The Island of Misfit Blog Posts

The place to find stuff that doesn’t really fit any particular category.

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 7.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

 

I’ve come to the conclusion that life is like a game of chess. To be successful (in worldly terms) one must strategize and plot moves in advance. One must learn to differentiate between pawns who, while they serve a purpose, are not worth stressing out about, and more significant players like kings, queens, bishops, & knights. One must concentrate, ponder, calculate, make the occasional sacrifice, and ultimately not become trapped in a checkmate. Benjamin Franklin once chesssaid that “by playing chess we may learn foresight, circumspection, & caution…and we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of persevering in the secrets of resources”. The older I get though the more I realize that most of us play life like a game of checkers, thoughtlessly reacting to circumstances instead of planning ahead, simplistically jumping over other pieces in a dogged determination to, like the proverbial chicken, get to the other side and achieve temporary bliss by proudly demanding “king me!!” only to discover that the game is far from over.

 

 

This isn’t usually the forum where I discuss movies. Outside of my 100 Favorite Movies series I normally reserve all comments about films I have seen for the year ending Sammy Awards. However, an exception must be made. I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness on its opening day. I liked it. Is it the best movie ever in the history of movies?? No. Is it even the best Trek film?? No. Is it a more than decent movie and a pretty darn entertaining way to spend a couple of hours?? Sure. Even The Owl apparently liked it, although since he seems to have lost my phone number I have only an ostensibly positive comment on Facebook to go by. At any rate, curiosity got the best of me in the days following my trek2visit to the cineplex and I began to read reviews and especially comments posted after reviews. I was…to say the least…bemused & bewildered. I consider myself a Trekkie, but there are levels of Trekkie and I am of the sort that has seen a woman naked, has not read the Klingon dictionary, and doesn’t automatically hate everything that didn’t emanate from the mind of Gene Roddenberry or doesn’t star William Shatner. Seriously hardcore Trek traditionalists…in the words of Shatner himself…get a life!! I saw so many comments whining about something called “lens flare” that I finally had to look it up, and you know what?? It’s no big freakin’ deal!! Shut up!!!! If you even know what lens flare is it is a sign you need to leave the house a bit more. Another common complaint about Into Darkness (spoiler alert) is that it is a remake/rehash/reimagining of Wrath of Khan. First of all, way too many of those comments spelled the villain’s name Kahn, as if he was some sort of brooding Borsht Belt reject transported thru time to wreak his special brand of Jewish evil on outer space. Note to anyone who posts any kind of comments on any sort of message board or articles: when you can’t even spell the whole key to your point correctly you immediately lose all credibility. Secondly, I think people are missing a very key element of this whole alternate timeline concept. You want to criticize director JJ Abrams for not coming up with an innovative plot, but the idea isn’t that the new versions of Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, & Chekov are living completely different lives than their original counterparts…it’s that their lives are kind of cracked mirror images. In other words they will encounter some of the same people and have some very similar experiences, but with certain elements twisted or slightly altered. It’s a brilliant mechanism that the writers use to great effect in Into Darkness. As a fan I very much appreciated the nods to established Trek canon while also digging the fresh perspective. I can be as curmudgeonly as anyone, but I really can’t stand miserable people who go out of their way to look for things to complain about. Grow up.

 

I don’t have children of my own yet I have never considered myself to be a person who dislikes other peoples’ kids. However, I do believe there are certain places & situations in which it’d be best if the young’uns were left at home. My Dad has always said that everyone raises their children differently and that different doesn’t always mean good or bad…just different. Therefore I understand that my opinions are just that and might be taken especially lightly due to my inexperience. I can only fall back on how my parents raised me, and I know that if myself or my sister would have shhhrun around like a pack of wild animals being an unfortunate distraction to folks in a public place we would have been appropriately punished. That is really a moot point though since we never would have been allowed to act like that for longer than about two seconds. Yes the little ones are cute and don’t realize they are doing anything wrong. Yes friends & neighbors will smile and appear tolerant, as if what the kids are doing is amusing and not annoying at all. But the truth is that sometimes the behavior is annoying and not the least bit cute. Parents need to be more aware of whether or not certain places are a suitable atmosphere for their children and sometimes make the difficult choice of leaving them at home, even if it means sacrificing their own plans when a babysitter isn’t available. It’s a matter of respect.

 

So I was driving along on a pleasant spring evening, listening to the radio as I drove. I can always hear The Owl’s voice in my head lamenting that “radio has gone to hell in the tri-state” (and that was 20 years ago), but I just can’t drive in silence and my local talk station recently did some switcheroos, meaning that instead of Sean Hannity in the late afternoon and sports talk at night we get a lot of some house fixer upper guy giving people advice about caulking & sump pumps and a financial advice guy whose head would probably explode if he had me as a client. I prefer to take my chances with the “we’re doing our best to please everybody” pop/rock station, which means that I’ve developed a healthy disdain for Taylor Swift and if I hear that damn Lumineers song one more time I might gomiami vice show logo postal, but also means that one never knows when Boston, Journey, Bon Jovi, or some catchy 80’s tune may instantly brighten an otherwise prosaic day. Anyway, the local lady jockey of discs was reporting live from a watering hole that hosts a weekly ladies’ night and mentioned that the drink special was some concoction called The Sonny Crockett. She went on to say that Sonny Crockett was a character from Miami Vice and that “if you don’t know about Miami Vice then go ask your parents”. Wow did that make me feel old!! I was slightly taken aback for a moment and then I began doing math in my head. Miami Vice was on TV from 1984-89 and it is probably fair to say that it was at its pinnacle in 1986 when it was a Top 10 show. That means that a child born then would be 27 years old and probably the target demographic for a ladies’ night. If I would have fathered a child when I was 19/20 years old (certainly not out of the ordinary) they would now be of legal drinking age…and also born a few years after Miami Vice was cancelled. In other words…yes…the radio chick was right…I am old!!

Related articles

Heroes & Heels…..A Special Double Feature

Sharp eyed citizens of The Manoverse may have noticed that there was no H&H published for March. As usual I missed the deadline, but instead of just missing it by a day or two we were a week into the month before I had the time & inclination to even ponder writing the piece so I decided to just skip the whole deal. However, the good news is that means today you get a double dose!! You’re welcome. At any rate, these are the people & stories from the past couple of months that I feel deserve either praise or a healthy dose of derision. Enjoy.

