I came across a blog that was about a topic of endless controversy: American Health Care.  The long and short of it seems to be this:

1. Folks who want socialized health care want equal health care options for everyone (struggle for a Utopian society).
2. Folks who want privatized health care want the best health system possible for as many people as possible (short wait times, freedom to see whomever you want, etc).

To me, this boils down to the classic Churchill quote – “Show me a young Conservative and I’ll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I’ll show you someone with no brains.”  A Utopia (like perfection) is impossible.  People who want socialized medicine do have their heart in the right place but unfortunately their brains are not.

For me, the bottom line is this:  Only about 13% of Americans are without health care – TOPS.  Within that 13% there are people who CHOOSE not to have it, but could if they wanted to.  A friend of mine for example does not justify the $160 a month for health care, but does justify about that amount of money for their iPhone…

That means that 87% have health care.  Folks on the left think that socialized medicine is better because it will serve ‘everyone.’  They do however admit that it will be a step down from what the private sector is currently able to provide (wait times, treatments, types of medicine, etc).

In other words, the left is willing to (at least partially) destroy health care for 87% of Americans to attempt to get it for 13% of Americans – some of whom have decided not to have it in the first place (remember my old roommate).

Let’s cut it up a different way.  According to an article written by Steve Bierfeldt, after you subtract illegal aliens and people who could afford health care if they made responsible life choices, the amount of people who can’t get health care is down to 2.6%.  That means the left would want to destroy a health care system that works for 97.4% of legal Americans to try and help a 2.6% who don’t have it.

This argument boils down to responsibility.  It is irresponsible for a government to destry what works for the overwhelming majority of Americans.  The obvious answer is to find a way to help the 2.6%-13% of unisured citizens find private health care so that they can enjoy the benefits that 97.4%-87% who do have organized, working, and in fact luxurious health care.

The current proposals for reform are cloaked as big changes, but as it turns out, they are actually more of the same. They can be summed up in this way: turn more control over to the government and insurance companies while politicians and special interests jockey for credit and work behind the scenes to benefit — at the expense of individual Americans. – David McKalip, M.D.

In closing, let me put it like this.  Think of the Post Office… then FedEx Kinkos or UPS.  Now think of the DMV… then AAA.  Do you really want your health care run like the DMV or the Post office?  No thank you.

-First Response
(for more information, please read this: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=33 and this: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=45)

This is the second of three articles recalling hunting and fishing activities of many years ago in the Carleton Place area.

A century ago in the Eastern Ontario paradise for hunters and fishermen which extended throughout the then united counties of Lanark and Renfrew, locally organized action already was under way to protect wild animals from wasteful destruction.  Its first supporters, as mentioned in the preceding instalment of these stories, were a few foresighted hunters and other leading citizens of Carleton Place, Pakenham and Almonte. 

Later, with a spreading realization of the economic and esthetic benefits to be gained by men from his protection of wild birds and animals, there came a gradual revulsion against wanton slaughter in the forests, fields and lakes.  Among the victims, the long-extinct passenger pigeon still was shot here in numbers in the early 1880’s, as shown by reports of partridge and pigeon hunting in the townships bordering the Mississippi Lake.

First Finds of Indian Relics

Of the native Indians who a hundred and fifty years ago had been almost the sole inhabitants of the Lanark and Renfrew area, only a few stragglers still remained seventy-five years ago in Lanark County.  One of district’s first residents to record his interest in the excavated relics of the reign of the Indian hunter was Andrew Bell, a son of the Rev. William Bell of Perth.  In the early settlement days here he wrote in a letter:

“All the country hereabouts has evidently been once inhabited by the Indians, and for a vast number of years too.  The remains of fires, with the bones and horns of deers round them, have often been found several inches under the black mound. .. A large pot made of burnt clay and highly ornamented was lately found near the banks of the Mississippi, under a large maple tree, probably two or three hundred years old.  Stone axes have been found in different parts of the settlement.  Skeletons of Indians have been several times found, where they had died suddenly or had been killed by accident in the woods.  One was found in a reclining posture with its back against a hillock, and a rough-made stone tobacco pipe lying beside it.”

