how to END THE DRUG WAR TODAY

I am so tired of hearing about all the law enforcement guys (husbands; sons; fathers) who are dying because of the so-called DRUG WAR. They're getting mowed down in the crossfire. I think all governments should legalize drugs, then the government should sell the drugs pure and for about a $1 per ounce. Those drug cartel bastards and mafia assholes would starve to death. Drug War over. THEN, we could turn our efforts and attention to HELPing those who can't control their drug appetite, instead of trying to JAIL those folks. Our priorities are all f'd up in this country!

STOP COMPLAINING!

Just watched a documentary about a little girl dying of some weird disease (leprosy-like) in a hospital ward. She can't go out. She can't go home. And she's recently watched all her friends (with similar diseases) die. She's the last one alive. Yet, this little 8-year-old girl is all smiles and loves her Mommy and Nintendo DS. What an amazing example of humanity. What the hell do we have to complain about?

WHY DOES GOD SHUN STEM CELLS?

What's the big deal with stem cell research? I've been hearing about stem cell research for several years and I'm very knowledgeable about the Bible. I don't see anything in the Bible that would be against the healing possibilities of born-with-it-dangling-from-your-belly stem cells. If I were God, the prominence of the umbilical cord would be my way of bringing attention to stem cells so that mankind could utilize the life-sustaining power in them. I just recently found out that--for years apparently--the Christian church has vehemently opposed stem cell research. Why?

How do you feel about stem cell research?

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

Interesting article on the similarities between a Masonic ritual and one that Joseph Smith, apparently, stole from them:
http://packham.n4m.org/mason-endow.htm

I love religion. Don't you? So much changes so often. True Christians believe the Earth is flat. True Christians believe the Earth is round. God teaches the Earth is center of solar system. God made the sun center, just like his Son was center. God says it's okay to have several wives. Nope, now religion teaches that this is immoral and despicable. Jesus hates stem cell research. It can cure cancer? Jesus is okay with that. Jesus says stem cell research is good. Of course, God nor Jesus said any of these things, but you'd think they did cuz that's what the modern church of that time taught. I wonder what fundamental religious beliefs will change tomorrow?

I HATE "SPECIAL" FEATURES

I hate DVD special features that show the magic behind the making of the movie. This, without fail, leads me to be less enchanted by the films that have so endeared themselves to my imagination so as to become a genuine part of my life experience. An example of this would be JURASSIC PARK. I've seen JP many, many times and can nearly quote the film from Universal Logo to the last credit. It's the first movie that I remember watching in the theatre with my father. I fondly remember my Father joking, as we walked past the Mall's hedge bushes enroute to the parking lot, that I should walk closest to the bushes in case a velociraptor jumped out from the bushes--giving him more time to escape. Remember kids, you don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the guy beside you. I read the book (and its sequel) and I wore out the VHS copy that Uncle Wayne and Aunt Becky gave me as a gift. Fast forward 16 years. I recently watched a special feature about the mistakes in Jurassic Park. For example, in the scene where a tyrannasaur is nudging a jeep over a steep cliff [that had just been level ground moments before] there is a visible safety wire keeping the animatronic T-Rex from injuring the actors inside the vehicle. I will never watch Jurassic Park with the same awe, nor will it make me feel like a kid again. Most likely, I will feel like a douche for not noticing that Grant teaches that velociraptors have a long middle claw, when later in the film the claw is clearly shown on the side of the foot. I hate special features. And I vow to never watch one on Hunt for Red October, lest the same fate befall one of my favorite films of all time.

ASININE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Okay, I love CHICK-FIL-A, I do. When I worked at the JCPenney in the mall, I ate there almost every day. #1 please. I don't know if it's still around now, but they used to have a commercial that said something like we didn't invent the chicken sandwich--we just perfected it, which, I always thought, was rather humorous and witty.

As with many things, the US Military broadcasters on AFN (the Armed Forces Network) are clumsy and unprofessional. Sometimes, they say things that nearly cause an immediate aneurysm in the back of my head. Currently, they play an AFN-Radio commercial several times each day that makes me want to yell obscenities as a way to depressurize my logic before it explodes. The tagline from this commercial wins Asinine Comment of the Day.

The commercial says:
We didn't invent great music, we just perfected it.

You, AFN, are a radio station. You don't do shit but play music. You can't perfect music, because you don't make music. ARGH!!! Stab me in the eye with a spoon!!!

MOST RIDICULOUS HOGWASH EVER

I have just read the most ridiculous horseshit ever:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com

This is the most sensationalist bullcrap and people like this are why we're all headed for worldwide destruction at the hands of these mentally unstable fanatics. This mindnumbing idiot accuses everyone from Sarah Palin to Bill Clinton of being a Satanist. Just reading this moron's rantings makes my logical mind ache. Organized religion has created these kooks and I wish both categories would disappear. Go back to the rock you crawled out from under, sir! The use of the word pastor as a description for this piece of excrement is an abomination. He knows the power of the dark and sensational to draw readers/followers, so he exploits that my preaching about the darkside instead of truly uplifting material. To yell and holler about such evil things is to have gotten close to them in your heart. That's why the Bible, that this man perverts, says light has no fellowship with darkness. Thus, since Pastor Texe Marr has fellowshiped with darkness enough to know what to rail against, he then must too be darkness--not unlike that quack BOB LARSON. Hypocrite.

PERCHANCE THE DOG

Another great line from Byron:

What is the worst? Nay do not ask --
In pity from the search forbear:
Smile on -- nor venture to unmask
Man's heart, and view the Hell that's there.