 

Dennis Rodman

You remember Rodman. He was an above average pro basketball player in the 90’s that was even more infamous for his off court antics, but he’s been out of the spotlight for a few years. That all frowny-facechanged a couple of months ago when…for reasons seemingly unknown to anybody…he traveled to North Korea and apparently became fast friends with “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un. Rodman went so far as to suggest that Jong-un wasn’t such a bad dude because he is a basketball fan and that he “just wants to be loved”. The retired rebound master plans to return to North Korea this summer so that he & Jong-un can “just hang and have some fun.” Call me crazy, but when Dennis Rodman is taking the lead in American diplomacy it’s not a good sign.

 

Glenwood Gardens Retirement Home

I spent 6 months in a nursing home at the young age of 33, and it honestly made me reconsider my position against euthanasia. That being said, I would like to think that if my life had ever come frowny-faceperilously close to ending prematurely while I was there someone would have stepped up and taken the necessary steps to prevent my untimely demise. But apparently such things are against policy at this Bakersfield, CA facility, where an 87 year old resident died a couple of months ago after she went into cardiac arrest and a nurse refused to administer CPR even after a 911 dispatcher pleaded with her to do so. I wouldn’t feel a bit of remorse if every “skilled’ nursing facility in the country was shut down and then burned to the ground, but hopefully there is a special place in Hell reserved for the idiots who work at this dump.

 

Jim Carrey

Hollywood is seemingly filled with liberal morons and Carrey has proven to be no different. He has frowny-facerecently gone on a rather vociferous anti-gun crusade, which included a supposedly funny video belittling gun owners, The Constitution, and the very dead Charlton Heston. He also made several insulting comments about gun owners on Twitter. Here’s an idea Jimbo…maybe you should shut your piehole and concentrate on making a decent movie that won’t bomb at the box office like nearly everything you’ve been in for the past decade.

 

Park Elementary School (Baltimore, MD)

There have been several of these types of incidents recently but for some reason I made note of this one specifically. In early March a 7 year old student at this school was suspended after he chewed a pop tart into a shape that a teacher thought resembled a gun. The child said that was not what he had frowny-faceintended to do, but here’s the deal…even if he had intentionally done so to my knowledge no one has ever been shot by a pastry. The politically correct anti-gun nutjobs in this country are way way way out of control. Personally I think that everyone responsible for this fiasco should be terminated and never allowed to work in the education system ever again. If I am ever blessed to father a child I will very seriously consider home schooling because quite frankly I’d be scared to death to let my offspring be indoctrinated by the asinine joke that public schools in 21st century New America have become.

 

Senator Rand Paul

On March 6 the junior senator from Kentucky engaged in an old fashioned filibuster that lasted nearlyThumbs_up 13 hours. Apparently he was protesting President Obama’s stance on use of drones against Americans and blocking (temporarily) the nomination of a new CIA Director. I won’t pretend to know all the particulars about the issues involved, but it was nice to see a politician stand up (literally) for his beliefs and act in the way that one would hope all our elected representatives would on our behalf.

 

New Rochelle, NY City Council

In April this group of mental giants voted to order a Gadsen flag removed from a local armory because they believed it to be a Tea Party symbol. First of all a Gadsen flag…for the 3% of residents in McDowell County, WV literate enough to know about this new fandangled internet thing and read The frowny-faceManofesto…is a historical American flag with a snake symbol and the words “Don’t Tread On Me” that was designed by a South Carolina Congressman during the Revolutionary War. In other words it predates the Tea Party by about 230 years. Secondly, what exactly is wrong with the Tea Party?? What is so bad about believing in smaller government, lower taxes, & a balanced budget?? And what about Freedom of Speech?? You remember…The First Amendment, The Constitution, etc.?? Oh yeah…that’s right…liberals hate all that stuff just like they hate America, and this group of liberals proved it.

 

AJ Clemente

On Sunday April 21, 2013 young AJ Clemente began his journalistic career as a news anchor in Bismarck, ND. By Monday morning that career had come to an end. One of the first things Clemente did was drop an F-Bomb on live television. And then he proudly announced to the world that he had recently graduated from West Virginia University. I am an alumnus of West Virginia’s other statefrowny-face school Marshall University but I live close to WVU and have been a Mountaineer fan my entire life. It is embarrassing to me that a school in my home state would produce such an idiotic graduate. To Clemente’s credit he has self-deprecatingly taken his lumps in a very public way after a clip of the incident became a hit on YouTube. He’s making the rounds on television, with appearances on Letterman, The Today Show, & Inside Edition. I am not suggesting that the young man should have to pay for his mistake forever, but maybe he should try a gig doing print or internet news…safely away from a live microphone.

 

Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard

More Hollywood assclowns. These two are actors of some fame. She starred in the TV show Veronica Mars a few years ago and has done a handful of movies that mostly tanked at the box office. He stars in a pretty decent NBC show called Parenthood and has also been in a few bad movies. They’ve been a frowny-facecouple for several years and in March welcomed a daughter. Good for them. Congratulations. Of course they aren’t married and have publically announced that they will not get hitched until the state of California legally allows gays to marry. Well okay…kudos to the happy couple for believing in something and sticking up for what they believe in, but like so many of their peers in the entertainment industry they choose to self-righteously support sin, debauchery, and “alternative lifestyles” that go against the Word of God. Supporting same sex marriage is more important to them than their own relationship and the opportunity for their daughter to grow up in a stable home with married parents. Wow…talk about misguided priorities.

 

Nebraska & East Carolina Football

Both schools’ football programs deserve kudos for allowing young terminally ill children to participate Thumbs_upin their spring games and fulfill a fantasy by scoring a touchdown. The small stuff really is huge sometimes.

 

Cheryl Sabb at Cedar Hills Elementary in Jacksonville

A young 4th grader’s father was stunned to find one of his son’s school assignments on which he’d frowny-facewritten in crayon “I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure.” Turns out that after a guest speaker had instructed the young crumb crunchers about our Bill of Rights the teacher…Ms. Stabb…had the entire class copy down that sentence. You see liberals are all about separation of church & state, except when the religion is liberalism and then they do not hesitate to indoctrinate their students, whether they are in grade school, high school, or college.

