Here is one that I thought was very effective. Because it's true.


http://my.barackobama.com/hrvcrating?v=tWKici6hOhw

 Thank you, Media for all your fearmongering. You created a continent wide panic for no good reason. People are waiting in line 24 hours a day to get a vaccine and being turned away because they are not one of the group most vulnerable: pregnant women, asthmatics, children under 5.

I am an asthmatic and I didn't wait in line for the vaccine. Why? We already had it. This is why I was so quiet on my journal this past month. It hit us. First in my head, sinuses and lungs, then it swooped around a second time and hit me in the intestines. It hit Ron hard in the lungs, but he is recovering and has not had to miss a day of work.  And Alex blew it off in 2 days.

Why am I not panicking? Aside from missing a half of a shift, it was NOT THAT BAD!!! I mostly rested in the easy chair, eating light foods, lots of apples, oranges, blueberries (I recommend frozen blueberries—they are superfoods with lots of antioxidant and stuffed to the hilt with Vitamin C.)

See it's our present trend of over panicking and running to the doctor and overdoing it with the Tamiflu (do not take that unless you have the flu. Do not take it as a preemptive.) and disinfectants antibiotics that is going to produce a super virus. A drug resistant virus.

WE must let our natural immune systems handle this one. 1300 hundred people in the U.S. have died but this is out of 300,000,000 million people. A normal flu bug carries off 20,000 people annually.

Now the media, realizing the monster they have created by causing a stampede to the clinics, are trying to get people to settle down and emphasize only the most vulnerable can be taken care of. In Canada, they are turning away more people than they are treating. In the U.S. with the shrill CNN, I can't imagine.

What is it like there? Are the lines a disaster pit? Is it true some people are getting into fist fights there?


But please. Please: Don't Panic!!!

I thought this was a good post from Seth Godin's blog, so I am passing it along.

Trolls

Lots of things about work are hard. Dealing with trolls is one of them. Trolls are critics who gain perverse pleasure in relentlessly tearing you and your ideas down. Here's the thing(s):

1. trolls will always be trolling
2. critics rarely create
3. they live in a tiny echo chamber, ignored by everyone except the trolled and the other trolls
4. professionals (that's you) get paid to ignore them. It's part of your job.

"Can't please everyone," isn't just an aphorism, it's the secret of being remarkable.

I think Glenn Beck is nothing but a Troll on TV.

Does this video make any sense to any of you? I watched it several times and I still don't get what he's after?
What is it? Pure insanity or gaslighting. What do you think?

Pain patients in the U.S. should get used to the fact that your medicines are going to be further scrutinized, thanks to the high profile death of Michael Jackson and Rush Limbaugh's famous addiction to Oxycontin.

Thanks guys, thanks for making it so much harder to get effective pain relief in America.

Home of diminishing freedoms.

President Obama wants to encourage police interference with pain doctors' ability to prescribe.





I'm glad we don't live there anymore.

I don't know why the video that I posted yesterday was deemed "private only" but the gist of it was this:

There were about 60,000 members of protesters, many of whom did not have any idea of what they were protesting about.

Their march was ugly, ignorant and in many cases racist and creedist as hell.

Of course many of them made a big deal out of his middle name: "Hussein."

There were many placards that showed him with a Hitler mustache.

Many signs called him a Nazi and a communist, apparently completely clueless that the Nazis hated communists and executed them.

Many signs were misspelled.

Many people had no idea what they were really protesting about.

There was a few signs that were deeply racist.

There are disturbing signs that the "unworthy" that should not be insured are black and Hispanic people. Ask them right out and they will deny it but they parrot the same things said during the Reagan Administration when Reagan dredged up the ol' black welfare queen. Then the Reagan administration hammered the idea into people's heads that welfare queens deliberately have more babies to get more money, that they drive cadillacs while raking in the dough.

The same things were said in 2009. "I don't want my tax dollars to pay for some welfare queen to have more babies."

Very disturbing stuff. Keep tuned but we now have what these people are: the Ku Klux Klowns.

 So I was reading a Washington Post article and I see this section on religion. Any of you Facebook users answer the question on Religion? I left that blank. But this one poster replied with something I thought was funny:

militant agnostic - I don't know and you don't either!

Neverland is apparently haunted by MJ's ghost. At least that's what Larry King reported. It could be true, who knows? But I find this "ghost story" much funnier:

 These days I delete these 419 type scams daily. Most of them I give a cursory glance, nothing more. Once in a while, though, I come across one that is just too funny. I left all the spelling, lack of spacing, punctiation, inappropriat small caps and just plain bad English intact in this letter. I did not change a single thing about it. 

From: mercelgissio161@msn.com
Subject: From Mr.Mercel Gissio,

Date: August 7, 2009 11:30:17 AM GMT-04:00

Reply-To: mercelgissio@gmail.com

From Mr.Mercel Gissio,
Drirector,contracts and manpower development,
Ivory Coast Ports Authority.
Abidjan,Republic of Ivory Coast.
EMAIL; mercelgissio@gmail.com 

 

                                                         Confidential/Top Secret.

Sir,

I am Mercel Gissio of the above mentioned office,i got your contact from the internet during my search for one to trust  and decides to share mutual busines idea that has been in existence for two years now.
A certain american contractor named Jack Molley of Molleys associates based in Texas won and executed a contract worth $13.5 million united states dollars which was simply installations of LIFTING DEVICES and CRANES in our port to change the old worn out and out-dated type that was in use which became ineffective.
 
This contract which was awareded by Ivory Coast Government through my office have been paid for but due to the time it took government to clear the debt with Molleys associates of texas,the contract acrued some fees which the contractor is not aware of.This lapses or the red-tape approach in government offices to disburse payment in time,i used my office and position to over-influence this contract to the tone of $3.8 million united states,what i want is for you to come in and act as partner to Jack molley  to claim this over-influenced sum as i will provide you with neccessary guidelines needed.
Based on this,send to me the following;
 
1. Your full name and address.
2. Your company's proforma invoice.
3. 4 blank sheets of your company letter headed-paper.
4. Your id---like drivers license or international passport.
5. Company name and address.
6. Company's banking details in totality.
 
With these information as demanded,i will approach the ministry of finance and economic planning,office of budget at the presidency and ports authority for approval on your behalf or that of your company.
After these approvals has been granted by appropriet offices,the central bank of ivory coast will have no option than to release and wire this $3.8 million united states dollars into your nominated bank account.
For using your account,i will share this over-influenced contract sum with you on the basis of 50/40% and 10% will cover all fees to be spent in the execution of this said arrangement.
 
