. Byrne</div><div>The book is complete... over 200 pages, with more than 100 pages of references, quotes, facts, and footnotes!</div>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-62097463581367890482010-12-01T14:42:00.004-07:002010-12-01T15:13:04.094-07:00Undercover Boss - SubwayOkay, so I've REALLY been trying to be less of a "negative ninny!" <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Buuuuuuutttttttt</span>.........<br /><img style="WIDTH: 354px; HEIGHT: 189px" src="http://www.latestseasonepisode.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/undercover-boss.jpg" width="451" height="441" /><br />I adore the show <em><span style="font-size:130%;color:#990000;"><strong>"Undercover Boss"</strong></span></em> because I enjoy seeing that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">lightbulb</span> above an administrator's head light up when he sees how he can make lives better... for his employees as well as his customers.<br /><br /><br /><br />But the Subway edition had me steaming!!!<br /><br />In the Sunday, Nov. 21<sup>st</sup> episode Don <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Fertman</span>, the Chief Development Officer of the Subway franchise chain, went undercover learning to be a "sandwich artist," as well as being a delivery boy and taking on several "menial" entry-level tasks.<br /><br />Okay, I can understand the whole desire to look like a nice guy on TV.... but isn't part of being a boss preventing hostile work <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">environments</span> and age discrimination?????? This boss was being pushed around by the kids... NOT in a productive manner like we've seen in the Waste Management or Frontier episodes... but just out-an-out hostility for (it seems) primarily, not being a young kid!<br /><img style="WIDTH: 319px; HEIGHT: 178px" src="http://eater.com/uploads/subway-undercover-boss-528.jpg" width="377" height="178" /><br />THIS CHICK ("Jessi") was just an out-and-out <span style="font-size:130%;">BITCH</span>! She should have been FIRED, not helped with her college education! <em>("Oh... but that's so <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">meeeeaaaan</span>! She needs help!")</em> No, she needs a swift kick in the ASS and a lesson or two about how to treat other human beings!<br /><br />This is the first episode that has prompted me to NOT shop or apply for a job at a featured company. If disrespectful, arrogant, age-discriminating managers like Jessi are REWARDED... then I will shop at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Quizno's</span> thank you very much! Thank you Mr. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Fertman</span> for showing me the TRUE face of Subway!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-4445231283643767912010-11-01T19:05:00.001-06:002010-11-01T19:08:05.301-06:00<span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;"><strong>November 1 - Election Eve!!!!</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;"><strong>The Voting Test</strong></span><br />I wish the Democrats in the south during the 1940’s – 1960’s hadn’t so sullied the ideas of ‘conditional voting’ by racially imposing Poll Taxes and other slanted Jim Crow laws! Because I really, REALLY wish there was a type of intelligence test required for voting! I mean, really! If you’re too ignorant of the government and the foundations of this country, you really shouldn’t be making decisions that affect it! Should anyone be allowed to do brain surgery just because their heart is in the right place? Would you let someone work on your car who didn’t know squat about automotive mechanics? And yet, we allow ignorant people to make the most vital and life changing decisions in the voting booth when they have no clue as to what they are doing!<br /><br />So I propose a simple, basic 10-question requirement for voting:<br /><br />1) The three branches of government are:<br />____________________, ___________________, ________________<br /><br />2) From the Declaration of Independence: (Fill in the blanks)<br />“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they ________ _______ ______ __________ __________ with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are __________, _________ & ______________________. – That to ___________ _____ ___________ Governments are __________________ among ___________ deriving their _______ _____ from the __________ of the __________”<br /><br />3) Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?