 

Chris Broussard

It is likely that I will have more to say in the near future about the big story where an active NBA player Thumbs_uphas come out of the closet, but I want to take this opportunity to give some respect to Broussard, an NBA analyst for ESPN who stated on television the following


“Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex between heterosexuals, if you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals, whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I do not think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian.”

 

Every single word spoken by Broussard is the absolute truth, but predictably he has been lambasted by the masses as a bigot and a homophobe. Atleast liberals are predictable. Broussard had to know that he’d get creamed for his honesty but he said it anyway. Bigtime kudos to the guy, who will most likely be looking for a job in the near future. But atleast he can be secure about knowing that he’ll spend eternity in the loving embrace of the One True God.

Related articles

 

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 6.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

 

I rarely comment on the deaths of various celebrities. I have a rather pragmatic view that comes directly from my father, who always says that death is part of life.  I also don’t think most celebrities are worth wasting much time & effort on, plus I believe that my RIP tribute that traditionally ends the annual Sammy Awards is an elegantly understated way to honor siskel-and-ebertthe passing of public figures who have meant something to me personally as well as the world in general. However, I want to take a moment to mention the loss of film critic Roger Ebert. The older I get the less likely I am to really care all that much about the opinions of others, but Ebert and his partner Gene Siskel (who died in 1999) were the gold standard of movie punditry when I was growing up. Now we have The Internet, with sites like Rotten Tomatoes where there is no shortage of opinions about everything that hits the theater. But in the 80’s and even into the 90’s Siskel & Ebert were pretty much it. I always enjoyed their show. They were smart, entertaining, and persuasive. They couldn’t get me to go see a movie that I had absolutely no interest in or dissuade me from seeing something I really wanted to, but if I was on the fence and not necessarily sure how I felt about a particular film then two thumbs up or two thumbs down could be quite influential. Mr. Ebert was a raging liberal who I disagreed with on many issues, but that’s par for the course and I have had to learn to put aside such differences and enjoy the talents & contributions of many who see the world differently than me. With the death of Roger Ebert I feel as if another little piece of my childhood is gone and that makes me sad.

 

So I was out & about on a lovely spring weekend and went to the mall for no apparent reason other than to get some exercise & check out the bookstore. I might have seen a movie but I was just a few minutes too late for the only one I was interested in seeing and the next showing wasn’t for four hours and I knew I wouldn’t hang out there that long. I decided hcto get a haircut even though I didn’t necessarily need one just yet. The place was packed because there were a couple of local proms that night and several young ladies were getting all curled & styled. I signed in and left for a bit then came back. As I sat there I kept wondering how far down the list they’d gotten and was struck with another million dollar idea. Big hairstyling places need to be like the DMV where you are issued a number and when that number comes up it shows on a digital board along with a voiceover that says ‘Now serving number…”. When my time finally came (after a half hour of waiting once I’d returned) I was conversing with my stylist about how busy they were and she informed me that eventually they would be getting a system wherein you could go traipsing about the mall and they’d text you when it was your turn, which I think is an even better idea than mine. I suppose they might have that technology in some big cities already, which means it may arrive here in West Virginia sometime in the next couple of decades.

 

God help me, but I have been unsubscribing from friends on Facebook who do nothing but post about their wonderful hbspouse or significant other. I know that is awful. But when I am sitting at home every night without so much as a phone call from anyone outside of my Dad I just can’t seem to get jazzed about the love lives of people far less lonely than me.

 

One of the things I do on a daily basis is check out various news sites…CNN, FoxNews, Drudge, USA Today, etc….to, as I tell Rocco, see what’s going on in the world. During one of those recent online expeditions I was kind of surprised but not really (if that makes any sense) to see it trumpeted as newsworthy that NBC Today reporterette Jenna Wolfe is “having a baby” with her lesbian lover (also an NBC news “journalist”). First of all, who cares?? Millions of people have babies every day. It’s not news. And neither bridegroom-aisleWolfe nor her “partner” are famous enough for anyone to give a damn. But more interestingly to me was the fact that two lesbians “having a baby” (I’m sure there is sperm involved in this somehow but of course the story conveniently left that part out) is seen as something to celebrate in 21st century New America. Look, do your thing. Live your life. Sleep with whomever you please. Wallow in whatever kind of deviant lifestyle you choose. But if people are going to constantly berate Christians for trying to “shove our beliefs down other peoples’ throats” then please do not be so hypocritical as to publically rejoice in your sinful choices that go directly against the Word of God. I am not easily offended but I get a little sick & tired not just of the wayward path America is following but the fact that so many are so brazenly, gleefully, boldly taking that path while looking at those of us who embrace traditional, Godly principles as if we are the crazy ones.

 

The suits at NBC have confirmed the rumors. Next year Jimmy Fallon will take over The Tonight Show. I do like the factJimmy Fallon-SGY-008669 that they are keeping Fallon in New York. They aren’t retiring The Tonight Show name as I suggested, but I didn’t really expect that to happen. I am sure that Leno will land on his feet, whether that means fading into obscurity or getting a show on another network. Word on the street is that SNL’s Seth Myers will get the 12:30am Late Night gig and I suppose that is a safe if uninspired choice. Now CBS…it’s your turn. David Letterman hasn’t been funny for a few years now and it may be time to give him a gentle nudge out the door.

 

I like cereal. I’m not quite on the Seinfeld level yet where I have a dozen or more boxes in my kitchen, but I usually have 2 or 3 atleast. I have been trying to eat a bit healthier so I lean toward high fiber, low fat varieties, although being the minimalist that I am my favorite…as it has been since I was a kid…is Rice Krispies. Anyway, I was fixing myself a bowl one day and began pondering packaging. The package that several products come in has evolved over the course of my lifetime. Not only is milk no longer delivered straight to one’s door but it also doesn’t come in glass bottles anymore. Ditto for glass bottles of cereal cola. The beloved silver foil that Ho-Ho’s used to come in disappeared decades before Ho-Ho’s themselves vanished from supermarket shelves. McDonald’s…bowing to pressure from environmentalist wackos…eliminated Styrofoam in favor of simple paper or cardboard years ago. When I was a kid we had to drink water from the faucet, but now it comes in handy dandy bottles. I remember my mom coming home from the store with big ol’ brown paper bags. Now all your groceries are packed in plastic bags at the checkout counter, although once again the environmentalists are trying to persuade everyone to convert to permanent cloth bags. At any rate, what I am wondering is why cereal packaging hasn’t advanced?? Cereal comes in a transparent plastic bag which is then placed inside of a rectangular cardboard box. If one doesn’t tear open the cardboard just right (and I never do) the little tabs they put in place to enable one to reclose the box is useless. And if one doesn’t tear open the inner plastic correctly then the cereal doesn’t pour out right and can potentially end up all over the place. I find this troubling and am calling upon some enterprising soul to fix the problem. Yet another million dollar idea I am offering up free of charge.