Another Pioneer Conservation Society

The wild life conservation movement in this district had expanded by the 1880’s to the arousing of organized local support for a wiser harvesting of most of the usual products of rod, gun, spear, trap and net, and for protection of other obviously harmless or beneficial wild creatures.  Carleton Place Herald editor James Poole in an editorial of nearly a hundred years ago already had claimed any man who would shoot a robin or other songbird would be capable of robbing his grandmother or of committing any other crime or rascality.

An organization in Carleton Place with these newer ideas for the conservation of practically all main forms of wild life was formed in 1884.  Under the title of the Carleton Place Game, Fish and Insectivorous Birds Protective Society it continued to operate for some years.  Original officers of the group were William Pattie, president ; Jim Bothwell, vice president ; Walter Kibbee, secretary-treasurer, and committee members John Cavers, Tom Glover, John Moore, Jim Morphy and Jim Presley ; elected at a May meeting in the old fire hall on Bridge Street, when a constitution drawn up by Robert Bell was adopted.  Other members pledged to support the rules of this pioneering wild life protective society were William Beck, Peter Cram, Jim Dunlop, John Flett, David Gillies, Charlie Glover, Tom Hilliard, Archie Knox and Tom Leaver ; Hugh McCormick, William McDiarmid, Hiram McFadden, Jim McFadden, Jim McGregor, George McPherson, William Neelin, Robert Patterson and William Patterson ; Dr. Robert F. Preston, Alex Sibbitt, William Taylor, William Whalen, Will R. Williamson, Alex Wilson and Joe Wilson.  Out of town sportsmen among the first members were Duncan Campbell, John Gemmill, D. G. MacDonnell and Tom Mitcheson, all of Almonte ; Jim Rogers of Montreal and R. W. Stevens of Ottawa.

At this time fishing on Sundays was illegal here as well as hunting on Sundays.  Only about five of these men were said to be still living in 1928 when a story recalling the formation of the Carleton Place wild life protective society of 1884 was published.

A social event sponsored by the Society in its first year was a steamboat excursion to the present Lake Park, then noted as “the old Regatta Grounds.”  The “Morning Star” and her two barges, with a number of skiffs in tow, carried three hundred people to the picnic ; which featured a rifle shooting competition, a baseball game, tug of war and track events, croquet, boating, and dancing to the exhilarating airs of the Willis bagpipes.

Game Law Enforcement

Two unfortunate Indians were among those who felt the first punitive effects of the new society’s protective activity.  This local story was published in October of 1884:

“Last Wednesday two Indians from St. Regis were about to pack up and leave their camp between Appleton and Almonte, on the Mississippi River, when a representative of the Carleton Place Game, Fish and Insectivorous Birds Protective Society appeared on the spot and confiscated a number of muskrat skins.

The fellows had been warned by the Society to desist trapping the animals until November.  The two offenders were brought to Carleton Place.  They had in their possession 126 muskrat skins, one mink skin and one raccoon skin.  The taking of the latter is not an offence.  The poor fellows were in most destitute circumstances.

The magistrate inflicted a fine of $10 and costs and the skins were confiscated.  They doubtless intended to do the river above Carleton Place at once, as has been their annual custom.  The Protective Society is extending its influence very rapidly in all directions from Carleton Place, having a good representative membership in many points at a distance.”

Duck Shooting Toll

Ducks in the 1890’s remained abundant and were shot by the hundreds by the most experienced hunters.  An 1890 published report of two Carleton Place duck hunters’ successes gave totals early in the season of 200 birds for one and 272 for the other, with one shooting 154 ducks in three days in a northerly expedition.  Heavy tolls by the relatively small numbers of hunters seemed to make little impression on the duck population.

dailyartjournal137

Originally uploaded by gumg

art journal entries – inspired by Teesha Moore. Visit her great tutorials on Youtube.

dailyartjournal136

Originally uploaded by gumg

art journal entries – inspired by Teesha Moore. Visit her great tutorials on Youtube.

dailyartjournal135

Originally uploaded by gumg

Art journal entries – inspired by Teesha Moore.

dailyartjournal134

Originally uploaded by gumg

Art journal entry – inspired by Teesha Moore. Mixed media.