<br />________________ ________________<br /><br />4a) Name two Presidents from the 1700’s<br />_______________________, _____________________<br /><br />4b) Name two Presidents from the 1800’s<br />_______________________, _______________________<br /><br />4c) Name two Presidents from the 1900’s<br />_______________________, ________________________<br /><br />5) The current President of the United States is:<br />____________________ ________________<br /><br />6) Name the 4 people (and their job) next in line in Presidential Succession<br />____ __________ Title: __________ __________<br />_____ __________ Title: _________ ___ ____ _________<br />______ __________ Title: __________ _____ ___________<br />_______ __________ Title: __________ ______ __________<br /><br />7) Presidential Veto, Advise & Consent of the Senate, Judicial overview, and Impeachment are all examples of:<br />C__________ & B___________<br />8) The first 10 ___________ of the Constitution are called the ______ ___ ________<br /><br />9) Any bill dealing with finances can only come from ___ ________ ___ __________________<br /><br />10) Name three current Supreme Court Justices and the Chief Justice:<br /><br />Chief Justice: ______________________________<br />Associate Justice ____________________________<br />Associate Justice ____________________________<br />Associate Justice ____________________________<br /><br /><em><strong><span style="color:#000099;">Okay… really not that tough. For bonus points ( a chance to still get 10 right even if you missed one above) – Name the 5 members of the Committee to draft the Declaration of Independence<br /></span></strong></em>_________ _____________<br />_________ _____________<br />_____ _________<br />_________ ____________<br />_________ _____________<br /><br /><br />Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments?Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-9815590369291820092010-11-01T18:53:00.002-06:002010-11-01T19:05:53.725-06:00Ready for the Revolution!GO TOM TANCREDO!!!! We need ya' more than ever!<br /><br />Okay, onto the collection of blog entries I've ammassed since my last visit to the InterNet...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#660000;"><strong>October 29, 2010<br /><br />We dodge a bullet… AGAIN!</strong><br /></span></span>Today’s flurry of reporting on multiple “suspicious packages” coming out of Yemen brings attention to the current status of our War on Terror …. Whoops! I mean our overseas contingency operations.<br /><br />Once again, OTHER COUNTRIES pulled our butt outta’ the fire and protected us. The packages that actually had explosives on them were intercepted in Dubai and Great Britain. IT WAS NOT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT that saved us… AGAIN!<br /><br />Just like the Detroit Christmas bombing attempt, we’ve been more lucky than anything else. How long can we keep successfully calling “heads” or “tails”? Eventually, our luck WILL run out! And how long will the American public keep thinking it’s our ‘skill’ or ‘preparation’ that is keeping us safe? We’re getting REALLY good at fixing barn doors after the horse is running in the field. As long as Dubai, Great Britain, can keep an eye on the most dangerous horses before they get out, we’ll be fine. For our part, we arrest a low-level wannabe in Washington DC that never hooked up with any group more nefarious than the FBI (who set up the sting to begin with.) We didn’t disrupt an already-formed and developed terrorist cell – we created a cell and caught some guy who was attracted to the cell WE created! Really?! Does that make you feel any safer?<br /><br />Our efforts to fight this war through drone attacks is pure Clinton-era arm’s-length denial warfare. Didn’t we learn anything from the ‘90’s? Drones are great an all, but they don’t collect vital Human Intelligence! We aren’t listening-in, or sitting-in on Al-Qaeda meetings, nor are we cultivating relationships that would permit such listening-in. We’re just dropping bombs from remote-controlled aircraft. Essentially, we’re bombing the horse after he’s gotten out of the barn… and if not for the screeners at Dubai and Great Britain we’d be counting body bags right now. We really need to wake up and open our eyes, folks!!<br /><br />Just a side note – it’s two years since the ascendancy of the Anointed Chosen One, the one who was going to bring the world together, who was going to bring civility and would restore the World’s love to America. If we just voted for him, the world would love us again – he would restore international relationships and the United States would be adored by the whole world. In short, countries wouldn’t hate us anymore and would stop attacking us.<br />How’s that working out for you?!<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#660000;">October 28th, 2010</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#660000;">Groupthink – group identity and the destruction of community<br /></span><br />It is impossible for a conservative to be a racist – IMPOSSIBLE!