 

 

 

Related articles

Happy 4th Birthday Manoverse!!

On April 5, 2009 I published my first entry here at The Manofesto. I had actually been blogging since July 17, 2007, but seo-scoop-4th-birthdaythe first couple of years the blog was part of my MySpace page.

 

My my how things have changed over the years.

 

When I look at the things I wrote on MySpace and even in the early days here at The Manofesto I have to chuckle just a bit. No one will ever mistake me for Steinbeck, Twain, Hemingway, or Bradbury, but I do think that my writing skills have improved over the years. I suppose a large part of that is a function of the old “practice makes perfect” philosophy, but there are other factors as well. Certainly there is a maturation process. I began putting a lot more thought & effort into everything once I had my own domain. The MySpace thing was more of a journal with lots of free association and not much kvetching about form & style. I was going through some things personally back in 2007-08, and writing in many ways was my deliverance. It gave me a purpose. This blog still serves in that capacity, albeit less so than in those dark days.

 

I have to give a shout out to two dear friends who The Manoverse has seen me mention a few times over the years. It was slackmy buddy Slack who urged me to start a MySpace page in 2007. I had thought MySpace was the territory of teenage girls, and as a 30-something man I was hesitant to go there. But Slack assured me that it was the thing to do and I am glad I did. bowlMySpace has long since gone the way of 8-tracks, landlines, & VCRs, but for a couple of years it was not only a good way to stay connected with friends & family but also a decent enough creative outlet. Eventually though I began to crave more and tire of what I perceived as the limitations of the MySpace blogging feature and it was my brother The Owl who gently nudged me in the direction of starting an actual standalone blog with its own domain. That has proven to be one of the best decisions I have made in the past decade.

 

I still experience moments of frustration. There are stretches when I have what isn’t quite writer’s block but more of a general malaise where I have ideas but just become lazy. I am a notorious procrastinator and waste way too much time on pointless activities. I would be far better off if I spent more time reading & writing. During the past 4 years I have written 256 little ditties here, which averages out to 5.3 posts per month, meaning I am posting about once a week. I’d feel better the-writer-writing-3647594-640-428about my efforts if it were more like 2 or 3 times per week. I’d also like very much to see The Manoverse expand. There are currently 50 citizens subscribed, which I’d love to get into triple digits. If I may be arrogant for just a minute I must admit that I sometimes become frustrated when I read other blogs that are far less interesting or well-written than what is produced here yet notice that they have hundreds of followers and a plethora of comments on each post. Perhaps I am doing something wrong in the PR department. However, having said all that I still get immense pleasure out of the writing process even if I might be the only person on the planet reading my stuff.

 

So that’s it. I just wanted to mark the occasion and celebrate a bit. I sincerely appreciate anyone who does visit the site and especially those who take a moment to comment on the things they read. It has been a fun journey, one that I do not intend to end anytime soon. As a matter of fact I’m just getting started.

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 5.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

 

I was recently prescribed a week long course of steroids…a Z-Pak…to treat bronchitis, and I was somewhat taken aback by the side effects. I have always heard about ‘roid rage, but since I am far from a ripped body builder hangin’ at the gym pumping iron I never thought I’d experience it. However, words cannot accurately describe the absolute fury I felt for several days. One evening I deleted probably 20 people from my Facebook  simply because one humorless know-it-all I barely angerremember from college ticked me off. Another night at work my poor co-worker had to hear a quite vociferous rant about job related frustrations, and even though that irritation isn’t anything new I’ve rarely felt…or expressed…such visceral disgust. It’s the medication…I know it is. When I had my weekly weigh-in I gained a pound even though I’d stuck to the program pretty good. Now granted…the symptoms of the bronchitis subsided considerably which I guess is the whole point of the drug, but I am quite uncomfortable with the ancillary issues created.

 

 

It seems that the Late Night Wars may be heating up once again and y’all know that is amongst my favorite frivolous topics of ponderation. The rumor is that NBC suits (them again) are spooked by ABC’s move of Jimmy Kimmel to 11:30pm. Kimmel’s irreverent, wry sense of humor is likely to attract the younger demo…something that Jay Leno is thought unable to do. Basically Kimmel is what David Letterman was 30 years ago and Conan O’Brien almost became in the not so distant past. So the geniuses at The Peacock Network are pushing Leno out the door (again) and moving Jimmy Fallon to 11:30pm. Personally I don’t have a problem with that plan. Leno once upon a time had promise but has grown stale. He’s lenokimmelcomfortable & amiable like Johnny Carson was, but has never quite measured up to the legendary Carson. I’d take things a step further though. Ostensibly Fallon is going to take over The Tonight Show (because that worked out oh so well for Conan), and yet another new host would take over the Late Night show in at 12:30am. But here’s what I’d do. I’d retire The Tonight Show altogether. Any host that takes over that mantle will forever be compared to Carson and can never equal the legend. End that show and just move Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to 11:30pm. He could stay in New York, stay in the same studio…keep everything the same except for the time slot. Remember…having to “change for the 11:30 audience” is what destroyed Conan. I think an evolving society that is increasingly okay with things like teen pregnancy & same sex marriage can handle a revolutionary idea like enjoying the same kind of humor that works at 12:30 an hour earlier. Then you bring back the Later title for the 12:30am show and find a decent host for that gig. I’ve heard the names Tina Fey & Amy Poehler batted around. I’d suggest maybe trying to lure Craig Kilborn back to the late night scene, or possibly Joel McHale. kimmelWhat I’d really love to see is a revival of the one-on-one interview type of show that Bob Costas or Tom Snyder used to do. That’d be awesome if the right host could be found. At any rate, change is coming. Leno has had a nice run and maybe he’ll end up on Fox or Bravo or A&E, or he could just slip into “retirement” and continue doing stand-up like Jerry Seinfeld. I know axing The Tonight Show franchise may seem like a radical idea, but anyone who has been paying attention in 21st century New America knows that there are very few sacred cows anymore. I’d rather see it go into retirement than see Jimmy Fallon be forced to conform to some archaic standard and have his career castrated like Conan’s was a few years ago.

