John Quinones. John of God shill

I just got done reading a commentary post by James Randi. I was appalled at the lack of reporting done by ABC News, Primetime Live and John Quinones. The decide to basically support the John of God by rebunking nothing or supporting nothing or really much reporting. Isn't the job of these types of programs to report facts? You can do this pretty easily by showing the facts from side A such as what they believe, how they conduct themselves, etc and then can show the facts of side B such as what they also believe, how they can disprove side A and so forth. It doesn't require the production to give an opinion for the facts will speak for themselves and provide the audience an opportunity to make their own conclusion.

Instead you get this weak willed pandering that is going to result in others being hurt and swindled for the facts where kept from them. ABC should be ashamed. This is just as bad as what CBS did with George Bush. Not reporting is a failure regardless if the person involved is the President or some stranger on the street.

Now one thing I don't agree is James Randi obsolves John Quinones of any guilt in this farce of a story. John was the on air "reporter" that intros the stories, did some of the pre-prepped interviews and so forth. While I do understand that these "reporters" are glorified teleprompter readers that do nothing more then what they are told this doesn't obsolve them of guilt when a story is reported incorrectly or missing needed information. The man sells himself as a respected investigated reporter, so when he is shown with a story, it means he approves and agreed with the story as it was reported. If he sold himself as "teleprompter reader" then he would be innocent, but until he does that, he should be held to the same standards all reporters are held to. Just because he is on TV shouldn't change that. Yet for some reason it does. Just look at Dan Rather.

NHL season goes boom

Well, its official, the NHL have called it a season before the season got a chance to begin. Its a shame for hockey fans, no biggie to others but its still pretty historic. Most of these strikes are a lot of talk and threats but usually a side caves, typically the owners. In this case they stayed the course and I applaud them for it.

Normally I am all for worker rights, I know I would love to get that raise that has been dangled my way for literally years now. However, frankly its hard to be sympathetic when its a bunch of athlets poed because they may have to settle for 10 million a year contract instead of 15 million. I just can't care, especially when a raise to me is couple hundred if that. Hell id take a shopping certificate at this point. I am sure many others feel the same way.

The owners have a right to make money as much as the players do yet the players don't seem to care. In every other business, its the workers that make the moolah for the company, yet we don't get the leverage to go "give us 75% of your profits" nor should we. But some how athetes are "special." The rules just don't apply which is bullshit.

Frankly its also insulting. Its like the big wig CEOs who bury a company just to get their 10 million dollar bonus and then boo hoo about how unfair it is they got fired. I am sorry but when your salary is in the millions per year, I have zero sympathy. The players talk on and on about rights, labor, blah blah blah. but really I would give them props if they just stood up and flat out admitted "i greedy, I want my piece of the pie!" I can respect that because I understand that. I want a piece to. Bigger the better, just the like the CEO getting his bonus over the carcasses of his employees. I can't blame them for wanting a piece, but don't cry to the fans and buyers when it doesn't work out.

Anyway, congrats to the owners. I hope they get everything they want and if a few players go bankrupt then HAHA cause thats what they get for not planning and spending way beyond their means.

Embarassing to be a Georgian

Once again Georgia does something that is simply embarassing. In this case, arresting and pressing charges against a Rome Georgia retailer for giving away a historically accurate comic that depicted a nude Pablo Picasso.

Its the whole indencey charge that pisses me off. This attack on the first admendment needs to stop. People don't like something, don't read it. Turn it off, change the channel. The options are endless. As for children, parents should monitor. Just because you think its safe doesn't mean shouldn't check it out first. Be a damn parent. Stop trying to be a friend. Stop assuming others are looking out for you children. Cause guess what, they are not and frankly they shouldn't be. Thats your damn job. Don't have children if can't handle it. Having other people arrested or sued because you failed is setting a bad example at the very least.

The State of the Union '05

I missed it. Decided to go the movies since figured it would be "freedom", "liberty", "social security", and "marriage" repeated over and over.