<br /><br /></span></strong>This is not spin, hyperbole, or fantasy; it’s a FACT! You see, conservatives see individuals one-on-one. Contrary to the false presumptions found in the media and history text books (both products of liberal Progressives), the Jim Crow laws, and other condoned governmental racism – if you read the actual FACTS of history – were the products of southern liberals, not conservatives. The last remaining KKK member of the Congress was the late Robert Byrd, a DEMOCRAT. The most famous racist in recent Congresses was Strom Thurmond – a Democrat when he spoke in racist terms, but later converted both in heart and in party to become a Republican. Lyndon Johnson, that great pillar of ‘racial progressives’, repeatedly voted AGAINST the Civil Rights Bill when he was Speaker of The House, only to switch sides for political gain when he became President.<br /><br />Conservatives, and the few Republicans that fit into that category, don’t speak in terms of ‘the blacks’, ‘women’, ‘the rich’ or ‘the working class.’ They (we) see individuals with little concern for their color, gender, race, or income – we see individuals. Although the leftists try to paint any of us who disagree with Obama as ‘racists’, the fact is many of us would have voted for Condi Rice for President, or Colin Powell. Race just doesn’t matter to us… WE DON’T CARE! Nor do we JUDGE someone by his/her color, creed, sex, or anything else he/she can’t control. We tend to judge a person by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.<br /><br />So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we must venture past who sees the world as various ‘voting blocks’ and go to the heart of ‘what’s wrong with seeing groups?’<br /><br />In nearly every Democrat/Liberal/Progressive argument you will hear the cries of victim/perpetrator. Just think of the targets of recent Administration policies – the evil banks, the racist Cambridge cops, the horrible doctors and HMOs that amputate kids’ feet for more money, horrible lending companies, racists and xenophobes in Arizona, Or, as he recently described them… “enemies.” This is pure Saul Alinsky.<br /><br />This is also the core of what makes groupthink so insidious! When one identifies themselves, or others, by a certain group, it can only result in animosity, envy, conflict, and eventual hatred. What if – instead of calling all Wall Street bankers ‘evil’ – corrupt individuals were pointed out? Would that not open up the possibility of utilizing good bankers (yes, there are some out there!) for fixing the problem? Of course, that wouldn’t allow the government to take over the financial system, now would it?<br /><br />PEOPLE WAKE UP! The Democrat/Liberal/Progressive agenda is ALL about divide and conquer! YOU ARE BEING USED! You are pawns in a larger game to gain power and control! You are being divided… most effectively and strongly into rich folks / poor folks… and they (those attempting to gain more power) are using your envy to gain more control over you!<br />“Now, Charles, you are speaking of the horrors of groupthink and dividing folks into separate groups, and yet I’ve read here on the blog you often rail against illegals – grouping all of them together. Hypocritical, are we?”<br />Good question, but you’re leaving out one major thing… actions vs. nature. There is nothing wrong with grouping illegals, felons, molesters, atheists, or even liberals because those generalizations are based on ACTIONS that define those individuals. No one chooses to be black, white, female, or male.<br /><br />But it is the ACTIONS of a group of individuals that unites them. And, yes, you can lump ‘millionaire fat cats’ into a group – but ONLY if you truly believe that ALL millionaires and fat cats are alike in their actions. I don’t believe that all millionaires got rich through ill-gotten gains. In fact I would tend to be prejudicial the OTHER way. I think most rich people are like Bill Gates or Lawrence Ellison, or Sam Walton, or Andrew Carnegie… they EARNED their money through ingenuity and hard work (and should therefore be REWARDED instead of punished!)