Movie Review: G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra

Action fans, here is a film for you. "G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra" tries a little bit to have a plot, but mostly it's just cool special effects and lots of action. This is probably the reason why I liked this movie...it's made specifically for action film junkies.

"G.I. Joe" starts our with the unveiling of a new weapon...a nano-mite missile, that when detonated, triggers nano-mites to start eating away at the metal. We then cut to Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) transporting the new weapon from one location to another. These special forces soldiers are caught completely unprepared when a mysterious team with supremely advance technology attacks their convoy. Luckily, the G.I. Joe team arrives just in time to save the day.

Shortly after this initial encounter, Duke and Ripcord join the G.I. Joes and they are off in a global pursuit of the Baroness, Storm Shadow and Zartan. They have to save the world and find out who is pulling the strings of these 3 villainous fiends. Along the way, Duke and Snake Eyes have to deal with their past histories with The Baroness and Storm Shadow, respectively. That's the lone attempt to make the plot a little more interesting.

The lack of really any good dialogue dropped "G.I. Joe" from a 5 star to a 4 star movie for me. Much like this summer's "Transformers" movie, though, plot and dialogue was secondary. I will watch this movie again, and I will definitely see the sequel...yes, there will likely be a sequel, given the way this one ends.

Sports Funny

Those of you who know me know I love sports. You also know I like to joke. Here's one I came up with today:

"Did you hear Jay Cutler sent a letter to Broncos fans to apologize to them for the way things ended in Denver?"

"Sadly, it got intercepted before it got there."

For those who don't follow sports, that's funny because Cutler has thrown 17 interceptions (in 9 games) this year as the quarterback of the Chicago Bears. He threw 5 interceptions last night to cost the Bears the game. Well, it's funny if you aren't a Bears fan.

The Denver part comes in, because Cutler was the quarterback for the Broncos last season before whining his way out of Denver this offseason. Someday I'll get over my bitterness in this situation...just not today.

Who Can You Trust?

Yesterday's blog generated a lengthy exchange of commentary between me and the commenter. The commenter asked a very simple question, "If I don’t trust them, who am I going to trust and why would I live here?" The "them" this commenter is referring to is the US Government.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this today, and I asked myself, "am I too extreme here?" As I was thinking about this, I saw the following quote from Patrick Henry, one of the Founding Fathers:

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the Government."

Now, why would a Founding Father say that the people need an instrument to restrain our government if the government is to be trusted?

Later, I was reading "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, and Paine referred to Government as a "necessary evil." Is a necessary evil something you really want to trust implicitly?

And then, finally from George Washington:

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

It certainly sounds to me like the Founding Fathers of our country wanted us to be wary of our government. Further, they gave us the the tools to correct our government when they stray too far from the will of the American people.

But, let's not stop there, let's cite some examples where blind trust of the U.S. Government has gotten us into trouble.

Case #1: After 9/11 George W. Bush had the support of a very large majority of Americans, and we trusted his administration to wage a successful war on terror. What did his administration do? Well, if you listen to President Obama and the democrats, he took that trust and waged an unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq, while sanctioning torture of enemy combatants.

Case #2: During World War II, President Roosevelt ordered the forceful relocation of 120,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps, due to suspicions of spying. Some of these American citizens never got their property back. The American people trusted President Roosevelt to wage the war, and in the process he committed a great crime against American citizens.

So, should we implicitly trust our government? Absolutely not! And I think our Founding Fathers would agree with me on this. That is why they gave us a marvelous document called the Constitution, to clearly spell out what the Federal Government could do, and the proper way to amend that document should it be necessary. They did everything they could to limit the power of our government, because they knew that government was a "necessary evil" that, if allowed, would become a "dangerous servant" and eventually a "fearful master."

I think our representatives are elected to do a job for us, and we should assume that they are going to do that job in a manner that is consistent with the promises they made to get the job. However, we need to verify that they are doing what they said they would do, and if they aren't, we need to correct them. They are our employees and we are paying their salaries. We can send letters, attend town halls, write e-mails and make phone calls, but truthfully, our only real means of correcting them is to vote against them in the next election.

