Glad to be Me

I'm feeling very grateful today.  Thankful for my friends and family, humbled by my good fortune in having a job that I enjoy and a life that I love.

In general I am dimly aware of this gratitude, but on Monday, with the Ferguson non-decision decision handed down, I have been resoundingly reminded to not to take these blessings for granted.

I am beyond grateful for my values and clarity of mind that allow me to see things for what they are and not simply what I want them to be.  The facts, the evidence in this case are fairly plain as these things go.  It is not a good thing that a young man was killed, but any objective look at the situation reveals that the outcome, while tragic, can be primarily blamed on Michael Brown.  Circumstance also played a role, but it was not the deciding factor.

I am perfectly comfortable with the grand jury's decision, and I have no problem supporting officer Wilson and his decisions.  If I'm a cop, or even a private citizen,  and someone grabs for my gun, all bets are off.  If they get away and come at me a second time, I'm putting them down.  Period.

So that's it for me.  No doubt, no drama.  And for that I am filled with gratitude.  I am so, so, SO happy that I am a conservative, and that my brain is not clouded by the kind of emotion driven dogma that grips both the elites and the poor who have been duped into a lifetime of dependence on the state.

I am content to recognize that I am not the one with the problem.  The citizens of Ferguson (and make no mistake it IS people that live there) have decided they would rather burn their city to the ground, that is - mostly businesses that are minority owned - rather than face up to the uncomfortable truth.

And so, I have no beef.  No axe to grind.  Good luck with that folks.

I am staying off of racebook this week, I have seen far too much fall out with other people being de-friended by liberal antagonists, who let emotion take over and lash out.  I'm staying out of it because I love my friends and I really don't care too much about this case; but I'm grateful for this blog which allows me in no uncertain terms to state my opinion on the matter, plainly and truthfully.

It is sadly and with no joy that I say, Michael Brown got exactly what he deserved.

EDIT:

Well I spoke too soon and broke down, after the 10th or so post I read that someone was "de-friending" someone else for being "racist".  I posted this to everyone... hopefully it is respectful enough that I won't get the ol' de-friend myself.

I refuse to de-friend any of you, regardless of your opinion on this Ferguson thing.

Opinions are just opinions, and clearly there are a lot of them here on all sides of a very complicated situation. No matter what you think or feel, you are entitled to express your views and you won't get any shaming or name calling from me.

With that said, truthfully, I am reluctant to share my views here - because of all the vitriol that I've read from both sides. It makes me sad that people can't speak their minds without being called racist, a very hurtful term that is more often than not overused these days to the point where it ceases to have any real meaning and greatly diminishes actual incidents of it.

I would hope that everyone, regardless of where they come down on this matter - can step back and understand that different life experiences result in different perspectives and thus different opinions. It doesn't mean they are off to join the KKK or the Black Panther Party, it just means that this is how they see it.

Be at peace this Thanksgiving day and be grateful that we can have these discussions in this, the greatest country on God's green earth. I know I am.

A Time to Marvel

The world is on fire.  Evil is inflamed overseas, partisan discord and demagoguery divides on our own shores.  And yet I can't seem to shake a pesky and persistent feeling of hope.  As bad as things want to be - I've been around on this earth long enough to know that things have been a lot worse, both in my lifetime and well before and beyond it as well.

I have been somewhat neglectful of this blog - but I'm happy to say I'm not going anywhere and don't plan to stop writing any time soon, though it may be farther and fewer between as the years pass.  I have two other blogs, both related to poker, and lately I've been writing on them more frequently.  I'm less inspired to write here because this is where I typically air my grievances, especially the political ones.

Maybe it's part of getting older; I just don't feel as passionate about dissecting all the different ways to a similar end that most Americans want.  I'm not inclined to dissect and delineate the intellectual failings of infantile liberals. I've realized that ultimately it's not so much stupidity, but upbringing that has taken them down the easy path of child-like emotions and knee jerk instinct in dealing with weighty matters of the world.  I also recognize that it's a heavy burden to always be right and be one of the few who can separate facts from fantasy.  It's also tiresome to be so smart all of the time.

But on a serious note - I am and always will be a hopeless political junkie, and I'm thinking that the real reason for my reluctance to engage in a battle of wits with unarmed opponents is that more than ever I really feel like I have nothing to prove, and that trying to convince a died in the wool liberal, who thinks that poor people should be perpetually attached to the government tit, that maybe a life of dependence on a massive bureaucracy isn't the way to go - is ultimately futile.

So I feel good - good about my world view, borne of months at a time abroad in the third world, borne of building a home and family from the sweat of my brow and my brain.  And I feel optimistic, upbeat, hopeful.  Hopeful about my country, my family and friends, my career and this amazing information age.

Lately I've been thinking about miracles; not the big heavy duty biblical ones, not even the daily ones I read about in the news relating to matters of life and death - the little girl whose cancer disappears, the hopelessly lost hikers who miraculously turn up a week later dehydrated and exhausted but alive.  No, lately I've been thinking about the smaller miracles of the first world that are in my face, all of the time.  I guess miracle is the wrong word - but I can't help but be in awe of these little marvels.  They are silly, they are trivial I guess - but they provoke a strong response in me.

The produce section in Ralph's is a marvel.  All I get is blackberries and grapes for my little girl, apples and bananas for the wife and myself.  Sometimes a tray of veggies for poker.  I have a friend who has told me more than once that I really shouldn't bother with Ralph's for produce - "It's overpriced and the fruit is so much better in the farmer's market."  Um, okay.  Try the market in Nairobi or Cairo my friend.  For that matter, try getting fresh produce on the island of Key West where I grew up.  My dad, who lived on that island for most of his life would come visit me in Los Angeles and stand in awe of the fruit at Ralph's.  Ralph's is a marvel.

*********

About six months ago I got my first smart phone.  I had resisted a long time.  In fact, I had resisted texting for a much longer time.  I broke down about 2 years ago, and just recently a doe eyed 20 something sales girl at the Verizon store got me to take the plunge.

My i-phone is a marvel.  It's no longer the latest and greatest, but it's incredible.  I don't have to text anymore, I can talk into the phone and it will write down what I'm saying.  I can find the quickest route through LA traffic to get where I'm going faster.  Recently I was in Las Vegas and needed a haircut.  I asked my phone, and these were my exact words - "Where can I get a haircut?"  Bam.  Instant directions in my car, she talked me straight to a Supercuts 5 minutes away.  What's the score of the A's game?  Bam.  Yep, they're losing again.  What did Allen say on Facebook 30 seconds ago?  Bam.  Yep, his grandpa is dong good.  When does the World Series of Poker start airing again?  Bam.  What song is that playing?  Shazam.  Bam.  I'm bored. Let's play Minion Rush.  Bam.  What did that dopey guy in the White House say today?  Bam.

Bam.

Bam, bam.

The i-phone is a freaking marvel.

**********

My television is a marvel.  It's huge.  Going by screen size it was way cheaper than the last standard def tv I bought.  It's GORGEOUS.  Over a year later I still can't get over how good Megan Kelly looks.  And I'm not just saying that because she's super smart and pretty - she just looks AMAZING. The lighting, the color, the contrast.  BAM.   Yeah right about now I'd like to watch Captain America: Winter Soldier with PERFECT sound and an INCREDIBLE picture.  BAM.

*********

Speaking of Captain America -  comic book movies are right up my alley and are GD marvels. (And not just the ones by Marvel, but the DC ones too.)

I have more than a friend or two who are my age and are weary of comic books coming to life on a weekly basis in the multi-plex.  To that I say, are you KIDDING ME?  First of all, what kind of movies did you think people our age would be making?  Secondly - do you have any idea just how good the vast majority of them are?   And thirdly - do you seriously think this will last?

The first question I think should be answered with a time machine.  It is my fondest wish that every  geek over 40 who is whining about too many comic book movies could be visited by their 13 year old selves and be wheel-house bitch slapped for complaining.  This is a GD GOLDEN AGE PEOPLE!

Relating to this -the second question.  Even the "crap" super hero movies are pretty darn cool.  Sure, Green Lantern "sucks" - but only because it came out a couple of years ago.  If it had come out ten years ago - it would have been hailed up and down.  Well maybe not, but it wouldn't have bombed.  Structurally, it is indeed a mess of a film, but only because in Hollywood today (and thanks in no small part to PIXAR) story is KING.  I confess my wife and I have found ourselves stopping to watch it on television more than a few times.  It's Green Lantern for crying out loud!  I do the same thing with the two Fantastic Four movies as well - BECAUSE IT'S THE GD FANTASTIC FOUR!   Helloooo.... is this thing on?

The third question - it won't always be like this.  I am very grateful that the dreams of my childhood have come to life on the big screen; and more-so, that these dreams apparently were shared with millions of people because these movies are the biggest money makers ever.  But I understand that within a decade this fad will pass, and we will very likely see far fewer super heroes in action on the big screen.  So I'm going to enjoy this trend thoroughly while I can.