<br /><br />It’s all based upon actions. And one of the actions that I tend to judge people on is how they CHOOSE to identify themselves. Do you identify yourself as ‘black’, ‘white’, ‘male’, ‘female’ or some equally innate characteristic? I had nothing to do with what color I was born… it has nothing to do with any effort or talent on my part. I had literally nothing to do with it. So why would I brag about it, or identify myself with it? I just don’t get that. It’s not like John McCain identifying himself as a POW survivor… he EARNED that title by surviving great hardship. His courage, bravery, tenacity, faith, and strength got him through a very difficult time, and that should rightly be part of his self-identification. But your great-great-great-grandfather was owned by a white man? Really, what exactly does that have to do with you and the person YOU are? It’s not as if you survived the lashings and indignities yourself. Heck! My grandfather had a cross burned on his lawn in the 1920’s because he was a Catholic. It has nothing whatsoever to do with who I am. It, perhaps, serves as an example that my family has overcome hardships and adversity in the past, but really has very little to do with where I am today. I guess I could whine and talk about how picked on I am because of what happened 110 years ago, but I know I’d be lying. I’d be playing the victim when I was never really victimized in the first place.<br /><br />So that’s where I just don’t get the groupthink. I am an individual. The effects of my blood relatives, their histories, and our family’s past have so little influence on me and the kind of person I CHOOSE to be…in fact, I’ve even chosen to ‘get beyond’ things that HAVE happened in my past. If I don’t identify myself by THOSE, how could I possibly be so weak as to identify myself by things that didn’t even happen to ME?!?!<br />I can’t understand those who are enslaved by their identity as part of some group. I can’t imagine not thinking for myself. I can’t imagine voting for person “A” because all the other Catholics, or white guys, or 40-something are voting for them. I can’t imagine being that easily led. Maybe those that buy into the groupthink are individuals who are unwilling or unable to stand on their own. Hmmmmmm Something to think about.<br /><br />Maybe those who choose to primarily identify themselves with a larger group are just folks who are too weak, cowardly, or insecure to stand on their own and have their own opinions. And maybe that lack of self-image is what allows them to have such a poor image of others, and see others as nothing more than sheeple and faceless entities in the larger crowd.<br /><br />Wow! I like where this stream-of-consciousness is going. Adolph Hitler identified himself as part of the Aryan master race, and likewise saw the Jews as a single monolithic entity… so he had no qualms with slaughtering them. Was it his own lack of self-esteem (as a failed soldier and artist) that molded his outlook and projected his own self-loathing upon others? Do folks who have little or no self-identity outside one group or another share this same tunnel vision? Is this why it’s so easy for ideologues to demonize their opposition?<br /><br />This blog has already taken up too much of your time, and I appreciate your interest in my musings. But just a few last questions to top this entry off.<br /><br />Do you identify yourself by your accomplishments and triumphs, or by things you have no control over?<br /><br />How do you view and identify other individuals? Is it by things they have no control over… or by what they have triumphed above and achieved?<br /><br />When you first see someone, do you prejudge them by their looks, race, age, sex OR BY THEIR ACTIONS?<br /><br />Do you truly believe all blacks are ________, or all women are _________, or all Asians are_____________? Do you believe all rich people are ______________?<br /><br />How do you feel about people who primarily identify themselves (an action they choose to take) with things they have no control over such as color, race, gender and such?Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-34321754886399385652010-10-21T17:24:00.001-06:002010-10-21T17:54:38.147-06:00JUAN WILLIAMS fired from NPROctober 21, 2010<br /><br />Juan Williams fired by NPR<br /><br />Wow! It’s now official that <a href="http://www.npr.org/">National Public Radio </a>is enslaved to left-wing, liberal special interest groups. Last night on The O’Reilly Factor commentator <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=1&ved=0CDsQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzIOBYsVuuFs&ei=Ls_ATMmpBcqgnAeu1oDYCQ&usg=AFQjCNGhem00f53mGUGwqNjYVHvYAnF_og">Juan Williams </a>quite candidly mentioned he gets nervous if he is on an airplane with individuals in Muslim garb. He then explained that it wasn’t right to ‘profile’ or judge, but that it was his honest reaction when on a plane with Muslims.<br /><br />CAIR – a Muslim activist group - called for “action” in retaliation to the supposedly bigoted speech… and NPR fired Juan Williams.<br /><br />Other blogs undoubtedly will dissect if the comment was appropriate, accurate, bigoted or whatever. We may even get Obama to state that NPR acted ‘stupidly’… but that’s not where I’m going.