The cover of Alan Moore's Watchmen

Watchmen was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Watchmen was originally a mini-series published under DC Comics, it spanned one year with twelve issues and was collected into a graphic novel around 2005. It was the winner of the Hugo Award and was the only graphic novel on Time Magazine’s list of the top 100 English novels.

Watchmen has been widely received as the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. Many times director’s had tried to adapt the book to film, and in 2009 in some ways Zack Snyder (director of 300) succeeded.Many fans did not like the film very much, personally I thought it was a pretty faithful adaption, click here to read my review of the film.

The story follows that of six would-be heroes who decide to take the law into their own hands after the Minute Men were disbanded sometime in 1940. The characters consist of Silk Spectre II, Nite Owl II, Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, Ozymandias, and Rorschach. After the Comedian is killed Rorschach begins investigating his death, he comes up with the theory that there is a “mask killer”. He then proceeds to inform all of the retired heroes of the Comedian’s death and his mask killer theory. The heroes must then overcome their differences and band together to stop World War III.

Next, the characters of Watchmen:

The Silk Spectre II

Laurie Juspeczyk aka Silk Spectre II is the daughter of the original Silk Spectre, her mother forced into the role of a masked adventurer (masked is sort of false as she doesn’t actually have one but what are you gonna do?). She is Dr, Manhattan’s girl friend, however, she leaves him in the third chapter.

Nite Owl II

Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl II took the role of Nite Owl when one of the old heroes in the Minute Men retired. He later retires after the passing of the Keene Act. In the ’60’s he and Rorschach worked together as partners.

Rorschach

Walter Kovacs aka Rorschach decided to become a masked adventurer after a rough childhood in which he saw the true horror of the world. After a kidnap case in the ’60’s he went insane and began killing criminals instead of catching them and leaving them to the police. He became a wanted man after the passing of the Keene Act. In some ways he is the main character, because he is the one who tells the story.

Ozymandias

Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias was a man who believed in Utopia and world peace, and believes these things lie in the future. He retired from adventuring two years before the Keene Act was passed, and cashed on his alter ego making all sorts of merchandise and becoming an aristocrat.

Dr. Manhattan

Jon Osterman aka Dr. Manhattan was killed in an accident in an intrinsic field machine, he was torn apart then made a new body with all sorts of abilities, he is one of two heroes still in employ with the government.

The Comedian

Edward Blake aka The Comedian “He was practically a nazi” and a very lonely man. Heis practically insane like Rorschach. The Comedian is more of a soldier than a super hero. He participated in the Vietnam war with Dr. Manhattan.

The art of Watchmen is beautiful, Dave Gibbons does a wonderful job, and John Higgins uses are beautiful especially when they are used to show distance of an object. And the design for the costumes is the most important part to me because the costumes of most of the heroes are colorful which is surprising considering how grim the book is.

Overall, Watchmen is an excellent and thought provoking book and should be purchased by anyone who either likes comics or likes literature in general.

Daniel Day Lewis and Kate Hudson in Nine

BEST PICTURE
01. Precious, Lionsgate Films
02. Up in the Air, Paramount Pictures
03. Nine, The Weinstein Company
04. The Hurt Locker, Summit Entertainment
05. An Education, Sony Pictures Classic
06. Up, Pixar Animation Studios
07. A Single Man, The Weinstein Company
08. The Lovely Bones, Paramount Pictures
09. Invictus, Warner Bros. Pictures
10. Avatar, Fox Searchlight