When you respond,i will give you the contact of the department of planning and execution where you send all paper work and correspondences so that i will not be involved directly as i will be giving you clues and all the information needed to actualize this.
This transaction is risk-free once you take instructions from me.
Thanking you in anticipation for your understanding.
Yours sincerely,

Mercel Gissio
Director,contracts and manpower development
Ivory Coast Ports authority(ICPA)

 Terry Ferguson Chambers
(170 Canary Wharf  London,United Kingdom,W4 5RY)

Hello My Good Friend,

I apologize if the contents of this email is contrary to your moral ethics. I humbly solicit your immediate assistance. Though this mail may come to you as a surprise, due to the high level of crime emanating from the internet. But please treat with absolute secrecy and personal. I know we have not met before, but with trust and honesty we can work this project out.

Let me start by introducing myself,I am Mr.Terry Ferguson,Attorney to your late uncle whom was my client when he was alive.Before his death,he use to tell me about his relations in the Eastern Europe and United States of America.

Ever since he died in September 1999 have been trying to contact you or any other relations of his who will stand as his next of kin to inherit his $10million fixed deposit he made with a security company here in the United kingdom. The finance house has called me several times this year to come up with the details of my late client next of kin because the term of the fix deposit elapsed in January 2009.

The finance house wants to know if the next of kin will want to roll the fixed deposit for another 10years or make the withdrawal immediately, so they have ask me to come up with my late client next of kin details.

I made alot of research before i was able to get your information,I will want you to let me know if you would want to roll the deposit over for the next 10years or make the withdrawal immediately.

Please get back to me as soon as possible with your information as place below.

1. Full Names
2. Present Occupation
3. Age
4. Contact Address
5. Any of your proof Identification
6. Phone and Fax number

As soon as I get this information from you I will start preparing all legal documents that we are going to use for the application.Also I will disclose your Uncle detail to you once i verify your information that you are the rightful person am look for.

Hope to read from you soon.
Thanks,
Terry Ferguson(Esq). 

This is why I put one foot in spirituality:

This quote I heard yesterday:

If you talk to God, you're praying.
If God talks to you, you're a schizophrenic.

Damn good point.

I'm spiritual and agnostic at the same time. I've seen and encountered otherworldly things that can't be explained away easily. I believe that we all have the ability to connect.

But…I become agnostic when I encounter the damage the monotheistic religions have done to the world and the sheer insanity of some evangelicals. And I don't like middlemen in general. They remind me of the RIAA. They take your money and you do all the praying. How's that supposed to be a benefit to you?

A Great example of that sort of evangelical huckstering Robert Tilton, Mr. "make a thousand dollar vow." He was discredited in 1991 when it was exposed that he threw away the prayer cards without reading them. Plus there was that pesky spoon up his nose. You can actually see him sweat on camera!

h

He was mentioned in Religulous, a DVD I rented by comedian turned to investigative reporter Bill Maher, and let me tell you, if you are sitting on the fence about religion, this will push you over to the sceptic's side too.

John Wescott is interviewed, a guy who believes in curing homosexuality, which was a funny bit.
And Maher actually gets inside the Vatican only to be kicked out.
He's not easy on the Scientologists either.

Beware of that evil lord Xenu.

Thanks for the great response on Yendie! She's going to appear as a webcomic on this blog to start. I'm still scripting.

19 years ago I created Yendie Wildcritter. She was dubbed the "Little Monster With An Attitude. Many people have been asking about her, so I decided to do something about it. Now she's updated and refurbished with same attitude and more fashion sense and sex appeal and coming soon as a web cartoon.

So here she is!

There has been a real dearth of funny scam spams lately, but this one was so badly spelled and executed, I just can't resist.

(H A P) 2010 WORLD CUP EVENT SA (2010) ORGANISING COMITTEE

(HOUSING AUTHORITY PROMOTIONS)

From, the coordinator,

Real estate and property developers,

Messers, Bright O?Brien &co,

Floor 4,times square, theartre building

Johannesburg.





The above subsidiary has deemed it necessary in promoting the

aforementioned event taking place in SOUTH AFRICA (2010).

An official gazette was issued after due consultation, to carry out

awareness campaign in attracting people, (visitors, investors) and

otherwise to our great country, SOUTH AFRICA, prior to the soccer fiesta

2010.

In accordance with regulatory ACTS. A format was issued enabling

us promote the event, inview of these we decided to dish out winning

prizes ranging from, HOUSES, CARS, LCD TV, FRIDGES, MOTORBIKES, BALL?S

and T-SHIRTH'S with MANDELA'S picture inscribed on it. A ballot via

Internet directory was selected to carry out these, HITHERTO...

CONGRATULATION (S) as in reciept of this mail...you've won a

luxirius HOME in SOUTH AFRICA, valued at $5.7us dollars. GOD BLESSED YOU.

NOTE-All valuable documents, and the location of the luxirius home

will be forwarded to you, as soon in reciept of your-NAMES, CONTACT

ADRESS AND DIRECT TEL-LINE.

Meanwhile, in avoiding Internet fraudsters, hackers. Your winning

number, keys and valuable documents has been deposited in a coperate

bank, FNB.SOUTH AFRICA......

Please duly contact your temporal estate agent alotted to your

property, WILLIAM NICHOLE &co, with the following details/intention for

clarifications......

Do you wish coming to South Africa to see your new home and resident

here?

Do you wish collecting the house value in cash. $5.7million us dollars?

Do you require an ATTORNEY (legal practictioner) here in South Africa to

handling all options, pending upon in reciept of your home or cash?

Please do contact your temporal Estate Agent via our gazetted e-mail:

william.nichole@gmail.com
Tel: +27 786 926 074



Note your names and picture will be published in major networks

internationally CNN'BBC'TIME MAGAZINE ETC as our objectives is to

advertise this great fiesta...

Prior to contacting your Estate Agent its advised you keep all

information secrete pending upon IN reciept of your DATA NUMBER.

WELLCOME TO OUR GREAT NATION SA

BEST REGARDS&CONGRATULATION (S)

BRIGHT O'BRIME...
chief coordinator

But I was puttering around YouTube and I came across this gruesome twosome. Who out there is a Star Trek:Deep Space Nine fan? I am and my favourite captain is Captain Sisko, who was too long ignored.

Among you fans remember the repellant relationship between a disguised Gul Dukat and Kai Winn? Ugh: (oh, and the sound is down because of some severe corporate puckerbuttery)



By the way, the actress who played the Kai also played Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Yesh.

And is it just me or are there a lot of Weyoun fans out there?

