So Cute, So Evil

Hi Def Bloggage

No big opinionated post here, but I thought I might just log on and brag a little about something. I have a brand…SPANKIN’ NEW SONY HDR-HC3 CAMCORDER BABY! OH YEAH!

From here on out, I’ll be working in sweet Hi Definition. It won’t be long before I’m able to sell my services on Craig’s List and other places on the net now that I’ve made the leap to Hi-def. See y’all in the movies!

NBC – Now Bashing Christ

A few days ago I received this article in an e-mail from a source whose name may want to remain anonymous. Apparently, NBC is turning into a channel for Christ bashing.

Following the lead of Rosie O'Donnell and ABC, NBC has decided to join in the bashing of Christians by airing a Madonna special in November. A specific date has not been released.

In the show, Madonna, wearing a fake crown of thorns, descends on a suspended mirrored, disco ball-type cross. When some Christian leaders complained about the mockery, NBC ignored their concerns.Making mockery of the crucifixion of Christ has been a trademark of Madonna for many years. In 1989 she had a video for the hit song "Like A Prayer." The video featured burning crosses, statues crying blood and Madonna--representing Jesus--freeing a saint from his sexual repression by seducing him. This is the same Madonna who once said, "Crucifixes are sexy because there's a naked man on them."

Kevin Reilly, an executive at NBC, said Madonna considered the scene mocking the crucifixion of Christ the highlight of her show. "We (NBC) viewed it and didn't see it as being inappropriate." Madonna considers mocking the crucifixion of Jesus the highlight of her show and NBC agrees.

OK, so it’s pretty apparent that Madonna is a complete I-don’t-want-to-say-it-on-this-blog-for-fear-that-young-kids-might-right-it-one-day. Same goes for NBC. So what are they going to do about it?

TAKE ACTION

1. Help us secure one million emails to NBC asking the network not to air the Madonna special. Click the link below to send your email.
2. Call your local NBC affiliate and ask them not to run the Madonna special.
3. Help get the word out about Madonna's mocking the crucifixion by forwarding this email to your entire mailing list and urging them to take action.
4. Print out the AFA Pass Along sheet and distribute at your Sunday School class and church. Ask your pastor to encourage members to send an email to NBC.

Anyone reading this can feel free to click the link at the top of this post and send NBC an e-mail if they so choose, but if you want to know why I’m not sending an e-mail to them, keep reading. I’m not sending them an e-mail for a number of reasons. One, it’s pretty clear that Madonna is an egotistical cretin. If this gets banned, you can bet that she’ll blame us Christians for it. It will rally her fans to her cause, she will be able to make herself look like a victim of folks who want to take away her first amendment rights (arguably) and she will win against her opposers in some way. I know this is what will happen because the same thing happened years ago when I helped boycott “Fahrenheit 9/11.” The movie became a hit. Same logic applies here.

My second reason for not signing is that while I am a firm believer in Christianity, I love my God, I love my Savior, etc., I also love my country and the basic laws we uphold. Imagine what would happen if I wasn’t allowed to express my political viewpoints around my College because people would disagree with me. No wait, that is exactly what happens. It makes me feel miserable sometimes. Why should I of all people deny others their right to speak just because I don’t like what they have to say?

But, yunno, in defense of those people who do want to sign the petition, I feel your anger. The moment I first read this article, I felt like someone should just up and smack Madonna for behaving like that. She’s comparable to that of a bratty child who shoves smaller kids on the playground and runs off just to get attention. But I beg of you, PLEASE don’t give her that kind of attention. She’s just asking for it.

Speaking of which, I just logged on to Animated-news.com to find that NBC’s up to other not-so-Christian ordeals. “Veggietales,” the famous children’s video series is airing on their network. Only with a few, shall we say, noticeable changes:

LOS ANGELES - Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber always had a moral message in their long-running "VeggieTales" video series. But now that the vegetable stars have hit network television, they can't speak as freely as they once did, and that's got the Parents Television Council steamed.

The conservative media-watchdog group issued a statement Wednesday blasting NBC, which airs "VeggieTales," for editing out some references to God from the children's animated show.

"What struck me and continues to strike me is the inanity of ripping the heart and soul out of a successful product and not thinking that there will be consequences to it," said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council. "The series is successful because of its biblical world view, not in spite of it. That's the signature to `VeggieTales.'"