<br /><br />During the campaign and just after the election, Mr. Williams was a definite cheerleader for Obama and the progressive tract of the administration. This lasted a few months. But then I was shocked to see him drift moderate – even conservative. He agreed that the Health Care Bill went against the will of the people, was far too complex and convoluted. He recognized the abomination of 2000-page bills that were being passed unread. I was thrilled – Juan Williams was coming to see the light.<br /><br />Then someone got to Juan Williams. I don’t know if someone told him he needed to ‘get back into his place’ or what. But the result was as obvious as a cockroach on a white carpet… the old Juan Williams was back… with more Kool Aid than ever! Since the Summer of ’09 he’s even more of an apologist for the Obama/Pelosi/Progressive agenda than ever.<br /><br />Then this happens and NPR fires him. NPR. Not exactly the most ideological “level playing field”. A left-wing news outlet gets rid of a moderate. He’s carried so much water for the liberal left and they just cut him loose for speaking his mind. The supposed champions of free speech – the left – show themselves for what they are. They are hypocrites who only support the free expression of their speech. This is why it is only conservative speakers like <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kold.com%2Fglobal%2Fstory.asp%3FS%3D2464977&ei=MtHATNjwAdCgnwfbwLyCCg&usg=AFQjCNHy8HWz3j6ulllfm2hYqhQk3aeSOg">Ann Coulter that are assaulted </a>at college appearances. It is why Tess and I witnessed hecklers here in Denver <a href="http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=155871&catid=346">shouting down Newt Gingrich</a> during his presentation at the CELL function. It is why liberal operatives like Mara Liason, Bob Beckel, Susan Estrich will consistently turn a dialogue into a cacophonic shouting match – trying to prevent the other side from speaking their mind.<br />=== ADHD moment --- why won't Susan Estrich just ONCE sing Hello Dolly?!?!? I would buy Pay-Per-View for THAT one ---<br /><br />Conservatives (like me) agree strongly with Thomas Jefferson’s opinion that the cure to ‘bad’, ‘unpopular’, or even ‘hate’ speech is <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>not censorship</strong></span>… but <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>more</strong></span> speech. Obviously the liberal fascists don’t agree… to them any speech that conflicts with their own progressive agenda must be silenced. When do the book burnings begin?<br /><br />And the vital part of this argument, that I doubt many others will address – one I alluded to before – No matter how much Juan Williams did to promote the liberal agenda, the moment he (forgive me) ‘went off the reservation’, he was cut loose. TOTALLY cut loose from the liberal left and disowned.<br /><br />Now, granted the GOP cut their members loose as well, but (here’s the key) only in cases of unethical behavior or even accused unethical behavior. The Progressives on the other hand throw their comrades under the bus when they don’t tow the liberal line. Time to look up Saul Alinsky. Rev. Wright, Van Jones… and now Juan Williams. It’s getting awful crowded under that bus!<br /><br /><br /><br /><p>AND RANDOM THOUGHTS<br />October 20, 2010<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115320/"><strong>The Pretender</strong> </a><br /><br />Lately, I’ve been borrowing the TV show The Pretender from the library, catching up on episodes I missed. I love The Pretender like no other series I’ve ever watched. Why?<br /><br />I truly empathize with Jarod in so many episodes!<br /><br />Of course I recognize the differences - I’m not a genius as Jarod is. Of course, no one is… at least I hope not. Not because I’d be worried or afraid of someone with that much knowledge, but because I realize that a ‘Jarod’ couldn’t exist without all the pain becoming ‘Jarod’ would require. (Pain that is accurately shown in the flashbacks of the series). Look at Bobby Fischer, or better yet Michael Jackson… here was truly a musical genius (a phrase far too overused, but appropriate with MJ)… and that genius was the result of a childhood few of us would envy. And so it is with many prodigies. Often they excel in their ‘youth’ because they are escaping something. They throw themselves into their learning as a type of self-medication or as an escape. This gives them a different perspective and ‘starting point’ when compared to the rest of us, and it forever shapes their lives. Genius like that doesn’t come without a price.<br /><br />In the Pretender, the bad guys always get what’s coming to them. Not only will they be found out, found guilty, and punished… but there is the added bonus that they will be made to feel as their victim felt. Along with Quantum Leap, there are very few TV shows that I can think of that have a core of beliefs truly dear to my heart –</p><ul><li><br />One person can make a difference</li><li><br />Our minds are limitless, we can be anything we want to be</li><li><br />Nothing is as important as helping others, and nothing is more fulfilling</li><li><br />Seeking justice is right, but one must always be vigilant not to cross the line to vengeance, for that makes you no different than the perpetrator.