A recent response to my first few posts suggested that I scrap the serious stuff and stick with the funny stuff, so I will try to be more funny about serious topics.
After watching the news in the past few weeks I am left with a question. When did everyone get so upset about torturing terrorists? It is like we just discovered what was going on, are you kidding me? We have known since September the 12th 2001 that we were strong-arming these guys for information. Now the opinion seems to be, thanks to no small part by the liberal media, that torture is wrong. Do you expect me to believe that any normal person would not pull out the bucket of water if they thought that they could save lives by preventing attacks. Of course you would, you would make Jack Bauer look like a Sunday school teacher. And water boarding?? This is like torture-lite, did anyone see what they did to Leonardo Dicaprio at the end of Body of Lies, or Mel Gibson in Payback, now that is torture. We all saw the picture of the guy that looked like Ron Jeremy. It looks like they started on him by pushing his body through the neck hole of his shirt. And the look on his face, he knew what was coming and so did we, no one spoke up then.
But now that the old administration is out let the piling on begin, but there is one thing we can count on just as sure as the sun rising in the morning, let a politician talk long enough and they will tell you that feet are an acquired taste. Nancy Pelosi can tell you that, the CIA lied to her, why just her? She expects us to believe this? Don't get me wrong, the CIA does lie and I hope they are good at it, but only to the bad guys. Tie someone to a chair and listen to her talk, they will be begging to be water boarded. Oh and by the way, how about the unknown numbers that were sent to other countries to be interrogated, like Egypt, where there are no rules. I don't hear anyone crying for them and I'm sure more than a few of that bunch redefined suffering.
The bottom line is that this is all a dirty business, it was possible that our leaders know more than we did, and that is fine with me, I have enough stuff to worry about. And after the past few days it seems like someone else now knows what some may not have. These are extreme people that are devoted to their beliefs, some of those beliefs include killing all of those who do not think, feel, or pray the same way they do. Maybe that is the reason that the President decided not to release the pictures, maybe this is the reason that the camp at Gitmo will stay open a little longer.
Call me crazy but I expect my government to protect me and the did for seven years after 9/11, so be it if had to do some bad things to some bad people keep this country safe.
This is an ugly business, unfortunately we can not stop until they do. Just remember one thing, they started it.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Question
God looks down on humanity, humanity looks back, just staring up at a light in the sky. Oh, by the way it is Judgement Day. What do you think his question will be? Will it be just one?
What will be the straw that breaks the camel's back? I have often thought of this scenario, sometimes out loud with friends, mostly to myself after reading some story or seeing something on television. It sends me back to a conversation I had with my grandfather after September 11th, you remember that day don't you. If you watch the news these days you may wonder if it ever happened. (Getting off on a tangent alert)
We talked about the fear that everyone felt the day of the attack, mostly because no one knew what was going on and if we still need to be worried. My grandfather said, and he is a man of very few words, "We need to be worried about when God is gonna put a stop to it."
Now before I go any farther, I believe in God. I believe in heaven therefore I believe in hell, one cannot exist without the other. After taking some EMT classes I have learned how the human body works. I'm not just talking about the "this bone is connected to this bone" song or the "pump" song that Potsy sang about on Happy Days. (I think that was post Jump the Shark) I am talking about how the human body functions down to the cellular level. I'm sorry folks but there has to be something divine in that.
So I guess this is the round about way of asking the question that bothers me the most when I think of our society, Why haven't we taken care of our children?
I think about this when I read the story of the toddler that had to have her leg amputated because the person watching her tied a rope around her leg to keep her from moving around. Or when a mother puts her kids in a car and rolls it into a lake because she is afraid her new boyfriend might break up with her. I could go on forever and I am sure that some of you can think of worse. The countless kidnappings and rapes and murders of what I think is our most valuable natural resource. Look at it like this, children are the only assurance that our species will survive, what have we done to protect it?
