By the Grace of God, This WON'T Happen Again...

"White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" is an absolute must-see. No matter what your political persuasion, no matter your view on war, this film is an unflinching look at the devastation caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atomic bomb.

You can't help but weep at the footage of the aftermath and the testimonials of those who are still alive today. The most heartwrenching part were past and present footage of the horrifying injuries suffered from both the blast and the post-bomb radioactive fallout.

With the state of the world as it is today, this documentary is a startling reminder of what was and a warning of what could be again, this time to and from a number of countries, not just USA/Japan.

Kane: "The Big Red Libertarian Machine!"

Who knew? Glen Jacobs, AKA the WWE's Kane is a self-described "Big-Time Libertarian."

You can read the article here: "Renowned Wrestler is a "Big-Time Libertarian."

This is great! I've been a Kane fan since I could remember and thought Glen Jacobs did a great job in "See No Evil" (even though it was about as scary as Casper) and in his guest appearance on "Smallville" last season.

Now I have an even better reason to be a fan and cheer him on...he's a supporter of Limited Government, Freedom and LIBERTY!!!!!!!!

R.I.P. Bill Walsh

Just a quick post to mention Bill Walsh, formerly of the S.F. 49ers, passed away today at age 75. He died after a lengthy battle with Leukemia. I remember watching 49ers games with my Dad when we lived in Sacramento, including the 1984 and 1988 Super Bowls. I remember having such a good time watching these games (even though I was rooting for the Bengals in 1988, lol). Walsh was a brilliant coach and he will be sorely missed in the worlds of Football and Business.

Tammy Faye - May You Be At Peace

Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner: 3/7/42 - 7/20/07

Despite the scandals, 80s jokes and of course, the makeup, Tammy Faye Messner was a person who genuinely loved The Lord and genuinely loved the human race. She put up a valiant fight against cancer for over a decade and never lost her faith or her spirit. If you watch this clip of Tammy Faye that aired on Larry King live 7/19/07, the night before she died, even then she was unshakable in her faith.

I admit, I pretty much thought she was a 80s pop-culture joke and just one of those "televangelists with big hair and too much makeup," but a film and a TV show made me rethink my opinion of her and who she was. One was "The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)", the other was Sundance Channel's series "One Punk Under God."

I'll let you explore those 2 shows yourself, but to sum them up, both movies showed Tammy Faye outside the syrupy PTL show from the '70s and '80s and explored her upbringing, her marriages and her connection with people of all kinds. "One Punk Under God" is especially moving because not only does it show how much of her love for people and God passed on to her son Jay, but also showed her remarkable courage and faith during her fight with cancer.

Hopefully the (surprisingly) positive and tasteful media coverage of her passing will let others want to see beyond the makeup and into the person.

May you be at peace and with The Lord.

How Long Until This Reaches America?

MSNBC.com Article: U.K. schoolgirl loses ‘virginity ring’ court battle

For as much as I know, it may already be instituted in some schools, but how long will it take for this sort of ban and situation to come to America?

More and more we are becoming like Europe and the U.K...banning certain clothing, jewelry, religious symbols...all because of a fear of either "offending" someone or because we don't want one group to be seen as "better" than another.

In this case, with the "virginity ring," I can see both sides of the issue. Since the ring isn't an officially recognized symbol of the Christian church, I guess the school has a right to ban it. But then again, I can understand the girl's feeling that her expression of faith is being suppressed.

Regardless of one's personal belief as to whether sex before marriage is right or wrong, at least in the United States, the ability to express that belief should be protected.

I just wonder how long it will be until a case like this comes along to again test the boundaries of "freedom of religion" vs. "freedom from religion," a case stemming from something as small and as personal as a ring.

A High-Five Might Get You Five...

MSNBC Link: School Enforces Strict No-Touching Rule

You've got to read this story. Summarizing will not do it justice. This is just friggin' pathetic. Another example of clusterf*ck that is the public school system.

I can understand if a school outlaws public displays of affection or gang-related hand signals, etc...but for crying out loud...you can't pat someone on the back, put an arm around your boyfriend or girlfriend, or even hug a friend?

