We Are The World - 25 For Haiti

One of the nicer remakes of the original Michael Jackson hit!
For more information on the line-up of music celebrities,
read this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World_25_for_Haiti

Ignore The Pope!

The pope has no right to speak about British law, but even if he did: he's wrong.

By Ian Dunt

If aliens came down to earth to find that an 82-year-old male virgin in a dress is a world authority on matters of sexual morality they would probably turn round and go home, safe in the knowledge that there's nothing to learn here. But politics is rarely about the way the world should be, and usually about the way actually is, and so we must deal with the reality of the situation, no matter how preposterous it is.

The pope's comments yesterday prompted a battering ram of criticism, but before we get carried away it would useful to differentiate the two strands of the debate. One strand is on the validity of the equality bill itself and religious groups' duty to follow British law. The second is about his authority to speak his mind in such a forthright fashion.

On the bill itself, religious figures have spoken a great deal of nonsense about this generally well-conceived, thoughtful and decent-minded piece of law. It's not perfect but it's a good bit of law. No-one is trying to ban Christmas, as bishops said recently.

It does, however, cement the notion that employers cannot discriminate. And the Catholic church, quite plainly, is very keen on continuing to discriminate against homosexuals and women who want to be priests. It seems heavy handed to force them to adapt their traditions. But allowing religious groups an exemption, as is currently the case, sets an intolerable precedent.

If the Catholic church is exempt from equality laws, then what about spiritual healer Davender Ghai, a Hindu man who has been entrenched in a protracted legal fight to be cremated on a traditional funeral pyre? When he went to the Appeal Court last month, master of the rolls Lord Neuberger would only allow him the go-ahead if his demands "fall within the legislation". There were no exemptions simply because of his faith.

Do women in burkas get exemptions from passport photos or airport security checks? No. In Uganda, child sacrifice by witch doctors seeking to gain spiritual and material favour is still relatively common and, worryingly, on the rise. It is a monstrous abomination, but it is also a religious practise. Would a Ugandan witch doctor in London be granted the right to sacrifice children?

That sounds a churlish and extreme example, and it is. But legally and in terms of formulating a coherent political position, principle is what counts. The principle in this case must be that religions cannot be granted exemptions from the law merely on the basis that they are a religion. After all, no-one else is consistently offered exemption. Why should they? The mere fact religious groups have forsaken rationality should not grant them special favour.

On the second strand: many religious figures are irritated by suggestions - predominantly from secular and gay rights groups - that the pope has no right to comment on British matters. As the leader of an important faith, it seems quite obvious that he has the right to speak on this issue. After all, it affects those who follow him. His religious status does not bar him from having an opinion. That argument is entirely right and understandable.

But Pope Benedict XVI is not just the head of a church, he is also the head of a state. As it happens - and rather amusingly - he is currently the only absolute monarch in Europe. That changes everything. The French president isn't in the habit of condemning British legislation. We react pretty badly when he makes comments about our food, for heaven's sake. The pope needs to get out of our affairs, not for religious reasons, but for national reasons.

Supporters of the pope, and their brothers from other religions who recognise the need to team up against the ever-increasing secularism of Great Britain, will accuse me of further reducing the role of religion in British society and delegating it into the private sphere. And to that I would say: correct.

Comments: I found this article absolutely amusing and tend to agree with Ian. For someone who doesn't have much experience in that department, he should just shut up, because the more he talks, the stupider he sounds!

Article taken on 2 Feb 2010 from www.politics.co.uk

The Final Season - LOST

At long last, the final season of LOST begins this week.
Said to having a lot of shocks and surprises,
I just can't wait to see if all the questions get answered.
It's been a long time coming!

Lies We Tell Ourselves!

We all lie to ourselves. Why, I don’t know. I guess self-delusion is part of the human condition, whatever that means. I’m sure a relatively competent shrink can explain it, but who needs all that psychobabble, right?

What got me explaining 5 lies people tell themselves so they can buy stuff they can’t afford: I could have bought something more expensive so I’m actually saving money, it’s an investment, I deserve it because something good happened, I’m comforting myself because something bad happened, that sort of thing.

Now here’s the thing. Usually when we lie to ourselves we’re only hurting ourselves; worst case, our families. But with managers, it’s a whole different ballgame. When managers lie to themselves they can hurt a lot of people. The bigger the title, the more people they can hurt. CEOs can hurt shareholders, employees, and customers by the thousands. Hell, they can take down a whole company. Pffftt... I wish!