Based on write ups read on CNN and Fox I was mostly right. I am amazed he mentioned the economy even though it seemed to be a pat on the back for its stagnation. I guess it not sliding backwards but not really growing is a win.

So what else,
War - like how he continues to hammer the whole "bring freedom" thing while ignoring even worse and more dangerous regimes in the world. Also like that whole "WMD" thing just didn't happen.

Social Security - well as 401k programs prove, unless you are already rich, all the investing in the world not going to create a nest egg large enough to retire on. So expect his plan for SS to create a mess in about 20 years. Not that anyone would blame him by then.

Gay Marriage - Sadly an admendment would pass and it proves that America is falling apart at the seems. I guess the whole "equality' thing was just a joke that people have died for 100+ years to prove and make sure America lived up to. So much from learning from history.

Stem cells - You would have though Ronald Reagan's plights would have taught a lesson. Stem cells doesn't harm babies. The fool tries to paint some picture that women are out manufacturing babies to turn over for research or some other way out there line of thinking.

Abortion - Fix the current welfare system and all the children that are left behind, abused, uncared for and stuck in the system then maybe I can support eliminating abortion. As it is we have more children then the system can handle abused and unwanted. Eliminating abortion would simply make a bad situation horribly worse. Its simply evil to do that. For every "thank god i didn't get the abortion" happy story there are probably dozens of "that poor child" stories. Fix the system before moving on to something that will make it worse.

Government spending - Bush talking about fiscal responsibility is hilarious. I mean it. How he about it and keeps a straight face is hilarious. I am guessing his idea would be to eliminate any program that hurts his corporate buddies, increase defense spending for future wars and of course gut education. Now if he has a true, logical plan that is good for the country, more power to him. But his history shows that is highly unlikely.

Basically, you can sum up his State of the Union address as more of the same.

Talon News

As show on Daily Show (1/27/05) and elsewhere, a member of the Press Corps asked the following question of George Bush:

Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV] was talking about soup lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you've said you are going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

Little background. The person that asked the question, Jeff Gannon, is a member of Talon News. Which if go to your site wastes little time in linking to its main parent site, www.gopusa.com, a clearly pro-Bush site.

How is this person a member of the White House press corps?
How in the world did he pass muster to get there?
Has the White House just said to hell with pretending to communicate with the press?
Why is the press in general and other people not questioning his prescence? Has the press gone so far that they don't even bother to question something that reflects poorly on them? Do they not care anymore?
Hell, how can you call this person a reporter? That kind of question is just gross incompetence even if wasn't clearly meant to pander.
Doesn't the Bush Admin know that allowing such a pandering fool into the press corps does little to help him? Its not a plus but a minus to him and his attempt to pretend he is open with the press.

Just a sad state of affairs.

Assault on Precient 13

Good popcorn movie. Great date movie. Doesn't require a big screen to enjoy so watch it as a matinee but don't wait till its a rental. The story is the similar to the orginial but the bad guys are different. In it some cops have to join with some criminials to save their own bacon against the bad guys that are attacking the building, precient 13, that they are in. What unfolds is why they are attacking it, who is attacking it, and how everyone (if any) survives. Simple story, entertaining movie. The acting was good. The character development pretty good for such a story. The action very nice. About the only complaint is the legizamo character. Very annoying. That was intentional but still grated none the less. Early on there is some extreme camera shaking moments, trying to capture that Bourne Supremeacy feel...but luckily someone wised up and nixed it shortly after that. So go out, just the brain off, and enjoy this nice action flick.

Lemony Snicket Review

Eh. This movie was just eh. The idea is decent. The delivery not bad. Jim Carrey acted well but wasn't particurily funny or seemed very evil. The atmosphere, sets and all that good. The story, Carrey tries to kill children for the fortune left by their dead parents, decent. The main problem with the movie is pacing. It was just sooooo freaking slow. To much padding or belief that all that dead weight would equal care for the children. Well, it didn't. Sadly the kids where cute but really the only reason to care about them is cause their parents died. Sad, but not enough to be upset or engrossed in their lives. The movie seemed to have a lesson, an ending designed to make you feel choked up or hopeful. I was just glad the movie was over. This movie is a rental or even better catch it on cable.