 

 

I don’t talk about my “real” job in this forum for a variety of reasons. I do like to retain some sense of privacy, plus I really don’t want to get fired. But suffice to say that I deal…indirectly…with other people’s problems and I’m kind of getting tired of it. I call it Big Redneck Drama. I am well aware that my childhood & family lifefp was as close to ideal as possible. My parents loved one another, didn’t drink or do drugs, and treated myself & my sister as good as any parents could. That is why I have such a difficult time wrapping my head around some of the absolute idiocy that I am confronted with on a daily basis. At this point in my life it doesn’t seem as though…for whatever reason…God is going to bless me with a wife or children. And I know plenty of people out there who would dearly love to have those things as well but do not or cannot. So it is beyond my limited comprehension why people blessed with a family that others genuinely covet take every opportunity to crap all over what they have been given.

 

 

The equality crowd is at it again. They are all using a pink equal (=) sign as their profile pic on Facebook like good little liberal sheep. That’s their right as Americans, but I’ll be damned if I will support it. The thing is, I really think that most of these peoples’ hearts are in the right place. Equality sounds like a fine idea. Minorities…blacks, women, the disabled…have fought for it for decades or even centuries and still have to wage battle to a degree. But as much as I respect & honor the rule of law I ultimately answer to a higher authority and my God tells me in His Word that homosexuality is shameful, unnatural, lustful, & indecent…an abomination. Both the 7th chapter of Corinthians and the 5th chapter of Ephesians clearly identify marriage as being between a man and a woman. Now, does that bgmean that we are to mistreat or harm those who choose what we consider to be the wrong path?? Of course not. Both myself & God know that I sin far too often, and I am thankful that I am not shunned completely by those who may not agree with my every decision. I’d be a very lonely man if society rejected me for my mistakes. But there is a fine line between rejection & approval. While I believe wholeheartedly that every individual should be treated with a spirit of love, respect, mercy, & compassion I do not think wholesale tacit approval of a deviant lifestyle is the right course for our nation. The U.S. Supreme Court is about to rule on the constitutionality of California’s Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man & one woman. I am doubtful that the law will be upheld, which means that the definition of marriage in America will likely be altered forever. That’s okay. Like I said…at the end of the day I answer to a higher power and it is His way to which I adhere. If that upsets people then that is just something with which I will have to deal.

 

 

So I guess Jim Carrey has written a parody song attacking the late Charlton Heston and defenders of the 2nd Amendment. That’s fine. It is his right to do so, just as it is my right to not watch the stupid video. I don’t follow Carrey on Twitter but I hear58948_JimCarrey.png that he has been kind of an ass on his feed, saying some pretty derogatory things about gun owners. Here’s why I get so annoyed at the hypocrisy of the left though. I guarantee that Mr. Carrey has an armed entourage everywhere he goes and that his home has 24/7 armed security. That’s nice if you can afford it, but for most of us in the working class all that stands between us and evildoers is a .22 or a 9mm or a .44. The Constitution of the United States gives law abiding citizens the right to own firearms. What’s so difficult for the Hollywood elite to understand about that??

 

 

 

 

Related articles

Heroes & Heels…..February 2013

Oops I did it again. Ah well…I won’t bore you with my lame excuses except to say that hopefully the snow stops soon, the sun shines more brightly in March, and I awaken from my hibernation in time to get the next edition of H&H published on the final day of the month which is the way this is supposed to work. Anyway, these are the people & stories that either dominated the news or for some reason caught my eye during the short month of February and earned either my praise or my scorn. Enjoy!!

 

 

Douglas MacArthur Elementary School

The school in question is in Alexandria, VA and recently had a 10 year old boy arrested after he brought a TOY gun to school. Actually I’ve seen a few of these types of stories lately and it really frustrates the living daylights out of me. I understand the sensitivity to guns frowny-faceafter the tragedy in Newtown, CT, but for goodness sake children aren’t even allowed to use their imaginations and play anymore. When I was a kid we played Cops & Robbers, Cowboys & Indians, and all kinds of other games that were sure as heck a lot healthier than most of the idiotic video games little ones play nowadays, but apparently the lunatic fringe on the left doesn’t agree.

 

Dr. Ben Carson

Dr. Carson is Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. In 1998 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award in the United States) by President George W. Bush. A few weeks ago at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, with President Obama just a few feet away, Carson gave a fantastic Thumbs_upspeech that became a viral sensation. He was highly critical of political correctness and floated his ideas about health care, making it quite obvious that he isn’t exactly a fan of Obamacare. Dr. Carson…who just happens to be black…is proof that critics of President Obama don’t dislike him because we’re racists…we dislike him because of his policies & beliefs. I have long said that I have no problem with a black person being President but that we simply elected the wrong black person (twice). Dr. Ben Carson is exactly the kind of person around whom conservatives can rally.

 

Chris Rock & Amanda Peet

Liberal celebrities using their fame to advance leftist causes is nothing new. Last month these two mental giants got together with a bunch of other gun haters and said a bunch of frowny-faceidiotic things about gun control. It is certainly their right to say whatever they want, but it is also my right to chastise them for their intellectual shortcomings. Rock in particular was in rare form, calling President Obama “our boss” and equating the President & First Lady with “our Mom & Dad”. No Mr. Rock. I have my own parents and I have a boss. The occupants of The White House are neither. We fought a Revolutionary War for a reason…maybe you should read up on that a bit.

 

The Groundhog(s)

As I write this I am looking out of one of the windows in The Bachelor Palace at a rather frowny-facerobust spate of snow. Odd, since back on Groundhog Day both the nationally recognized Punxsutawney Phil and our local harbinger of weather French Creek Freddie both were said to have seen their shadows indicating an early spring. Evidently groundhogs are liars and not to be trusted.

 

Aaron Klein

I am not sure exactly when this occurred, but I saw the story at the beginning of February. Mr. Klein is the owner of a bakery in Oregon and is currently under investigation by that Thumbs_upstate’s attorney general. Why?? Well, because Klein is a Christian and recently declined to make a “wedding” cake for a gay couple who were getting “married”. Klein faces a possible $50,000 fine and flat out said that his faith is more important than politically correct legalities and is willing to lose his business rather than violate his principles. Kudos.