First of all, I wanted to thank everybody who congratulated me on getting my green card. I always like to thank everybody when you comment, but it so happens that almost immediately after commenting, my husband fell sick of a bad illness that hit his lungs and I had to tend to the family. I intended to get a Social Insurance Number this week, but that got delayed due to illness. It's not easy blogging because as I said in my info page that I constantly get interrupted. Sorry.

Now on to this news that's getting way out of hand.

Does anybody remember the Great Swine Flu debacle of 1976?

When CNN first blared on the news about the swine flu epidemic unfolding on this planet, I immediately thought of the Great Swine Flu "Epidemic" of 1976. 

Here is a Salon article from April 28th that sums up that madness better than any other news story I've come across so far.

 Who is your favourite person, your personal god, your idol that you had the pleasure of meeting?

MIne is Charles Schulz. I got into cartooning because of him. I related to Charlie Brown being teased in school, feeling like an outcast.

I met him in 1994. He was there, in the Santa Rosa phone book. The address 1 Snoopy Lane. It was as simple as calling him up and making an appointment. So we did. (it was me and my ex) It was an awesome time. He was approachable, full of energy and boy did he get on his soapbox about the lack of talent in the strip cartooning world. He brought out his books such as Terry and The Pirates and said "Why don't people draw like this anymore."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was because of him. He made it look so easy with his simple lines and expressions. But it was the content that captured everybody's heart.

The most awesome part was when he asked us to stay longer. I wish we had. 

It was a memory I will always treasure.

Who is yours?

 “You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.” 

So sayeth Chris Guillebeau. The master DIY man. Self employed all his life and making money on his own terms. Check out his freebie book 297 Days To Overnight Success.

My parents came up to visit this weekend for Easter and as usual no project that I am working on is the right project according to them. I talk about going to school and I get a negative reaction, a stern look. The usual toxic energy. The usual reminder of the reason why we left the U.S. and moved to Canada.

I had to pull it out of them but I heard that my sister, who supposedly did everything right 30 years ago by going into a safe, stable, business--banking--is on the line to get laid off. She was a loan officer. Right now, her bonus got canceled, her car allowance, apartment allowance, gone. In a city that got the worst of the axe, Columbus. The bank is bleeding $500 million a quarter because they went on a bank acquiring frenzy and bit the poison apple. The bought a bank that hid it's debts well and they didn't ask enough questions in their quest to become the biggest bank in the U.S.
Her position is so precarious and the situation is so bad that her son had to get a second job to pay the bills. No more going on six month cruises. No more smugness.

Throughout the years I always got the "why don't you get into banking?" speech.

No Country For Old Men said it best. Just before Carson Wells got blown away by Anton Chigurh, he says:

"If the rule you followed led you to this, of what use was the rule?"

It's a part-time DIY world now. Something I've known ever since I graduated from college. My parents are the last generation to know full time, lifetime work with generous benefits and retiring with a pension.

Here in Canada 23% of workers are part time, temporary or contract. It can be frustrating but freeing at the same time. We're not tied down to one job for 40 years doing the same thing and retiring just to suffer the fades and lose the ability to stay in touch with the rest of the world.

The one thing I noticed about my parents is just how out of it they are. My mom is afraid to touch the wrong button and completely delete my dad's files not knowing that with Apple, that's impossible. Their minds are no longer challenged, so I see them gradually fading.

It's the post-retirement syndrome.

My former in-laws have it too. My former FIW couldn't wait to retire. Literally counted the days and retired the day he turned 65. That was 18 years ago. Sure they enjoyed an explosion of travel. For a while until his health faded. But there is only so much they could travel because they weren't flooded with money and there is only so many dancing classes and Shriner's meetings they could attend until it started to get really boring. Neither use the computer.

Before Social Security was instated in the 1930's, all previous generations never knew retirement. They just worked until they dropped. I'm now looking at a generation that will not know retirement. But it's no longer "work until you drop,"  because most of us don't work hard labour jobs. Now we work until we can't. But it doesn't have to be all bad. It's also a way to stay connected to the world, be useful, productive, active, have an income and avoid the fades.

There is real opportunity for adventure out there working part time jobs all over the world--or at least all over North America, if you're North American and Europe, if you're European. And because you're working part time, you can quit any time, take a back pack and hike for a while. Couch surf. Visit youth hostels instead of staying at hotels. It requires cutting down on material goods and having just enough to eat. There's ways to do it in a DIY (Do It Yourself) world.

It goes both ways. If the work place no longer commits to us, we are no longer committed to the work place.

That makes us a generation of free agents.

And this means that we can become successful at any age, at any time. It's fantastic that a 47 year old Scottish woman from an obscure small town can become an overnight sensation. (Susan Boyle on YouTube)

It's because she's 47 year old, not traditionally beautiful, from an obscure small town that many people are committed to buying whatever CD she puts out. This is because she is not the usual beautiful, privileged, second-generation LA princess with all connections in place before she even makes the attempt, making it at age 15 (think Miley Cyrus) at the usual Disney factory. Ho-hum.

This is inspiring. Age no longer matters in the viral world.

How about you? How have you been affected by this recession? Are you DIY now, too?

 

The government is now urging GM to go into bankruptcy protection. The Obama administration sees this is the only way to save the company. To spin off the unprofitable divisions and keep the profitable cars. "Too big to fail" has become the joke of the decade.

Even Wal-Mart is laying off workers. The whole Big-Box concept is dying off as people are tired of the hugeness of it all. The wow power that "power centres" once had has worn off.  Power centres are huge conglomerates of Big Box stores lined up so that ostensibly you can get all your shopping done in one centre. Assuming that you need to completely outfit your house, your car, your yard and buy all the food you would ever need in such huge quantities that you would need a huge basement to store those Sam's Club special deals. You can even buy your own vending machine and all the supplies you would need to put in it. I get exhausted just walking into a Costco. And now I am tired after even thinking about the overwhelming bigness of all these stores. The layout and placement of products is for the young, fit and long-armed, not the middle aged, elderly or handicapped.

And as I grow older, I need to consume less. Is everybody else in the same boat? Speaking of boats, there have been a record number of boats being abandoned. By the hundreds. People are scraping off the names of their boats, the serial numbers and any other form of ID and simply scuttling them in the harbour, leaving them floating in the water or leaving them at the end of the street. In South Carolina, it's gotten so bad with 150 boats abandoned just this past year, that they had to pass a law heavily fining people and possibly sending them to jail. The first time they have ever had to pass such a law. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/business/01boats.html?em

Are we saturated? Have we consumed all that we could possibly consume? You should see how many people are trying to sell jewellery, mink coats, the trappings of wealth that people in the 50's-through the '70's thought were such it things to have.
Take a look at the e-bay auctions. Watch the DVD Maxed Out. Watch it again with new perspective that hitting us by the day.