Elektra Review

I like to keep reviews short and sweet. Ultimately all that matters is "was i entertained?" In this case yep. The movie was entertaining. Good acting on Jennifer Garners part. Decent plot, good effects and action sequences. The story is basically bad girl seeks redemption by saving cute girl's life several times. Pretty straight forward. Good for making good movies and pleny of bad. In this case just so-so. My main complaint is that it didn't have enough action. Maybe about two real good ones. The rest seemed to be something out of Alias, good but very short. I would have happily traded the CGI for just good ole buttkicking ninja style. Maybe its the limited budget, or limited imagination but this movie just lacked size and scope. I call this one a renter or a matinee. Don't pay the big bucks for it.

Mac Mini

OMG! I may convert. Never really liked Apple machines, not enough software, interface always seemed clunkier then even Windows, but hell for 500, with that kind of speed and price, and even better the sleek look, why not give it a whirl.

By adapters and don't even need to get new monitors, keyboard or mouse (i think).

Check it out.

Kudos for Bush?

The Gaurdian wants to. I actually want to also. Anytime a leader responds well to a crisis you want to be able to look at them with pride and so thats MY president. Sadly, as is the norm, the White House response to the Tsunami was anything but something to be proud of.

The fact that it took Bush THREE days to even respond is horrible. Then to decide to respond with a pentence until pressure results in the 350 million donation? As its been pointed out, we allocated 15 billion for florida and "only" several hundred died. The 350 is about of the cost each day for the Iraqi War. So the donation is technically one less day Bush could have troops in Iraq (as if that has a near end). Bush's people also went out of their way to critize Clinton for his "feel your pain" comments with sarcasism and snarkiness instead of stepping up and responding as a representive of the US (with Bush) instead as an individual (as Clinton was). This thing was partisan from the beginning and the weird thing is most of the republican congress wasn't even participating in the White House's behavior (for once), they where trying to respond as leaders are supposed to.

From day one, the response from the White House has been horrendous. If anyone deserves a kudos it is Colin Powell. While the US was waiting on the White House to get its act together, he was the caring face of America. Promising aid and help, showing the concern that the President himself should have done.

Just because Bush finally got his crap together (finally), doesn't excuse the horrendous initial response to this tragedy. If anything this shows why their is genuine fear of Bush. His first response was one of disinterest and arrogance instead of leadership and concern.

Tsunami Aid

CNN's list of places to donate

Hotline numbers from CNN:
HOTLINE NUMBERS
For information on relatives/friends in the affected areas:

India: +91 11 2309 3054

Thailand: +66 2643 5262 and 2643 5000; Phuket enquiries call +66 76 240 729

Sri Lanka: residents: +94 11 536 1938; tourists: +94 11 243 7061

Maldives: +44 20 7224 2149

Hong Kong residents: +852 2829 3010

U.S. citizens: 1-888-407-4747

Australian citizens: Toll-free 1800 002 214


Aid provided:

U.S.A: $350 million
Australia: $764.5 million (1 billion ins Australian dollars)
Germany: $660 million (500 million euros)
Japan: $500 million
Norway: $183 million
Britain: $95 million
Sweden: $75.5 million
Spain: $68 million
France: 65.9 million
Canada: $65.5 million
China: $60 million

Note these figures don't include all countries, private donations and of course the cost of the supplies, man power, machinary etc many many countries are sending.
source: Fox News and CNN

Of disturbing note to me is that many of those effected are not majority Christian and Muslim nations and as a result it seems that most Muslim countries have committed zero aid. Also noticed neither has Vatican City in Rome. I am hoping this is just a reporting oversite and not a refusal on those areas to provide help for religious reasons.

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I Got Nada

I got nada to write about. Sure events are occuring in the world, but I have nothing new to add. I could just repeat other people such as Jeff Jarvis but that seems pointless. I pretty much agree with many of his points so go read some of his stuff. I especially recommend his "God Rolled His Eyes" I-III.