</li><li><br />None deserve love and assistance like the innocent and the young</li><li><br />Sometimes people get the ‘short end of the stick’ through no fault of their own… sometimes through the malevolent, evil, or greedy design of others. It is our responsibility as decent human beings to correct those wrongs!</li><li><br />Everyone has the opportunity for redemption, with the condition that one admits their own mistakes and make amends first</li><li><br />We change the world with one person, one simple action at a time</li><li><br />There is no weapon like knowledge</li><li><br />There is nothing so precious as fairness, and nothing so worth fighting for</li><li><br />Doing the right thing is honestly its own reward – kindness with attention is not pure and therefore not kindness, only grandstanding.</li><li><br />ALL THE ABOVE IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT LOVE </li></ul><p>I guess most of the old shows, from “Adam 12”, “Cheers”, “M*A*S*H” and even “All in the Family” have some essential lessons and many of them are common from one show to the next. But when you look at a “6 Million Dollar Man” or a “McGuyver”… yes, they have the moral lessons, but overall they are action/survival shows. The Pretender could be safe, rich, and successful… actually incredibly wealthy if you think about it, if he just kept his head low and didn’t try to help others. But he wouldn’t be happy if he were only selfish and concerned about self-preservation. His happiness is in using his abilities to help others.<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">“<em>I’m amazed how, after all you’ve been through, you still have the compassion to help others.”</em></span> – Jarod’s Dad in the episode “Donnoterase”<br /><br />Another thing I love about the series is its fidelity to roles Jarod takes on. He doesn’t just mumble some great sounding mumbo-jumbo to sound impressive… the medicines he describes as a doctor, he describes accurately, the SEAR techniques he refers to as an Army Survival trainer are actual Army techniques and practices. They must have had a BOATLOAD of technical advisors on staff!<br /><br />Dialogue, Episode “ Risqué Business”<br /><br /><strong>• Jarod</strong> (As a sex therapist) – “I have a case that’s starting to trouble me.”<br /><br /><strong>• Dr. Arnett</strong> (Another sex therapist) – “Maybe I can help you with it.”<br /><br /><strong>• Jarod:</strong> “Maybe you can. Being that you have such insight into the mind of sexual predators. You see, I’m having trouble understanding his motivation.”<br /><br /><strong>• Dr. Arnett:</strong> “You know, Jarod, it’s control. Sex maybe the avenue they choose, but underlying motivation? It’s always control. To get it, to put the victim down, debase his very humanity… it’s the only way the predator can convince himself he’s worthy.”<br /><br />• <strong>Jarod:</strong> “And if he refuses to seek treatment?”<br /><br />• <strong>Dr. Arnett:</strong> “Without admission of responsibility… very little hope of improvement.”<br /><br />•<strong> Jarod:</strong> “Then guess I better figure out a more radical form of therapy.”<br /><br />Few people outside the counseling/social services fields know this very simple fact, have considered it, or even heard of it. It’s this kind of fidelity to plot that permeates every episode, and makes every episode so enjoyable. It is also for this reason that episodes aren’t just empty costume parades… an endless fashion show of personas and abilities (this week he scuba dives, next week flies, wait for him to take off in a shuttle!) He’s a cop, or a fireman, an NTSB investigator… he’s not a Congressman or President… the plausibility is never beyond the acceptable. I’m halfway through Season 4… can’t wait to see the rest!!<br /><br />As soon as I can, I’m buying the whole freaking series on DVD! If you get the chance, rent it and watch it. Or do what I do, get it from the library! It’s well worth your time.</p>Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7040880.post-29797913869987877742010-10-18T19:19:00.003-06:002010-10-18T19:28:15.382-06:00Where Housing Went WrongThere’s a warning of an <a href="http://www.foxnewsinsider.com/2010/10/18/fears-of-foreclosure-tsunami-hitting-housing-market-soon/">oncoming ‘tsunami’ of housing foreclosures</a>. Banks are currently holding on to enormous numbers of ‘bad assets’ – namely foreclosed properties they confiscated when families couldn’t pay their mortgages. If and when the housing market turns the corner, and sales start to improve, the banks are expected to flood the market with hundreds of thousands of properties – glutting the market and sending housing prices spiraling downwards.