"VeggieTales" is a collection of animated home videos for children that encourage moral behavior based on Christian and biblical principles. More than 50 million copies have been sold since 1993, according to Big Idea Inc., which produces the series.

Two weeks ago, NBC began airing 30-minute episodes of "VeggieTales" on Saturday mornings. The show was edited to comply with the network's broadcast standards, said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

"Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view," she said.

"VeggieTales" creator Phil Vischer, who was responsible for readying episodes for network broadcast, said he didn't know until just weeks before the shows were to begin airing that non-historical references to God and the Bible would have to be removed.

Wow, it looks like NBC is just oh so scared by that whole religion and Christ-loving angle… but they have no problem broadcasting Madonna’s bashing of the crucifixion. Gee, it almost sounds like NBC is a really God-hating network. But hey, it’s not like they’ve aired any good, long-running shows since “Friends,” right?

Licorice Kane

As a film buff, I figured I had to get around to seeing “Citizen Kane” sooner or later. Now that I have an excuse though to see it for a class review, I might as well take the opportunity. Known to many film historians as one of the best films ever made, “Kane” is a movie I somewhat had a different idea about. The only thing I knew about it was the famous political gathering scene in which Kane addresses the people in front of a giant poster of himself and that every time anyone sees something like it since then, it’s either a spoof or a reference. Same goes with anything having anything to do with the name “Rosebud.” Knowing this, I assumed it was mostly a political film. I was wrong, of course. It’s a film about the life and times of everyone Hollywood bigwig’s favorite type of bad guy: a business tycoon.
As the story begins, Charles Foster Kane, renowned businessman and newspaper mogul, dies, leaving a grand estate, billions of dollars and a trail of business history behind him. It’s up to reporter Jerry Thompson to interview person after person related to Kane in an effort to get the big story of his life. And that, he does. It seems that Kane grew up in a poor family, and then gets adopted by a Mr. Thatcher who raises him the rest of the way in Chicago where he has the opportunities to go any way in life he wants. And so he grows up to be a very lucky young man who decides that it might be “fun” to own a newspaper. But as soon as he does, he does the one thing that most papers gave up a long time ago and starts to purposefully lie in his headlines and articles.
In the first twenty minutes of this 2-hour-long film, it’s plain to see that this film isn’t entirely friendly to newspaper folks. Although lead reporter Jerry Thompson seems of good character, almost every other reporter of his creed is seen every five scenes or so in this movie swarming around public figures like flies, a cliché which, to this day, is still used to portray reporters in the movies. Also, it seems pretty accurate to anyone who reads headlines and watches the six-o’clock news. Reporters pretty much put themselves in this light.
It’s also clear to those of us with a basic grasp of 20th Century on news that “Citizen Kane” is a character whose life and character was meant to parallel that of another famous yellow journalist, Citizen Hearst. William Randolph Hearst to be exact. Both Kane and Hearst became famous for not just owning newspapers, but libeling scenarios and people in an effort to make big headlines and juicy stories. Hearst owned “The Examiner” while Kane owned “The Enquirer”, both owned ridiculously large and exquisite mansions, both helped start a war on Spain by putting it in big black letters on the front page. The one difference I can find between Kane and Hearst is that I believe Hearst graduated college while Kane got expelled from every college he went to. From what I understand, the “Examiner” still exists to this day, while the “Enquirer” has found it’s proper place in the tabloids among other such equally honest printings such as the “Weekly World News.” Makes one wonder.
All in all, I consider “Citizen Kane” an amazing film on grounds of its cinematography and good use of earlier special effects. It’s also a grand example of a man whose main goal in life is to be loved by one and all, but can’t figure out that you don’t go about accomplishing that by forcing your loved ones to do your bidding. On a side note, I also find it amusing that Hearst reportedly tried to discredit film legend Orson Welles, the writer, director and star of the film, by labeling him as a Communist and forbidding any advertisements for the movie in his papers. There’s an easy lesson to be derived from this story: stay out of trouble and be an honest man, etc., otherwise someone else might come along after you’ve pulled your crimes and actually depict you in a somewhat accurate manner, thus embarrassing you for all eternity. This film is not just a classic. It’s a way of telling history.