But back to the second point.  Okay, we all know the super hero movies that 'sucked'.  Green Lantern, The Fantastic Four, the new Spiderman movies (and the old third one).  That's what I can think of off the top of my head.  Let me attempt to list ones that I thought were top notch AWESOME and are must haves.  In no particular order...

Spider Man 2  The Sam Raimi version.
The Dark Knight
The Avengers
Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America WS
XMen 2
The Incredibles

Now let me list those I thought were thoroughly enjoyable - and that I've purchased.

Iron Man 3
Thor 2
Captain America 1st Avenger
XMen
XMen 1st Class
XMen DOFP
Spiderman 1 Sam Raimi
Batman Begins
Superman MOS

That is 17 flicks off the top of my head that I absolutely love and will watch again and again over the years.  They are magnificent.  They are everything that I loved about comic books, come to life before my eyes - outrageous and righteous morality plays with bigger than life good guys and bad guys.  They are, all of them, FAR better than the paltry few superhero movies of my childhood.

And I loved the Chris Reeve Superman movies, and still do.  And I loved the first three Batman movies, and still do.

And again, there are plenty of less than great superhero movies that I dig.  I actually enjoyed the recent Spiderman 2 very much, it had some great gags and great emotion - and they absolutely nailed Peter Parker and the Spiderman character way better than Raimi did.  Now the story was bloated and problematic - it was  90 minute movie trapped in a 130 minute bloat of self indulgence.  Worse than that - we've seen this whole thing before and we've seen it done better.  Raimi is a true auteur and his first two Spiderman movies are superb.

Anyway - there are plenty of 'mediocre' superhero movies that I like just fine;

Thor 1 - Thor is a bit of a bore, but the movie works more than it doesn't.

Both Hulk movies.  Ang Lee's troubled film still has the second best Hulk sequence ever captured, after the Avengers, of hulk rampaging through the desert.  The other movie is much tighter enterprise - and has some great gags.

Every other XMen movie, including the 'awful' X3 and the first Wolverine.  All of them have great moments and ultimately work in their universe.  I especially dug the 2nd Wolverine movie; as ridiculous as it was at times.

Bryan Singer's Superman movie; yeah, it's boring a lot of the time; but there's some great moments - and the spirit of the original is captured beautifully.

The weakest of the modern Marvel movies - Iron Man 2, is still a blast.  Watched it recently and it held my interest; also love Scar Jo.

The one somewhat recent superhero movie that I can't really bear to watch again, because it breaks my heart because it is so bad - is Daredevil.  Man, yes, that movie is indeed crap.  It doesn't help either that DD was always my favorite comic book.  The good news is, Netflix is taking Daredevil and turning it into a tv series.  Sweet.  Can't wait to binge on that!

Anyways, I didn't mean to get so sidetracked on superhero movies.  I guess that's the main topic in this post.  I will also mention in passing that there are many other kinds of geek movies out these days that are also marvels.  Especially animated movies, as I've gone on and on about in this blog before; but also other great genre films like Avatar, the Hobbit movies, Pacific Rim - just to randomly name a few; that are absolutely incredible to watch, especially in light of how thin the field of sci-fi and fantasy used to be in movie theaters.  True, there were some awesome ones; Terminator 1 and 2, The Road Warrior, Alien and Aliens - and others, but the quantity and quality of the last decade, I'm sorry to say - simply blows away what we had when we were young.

I guess superhero films are on the surface, like all modern marvels that we live with here in the greatest country on God's green earth - are silly and superficial, but to me it is what they represent that wields the real power in my life.  We all know that yes, evil exists - and our faith tells us that there will always be a light to shine on the darkness; but nowhere in todays world is this more dramatically illustrated than in comic book movies.  These are our modern day fairy tales, bigger and better than ever - that serve to lift us up, to elevate our spirits above the chaos and fear.  To share with our loved ones, with our children; to enjoy and to be inspired by.

I guess all I've really done here, is do what I've done before.  Stated firmly and fairly that NOW is the time of greatness and great stuff.  We are in the midst of the age of Marvel and marvels.  And I absolutely love it and I'm so thankful I get to nourish my soul with what is on the surface fairly frivolous and somewhat mindless entertainment.  I wouldn't want to live in any other time and place than where I am.  I am utterly grateful for all the joy that little marvels bring into my life - they sustain me through the rough stuff - and they bolster my love, joy and hope for what really matters most - my family and my faith.

Hey Blue

"I've heard it said,

                                                                        That people come into our lives

For a reason

Bringing something we must learn.

And we are lead to those

Who help us most to grow if we let them.

And we help them in return.

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today.

Because I knew you."

                                   - Stephen Schwartz 

                                               (From the musical "Wicked")

In my almost 44 years on this earth I have been privileged to know a small group of remarkable people who have had a profound and positive influence on my life and on my character. Besides my dad, there have been 2 other major father figures - the first was Bill Cain, a remarkable man who was a major positive influence through my adolescence. He was the man who introduced me to and mentored me through the world of baseball umpiring. We probably umpired over 100 games together - from the youngest levels of Little League, to regional tournaments across the state.

One of my fondest memories of Bill, is when we traveled to San Bernardino together to attend the regional Little League umpire seminar. It was great to be with him amongst 50 other umpires and really get at the heart of what sports officiating was all about.

Bill passed away just yesterday, very suddenly from what I can tell. My heart breaks for his two sons Mike and Tom, whom I've known since they were little. And I am deeply saddened myself, mostly because I never specifically told Bill how much he meant to me and how much he had helped make me who I am, especially when it comes to dealing with stressed out people.

As a baseball umpire, Bill was always calm and cool - matter of fact, but firm and unwavering, with a deep commitment to fair play and justice on the field. Though I have long ago left the game behind, I carry his principles with me in my daily life. Keeping a level head in the face of unbalanced people on the baseball field can be very tough, but the real world can be much more dire. I am so glad that I had the game in my youth to work through confrontations, and I'll be forever grateful that Bill was there to show me the right way to do it. I am a much happier and balanced person than I was at age 13 when I met Bill, in large part because he gave me the tools to deal with emotional dysfunction being thrown in my face.

And I know, that even though I never specifically thanked you Bill, and oh how I regret not messaging you on facebook or even shooting you a text to tell you this - I know, as with all men who are genuine - men who are indeed 100% "real men" as you are; that the words didn't need to be said.

But I'll say them here, for his boys Mike and Tom. I want to make sure to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this remarkable man who undoubtedly has touched many many more lives in ways as profound as mine -

Thank you Bill Cain, you changed my life for the better when I needed it the most and you will be missed terribly.

 

Two Worlds, One Cup

I did love the recent world cup game with the US and Portugal, to a point.  Hear me out.

Soccer's got 99 problems, but being boring ain't one.

That the game can be boring is way down the list of why American's don't care for soccer. We (and I) love baseball and that's the most boring sport there is.  Being boring has little to do with why this sport hasn't caught on in the US, though it's what every non-soccer fan will tell you.

The real reason Americans don't dig "futbol" is flopping.  Flopping is why I don't watch soccer.  Players fake injuries, ALL the time.  It's systematic, it's inherent in the strategy of the game.  Soccer players pretend to be hurt even more than NBA players which is saying something.  It is un-sportsman like behavior of the most craven kind.  It's really hard to stomach, professional athletes, incredibly skilled - rolling around like little babies until they get the call they want.  Then, back in the game with no consequences.

The lack of a replay rule to deal with these theatrics at this level of play is absurd. Also, that there is no replay rule for the easily reviewable but often controversial offside decisions is just flat out stupid.  Also also, that the game clock is unofficial and that it goes into extra time that the referee adds in his head is ridiculous, and is a lightning rod for controversy where there should be none.

And then there are problems with the antiquated World Cup format itself.  My dear Berkeley brethren, they of the soccer love, sent me this chart to help answer my questions regarding team USA's fate in advancing, after the Portugal game ended abruptly with the score tied.  (Apparently, this is also common, like hockey, they let the game end undecided.  Dumb, yes, even in the most crucial of games like say, oh I don't know, the biggest sporting tournament on the planet.)

First of all, I'm not really enough of a math genius to comprehend this absurdly intricate graphic - so there's that.  But look closely, yes, those are yellow boxes with the words "coin toss" in them.  So if the score of the Portugal/Ghana and US/Germany games fall in some random fashion, the fate of the potential champions of the world will be determined by a coin toss?  Really?

As a former youth sports official, I have twice actually run across rules that involve a coin toss to determine a winner.  One was a single day baseball round robin that had an odd number of teams.  The coin toss determined who would get a bye in the first round.  The players in this tournament were 12 years old.  It was a pre-season fun one day event.  Nothing but bragging rights at stake.