<br /><br />Much has been made and said (here as elsewhere) regarding the <strong>Community Investment Act.</strong> This boneheaded move by President Carter, advanced by Clinton, and spearheaded by Barney Frank placed the government in a fascist position of forcing banks to loan to unqualified buyers. The banks knew darn well the buyers couldn’t afford the houses they were buying, but were threatened with the wrath of the federal government if they (the banks) didn’t make the unsecured and unwise loans.<br /><br />The argument then, and now, is that the <strong>Community Investment Act</strong> opened opportunities to lower income families and made the American Dream attainable to millions of Americans stuck in the dead-end of renting.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong>BUT there is a key aspect to this scenario that has been totally ignored.</strong></span> There WAS a program designed to do the very same thing… on that worked very well even BEFORE the Community Investment Act. <strong><span style="font-size:130%;">HUD homes</span></strong> served the exact same purpose and worked very well. The way HUD homes used to work was this:<br /><br />Let’s say someone bought a house for $200,000 but stopped making payments after $80,000. The bank foreclosed and turned the house over to HUD. HUD then put the house on the market for $120,000. The bank was happy; it made $80K. HUD was happy; it made $120K. The new buyer was happy; they got a $200K house for only $120K. A lower-income buyer was able to get a good house for an amount they could reasonably take on.<br /><br /><strong>BUT THEN the government got greedy.</strong> (Aren't you shocked!!) They switched from trying to help citizens to trying to collect money. They decided, “Why make only $120K on a house worth $200K? Lets make as much money as we can!” So they switched from turning around houses and giving lower-income folks a chance at home ownership to soaking more cash from the citizens. They instituted a bidding format by which those wanting to buy HUD homes had to present sealed bids which would then be compared by a HUD board… the highest bid would win the house. <strong>WHEN THE GOVERNMENT ENDED THE OLD WAY OF GRANTING HUD HOMES</strong>, <span style="color:#000099;"><strong>they created a “crises” - a ‘crisis’ they could then fly in and fix through more government intrusion</strong></span> by way of the Community Investment Act. There’s a part of me that thinks, “If they had just left things alone, then we wouldn’t have the problem in the first place.”<br /><br />But then my Libertarian/Founding principles side kicks in and I ask, “Why does the government need to be involved in the first place?” Couldn’t banks just… on their own… decide to sell that house for the $120K that’s still owed? It would be like a transfer of a car when the owner just wants someone to assume the payments. The bank hasn’t lost any money, again someone has grasped the American Dream, and the bank isn’t holding a ‘bad asset.’ Best of all, the government doesn’t have its greedy paws on a private transaction.<br /><br />It’s examples like this that show just how LITTLE we need the government, and furthermore how getting the fed involved will screw things up even worse than they were to begin with. When individuals (especially liberals and Progressives) say that Capitalism doesn’t work they don’t recognize that we haven’t had Capitalism in the United States since FDR and the New Deal! The fed has gotten its grubby paws on the free market and caused problems that weren’t there to begin with! The majority of banks and bankers in America are true Americans - like George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) in It’s A Wonderful Life. It’s the GOVERNMENT that has more in common with Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore)! Do I think we should go back to a Capitalist free-for-all with limited rules and regulations? ABSOLUTELY! Contingent upon a return of morals, ethics, faith, and standards! We must reinstitute the number one regulator of free markets – the golden rule; treating others as you would have them treat you. Respect, shame, self-restraint, and yes – Christian attitudes – are the only thing that will make it work!<br /><br />But it CAN work! It HAS worked! Before the Progressive Era of the early 20th Century, these were the ideals considered ‘commonplace’ throughout the country. ‘Progress’, ‘Change’, and ‘moving forward’ ARE NOT always a good thing – if that change and forward progressiveness takes you in the wrong direction!Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479997164145846530noreply@blogger.com0