And The Judges Agree!

Just fresh off of looking at this photo album on celebrity styles, I thought I might go ahead and plant my two cents on their choices of dress. First up to bat is my favorite two twins to poke fun at, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen:



Undoubtedly, these girls must have mixed up their formal dresses with their Halloween costumes. That red lipstick is just plain unnatural. Little known factoid about these girls is that they were actually created in a laboratory by TV-loving scientists determined to make the perfect child star that would go on to have an acting career as an adult. However, they didn’t use the conventional test tube baby making method and invented their own variation on that formula they affectionately call the “TV tube baby” formula. Due to complications, however, the tube was split by a laser in a laboratory freak accident and twins were developed. Fortunately, their TV test experiment, known to most people as “Full House,” was a huge success spawning their own franchise and fan base. Now, at the age of 20, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, also known to top secret officials as Project Child Star, are still running strong and set to outdo fellow child star experiment, Project Starboy. We know this experiment by his more common name, Elijah Wood.

In the above photograph, we see the twins testing their hypnotic effect on their fans by wearing ghastly dresses and clashing red lipstick. The anonymous scientists working on their experiment hypothesized that the majority of their fan base would not object to their choice of dressing. However, studies showed that 25% of Olsen twin fans defected and contemplated leaving the fandom. They changed their minds and came back though when they saw this photograph of Jessica and Ashley Simpson:


Ashlee (right), in preparation for this photo shoot, ditched her usual punkish pop princess get-up to try on an Oscars costume she’d borrowed from Jennifer Lopez. “I want my fans to see me in a different light,” Ashlee said in a statement made prior to the shooting. She changed her mind afterward, though, when she saw that her hair combed back and died blond brought unnecessary attention to her rare case of elephantitis of the forehead. Alternately, Jessica Simpson’s (left) dress is inspired by her recent obsession for the lifestyle of a farmer’s wife. “Ah’m even practicin’ thuh southurn stahl of speakin’ so’s ah kin make an impression on any strappin’ young cowboah’s y’all math know of in this here county,” Jessica said.


Pop singer brothers Nick (right) and Aaron (left) Carter are seen here in front of a billboard advertisement for X-Lax. Their lawyers asked kindly that the X part of the title be cropped out to make the background appear more obscure so as not to cause the brothers any humiliation. Deciding that his cross-shaped necklace wasn’t enough of an eye-grabber, Aaron decided to glue sandpaper to his chin and rip it off wax-job style. Interviewers were too amused by his appearance to think straight long enough to get a straight statement from him, but Aaron’s older brother Nick stayed for an interview after the hysteria died down. Only a few years ago, it was hard for me to pick up dates at parties by saying I was just another member of the Backstreet Boys,” Nick said. “Now, while I’m working on my own solo career, I decided to follow in Aaron’s footsteps to bring more attention to myself. The only difference is that my choice of sandpaper is more skin-colored.”


Haylie (left) and Hillary Duff (right) are seen here at a night party in semi-twin black dresses they bought for cheap at a nearby funeral home. When asked about her hair change, Hilary said “I dyed my hair brown just for tonight so I could sneak into this party hard to recognize and smack that hussy Lindsay Lohan.” Her lesser known older sister, Haylie, tagged along as a chauffeur and didn’t expect much from the evening, but said that she was flattered when a bar patron asked if she was “that chick from ‘Alias.’” In response, she held up her large bracelet and retorted with “No, I’m that chick from ‘Witchblade’ and I’m still angry from getting cancelled.”

Chain Blog

Another little e-mail I got from Lauren. Apparently, if I don't send this poem out to people, I'll get creamed by a cement truck and struck by lightning on a clear day while being handcuffed and arrested for jaywalking if I don't send this poem out to people, but what the heck. It's a sweet poem:

Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end,
Yet, the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend's face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow," I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir, Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

E-mail Magic

A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner. The peoplewere in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that hewasn't trying to sell many papers. He walked up to a policemanand said, "Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boycould find a warm place to sleep tonight, would you? You see, Isleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley, andit's awful cold in there for tonight. Sure would be nice to havea warm place to stay."

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You godown the street to that big white house and you knock on thedoor. When they come out the door you just say John 3:16, andthey will let you in."
So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and alady answered.