The other event was again, a pre-season event; a soccer tournament over a weekend, where they allowed ties in every game but the "championship" match.  If the teams were tied at the end of a game, the referee would toss a coin to determine who moved on.  These were 10 year old traveling teams, so they were All-Stars, but THEY WERE 10, and many of them were irritated at the random unfairness of this procedure.

Now we are on the world's biggest stage, with the very best players in competition for the most significant championship anywhere - and we're going to toss a coin.

And my friends wonder why this sport hasn't caught on in the States.

Bottom line, Americans like their play fair, and coin flips notwithstanding, the game of soccer itself is replete with antiquated rules and procedures which make it not so. Until the game rectifies these glaring problems, ie gets a uniform game clock, implements the replay rule at the highest levels and puts an end  to the acting shenanigans, soccer will continue to be a game for the rest of the world that just assumes that the system is inherently screwed up, while those of us in the land of opportunity know better.

Someone much more eloquent than me once said that the rest of the planet loves soccer because it is a sanctuary of serenity in a chaotic world, while Americans love football (our gridiron version) because it is a sanctuary of chaos in an otherwise peaceful and free country.  I know this is not entirely the truth, but it is pretty darn close to being correct.

To their credit, the American team has said they don't "flop" and that they don't include the concept in their strategy and approach to the game.  At least that's what they say.  I know the guy who got his face kicked in in game one wasn't faking. This makes it easier for me to root root root for the home team - though honestly, as a big a jingoist as I am, I wouldn't be too heart broken if the God forsaken country of Ghana had won.  I think they need it more than we do.

Billy Joel at the Hollywood Bowl, May 27

Okay - review time.

Billy is old, 65, and looks like he needs to take better care of himself. His voice, thankfully is about 90% of what it was - which is great for his age. He's also still an expert at the piano, though he bonks plenty of notes, it all works and seems effortless. He is a consummate professional musician and artist. He's also hilarious in between songs. He did a spot-on Elton John impersonation and sang a good chunk of "Your Song" before cutting himself off at the line "I don't have much money..." "Bullshit!" he exclaimed.

The band is as tight as I've ever heard at one of Billy's concerts, but theirin is part of the problem. Though technically far more perfect than the original line up, this bunch does not have the propulsion and energy, the emotion, wrought by drummer Liberty DeVitto and the other Long Island boys that Billy grew up with and played with until he got rid of them. I really miss those mooks and the passion that they brought. They were born and bred of Billy's music, and it really shone through. Don't get me wrong, the band now is very, very good - Mark Rivera and Crystal Talifero in particular have been with Billy a long time (the former since Nylon Curtain and the latter since Storm Front) and bring some of the old spirit. The two guitarists and the bass player are all tremendous vocalists, which really makes for a fat clean sound. Still, I pine for the immediacy and the energy of Billy's old gang. A smaller group, no horn section, but somehow more urgent than the polished veneer of the 2014 crew. Search YouTube for Billy Joel: Live from Long Island and you'll see what I mean.

Over the three shows at Hollywood Bowl I think the setlist on our night might have been the best. You can click on the "Related Concert Setlists" links for the 17th and the 22nd to compare and contrast. Yes, the shows were all very similar, but we got We Didn't Start the Fire and Uptown Girl, the other two nights did not. Uptown Girl was truly amazing - the vocals were phat! It was also great to see Billy strap on the old guitar for that old dentist drill of a song "We Didn't Start the Fire" - never one of my favorites, but it works very well live with 17000 people singing along word for word.

Songs we missed out on: "Pressure", "And So It Goes" and "Sometimes a Fantasy". I've seen Pressure live many times, ASIG is one of my favorites that I didn't get on the Storm Front tour. I've also seen "Sometimes a Fantasy" (on the Bridge tour) and I agree with the description of it as the least sexy song about phone sex ever. We also didn't get "The Ballad of Billy the Kid." or "Summer Highland Falls" both of which I still have yet to see live. No one got to hear "Goodnight Saigon" - which is fine, or "Angry Young Man" which is sad. It was the only song I really missed, even though I've seen it live more than a few times.

All for Leyna, Zanzibar, Where's the Orchestra, Everybody Loves You Know and Say Goodbye to Hollywood, all blew my mind as songs that I absolutely did not expect to hear over the course of the evening. I loved that Billy dug a bit deeper, as I think the bulk of his album tracks that were not singles are where the real gold is in the catalogue. Say Goodbye to Hollywood was actually a minor am radio hit, and on his greatest hits record, but I read in a review of Billy's concert at the bowl on May 17th that it was the first time he had played the song live in almost 30 years. He had retired the song long ago because it is at the top of his register - I'm glad he dusted it off for LA, it sounded great.

The venue was great, the sound was pristine, one of the best sounding concerts I've ever been to, and by far the cleanest Billy Joel show I've ever heard. The mix was awesome, the visuals were very good. The lights were what they needed to be and the occasional video footage worked beautifully with a very polished I-Mag camera operators and director. (IMag is the video image magnification, the video of Billy and the Band on the screens for those of us with 43 year old eyes and not in the $2500 seats).

All in all, it doesn't get much better than Billy, even old Billy who stays at the piano through Big Shot and You May Be Right - he did strut a little bit for It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, but stayed put in all the other songs that he used to run around to. Inevitable I suppose, and truly no less enjoyable in it's own context - just a reminder of his and our own mortality.

Global Change and Climate Warming

Been awhile!   Recently talked a bit about Global Warming (or whatever they're calling it this week on Facebook) and as usual I had a great home-run final response to post that was kick ass and long.

But the guy I was talking with is a friend of mine, smart fellow but alas to far gone to really appreciate my brilliance, so Imma post it here instead.

Right after someone posted a link about April being the "hottest April ever" (which is pretty absurd in itself) I fired back with...

"It was also the coldest winter on record last year, and we had record Arctic ice, the polar bear population crashed because there was so much ice they couldn't get to the seals.  Either way, regardless of what the numbers say or are manipulated into saying - ultimately it doesn't mean a damn thing to me.   Global warming is so far down the list of what I think is important to me and my family, it's kind of sad really.   Sorry, they have to do better.

The planet is four and a half billion years old.  I've been watching Cosmos, and if anything, it has made me more of a skeptic.  Tyson spends 50 minutes telling me to question everything and that the universe is infinitely old, and then he turns around and says "the science is settled" regarding global warming.  It's wacky, and frankly, it pisses me off to the point where I genuinely don't give a shit.   It's the boy who cried wolf on steroids.

Al Gore and his contemporaries have utterly failed to bring people in the middle and to the right of it over to the side of a cause that SHOULD be a no brainer, but isn't.  Turns out, he's the one without a brain. He sold his television station to the biggest propagators of oil on the planet giving a huge middle finger to the planet on his way out the door to a billion dollar pay day.

Instead of bridging the gap with dialogue and common ground, the whole global warming gang has devolved into a bunch of bullies who blacklist anyone who doesn't fall in line - and on top of this they don't offer any practical solutions except flushing money down their water saving toilets with projects like high speed trains to nowhere and other billion dollar boondoggles.  Remember Solyndra?  That whole thing is what the modern environmental movement is to me - a fucked up and decadent 1st world horseshit pet project with little bearing on the real problems of the world, a world of which I've seen an awful lot of (been to 40+ countries, many of them third world) and it ain't pretty.  Maybe we could work on sewage in India or depravation in the Sudan before people get in my face about plastic bags.

I know it sounds like another angry rant, but really, it's not.  I just frankly don't want to hear about global warming from politicians anymore.  This so called scientific consensus can keep their mouths shut too, as long as they aren't offering any real solutions.  I don't have time to deal with their self-aggrandizing crap.  No wonder the planet has a fever, it's full of hot air from these smug do-nothing jerks."


This blog is a much better place for my righteous smack-downs than facebook, right?

Movies 2013

A bit overdue, but better late than non-existant; 2013 was simply too good a year for movies to let my annual post about them pass by due to my recent laziness and lack of attention to this blog.

Remember, I'm talking about movies, not necessarily films.  Can't remember the difference?  I've spelled it out many a time over the years, the first few paragraphs here are your primer.

Also, disclaimer number 2 - I don't get out too much these days, so I haven't seen a great number of movies like I used to back in the day when I was single.  This is a limited sampling of the year, no doubt.  Also, as I have a kid, my selections are top heavy with family movies.  Thankfully we live in an age of great family entertainment.  On the more grown up tip, I still really want to see World War Z, 42 and Elysium, despite the latter's apparent political idiocy.  I also can't believe I haven't seen Bad Grandpa - no doubt that will rocket to the top of my favorites when I do finally Netflix it.

Before I get to my top ten - here are the runner-ups; there were a lot of them.

Thor 2
Lots of fun, even more-so than the first one.  Took my 9 year old and wife, they both dug it.  Eager to see it again.