 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Everyone knows that Mayor Bloomberg has been successful in getting sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces banned in NY City. What folks are just now beginning to understand is just how wide of a net that ban entails. Apparently pizza places will no longer be allowed to frowny-facedeliver 2 liter bottles of soda with customers’ food, and families can no longer share one big pitcher of pop. On top of this stupidity Bloomberg is now targeting Styrofoam, which he is actually kind of behind the times on since McDonald’s stopped using that more than two decades ago. This guy is a real piece of work. He’s just a political whore (he’s been a member of both parties and is now an independent) who abuses his power to restrict the freedoms of citizens. I don’t care how awesome The Big Apple is…I have no interest in ever going there until this idiot is long gone and his draconian laws have been reversed.  

Related articles

 

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 4.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

mcfYes I watched The Oscars. What can I say…I was curious and jlawthere was nothing else better to do. Host Seth McFarlane was far less profane than most anticipated, although I am not really sure how much vulgarity anyone expected him to get away with anyway. However, the whole show was kind of an odd & clunky mess. I liked the appearance by William Shatner’s Captain Kirk (although the skit went on far too long), wasn’t all that offended by that song about boobs, and reluctantly chuckled at McFarlane’s joke about John Wilkes Booth being the only actor who was ever really able to get inside President Lincoln’s head. Conversely there were jokes about Mel Gibson, Rihanna & Chris Brown, and George Clooney that probably sounded funny in rehearsal but fell flat live. I could have done without the appearance of Mee-shell Obama, who like her shatner-captaint-kirk-oscars-videohusband seems a bit too enamored with the idea of being a celebrity & schmoozing with celebrities instead of actually governing. First ladies are supposed to be classy. None of the ones that I am familiar with from my lifetime…Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalyn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hilary Clinton, & Laura Bush…would have appeared at The Academy Awards because they had more important things to do and weren’t narcissistic. Both Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence were more than deserving of their awards. I have yet to see Best Picture winner Argo, but I’ll get around to renting it soon. It weirds me out a bit that Ben Affleck has now won two Oscars. Meanwhile Matt Damon is performing voiceover work for TV commercials and doing bits on the Jimmy Kimmel late night show. Yikes. Overall I think that McFarlane was a lot better than previous hosts like Whoopi Goldberg, bcryAnn Hathaway & James Franco, and Chris Rock, but it seemed like he was trying very hard to capture that Billy Crystal vibe and failed in the same way that Coke Zero tries to convince us that it tastes exactly like Coca-Cola but just doesn’t. Here’s my idea. Crystal is only 64 years old. Give him a 10 year contract and make him the “permanent’ host of The Academy Awards. After 10 years we will be sick of even him and might be a little more receptive to a fresh face. Oh, and I would also seriously pare down the number of awards handed out during the televised ceremony. No one gives a damn about sound editing, visual effects, hair & makeup, or costume design. There is absolutely no reason why the entire show can’t easily be done in 3 hours.

 

 

2_mindy_mccready_54271657-4_3_r536_c534I’ve been pondering this Mindy McCready story that has gotten so much media play the past few weeks. McCready of course is the erstwhile country singer that recently ended her own life, leaving behind two small children. There are just so many things involved…so many directions one can go in pontificating on the situation. I’m not a big country music fan, but I vaguely recall McCready’s brief time in the spotlight in the late 90’s. She had a decent song or two, dated the dude who played Superman on TV, and was a hot blonde. I won’t even pretend to understand either depression or drug addiction. I’ve known a couple of people who were addicted to alcohol and/or drugs, and I have a couple of friends with clinical depression who have attempted suicide. I get down in the dumps sometimes and wish my life was more interesting, that my love life was awesome, that I was more successful & financially secure…but I can honestly say that I have never seriously contemplated ending my own life. However, I will not criticize those who walk thru such valleys. Afterall, there but for the grace of God go I. Having said that though, there are a few things about the McCready case that are instructive. First of all, though she was little more than a flash in the pan on the music scene, McCready was still…in the loosest sense of the term…a celebrity. She had talent, beauty, fame, and atleast at some point money. Yet at the end of the day none of it mattered. Secondly, a common thing that I seem to read or hear when something like this happens is that she left behind two children which makes her suicide a selfish act. I certainly understand that point of view, but my (as usual) superficial research reveals an interesting perspective. Many people who commit suicide feel, in the depths of their despair, like their act is actually altruistic…that they are doing those left behind a favor, even if that includes small children. I may not be able to relate to that point of view, but I do understand it on some level. And speaking of loosely defined celebrities, McCready appeared on a “reality” show in 2010 called Celebrity Rehab, hosted by Dr. Drew ddrewPinsky. Citizens of the Manoverse know my aversion to reality television, but even within that pathetic genre this show really scrapes the bottom of the barrel. I think it is sad that such a show even exists to exploit the problems of semi-famous people who are obviously desperate for any outlet that will get them back in the spotlight and maybe reinvigorate their bank accounts. Dr. Drew is one of those celebrity doctors, like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, & Dr. Ruth, who seems more interested in being a TV star than an actual doctor. Call me old-fashioned, but I think peoples’ problems & issues are in the same category with acts of charity & altruism…they should be on the down low and dealt with behind closed doors, not out in the open in some wretched attempt to gain notoriety. In five years of the show 5 former cast members have died, so whatever Dr. Drew is doing doesn’t seem to be working. And finally, before McCready offed herself she shot her dog. That’s right…she killed an innocent pet. I have to be honest…that’s the one thing about the whole story that I really have a hard time understanding on any level. I love my dog, and if anything would happen to me I know he’d be confused & sad, but someone somewhere would take him in and provide a good home for him. I cannot imagine being so sick in the head as to actually put a bullet thru an innocent animal. But of course as I’ve already stated, there is nothing about any of this is that I can really relate to.

 

 

pcHis Lordship the Imperial Mayor of NY City is at it again. Or maybe people are just now beginning to realize the full extent of his assclownery. It seems that it has become clear to restaurant & club owners in The Big Apple that, as a result of Mayor Bloomberg’s well documented ban on anything bigger than 16 oz containers of sugary drinks, pizza joints will no longer be allowed to deliver 2 liters of soda pop and families will no longer be able to share a pitcher of cola at a local restaurant. Of course that same family could still legally share a pitcher of beer, which seems a little odd.cola If my calculations are correct Bloomberg’s 3rd & final term (which he got only thru political chicanery) ends this November and it will be interesting to see if New Yorkers elect someone with the cahones to reverse all of Bloomberg’s stupidity and restore freedom to the people, or if they will be foolish enough to choose yet another dictator who will continue the silliness.