He looked up and said, "John 3:16."

The lady said, "Come on in, son."

She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker infront of a great big old fireplace, and she went off. The boysat there for a while and thought to himself: John 3:16.... Idon't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.

Later she came back and asked him, "Are you hungry?"

He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food."

The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat anymore. Then he thought to himself: John 3:16... Boy, I suredon't understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled withwarm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As hesoaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16... I sure don'tunderstand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know,I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The onlybath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old firehydrant as they flushed it out.

The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked himinto a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck,kissed him goodnight, and turned out the lights. As he lay inthe darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down onthat cold night, he thought to himself: John 3:16... I don'tunderstand it, but it sure makes a tired boy rested.

The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again tothat same big table full of food. After he ate, she took himback to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of thefireplace and picked up a big old Bible.

She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face. "Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently.

He replied, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it."

She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain to him about Jesus.

Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought: John 3:16....Don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.

You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God was willing to send His Son to die for me and how Jesus wouldagree to do such a thing. I don't understand the agony of theFather and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus suffer anddie. I don't understand the intense love for ME that kept Jesuson the cross till the end. I don't understand it, but it suredoes make life worth living.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but haveeverlasting life.
If you aren't ashamed to do this, please follow the directions.Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of youbefore my Father." Pass this on only if you mean it.

"I do love God. He is my source of existence. He keeps me functioning each and every day." (Phillipians 4:13)

If you love God and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he has done for you, send this on. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! Let's just see if Satan stops this one. All you do is:

1. Simply say a small prayer for the person who sent you this,"Father, God bless this person in whatever it is that You know heor she may be needing this day!"

2. Then send it on to ten other people. Within hours ten peoplehave prayed for you, and you caused a multitude of people to prayto God for other people. Then sit back and watch the power ofGod work in your life for doing the thing that you know He loves.

Win Ben Stein’s Thought Process

No doubt about it, this message from Ben Stein has been around a while, but it’s still quite relevant. Thought I might repost it here and make myself feel a little more rebellious.

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. He's also a very intelligent attorney who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS SundayMorning Commentary.


Here with a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regard ing the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards .. honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein

Yes, This Again

In all of my years following this war, I’ve certainly read a lot of this sort of thing:

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein rejected Osama bin Laden's pleas for help and tried to capture terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi when he was in Iraq, a Senate Intelligence Committee report released yesterday found, casting further doubt on the Bush administration's rationale for invading Iraq.

President Bush and other administration officials repeatedly cited Saddam's alleged ties to Islamic terrorists as one reason to invade Iraq in March 2003.

So we see now that the Democratic Party has scored a few points on this one. Saddam rejected Osama at some point in time. But I have to ask then, if this is true, then why did Saddam even train soldiers for Al-Qaeda in the first place?

The 150-page report said the administration's claims were untrue. "Postwar findings indicate that Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al Qaeda to provide material or operational support," the report said.

The report was released along with a second one that said false information from the exile group Iraqi National Congress, led by Ahmad Chalabi, had been widely used to support intelligence assessments about Iraq's weapons and links to terrorism.

Intelligence officials repeatedly warned that the INC was unreliable, but White House officials ignored the warnings.

One beef I’ve had against this administration for a while: Bad intelligence. Very, very bad. The next president will hopefully be able to use more of the right intelligence to prosecute and lead the War on Terror.

The reports are part of a five-report study that the Senate Intelligence Committee has undertaken.

The study has left the committee badly divided. Three reports remain classified, including one comparing prewar statements by Bush administration officials to intelligence available at the time. Democrats have accused Republicans of delaying the reports until after the November congressional elections.

And here’s the part where the Democrats have made themselves look like harpies in suits, tossing allegations left and right in the White House. This is a scary world we live in sometimes.

Odd Minister Out

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s blogging, I thought I might continue on with the politics thingamablogging. And here we have some news about our buddy in the UK, Tony Blair. So far, things aren’t going bad enough for him I guess, what with him getting a retirement plan after critics made life hell for him for not being strong enough on the war on terror. Now, it looks like he’s being publicly hated for being involved at all:

ABOUT 1500 Lebanese citizens have protested against British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to Beirut, accusing him of backing Israel's 34-day war with Hezbollah guerillas.