Despicable Me 2
Not as fresh as the first, but still a good time and beautifully animated.

Monsters University
Many saw this as an unnecessary rehash.  I enjoyed it, recognizing that it really wasn't something I was dying to see - but understanding that the Pixar wizards still did a remarkable job with such a thin premise.

Captain Phillips
This one almost cracked my top ten - but it encroaches heavily into film territory, and art film territory at that, rather than a straight ahead jingoistic treatise that I would have preferred.  Still, Hanks is a remarkable everyman, and his Somali co-stars are a revelation in truth.  The shaky cam is fairly tortuous, but highly motivated.

Oz the Great and Powerful
I am able to set aside the legacy of the MGM Oz movie and see this fun romp for what it is, a fun romp by Sam Raimi.  The consensus on this one is that Franco is miscast, I would disagree and say he does pretty well as a smarmy and somewhat likable charlatan who gets through his origin story with enough deft aplomb to sustain our interest.  Love the production design, not hung up on the overuse of CGI.  My kid really enjoys it too, so that speaks to something I suppose.

Star Trek: Into Darkness
A blast of a movie - a bit of a come down from the stellar 2009 reboot, but still a rollicking adventure. Ignore that Sherlock Holmes is supposed to be Kahn (and that awful Spock scream) and everything else works just fine. Here's hoping they really take off in the next installment; I'm looking forward to seeing them finally go where no one has gone before.

The Croods
Yet another great animated movie.  There are just so many of them these days.  This is the one that my kid likes the most, so I have to put it here.  What really makes it soar is it's devotion to the value of family as a unit of love; lots to look at and enjoy, it really holds up to repeated viewings - which of course, with a 9 year old in 2014, is how movies are most often viewed.

The Wolverine
After the forgettable first Wolverine movie, this one was a delightfully fun surprise of comic book grit and creativity.  A stunning train sequence highlights this "Logan comes of age" flick.  Did we really need it?  Not especially, but I'm glad I went along for the ride.  It will likely end up sitting on the shelf next to my other X-Men blu rays.

Pacific Rim
Another one that could have easily cracked my top ten - I just love this movie.  It harkens a bit back to Starship Troopers - minus the hyper-violence.  Cheesy dialogue and mostly wooden acting, save the indomitable Idris Elba and the scenery chewing Ron Perlman, are rescued by the deft directorial touches of Guillermo Del Torro who finally delivers on his potential.  This is the ultimate man-in-a-rubber suit spectacle, though nearly entirely CGI, it has more than enough visceral thrills to merit repeat viewings.

Okay - just want to pause here for a second to bring up a movie watching truism - If you have super low expectations, you are bound to be pleasantly surprised.  The next two flicks on my runner-up list were blasted by critics and bombed with audiences; and make no mistake, they are both problematic movies.  But, they are also both full of cool stuff and they both also have plenty of fun moments.  I am happy to recommend both of them, provided you go in thinking that they are going to be total crap.

Jack the Giant Slayer
Zero expectations for this one - pleasantly surprised to find a highly watchable fairytale romp with lots of spectacular set pieces and mountains of creative designs and creatures.  Yes, it could've used a dialogue polish, or two or three, but that said - you could do a lot worse than this fantasy tale.  In fact, we have.  Dragonheart, Lady Hawke, Legend and so on, are all beloved, yet not as well crafted or told as this Brian Singer directed movie.

The Lone Ranger
Hey, it has problems.  It is too long, and the title character is woefully underdeveloped and underplayed by the bland Armie Hammer.  However, The Lone Ranger is a spectacular looking and at times spectacular feeling western that I was pleasantly bowled over by when I saw it on a whim on a Disney cruise.  People forget that Verbinski is a true auteur film maker, and he plays a lot with deeper themes in a visual way, much like Tim Burton, and often what he is getting at is lost by critics and less attentive moviegoers.  I get what he does and I dig it.  This one, believe it or not, is a purchase.


And so those are the ones that didn't make the cut, many of which would make it into my top 10 any other year.  So here we go.

10.   The Wolf of Wall Street
So many people hated this one, I kind of expected to as well, but I have to say - I was thoroughly entertained and never bored despite it's 3 hour running time. (Take notice "American Hustle")  Over the years I have been mystified by people's slavish devotion to Scorcese as a film maker - "Goodfellas" is regularly hailed as one of the greatest movies ever, and I have to say; it's pretty good, but Greatest of All Times?  Meh.  It sure is violent and at times gratuitously so.  This is okay, but I would never hail it or "Casino" (which I think is a better movie) as "wonderful" or "amazing".  They are crisply directed and brutally staged operas of violence - which are mostly over the top enough not to really bother me. (That scene in the cornfield in "Casino" is really rough though....)

Anyways, I'm meandering a bit - but my point is, the outrage that you would think people would have over Marty's gangster movies and their violence apparently was saved up for this rather ludicrous portrayal of a stock trader who has no conscience and and overindulges in sex and drugs.  People, liberals especially I should say, have a deep and seething hatred for Leo's character and the outlandish and non-judgmental portrayal of his excesses.  I personally think this movie is fucking hilarious and very entertaining.  Which are two big qualities I look for in movies.

The shock and indignation of people over the absurdities portrayed in Wolf of Wall Street, these same people who blithely enjoy Joe Pesci putting a guys head in a vice and tightening it until an eyeball flies out, have got their priorities of outrage all mixed up.  Jonah Hill is hilarious, Leo DiCaprio is great and this movie is fierce and outrageous.  I loved it.  And I recognize that life isn't fair and people in fact don't always get their comeuppance - at least not on this earth.  I know truly, that while the real life wolf may think he got away with "living the dream" he has a lot to answer for and absolutely will in the face of his maker.  Gosh I am so glad I am at peace with my faith and my God - saves me a lot of anxious anger at silly things.  And this movie above all is silly - how anyone can look at it and see any kind of truth is baffling to me.


9.   Man of Steel
Speaking of God - this is probably the most obvious tribute to our father in the movies this year.  I absolutely love this classic tale, redone for the 21st century game.  The Reeve movies, and to a lesser extent the Brian Singer tribute, were good for their time; but this is Supes done up right for the new millennium.   Snyder delivers outstanding action set-pieces and a surprisingly deep story with lots of biblical and spiritual themes to chew on.  Love the ending with Zod - and again, my God given clarity of conscience and thought makes this one easy.  Can't wait for the sequel, though part of me wishes they would incorporate Nolan's bat instead of an entirely new one; never mind that it's Daredevil.

8.  Rush
Oh hells yes.  Didn't know I could ever be so fascinated by race car driving, which traditionally I've found about as exciting as soccer.  Apologies of course to my friends who enjoy 90 minutes of not scoring.  Ron Howard brings an amazingly mature and assured hand to weaving the perfect rivalry film - yes, it is a film; but because it's Howard it is grounded in what makes movies great.  Action, a bit of sex that's actually sexy, and two superb performances by actors who inhabit the souls of the real life people they portray.  A fascinating ride that's also a lot of fun, both as a beautiful period piece and an exploration of a different day and age.

7.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Much lighter and frothier than the Lord of the Rings saga, still, this journey for me is one well worth taking.  Loved the action and pace, the great production design and VFX; thankfully the story and characters are just good enough to draw me in and hold my interest.  Can't wait for the conclusion.

6.  Catching Fire
Woot woot - the second installment of this surprisingly watchable tale, adapted from the mega-best selling young adult book series, is even better than the first.  With quite a bit more of a modest budget than many of the bigger franchises out there, the writers and director manage to envelope us into a grim dystopian future and still keep us hopeful for our heroine.

5.  Saving Mr. Banks
Much like last years "Flight" - this one is tough to watch for someone who has had alcoholics in their life.  The sequences with Thompson and Hanks are wonderfully sentimental - but the flashbacks are difficult to get through.  Thankfully, the filmmakers manage to bridge the disconnect very well in the end, and provide a satisfying story of hope over disfunction, even a disfunction which never completely recedes.  The real life story of P.L. Travers is quite a bit darker than what is portrayed here, but if I wanted to watch a documentary instead I wouldn't be as big of a movie fan that I am.

4. Frozen
A GREAT Disney movie.  Like "Tangled" - the Disney animation studios have outdone their Pixar brethren again, by a lot.  There's so much to love here, great animation, story, songs and a healthy dose of humor that makes these things so much fun for parents and kids to enjoy together.  Olaf is a revelation - I thought after watching the teaser that he would be lame.  Come to find out, he rocks.  And speaking of rocks - the trolls are great as well.  Lots to savor, not the least of which is the unconventional act of true love that comes to fruition at the movie's end.  A classic for the ages.

3.  Iron Man 3
Simply a great superhero movie.  A fantastic redemption from the uneven Iron Man 2 - this one has a great script and director from Shane Black, a very talented filmmaker in the mold of Tarentino, who is an expert at taking old tropes and making them fresh.  Love the action, love the humor, love Gwyneth Paltrow- and that my friends, is a miracle in movie making.