This quote just floored me:

"You get into shades of gray," Kilmer Principal Deborah Hernandez said. "The kids say, 'If he can high-five, then I can do this.' "

I don't know about any of you...but I never knew that a high-five was the "gateway" touch. My God, if they high-five, next thing you know they'll be prowling the halls just waiting to pinch a butt, squeeze a boob or grab a crotch. Next thing you know, there'll be a scare campaign warning against the heathen dangers of "Fiver Madness."

This all boils down to fear...fear of lawsuits. The school, or most likely the school district, is so afraid that a parent will sue because Johnny touched Susie when he shouldn't have and the school didn't prevent it. Instead of Johnny's parents having taken responsibility in the first place to teach him to treat people with respect, what inappropriate touching is and why it is wrong, they leave it up to the Community Babysitting Service, oops, the Public School System to do it for them. And when it doesn't happen, and Johnny does "the bad touch", they sue, claiming the school should've taught him not to do that.

Parents...be responsible, be accountable...once you decide to have children (planned or unplanned), you are the one to teach them morals, values and what's right and wrong. The schools are SUPPOSED to be institutions of education and learning, NOT a daycare center.

Gym Etiquette

Over the last few weeks, I've been making the most out of my membership to American Family Fitness. The place is great, tons of equipment, nice pool, hot tub and sauna.

The thing that SERIOUSLY ANNOYS ME are some of the other members. Here I am, taking great care in using a towel to wipe down any sweat off the machine when you have other people come in, use the Tricep Extension after they been pouring sweat for an hour on the treadmill. They do their sets and reps then just up and leave. Meanwhile, I'm next in line, left with a nauseated stomach because I realize I'M going to have to clean Steroid Stu or Anorexic Ann's gland secretions.

God knows no one wants to put their hands on grips or sit on a seat that I've left the gift of sweat on, and I would hope people would think the same. Apparently not.

In defense, most of the members do abide by etiquette and do wipe down the machines. It always seems to be the 'roided up men, grunting their alpha-male mating call; the excercise-obsessed eating disorder-rattled chick who's probably more concerned with making it back to her car without fainting than if she's cleaned up her sweat; or the age-advanced members who probably think their sweat glands dried up at the same time their sperm or eggs did, so they don't think about it.

Thank the Lord for the hand sanitizer dispensers, paper towels and spray cleaner all around the gym, otherwise I'd probably end up with rashes and other nasties. Ugh.

A final note: AFF does all it can to enforce wiping down equipment. This is all about common courtesy by the members themselves. So, how about following the Golden Rule? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!"

"Sensational" Sherri Martel Passes at 49

From WWE.com: "Sensational Sherrie Passes Away"

A sad day for the kid in me. I remember Sherri Martel from the days she was a manager for "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair (as Sensuous Sherri), and finally Harlem Heat (as Sister Sherri).

I remember her most fondly as a "heel" with her banshee-like screams from ringside. She paved the way for women wrestlers and managers. There would be no Melina, Queen Sharmell, Victoria or Mickie James without Sherri Martel's wrestling and managing legacy. She will be missed.

South Park in ASL

This is not my usual post...but a dear friend of mine posted this on YouTube. She's not the one in the video, but it is one of her friends. Very funny and creative, and ya know, why should the deaf be deprived of "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." Bravo.

This Was NOT "Just What I Needed"...

MSNBC.com: Circuit City Cutting Manager, Corporate Jobs

Long story short...I didn't escape this time.

Two cliched quotes sum up my feelings:

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"When one door closes, God opens another" (...and BETTER!)

Fred Phelps and the Inbreds...That Should Be Their Name

This is absolutely disgusting. Those hateful, funeral-protesting, pathetic excuses for people from the Westboro Baptist Church are at it again. This time, they made a music video. They took the classic USA For Africa song "We Are the World," rewrote the lyrics and created "God Hates the World." I won't even call it a parody since it is neither funny nor a respectful homage to the original...it is nothing but a piece of hate propaganda that I truly feel Jesus AND God would find absolutely abhorrent.

Take a look for yourself (courtesy of Live Leak):

"Deliver Us From Evil"

"Deliver Us From Evil." The name says it all.

This was one of the most riveting, yet horrifying documentaries I've ever watched. "Deliver Us From Evil" is partly about the despicable sexual abuse performed on children between the 1970s and the 1990s by Oliver O'Grady, a Catholic priest. However, the movie is mostly about how the Catholic Church from local bishops all the way to some of the highest ranking, if not THE highest ranking official (The Pope) covered up not only O'Grady's atrocities, but hundreds of other priests' as well.