Troops, riot police and barbed-wire barriers kept the demonstrators well away from the government building in downtown Beirut where Mr Blair met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

He was discussing with Mr Siniora a UN truce in effect since August 14 and Britain's contribution to postwar reconstruction.

Mr Blair angered many Lebanese by his refusal to call for an early ceasefire in the conflict which killed nearly 1200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

MISTER Blair, as they so formally address him in this article, has a knack for this kind of behavior it seems. According to what I’ve heard before, MISTER Blair didn’t do much in terms of responding to the subway bombings in London. MISTER Blair hasn’t, in my mind at least, done enough to deserve this sort of humiliation, but whatever.

Security sources said about 1500 people had turned out for the protests, organised by Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies.

"I'm standing here because Blair is the killer of Lebanese children," said Ibad Malak, a 19-year-old student.

"Beirut is free, Blair out," chanted the protesters. Some carried placards reading "Thank you Blair for delivering the intelligent bombs" - referring to US flights laden with bombs for Israel that refuelled in Scotland during the war.

"Blair you killer, go to hell," read another placard.

You know, I find it kinda scary that these folks seem to have adopted the same kinds of protest scare tactics that the anti-war folks here in the United States do. The difference being that these guys are organized by the Hezbollah.

"Tony Blair supports America and Israel and has supported the war, so how can we welcome him here," said Ali Shahine, 21, a hotel worker who was among the protesters.

Mr Blair had been due to meet Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, but an aide to the Shi'ite Muslim leader said he had left on a private visit abroad on Saturday.

The aide would not say whether Mr Berri had deliberately snubbed Mr Blair, but said his trip had been previously planned.

An aide to Mr Blair said two Hezbollah ministers had declined to attend a planned meeting of the British leader with the Lebanese government.

Mr Blair had no plans to meet pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud during his visit.

Top Shi'ite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said on Sunday Mr Blair was not welcome because of his support for Israel and Washington.

OK, so Blair went to meet with a pro-Syria president of Lebanon and got attacked by pro-Syria protesters. No doubt, he was trying to do something diplomatic and yet he got stifled by these hooligans. Honestly, what’s up with these folks?

Pausing in Remembrance

As I sit here at my computer typing this, I think of today and what it means to our country. Five years ago, I remember I woke up early in the morning, headed for another day in my senior year in high school. I strolled down stairs, thought I’d use the bathroom first…And as I walked out, my dad called me into the den saying to “come take a look at this.” I arrived to see what was clearly an airplane flying into the midsection of a very large building. I found out shortly thereafter that I had just watched the second airplane fly into the World Trade Center live on television. It was a moment of living history.

All class lectures were cancelled that day at school. From third period on, all we did was just watch the news on the terrorist attacks. Not liking the depressed atmosphere, I attempted to lighten things up for a friend by faking a smile. But it was met with him shaking his head and putting it in his hands.

Things were different from there on out. Life could not be lived the same. I noticed a difference in my behavior as I became less trying too hard to be an adult and went into periods of nostalgia. I could feel myself becoming more compassionate and more caring about life. There was a difference in me, but it was hard to explain.

Five years later, I found myself just last night watching “The Path to 9/11,” a two-night TV movie explaining so many things that led to 9/11. Brilliantly explained, terrific acting job from Harvey Kietel, terrible camerawork though. It all came back to me. Lauren and I watched it together, realizing we wished we could have been there for each other five years ago today.

When I think of where we’ve come to five years ago prosecuting the War on Terrorism, I think we’ve still got the right intentions doing the right things overseas. We cannot lose the war, because there’s too much to risk in the middle-east and we need to finish what we started, which is helping clean the area up. If we let Al-Qaeda and anyone else get away with crimes against the United States, then we will have shown the world that we cannot execute justice. Bush, I’ll admit, has disappointed me in various ways that I could list right now if I had the time to think about it, but I still have to support him as much as possible. The premise is correct even if the plot is weak.

God Bless America.

New Hotness

This just in from the Governator: Latinos are hawt!

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tells advisers on a tape that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."

"I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording of a closed-door meeting obtained by the Los Angeles Times and made available on its Web site Friday. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."

The six-minute tape was made earlier this year. On it, Schwarzenegger and Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and speculate about her nationality.

Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, told the Times the governor's remarks did not bother her.

"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson called the governor's remarks "a small part of a long conversation that is taken totally out of context."

Imagine that. The news at a whole taking this comment out of context. What a laugh and a half.

Tugging on Your Wallet

I woke up this morning to a news story that had been posted on Animated-News.net that rather caught my interest. I’ve noticed that CGI animated films are starting to crunch Hollywood nowadays, but this is the first time a movie has sucked so much that the investors are threatening lawsuits. Allow me to introduce a film I never heard of until this morning: “Tugger, the Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted To Fly.”

This is the story about the little Jeep that dreamed, an Orlando animator who dreamed him up, an industry that's all about dreams, a local studio that sold them -- and the nightmares that now haunt them all.

Tugger is a children's 3-D animated movie, conceived and created in Central Florida by Genesis Orlando, a small, independent studio in Celebration. It's the story of a World War II Jeep that spends the postwar years at a small airport, dreaming of flying. It played only a few days in a small number of theaters in 2005, then vanished.

At best, Tugger offers a cautionary tale about the difficulties, rewards and risks of independent studios where many Orlando-based filmmakers turned when Walt Disney Co. shut down its Central Florida operations in 2004.

Tugger's production and failed distribution efforts to date created a trail of angry investors, contractors and ex-employees who say they didn't get paid. There are now eight lawsuits against Genesis or its founder, Jeffrey J. Varab, including a move by 11 investors last month to have the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando declare an involuntary bankruptcy of the company and wrestle away its assets -- notably Tugger.

Ok, so this movie royally stinks. I get the picture. Somehow, the title even sounds rather lame. People are ticked off and they have every right to be. It even looks like the film had some rather impressive talent working behind the movie. Check out the trailer here. The animation and rendering is smooth and the guy who does Tugger’s singing voice is terrific, but that doesn’t seem to outweigh the character weirdness, lack of proper sound engineering and the appearance of a weak premise. Hmm, maybe the movie isn’t that good after all.

In legal briefs answering the lawsuits in state circuit courts in Orlando and Kissimmee, Varab has denied all wrongdoing.

Varab, 51, of Celebration, spoke only briefly to the Orlando Sentinel for this article. In an e-mail to the Sentinel, he wrote, "Obviously, there are those who share our frustration and I respect their need to express their view points. But we have just begun to defend arguments."

In the federal case, Genesis is trying to decide whether to fight the involuntary bankruptcy or ask the court to allow the company to reorganize and try again to market Tugger. Genesis' bankruptcy attorney, R. Scott Shuker, said the company owes about $2 million to creditors, and it's just a matter of finding a way to make some money so they can get paid.

$2 million? (Whistles) Jeffrey and the boys down at Genesis will be working a lot of extra hours at the Piggly Wiggly to pay off this one.

But some people who worked at or financed Genesis told the Sentinel they don't trust Varab anymore and have no hope he would make money with the film."It's a case of no integrity," said Beryl "Woody" Woodman, a writer, animator and director who filed a lawsuit in state Circuit Court in Orange County claiming that he created the main characters and story that were the basis for the movie and was defrauded by Varab.

Shuker dismissed the bitter talk and legal claims from Genesis' critics as common reactions among creditors in business deals that wind up in bankruptcy court and insisted many other creditors are satisfied. He said Genesis is negotiating, with distributors he was not at liberty to name, for a new U.S. theatrical release around Christmas, and separate releases in Canada and South Africa.Woodman and the other former Genesis employees and investors who spoke to the Sentinel all said they have heard Varab say that too many times before: There were always distribution deals in the works, but nothing major ever materialized. Nor did the money.

Ah, Christmas. The perfect time of year to hear stories about flying cars.

Meanwhile, Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted To Fly may be like an uncashed, scratch-off lottery ticket that could be worth millions, "but you haven't scratched it yet to see what it's worth," said former Genesis Chief Operating Officer Alan Guimond, 60, of Alexandria, Va., one of the bankruptcy petitioners.

It's not just that movie. From the start, Genesis planned and promoted a whole series of Tugger movies. There were to be Tugger toys and Tugger children's books.

"Tugger was my baby," Woodman said.