2. Lone Survivor
The only real film on this list, with the possible exception of "Rush" - this is yet another great military movie.  Like Zero Dark Thirty, my number one movie last year, this one does the troops right and shows it all, the good and the bad, simply the truth - and we are all better for it.  Not easy to watch at times, graphic and unflinching, "Lone Survivor" is in the end a fitting tribute to the courage and sacrifice that our soldiers have made for us in staving off the forces of evil.

1.  Gravity
A game changing movie from one of my favorite directors - Gravity has it all; action, suspense, darkness and hope, all wrapped up in a powerful 90 minute package of mind blowing VFX and a surprisingly potent spiritual component.  With groundbreaking camera techniques and masterful editing, this movie is truly unlike anything you've seen before, and I cannot speak highly enough about it - both from a technical and emotional perspective.  If you haven't seen it - run, don't walk, to your nearest Imax facility before it goes away.  If you do miss it - you can come to my house and watch it on my 55" television from 3 feet away.

**********

Well that's it for the movies in 2013 - overall I have to say there were a lot more movies I loved than movies I didn't .  The one big disappointment for me was "American Hustle" which seemed to be a very unfunny "comedy" that was actually a dour Martin Scorcese-light.  The acting was good, especially Amy Adams who had a much more difficult role than Jenny Lawrence, but overall I just wanted to get away from these people - they were not only unlikable, but not interesting enough to get past that.

As for "12 Years a Slave" - I do want to see it, but I will be fully aware that I'm watching a film, not a movie - as it certainly doesn't look to be entertaining whatsoever.  Ah well.

2014 in movies is already off too an amazing start, as "The Lego Movie" is already firmly ensconced in my top spot!  Here's hoping that something even more amazing will come along to usurp it.

More of this, less of that...

Happy New Year to one and all.  2013 was fair enough, but there are certain things I want less of.

First and foremost, I want less outrage.  From everyone.  If 2012 was the emergence of perpetual outrage, 2013 was that anger coming fully into fruition.  In 2014, I refuse to be outraged.

In tandem with less outrage, I expect far fewer shrill accusations and labels. There were far too many vicious attacks this year - from all manner of idiots on both sides of the aisle, though admittedly from this right of center fellow's perspective, it always seems that the left has nearly cornered the market on most of the most outrageous smears.

Back in twenty aught eight, when Barry ascended the throne - I half joked among my liberal buddies that they couldn't call "racist" every 10 seconds anymore now that a good majority of voting citizens had put a black man in office.  But now, as the "r" word has been used to death in 2013 beyond all decorum or sense of reason, I am no longer joking.

As far as I'm concerned, the terms "racist" and "racism" have lost all meaning in any actual discussion.  Much as any "Hitler" comparison that you draw to your political opponent means that you are lazy and have lost the argument, this now also applies to any and all accusations of racism.  I don't want to hear the word, because it's been sucked dry and thoroughly used up by the hysterical left.

So that's what I want less of.  As for what I want more of - I only ask for one thing.

More shame.

I want more shame.  Less shamelessness.

From Miley, to Wiener to the crack smoking mayor of Toronto, I have absolutely had it with all these dick holes who think it's okay to be walking trainwrecks.  Lance Armstrong - you are a disgrace.  Dennis Rodman - North Korea is evil, the government kills tens of thousands every year.

All of you, yes Kim and Kanye, and I'm including you too, all you "Real Housewives" out there - find some shame.

Quickly.

I also want more hope and less hopelessness.  More humility and less hubris.  You know, the usual stuff.  Thankfully, the optimist in me truly believes this will be the way it is.  I am forever upbeat about the future - as my life has been so amazing and fantastic so far, I can't help but feel this way.

God bless us, every one.

A recap...

The old blog has been pretty heavy lately - I promise I'll get to lighter stuff soon enough, but for now let's recap...

I grew up a liberal in Berkeley California - and I was always taught to think for myself and question authority.  Unfortunately when I actually started doing so - I got shouted down, called names, lost friends - I was basically ostracized by many who had once told me to speak my mind.  Thankfully my close friends all stuck by me.

As I got through college and then out into the  real world, traveling to over 30 different countries, many of them 3rd world, as a camera operator and working with various charitable organizations - I became more and more convinced that a capitalist free market system was the only salvation for the planet; I also recognized that I lived in the greatest country on earth.

Over a decade I was transformed from a statist liberal - into a fiscal conservative and pro-military hawk, though still with quite a few liberal tendencies on social issues.

My true friends and of course my family, almost all of whom are liberal - still love me, we just don't talk politics.  But far too many acquaintances on the left that I encounter these days are super fast on the draw with the "r" word - racism, which is laughable to me and has lost all meaning.

I have also been called "evil" and "a bad person" on lil' old facebook.  I have been summarily de-friended by many who I assume have been unable to support their arguments and have been beaten up pretty bad by my unrelenting principles and beliefs.

But I don't bear any one of them ill will, and I don't believe a single one of them to be bad people.  They are simply lost - and ignorant of the real world.  Me, I've seen it first hand; I get it... not from some book or some socialist professor; I've dealt with it, poverty and real injustice in my face.  But the world is a big and complicated place and it demands logic and critical thinking, not emotional, reactionary rhetoric.

I pray on a regular basis that those without faith, those without a compass, those who are lost in their own anger and fear - will someday see the light.  That they can recognize that we are indeed put on this earth to help one another, but we must be on guard against the false compassion and the power hungry tyranny that threatens to bust forth in the name of "social justice" or being "fair"from the left.

You cannot legislate morality and you cannot insure that the world is "fair" from a political office.  You can only simply do your best to serve the people by insuring that they keep their freedom and individual liberty.  Only by this basic tenet will we all have the best chance to prosper; there is no quick fix, no miracle cure for greed in the human heart.  You cannot pass laws, draw up regulations, that will right every single wrong or insure a utopia.  

The best approach is, and always will be - to have faith in the creator and preserve as much personal liberty to the individual as we all can stand.  Only then, will we even have a remote chance at heaven on earth.

Hypothetical.

Say I was in an argument with a family member, perhaps a family member that I didn't always get along with - but a family member non the less.  A person that I would have to live with and deal with for the rest of my life.  And a family member that in the end, I would have to admit that I loved.

Now in this argument, let's say I was WAY right and they just happened to be WAY wrong.  But being a stubborn member of my family they were loathe to admit this.

Still, I lay out the evidence and decisively show that I am 100% right, and they are 100% wrong.

As they realize this, what should I do?

A.  Do a victory dance and multiple hip thrusts in their face.

B. Smirk and pshhh and turn my back and mumble "whatever".

or

C.  Be gracious and accommodating and even "admit" some fault of my own and find some way to give some ground even if I feel that I shouldn't give anything.


Do you see where I'm going with this?

First, a question.

What is leadership?

Is being arrogant and condescending with your opponents always the best approach? Even when your opponents are your fellow Americans?  And not just fellow Americans, but fellow civil servants who love their country.

Is it wise to have an unrelenting and unbending ego that blinds you to the big picture?

If I say to someone that I feel I have humiliated, "Yeah, well that's what you get.  NOW BEND DOWN AND SUCK ON IT YOU EXTORTIONIST ASSHOLE!!"  Does that really get me where I want to go?


Now don't mistake my hypothesis here - I don't for a second feel that the GOP is entirely, or even largely wrong.  But if I was a democrat, and my ship was on fire and headed for the rocks I might think twice about kicking republicans overboard just because they keep bothering me with a pesky fire extinguisher and keep grabbing onto the wheel.

Alas, I fear that our president is so hopelessly consumed by his ego, which is saturated with a dangerous infantilism that is fairly common for people his age and of his political bent - that he cannot for a moment see the forest for the trees.

Ultimately, it's his deep down fear and loathing of American exceptionalism that is blinding him to his obligations as our leader.  So instead of stepping back and understanding, that just because he has the momentary tactical advantage - he shouldn't necessarily use it to crush his adversaries; as these adversaries are ultimately on the same team as he is.  Ultimately, they are his family.

For me to unload on and humiliate an in-law, or a crazy cousin or uncle - just because I happen to be right on whatever topic has come up; would not only be selfish and childish, it would ultimately be destructive to my family.

Obama needs to take a breath, step outside of himself and understand that an unconditional surrender from the republicans simply isn't going to happen.  He has within his grasp the ability to at least temporarily dodge the rocks and put a damper on the flames - and he can do it with saving face and getting almost all of what he wants.

But he CAN'T expect the GOP to turn their backs on the people that elected them and get nothing for their efforts.  Even if, for arguments sake, we say that their efforts were entirely foolish.