I went through a range of emotions watching this movie. I felt overwhelming sadness for the victims, hostility and anger toward O'Grady, and even a mixture of hatred and rage toward the heirarchy of the Catholic Church for daring to place the value of "The Church" and the possibility of scandal over healing the physical and emotional anguish of innocent children. It made me sick to think of it, but I couldn't help but wonder if any abuse went on in the Catholic church I attended as a child in a suburb of Sacramento, CA. O'Grady's victims were in Lodi, Stockton, San Ardreas and other areas near Sacramento. I shudder at the thought.

The most heartbreaking part of the documentary was when the parents of Ann Jyono described finding out that their child had been abused by O'Grady. The father just burst into tears of rage, sorrow and guilt all rolled into one. Listening to his anguished voice and watching his face just brought me to tears.

Father Tom Doyle, one of the only officers of the Catholic Church to visibly fight for discovery and exposure of these pedophiliac priests hit the nail on the head with some of his comments. He states that "to be a good Catholic, you were supposed to 'pay, pray and obey'". I kind of remember that as a child. You never questioned, because you were taught that the priest was right and spoke for God and Jesus. Doyle also said that, "the church is not all the heirarchy and the Vatican and all that. The church is right here, in us, in the community." I completely agree.

I am no longer a Catholic, haven't been for some time. I never liked going to mass, and only got as far as First Communion, so technically, I guess I never was a true member. It took 16+ years for me to want to explore religion again, actually, spirituality. I've found a good place within the Unity Church movement. Even though I was never victimized by a priest, I can understand why some people in the documentary either renounced their belief in God or struggled to continue to believe. It would be so hard to want to be involved in an institution where the people you should be able to trust the most, people (men) of God, are the ones who commit some of the most evilest of crimes.

I highly recommend "Deliver Us From Evil." However, if you're anything like me...be prepared to run an exhausting gamut of emotions.

Celebrity-Obsessed Culture, Part 1

Short little rant here...

I just saw a commercial for Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition or one of other shows that try to pass as "news." The commerical said, and I quote, "Danilynn inhertiance, how much will she be worth?" Oh and then this little gem..."Anna Nicole in a wedding dress, tonight!"

What the hell? How long has she been dead now, and they're still obsessing over Anna Nicole Smith?

This is just another example of the ignorance of the American public. If people didn't watch it, they wouldn't air it. More people care about how much f*cking money the daughter of a pill-popping, slurred-speaking, famous-only-for-marrying-an-old-decrepit-millionaire, can-take-the-girl-out-of-the-trailer-park-but-can't-take-the-trailer-park-out-of-the-girl "celebrity" than how much f*cking money our local, state and federal governments are wasting for ridiculous legislation at taxpayer expense.

Pathetic.

The Garment Gestapo

Headline and Link from France24: Iran Warns Women Over Slack Dressing

Warnings given to women whose coats are seen as too tight, pants too short or headscarves overly loose. Officials say the crackdown was aimed at "improving the security of society with an approach of moral security." Well thank the Lord the clothing police are around to make sure we don't see the oh-so-seductive peeking of ankles and necks. Oh the humanity!

Just think, folks, if we ever end up like this, get ready to exchange your halters for hejabs and to line up to purchase your precious daughters the new "Burqua Bratz" dolls.

This immediately made me think of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale An extremely strict dress code was enforced for the Handmaids...who by the way pretty much existed for men to "procreate" with and that was it.

Even though I know America does not yet have a Garment Gestapo, nor Handmaids...if the fight between Extreme Left-Wing Nutcases and the Radical Religious Right (not to mention other extremist countries, too) gets any worse, we're going end up in a war like the one in Handmaid's Tale or 1984.

Either way...bye bye freedom.

Did We Really Need Scientists to Tell Us This?

The Headline and Link: Black holes exhale enormous gas cloud (MSNBC.com )

I don't know about y'all, but I pretty much learned about black holes and gas clouds the first time my brother belched in my face. Then the concept (not to mention the smell) was heavily reinforced during the near-fatal burrito fart massacre (again, brought to you by the letters B-R-O-T-H-E-R).

A Head Kick and It's All Over...