But back to the eventual demise or deconstruction of GM. Is this symbolic of a basic paradigm shift? A world-shaking one similar to the one that occurred in the 1800's when the world went from an agrarian culture to an industrial age?

Are we about to outlive the automobile? What are we as a world culture going to become next?

Any ideas?

I was doing some research on Louise L. Hay because her book is more and more leaving a bad taste in my mouth for many reasons and I came across a repellant New York Times article in which she is forced to admit, by the interviewer, that by her reasoning about people wishing to lead exactly the lives they live that the 11 million Jews, Roma, Gays, Communists and anybody else who disagreed with them (Look up: NIght Of The Long Knives) who were killed brought it on themselves. Here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/magazine/04Hay-t.html?_r=2&ref=magazine&pagewanted=all 

Then I came across this gem of an article. Please read it, it succinctly sums up what I think is so wrong about this whole line of thinking. I added my own comments in brackets. Note: this was written before the first wave of foreclosures began in the summer of 2007. I left all the comments intact because they also contain links to other articles. BTW: it's hard to find critiques of Louise Hay because her industry has cluttered up Google with pay per view links. Another sign that corporate America is trying to control the Internet.

"THE SECRET": CREATING A CULTURE OF CHEERFULNESS AS ROME BURNS,

By Carolyn Baker
March 28, 2007
CarolynBaker.org

A friend recently asked me what I knew about The Secret, and I had to confess, absolutely nothing. A couple of days later, another friend asked the same question, so I decided I'd better investigate this supposedly revolutionary new book and DVD that have taken the country by storm. As I did so, I discovered that nothing about The Secret is revolutionary or new but rather a glitzy, twenty-first century redux of what has come to be called in metaphysical circles "New Thought". While aspects of New Thought have their roots in ancient teachings, it is for the most part, uniquely American—its roots in this country stemming from the transcendentalist movement of the late-nineteenth century. Among those giving birth to New Thought in America were Mary Baker Eddy, founding mother of Christian Science, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Ernest Holmes, and Charles Fillmore. What was "new" about New Thought at the time of its inception was its departure from Calvinistic, shame-based Christianity which taught the inherent sinfulness of man, proclaiming instead man's innate goodness and perfectibility through the use of the Divine Mind which the transcendentalists believed resided at his core.

The New Thought movement emphasizes the supremacy of the mind over the body and material existence. While most adherents of New Thought do not deny the reality of corporeal existence as did Mary Baker Eddy who insisted that "there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter," they overwhelmingly revere the spiritual over the material and believe that physical, corporeal reality is a manifestation of mind. In other words, that our thoughts and attitudes create our external reality. Ancient and indigenous teachings also incorporate the latter but acknowledge that alongside the light, the good, the true, and the beautiful, exists the dark side of existence which is as authentically real as the light and not merely created by the mind. Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, and most native religious teachings worldwide not only acknowledge the dark side, but insist that it is an inherent part of human existence that must be faced and worked with in order to fully experience the blessings of the light.

In a nation so thoroughly marinated historically in exceptionalism and superiority from the moment Europeans set foot on North American soil, for example, the Puritan attributions to the New World such as "a new Jerusalem", "a city set on a hill" and "a light unto the world," we would expect to ultimately witness the proliferation of belief systems that exempt Americans from the same kind of suffering endured by fellow humans in other parts of the world.

It's All About Me In Sibling Society (1996) Robert Bly astutely, in my opinion, describes American culture as one of children who have never matured into adulthood and where "adults cling to self-absorbed adolescent values, television talk shows have more clout than elders, children are spiritually abandoned to fend for themselves, and in the place of community we have built shopping malls." I can think of no more apt description of The Secret than this, for it is first and foremost all about me and what I want. Only children and adolescents believe that they can, as The Secret insists, have anything they want.
Rhonda Byrne of Prime Time Productions, one of the principal filmmakers and author of the book The Secret, says she was inspired by reading "The Science Of Getting Rich", a 1910 book by Wallace D. Wattles, a New Thought transcendentalist, which proclaims that one's wealth or lack thereof is a product of one's thought and attitudes. Positive thinking attracts good things; negative thinking attracts lack. When I hear these concepts, I can only return to: How uniquely American! Can you imagine telling twelve year-old girls in Chinese sweatshops—the ones who work sixteen hours a day for pennies, live in squalor, may get raped at any moment, and sometimes are found dead at the ripe old age of twenty at their sewing machines from working themselves to death—can you imagine telling them that their situation is the product of their thoughts?

Examples of such ghastly human suffering are countless in a world where millions of human beings live on less than two dollars a day. Although the documentary is highly endorsed and supported by Oprah, for whom I personally hold great respect, let's not forget who Oprah is: none other than one of the wealthiest people on the planet. Clearly, she was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and she arrived where she is today through hard work, but no one disputes that she had an abundance of good fortune that poor black women rarely experience.

But how would Rhonda know about the teeming masses of earthlings living on two dollars a day? It appears that she isn't looking. Perhaps she's too busy attracting the next mansion, world cruise, fifty karat diamond, or documentary project. For Rhonda, like so many Americans and citizens of the developed world, and yes, like a typical two year-old, seems to have no sense of limits. It's no "secret" (pun intended) that millions if not billions of human beings on earth hate America—for innumerable reasons, but for one in particular: We seem to have no sense of enough-ness. Enough is never enough, and since Christopher Columbus stepped off the ship onto Caribbean shores, [remember that Christopher Columbus eventually disgraced himself by his excessive and abhorrent abuse of the natives] European settlers and their descendents have almost never had a sense of limitation—from sea to shining sea and the philosophy of Manifest Destiny that justified genociding millions of Native Americans which this nation's politicians and financiers took to the rest of the world. Nor do they reveal any signs of tempering their voracious appetite for the world's resources beyond our shores. In fact, it has never been as out-of-control as in the present moment. [This was written in 2007, before we had an understanding of just how bad things have gotten.]

Acknowledging The Pain- Individuals in America's sibling society are not bad human beings, nor are they inherently greedy, but they have been enculturated to grow up to be good consumers, which has now become synonymous with good citizenship. Sadly, The Secret only offers more of the same: buy this DVD, this book, so you can become wealthy enough to buy whatever you want in the future. Ignore what consumption is doing to yourself and the planet, just consume more!

