Jackasses ain't worth jack

The comments Cenk Uygur made this afternoon on MSNBC, on the matter of Terry Jones and the radical Muslim extremists' reaction to Mr. Jones' threat to burn the Quran, are right on target. See the video.

Terry Jones is a jackass. He is a bigot. He is an inciter of violence. He is a spreader of falsehoods and hate,.

He wants to burn the Quran to slap Muslims in the face. And to gain attention for himself, so he can sell his books and make a few dollars.

Burning any ones holy book, burning any ones flag, are acts of disrespect. Mr. Jones should respect the First Amendment rights of others. He should uphold American values, which foster religious tolerance. Mr. Jones, the jackass, also has First Amendment rights, the right to be a jackass, the right to his bigoted ideas. Those Muslim extremists who threatening to murder random Americans, if Mr. Jones burn the Quran, have no right to murder anyone. They are also jackasses.

Unfortunately, modern instruments of communications, instant access to a worldwide distribution of information at the click of a mouse, has made this the era of the rise of jackassess.

Jackasses aren't worth jack, but they can start a whole lot of stuff.

Abraham Lincoln—Finally Proven to Have Been Gay?

A comment from a reader of Change.org’s article, “Growing Number of Historians Believe Abraham Lincoln Was Gay,” pretty much sums up how I feel about the idea of President Lincoln being gay: “Honest Abe has long been one of my favorite American presidents and if he was gay, well, then bless his little rainbow heart.” I would alter the comment only to say “big rainbow heart,” since it seems like the man likely had one.

I love the idea of President Lincoln as being gay, actually. I am in love with the fact that he wrote same-sex poetry—especially regarding the marriage of a man with a man. (I wonder why this isn’t quoted more often, especially when all of that “founding fathers” historical sentimentality comes up regarding so many issues?) Though I’ve only heard about Lincoln’s possible homosexuality in passing, the fact that more and more historians are “coming out” about the evidence surrounding it, so to speak, brought me to look at what we know historically more closely.

The fact that Lincoln was more comfortable around men than women could mean nothing or something; he did, after all, have four children with his wife. Plenty of gay men, of course, have had children with women—and Lincoln did call off his engagement with Mary Todd at least once. In Carl Sandburg’s biography of the president, an allusion to Lincoln’s romance with a man, Joshua Fry Speed, was made. The two lived together for several years, sleeping in the same bed. Some historians say that Lincoln’s depression stemmed from his homosexuality and inability to be his true self in public—something that so many people with any predilection other than “straight” suffer from still today. His own stepmother admitted that he never liked girls much, either.

None of these pieces of evidence proves Lincoln’s sexual orientation one way or another. Lincoln slept with over ten boys and men during his life, for example; but at the time, sleeping with other men was a fairly common occurrence. (Wouldn’t it be nice if it was still so casually, non-judgmentally approached?) Lincoln’s bodyguard, Captain David Derickson, also slept with the president when his wife was away.

If Abe were gay, would it make a difference? I would say a big fat yes and a big fat no. The yes would be, of course, because he would present a wonderful gay hero in history we could look up to, refer to, and be proud of having had as a president—perhaps helping pave the way for more gays in politics. The no, of course, is because it doesn’t change the man in the stovepipe hat or his policies and the legacy he left us with.

Women and Sexual Orientation: It's A Lot More Fluid Than Many Think

Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah, in January of 2008 published the results of a multi-year study of 79 women who did not self-identify as heterosexual. Professor Diamond's research began in 1995 when she conducted in-person interviews with the women, who identified themselves as lesbian, bisexual, or unlabeled but not heterosexual. The women were all between 18 and 25 years old at the time. Diamond then followed up with each woman every two years, in a phone interview. Dr. Diamond was researching the idea of bisexuality as a temporary stage of denial or transition, a stable "3rd type" of sexual orientation, or a heightened capacity for sexual fluidity.

Dr. Diamond discovered that the women who identified as bisexual continued to be attracted to both sexes, which supports the idea that bisexuality is a distinct sexual orientation, rather than a temporary phase, particularly since the study included women in a range of ages. Diamond further suggests that most women "possess the capacity to experience sexual desires for both sexes, under the right circumstances," and discovered that over time, bisexual women were more likely than lesbians to switch between describing themselves as bisexual and unlabeled, rather than to identify as lesbian or heterosexual. Some of the women created their own labels, including one who described herself as "reluctant heterosexual."

The women in the study who identify as heterosexual and who "experiment with same-sex desires and behaviors, but if they really are predominantly heterosexual, they may enjoy experimentation but may not change their sexuality." She also discovered that the women who identified as bisexual tended to be monogamous, and form long-term attachments, thereby debunking another bisexual myth. Roughly a quarter of the women said their choice of sexual partners was not affected by their partner's sex or gender. "Deep down," said one woman, "it's just a matter of who I meet and fall in love with, and it's not their body, it's something behind the eyes."