FRINGE

I really want to love this new show FRINGE. I want to love it because my wife loves it, so I want to enjoy it with her and talk about it with her. And, too, because it comes from the same creative team that gave me a new Star Trek movie that didn't suck!

However, I have the following problems with this new show:
1) The lead character is boring. I'm sorry, I love a good, strong female role, but my wife and I both agree that Anna Torv does not cut it. It's like the show's casting director tried to shoehorn a beautiful face into a serious role. Scully wasn't the perfect body, but she was tough and vulnerable and we loved her. Anna Torv is no Dana Scully. After watching a couple of episodes back-to-back, yesterday, I suddenly became aware that I got slightly irritated as soon as Torv's character (Agent Olivia Dunham) appeared onscreen. I don't care what happens to her character--I'm not emotionally invested in her--I just want to see as much of the three lab rats as I can. Peter (Joshua Jackson), Walter (John Noble), and Asteroid (Jasika Nicole) far outshine Torv's impression of Claire Forlani--if I wanted to see Claire Forlani's facial mannerisms, I'd watch Claire Forlani--and they consistently steal the show. If it wasn't for those characters, I would've stopped watching long ago.

2) The focus, of each episode, is on the investigation of that particular episode, whether it be a death or crime. This is not what is interesting about the show. The FRINGE science is what's interesting about the show and why people are watching. But the wacko science is taking a backseat to crappy plots that are uninvolving for the audience. WTF are these guys thinking? I don't care who kidnapped the woman and turned her into some morbid piece of artwork--I can watch that on CSI--what I care about is the little boy who mysteriously knows when and where the killer will strike. The show is highlighting the wrong part of the plot to be worthy of watching! They need to differentiate themselves from every other investigation TV show. I don't want to watch another CSI--I was happy with the Las Vegas crew--I want to watch a continuation of the mysterious ideas and otherworldly fun of shows like the X-FILES, THRESHOLD, or TWILIGHT ZONE.

3) The cool possibilities of humanity, which I have long daydreamed about in my heart of hearts, is made common and everyday--explainable--in this series. We were wowed when Scott's consciousness was first transferred into Dunham's mind. The six subsequent times that she went into the tank became ordinary and, frankly, boring. If she goes in one more time, I think my inteligence will be so insulted, that I might just poop in my hand and throw it at the TV screen just to prove that I'm more evolved than the show's creative staff. What's worse is that she goes into this iron tank filled with water, but Walter simply performs a normal, ordinary hypnosis on her...what the bleeping point of the tank, if she's just going to be hypnotized by a quack doctor?!

The only saving grace of this show is that my wife loves it and that it asks some great questions. Some of these questions, I have pondered for many years, myself. For example, the Bible story God giving Adam dominion over all creation raised the thought that Adam might have been able to travel between solar systems and universes at the speed of thought, so that he could keep an eye on all creation. So, as a teenager, I began to wonder, do we all still have this power? Have we simply forgotten how to use it because we've convinced ourselves that we're limited by human existence? This almost exact same question was brought up in FRINGE. A doctor posits that we are born with infinite possibility and, as we grow and are taught limitations, that knowledge, as it were, actually does limit us. I think of this like an elephant tied to a small stick stuck in the ground. The elephant's trainer teaches the elephant that being tied down keeps the elephant from moving--later, though the elephant is tethered to the smallest of objects, the elephant refuses to attempt escape knowing that it cannot.

I have long wanted to write a book based on this idea, but never have because I thought it wasn't viable. It kills me that someone else has taken this same idea and profited from it. Missed opportunity. See, I limited myself.

UPDATE: I just watched the final episode of season 1 and I take it all back; FRINGE is the greatest show on Earth. The very last scene of season 1 was such an amazing shock that I--literally--jumped out of my seat and screamed--much to my wife's chagrin! My wife, who recognized the individual who caused my reaction, felt that I was being overly dramatic. But, consider this: I had been sitting through every boring episode just to enjoy it with my wife. I hated this series. Great questions, boring plots. And, finally, this unexpected shock happens and I feel like a teenager again! It was awesome! So, no my lovely wife, it was not over-reacting. It was like unexpectedly seeing my favorite Uncle with a starring role in my favorite TV show!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! Few things in life give you a genuine euphoria. Thank you, JJ Abrams, for giving me exactly that!!!

WHY GAY MARRIAGE IS WRONG

from an email that i wholeheartedly agree with. i've taken the liberty of making a few wording adjustments.

The Top Ten Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong:

1. Homosexuality is not natural. Real people always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, air conditioning, and McDonald's.

2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall, or being around women will make you effeminate.

3. Legalising gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behaviour. People may even wish to marry their pets because, as we all know, animals have legal standing and can sign marriage contracts.

4. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, and interracial marriages are forbidden.

5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if homosexual marriage were allowed. The sanctity of Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage to her boy-toy would be utterly destroyed.

6. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Homosexual couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full enough yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children--just like straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion, which is absolutely necessary in a nation founded on freedom from religious tyranny. Remember that whole thing with King George III and the Church of England?

9. Children can never succeed without both male and female role models at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, urban development, or longer life spans.



NOTES:
-I have international readers. If English is not your native language, this blog post is very sarcastic.

-A final note on the presumed sanctity of heterosexual marriage: The Barna Research Group--and this data has been verified by Christian researchers seeking to debunk it--the divorce rate among Christians is more than 27%, which is higher than any other religious group in America.