A side note: Entertainment Weekly declared Jon Stewart of the Daily Show Entertainer of the Year. Not exactly sure if thats something a person wants to achieve or not but congrats anyway. Nice to see more and more people appreciating his program. Hopefully this will continue to fuel his attacks on the pathetic press corps.

Nation of Hate and Fear

You know reading the posts of Republican's and others it seems that most of their views come down to what they like or what they think may or may not happen. Yet they act like the support the ideals of America.

For example flag burning. That is an expression of free speech. I don't like it. I despise it. But I love America more. The America I love accepts it. Just like the America I love accepts bashing of presidents, of critizing them. The America I love recognizes that sometimes the expressions of the rights we take for granted may not be pleasant or agreeable.

A worldview fpr many many many Republican's if they don't like it, it must go, the ideals of America be damned. Rights be damned. To me you can't claim National Pride then support decisions that go against the very grain of the nation. The Patriot Act is one such example. Its suspends rights. America was founded on the ideal that rights trumped EVERYTHING, including safety and life. EVERYTHING. The America I use to know would find such a law that did otherwise unacceptable. That America no longer exists. The America I know believes everyone has a right to express themselves. That is no longer the case. It seems the expression extends to followers of Jesus now, all others need no apply. I also thought America could learn from its own and others past mistakes, but that was wishful thinking.

America is now a country where fear and safety are king, where rights can be ignored or suspended. A country of religious intolerance. A country of hate. I have hope that the country will past this test of nationhood as it seems all countries must. This is our time of hate and fear and when its over we will be much stronger for it.

Apprentice Finale

Ooh ahhh kelly won. Whoopie. I felt for poor Jen or whatever her name she took a beating for that first hour with everyone fawning on the to-be winner. I give her credit for taking it stride but love to know what thoughts where floating through that head.

Mostly I am disappointed Stacy Rotner lost for no other reason then I have a crush on her. She just roxor me. Gorgeous from head to toe and a brain to match. :X

Well anyway another season endeth and i just can't seem to care. BTW, I think Trump knows on day one who he wants to win cause some of his reasons for tossing where just asinine. Really where. Tossing some for having to much education, then tossing another for not having enough, yet final two both had to much education and not enough experience so in the end it just didn't make sense.

LoTR: Return of the King EE

Bought it, watched it, and reminded once again what good movie making is. Few films have integration story with special effects so well. Then when you add the sound and the glorious Howard Shore music...well you have a level of movie making perfection that has rarely been achieved. The most amazing part is that it wasn't done just once...but three times with the entire trilogy.

These films, together and seperate, will be stand the test of time and be considered some of the best ever made in any category. My hats off to the achievements of Peter Jackson and company.

Peterson Trial

Well the was declared guilty and sentenced to death. People cheered or cried. This whole trial things annoys me on sooooo many levels.

One is why. Why did this get national attention over all the thousands of murders that occur every year from a husband killing a wife and vice versa? Why does no ask that question. It seems very critical to me to understand why the press picked this story. And make no mistake, it was the press that drove this to national attention. The viewers where words of encouragement only. Am I the only one pissed off by manufactured news of this level.

The woman died, its sad but it is NOT national news. If a husband killing a wife was national then how come all the other deaths that occur national wide not reported on CNN and FoxNews ad nausem? Well one reason is because apparently to be worthy of national news certain requirements have to be made. One is the family has to be photogenic. Do you really think national coverage would have happened if the Petersons where ugly? I don't think. Another requirement is apparently have to live in California. Why, beats the hell out of me. Also you have to be rich and white. The exception to this requirement is if a famous black person. If not rich then apparently your murder is just expected and barely worth local news coverage. Finally the woman has be gorgeous. If men don't look at her photo and think unclean thoughts, well just not good enough.

So the lesson to be learned is this. If photogenic, rich, white woman in California and you get murdered you just might become famous! Then throngs of insane strangers will rally around your corpse and declare love for you!! I bet that will make death go down easier.