 

 

padeWe began with actors so we’ll finish with them. With his 3rd Best Actor Oscar Daniel Day-Lewis is now being lauded by some as the best actor in the history of jstewacting. I just can’t bring myself to go there quite yet, but it is an interesting debate. Other names I’ve seen thrown into the argument include Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Spencer Tracy, Dustin Hoffman, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, and Sir Laurence Olivier. I’d also suggest the likes of Al Pacino, James Stewart, and Tom Hanks. I love discussions like this because there is no wrong answer. It all TOM-HANKS-NET-WORTH1comes down to personal taste and the kinds of movies these guys make. The reason I like DeNiro, Pacino, Stewart, and Hanks better than ddlewNicholson , Day-Lewis, & Burton is because I would rather watch The Godfather, It’s A Wonderful Life, Forrest Gump, & Meet the Parents than The Departed, There Will Be Blood, or Cleopatra. Your mileage may vary and that’s okay.

 

Related articles

Points of Ponderation…..Episode 3.13

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

 

 

Word on the street is that Harrison Ford is in for the Star Wars sequels. That’s good news. I can’t imagine that Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill wouldn’t be up for it as well. Surprisingly I’ve never read any of the dozens of Star Wars books but I can imagine that the new sequels will pick up three decades after Return of the Jedi and the focus would be on the offspring of our legendaryHarrison-Ford-e1352170502217 triumvirate. I assume Han Solo & Princess Leia got married, had a couple kids, and now hold elder statesmen roles within The New Republic. Luke Skywalker is a Jedi master…kind of the new Obi-wan Kenobi…got married, and had a few children as well. Darth Vader is obviously dead so we’ll see a new bad guy. The key question is which actors & actresses will be cast as the new generation. I hope director JJ Abrams goes for good actors versus movie stars…there is a difference. This new trilogy has to be a cut above the mindless action rubbish that the movie going public has become anesthetized by. Star Wars deserves better. I pray that Abrams stays away from people like Shia LaBeouf, Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, and…God help us…Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez. There are decent young performers out there that could bring a level of gravitas to the story…folks like Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley, Emile Hirsch, Hunter Parrish, Josh Hutcherson, and Kate Mara. Abrams did an excellent job in casting the Star Trek reboot so I trust that he will do the same for Star Wars.

 

So I guess the new trend is to equate gay rights with civil rights and homosexuals with other minorities. I could go into a long diatribe about my particular feelings on the issue, but I will refrain. Suffice to say that I disagree ashamedwith the philosophy and think that women & blacks…who fought long & hard for equal rights and still must to a certain degree…should be immensely offended about the equivocation. That doesn’t mean that those who choose a particular lifestyle should be made to endure discrimination & abuse because at the end of the day we should all be about human rights and stop trying to divide & conquer, but it does mean that some people need to stop demanding to be celebrated or given special treatment for their choices.

 

I love Al Pacino. He is one of the finest actors to ever grace a stage, TV screen, or movie set. But what is the deal with him doing all these biopics of Al_Pacino (1)controversial dudes?? First he played “Dr. Death” Jack Kevorkian for HBO in 2010. Then came word that he will be playing Joe Paterno in a future film. And now he’s playing wildhaired music producer & convicted murderer Phil Spector…again for HBO. I don’t know…these kinds of roles just somehow seem beneath a performer the caliber of Pacino.

 

Conversely…..

I hear that Robin Williams is headed back to TV in a new sitcom. Now THAT is something to be excited about!!

 

Speaking of civil rights…..

I recently saw an ad on TV for a dating site called BlackPeopleMeet.com. I must admit that I was somewhat taken aback at first until I gave it some thought. Upon further ponderation I recalled that there is still an NAACP, a Congressional Black Caucus, and black colleges (well okay…now they say predominantly or historically black colleges) like Grambling, Howard, & Southern University, all of which were necessary at one time but seem dr-martin-luther-king-jrsomewhat anachronistic now. I was born way after the civil rights era of the 60’s with Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus & Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the fight for justice & freedom. However, it strikes me as odd that a group of folks whose forefathers fought so hard for and in some cases gave their lives for equality & integration continue to willingly segregate themselves on some level. If I started any kind of exclusive “whites only” organization in 2013 I would immediately be labeled a racist and be (rightly so) ostracized, belittled, & condemned. It seems like that’s a one way street though. Dr. King expressed faith that one day we would all be able to “work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together” and hope that “all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing”. I am not sure how BlackPeopleMeet.com helps achieve that goal.

 

I have discovered a new hobby. Events like The Super Bowl & The Grammys…among others…are much more entertaining if I utilize Twitter to express my smartass thoughts the entire time. I am actually looking forward to The Oscars for the first time in…well…ever.

 

I didn’t watch Obama’s State of the Union because I would rather stick my head in a pizza oven for an hour than hear that man spew his nonsense, but I hear that he wants to raise the minimum wage. That’s a nice idea in theory, but I wonder about the unintended negative consequences. What good does raising wages do when prices seem to rise correspondingly?? How many moneypeople would lose jobs and how many small businesses would go under?? Why are we concentrating on artificially raising the lowest standard instead of increasing opportunities for better jobs?? Will more people just end up on government assistance?? What about the people already making $10-15/hr….will their wages increase?? I am not an economist and I’m not really in the mood to get into anything in depth at the moment, but these are questions that need to be addressed & answered.

 

 

 

Related articles

 

Poll: What Is Your Favorite Comfort Food??

spagh Your humble Potentate of Profundity has been on a weight  chocolate-chip-cookie-and-milkloss journey that I’ll write more bout at some other time, but one of the things that I have realized is that I am an emotional eater…something that I am sure is not uncommon. I have also discovered that winter, for various reasons, is a season that lends itself to a certain level of weakness for we folks who tend to overindulge. So my icquestion for The Manoverse today is simply…what are your go to foods?? What do you tend to treat PotChili1yourself to when you are some combination of hungry, lonely, bored, sad, angry, frustrated, etc?? Please select up to three choices and leave me a comment about  your particular treats & temptations.