During the Great Depression there were Ponzi schemes and dance marathons. In every era of economic hardship, some quick fix or magic bullet appears and proliferates. The Secret is classic pie in the sky—so very 1980s a la Louise Hay and Terry Cole Whittaker, wrapped in twenty-first century panache and special effects, guaranteed to lighten the heart of any middle or working class individual steamrollered by subprime meltdown, maxed out credit cards, overwhelming medical bills and child care expenses, ever-increasing gas prices, perhaps still paying off student loans, unable to save a dime, and finding any talk of pensions or retirement savings nothing less than laughable.

In my recent article "In Debt We Trust", I referred to Danny Schecter's DVD of the same title which opens with a congregation in an African American church who have created a program to rid themselves of all debt. They "created their own reality" not only by thinking positively, but by looking squarely in the face, the evil of debt in their world and constructing a program of "Coming Clean" in order to liberate themselves from it.
Unfortunately, this is precisely what "The Secret" is unwilling to do, choosing instead to ignore human suffering and injustice locally and globally, with total disinterest in the economic warfare being perpetrated on individuals and communities worldwide.
Don't Bother Me With Causes, I Want The Solution

Another characteristic of a sibling society is its unwillingness to explore causation. After all, a sick child doesn't want to hear how they caught a cold because they didn't put on their jacket; they just want mommy or daddy or the doctor to take the cold away. The Secret is perfect for siblings because they need not trouble themselves with anyone else's suffering or how their own suffering was caused by forces outside their own minds. They don't want to hear about how the United States government has been waging economic warfare on them for decades, how the military industrial complex is bankrupting their nation and will abjectly impoverish their children and grandchildren, how rather than spending more and acquiring more debt, they need to trim down, conserve, and oh that horrible adult word that siblings hate so much: sacrifice. They want a solution, and they want it now. Never mind the trillion-dollar deficit and the trillions missing from the coffers of the United States government that was stolen from them.

Understandably, no one prefers to explore the causes of middle and working class debt and economic drain. It's an enormous can of ugly, smelly, and sometimes lethal worms that once examined, confirm that no matter how bad we think things are now, they are really much worse than we had imagined. The awareness that one is living in a decaying, rotting, collapsing empire, and that all the strategies for making it better that one has been taught such as voting, working harder, and marching in the streets aren't working because they have essentially become meaningless, is enough to compel almost anyone to run right out and buy The Secret and meticulously follow its instructions.
This week Truth To Power published historian Chalmers Johnson's article "Is The Empire About To Collapse?" in which he speaks of his latest book Nemesis, the name of the Greek goddess of hubris and retribution. Johnson believes as I do that 231 [now 233] years of American hubris is coming to a tragic end. The tragedy, in my opinion, is not that the empire is collapsing, but that so many innocent, well-intentioned, hard working people will pay such a ghastly price for it, and not because they weren't thinking pleasant thoughts. I'm reminded of the scene from Titanic in which a group of women, including Molly Brown, sat in a lifeboat and watched the ship split apart and crumble into the sea. One woman remarked that absolution was needed for what had happened, to which Molly replied, "There is no absolution for this."

Another movie scene comes to mind, an all-time favorite of mine from the seventies, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" The scene is a dance marathon during the Great Depression where dozens of working class men and women have come to dance for several days in order to earn a pittance for their grueling efforts. As the couples dance without sleep, or rather, just keep moving endlessly around the clock on the dance floor, wealthy spectators sit comfortably in the grandstands taking bets on who will endure, occasionally tossing coins in the direction of the dancers. A bitter, cynical young woman (Gloria) played by Jane Fonda, partners with a guileless young man (Robert) played by Michael Sarrazin whereupon dialog between them ensues, becoming increasingly philosophical and continuing throughout the marathon. Gloria, has lost all hope, perhaps because she has refused to deny the darkness of a society engulfed in economic catastrophe. She also sees through and resents the master of ceremonies of the marathon who manipulates the dancers to increase their physical and emotional exhaustion in order to entertain the wealthy spectators. What is worse, at the end of the marathon, numerous expenses are deducted from the final prize, leaving the winners with nothing—a set-up from start to finish.
Gloria's anger has clearly energized her and allowed her to survive a difficult life. Unfortunately, she allows it to destroy her, and after she and Robert depart, she attempts to shoot herself but cannot do it. She then asks him to shoot her, and he does.

Although Gloria was filled with toxic bitterness, she saw through a system that was stacked against the working class by a ruling elite, aloof from but entertained by, the struggles of the lower classes. In that sense she never lost her humanity or her dignity. Tragically, she was a loner who had no support or validation for the truth she saw and therefore became overwhelmed by the darkness she refused to deny. In my opinion, "They Shoot Horses Don't They?" depicts not only the economic suffering of the Great Depression but also that of the economic tsunami that appears to be engulfing the United States.
Those who have refused to face the truth of that deluge because they prefer to remain distracted by "American Idol" ("Ameri-CON Idol" J.G.) and the death of Anna Nicole Smith, are likely to face the same consequences as the gullible dance marathon participants who had no clue regarding the causes of the Great Depression and the set-up in which they were ensnared.
Others, wallowing in narcissism and pretty thoughts, may opt to join the ruling elite in the grandstands, ignoring the human anguish of the ones beneath them dancing on the treadmill of the American debt industry.
The third option is that the Gloria's among us refuse to be destroyed by our own and others' suffering and resist. The first step of resistance is thoroughly understanding what we are resisting, then gathering the necessary support to resist, and finally, building economic, emotional, and spiritual lifeboats to navigate the approaching storm.

Let me clarify: I have no problem with people becoming and remaining prosperous. I do not champion the "poor and proud" mentality. What I find offensive and inexcusable is the unwillingness of purveyors and devotees of The Secret to look at the other half of reality—the dark side—theirs and that of their government, move beyond their terminal narcissism, and resist the economic holocaust being perpetrated on them and the rest of the world by a fascist empire. Not to do so is to remain a sibling for one's entire life, and if America's middle and working classes need to do any one thing in this moment, it is to grow up and face adult reality.

I know of no more shining example of this than Catherine Austin Fitts who is dedicating her time and energy to teaching people how to become prosperous, not by distracting themselves from injustice and economic warfare, but by teaching them to become intimately acquainted with it in order to wisely create options of prosperity for themselves and their loved ones. Similarly, Michael Hudson, historian, professor, former Wall St. financial analyst, and author of Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire offers critical insights into the empire's downward spiral toward economic meltdown and may be heard on KPFA's "Guns And Butter" program speaking on the topic of "America: Host Or Parasite?".

