So the Infidel Sociopaths In Syria attacked another country, this time in Europe.  I don't get how people can act like sheep waiting to be slaughtered.  Maybe the victims had a secret death wish?  People!  If you outnumber your attackers 120 to 3, don't run away...attack!  Take them down!  At close range, an armed man can be overwhelmed in seconds by sheer weight of numbers.  If you don't try, you are dead anyway.

The creatures that make up ISIS (Infidel Sociopaths in Syria) have once again demonstrated that they are not human beings.  Their desire for destruction and their hatred of the rest of the Earth appears to know no bounds.  They destroyed the ancient temple of Baalbek, a world heritage site that represented one of the finest examples of ancient Roman architecture - a place that has stood without being totally destroyed by devout Muslims and against all odds for two thousand years.  Why?  Because they said so.

Based on their reasoning, we really should destroy the Al-Masjid al-Haram and its Kaaba, along with Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Dome of the Rock and other sacred Islamic sites.  Why?  Because certain non-Muslims said so.

These Infidel Sociopaths in Syria are arrogant beyond belief, for cowards and bullies.  They cut off the hands and feet of children, rape little girls, enslave people, and attempt genocide unchecked.  Yet the other 7 billion people in the world sit back and watch.  After all, why should someone in the US or China care what "one camel-jockey does to the other?"  The world didn't act in the 1930's when Nazi thugs were killing Jews either.  After all, they were Germans killing Germans, weren't they?  Sooner or later their unchecked love and adoration of death will lead them to attack other countries.  Given current levels of apathy, I suppose the world will wait for them to cross the line.  Then, and only then, will people ask, "Why wasn't something done about them sooner?!"

I recently stumbled a web page at Film School Rejects purporting to list the 15 best Miramax film releases.  Of course, the posters raved about horrible, bloody, and emotionally bankrupt violence-porn, while studiously sneering at anything popular or award-winning (save Pulp Fiction).  Their picks included child-porn, plain creepy, political mockumentary, girl murderers, and aimless drug addicts, including several movies with no story.  Most of their picks are in the 2-star range and below, which I would think makes them closer to the 15 worst, doesn’t it? 

In revenge, I have to list my picks as “Miramax’s Real Best 15.”  Hey, you might not agree, but this is my list.  Go make your own. 

1.      The Piano (1993) - Haunting, unique, other-worldly

2.      Sling Blade (1996) - A trip that is hard to forget

3.      Emma (1996) - Austen comes to lively life

4.      The English Patient (1996) - Requiem for love

5.      Good Will Hunting (1997)

6.      Life Is Beautiful (1998)

7.      Shakespeare in Love (1998) - Fun with Shakespeare and the spirit of the time

8.      Smoke Signals (1998) - You have to see this one to understand

9.      The Cider House Rules (1999)

10.  Chocolat (2000) - My favorite little fantasy movie, a guilty pleasure, like chocolat

11.  Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

12.  Amelie (2001)

13.  Frida (2002)

14.  Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

15.  Cold Mountain (2003) - A great saga too often maligned by the critics

Wow.  The amount of time, tears, sweat, angst, money, and words wasted by women over their own bodies is mind-boggling… (You never know where Stumbleupon will take you.)

http://www.curvygirlguide.com/self-body/victorias-secret-does-not-love-my-body/

At least the purveyors of fantasies are doing it just to make money.  Why are some of the commenters slamming each other?  “Kiss my well-toned ass?”  Bullied for being too fat?  Bullied for being too thin?  Who are these damned nameless bullies and why aren’t they residing in hospital with broken noses and split lips? 

I suppose we have to face the fact that bullies aren’t nameless and faceless evil drones hatched from some evil master’s lair.  They are just people.  People doing the wrong thing.  I am sure none of the commenters on web articles like this thinks of herself (or himself) as a bully.  And yet, there they publish their snide comments and overreactions and miscommunications and even hateful blanket statements with the same effect. 

It would behoove us all to take a moment when we can to think before we utter or publish words that could be hurtful.  Just consider the other “side.”  Most of the people in the link slam the Victoria’s Secret models for “starving” themselves, though they it is just part of the job.  I like to switch the subject an object to see if a phrase still holds water:  Would you slam the company for requiring a curvy model to eat double calories for the weeks before a show to make sure she’s “fat enough?”  Maybe you would.  If so, the problem for you is not really thin versus heavy, but the peddling of a particular body image, no matter what the peddled image be. 

As for that image, many in the industry want to say it is “what sells.”  And that’s probably valid.  If you are selling a fantasy, you need a fantasy image.  VS is not really selling practicality here.  But I might add one thing:  Manufacturers and marketers know that they need to hook consumers at the youngest age possible.  Soft drink makers have gone to tremendous pains to get young kids drinking large amounts of their product as soon as said kids have any disposable income.  They know that the kid will more likely than not develop a brand loyalty that may last a lifetime.  Money in the bank for the company.  VS is most likely no different.  If so, then who would their target be?  Young teen age girls?  Many of whom have gawky tall and thin bodies as a result of normal human growth patterns?  Before they start to “fill out?”  I’m just guessing, but I would not be surprised at all. 

And, as sexist as it sounds, you won’t often find men denigrating each other over their body image.  At least, not straight ones.  ;-) 

I usually avoid the comments section like the plague, since it is often so full of crap.  But this one has the best comment I’ve read in a while; Kiki says, “I am very tired of women hating on women. Maybe you are really just hating on yourself or maybe it makes you feel better. Either way we all need to stop this. We should just love and accept one another.”  