Really, this is no different than the expectations of every one of us who is lucky enough to still have a job in Obama's economy. Our bosses give us goals and measure us against those goals, at least my boss does. And if I'm not meeting those goals we have a little chat, and I'm motivated to meet my goals. Luckily for me, he has other means to correct me besides just firing me. Unfortunately for our elected officials, firing them is really the only option.

Finally, the commenter asked a great question "...who am I going to trust and why would I live here?" Well, I think you would want to live here, because despite its flaws, the U.S. is still the greatest country on earth. Even with the ever increasing government encroachment into our lives, we still have freedoms that citizens in other countries have never known. And, who do you trust? You trust your family. You trust your neighbors. You trust your church. Put your trust in the people around you, they will always be there for you and they will disappoint you far less than some ruling body in Washington.

The Betrayal Continues

I've been reading Glenn Beck's book, "Common Sense", which is inspired by Thomas Paine's original work, published in 1776. I'll give a full review when I'm done reading Paine's original, but the jist of Beck's book is that the political establishment, made up of both parties, no longer serves the will of the people. Instead, they rely on the people being ill informed and they foster fighting between political parties, while they remake the country in tiny increments. These Progressives (in both parties) believe they are the "experts" who understand what is needed for the "greater good" and they push that, no matter what the majority of Americans believe.

(Author's Note 11:04 pm, 11/8/09: Due to a comment I received, I feel I should explain the prior paragraph. That paragraph is intended to be a description of how things run in Washington, and not a commentary on the American people. I do not believe that all Americans are ill-informed. In fact, I believe the American people are more informed right now than they have ever been...or at least in the last 100 years. This is the reason that health care wasn't rammed through in August, and why it still faces considerable challenges in the Senate.)

Regardless of your political party, I suggest you read "Common Sense" by Glenn Beck. I found it eye opening.

Here, we have another example of what Beck is talking about. The U.S. House passed Health Care Reform yesterday, 220 - 215. This is despite a Rasmussen poll showing 54% opposed to the Pelosi bill, while only 42% are in favor of it. This is despite town hall meeting after town hall meeting this summer where Americans voiced their displeasure with this. They did this even though thousands of people marched on the capital on Friday to protest this measure.

Our representatives have said "screw you American people, we know what's best for you...shut up and take it!" Well, the good news is all 435 of them are up for re-election next November, and it's time for a change. When they no longer remember who they work for, they no longer deserve to be our public servants in Washington. This link shows how your representative voted. Remember this come election time, get informed and use your vote to send a wake up call to Washington.

Movie Review: Flyboys

I'm not sure how I let "Flyboys" pass me by for so long. This 2006 film, starring James Franco as Blaine Rawlings, tells the story of a group of Americans who went to fight for the French in World War I before the US joined the fray. The movie is loosely based on actual events...apparently very loosely if you believe wikipedia.

In the movie, Rawlings' family ranch is foreclosed on by the bank, so he goes to France to enlist as one of the first fighter pilots. Along with a group of other Americans, Rawlings flies several missions against the German fighter pilots, and eventually becomes a hero. Along the way, there is a love story subplot with a French woman, which breaks up the action nicely.

"Flyboys" got destroyed by the critics, but I liked it. I think it's a 4 star movie. The aerial dogfight scenes were outstanding. Some of the best aerial combat I've seen. The overall scenery was really well done. I'm not sure what the critics were watching...maybe it wasn't the same movie, or maybe I'm just not "sophisticated" enough. Anyway, I highly recommend "Flyboys."

The Evil Empire Strikes Again

I am not a major league baseball fan. When I watch baseball, I root for the Minnesota Twins. I also like the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies. I cannot stand the New York Yankees...or as many people call them, "The Evil Empire." In fact, the Yankees and their championship buying ways, are the biggest reason I don't watch baseball.