As for documentaries that address reality, a wiser and more mature approach, from my perspective, is that of Tim Bennett's and Sally Erickson's DVD "What A Way To Go: Life At The End Of Empire" about which I wrote an extensive article earlier this month. Rather than offer a sibling soporific, this documentary addresses head-on the nightmare that humans have created on so many levels, especially on the level of making the planet uninhabitable, but rather than inviting the viewer to escape into isolated, self-absorbed consumerism on steroids, it presents the opportunity to join with others of like mind and heart to reverse the lethal trajectory on which the human race is spinning out of control.

Just as the last thing we need at this moment in history in the face of fossil fuel depletion is a "solution" that involves consuming more oil, the last thing the human race needs in the face of the perfect economic storm is an indulgent "I can have anything I want" perspective that ignores the empire's evils and perpetuates the very mega-consumerism that is annihilating the planet.

posted by Jewels1 at Monday, April 23, 2007
6 Comments:

Blogger drkjhildebrandt said...

How true! Nothing to add, except that wouldn't it be nice if this post was made available everywhere The Secret, is sold or rented? - Dr. Ken Hildebrandt - http://majormediabypass.com
4:42 PM
Blogger Islander said...

Excellent critique! You might also wish to check out

The Secret: Spritual Cinema?
at
www.julianwalkeryoga.com

AND

Beyond the Secret
by Geoff Olsen
on line in the March issue of Commom Ground Magazine (sorry I can't access the url while writing this, but it's excellent)

Have you heard about "Thank God I...", the book project that hooks in with the Secret's focus on gratitude? It's absolutely frightening what people will buy into!

Thanks again for posting your thoughts about New Thought...as an ecofeminist wiccan I have been shocked by the number of my own peers who think this narcissistic form of 'magical thinking'is simply harmless, positive affirmation generation. I personally consider it racist, sexist, homophobic...and as you succinctly point out, environmentally suicidal... affluenza over the top!
All the best, Fireweed
www.re-membering.blogspot.com
3:59 AM
Blogger daphne anne said...

How strange! Today I pushed the wrong button and ordered "The Secret" and now I find your web page.
Who said two wrongs dont make a wright?
The only thing I got from the show was if you believe it to be then it will, good or bad.
Well, for 45 yrs I have seen myself in a good life, big home, health and love of my life. I'm still waiting. I think it takes more then a strong belief and good outlook. Sorry!
12:24 AM
Blogger Newton Fortuin said...

Great critique!

Perhaps the following very recent quote by Joe Vitale will clear up that The Secret is a massive con.

“Here’s a million-dollar secret I’ve never shared with anyone before. When you use it, you will get inside your prospects’ heads and manipulate their thinking to get them to do what you want—including sending you money right now for your product or service. Sound hard to believe? Keep reading and I’ll prove my point to you…
“To put a spell on people, that turns them on to your product or service, guides them directly to your order page and like a robot, programs them to send you money 24-hours a day, 7-days a week!”

I am of the opinion he is the real creator, not Byrne.

For more see New Age Evil on www.newfort.co.za.
7:25 AM
Blogger Stretch said...

I am a top sales person & have been a positive thinker & "grateful" for years (Even before"The Secret"). I have always been grateful! I will continue to be positive & extend my gratitude. . "The Secret" is a wonderful concept & I live my life by it. Those Nay Sayers are just negative people. Open your mind!
5:39 PM
Blogger Mike said...

First, let me state this:

1. I'm a total sceptic, atheist, and utterly devoid of belief in the supernatural.

2. I DO think The Secret is a con, and the film was full of shameful appeals to people's belief in "magical forces". I do not condone it.

However, I can honestly say that the basic message of the film can work in certain circumstances. I thought this was an excellent critique and I agree that circumstances can make progress impossible (e.g. the sweat shop example), but I do think that our psychology works in a way that can benefit from this.

I believe that the part of all this claptrap that actually DOES work is that it lifts your awareness of any opportunities to improve your life that come your way each day. Without a positive outlook, you tend to ignore or miss these. So that's my take on it all - it's a simple filter, which enables you to see the good choices. It enabled me to see some good choices last year, and things have improved for me since - despite the fact that when I watched it I didn't buy into the baloney.
3:20 AM

An end note to her article: 

I am a nurse who has worked primarily in Long-Term Care. I enjoy working with the elderly, as there is much to learn from the lives they have led and the stories they tell! I am partially disabled with Fibromyalgia, Asthma and other Chronic Pain/Invisible Ilnesses, as they are often referred to. I began having an interest in Politics after noting the Sea Changes in how our Country operates and in it's Foreign Relations. Also, the continued loss of our freedom's has me quite worried! I had intended to be very careful in the wording I choose for my topics and/or opinions, as it seems to be a dangerous proposition to question authority at this juncture!? But the more I see and hear, the more angry I become. Therefore, I will speak my mind freely! It is my fervent wish that the world remain a safe place for my daughter, my granddaughter and recently born grandson. And all future generations. May God help us all!

The leader of T-Rex Get it On, Bang A Gong



He refused to drive and predicted he would die from hitting a tree. He was a passenger in a car that hit a tree.


Watching the 3rd video was the most unsettling. Really, Really unsettling


He prophesies meeting Gloria Jones, the driver of the car he was the passenger in it.


Part 5

To give you a heads up, CNN has warned the public about this crunch of scams hitting people's e-mail in boxes. The first one is any scam related to the bail-out that is so near and dear to our hearts. These scams try to tell you that you as a mere mortal working gerbil can get a slice of the bail-out funds. I'm sure that somebody gullible enough will fall for it, but don't you believe it. Bail-out money is only for the multi-gazillionaires out there and not for us working stiffs who played by the rules. Bottoms up for the Great American Screw Job.

The second slimy piece of shit scamspam is from "Iraqi war vets" who just happened to come across huge sums of money and are just dying, dying to share the wealth with you the darling public. Did I just see a flying pig out the window. Yeah. Just as likely, right.

Here, cluttering my in box today is one of the "Iraqi war vet" variety. I left the spacing intact. Snarky comments in red, as usual.
 

 Greetings,

I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to you. My name is LT. Keisha Curtis Morgan, a member of the U.S. ARMY USARPAC Medical (bad cut and paste job)
Team, which was deployed to Iraq at the beginning of the war in Iraq. (No, really?I thought it was the war in Madagascar)

I would like to share some highly personal classified information (Yeah? This is a good way to get court-martialed you dumbass) about my personal experience and role which I played in the pursuit of my career serving
under the U.S 1st Armored which was at the fore-front of the war in Iraq. 