In this years Oscar race, I think only two are safe – Precious and Up in the Air. Both have had incredible reviews and support behind them. They are filled with acclaimed performances, which are in contention in the acting categories and have minimal backlash. The Hurt Locker, though released early is a pretty safe bet and Nine is getting great reviews and with the stellar cast and production team behind it, I think it’s in. An Education is loosing a bit of steam, with only Carey Mulligan it’s main standing point, but I think it’s staying. And yes, I think it’s Pixar’s time. Up, which I will review tomorrow, is fantastic and totally deserves it’s spot in the Best Picture ballot. A Single Man is a very arty film, and it’s downside is it’s gay theme, which we all know was a downside to Brokeback Mountain’s loss in 2005, but it’s leading performance, Colin Firth is attracting phenomenal buzz, along with fashionista Tom Ford’s directional debut and Julianne Moore’s short, but buzz building performance. Invictus, Avatar and The Lovely Bones are the main hardly seen films that everyone is iffy on. Some people say that Avatar is fantastic and is a sure bet for a nomination, but others say it doesn’t live up to the hype. The Lovely Bones is a film I’m extremely concerned about. Yes, it’s a Peter Jackson film with a great cast, but the terrible trailer makes me queasy and worried for the film. Early word is that it’s too visual and smart for it’s own good. Similarly, with Clint Eastwood’s oscar bait galore, Invictus, has an early word of a boring film that goes nowhere. But I think it’s in for the Eastwood factor alone.

OTHER CONTENDERS: A Serious Man, Inglorious Basterds, Bright Star, The Road, The Last Station

Thoughts? Happy Reading!
Andrew. (Later Today – Best Director, Best Actress)

Long-time correspondent and author of Escaping the Matrix, Richard Moore has recently circulated a message that, I think, is worth close consideration. I believe that he is right about contemporary politics being staged theater. We should not take it as real.

Here is Moore’s message in its entirety:

The fascist takeover is being facilitated by a particular psy-ops strategy.

Compared to my first decade on Earth, the Eighties were not a good time. The joyous hedonism of the Seventies were gone, Reagan was in office, John Lennon was dead, and my Mom got married to a total asshole who suffered from the classic Mentally-deranged Viet Nam vet/alcoholic/violence-will solve-any-discussion Syndrome.

My love of comic books, drawing, reading, and generally keeping to myself intensified from 1981-1986, the years I lived with them. Despite his predilection to beating the fuck out of me for doing things like refusing to inspect gasoline covered garbage cans outside naked while he smoked, he was good with coming through with money for services rendered.

I used most of that money to buy comics and the occasional soft-serve cone at Convenient Food Mart. The Direct-Market was in full swing, and I was beginning to fear by 1984 that I was missing out on some really exciting comics by sticking to the spinner-racks about town. I began mail-ordering stuff from a place in Canada so I could get up to date on the best stuff. Most orders were sent C.O.D. to my 14 year-old no bank account having ass.

This lead to discovering Alan Moore and Alan Davis. Moore was writing some truly horrifying, electric stuff on Swamp Thing. Davis was making beautiful art illustrating some fairly standard stories on Batman and the Outsiders. These series were among my favorite at the time, and I was thrilled to discover the 2 were doing Captain Britain together as a comic published by Marvel UK.

The way new-comics mail-order worked, you had to do it several months in advance. So I had ordered 3 issues of Captain Britain before I saw the first one. This was in 1985. The first issue arrived, and featured gorgeous black and white art by Davis, and writing by .. Jamie Delano? I had no idea who that was, but it was good and weird. The stories were delightful fun. Despite my coming in pretty late to the whole affair, I was able to follow along, even though it was mid-epic. Not a word by Moore in sight, but I came to really enjoy Delano’s storytelling.

I had blindly ordered issues 12, 13, and 14 which turned out to be the last 3 of the series. It had been cancelled.

Years of hunting through American comic shops for the issues I had missed was fruitless. British comics just didn’t make it over here that often. I would later discover that the Moore/Davis stories were in some series called “Daredevils” which had come out 4 years previous to the comics I had purchased. My pre-internet detective skills were weak. Many years later, in 2001, Marvel US released the Moore/Davis series in one nice book.

One other thing came from my blind attempts at ordering comics from the other side of the pond. On a whim I ordered the first several issues of a magazine called Warrior, which also purported to contain work by Moore and Davis. I may have missed out on Captain Britain for 20 years, but by way of consolation, I was able to read their Marvelman work before it officially came to America.