The Yankees just won their 27th World Series, beating the Philadelphia Phillies in 6 games. Even though I'm not a fan, the Yankees win makes me sick. The Yankees don't develop talent, they buy it. There's no savvy involved in paying the most money for the best players.

Here's a stat I heard...the Yankees have the highest paid Starting Pitcher, Relief Pitcher, Catcher, First Baseman, Shortstop and 3rd Baseman in baseball. A Yankees fan probably thinks their outfield is underpaid. But even those of us only peripherally interested in baseball end up thinking, how can my team ever compete regularly?

The Minnesota Twins have a team payroll of $67 million (23rd in baseball), while the Yankees have a team payroll of $208 million, nearly $63 million more than the next closest team and more than 3 times that of the Twins. With that payroll, the Twins are competitive for the playoffs every year because they are a well run organization that knows how to develop players. But, they are always 1 or 2 players short of being able to make a run to the World Series. And, they can't hope to sign that player in the offseason because the Yankees typically sign all the top talent.

Now I'm all for capitalism, but when a sport is setup so one team can have such an overwhelming advantage, there's no reason to watch it. It's as if the fix is in. The Twins can never hope to sign the caliber of players the Yankees can. And, if the Twins develop a good player, when his contract is up, they can't afford to keep him, because they can't compete with the Yankees on payroll.

Until baseball figures out a way to achieve a more competitive balance, I have no reason to watch it. Every other major sport, to one level or another has figured it out. In the other sports, the best run franchises, not necessarily the richest, win the championships. In football, the Patriots are good every year, even though the salary cap only allows them to spend the same or less than every other team. In basketball, the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs seem to have it figured out.

If these sports can make it work...baseball can too. And if they finally figure it out, I'll watch baseball again.

Participate in the Process

I sent the following letter to my Congressman today. I'm publishing as is...typos and all (hopefully there aren't any). I think it's important that we let our representatives know how we feel, especially on matters like Health Care Reform.

Please consider writing similar letters to your Representative. If they don't hear our voices, they can claim ignorance. At least this way they know how we feel. Also, I think we need to try to be respectful. If we are respectful, it's harder to dismiss us out of hand. I heard today that the house will vote Friday (11/6).

"I am writing you today to urge you to vote against the Health Care Reform Bill current making its way through Congress. My understanding is that the vote will be this Friday (11/6).

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I do not agree with you on much from a political standpoint. But you are my representative, and I want you to know my opinion.

I am an Engineer at a prominent company within your district, and this health care plan will negatively affect me and my family. But, I'm sure that, for every person I can name who will be negatively affected by this bill, supporters can name 1 person who will be positively effected. So I will not take this approach with you.

Instead, I'd like to discuss this as a matter of principle. I think you are a man of principle, so even though we disagree on many things, I believe you and I can agree on some things.

As a matter of principle, this health care bill is wrong. A recent Rasmussen poll shows that 54% of the American people oppose this health care reform bill, while only 42% favor it. While I understand that the Republic form of government allows for the government to go against the will of the people, that should only be used for matters of national security. If this were an election, it would be a landslide against this bill.

This health care bill is 2000 pages long. I understand that once the bill is finalized, 72 hours will be given to read it before the vote. I'm sure you are a better reader than me, but 72 hours to fully comprehend what you are voting on when it is 2000 pages long is not possible. As your constituent, I expect you to be fully informed on whatever you vote to support. Anything less would be wrong.

Finally, this health care bill helps no one until 2013. There are steps that could be taken today that would help countless Americans that don't have health insurance, and don't take 2000 pages to spell out. We can all agree that the pre-existing condition laws need to be changed. That could be addressed today. We can all agree that allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines needs to be changed. That could happen today. Rather than go for sweeping reform in 4 years, lets take steps today towards real reform, not another massive government bureaucracy that may or may not solve the problem

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please consider this when you cast your vote on this issue."