Wheelchairs For Iraqi Children

Read (here) for Michael Yon's latest entry about wheelchairs for kids in Iraq. The story was written by a mainstream anonymous journalist under-the-table/unauthorized.

Bombardment by the media about Iraq is tiresome. I'm sick of it and I even get into it by questioning all the motives and reasons for why there is a US presence in that country. Civil war is on the breeze and it is being pushed through in the media's gale. Failure of the Bush Administration is the result. Yet, we take the CNN headlines in our anger toward this President and impeachment comes to mind. We forget to ask what good is being done over there. We lose forsight that this country's future isn't in the hands of bombers and enemies of the West. It is in the children, unborn, and impressionable youths that Iraq could once again become a stable, secure country with the hope that it will eventually become an equal rights democracy.

Over there, the children admire the Soldiers as they hand out the goods, but they also impose a security threat. A young boy may have a bomb in his trousers. Just like any war, our warriors are always on guard and can be quite harsh to these kids if they don't follow soldier's warnings to stay away from them.

I think they don't understand the opportunites being offered to them. Education, sanitization, better homes and overall life are all on the table. This is true regardless the 'motives' and reasons we went there.

Well, I was going to continue but I just had a big scare. I just dumped a little beer in the keyboard. I think it's OK, but man, keyboards don't have any alcohol tolerance whatsoever.

Anyways, check out Michael Yon's blog and maybe have some hope for that little country in the Middle East we call Iraq.

Vice President Cheney unable to hold liquor

VP Dick Cheney admitted having "one beer" several hours before the accidental shooting took place. After visiting a few forums and learning from a liberal poster that Cheney was drunk, I had to get to the bottom of the well to find out how Cheney could get drunk off of one beer and still be able to be under the influence of alcohol hours later.

Getting drunk enough to accidently mistake a man for a bird and shooting him is a major issue. I couldn't figure it out, but then I realized that it happened in Texas and everyone knows that everything in Texas is BIG.

Typically, a can of beer, or "one" beer is only 12 fluid ounces. Perhaps it was a 16 ounce can or even a ghetto "forty", but the VP says it was just one beer. This just doesn't seem to add up.

The size of beverages keep getting bigger and bigger. It used to be that a 12 ounce drink was the largest you could find in fast food places and gas stations, now it's 32, 44, and even 64 ounce cups.



So the liberal posting on an HBO Real Sports forum was absolutely right. Not only Cheney was drunk when he shot his lawyer friend, he was plastered. "Loooook at that tu- tu- tukey ofer der, imma go shot."

The red state of Texas brainwashed Cheney into thinking that the normal sized can of beer to be 256 ounces, the equivalent of two gallons.

ACLU files new lawsuit

Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed it's first largest brief
early Thursday morning. "We now have our hands on a great problem that effects everyone around the globe," said Matthew Jones, ACLU staff attorney. Apparently, the ACLU's latest target is nothing more but the Sun. "It caused our need to have time zones," said Jones "It violates civil rights and liberties around the globe for men and women watching the 2006 Winter Olympics on their local stations to find out the results when they have already occured several hours before."

Californian Jillian Moore, an avid Olympic viewer, is outraged by learning that the United States did not win any medals in the Figure Skating Pairs competition. "There I was watching the skating eager to watch the outcome when my bastard son comes into the room saying that the Russians won the gold," said Moore, "I was so furious I hurled the remote at the cat." Her son, Twilight Moore, learned the results over the internet.

"Because of the Sun and the rotation of the earth we need time zones which effects the broadcasts of the Winter Olympics," said Franklin Storm, representative for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. "If it weren't for these time zones, television viewers would either have to watch the results in the early morning or late at night to see the results as they happen, or in real time."

It is well known that NBC and other national television stations "leap-frog" their programs in an effort for scheduling them in a popular time slot. But the ACLU has stated that this is "unfair".

The Sun has not responded to emails sent by "Cooper's Blog" .

The Passion of the Christ

"The Passion of the Christ" is a movie that I refused to see despite everybody I knew informing how good it was or how it would move me or of the powerful imagery. This movie broke media ground a year before national release provoking anti-Semitism and many other religous uproars. At that time, I had thought I better see it just because of the controversy it created, however, the promotion of the movie infiltrated the Church and I soon saw it as a simple marketing scheme.