You can read about Professor Diamond's research in "Female Bisexuality From Adolescence to Adulthood: Results From a 10-Year Longitudinal Study" published in the January 2008 issue of Developmental Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association, or see a summary from USA Today.

After her initial study, Dr. Diamond discovered that some of her research was being wrenched out of context, particularly by Christian Right groups who want to argue that sexual orientation was a choice. What Dr. Diamond's research in fact indicated was that rather than being a conscious choice, something that could be controlled, many women experienced their sexual orientation as something that was fluid, a spectrum rather than a grid. By the tenth year of the study, two-thirds of the women had changed their identity label at least once. In subsequent research, Dr. Diamond discovered that "Eighty percent of the identity transitions that I've observed in the 13 years of the study have been transitions to either bisexual or unlabeled identities, from lesbian or heterosexual identities." In fact, current research suggests that "The exclusive categories [of heterosexual or homosexual] are actually the smallest categories, and those bisexual ranges are actually the largest ranges."

You Can Run But You Cannot Hide

The band, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, is a "Christian" punk/rock band that has been stirring up some inadvertent controversy recently for its stance on Gay and Lesbian people and issues. This controversy has been brought on by the large political donation Target Corp made to Tom Emmer a Republican candidate for Governor of Minnesota. Tom Emmer has a relationship with the band and the allegations of the band asking for the death of Gay and Lesbian people has been splashed across the internet and mainstream headlines. In more favorable publications the "call to death" has been replaced with "strongly oppose", but the message of hate the band spreads is the same regardless of how it is phrased.

What's the big idea anyway? Is all of this information acccurate? I went to the site for the band and found the following link on the homepage, Affirming Our Stance on Homosexuality, written by Bradlee Dean - President and CEO - You Can Run International, Inc. The message they give is somewhat ambiguous but I have selected the following section to share with you so you can make your own judgement:

"Let me make this perfectly clear -- again.  We are opposed to the state, in any country, no matter what its religious tradition, in executing homosexuals.  We are against anyone, anywhere, at any time, who executes homosexuals for being homosexual.  We would hide them in our homes before we would allow that to happen.  But we would preach at them while they were there."

I do not want to make light of what is obviously a really serious issue - but I am not sure what is worse - hanging out with Bradlee Dean at his house (being preached to) or death. I am sure I would have a great time looking through his closet and seeing how many colored bandanas and cheap pairs of sunglasses he has but the preaching itself would likely drive me insane.

On that note - why is "preaching" to people who likely would not want your message acceptable but the "gay lifestyle" so inherently wrong? Conservative Christians repeat the same message of "love and understanding" quite often but it is almost always seen as a mask for conversion and conformity - oh yeah, because, um - it is!

Bradlee Dean, thank you for clearing up your position on "the gays" but you have to understand that the comments you made about executing gays can not be spun into anything other than that - executing gays. Write all the letters you want but you cant make up for such a hateful comment - instead of PR maybe you should issue an apology to the GLBT(QIA) community - but before doing that you really need to do something about that hair.

"Skyline," Is that it?

Trailer Review

I watched the trailer for the the sci-fi thriller "Skyline," It is labeled as a trailer. But it is a teaser. One minute thirty three seconds of a teaser. I read the synopsis put out by Universal Studios -- "strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth."

Being a sci-fi fan from way back, ever since I watched "The Day The Earth Stood Still," (the 1951 version, the good one), I said WOW!

The trailer/teaser started with appropriate weird noise and a reminder that last year NASA sent a message into space inviting extraterrestrials to contact us. Straight away, I remembered Stephen Hawking warning last April, that we should avoid contact with aliens, unless we want a Darth Vader type showing up, annexing us to the some evil empire. So I thought, yeah those blockheads at NASA, broadcasting to the wolves of the universe, "Come and get us little lambs."

Then I heard Keith Olbermann, the news anchor, political commentator, host of MSNBC's Countdown, talking about Stephen Hawking's warning, then I saw him and I thought: What is this? A sci-fic thriller or a documentary? I fully, expected Keith Olbermann to continue and say something like, "Yeah, didn't I tell you, America?! Space aliens are behind everything that has been going wrong with America lately! Extraterrestrials infiltration is the explanation for the Tea Party Movement!" Next up, following the Olbermann clip, was Dan Rather. I wasn't surprised to see Dan Rather in a sci-fi flick. He continued with the Stephen Hawkings warning. It would have been cool, if there had been a clip of Dan Rather making references to "the frequency and Kenneth."

