A Tale of Two Camerons

Kirk Cameron on gay marriage:

"I think that it's unnatural. I think that it's detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization....

I believe marriage was defined by God a long time ago.... One man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage."

 David Cameron:

"I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative."

One doesn't want to do it, so wants to ban it.
The other doesn't want to do it either but is insistent on protecting the democratic rights of those who may want to.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as defined by some poorly-educated, washed-up creationist.

Putting the Mary In Maryland

So Maryland becomes the latest state to legalize gay marriage.
So that means you have to marry someone of the same sex now?
Hell no. You don't have to.
But you can if you want (and the other wants to as well).
That's called freedom.

8 down, 42 to go.  

Act of Valor...to sit through this garbage

Below, there may be spoilers. However, the film-makers themselves created the biggest spoiler, by making this crock.

Saving Private Ryan, Three Kings, Jarhead.
Great war-movies.
Act of Valor is not one of them.

Act of Valor is a poorly acted, terribly written and superficially directed series of money shots for the Navy.
It started off as a commercial for the Navy. It never became anything else. Instead of uniforms, the "actors" should be wearing khakis and rolled-up blue shirts - it was that much of an infomercial.

If you want to compare it to another war film, use this: TROPIC THUNDER.  Where Tropic Thunder showed us that actors can't fight, Valor shows us what happens if soldiers go and act. It ain't pretty.

DON'T ASK, PREY TELL...
On the plus side, kudos for going full-gay with the sub-text between the two leading SEALS. The two guys seemed to spend half of the movie having romantic, golden-hour strolls through shit they've just blown up, where they talk about relationships and babies.

SWEATY TREACHEROUS JEW ALERT!!!!!
Do you think the sweaty, treacherous Jew is a good guy or a bad guy?
Mmm, clue please.
He's not Christian.
And he's foreign.
And he ain't got no standard issue crew-cut. Got to be a bad guy.

But what about the portrayal of a Muslim? Let me reframe that...

THE CONVERT TO ISLAM WITH FACIAL SCARRING....
Good guy or bad guy? Well he ain't no Christian that's for sure. And he's an ex-Ruskie.

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE FULL CLICHE
A guy in the first act learns his wife is pregnant....
Now what's going to happen to him?
Is he the cursed cop on the last day on the job?
Is he a Star-Trek red-shirt?
Oh no, they can't go full-cliche can they?

Hell yeah. Full cliche and proud, ma;am!

PLOT HOLES? WE GOT 'EM BY THE SHIP LOAD
Example.  Why does the guy who makes millions of dollars smuggling shit into the US, give up all that to let his one-time pal smuggle in explosives? They either get caught smuggling it in (thereby shutting down his smuggling routes) or else investigations will lead to his smuggling routes. Either way, he's unmotivated in shutting down his business.

ACTION SEQUENCES YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE
If you've never watched an Army or Navy commercial?
Or seen a Michael Bay or Tony Scott movie.
Or played a video game.
Then sure, they'll be new to you.

BUT IT'S GOT TOBACCO FILTERS
That add a nice glow to the action and to the romantic gay-subtext walk on the deck scenes.
If you like your war movies with tobacco filters, then this is the one for you.

CALLING MR BAY
I was longing for the character "subtlety" of Bay or Scott. Believe me, if you hadn't appreciated those directors before, you will do now when you see what incompetent film-making really is.

WHERE'S CHUCK?
This is the kind of movie Chuck Norris might have starred in, many wars ago. It's border line though, as he may have wanted the script rewritten to get all the way up from garbage to mediocre.

Ultimately, the worst thing that can be said about this movie though is it's boring. Really boring.

If you want to ban gay marriage, then you're a socialist.

Democracy is about citizens pursuing life and happiness in a manner which pleases them.

If you want to interfere and stop others from doing that, then you have to have sound reasons such as the protection of our fellow citizens who cannot protect themselves.

You cannot intervene merely on the grounds that you don't like something. That is nothing but state-sponsored bullying.

If you are a Republican, someone who believes in freedom of choice and that government intervention should be kept only to minimal and necessary actions, then how is it possible to justify preventing other people from being happy?  If two gay people chose to marry, it has no impact on non-gays. If we're against gay marriage then we don't have to marry someone of the same sex. That is the limit of our opposition and that should be the limit imposed by the state. We don't like it, we don't have to do it. And as it has no direct impact on us, we don't have the right to stop others from doing it. Anything else is an unwarranted intrusion from big government. It is anti-democratic.

Dicks and Dictators: On why crotch shots are democracy's friend

Weiner's been hounded out of Congress for sending pictures of his crotch to various people. Why? What he wants to do in his spare time is his concern and his alone.  He's been forced out for moralistic reasons; forced to resign because it was against the aesthetic and ethic tastes of certain other people. He did nothing illegal, so what has he done exactly that really means he should not serve his full term?

In a democracy and a society that is truly egalitarian in citizenship, we  must be accepting and tolerant of difference. Whether we like or embrace that difference is irrelevant. If something is legal but not to our taste or our way of doing things, it doesn't matter. We still have to let others go about and do their thing and we still have to stand up and defend their right to do it. If we don't then we're nothing but a bunch of moralizing egomaniacs who believe our way and our tastes are the only way of doing things. That is, we become intolerant dictators of how others should live.

It's your constitutional right to be a dick

David Tyree says the push to legalize gay marriage in the United States will be "the beginning of our country sliding toward ... anarchy"  and that "... two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman."

It's clearly his right to be a sexist, ignorant, bigot, but it is beyond his right to impose his sexist, ignorant bigotry upon others. He doesn't like it, he doesn't have to support it and he doesn't have to partake in it. He doesn't like or agree with gay marriage, then simply put, he doesn't have to marry someone of the same sex. That should be the limit of his power of veto on the subject. It doesn't affect him, so he should have no say on the matter. In a phrase, he should butt out.

What Happens In Vegas

Waiting staff who don't pay attention and argue with you even when they are wrong.
Hotels that stink of Febreze to hide the cigarette smoke.
Rancid smokers who insist on smoking indoors, just because they can.

Hookers.
Strippers.
Chinese.
Fat people.
Fat Chinese people.

Chain restaurants.
High end stores in malls.
High end restaurants in malls.
High end restaurants selling their hard-earned name to make a fast buck at an ersatz restaurant bearing the same name.

Ersatz.

College students who think it is wild to be able to carry an open beer in the street.
People who want your money.
Security at hotels who let the hookers go to the rooms without a glance but who check the foreign looking families.
The rich and famous selling their over-priced wares to the poor and anonymous.
People who think all of this is good.

All of what happens in Vegas, can stay in Vegas.

They're welcome to it.