Anyone should and must admire Mel Gibson's zeal to take on a such a project. Being a devout Catholic himself, Gibson, to my understanding, made a literally Biblical attempt to portray the last day of Christ. That holds a great irony. How can an actor who has held an A-list position on the silver screen, play violent characters, and seem to have little regard to virtuous character have the audacity to make a film about the crucifixion? The hypocracy permeates.


I suppose the correct question to ask is can an actor, as his occupation requires, portray the immoral, but has no reflection on his personal beliefs and worldview, and, if so, how does his professional career affect his personal life as a witness to personal convictions and beliefs?

In the middle of winter, before 'the Passion' release, every church I step foot in had a poster. The warning light kicked on in my brain. It seemed like all congregations I had encountered during this period of time somehow jumped on the band wagon in support of Gibson's film and had scheduled special engagements, even on a Sunday, for a group of members of a particular church to see a viewing of "The Passion of the Christ". I nearly vomited.

Soon, catalogs of Christian education brought on a surplus of Sunday school and group study series with the film in tow. Later on, a small Christian merchant made it big as small trinkets of pewter 'stakes' infiltrated Christian bookstores as consumers ate it up as the latest Christian trend just as did McDonald's Super Size menu. That was when I was turned off by the film and vowed never to see it.

I concluded that Christian organizations are just as guilty as the tobacco companies, teen sex advocates, gay and lesbians, and other 'open' minded, tolerant groups and individuals in trying to make a little profit off the gullible consumer whether or not he/she is a God fearing individual.

Since this opens a rabbit hole, I must ask What Would Jesus Do if Jesus wore a WWJD wristband? He may tear it off in disgust. He may see all of the 'Christian' bumber stickers and observe those mini-vans are speeding, driving with one side's wheels in the other lane, or notice the woman in the driver's seat angerily chastising the three kids in the middle as she's trying to maintain an important conversation on a cell phone to one of her fellow girlfriends at church who's gossiping about the next women's getaway. He may notice the cocky young youth pastor proudly wearing his WWJD neckchain with his keys dangling in his tan khaki trousers and polo shirt as the Saviour feels uncomfortable in his worn out jeans and frayed cuffs, in His stained, Hanes wife beater tank and 5 year old pair of Converse All Stars. He may have had visited your service one Sunday morning seeing all of you eat up your pastor's message of that day, yet He's hurt in that He knows that this leader of His followers do not know that the reverend is having an affair with a young college student whose mother respects him as a man of God sitting in the back row.

"Oh, great", Jesus said, "now Hollywood is after my biography and 'Mad Max', you know, the Lethal Weapon guy? is producing and directing the film. Fuck. Despite all of the graphic accounts about my death, still, my children can sure swallow anything and everything about me, even if it is in vain and totally not to the fucking point of what I was making when walked the earth the first time and ministering to my Father's children in those too few three years." "My Saviour, you're using offensive words." "Fuck off, Peter, who ever said that 'fuck' was offensive, I sure did not! You really can piss me off, nigga!"

I once had written in a defining moment in my life that "the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the essence of my faith" and I hold fast to that concept; that is essential in trusting God's intended escape from eternal destruction. But, once that has been established between God and the believer, the Son of God's fate and victory, as I see it, becomes the least important aspect of a disciple of Christ. It really isn't that important.

I ask myself, as many believers probably do, if Jesus Christ was alive and walking around in today's so called world where would he hang? where would he stay? who would he spend time with? to which politicians or high-rollers would he humbly accept to have dinner with? In my humble opinion, the big "J.C." would most likely stray away from Cali's mega-churches and even despise the concept of a luncheon with Dr James Dobson at the Focus on the Family campus in Colorado.

Unless you haven't figured it out, Jesus hung out with the lowest of the low, the outcasts of his day which were prostitutes and tax collectors. Today, would this compromise adult film stars, abortion doctors, Wal-mart executives, gays and lesbians, the transgendered, and even the ACLU?

A great teacher cannot impose his instructions on his students. Only the great mentors throughout history can persuade by his example to the apprentice to ascertain the concept to be great through the master's discipline and teaching; this is taught by example, not by activism not by hate, accusation, and judgement.