Top Movies

My “Great Movies Everyone Should See” List:

(since everyone else has one, but 208 instead of 100 because I don’t like round numbers)

9 (2009)

127 Hours (2010)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)

The African Queen (1951)

Agora (2009)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Alien (1979)

Aliens (1986)

Always (1989)

Amadeus (1984)

Amelie (2001)

American Graffiti (1973)

Anne of Green Gables (1985)

Annie Hall (1977)

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Babe (1995)

Bambi (1942)

The Bear (1988)

The Beast (1988)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Big (1988)

Big Fish (2003)

Big Jake (1971)

Blade Runner (1982)

Blue (1993)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Brave (2012) 

Braveheart (1995)

Bread and Tulips (2000)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Bullitt (1968)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Captain January (1936)

Casablanca (1942)

Charlotte's Web (2006)

Chinatown (1974)

Chocolat (2000)

Citizen Kane (1941)

City of Angels (1998)

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Cold Mountain (2003)

Danny Deckchair (2003)

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Education of Little Tree (1997)

Elizabethtown (2005)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Empire Records (1995)

The English Patient (1996)

Fargo (1996)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Fierce Creatures (1997)

The Fifth Element (1997)

Finding Nemo (2003)

Finding Neverland (2004)

First Blood (1982)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Forrest Gump (1994)

The French Connection (1971)

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Gandhi (1982)

Get Low (2009)

Ghost (1990)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

Gladiator: (2000)

Glory (1989)

The Godfather (1972)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Graduate (1967)

Gran Torino (2008)

The Great Escape (1963)

The Green Mile (1999)

Gremlins (1984)

Grumpy Old Men (1993)

Gunless (2010)

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

Hang 'Em High (1968)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Heidi (1937)

The Help (2011) 

High Plains Drifter (1973)

Howards End (1992)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Iron Man (2008)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

Jaws (1975)

Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2005)

Julie & Julia (2009)

Juno (2007)

Jurassic Park (1993)

King Kong (1933)

The King's Speech (2010)

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Life is Beautiful (1997)

Little Women (1994)

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

March of the Penguins (2004)

M*A*S*H (1970)

The Mask (1994)

Master and Commander (2003)

The Matrix (1999)

Message in a Bottle (1999)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Mister Roberts (1955)

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Mouse Hunt (1997)

The Music Never Stopped (2011)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Nanny McPhee (2005)

The Next Three Days (2010)

North by Northwest (1959)

The Notebook (2004)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

On Golden Pond (1981)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Out of Africa (1985)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Patton (1970)

Peter Pan (2003)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl (2003)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Poltergeist (1982)

Predator (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)

Psycho (1960)

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Ratatouille (2007)

Red (1994)

Red Sun (1971)

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Seabiscuit (2003)

Secondhand Lions (2003)

The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Serenity (2005)

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Shane (1953)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Shrek (2001)

The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999)

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The Snow Walker (2003)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Sommersby (1993)

Songcatcher (2000)

The Sound of Music (1965)

Speed (1994)

Spider-Man (2002)

Spirited Away (2001)

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Stardust (2007)

Steel Magnolias (1989)

Stuart Little (1999)

Super 8 (2011)

Temple Grandin (2010)

Ten Inch Hero (2007)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Titanic (1997)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Tremors (1990)

True Grit (2010)

True Lies (1994)

Under the Sun (1998)

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Unforgiven (1992)

Up (2009)

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

WALL-E (2008)

Water for Elephants (2011)

Whale Rider (2003)

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Winged Migration (2001)

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Witness (1985)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

X-Men (2000)

Blunders

Years ago, I read about Ghandi's list of Seven Blunders of the World that lead to violence. On their final day together, not too long before his assassination, Gandhi gave this important list to his grandson Arun Gandhi. Here is Gandhi's list, including an 8th 'blunder' added by Arun Gandhi:

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without principle
Rights without responsibilities

The western world sure seems to have embraced every one of the blunders for the past 30 years.

Those Who Have Gone Before

Gene Roddenberry 1921-1991 (70) exec prod/creator
Robert H. Justman 1926-2008 (83) assoc/co-prod
Fred Freiberger 1915-2003 (88) prod
Marc Daniels 1912-1989 (77) dir/supp actor
Joseph Pevney 1911-2008 (96) dir
Jud Taylor 1932-2008 (76) dir
Herb Wallerstein 1925-1985 (59) dir
Walter M. Jefferies 1921-2003 (81) art
Gene L. Coon 1924-1973 (49) prod/writer
Jerome Bixby 1923-1998 (75) writer
John Meredyth Lucas 1919-2002 (83) prod/writer
Robert Bloch 1917-1994 (77) writer
Theodore Sturgeon 1918-1985 (67) writer
Al Francis 1918-1998 (79) cinematographer
Alexander Courage 1919-2008 (88) music composer
William Ware Theiss 1930-1992 (62) costume designer
Fred B. Phillips 1908-1993 (84) makeup
James Rugg 1919-2004 (85) sfx
DeForest Kelley 1920-1999 (79) actor
James Doohan 1920-2005 (85) actor
Majel Barrett 1932-2008 (76) actor
Jimmie Bartell LaRue 1932-1990 (67) voiceover
Ed McCready 1930-2002 (72) supp actor
Vic Perrin 1916-1989 (73) voiceover/supp actor
Jeff Corey 1914-2002 (88) supp actor
Whit Bissell 1909-1996 (86) supp actor