Actually, there was a second consolation. I knew who Jamie Delano was, and when he was named the writer of the Swamp Thing spin-off Hellblazer, I was in the know about his talents.

I’ve always loved the thrill of finding lesser-known works by people whose work I enjoy. In the case of Captain Britain it seems like every time I turn my attention to the character, there’s some kind of surprise that comes with it. The character has become an unexpected thread that has run through the last 30 years of my life. Seldom on my mind, but very potent when it is.

The character himself is a total cypher, acting as an ill-defined embodiment of the spirit of England. However, something about the character seems to attract talent, and lends itself to incredibly inventive stories that revel in the joy of the comics medium.

Anywhere one can find an expression of unconditional love, one should savor it, and learn by that example.

Things really got uneventful for a long time with the exception of some birthdays:

Now, for a special announcement, this will be my last entry as the head of this family.  As soon as I saw the girls, I knew who I would be choosing as my heir.  Gloria was the obvious choice to me.  She was a teenager, which I figured was old enough to take on the responsibility.  This way I could keep my eye on her and help her out for a while before my time came.  I decided to tell her right away.

She took to it easily and shocked even me by how fast she got down to business, spending the family’s money before she’d even secured her first part time job.

Frau Moore sieht sehr hungrig aus!!

Days with Parker turned into nights at my house before I knew it.  He really was very sweet and always made me feel better off I got off of a bad call-in at the hospital.

Just the way everything else happened around this town, it didn’t take long before it got serious.

And let’s face it…I wasn’t getting any younger.  Middle-age was right around the corner and I was running out of time to settle down.  Building up my family name would be worthless without someone to pass it on to.  We were married the day after we were engaged in a private ceremony at home.  I was the happiest I’d been in a long time.  Parker was a far cry from the likes of Jonathan.  I’d never met someone so attentive.  He moved in right away and we were together in every free moment.

Shortly after Parker moved in, I realized that we’d have someone else moving in before too long as well.  The pregnancy was a little bit of a shock because I wasn’t gaining weight and I’d never had any morning sickness.

Finding out I was pregnant didn’t make me as happy as I originally thought it would.  I had a lot of thinking to do and I had to do it alone…

v

After my head was cleared, the days just flew by and before I knew it…

I don’t know whether I am just a wee bit dim, or whether I am being ‘deceived’, as George Keeming says (see comment on Oct. 22 blog), but the more I talk to people the more I am less enlightened. I watched a wee video meant to explain to real estate professionals how this will all work. The gentleman was describing how this will affect our clients in terms of added costs, and the lady took the other side and explained that Canadians are used to paying taxes and that this will just be another adjustment to adapt to. I disagree! I don’t think we are used to it as much as we grudgingly tolerate it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very, very, very grateful to live in Canada, and after a recent trip to an education conference in Atlantic City, NJ, I am even more grateful. I talked with so many people about the education and health care systems and couldn’t wait to come running back home. I wanted to know how bad the health care really was down there – just didn’t want to take Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’ at face value – but it really is that bad! So yes, please, tax me for our wonderful health care! I know there are issues with wait times, especially in more remote areas, and there are other problems of course, but we are really so very lucky!

And I also don’t want to be biased in my blogs and not give fair explaination for the ‘pro’ side of this tax, but I personally need more explanation. In a course last week on commercial real estate and litigation, presented by 6 lawyers from a local firm, I learned some of the positive ideas for this tax:

• some of this tax will be used as relief for small businesses, promoting economic growth and prosperity (agreed! – but I still think it is the ‘little guy’ who will be hit hardest in this – not the rich, not the poor, but the majority of those in between who are just trying to make ends meet and are tired of being stretched)
• many countries have a VAT (value added tax) structure to help businesses already; Quebec has its own as well (true! – but again with the ‘little guy’ – I know several people in Europe who are far from impressed with the VAT)
• bottom line is new tax treatment of new capital investment by corporations would promote increased investment and productivity in Ontario (my main thought here is also the fact that so much of any government’s budget is wasted on the ridiculous. I am not going to even get into this because I could write volumes, but I challenge anyone to disagree with me that government spending is inefficient. I think we could reorganize instead of sucking more out of the citizens)

NDP leader Andrea Horwath had the following to say (disclaimer – I am neither NDP, nor Liberal):

So in conclusion, I humbly ask for your input and explanation!