Then comes the CGI stuff -- looked like Universal may have opened the piggy bank and spent a fistful of dollars and a few more on special effects. Then what? Well, I saw people being vacuumed up into the sky, and I'm thinking Jerry Falwell now. The late fundamentalist, televangelist, who was always preaching that the end days were coming, and the faithful, particularly himself, were going to be "raptured" up to Heaven by God and be spared the terrible punishment. For the sinful, whom would perish in horrible torment as time ended. Well, I'm wondering: Was Falwell an alien? No, this is just a movie. Space ships seemed to be harvesting the human race.

The flick is due in theaters on November 12th. The directors are Colin Strause and Greg Strause. The cast includes Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, David Zayas, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel.

This is a trailer review not a movie review. As for the trailer/teaser, I wish the 'trailer' was a trailer, fully loaded, or with enough stuff to tell/show me more about the story. I am suspicious of teasers. Often times they are used to sell flicks that are-all high concept, but with no depth, flicks with a good premiss but with no story.

Where No Family Has Gone Before (Part 1)

As a television show, Family Guy has made quite a name for itself, satirizing religion, political correctness, pop culture, racial and ethnic stereotypes, stereotypes of racial and ethnic stereotypes, and the drug problems of various celebrities. What keeps Family Guy  from getting too comfortable with the crap at the bottom of the barrel is its smart take on two loves of the show's  creator, Seth MacFarlane - Star Trek and Star Wars. To date, Family Guy has released two full-length  Star Wars parodies - "Blue Harvest", "Something, Something, Something Dark Side", with the upcoming "It's A Trap!" set for DVD release in December. While the Star Wars-themed episodes are very popular in their own right (seriously, just look at the detail of their Wikipedia articles), I'm going to focus on MacFarlane's other science fiction love. I daresay there'll be enough written about the Star Wars episodes. Well, that, and I haven't seen any of the Star Wars movies (nope, not even the originals).

 

Even before JJ Abrams made Star Trek cool again in 2009, MacFarlane was never shy about his love of the series. As far back as 2001, when Star Trek: Voyager came to its forgettable conclusion and Enterprise made its forgettable debut (and we were a year away from the forgettable Star Trek: Nemesis),  "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" saw Stewie Griffin refer to Jeffrey Hunter's claim to fame as the captain of the USSEnterprise in the first Star Trek pilot (before William Shatner landed the role). Think about it - not only do we have a Star Trekreference back in the days before Star Trek became cool again, but we have an obscure reference to the unaired pilot of the original Star Trek series. There is so much nerd in that one thought (and sentence) that I'm sure I just sprouted a pimple somewhere.

 

What impresses me about MacFarlane's tributes to Star Trek is that they're not just token references. Anybody can come up with a "Beam me up, Scotty!" joke, or pun on the "Where no one has gone before" line, but there's nothing throwaway about MacFarlane's use and understanding of Star Trek imagery or canon.

 

A favorite target for MacFarlane (and, well, everybody) is the thin line between William Shatner and Captain-Admiral-Captain again James Tiberius Kirk. "I Never Met The Dead Man" (1999) shows has an (obviously fictional) episode of Star Trek where Kirk makes a mundane entry in his Captain's Log, dramatically leaping around in his captain's chair before his pants finally rip. MacFarlane voiced Shatner in the controversial "When You Wish Upon A Weinstein" (2003), screaming "KHAN!"  while acting inFiddler On The Roof. When Brian accidentally sells Stewie's teddy bear Rupert in 2007's "Road to Rupert", Stewie imagines himself giving Kirk's eulogy from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, using the moving tribute to a fallen friend verbatim ("Of all the souls I have encountered on my travels, his was the most….human"). 

 

Seth MacFarlane wisely stays away from ribbing later Star Trek series like Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise (even though he had a brief recurring role on the latter show), instead using the far more popular original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation for his comic fodder. There is the one "Quark Griffin" joke, but it's The Next Generation that has received two of Family Guy's most memorable riffs. 

 

(contd.)

Churchill Covered Up UFOs

Something's Really Out There Says UFO expert.

The British government has released a new batch of its once secret UFO files. Among the revelations revealed today is that Winston Churchill covered up reports of UFO sightings, so not to cause mass public panic.

So all those recent "Dr. Who" episodes with the late Sir Winston paling around with the good doctor may have been inspired by a little more than the muse of fiction.

Most of the reported UFO sightings, the Brit government files say, were misidentified objects, normal terrestrial and / or pedestrian things like aircraft lights or meteors, and yes, as always, a small proportion of the sighting could not be explained.

Nick Pope, the former MoD UFO chief, who worked for twenty five years at the British Ministry of Defense, says these latest reports prove that something is really out there. Aliens? Visiting us? He says, he doesn't think so. And he believes there's is alien life. He hedges.

Well, no aliens have formally checked in -- yet, as far as the public knows. See the videos.