Though, I would like to hold back certain information for security reasons for now until you have found the time to visit the BBC website stated below to
enable you have an insight into what I intend sharing with you, believing that it would be of your desired interest one-way or the other. (Anybody can cut and paste in a news story. This doesn't prove a thing.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

Also, could you get back to me having visiting the above website to enable us discuss in a more clarifying manner to the best of your understanding. I must
say that I'm very uncomfortable sending this message to you without knowing truly if you would misconstrue the importance and decides to go public. In this
regards, I will not hold back to say that the essence of this message is strictly for mutual benefit between you and I and nothing more.

I will be vivid and coherent in my next message in this regards, (Meaning you were stoned when you wrote this?) meanwhile, could you send me an email confirming that you have visited the site and that
you have understood my intentions? I will await your thoughts via my personal email: keisha.curtis12@gmail.com. (The ole gmail thang. Meaning anybody, anywhere can get one of these)

Thanks,

Best Regards,

LT. Keisha Curtis Morgan. (Right. If you are a real Lieutenant  then I'm a flying spaghetti monster. Know that I laugh heartily at your expense whoever the fuck you really are.)

 (What these people do is send you phony checks or cashier's checks that you deposit, then you send them legitimate money out of your account, by the time the checks bounce they're long gone. If these people were a legitimate business, they would have their own checking accounts and would not need a total stranger in a different country do their banking anyway)

 MK Apparel Ltd - Clothing and Textiles Company
17 Bridgnorth Drive,
Kingsmead,
Milton Keynes,
BUCKS,
MK4 4AL
Tel:+44(0)7035962242 

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you about the job Vacancy we have presently. You have been offered the opportunity to work part-time or Full time 

with MK Apparel Ltd in your area as our Area Manager/Payment Manager. We are willing to offer payments ranging from $2,000 - $4,000 per 

month depending on your level of education, work experience and how hard working you are. If you are interested in taking this job offer. 

Our company is presently in search of trustworthy representatives that will aid as a link between us and our customers where they are in the 

world. We have lots of customers in Europe generally,USA,Canada and some few countries in Asia as well.

MK Apparel Ltd and its approved recruitment consultants will never ask you for a fee to process or consider your application for a career 

with MK Apparel Ltd. Anyone who demands such a fee is not an authorized MK Apparel Ltd representative and you are strongly advised to refuse 

any such demand.


REQUIREMENTS TO WORK WITH US ARE;

- Must be +18 and above
- Have a Bank account acceptable to our company to enable you receive your Monthly Salary and Payments for Textile Products sold to our 

Customers successfully - OR -
- Be available to receive check send to your home address.

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS RECEIVE THESE PAYMENTS FROM OUR CLIENTS,GET IT CASHED AT YOUR BANK, THEN DEDUCT YOUR COMMISSION PERCENTAGE (10% OF 

EACH PAYMENT) AND FORWARD THE BALANCE OVER TO ANY OF THE GIVEN BRANCH OFFICE WE WILL GIVE YOU VIA WESTERN UNION/MONEYGRAM/WIRE TRANSFER/TT

Our payments will be issued out in your name as we would inform our Clients to do that.

You will be required to notify us at least 14 days early, if eventually you want to discontinue working with us, so as to terminate all 

payments that have been approved to be sent to you, in order to avoid any conflicts.

BENEFIT IS AS FOLLOWS:-

* The average monthly income is between $2,00 and $4000 as stated above

* No form of investments from you

* This job takes only 1-3 hours per day

* You do not pay any form of taxes

* Club membership at BA Airline

Please contact Mr. Rauhl Peters by replying to this mail,so that he can give you brief details on what next to do. Awaiting your urgent 

response to this Job opportunity and please send your Resume in your reply. 

Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

Mr. Rauhl Peters
MK Apparel Ltd

 Greetings.
My name is Dr Bill Christopher, I am an Oncologist by profession, i work for major hospitals around the US, I came across your email address through surfing the internet affiliated with the US chamber of Commerce.  My late Grandmother was a puppy breeder, She died about 4 months ago and she left a Female English Bulldog and a Female Maltese before she died. One of the Female puppy recently had a litter 3 puppies. They are so adorable,but due to my job as an Oncologist  it does not give me the proper time to take good care of these babies, I would have loved to take care of them myself but due to the nature of my job, i almost do not  have time for my self,   So i am currently after finding for them a  caring & loving parent, who would take good care of them and are willing to adopt, if you are genuinely intrested in having one or more of them , please do feel free to email  me immediately,for more details and information.

Dr Bill Christopher.

I couldn't resist having some fun with this bit of scam spam. Cross posted in two communities I highly encourage you to check out for your daily dose of fun. I post here daily and so do many others and also, when you get your daily scamspams, you now have a place to post them and have a well deserved laugh at some idiots' expense.

Community <lj user="spamsnark"> and community <lj user ="badspam">

Enjoy!

  FedEx Nigeria (insert sound of toilet flushing) Head Office 

 Just when I thought Steven Segal movies couldn't get any worse, I see this stinker: Against The Dark. In all probability this one was the absolute worst in script, acting, directing, editing and had the fakest special effects and awful use of stock footage.

Think Ed Wood with a bigger budget.

In this movie, Segal departs from his usual CIA operative role and decides to take on Vampires!! Anybody who has seen 48 Hours will immediately see how this movie borrowed generously from this concept.

SPOILER ALERT

If you plan on seeing this movie, and really, you shouldn't unless you want to punish yourself for doing something very, very naughty, don't read any further because I am going to reveal the plot:

People catch a terrible virus and turn into blood sucking vampires.

This is the plot.

In the beginning of the movie the narration tells us that this virus is incurable and nobody has immunity to it. Except that later on, one of the heroes is revealed to have had an immunity to it. Make up your minds, guys.

The whole movie takes place in a hospital which is supposed to be a safe zone for survivors that is anything but. The usual cliches ensue: 

girl walks into operating room, sees what looks like a body on the table covered in a shroud, takes a peek, finds its paint cans and rolled up towels (don't ask me) and a baddie jumps out and scares the bejeezuz out of her. Other written-by-a-money scare-em stuff is thrown in. A body thought to be dead is anything but. People run away, trip and fall. When you are running, do you bother to look behind you as you are running for your life? I never have. I make sure I'm far away in a safe hiding place, then I look. People walk into dark hallways and things jump at them. An elevator turns out to be very creaky. And for some reason, the bottom floor is flooded and has a vampire living in it. (don't ask me how) The back up generator is always threatening to quit, so the lights constantly flicker on and off.
What I don't understand was the loud noises that accompanied said flickering lights. The sounds were as loud as a car slamming into the side of the building. It got very annoying to listen to after the 250th time.