I also think that you absolutely can not have this conversation without addressing the white elephant in the room, abortion. My view on abortion was a solid pro choice for a long time. After the Lacey Peterson case my thoughts changed. Here was a guy charged for two murders, that child's life was terminated early, what was the difference? I could not come up with one. When did children become so disposable?
Stick with me, there were over one million abortions in the US last year, there were over 20,000 adopted foreign children brought back to the US last year. See where I'm going. The issue of abortion has not changed and will not for some time, I don't care which side is trying to scare the hell out of you. If we turned all that energy and money towards bringing these numbers together, would that not be a solution to a problem. Now there will have to be people a lot smarter than me to figure it out but I DO know that it a shame that so many United States citizens have to go overseas to find a baby. Is it me or does it seem easier to get an abortion than to adopt a child? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I think we need to attack this from a different direction. I am kind of flying in the dark here, but are there incentives for women that decide to give their baby up for adoption? If not then there should be.
I know I have opened a can of worms here but after you talk to someone who has been through this and they say, "you have to jump through more hoops to adopt a dog than you do to have an abortion," then something is just a little more than askew. There just seems to me that there is a solution that could satisfy everyone, maybe it is time to try. I am certainly not judging anyone here, that happens later.
My only experience with children is from being the "cool uncle", but all of has a chance to be a positive influence on everyone, especially the ones that need it the most, the children. They are just looking for some guidance and in the lack of positive guidance they will take whatever is in front of them.
I don't know, will that be the question, will we even get a question? I believe in getting credit for trying, I guess I'm saying that from a distance it doesn't look like we are.
What will be the straw that breaks the camel's back? I have often thought of this scenario, sometimes out loud with friends, mostly to myself after reading some story or seeing something on television. It sends me back to a conversation I had with my grandfather after September 11th, you remember that day don't you. If you watch the news these days you may wonder if it ever happened. (Getting off on a tangent alert)
We talked about the fear that everyone felt the day of the attack, mostly because no one knew what was going on and if we still need to be worried. My grandfather said, and he is a man of very few words, "We need to be worried about when God is gonna put a stop to it."
Now before I go any farther, I believe in God. I believe in heaven therefore I believe in hell, one cannot exist without the other. After taking some EMT classes I have learned how the human body works. I'm not just talking about the "this bone is connected to this bone" song or the "pump" song that Potsy sang about on Happy Days. (I think that was post Jump the Shark) I am talking about how the human body functions down to the cellular level. I'm sorry folks but there has to be something divine in that.
So I guess this is the round about way of asking the question that bothers me the most when I think of our society, Why haven't we taken care of our children?
I think about this when I read the story of the toddler that had to have her leg amputated because the person watching her tied a rope around her leg to keep her from moving around. Or when a mother puts her kids in a car and rolls it into a lake because she is afraid her new boyfriend might break up with her. I could go on forever and I am sure that some of you can think of worse. The countless kidnappings and rapes and murders of what I think is our most valuable natural resource. Look at it like this, children are the only assurance that our species will survive, what have we done to protect it?
I also think that you absolutely can not have this conversation without addressing the white elephant in the room, abortion. My view on abortion was a solid pro choice for a long time. After the Lacey Peterson case my thoughts changed. Here was a guy charged for two murders, that child's life was terminated early, what was the difference? I could not come up with one. When did children become so disposable?
Stick with me, there were over one million abortions in the US last year, there were over 20,000 adopted foreign children brought back to the US last year. See where I'm going. The issue of abortion has not changed and will not for some time, I don't care which side is trying to scare the hell out of you. If we turned all that energy and money towards bringing these numbers together, would that not be a solution to a problem. Now there will have to be people a lot smarter than me to figure it out but I DO know that it a shame that so many United States citizens have to go overseas to find a baby. Is it me or does it seem easier to get an abortion than to adopt a child? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I think we need to attack this from a different direction. I am kind of flying in the dark here, but are there incentives for women that decide to give their baby up for adoption? If not then there should be.