The new Brit UFO files are on-line at  nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufo, and can be viewed, download, for free, for the first month. After that there will, what the site says, a small fee. The first batch of Brit MoD UFO files can be assessed for the fee.

Charles Stross, "The Jennifer Morgue"

Stross has car

ved out a funny little niche, and he OWNS it.  If there's anyone else out there who is writing fiction where Lovecraft's mythos is real, and its threat is constantly being mitigated by a CIA-like government agency, I'm not aware of it.  (Neil Gaiman's "Study in Emerald" comes to mind, but as a stand-alone short story that isn't set in the present day, it doesn't really count.)

The Jennifer Morgue returns to the world Stross first described in "The Atrocity Archives."  Collectively these are called "the Laundry Files novels," which Wikipedia describes as "Lovecraftian spy thrillers involving a secret history of the 20th century."  A dry description, but perfectly accurate.

The Laundry Files novels star Bob, an IT guy for The Laundry, which is a CIA-like British spy agency.  (MI-6-Like would probably be more apt, but that's just too many hyphens for my taste.)  The Laundry deals with diplomatic relations between our world and that of Lovecraft's Old Ones, as well as handling any unusual incursions which may happen.

Bob is an unlikely hero, an "everyman" who somehow gets suckered into the oddest roles.  The Jennifer Morgue has Bob being sent to handle a Situation along with an incredibly beautiful woman.  Except that she isn't actually beautiful, and isn't actually human, either.  She's a member of another agency which is working with The Laundry to… well, to prevent the end of the world, of course!

I like Stross' Laundry Files a lot, which is somewhat puzzling to me, because I can't make heads or tails of his hard sci fi books.  I've tried several of them, and they just don't work for me on any level.  I've never had such a strong split reaction to an author's body of work, but there you have it.  

If you like Stross' hard sci fi novels, you may not care for these.  But if you've tried his hard sci fi and it hasn't turned your crank, then you should definitely give one of the Laundry Files stories a try.

The Jennifer Morgue's basic story is thus: a secret Soviet submarine lies on the bottom of the ocean.  It contains a device that allows the user to talk to the dead.  Problem being, the submarine lies in "enemy territory," as mapped out by an ancient treaty between humanity and the Great Old Ones.  

I'm on the fence about the Big Reveal that comes about 2/3rds of the way to the end.  On the one hand it's clever and fun, and it takes the story in an interesting direction.  On the other hand I think it could have been invoked a lot sooner in the narrative, because it seemed a little bit "bolted on at the end out of authorial desperation."

At any rate, this is a fun read, and it toys with the worlds of spy thrillers and Lovecraft in a surprisingly light-hearted and entertaining way.

A note on the audiobook version: According to Wikipedia, the book makes heavy use of footnotes.  Obviously that's all lost in the audiobook version.  I'm not sure if that was conveyed well.  I think it might have turned out a little bit confusingly.

The narrator did an excellent job, although I was initially perplexed by the word he pronounces as "geese."  I assume this is "geas" but I'm not entirely sure.

Top 5 Old-School Star Wars Toys

I remember sitting in the theater between my Dad and uncle who had generously “volunteered” to take me to Star Wars when I was a kid. The movie was exciting enough to stand out in my memory and I saw all three of the original Star Wars films in the theaters. I wasn’t lucky enough to have any of the Star Wars toys, but as an adult now understand the incredible depth that Stars Wars toys played in the lives of  many people lives from my generation. I did some investigative journalism to uncover a short list of what the Star Wars experts I happen to know feel are the strongest contenders for the best Star Wars toys. Do you agree with them? If not, please feel free to blast me in the comment section and add your own.

 Death Star- According to my sources, which shall remain anonymous, the reasons for the inclusion of the Death Star should be self-evident- the Death Star had a Trash Compactor. How cool is that?


Tie Fighter- Again, the experts I consulted all agreed on this- the Tie Fighter was one of the Empire’s ultimate fighting machines- the coolness factor lies in the fact that the wings actually come off. It’s safe to say that nothing compares to retractable wings. The Tie-Fighter also flies through hyper-space. While hyper-space flying is more common these days, it was definitely nothing to sneeze at when the Tie- Fighter first made its debut.



Millenium Falcon-Need I say more. Han Solo’s ship is awesome. Some of you may know that the actual shape of the Millenium Falcon was inspired by a hamburger. For an example of how to draw the Millenium Falcon, check out this LINK.


 X-Wing Fighter- Again, from what my sources tell me, the X-Fighter is an integral part of the Rebel Fleet. If you are interested in a sneak-peak at a life-size home-made X-Fighter, please feel free to take a look HERE.



AT-AT- The AT-AT looks cool. What could possibly be better than a robot-like thingy (to be precise) that fits Storm Troopers in its bowels? The AT-AT is so cool that Hasbro is reportedly releasing a new AT-AT on August 1 of this year.

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