BTW, the jury did Peterson a favor. Getting sentenced to death means his litany of appeals will probably get heard when before they may not have. Long story short, expect his ass freed in about 5-10 years.

Poor Kitty

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German couple was shocked after a 275-mile car journey to discover a surprise stowaway cowering next to the engine of their car -- a 6-week-old kitten.
The meows of the tiny animal only became audible after Elisabeth and Dieter Gesehl had parked their car.

"First of all we called the police as we feared for a moment that we must have run over and seriously injured a cat," the 64-year-old woman from Eggenfelden told Bonn express newspaper.

After checking under the hood, however, they discovered the unharmed kitten. The animal, which the couple have since adopted and named "Pussy," was soon back to normal after a few minutes of petting.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=7041359&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews

- Hope they at least fed the poor thing.

Alexander

Don't watch this movie...ever. Even if its shows up for free at your doorstep or on tv. Its simply aweful and boring. The only good things going for it is Angelina Jolie and Rosario Dawnson (who shows off a great set of tatas) both of whome looked great on screen. Acting, lines, etc onthe otherhand...

This movie should have been titled "Alexander the Gay". Every scene is just loaded with gay sexual innuedno. I don't care if Alexander was gay there are better ways to express that then inordinate amounts of time being spent on gay looks, lines, and longing stares at the dude that looks feminimn. Take all the innuendo out and you have a 2 hour film instead of three.

Then there are other problems, scenes that go way way to long without conveying important information about the man or his supporters. Usually the first line or two is the core idea and the rest is the "Oscar siloquey" films like this suffer from. They might as well splash up a "for oscar consideration" card before these moments. But again they do nothing for the film. Take these out and you have an hour film instead of three.

What is really sad about this film is it doesn't convey WHY he is called Alexander the Great. Apparently its because his mom said so the way the film shows it. Not because he conquered most of the known world or had progressive ideas of a unified world. These are touched upon in the film but poorly as they Oliver Stone just could not miss opportunies to display more gay inneundo.

The only real good think about this movie is the sets, costume design and CGI being used. Anytime see a new set or costume moment, there is a great wow factor. The CGI people also out did themselves. Babylon, Athens, and other cities where conveyed in amazing detail making you wish they existed today to walk through them, truly gorgeous. To bad Oliver Stone didn't depend on them more, might have had a better movie.

So now you are thinking, what about the battle scenes? They have to be good right? Well no. They could have been. Again when CGI is used, great, when not, aweful. And there was only one real epic battle scene. What messed up the scene was again Oliver Stone's dislike of CGI. You literally lose track of what is occuring during the fight. Because of this it has no impact. All you know is Alexander won. You don't know how. It comes across as dumb luck instead of the military prowess of this great leader. Once again undermining why Alexander is great. Its like Stone intentially wanted to make sure that the only thing you learned when walked away was Alexander is gay because he seemed to undermine any other attempt to draw other conclusions.

Now to the acting and writing. Well frankly it was all garbage, across the board. Not only did a lot of lines seemed cribbed from superior films such as Braveheart and Gladiator but they where delivered poorly and without context. There is zero emotional heft in this movie. Pretty much the actors where phoning it in (such as Jolie) or way way out of their depth (such as Colin Ferrell).

Long story short, this movie has no redeeming value to it. Absolutly nothing. Unless you feel like learning that Oliver Stone thinks Alexander is gay there is nothing to gained from watching this movie except a nap and waste of three hours of your life.

Man I suck

More I read other people's blogs the more I realize how I suck at this. What I type is not only shallow but its pointless and boring. On top of that I don't even do it habitually. Like television blogs succeed by being a thing you check out every day or once a week or even once a month. In other words it becomes a habit for the reader. Yet I can't even make it a habit to type junk. Don't know why. I could make excuses I guess but I don't have any. This does tell me one thing...all that thinking about how easy blogging is...wrong wrong wrong. Its hard. It actually does take skill to wright down words regularly and in a way that motivates people to not only read them but decide to come again. So hats off the the successful bloggers and those to come. Maybe with practice I will be one of them.