I know I have opened a can of worms here but after you talk to someone who has been through this and they say, "you have to jump through more hoops to adopt a dog than you do to have an abortion," then something is just a little more than askew. There just seems to me that there is a solution that could satisfy everyone, maybe it is time to try. I am certainly not judging anyone here, that happens later.
My only experience with children is from being the "cool uncle", but all of has a chance to be a positive influence on everyone, especially the ones that need it the most, the children. They are just looking for some guidance and in the lack of positive guidance they will take whatever is in front of them.
I don't know, will that be the question, will we even get a question? I believe in getting credit for trying, I guess I'm saying that from a distance it doesn't look like we are.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Great movies you may have never seen
I watch a lot of movies, those of you who know me are rolling your eyes right about now or just got through saying no s#@t. I watch movies for one reason only, to be entertained. I do not watch movies to get a history lesson, if I am watching a movie like Pearl Harbor, I already know the story, I am not watching it to learn. I hope I am not letting the cat out of the bag here but sometimes movies are not historically accurate. Movie makers use this thing called artistic license to make a point or spice up the story. Chances are if they are making a movie about it there is a book somewhere that may do a better job of telling the truth. Oops my soapbox alarm just went off so I will stop.
I have put together a list of some good movies that you may have never seen or may have forgotten about, they are in no particular order and this may only benefit those of you that have Netflix, Blockbuster is a weird place these days. They have the most confusing rules, late fees etc. I will soon be on Netflix.
Oh yeah these are not in any kind of order:
1) The Package- Gene Hackman Tommy Lee Jones, Great suspense thriller, mid 80's.
2) Hoffa -Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, I have never seen this movie on TV or at the movie store, finally found the DVD at some random place last year. Jack is so much like the real Hoffa it is scary, the DVD has some footage from the actual Senate hearings, see for yourself.
3) Waiting- Ryan Reynolds and that kid from the Apple commercials, if you have ever worked in a restaurant you will, let me see if I can do this right for the texters out there LYFAO. (that is Laugh Your F@#$*@$g Ass off for those of us over 30.)
4)The Lucky Ones-Tim Robbins Rachel McAdams, this one just came out last month. I don't know why I picked it, I saw a movie about soldiers coming home from the war in Iraq with Tim Robbins and my first impression was to throw it across the room. It was mildly political, and when it was I did not seem to mind. I'm glad I watched, it was very entertaining.
5) Fail Safe - Henry Fonda and everybody, probably 60's great Cold War flick
6) Twelve Angry Men- Another black and white with Fonda, great cast. You will find your self saying, "That is the guy that was in...." and you forget that it was filmed in one room. This is back when a story had to be really good, could not rely on special effects.
7)Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang-Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer. Funny, funny, laugh, laugh. Val Kilmer playing a gay private detective, his name is Perry by the way. I will let you guess what his nickname is in the movie.
8) Every body's All American- Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lang, John Goodman. One of the best sports movies ever made. I include this because I have never seen this in a Blockbuster anywhere. I have never seen this movie for sale. Those of us who know will see a kind of "cameo" by a band that is supposed to be Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts.
9) Nanking- kind of a documentary about the 1937 Nanking massacre. Actors play the actual people who were there, the story is taken from their letters and personal accounts.
10)Pool Hall Junkies- great movie, a lot of random guys, like the guy who plays Lex Luthor on Smallville, he has hair, and Christopher Walken. It is like the Rounders for pool players. You can learn some pretty slick scams as well.
Well I guess I should stop at ten, if you have any to share please do.
I have put together a list of some good movies that you may have never seen or may have forgotten about, they are in no particular order and this may only benefit those of you that have Netflix, Blockbuster is a weird place these days. They have the most confusing rules, late fees etc. I will soon be on Netflix.