For the record - I personally don't think the GOP was that far out of line; I would have preferred a fight for a delay of the ACA for the individual and a fight to make congress obligated to sign up for it.  Not a fight to defund; Obamacare will undoubtedly crash and burn on it's own, but that's neither here nor there and beside my point.

If Obama thinks the GOP will blink at this point as the debt ceiling deadline approaches, he is a fool.  And if we default it won't matter the amount of media spin - ultimately his administration, and he himself will bear the blunt of the blame for the beginning of the end in our country.

It's the law of the land, deal with it!

In other words, even though we passed this shitty legislation that most Americans are against in the shittiest and shadiest way possible - now we expect you to roll over and take it.

Wrong.



This law sucks, and the way it was passed sucks.  And now, while I may not agree with the strategy of the GOP, I am in fact grateful that they are at least fighting.

And it makes my head spin that the democrats retaliate by humiliating veterans and dragging senior citizens from their homes.  And liberals wonder why this administration is so despised.

And they are SHOCKED that conservatives are being less than cooperative.  Right.

Fantastic.

Good job ass-clowns of Oakland, LA and New York!  Nothing says justice like smashing up your own stores and beating up your own neighbors.  Now you've convinced me that I was way off on this Zimmerman thing - I should've known better!  Rather than look at the evidence and the law, FUCK IT.  Just start smashing shit.  Awesome!

Clearly this is all whitey's fault.

Oh by the way... how's that 50% drop out rate going?  How's that 70% of babies born out of wedlock thing working out? Still having fun with that 40% of the prison population thing?  And best of all the insanely high murder rate - blacks make up 16% of the population, they have 49% of the homicides and 93% of them are black on black.

And now black kids should be afraid to go get some Skittles because of maniacal white people with guns. (Never mind that Zimmerman was Hispanic).

Huh?

Fantastic.  You've convinced me.  Just stay the fuck out of my neighborhood.

And if you do wake up and realize that you've been duped by race hustlers who don't give two shits about you or your community, then we might have something to talk about.

Just DON'T CARE

Omg, the stupid Zim trial is now the lead story on my fave show on Fox, The Five. I could care less about this crap, really.

Don't care what the verdict is, don't care about this incident whatsoever. There are tons of cases just like this all the time, and the media chooses to inflate this into race baiting nonsense purely for ratings and all it does is piss people off.  Eff Zimmerman, eff racialists, eff social justice, eff them all right in the ear.

I don't give two shits what the jury does and don't give a flying fuck at a rolling donut if morons riot and burn down their own neighborhoods when this asshole walks.

A part of me though wishes, that more people cared about the every day violence in lower income communities. But no, it's far more productive to harp on about a "white Hispanic" (whatever that is) who like a wannabe vigilante dummy confronted some punk kid who decided in turn to beat his ass and then got shot for it.

Can you tell I despise both parties in this case? It's true, they both piss me off. I'm an equal opportunity hater. I have little use for idiots no matter what convenient pigeon hole the media tries to ram them into.

Also, notice that I just stick to the facts of the case?  It blows my mind how many people have been duped into seeing an agenda of "good" vs. "evil" rather than a tragedy with deeply flawed human beings on both sides.  There are no winners here and I REFUSE to give either side too much credit or blame.

In all honestly if I was on the jury I could probably be convinced to find the Zimster guilty of something, but I have enough of a rudimentary knowledge of criminal law to understand that what happened wasn't anything close to murder one and that it wasn't really anywhere near murder two either. "Beyond a reasonable doubt" means what it means.

In any event, if the jury does come down and find Zimmy guilty of murder, I will be mildly disappointed and then get on with my life.  If they find him guilty of manslaughter I will be perfectly fine with it, if they find him not guilty I'll be okay with that as well.

The truth is, I can't have a really strong opinion about the particulars of the case because I've been trying my best to avoid them!

But even as someone who doesn't know the mechanics of the case - as a truth seeker who is intellectually as honest as I can be and about as color blind as anyone I know, it's clear Mr. Z is not a murderer.  He may very well be guilty of manslaughter (either voluntary or involuntary) or he may have committed a justifiable homicide in self defense.  Either way I don't really know and I really really really DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

Or maybe I'm just a racist.

And that, more than anything is what pisses me off about this case. Forget the pedestrian facts of the case, forget that this shit is really nothing more than a dime a dozen homicide with tragic circumstances.

Let's look at it for what it is - A CRIME AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE.

What the fuck ever.

I can use all the logic and reason in the world and none of it makes a difference to the race baiters, both black and white.  Honestly, their stupidity makes me want to say "Okay, whatever, I'm a racist. So what? Fuck you." And that is a bad thing because it means that someone who has tried to be thoughtful and lead a tolerant existence for all of his life is now enraged enough to entertain the idea that the majority of these social justice dopes aren't worth even talking to.

Sigh.

Really I should feel pity.  Pity for the white folks who are so full of self loathing and guilt that they can't see the banal and boring truth of this tragedy.  Pity for the black folks who are so full of anger over perceived injustices, real ones in the past and all too often imagined ones in the present, that they sling the "r" word about randomly as a catch all exertion of power to bring an absolute end to any and all intellectual discussion.

The word "racist" has lost all actual meaning and is now only used as a cudgel, a blunt instrument that says SHUT THE FUCK UP to any flicker of truth that might flare up among the embers of discord and divide so carefully stoked by academic elites and their working class ghetto pawns.

Well guess what.  I ain't buying it.  And I DON'T CARE.

And whatever decision the jury delivers, I won't lose a wink of sleep over it.

Convenient Libertarian

I admit it, I want my liberty only to the point of my safety.  In this way I FAIL as a "libertarian".  Were it not for the libertarian party's penchant for being anti-military and anti-police, I would say I had found a home.  I'm with them on taxes, I'm with them on guns, I'm with them on social issues.

But on this NSA thing, I drift towards the middle.  Glenn Beck and Michael Moore are in agreement that NSA data-mining is wrong.  I'm of the opinion that they both are out to lunch on this issue.

First of all - anyone who is actually surprised or shocked that such a program exists, and has existed for half a century, is either incredibly stupid or naive.  And anyone who doesn't think there are far more invasive programs also in place is also one of these two adjectives.

I'm happy to blast Obama and his administration on the seemingly endless parade of scandals; but the government collecting a massive data-base of phone calls is not one of them.  I support my president on this issue and hope the program and other similar ones continue.

I guess I'm not a true libertarian in the sense that I don't feel the need to be free from the state when it comes to me and my family surviving on this planet.  Radical Islam, both the millions of zealots who openly proclaim it and the millions more who are complicit in it's actions, is the single greatest threat to our way of life and freedom in the world.  I want my government to do what I pay it to do and make sure that it doesn't grow back to what it was pre-9/11.

It is our military and it is our intelligence community that keeps us safe.  When we handicap them we put our own lives in jeopardy.

This is not to say that there shouldn't be some oversight, but I put the emphasis on "some".  Realistically, we have to concede that there is some dark shit afoot that must be allowed to exist, so that the bad guys are kept at bay.

This douche bag Snowden is a traitor to his country.  If he really felt compelled by his conscience to reveal the NSA data-mining program, there are a million ways he could of done so without fleeing to China, of all places, like a chicken-shit.

By running like a little bitch to the nastiest government on earth, he has shown his true colors - that he has no love for the USA and that he will sell us all out to an evil empire as long as he is kept safe.

And so, to all my right wing friends, those especially who I admire who are farther right than me - I cannot condemn the worst president in half a century along with you on this issue.  I am rather disgusted by his "defense" of this program, a typical Obama mushy / ignorant / apologetic / pointless warble at a random press conference a week ago - but I do stand behind him and our intelligence community.

I have no problem with the government keeping track of my phone calls and emails.  And if they want to listen in or read them then they are welcome to be bored silly.  If that's what it takes to keep the dogs at bay and prevent them from slitting my throat, then I welcome this oversight.

And really, I have little doubt that the vast majority of conservatives, as well as many right of center libertarians, would agree with me if there was a republican president in office.  I don't appreciate the hypocrisy evident by those on the far right who condemn Obama, it's glaringly obvious.

Is the long honeymoon finally winding down?

Responding (here rather than there) to a liberal friends half-hearted and half-joking facebook post which states -

"Looks like our Prez chose this month to give his critics the first actual shreds of evidence of what they'd been accusing him of for 4 years. Last week: tyrannical over-reach. Today: apology speech. Looking forward to next week's reveal of Kenyan birth certificate."

Fast and Furious, Solyndra, Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, Van Jones, Bowing to the Saudi King, Middle East Apology Tour, A trillion dollars spent on Shovel-Ready Jobs that DIDN'T EXIST, White House Closed - Gitmo Open, 120 days of Golf (Bush 24), etc. etc.