By now, I am sure that I could get a great deal in buying a shrinkwrapped DVD box set that includes "The Passion of the Christ" and the horribly made "Left Behind" 1 and 2 discs. I choose to not waste my stewardship in God's behalf.

Brokeback Mountain

(Previously posted on my livejournal, I present it here to maybe stir up a little action*)

****SPOILER WARNING****

I delved in this in my mind for weeks ever since the media acclaimed how "Brokeback Mountain" was/is a great film in all respects, my curiosity over came my sense of well being, and, two weeks ago, after it opened in major cities from coast to coast, I snuck by cops in my illegal, broken tail-lighted car and spent my well-earned $8.50 (plus mandatory popcorn and cola) to see the film.

For a Monday night, the theatre had a decent audience, despite the movie's successful opening weekend. The persons in the seats were mostly middle-aged women and an occasional older couple, a few sets of female "younglings" sparsed throughout the theatre. I managed to get close to my preferred section of the theatre--about midcenter front and back and left and right.

After about two decades of previews and ads the movie began and, after already sipping down half my pop, I already felt the need to urinate; I knew this would be painful.

I'll admit here that I really liked Ang Lee's "Hulk" which really didn't get the greatest praise for the computer generated Hulk, but how else could you film such a creature that can leap from dune to dune and take on attack 'choppers and battle against the great Nick Nolte? I respect and admire Ang Lee for taking on a project that, to the misinformed, would be controversial to the morally right.

Is this the 'gay cowboy movie' that pushes a 'gay' agenda and is to open minds to accept diversity? To that, I reply, "no". Brokeback is a film that is and should be the prime example of "regurgitated plagiarism".

Starting in 1963, two out of work cowboys emerged in front of a trailer in a dusty lot owned by a sheep rancher that is looking for two guys, one dude to stay at a basic camp and another to ride up on his horse in the evenings to watch for coyotes and protect the sheep from getting eaten and to come back down for some tasty, campfire roasted beans provided by the schmuck Ennis Del Mar that is played by the Golden Globe Winner, Heath Ledger (heart throb, guy who should have boned a sheep).

These two cowboys had to endure a month of this (to be precise, August) and after a few beats of keeping to themselves they grew (no pun intended) into a close friendship, which, after a bit much of the whiskey by the great Heath and the chilly summer nights of the WY mountains, Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who was Donnie Darko in the indie film of the same name) unbuckled his cowboy belt and wiggled his ass to lower his Wranglers, bent over to allow access to the very drunk, horny Ennis. Rough, cowboy butt-sex ensued, but as horrid as that sounds, it only lasts for seconds on screen and there's no nudity, thank God. "I'm not queer", "Well, neither am I" said the two cowboys that just "broke" new ground as they stumbled out of their canvas tent in the dew of the following morning.

Ennis was engaged and got married after that summer of love in 1963, so they part ways. Ennis had two kids with his wife and Jack "Twistem Off" found his way in Texas, and like Ennis, found his hetero love, soon-to-be-wife, a rodeo cowgirl barrel rider. Years yawningly passed as the director milked boring, yet beautiful, landscapes of the Wyoming mountains as our too lovebirds struggled with their situations, both financially and in their struggle to maintain their marriage vows.

Through the following years (as this story encompassed about 30 years), our sensitive Jack made the trek in his beat up pick-up truck to Wyoming to partake in days-long fishing trips with his lifelong friend. Ennis' wife notices that his fishing creel (a creel is the weaved basket that fishermen use to stow fish-- see A River Runs Through Her, I mean It) still has the price-tag attached to it, it hasn't been used. And yeah, women are more intelligent than men, she sees the two 'friends' mackin' the knife in front of the homestead. Needless to say Ennis' wife knew she married a fag. They get divorced and Ennis struggles making a living for himself and providing child support.

The movie goes on and on, much like this review.

Jack's wife divorces him as well and according to Jack, this opens up more 'precious' time with his lover, but Ennis is unwilling to go through with it. This pisses Jack off (jack off, hahaha) and he eventually pursues other gay men, to his destruction.

Jack dies of 'natural causes' as his family says, and Ennis, being a good, life-long friend attempt to carry out his lover's wishes and requests that Jack's parents allow him to spread his ashes over, you know where, Brokeback Mountain. The parents decline but allow Ennis to grab a shirt from Jack's old room. Having lost his marriage and his gay lover, the beloved Golden Globe winner Heath Ledger is dreadfully sorrow and the film ends.