Oh yeah these are not in any kind of order:
1) The Package- Gene Hackman Tommy Lee Jones, Great suspense thriller, mid 80's.
2) Hoffa -Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, I have never seen this movie on TV or at the movie store, finally found the DVD at some random place last year. Jack is so much like the real Hoffa it is scary, the DVD has some footage from the actual Senate hearings, see for yourself.
3) Waiting- Ryan Reynolds and that kid from the Apple commercials, if you have ever worked in a restaurant you will, let me see if I can do this right for the texters out there LYFAO. (that is Laugh Your F@#$*@$g Ass off for those of us over 30.)
4)The Lucky Ones-Tim Robbins Rachel McAdams, this one just came out last month. I don't know why I picked it, I saw a movie about soldiers coming home from the war in Iraq with Tim Robbins and my first impression was to throw it across the room. It was mildly political, and when it was I did not seem to mind. I'm glad I watched, it was very entertaining.
5) Fail Safe - Henry Fonda and everybody, probably 60's great Cold War flick
6) Twelve Angry Men- Another black and white with Fonda, great cast. You will find your self saying, "That is the guy that was in...." and you forget that it was filmed in one room. This is back when a story had to be really good, could not rely on special effects.
7)Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang-Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer. Funny, funny, laugh, laugh. Val Kilmer playing a gay private detective, his name is Perry by the way. I will let you guess what his nickname is in the movie.
8) Every body's All American- Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lang, John Goodman. One of the best sports movies ever made. I include this because I have never seen this in a Blockbuster anywhere. I have never seen this movie for sale. Those of us who know will see a kind of "cameo" by a band that is supposed to be Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts.
9) Nanking- kind of a documentary about the 1937 Nanking massacre. Actors play the actual people who were there, the story is taken from their letters and personal accounts.
10)Pool Hall Junkies- great movie, a lot of random guys, like the guy who plays Lex Luthor on Smallville, he has hair, and Christopher Walken. It is like the Rounders for pool players. You can learn some pretty slick scams as well.
Well I guess I should stop at ten, if you have any to share please do.
Monday, May 4, 2009
To MSNBC or not to MSNBC
I have taken advantage of my chance to watch a lot of news lately, especially since the election. I have seen some strange transformations on some channels. Now let me get this out of the way, I do not like watching the non stop 24 hour news networks. I consider myself fair and if you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you that I give it to you exactly how I want to hear it, straight down the middle. If the truth is going to hurt then don't ask me.
From what I have seen the major networks are pretty much the same, they lean as hard to the left as they can get away with, no big surprise. Fox News is pretty much the same, Sean Hannity was better with Alan Combs, Bill Oreily's show has gotten better. I used to hate his show, it annoys me when someone asks a question and will not let the guest answer the question. You would think that someone who was on the radio three hours a day would be tired of talking so much. He has gotten better at that so I watch it a little more now.
CNN, well, it's CNN. We all have seen the footage of the reporter arguing with the man at the Tea Party. I have to admit, even for CNN this is a new low. Ask yourself, what would have been the reaction if a reporter acted like that to a person at the million man march? Still no suprise, CNN crossed the line a long time ago.
The network that has left the reservation is without a doubt MSNBC, what an embarrassment, there morning show is one of the worst ever, I used to enjoy Pat Buchanan when he was on the McLaughlin Group. (better show than any mentioned in this post by the way) He is obviously just collecting a paycheck, that and I think he really does not like Eleanor Clift. He always challenged her on that show but now on MSNBC he looks like a heel hound, no fight left, maybe running for president 20 times has taken its toll.
MSNBC only seems to exist because of Fox News, I have never heard another network mention the competition so much. I watched the other night and they mentioned Fox News so many times, if I were a casual viewer I would have wanted to turn it to Fox.