Yep, nothing to see here but a pervasive culture of corruption and intimidation and an economy IN THE TOILET.  Thank goodness the sheen is off and the rest of you can finally see what this administration thinks of the first amendment.  Newsflash: it wasn't created to protect popular speech, it was created to protect UN-popular speech and the IRS scandal is mind blowing in it's disregard for our
Constitution and is stunning even to an ardent anti-Obama wingnut like myself.

And as far as I can see he hasn't owned jack shit.  He keeps saying the first time he heard about this stuff was when he saw it on the news.  So which is it - is he cunning and devious or staggeringly stupid and out of touch with the people under him?

In all honesty, my heart is a bit broken for our country, that this dangerously under-qualified clown has indeed met my worst fears and is threatening to exceed them.  I'll admit that the viscous and partisan part of me was initially happy that this dope finally managed to get the media to stop slobbering all over his wang by being such a fuck up - but deep down I really am sad.

Sad that his charade is now so transparent for all but the biggest kool-aid drinkers, sad that I myself was way more right than I ever wanted to be about him.

Harmless

Much like the abortion issue, I recently have found myself on much less sure footing than I used to be when it comes to the legalization of marijuana.

I've always thought our government should pretty much stay out of what people do to themselves on their own time.  Marijuana seems manageable enough, certainly more so than alcohol, which has wrecked havoc on many a life and loved one, the latter especially with me.

But as bad as alcohol is, and as certain as I have been that pot is more benign, lately I'm not so sure.

It all stems back from this PSA, it came out the year I graduated high school, and I think it sums up what's bad about marijuana just about perfectly.



And through my adult life I would occasionally cross paths with habitual smokers - not a lot of them, but without a doubt every single one of them, while I was happy to interact with them, I made a conscious decision to keep them out of my life.  Granted, none of them were as bad as this...



But all the same, the fog they live in, not the literal one, but the delusion that weed is "harmless" is simply not true.

Marijuana is highly addictive.  I don't need to cite a source or look it up - I've seen it with my own eyes.  People that "wake and bake" ad infinitum, are serious, serious addicts.  Cannabis is incredibly insidious and this is something that even the most die hard liberal would be hard pressed to deny with a straight face.

But I am, for now, still in favor of making weed legal for recreational use.  The medical thing is fine too I guess, though I have the feeling that it's pretty much a crock of shit for all but the most seriously ill people.  "Medical" marijuana has always been pushed by the stoner crowd, and I've never been fooled by it.  The vast majority of these folks don't give a rats ass about cancer, they just want to get lit.  I say, they're welcome to it, but don't expect me to like it or say it's okay for my kid to do it.

People smoking pot smell like dried skunk anus.

People smoking pot are generally slow witted and get worse with habitual use.  Don't ask me to look it up - I know a few people who did it every day in high school, and I see them on occasion today.  They are fucked up, serious brain ding.

Yeah, I guess I'll take stoners over drunks, but really, it's kind of like saying I prefer a moldy sandwich over a rotten egg.  I have little use for either.

Oh I'm sorry, do I make you uncomfortable?

Suspect #2 is in custody and is never seeing the light of day again.  I'm indifferent to whether he gets the death penalty or not.  It is however, my fondest wish that he get no miranda and no trial.  He should be interrogated swiftly and firmly and then be sent to gitmo without a second thought.

Evil has been stopped today, now it should be vanquished. Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  Bring on the water board.

Enough with the kid gloves, enough with the bullshit.  The drones are a good start, but we can do more.  We can always do more.  We must stop at nothing to keep our shores and our children safe.  This is war.

And while I'm not surprised that this act of terror, this slipshod barbarity, was yet another jihad, I'm not happy about it.  Well, maybe a little, because I said from the very beginning that there would be an al qaeda connection.  But I'm not nearly as happy as the liberals in my life are disappointed.

Don't believe me?  This article from Salon pretty much sums up the left and the MSM's true feelings in the matter.  I know they are relieved as I am that the bad guys are caught and Americans are safe, but I also know deep down they are in anguish that once again evil came with a prayer rug.  And even deeper down, they know this evil is here not because of what we have done but because of who we are.

Oh, and I won the bet with my wife that these terrorists would be radical Muslims.  I proclaimed, in our living room on Monday "This is radical Islam, no doubt."  The love of my life raised an eyebrow skeptically, not because she claims to be any expert or even cares really, but because she loves to cool me off when I think I'm hot shit and know everything.  "Alright, you're on.  A hundred bucks says this is some crazy white guy."

I got the text this morning, "Ok, and I owe you a hundred bucks."  Like I said, only happy a little.

And yet I am still mystified.  Mystified that it's okay to call every fringe group on the planet crazy and fucked up - except the one that has killed the most innocents.  Pro-lifers are fanatics.  Tea Party people are scary.  Right wingers are Fascists.  Gun advocates are violent.  Radical Muslims are...  WAIT A MINUTE HOLD ON YOU RACIST PIECE OF SHIT!!!

And yes, liberals are also reading comprehension impaired.   Read the next sentence very slowly.

I HAVE NEVER SAID THAT MUSLIMS ARE CRAZY AND FUCKED UP.  I HAVE ONLY SAID THAT RADICAL MUSLIMS ARE CRAZY AND FUCKED UP.

No matter how many times I say this - it doesn't seem to get through.  Oh well.  I guess I'm racist.  Whatever.  Don't care.

Radical Muslims are crazy and fucked up.  And they are far crazier and more fucked up than all the homegrown American idiots put together.

Radical Muslims mutilate women.  They chop off limbs.  They terrorize villages and chop off heads. They rape young boys - systematically.  They are genuinely and truly deranged and terrifying.  And there are millions of them.

Take the worst of the worst from our shores.  The Westbero Baptist Church assholes are crazy and could be called evil - but last I checked they haven't been lopping off limbs or throwing acid in school girl's faces.  There's also less than 100 of them.

And then let's look at the home grown evil doers that have actually raped and killed people.  Like say, Occupy Wall Street.  There's thousands of these knuckle heads and they have actually done some real damage.  And if the seemingly never ending list of crimes from these folks doesn't impress, how about an actual plot to blow up a bridge and kill innocent people?

Still not impressed?  Alright, then how about the Weather Underground, who more than once succeeded in killing people, including cops.  Of course, their members are now all rotting in prison for their crimes.  Oh wait, no scratch that.  They're actually out and highly successful, in positions of power and influence, including tenured faculty at Columbia University.  They get a pass because their socialist beliefs fall in line with the infantile progressives that sip latte's and text on their i-phones while bemoaning corporations.

So because there are these few rotten apples that have done evil of course means that I view ALL left wingers as murdering rapists, right?  Oh wait, no... I'm not a MASSIVE IDIOT.

And when I say that Radical Islam is evil, people couldn't possibly think that I meant ALL MUSLIMS were evil.  They would have to be MASSIVE IDIOTS to believe that.

Anyway...

I call evil evil when I see it, and I call it by it's name.  I am not uncomfortable saying that radical Islam is the greatest threat to our freedom on the planet and that we must fight it.

I'm dismayed at those who squirm at these words but are perfectly comfortable slandering pro-life or pro-gun people as lunatics and "just as bad" as the taliban.  That's like me saying Michael Moore is just as bad as al qaeda.  He's crazy, he's an asshole - but he ain't evil.  He's just a moron.

Now if he were to pull out a gun and blow Rush Limbaugh away, then we might have an argument to say he was "just as bad" as a suicide bomber.

And when a lone nutball kills an abortionist, as has happened in the past, a grand total of 8 times since Roe v. Wade - I can concede that he's evil and even that he's "just as bad" as the pieces of shit that bombed Boston on Monday.    But he's one guy.

But the pro-life movement is NOT evil.   Radical Islam IS.

Despite the isolated incidents of sexual assaults (a LOT more than 8) and even two murders in it's brief history and a plot to bomb and kill hundreds, Occupy Wall Street is NOT evil.  Radical Islam IS.

Radical Islam is a systematic system of beliefs in which the primary focus is the destruction of Israel and ultimately the United States and the end result for all western countries to come under a caliphate of a twisted version of the Muslim faith.

It has millions of followers who celebrate in the streets when Americans die.

It is evil.

I have no ill will to the real religion of Islam, and I in fact (unlike most of my liberal friends) have been to several Muslim countries and have made actual Muslim friends that I still keep in touch with.   I am a lover of all people and have a deep belief and faith that most all, including Muslims, ultimately want peace and prosperity for themselves and their children.

Just because angry liberals in this country make shrill condemnations that anyone who speaks out against the radical version of Islam is a xenophobe or a racist - doesn't make it so.   But if that's the only argument they have against those of us to speak the truth, then so be it.

I am happy to wear the names "racist" or "hate monger" as badges of honor if they come from cowards.

And I am content in my beliefs, so much so that I forgive the self loathing decadence of those who are quick to condemn my country and yet slow to recognize true malice that festers overseas and occasionally infects our shores.