This is where I admit things get really sad. If you check out the film’s website at TuggerJeep.com, you’ll see a whole list of future episodes in pre-production. These dreams will now probably never come true thanks to a poor concept and a babykiller named Jeffrey J. Varab.

Woodman also joined the bankruptcy petition. In his state suit, Woodman claimed Varab fraudulently obtained copyrights for Woodman's movie characters behind his back, then further defrauded him with a series of contracts that Woodman charges Varab never intended to honor. Woodman also claimed he never got paid, never got the screen credits on Tugger that his contracts required and lost control of his own characters.

Most of the other state suits, filed in Osceola and Orange counties, claim breach of contracts, charging that various employees, contractors and investors never got paid.

Now, Woodman said everyone's dream of making a hit independent film franchise is in tatters. "Everybody's. In fact, even Jeffrey's. He's turned this into a red-tape nightmare," Woodman said.

My theory is this: Jeffrey J. Varab saw “The Producers,” got the idea that he could pull the same kind of scam, found “Tugger, the Little Jeep 4x4 Product Placement That Could” and set it in motion. The only problem was, he never anticipated this much to hit the fan. Shoulda learned from Bialy there, Jeff.

And to put one last spin on this story, Cartoon Brew has theorized that Varab may have used Christianity as part of the scam.

First, watch the TRAILER for this independent CG feature called TUGGER: THE JEEP 4X4 WHO WANTED TO FLY. Then, go and read this story in the ORLANDO SENTINEL about how this became the independent animated feature from hell, thanks to the film's director, animation veteran Jeffrey Varab. What isn't mentioned in the article is that Varab probably convinced a lot of investors to part with their money by selling this as a "Christian" project. The Christian aspect of the story comes out in the article's comments section as well as in this post from the blog of SENTINEL film critic Roger Moore. I find it odd that the SENTINEL decided not to discuss the obvious religious aspect of the scam, especially because it's so obvious. Even the name of Varab's studio—Genesis Orlando—makes it evident that his whole idea was to find Christian financial backers.

Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean Sega called their old system the Sega Genesis because it was exactly pious in any way. I met a guy named Genesis once. That didn’t make him a Christian. Same goes for folks I’ve met named Christian.

Where was I going with this article again? Oh yeah. Tugger sucks, end of story.

Crikey, This One’s a Shocker

Well, it seems as though everyone with a heart and soul seems to be talking about this one. By now, you all know that Steve Irwin, the famous Crocodile Hunter, was killed this past Monday by a stingray. Amazing, considering that sting rays are a relatively peaceful species. My girlfriend, Lauren, and I are both equally saddened not just by this news but by the news of his two children now left without a father. And to think he was trying to help his daughter make her own show as well. It’s sad.

Well, to add more of a family element to the tragedy, here’s what Steve’s father had to say:

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Steve Irwin's father said on Wednesday he lost his best mate when the TV naturalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter" died in a freak diving accident, adding that his son would hate the fuss of a state funeral.

In the first public comments by Irwin's family since his death on Monday while diving off Australia's northeast coast, Bob Irwin thanked his son's many fans from Australia and around the world for their messages of condolence.

"Steve and I weren't like father and son, we never were," Bob Irwin told reporters outside Australia Zoo, the animal park in tropical Queensland state known to his son's millions of viewers around the world.

"We were good mates. I'll remember Steve as my best mate ever," he said.

Steve and his dad were not like father and son, but like mates. When I have kids, I pray that I will be thought of as a father.

Irwin, 44, died after the serrated barb of a stingray's tail pierced his heart.

He had flirted with death many times on his "Crocodile Hunter" documentaries, seen by 200 million people, wrestling with some of the world's most dangerous creatures.

"Both of us over the years have had some very close shaves," Bob Irwin said outside the zoo his son took over from him.

"We made jokes of it. That's not to say that we were careless but we treated it like it was just part of the job," he said.

Sadly, you can only toy with death until it actually kills you. You know what else though? I remember years ago when the TV show “Crocodile Hunter” was at the top of it’s game. Countless Internet parodies were made of it ranging from hilarious to detestable. But through it all, I can’t remember a single one that was aimed to badmouth Steve. Far as I know, he was well liked by many around the world. And like so many great kids show hosts of the past, Mr. Rogers, Buffalo Bob, just to name a few, he will be remembered.