The two prime time shows are the same, Keith Olberman, the sixties are over dude. You were great on ESPN, but leave the agenda at home. No one is watching anyway, I guess for the same reason that no one listens to Air America. Then after his show you are treated to the same show except this one has the lady that looks like the catcher on the softball team. Her rhetoric is the same, it is like they have the same outline for both shows, bash Bush, say "tea bag" and giggle, take a shot at Palin, and so on and so on.
They seem to just want to talk about everyone they don't like and what they think they are doing wrong, but as I wrote earlier, no one is watching anyway. These networks always mention or have a guest from moveon.org, who needs to move on here? The fact is MSNBC is more entertaining when they spoof it on Saturday Night Live.
They remind me of the little dog chasing the car, they wouldn't know what to do if they ever catch one.
From what I have seen the major networks are pretty much the same, they lean as hard to the left as they can get away with, no big surprise. Fox News is pretty much the same, Sean Hannity was better with Alan Combs, Bill Oreily's show has gotten better. I used to hate his show, it annoys me when someone asks a question and will not let the guest answer the question. You would think that someone who was on the radio three hours a day would be tired of talking so much. He has gotten better at that so I watch it a little more now.
CNN, well, it's CNN. We all have seen the footage of the reporter arguing with the man at the Tea Party. I have to admit, even for CNN this is a new low. Ask yourself, what would have been the reaction if a reporter acted like that to a person at the million man march? Still no suprise, CNN crossed the line a long time ago.
The network that has left the reservation is without a doubt MSNBC, what an embarrassment, there morning show is one of the worst ever, I used to enjoy Pat Buchanan when he was on the McLaughlin Group. (better show than any mentioned in this post by the way) He is obviously just collecting a paycheck, that and I think he really does not like Eleanor Clift. He always challenged her on that show but now on MSNBC he looks like a heel hound, no fight left, maybe running for president 20 times has taken its toll.
MSNBC only seems to exist because of Fox News, I have never heard another network mention the competition so much. I watched the other night and they mentioned Fox News so many times, if I were a casual viewer I would have wanted to turn it to Fox.
The two prime time shows are the same, Keith Olberman, the sixties are over dude. You were great on ESPN, but leave the agenda at home. No one is watching anyway, I guess for the same reason that no one listens to Air America. Then after his show you are treated to the same show except this one has the lady that looks like the catcher on the softball team. Her rhetoric is the same, it is like they have the same outline for both shows, bash Bush, say "tea bag" and giggle, take a shot at Palin, and so on and so on.
They seem to just want to talk about everyone they don't like and what they think they are doing wrong, but as I wrote earlier, no one is watching anyway. These networks always mention or have a guest from moveon.org, who needs to move on here? The fact is MSNBC is more entertaining when they spoof it on Saturday Night Live.
They remind me of the little dog chasing the car, they wouldn't know what to do if they ever catch one.
Old School
I attended the funeral of coach Paul Jones the other week and it reminded me of a funny story that I am sure a lot of us have about him or growing up in Kinston. After an on-line chat last night with Kevin King he suggested that I share a story from back in the day. So I guess I take requests, keep in mind that this happened over 20 years ago but I think I have the key players in this story correct.
I played JV basketball my tenth grade year as well as baseball. I was in Coach Jones's 7th period PE class, along with all the current varsity and other potential basketball players. After basketball season I would sneak out with the baseball players and get in some extra cuts in the batting cage during tryouts. Coach Jones saw me walking out of the gym one day wearing my cleats and carrying my Easton green label bat. He stopped me and said, "I guess you have played your last basketball game at this school." I just nodded, I had no illusions that my mediocre basketball career was over, besides all I wanted to do was play baseball.
This did not discourage me from supporting my friends that played varsity basketball, in fact, myself and some of my friends started a dubious tradition that may or may not still exist today. We were some of the most obnoxious fans in the conference, I mean down right nasty. And it was not just in Kinston either, we were chased all the way to Dover one night after a game in New Bern. Southern Wayne fans chased us all the way to LaGrange on an empty tank of gas.