Tiffany McGregor: Educator/REALTOR®

Email me! – tiffismyrealtor@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter! – twitter.com/tiffismyrealtor

Become a fan of my facebook page! – see blogroll to the right

Check out my website! – tiffismyrealtor.com (website currently under construction)

and the climate goes up in flames…

According to the woman standing near me on Monday watching this madness, the Somerset carnivals look set to suffer as incandescent light bulbs are phased out. Not that you could have guessed it in Weston-Super-Mare on Monday night. Those floats would have been visible from miles up in the atmosphere, a fabulous blaze of grinning pumpkin faces and spinning kaleidoscope pin-wheels; fire-belching dragons, ten-foot knights, blue leering tigers, giant chess pieces and playing cards; marching nightmares and dancing dreams all illuminated by enough wattage to light a small town for six months.

The Somerset carnival tradition apparently dates back to the 1600s and was a celebration of the defeat of the gunpowder plot, like bonfire night. I’ve always thought it a little ironic that something as potentially anarchic as bonfire night started as a state-sponsored affirmation of the status quo (playing with fire, anyone?) but anyway, the carnival this year was a fantastic two-hour parade, completely over-the-top and down the other side and off into the next field. There was drag and burlesque and the odd rude joke, and the dancers were rather kinkily chained to the floats, but overall it was loads of spectacular but innocent fun, as happily, indigestibly unglamorous and English as a pork pie.

No doubt behind the scenes it’s a cut-throat affair, as the clubs compete for best float and best towing-vehicle driver (in my opinion, the great big stolid tractor driver towing the Kingdom of Heaven float, his halo sprouting one tiny fluffy feather).

And then there’s the controversy of the light bulbs. It would be a sad thing if the Somerset carnival tradition went out in a whimper of energy-saving CLF lamps and a climate of governments fiddling while the planet burns.

You can see photos of the carnival here. And, in an unrelated picture, a reminder from Alan Moore of the potential anarchy of bonfire night celebrations (hey, carnival clubs – how about a V For Vendetta float next year?) It might not be quite time to try and blow up parliament again, but maybe it is time to do something more than change the light bulbs if we want to change the world.

]]> http://scissorblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/la-ce-e-bun-michael-moore/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:16:11 +0000 Je http://scissorblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/la-ce-e-bun-michael-moore/

Face filme critice, se ia de administrația Bush, înfierează capitalismul. E arogant, vorbește tare și tăios. E în stare să miște masele, are talent de predicator și “le zice”. Are meritul de a fi coagulat o mișcare de stânga în SUA și de a fi adus documentarul în mall. Ne-a arătat că democrația nu poate fi separată de gândirea critică. Și, fără îndoială, a contribuit la educarea tineretului în acest sens, deci indirect și la schimbarea regimului politic în SUA.

Ca orice lucru care pare prea bun ca să fie adevărat – este și el prea bun ca să fie adevărat: nu i se pot trece cu vederea manipularea unor dovezi, scoaterea din context a unor declarații și forțarea lucrurilor în general – toate rearanjate pentru a se potrivi în mesajul pe care și-a propus a priori să-l transmită. Ceea ce numai etic nu e, și se cam bate cap în cap cu principiile pe care pe propovăduiește. Privind proporția dintre lucrurile pe care le critică el și mișcarea pe care a generat-o – cam aceeași proporție se regăsește și între mișcarea “pro-Moore” și mișcarea “anti-Moore” care a apărut firesc în urma succesului lui. Am aflat recent dintr-un documentar despre festivalul de film “Shooting Michael Moore”, tabără în care s-au refugiat aceia cu părerea că “Da, Michael Moore nu-i 100% rău, dar… hai să spunem adevărul.” Dacă mă-ntreabă cineva, acel festival e cam penibil, însă e bine că există tocmai pentru că asta înseamnă democrație. Dacă ne-am însușit critica, este drept să criticăm toate taberele.