I’ve seen self-delusional executives destroy once-great companies lots of times. Sad but true.

But wait, managers are only human, right? They’re allowed to make mistakes. Sure. Mistakes are one thing. But saying things to comfort yourself and prop up your fragile ego so you don’t have to face the truth because it scares you or something is an entirely different thing.

10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves

1. I know what customers want. CEOs often think they know what customers want. Actually they don’t. They just know what they want, and they’re usually not even in the target demographic.
2. We have the best (fill in the blank). Technology, marketing, customer service, whatever. Typically self-delusional BS, boastfulness, or ego transference (if there is such a thing).
3. It’ll fix itself. When they don’t want to do something that’s a pain in the you-know-what.
4. Our customers love us. Usually a way to keep people from asking questions they don’t want to hear so they don’t have to learn the truth that they don’t want to know.
5. My employees love me. Same thing as with customers. Delusions of grandeur.
   
6. Out of sight, out of mind. AKA solving a problem by ignoring it, firing it, or otherwise making believe it doesn’t exist.
7. It’s probably for their own good. Also “they’ll land on their feet.” Usually when they demote or fire somebody, or during a layoff. A blessing in disguise with a silver lining attached.
   
8. The ends justify the means. Comforting themselves when they’ve done something terrible to others.
9. I know what the execs want. He probably doesn’t; he’s just afraid to ask or doesn’t want you to go over his head.
10. It’s my company. In small business, this is often true, but for CEOs of corporations, almost never. So why say it? I don’t know - is there such a thing as ego extension?

So, what’s the solution to the problem? You really need to ask? If you’re a manager, wake the fuck up! Grow a pair and face the truth, and admit that you're wrong, that's the first step to change! Board directors, beware of self-delusional executives.

Anyway, those are my 10 lies, but there must be hundreds. I know you’ve got a few so, come on, spill it.

Lie to me and share...

How To Deal With Morons!

Here are a few phrases to deal with morons and idiots, be it at work or in your daily life:

I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.

I love datelines. I especially like the whooshing sound the make as they go flying by.

Am I getting smart with you? How would you konw?

I'd explain it to you, but your brain would explode.

Some day we'll look back on all this and plow into a parked car.

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives.

Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't be needing him again.

I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

Last night I lay in bed loooking up at the stars and I thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?!"

My Reality Check bounced.

On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.

I don't suffer from stress. I'm a carrier.

You're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Evolution?

Evolution is the fundamental drive behind any species. Earth has reached a crisis point for evolution. We cannot evolve further because the planet has become overcrowded. At the same time, animal life and other species of plants can't evolve because of interference from Men. Should we actually save these living things from extinction or should we just let it die out and allow evolution to move on?

Let's assume for a second that Men does not exist in such vast numbers. Let's say, in this make-belief theory, we cut down the population of Man by half. Then we look at all the endangered species of animals, be it, the whales, pandas, birds etc Will they really be endangered or go extinct? What is causing the pandas to die out? Is it because their natural habitat has been destroyed? Is it because their species is just genetically weak at adapting to changes? Or is it because they're just shy and fussy to breed? In the case of whales, it will be less hunting of whales, will that mean that there will be more whales in the oceans? There will be less beaching of whales? Most of the time, it's because the natural habitat of these living things are being destroyed. Man cut down trees and clear the way for freeways, roads, cities, malls etc.

But if you look at it, evolution is also the ability to adapt to your new environment. If, for example, a species cannot adapt to the environment, it will die out completely because it cannot find food or shelter or something else that enables it to live on. Bats are abundant and live in the caves and in the dark. They have a particularly adaptive immune system that prevents them from suffering any ill effects of disease that they pick up. However, if we get bitten by a bat, they can transmit any of those nasty diseases they are holding back to us.

Men are surviving on this planet because of our vast numbers. But we are bleeding all the natural resources of this planet till there's nothing left. One day in the not too distant future, Earth will become an empty husk. Men do not replenish this fuel we use up. Soon there will be no more oil left. Oil is the lifeblood of this planet. We have based our entire transportation system on oil. We need to look towards more imaginative forms of fuel: Giant birds, beaming technology, catapults etc.