• If the virus is so contagious and so deadly, why does Steven Segal wail at them with a sword? Why did he never catch the virus? Why didn't he use the semiautomatics and the hand grenades that magically appear towards the end of the film?

• Why doesn't anybody ever run out of ammo?

• The hospital is sealed. No windows were broken. Where do all these vampires come from? And why do they act like zombies instead of vampires? (the lumbering moaning and half eaten faces seen in zombie movies)

• Why does this hospital have so many damn mannequins in it? Every room has mannequins in it and towards the end of the movie, the heroes stumble into a huge warehouse sized room full of mannequins. Why do some of the mannequins have armour on them?

• Is Steven Segal capable of more than one facial expression?

Speaking of Steven Segal, he maybe spends 15 minutes in the film. He is so large and so creaky and his voice so entirely dubbed, and body doubles so obviously used that it was as if he was flown in to do very specific scenes, then flown out again. The editing was so choppy that it was as if he were he were in another film that got grafted into this one.  Not recommended unless you are looking for a creative way to ground somebody and teach them a real lesson. We had to watch an antidote to this one. Ick.

The Antidote film that was actually pretty good:

RocknRolla. Guy Ritchie scores again with this good film that should be seen in a trilogy of Guy Ritchie crime/action movies: Lock Stock and Both Smoking Barrels and Snatch. All great action films stuffed with guys who have questionable morals but the true baddies always get what's coming to them. 

I won't reveal too much about the plot of this movie but the theme is about an entrenched corrupt British official who deals with younger Russian Mobsters and the fact that he complacently and very badly underestimates them to his ultimate peril. It kind of reminded me of the Wesley Snipes classic New Jack City where this time it was the old school Italian mobsters up against the savvy younger black mobsters.

Except that Guy Ritchie always makes his crime movies into black comedies. The underlings are always inept and bungle their way into either riches or death. In Ritchie movies things often come full circle and this movie is no exception. Just how things come full circle is always the fun part to watch. And it's so complex that repeated viewings are highly recommended.

Has anybody seen Grand Torino and The Wrestler? Those are two films I am itching to see. I keep hearing really good things about Slumdog Millionaire too.

We also saw Hamlet 2, which was pretty funny but I guess I built it up in my head that it was even funnier because I felt let down. I don't know why.

Any other movies that you have seen recently and recommend?

 And that, my friends is saying something. As the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close I can see the destructive force timidity has had on Hollywood. Wading through the flotsum laden sea of Disney sequels about dogs, worn out franchises, e.g., Date, Disaster, Superhero, Scary Movie and pusillanimous comedies (come on, is Mall Cop the best we can hope for these days) has been a downright depressing enterprise. It's been a dismal time to be a viewer of this drek. When studios constantly aim for the lowest common denominator, it is not only causes fatigue for the moviegoer but downright demoralization. "Is this as good as it gets?" Have we gone from high water marks such as Gone With the Wind right down to New In Town? (read the Rotten Tomatoes review of this movie, just for fun.)

This thought was in my mind after viewing Asterix At The Olympic Games.

What a stinker! It blew chunks the size of pillows. What made it even more aggravating was the fact that this was the biggest budget Asterix movie so far. $110 million to make this thing. I watched this on the heels of the animated Asterix and The Vikings and it was like a one two punch in the gut. Two huge budget neutron bombs. The downward trajectory of this movies has imitated the Hollywood one: The more money spent, the more disappointing the results.

In both the live action and cartoon, all the money was spent on special effects. They wanted to wow us, obviously with their CGIs out the wazoo. But in both Viking and Olympics, nobody gave a second thought to the script.

It's the script, stupids. Without a good story, the whole project sinks like a granite submarine.

The story (such as it was) involved the heroes Asterix and Obelix helping out a friend (Lovesix--yes, they need to work on those names) win a greek princess (already an implausible plot device) by entering the Olympic games.

Let's first get into the historical facts about the Olympic games: neither women nor non-Greeks were allowed to participate in the games. women were not even allowed to attend anything but a horse race. For a freedman to even think about attending, he had to read and write Greek.

So the idea of winning a Princess who wouldn't have even been there is dumb. The idea of a backwater Provincial celtic hick winning a Greek Princess even dumber especially since he would not have been able to attend nor participate.

The poor actors who played the two heroes were no match to the actors who played Julius Caesar and Brutus, with the guy playing Caesar the closest to a good acting job. 

The actor playing Obelix, Gerard Depardeau is pushing 60 and it showed. He lumbered around looking very flabby with no shirt on, no muscle definition and obviously very bad knees. Seeing him run was a painful experience.

The guy who played Asterix was a non-entity. I don't know why they replaced the previous actor with this guy, but he didn't make much of an impression. 

I don't know why they made the characters so cartoonish. What's the point of making it live action if the characters are all going to look and act like cartoons?

In the movie Asterix gets his strength by swilling a magic potion which is illustrated by flashing lights and floating in the air. The fight scenes are exaggerated to a ridiculous degree. He hits, they go flying 500 feet into the air. No understanding of physics required in a live action movie. As I said, if they were going to make it this cartoonish, why not just do a cartoon? 

The magic potion concept is nothing but a crutch; a plot device that should have been abandoned before the first movie was shot. You never really know if these guys are tough or not without the potion. It's like watching a Superman movie. You never accept that he could be in any real danger. In fact they have to contort themselves to find a way for them to find some Kryptonite to make it mildly interesting.

So the fight scenes were a real yawnfest: enemy approaches, they swill the potion, fight over. The heroes never get hurt, they never face any real peril. Tedious.

You know what's going to happen before the opening credits roll: Yes, Lovesix is going to win the princess. This is because the writers just make it all too easy. I found myself pausing the movie several times to get snacks, make tea, read the paper. It was an excruciating 2 hours watching this thing.

Pass.

 Anybody watch CNN today? Bush gave his last press conference. I thought he was going to cry at several points during the speech. He hung his head and stumbled over words and stammered a lot. 

I think the point was driven home when Obama gave his own press conference as the President-Elect and I think all the best of the Press Corp attended that one while Bush was left with a very small bunch indeed.

I can see in his haggard face that it has really dawned on him what a failure as a president he has been. And whatever comforts he retires to he will be haunted by this. Especially since Dick Cheney is wasting no time putting all the blame on Bush. What a jerk.

As for Obama, I have rarely seen such a premature jump on him to fix all our problems, from the conflicts in the Middle East, to what, dammit, is he going to do about the economy. He's got his work cut out for him.