Just finished watching UFC 70 on Spike TV. They showed the PPV for free for some reason, I guess because it was in Manchester, England and didn't have most of the American or Canadian fighters UFC watchers are used to. The show was pretty good, but one particular scene stood out.

The main event was Mirko Cro Cop vs. Gabriel Gonzaga. Out of nowhere, close to the end of the first round, Gonzaga hits a wicked head kick pretty much wrapped around Cro Cop's head and knocked him out cold! And if that wasn't bad enough, the angle from which Crop Cop fell twisted his leg, ankle and foot underneath him, so who knows if the guy not only got knocked out, but he might have injured his leg.

Anyway...that one shot made the entire show.

I'm starting to like UFC more and more as I continue to watch it. Won't take the place of wrestling, but it makes a good companion show.

It Wasn't Cracker Jack in His Pocket

Comment on Foxnews.com article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266867,00.html

Holy crap...a 7-year-old finding 89 grams of CRACK in is jacket? How does that happen? Did momma or daddy (or baby-daddy) stash it and forgot they put it there? The rocks were the size of a LARGE COOKIE!

I would probably be angry at the danger the child was in if he had tasted it to see what it was, IF it wasn't just so absurdly funny. I'm sorry, but another example of stupid people (meaning the parent, relative or whomever) doing stupid things.

At least the boy was smart enough to go to his teacher.

It's obvious, due to the size, that that wasn't just for personal consumption. I haven't yet heard of the Costco Econo-Size Crack Bag.

Sleepaway Camp

I have now introduced another unwitting victim to the cheesefest that is "Sleepaway Camp." Muahahahahaha...the funniest, cheesiest piece of B-horror movie schlock known to man. But it an experience to watch, especially when a Sleepaway Camp Newbie is watching.

Angela's got a secret.....hahahhhahahahahaha.

Words and What-Ifs...

Another VA Tech post...

I'm sitting here watching The Today Show (God only knows why), and I'm starting to get annoyed at some of their coverage (gee, that never happens).

First off NBC News decided to go with "Massacre at Virginia Tech" as their tagline for coverage. I can't help but think that every time "massacre" is said, someone, especially anyone connected to the tragedy, gets a good swift punch to the stomach. I think NBC wants that to happen. Their choice of words is pretty obvious as you watch the coverage..."bloodbath", "carnage", etc. I have my theory as to why they choose these words, but that'll be another post.

Additionally, many of the stories play the "what-if" and "blame" games. That pretty much started by midday Monday. I know we need to understand what happened and the killer's motivation in order to hopefully avoid another horrible tragedy such as this one. However, the constant flood of reports on how this murderer should've been put into counseling, etc etc. just seems to play the blame game. As withdrawn as he was, as grotesque as his plays and writings were, apparently you can't FORCE an adult student to go into counseling unless he wants to. The professors and VA Tech did the best they could do within the parameters they could work with to try to help him and shouldn't be blamed for not stopping the attack beforehand. As far as the gun control debate being re-ignited, I'll save that for later.

The VA Tech Tragedy...

My heart goes out to all the Virginia Tech students, faculty, staff and families affected by Monday's tragedy. There is a special place in Hell for people like that killer. I don't care if he was troubled, depressed, etc. If you're not gonna get help for it, then kill your own damn self and leave innocent people alone. What happens in a person's mind that makes the connection to slaughter 32 people, injure dozens more, THEN decide to take his own life? How about skipping the first two steps, bypass GO, don't collect the $200, take that Glock you bought and glock yourself right in the temple. I'm not normally someone who advocates suicide, but if the choices are kill yourself or randomly kill 32 others, I say go for the first choice.

Welcome to "A Few Degrees Off-Center"!

Welcome to "A Few Degrees Off-Center".

So what does the title mean? Basically, it means that the opinions posted will probably be a bit off the norm...could be a little to the right, a little to the left, could be serious, could be comical, probably will be politically incorrect and definitely will be unique.

I'll post about whatever tickles my fancy or strikes a nerve that I see in public, in the media, online, etc...basically whatever floats my boat. One day you may see a post railing against the latest Congressional clusterf*ck, the next day I may just post about the lastest episode of South Park or Monday Night Raw.

I hope you enjoy "A Few Degrees Off-Center" and I will do my best to keep it updated regularly.