What really bewildered me was the humour involved. This wasn't really funny at all, but I noticed women laughed during typical male responses made by Ennis as he responded to the bitch's (Jack Twist) emotions about his feelings toward Ennis. "Yeah, my husband/boyfriend scratches his balls too" is basically the joke. Why laugh at that?

The film ran too long which I can fully understand why Lee and the editor of the film utilized to help present the idea that this story took placed over many years. And to the straight guy, you do get to see two pairs of female mammaries and that should prevent you from turning gay, heaven forbid. Other nudity included our two gay cowboys jumping off a cliff into a stream of water. Now, to anyone who loves the outdoors and has been cliffjumping know better to not jump into glacier/snow fed streams or lakes regardless of how exhilarating the jump is or how deep the water is without protection. When a man does this the first thing he is concerned about is shrinkage and grabs his bits as he's plummeting down to the abyss. In the film, our boys flop in the wind, and luckily it is a long shot, as the viewer sees the itty bitty weenies as they 'romantically' spend this wonderful event together.

IMHO, the Golden Globe for Best Actor - Drama went to Ledger but should have gone to the much better actor, Russel Crowe in Cinderella Man. Basically, Ledger played a man who choosingly buries his sensitivity and emotion deep inside of him in order for him to be a rough and tough cowboy. That isn't that hard for any man. Any man could do that and grunt and mumble incoherently and make stupid, typical responses that can make any female chortle. A bum out of Detroit could have done just as fine as a job, even Eminem. Ledger shouldn't have won, but that's Hollywood for ya. To give credit to the acting, I'd have to give a kudo for Jake Gyllenhaal who played the much more open to his emotions and the true pursuer to his yearnings for butt-sex.

But of course, by this time and this year, films sucked and now we have this highly reviewed award winning gay cowboy movie.
THANKS HOLLYWOOD!

I read in an OP/ED of the Omaha newspaper that many women have tried to drag their boyfriends or spouses into the theatre to see this movie. I say if your man doesn't want to go, drop it right quick, call your closest girlfriend and go see it with her. DO NOT TRY to lure a guy in and proclaim that this is a great love story, it really isn't. But if you feel it is important, no--VITAL, to your relationship, just say "Hey, you get to see two chicks' tits in it". That's good enough for me.

How in the hell did this won best adapted screenplay? Brokeback Mountain was based on a short story written by a gay-loving chick who probably thought it was original to write a short story about two gay cowboys set over 20 or 30 years in Wyoming. This film was so awful that it took TWO, yes I said two, screenwriters to adapt it into a paletable film. How could this fact sneak by the film's praising reviewers?

The reason I said that this film was an example of regurgitated plagiarism is because it is in fact a spin-off and retelling of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Once you understand the concepts between Brokeback and 'Speare's "R&J" you can see why. In both you have two lovers that seek each other despite the consequences their companionship brings. Both stories have feuding systems in which the lovers struggle to maintain and deal with. Both stories end tragically.

Yeah, it ends tragically and here's the spoiler: Jack "Twist the little demons off" gets bashed in by homophobes on an isolated stretch of highway. If you doze off in this movie, you'll definately will miss this important catch of the film because it is so quick and brief and snapped shot that only your sub-concience will register the fate of Jack and the multiple uses of a tire iron, particularly as a blunt object beating up a human.

You catch the drift and I don't condone gay bashing.

But to anyone who is dragged in to see this movie and to endure the audience being caught in that Brokeback is a true love story I dare him or her to break the ice and as Jack gets chased with the tire iron and as you see a bit of blood, by all means, yell out "Get that fag!" and maybe, just maybe, you can save a few moviegoers to snap out of this facade and come to realization of what a joke this movie really is.

---

*Note: With writing, I always find myself reworking entries in my head almost to the point to decide whether or not to change the original entry. However, leaving entries alone is perhaps an honest way to present an author's work as an unorthodox format. I used a lot of tongue-in-cheek in this review, but I am not a 'homophobe' or even anti-gay, eventhough I don't encourage homosexuality.

A statement deserving debate

"A country that praises tolerance and diversity sacrifices free speech."

Is this true? I came up with that statement a week ago as the violent protests of the Dane's cartoons broke news.

maybe I'll expand later...