Men are an adaptable species, we will not die out because we are able to imagine ways to outwit extinction. We breed in vast numbers and live for long years, well, long enough in one generation to make a difference. The one major flaw for men is that we do not know how to make a self-contained system, in which everything can be recycled and reused. We are always dependable on something else for survival. I guess that's the fate on this planet, every single living thing depends on something else for their survival. Should we colonise the moon, we will still be dependent on Earth for most of the resources, because the moon has nothing to offer whatsoever. If we colonise another planet, say in a few hundreds years, let's hope that new world has new resources we can make use of to power us.

All this might sound science-fiction, but an active imagination allows survival. If we stop imagining, we will cease to become creative, that in turn prevents us from adapting to new circumstances and challenges, and that will eventually put us on the path to extinction.

Elementary, My Dear Watson!

If you're a fan of director Guy Ritchie's older movies like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla, you're in for a treat. Sherlock Holmes has most of his signature moves and with added thrills. Throw in a mystery to be solved and you get quite a hit, literally.

Robert Downey Jr can't seem to shake off the image of being Tony Stark in Iron Man. He is every bit as witty and funny in this one, with a touch or quirky personality. It was enjoyable watching him with the violin, trying to piece together mysteries that he can't understand or solve.

Jude Law had onscreen presence that rivalled RDJ, which made him almost an equal when bringing out Dr Watson, or in some newspaper reviews, Dr Hot-son! Sherlock's ever trusty counterpart and some times faithful companion.

In a good movie, you never have to take off your clothes for the actors to portray their characters. With the exception of the boxing scenes of course! Slow motion moves to disable their opponents brought us back to producer Joel Silver trying to do bullet-time action scenes. It worked better here than in his other movies like Romeo Must Die, which was absolutely horrible. The mysterious man actually turned out to be Holmes arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty, of course, those of you who do not know who this diabolical rival is, I suggest you start reading all those Sherlock Holmes books soon, because it sets the stage for a sequel.

Through it all, this action-mystery does have its flaws. I for one do not remember Holmes having eidetic memory, in other words, I never knew he could photograph or remember scenes or events to piece together and solve a mystery, something Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never really revealed. Though it was interesting, it reminded me of watching Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code trying to piece together the riddle to open the cryptex in that movie. Or watching an episode of Psych trying to piece together pieces of the puzzle to get the whole picture, while pretending he's a psychic!

Oh and Holmes does NOT say the famous words, "Elementary, my dear Watson." in this movie at all - a bit of a disappointment there. Perhaps in the sequel, they will remember to add that in!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and thought that, like some reviewers have said, it was a bold interpretation of one of the most famous fictional detectives in the UK and would highly recommend that you watch it too!

One of Guy Ritchie's better ones!

4 out of 5 stars

AVATAR - Movie Of The Year

Avatar should be watched the way it was originally intended to be watched, in 3-dimension or 3D. This movie will probably win plenty of awards, I find that it's probably the best movie of this year.

The level of detail that went into creating and filming this movie was unsurpassed. I was totally taken in by the detail of every single thing, from the bioluminsence in the forest of Pandora to the HUD or Heads-Up Displays present in all the aircrafts and computer systems on the base. James Cameron has always been known to push the limits of movie-making, merging computer, technology and other forms of digital media and combining it into a blockbuster movie. At the same time, he always manages to combine all these elements into a beautifully woven and very human story.

His fantasy sci-fi terms are not bombastic, they're easy to remember and to relate to, so that you don't go out of your way to try to understand things in the movie and get side-tracked. Using an alien culture to tell a very human story isn't all that different from Star Trek or other sci-fi novels. It always takes something that you need to relate to, for you to actually understand how bad it actually is.

The plot of the movie, a more advanced alien culture sets up a beach-front in your native land. You are one in tune with the land, with tribes and clans still using bows and arrows but giving back to the land in a most spiritual way. This reminded me of native American culture, the red indians, who are in sync with their land and culture, and who had Americans chase them from their land.

However, having said all that, Avatar does have its minor flaws. James Cameron likes to make use of previous actors from his other movies, Sigourney Weaver for example. At the same time, the movie had a plot that was rather predictable, in that, whenever they mention something, 20 minutes later, it became reality, it's almost like foreshadowing events. But these flaws did not overshadow the technologically amazing movie.

Sam Worthington caught my attention in Terminator Salvation. He has reinforced my belief that he will be one of the great and rising actors of our time, on par with all the other Aussie actors like Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett.

Highly, highly recommended movie. If you haven't watched it in 3D yet, make it a point to do so, you won't regret it.

4.5 out of 5 stars