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| A few thoughts on the Oscar Awards...
Did anyone really think Babel was gonna win much more than it did? I mean, seriously, did anyone see Crash? Babel totally felt like someone saw Crash and said, "Sweet, let's do the same movie, with better actors and a different topic". Dont get me wrong, I saw Babel at the theater and I liked it, but it wasn't better than Crash, in it used so many of the same resources that I felt like I was watching a sequel.
Scorsese finally gets and Oscar. The Departed was a good movie, the guy deserved it, but Im not willing to crown him as one of the best of all time, as the academy seemed to be doing. What has the guy done? Taxi Driver? Shark Tale?... Please, there are much better directors out there.
Oh, and the other thing about the Departed, there is NO WAY that Jack Nicholson didnt deserve the best supporting actor award.
Best Actor should have gone to Will Smith. Just so that he stops seeking the award and stars doing funny and action packed movies again.
Best actress - havent seen the movie, no idea who the lady is. Any nomination Meryl Streep is in, if she doesnt win it, there is something wrong.
Oh, and to wrap up, the guy that did the music for Babel is from Argentina, like me, and won an Oskie. Im happy. But not to happy about the one he won last year for Brokeback Mountain... (!).
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On a separate, gay raleted comment. Tim hardway is an idiot.
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| "You ahh a suga-lika"
"You know... elh-ahh-pant?"
"There is Bahh-bee-cue in there"
"That is Cancer"
"Michelle, do you smell?"
"Kill the animal"
"I like your little computer"
"You are the worst student I have ever had"
"Take out a shit of paper"
Pronunciation of names:
"Share-Ahh"
"Fsteve"
"Fuan!..."
"Raresh"
"Gee-sus"
Any more?
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| Can a man and woman be genuinely friends? My answer is yes. I have developed the following formula that analyzes the possibilities. Please take into consideration, this is from the man's side, if you are a woman reading this, please let me know what you think, I have a feeling it doesnt work like this for women, but it might be similar.
Single Guy meets Single girl.
He will analyze her in two ways:
1. Personality
2. Physical appearance (in no specific order).
If answer is 1. LIKE 2. LIKE - Friendship is possible, yet not likely. Man will seek romatic relationship first. If girl does not return interest, guy will assume one of three attitudes: A. Be persistent, B. Become mortal enemy, C. Become friend (this one being the least likely).
If answer is 1. LIKE 2. DONT LIKE - Friendship is possible. However, if the girl shows romantic interest in man, he will normally run away like a toddler being chased by wild geese. I will admit one thing, women are a lot better at letting guys who are interested in them become their friends after they've been turned down.
If answer is 1. DONT LIKE 2. LIKE - Frienship is not possible. However, lots of men dont think with their brains (if you know what I mean), and these type of men will probably pursue a relationship just for the physical aspect. This normally happens only if man finds out woman is interest in him first.
If answer is 1. DONT LIKE 2. DONT LIKE - Friendship is impossible. Two courses of action for man: 1. Become mortal enemies, or 2. Just ignore each other completely.
So? How about that? I baptized it the "Jay Fernandez Romance/Friendship Probability Square" lol.
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| Ok... So you have to admit the following is at least slighty interesting...
In his this article, "Fascism Anyone?", Laurence
Britt (interview)
compares the regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet
and identifies 14 characteristics common to those fascist regimes. Here they are
1.) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism: Fascist regimes tend
to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and
other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on
clothing and in public displays.
2.) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights: Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3.) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause:
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need
to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or
religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4.) Supremacy of the Military: Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of
government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and
military service are glamorized.
5.) Rampant Sexism: The governments of fascist nations tend to
be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes,
traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is
high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6.) Controlled Mass Media: Sometimes the media is directly
controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is
indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media
spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is
very common.
7.) Obsession with National Security: Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses
8.) Religion and Government are Intertwined: Governments in
fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a
tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology
is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the
religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or
actions.
9.) Corporate Power is Protected: The industrial and business
aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the
government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial
business/government relationship and power elite.
10.) Labor Power is Suppressed: Because the organizing power of
labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are
either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11.) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts: Fascist nations
tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and
academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be
censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly
attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12.) Obsession with Crime and Punishment: Under fascist regimes, the
police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are
often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties
in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with
virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13.) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption: Fascist regimes almost
always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint
each other to government positions and use governmental power and
authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not
uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures
to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections: Sometimes elections in fascist
nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by
smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates,
use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
I wont comment further.
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| I know I'm gonna make some people mad. David.. if you're reading this, trust me, its not personal. I just wanted to post this because it made me think. I can't believe that I never asked myself this question. I am embarassed of myself, for never asking it. I know there can be a thousand answers that go in every direction, but I am not really searching for an answer to the question, I am just wondering why I never asked it.
More than that, I am asking myself why I never heard anyone ask it. Are you ready for it? Here it goes:
We were sitting at lunch, my dad, mom and I talking. Somehow the whole Iraq issue came up. As usual when this happens I become the "defender of America", hence, the "Defender of Bush", a.k.a. the defender of the most hated person in the world.
So, here we are again, I am pointing out how so many good christian people like Dr. Dobson support Bush, and how how stupid it would be for him not to plant WMDs if he really was such a terrible lying dark character as they say he is... I am saying for the 1000th time that he was the best option in the elections, simply because it was either him or the guy that was openly non-Christian and in the worse case scenario, a President who pretends to be a Christian is better than one that openly admits he isnt.
Like Im saying, Im just going through the motions, as usual. When the traditional question comes up "well, why did the US invade Iraq?..." blah blah blah... The conversation keeps getting more and more heated, and I've been through it so many times, I dont even want to fight it anymore. My dad, the closest thing to Jesus I know, always stays out of it. Its always me vs. mom (same character as me, so you can imagine it gets pretty heated), and my brother. Then... my dad spoke. And this is the question that I am talking about. The one that no one ever asked, not even rhetorically in 4 years of a liberal arts Christian College. Perhaps a daring question. Perhaps, just a stupid question. You judge it. My dad said: "Why didnt the US just forgive?"
What??? Dad! Please, are you crazy? Forgive? You dont just forgive someone that kills thousands of people! Are you serious! C'mon. Bush had a responsibility to react. Its his duty as the president of the most powerful nation in the world. If he just forgives, he is saying, "c'mon, attack we wont do anything".
TO my amazement, through all this time my dad said nothing. He could have said a million things. He could have pointed out that perhaps, the US attacking Iraq has fomented terrorism more than it has stopped it (at least so far), and that an attitude of forgiveness, would have been a HUGE shock to a world which EXPECTED the US to react as it did. Perhaps he could have said that it would have been the greatest witness of a Christian nation to a non Christian world. Perhaps he could have said that it would have given a reason for the offenders to think twice before attacking again, realizing that their demonized enemies are perhaps more humane than they think. Perhaps my dad could have said a lot of things, but he didnt. He let me figure it out.
The problem is I really havent figured it out. Im not sure if I am really looking for an answer. Im sure that pres. Bush thought, "WWJD". But, perhaps he thought "WWJDIHWTPOTUS" instead (What would Jesus do if he was the president of the US). I dont know.
What worries me the most is not not knowing the answer. What worries me the most is that I never heard the question, nor I ever asked it myself. Am I the only one?
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