Tonight I will sleep soundly, knowing that Suspect #2 is going away forever, a footnote in the long story that is our war against terror.  But tomorrow is another day and no doubt future challenges await.   There are those among us who through their jejune tantrums seek to intimidate those of us, the majority, who can recognize true evil when they see it and have the fortitude to call it as such.

These childish screechers are of little concern, because I know when the shit really hits the fan, as it did on 9/11, they will (much like the toddler who has his sippy cup snatched away) for a while, wake up and realize that the time for foolishness has ended, and they will join the rest of us, united as Americans.

Then peace time will likely return and they'll head back into the ball pit of self-doubt and selfishness.  But the grown ups will still be here for them if things should go bad again, with love in our hearts and malice towards none.

Except those that are actually evil.

Radicalized.

As I sit here Wolf Blitzer is speculating that the "right wing" may very well be behind the bombings at the Boston Marathon.  But my mind hasn't grasped just yet that we are under attack once again and the likely result will be little or no change in the world view from Wolf and other idiots like him.

No, I'm not ready to talk about this terrorism yet, as it is so fresh.  However...

Lately I have been thinking about Kermit Gosnall.  Click here at your own risk for a detailed summary of this monster's crimes.  Suffice it to say, because of the MSM's blatant non-coverage of this story, I am slowly but surely giving up hope that I can be reasonable with liberals over their sacred cow which is abortion on demand.  The Gosnall case contains more than enough murder and mayhem to warrant bombastic front page wall-to-wall coverage from the usual suspects, Nancy Grace and her ilk, and yet they mostly remain inexplicably silent, focusing instead on the murder trial of a psycho liar who happens to be a reasonably good looking young woman.  Is the liberal press' silence political?  Is the Pope Catholic?

I have always declared myself "pro-choice" here and to my friends, recognizing intellectually that as abhorrent as the procedure is - we are bound to have far less of them if we keep it safe and legal.  But the Gosnall case has me reconsidering my cavalier views.  If the result of a blind adherence to the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy at any time and for any reason - is that we willfully ignore the most heinous and outrageous abuse of this dictum, then where does true evil lie?  And where does that leave someone like myself who is God fearing and has a deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong?

This man butchered baby after baby after baby after baby.  Mostly black babies.  Mostly poor babies. It boggles my mind that so many are turning a blind eye to this great evil.  Not because it  they are too revolted to speak of it - we have entire museums devoted to equally horrific atrocities - but because it doesn't quite fit the liberal idea of freedom.  Witness this piece of brilliance sent to me by my good friend Cali.

I finally may be coming around to radicalization.  I refuse to be on the side that is casual about killing a baby.  Planned Parenthood's official stance is that if a baby's spinal cord is snapped inside the womb, it is a medical procedure.  Outside the womb, they could charitably be called "hazy on their stance".   I cannot, in good conscience, share either of these views - even if it means that I find myself in the company of "crazy" people who believe that new life is innocent and sacred and should be defended.

I'll concede that the waters are a bit murkier in the early months of a pregnancy.  My wife and I gave the nickname "rice grain" to the zygote inside her belly when we learned she was pregnant.  I knew from google, that my future child was literally the size of a grain of rice at less than 2 months after conception.  And yet, had Beverly miscarried at that point, I have no doubt that we both would have been devastated.  We were so proud and happy that we had made a child, even one as small as a speck, and that it would grow and emerge.  To lose that life, even a "rice grain" would surely have been traumatic.

And yes, I have been to Africa - I have seen the devastation of AIDS and abandoned babies that a society without adequate reproductive health care can bring upon the world.  I saw a baby, starving to death in front of me in her mother's arms.  What is the humane path here?  Would it be more humane of the mother to have aborted this child?  It is a blunt question that I wrestle with often, reflecting on the most desperate of circumstances and the sheer volume of children on this planet who suffer because they emerge into a sphere of poverty and desperation.

There are no easy answers on this issue.  In the real world, it is complicated, it is difficult.

But God has been helping me find my way.  

I often take my little girl to a park 3 blocks from our house.  It is a softball field, next to nice basketball and tennis courts, next to a great playground, next to a beautiful field of grass and trees that is not quite large enough for idiot soccer players to ruin.  The park is made even more peaceful and serene because it is directly adjacent to Valhalla Cemetery, an enormous but old and beautiful graveyard which is home to a large military contingent from World War I, as well as a fair amount of the old guard from Hollywood including Oliver Hardy.  

In the park there are a couple of trees suitable for climbing, but the one Natalie likes best is right along the chain-link fence at the cemetery border.  Just on the other side of the links is a very long row of truncated grave sites, seemingly crammed in against the fence.  But they are not crammed in, they are short graves because these are the graves of babies.  Infants.  Most were only on this earth for a few days at most.

Most of these babies died ages ago.  The majority of the graves are dated in the 1960's with only a handful from the 70's.  One grave in particular caught my eye two Saturdays ago.  It was the grave of a baby who had only lived 2 days in 1965.  The grave caught my eye because atop of it sat a pristine white vase holding a batch of fresh spring flowers.

This angel had just had a visitor, like, probably earlier in the morning.  I looked closer.  October 6th, 1965, was the date of death.  This baby died in October - exactly 48 years and 6 months ago.  Nearly half a century ago this baby was born and died two days later.  And 48 years and 6 months to the day later, fresh flowers had arrived right on schedule.

Not even a yearly anniversary, 48 1/2 years precisely. The love for this angel was still no doubt as fresh in someone's heart as those flowers.

And then there's Kermit Gosnall.  And then there are those of us who are flippant about "terminating a pregnancy".  I have been in this group at times.  It's easy to fall into the trap.  

"Who is going to care for that baby?  Republicans?" 

This is an actual argument I've heard from pro-choicers.  

In the face of Kermit Gosnall, in the face of those flowers, it seems to be an absurd position.

Intellectually, I have already been radicalized past the point of any sympathy at all for people in this country who use abortion as a form of birth control.  If you are privileged, as most people who are born in this country are, there really is no excuse for not stepping up and doing what is right.  That one to me is easy.  Sandra Fluke and other idiots like her who demand free birth control and free abortion on demand so they can do what feels good at any time without consequences are plainly despicable.  

But in the cases of rape and incest, again the waters are murkier .  

How can I tell someone who has endured unspeakable violence what her choice should be?  On the other hand, are we really blaming an unborn baby for the crimes of violence and/or sickness perpetrated against it's mother?

This is the part where many pro-choicers FLIP out for someone even daring to ask this.  I think it's a legitimate question, at the very least worthy of dialogue and discussion.  My heart tells me that the baby is innocent and should be protected, but my heart also tells me that a woman who has been subject to the life altering horror of rape, in any of it's awful forms, has rights too.  And I really can't speak for a woman who has endured this.  I don't understand how pro-lifers can't honestly address this quandary.  

Rape is soul shattering.  I've never been down that road of pain - I can say the baby is innocent and should be protected, but realistically I can never walk in the shoes of a woman who bears the scars of rape or incest, and I cannot deny her a say in the matter.  What about the baby's choice?  Yes, people should speak for the baby - but ultimately the mother must decide.  I would pray that she would choose life - but I cannot interfere with her decision, for history shows us that she will make it, legal or not.

This is my honest truth.  I don't have an easy answer for this one - but I also think it is absurd for someone who calls themselves "pro-choice" to blindly proclaim anyone who puts out the question of protecting an innocent baby as "crazy" or "anti-woman".

The real war on women is carried out every day across the globe by millions of zealots who still practice female genital mutilation and honor killings.  The war on women is not the compassionate pro-lifer whose heart tells them that an unborn baby is innocent.

And as for the third world, which I have been to and experienced more than a few times in my life - I cannot condone the starvation and depravation I have seen before my eyes.  If birth control and adequate health care was made available in these places, suffering would be greatly reduced.  This is a simple fact.  

It does not take away the simple truth that the unborn are innocent - but it does no good for pro-lifers to blindly proclaim that every pregnancy must come to term and every baby must be born NO MATTER WHAT.  People who say this sort of thing without any thought or introspection are not wrong in the most basic sense, but they are absent of any critical understanding of the real world.

Still, more often than not these days, I find myself leaning their way.  Especially when it comes to my country and all the resources we have at our disposal.  Does this mean I think African babies have less value than American ones?  Of course not.   But someone who lives in a shack with surrounded by raw sewage and filled with starving children, has a legitimate need for actual and practical mercy and compassion.  Not platitudes without actual assistance.

And someone in the first world who has been brutalized into pregnancy, while their baby may be innocent, has the right to do what they feel they must do.  I cannot speak to their horror and they alone must decide.  Does this mean I'm okay with murdering babies?  I don't know.  Maybe it does.  I pray that it does not. I pray for God to help me with this.

No easy answers.  That's just the way it is.  The abortion question is not a simple matter.  If it were, most of us would be on one side of the issue.  

Still, I keep going back to those flowers.