Related articles

Heroes & Heels…..January 2013

Back when I used to do a Person of the Month at the old site on MySpace I had…for some strange reason…a real issue with getting the darn thing published on time, which in a perfect world would be on the last day of the month. When I decided to revive the idea here in 2013 I promised myself I would do better, but I guess old habits die hard. The truth is that I have been in a little funk the past several days and got lazy. I believe that atleast part of it is weather induced as I do not like this cold, icy, snowy time of year and tend to go into a self-induced hibernation. At any rate I am doing my best to push thru which in part means fulfilling my own self-imposed promises here at The Manofesto.

Our new feature is called Heroes & Heels. These are the people & stories that either dominated the news or for some reason caught my eye during the past 30 days. They are presented in no particular order and I am sure my dear citizens of The Manoverse will be able to tell the bad guys from the good. Enjoy.

 

 

JJ Abrams

Yes yes yes…I am well aware that Abrams…currently helming the Star Trek revival…was chosenThumbs_up recently to direct a new Star Wars trilogy. I have already expressed my ambivalence about that. But Abrams deserves kudos for another reason. Early in January Abrams found out about a terminally ill New York man’s dying wish to see the new Trek film before he died. The director is notoriously secretive about his work, preferring to keep spoilers to a minimum. However, he made an exception in this case and sent a DVD of the unfinished film to the house of 41 year old Daniel Craft, who apparently watched it with his wife and some popcorn. A few days later Craft passed away. It may seem like a small thing in the grand scheme of life, but JJ Abrams’ gesture was classy & fundamentally decent…something we’re not used to seeing out of Hollywood types. Kudos Mr. Abrams.

 

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo

I am sure you’ve heard about this idiot recently. He’s the mental giant who perpetrated the hoax on Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o, making him believe that he was in a 2 year long phone/cyberfrowny-face “relationship” with a girl that never actually existed. I am not willing to absolve Te’o of all responsibility yet because it still isn’t clear exactly when he found out the truth and how long he continued to perpetuate the fraud for his own purposes, and at the very least he is an extremely naïve & gullible young man who could probably use a good dose of therapy. However, it has become clear that Tuiasosopo is the one who came up with the sick joke in the first place. I don’t watch Dr. Phil, who I consider to be only slightly less of a charlatan than Oprah, but from what I read Tuiasosopo is now saying that he was molested as a child and he may be gay & in love with Te’o. Isn’t that convenient?? There’s always an excuse.

 

Terry Lee & George Burnett

Terry Lee is the owner of a forensics firm in Cedar City, UT. George Burnett owns a juice bar in Salt Thumbs_upLake City. Both decided to handle the new costs of Obamacare in a unique…and perfectly legal…way. Lee had to trim the fat a bit so he decided to “downsize” two liberal employees who had openly supported Obama, saying that “They wanted the idiot in the White House, they reap the benefits.” Burnett’s actions were a little less dramatic and more…dare I say…democratic. He simply charges libs a dollar more for a smoothie. I am not sure how effective his honor system is, but it’s the thought that counts. Now I realize that some may think that these actions are wrong, but personally I find them absolutely hilarious. Your mileage may vary.

 

Bob Schieffer

I have a feeling media types will find themselves on the bad end of the deal a lot here. Schieffer’sfrowny-face particular brand of stupidity recently was equating the reinvigorated mission of liberals to crap all over our 2nd Amendment right to keep & bear arms to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the WWII effort to defeat Nazis. Yes friends…that is exactly what the publicity wing of the Democrat Party thinks of you, and they aren’t even making much of an effort to hide it any more.

 

Sheriff Denny Peyman

Sheriff Peyman of Kentucky is just one of several law enforcement types that have publicly stated their intention to not enforce any non-Constitutional gun laws that Congress & Obama may try to Thumbs_upram thru in the wake of recent tragedies in Connecticut & Colorado. Normally I am a law & order guy who believes in upholding the rule of law no matter what, so at first this story made me cringe a little bit. I expect the police to do their job. But upon further review Sheriff Peyman & others are clear that they will not enforce any new laws that violate our rights. That doesn’t mean that they will allow folks to go around waving guns willy nilly in their towns…it is just an indicator that if the time ever does come when the federal government takes things a bit too far they are likely to have a heck of a fight on their hands, which is kind of the point anyway.

 

Lance Armstrong

Do I really have to explain this one?? I will assume you haven’t been completely oblivious to the frowny-faceworld around you the past few weeks and know about recent events involving Armstrong. Needless to say he’s just not a very good person.

 

SMUG

Which stands for Sexual Minorities Uganda. I guess their reach extends far beyond frowny-facethe land of Kamala’s birth though, as they are suing a Massachusetts pastor. Rev. Scott Lively actually preached from The Bible (Gasp!! The horror!!) during a mission trip to Uganda in 2009, and The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is an abomination. Evidently this didn’t please everyone. Not surprisingly SMUG’s legal battle is being funded by liberal kingpin George Soros. This type of lawsuit is potentially very dangerous because if it is successful it essentially limits the Constitutional rights of Christians to freely worship how they choose & speak feely about their beliefs.

 

Red Robin

Red Robin is a Colorado based “gourmet burger” chain that is unfortunately not in my local area. Thumbs_upHowever, a franchise in North Carolina did a good deed recently that deserves recognition. A couple was dining at the restaurant with their two year old son. Mom was very pregnant. When the family got their bill the price of Mom’s meal had been deducted by the manager, with a simple note wishing her good luck. Evidently Red Robin employees nationwide are given the latitude to do such things at their discretion, which is awesome and makes me want to give them my business if I ever get the opportunity.

 

Professor James Tracy

You’ve heard of 9/11 “truthers”…the wackjobs that believe that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were a government conspiracy?? Well this moron is a communications professor at Florida frowny-faceAtlantic University in Boca Raton and is not only one of those but is also a Sandy Hook ‘truther”. He believes that the tragic events in Connecticut that led to the deaths of over two dozen people…many of them 6 & 7 year old children…may have been a drill involving actors. Really dude?? This guy is a college professor?? If I had a kid at Florida Atlantic University I’d seriously be making them transfer. Afterall, if this guy is employed there it is hard to tell just how many other insane nuts may be there indoctrinating students.

 

Related articles