Visiting cheerleaders were treated to a very loud version of "Old McDonald had a Farm" at every home game, for that I am really ashamed. What an a hole!
Okay the story; we were playing a conference school who had a player that was being recruited by UNC and other schools. However it was made public that this young man was having trouble with his SAT scores. We reminded him of this every time he went to the free throw line. Well needless to say this did not make the AD at this school very happy, the next day he Fed Exed a letter stating his displeasure.
I found myself standing in our AD's office along with my friends Mitchel Howard and John Harvey, not the dozens and dozens of people saying a lot worse stuff than we were. He read the letter and then singled us out as the "ringleaders" and after a few minutes of heated and uncomfortable conversation he informed us that we were banned from any more home games. Now if memory serves me correct, the conference tournament was starting the next week.
As we were leaving we walked by Coach Jones's office, "How did it go Rick Dean?" he asked.
After explaining the situation and a few jokes from Mitchel, Coach told us to be at the next game, "I'll take care of him." Was all he said.
Now I don't remember the outcome of that game or that season, I do remember maintaining a relationship with the Coach after he caught me ducking his class to go to the batting cage. I sprained my ankle pretty bad one year and coach Jones taped my ankle nearly every afternoon before baseball practice, he was a nice guy.
He always supported his players and I guess he supported those who supported them.
And for those of you who do not believe in karma, I ran into one of those cheerleaders at a party in college, she found out I went to Kinston High School and properly deposited her drink on my head, I deserved that.
I played JV basketball my tenth grade year as well as baseball. I was in Coach Jones's 7th period PE class, along with all the current varsity and other potential basketball players. After basketball season I would sneak out with the baseball players and get in some extra cuts in the batting cage during tryouts. Coach Jones saw me walking out of the gym one day wearing my cleats and carrying my Easton green label bat. He stopped me and said, "I guess you have played your last basketball game at this school." I just nodded, I had no illusions that my mediocre basketball career was over, besides all I wanted to do was play baseball.
This did not discourage me from supporting my friends that played varsity basketball, in fact, myself and some of my friends started a dubious tradition that may or may not still exist today. We were some of the most obnoxious fans in the conference, I mean down right nasty. And it was not just in Kinston either, we were chased all the way to Dover one night after a game in New Bern. Southern Wayne fans chased us all the way to LaGrange on an empty tank of gas.
Visiting cheerleaders were treated to a very loud version of "Old McDonald had a Farm" at every home game, for that I am really ashamed. What an a hole!
Okay the story; we were playing a conference school who had a player that was being recruited by UNC and other schools. However it was made public that this young man was having trouble with his SAT scores. We reminded him of this every time he went to the free throw line. Well needless to say this did not make the AD at this school very happy, the next day he Fed Exed a letter stating his displeasure.
I found myself standing in our AD's office along with my friends Mitchel Howard and John Harvey, not the dozens and dozens of people saying a lot worse stuff than we were. He read the letter and then singled us out as the "ringleaders" and after a few minutes of heated and uncomfortable conversation he informed us that we were banned from any more home games. Now if memory serves me correct, the conference tournament was starting the next week.
As we were leaving we walked by Coach Jones's office, "How did it go Rick Dean?" he asked.
After explaining the situation and a few jokes from Mitchel, Coach told us to be at the next game, "I'll take care of him." Was all he said.
Now I don't remember the outcome of that game or that season, I do remember maintaining a relationship with the Coach after he caught me ducking his class to go to the batting cage. I sprained my ankle pretty bad one year and coach Jones taped my ankle nearly every afternoon before baseball practice, he was a nice guy.
He always supported his players and I guess he supported those who supported them.
And for those of you who do not believe in karma, I ran into one of those cheerleaders at a party in college, she found out I went to Kinston High School and properly deposited her drink on my head, I deserved that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