Ce nu poate fi însă contestat este meritul de a fi adus documentarul în mall. Ba, mai mult de atât, a reușit să spargă zidul de ignoranță al maselor de consum și le-a revigorat neuronul responsabil cu chestionarea autorității. Iar după cum se știe, indiferent de câte ori s-a demonstrat faptul că un lucru e neadevărat, tot o să mai existe 1 milion de aerieni care or să continue să creadă în acel lucru. Deci nu contează câte dovezi despre fabricarea dovezilor există, dl. Moore nu cade prea curând în dizgrație.

Ironia e că odată ce și-a atins un ideal [schimbarea regimului politic în SUA] totodată și-a dat foc la valiză: ce-o să mai critice el de-acuma?

“All this has happened before and all this will happen again.”

This is the phrase that defines the reimagined series of Battlestar Galactica that premiered in 2004 and only recently came to its conclusion.  It dared to explore issues regarding faith and race, social class and modern warfare, artificial intelligence and the dignity of life–all within a sci-fi backdrop on an alternate history between human beings and their former creations, a race of cybernetic organisms known as Cylons.

The man responsible for this breathtaking series is none other than Ron Moore, a prolific writer and TV producer with an eye for worlds beyond ours with issues that seem all too familiar to us.

Much in the same way that Matt Stover brings a realistic element to the fantasy genre in his Acts of Caine novels, Moore invokes realism and common sense issues within science fiction, as seen by this quote in an interview from 2000:

The premise has a lot of possibilities. Before it aired, I was at a convention in Pasadena, and Sternbach and Okuda were on stage, and they were answering questions from the audience about the new ship. It was all very technical, and they were talking about the fact that in the premise this ship was going to have problems. It wasn’t going to have unlimited sources of energy. It wasn’t going to have all the doodads of theEnterprise. It was going to be rougher, fending for themselves more, having to trade to get supplies that they want. That didn’t happen. It doesn’t happen at all, and it’s a lie to the audience. I think the audience intuitively knows when something is true and something is not true. Voyager is not true. If it were true, the ship would not look spic-and-span every week, after all these battles it goes through. How many times has the bridge been destroyed? How many shuttlecrafts have vanished, and another one just comes out of the oven? That kind of bullshitting the audience I think takes its toll. At some point the audience stops taking it seriously, because they know that this is not really the way this would happen. These people wouldn’t act like this.

Battlestar Galactica was not the first attempt to look deeply into society and culture for Mr. Moore.  He was also a writer for the series Star Trek: The Next Generation when it aired during the 90’s.  He has the distinction of having written some of the best episodes in the series, such as “Sins of the Father” and the finale “All Good Things…”  Even there, Moore delved into the questions of one’s heritage, looking at the Klingon culture, its emphasis on honor, and its militaristic standards.

Even now, Mr. Moore is hard at work on Caprica, a prequel series to Galactica that explores the origin of the Cylons, the roots of the Adama family, and the twilight of human civilization in the Twelve Colonies before their terrible war with the Cylons and their struggle to survive long enough to rediscover the planet Earth.

Perhaps one of the greatest bits of wisdom that runs through Moore’s work is the idea that faith in a higher power isn’t inherently wrong, but neither is it inherently right.  Faith cannot be used to excuse away greater sins, nor can sin be used to denigrate what faith is left in the face of crisis.  Faith is a struggle, a path to redemption and honor, to inspiration and perfection.  Whether one is born a human, a Klingon, or a cybernetic organism, one always face the choice of leading a life of quiet desperation or refusing to abandon hope even at the Gates of Hell.

So say we all.

—

Here’s a quick list of Ron Moore’s projects:

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1994)

Star Trek Generations (1994)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994-1999)

Star Trek: Voyager (1999; Season 6)

Roswell (2000)

Carnivàle (2003-2005; producer)

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)

Caprica (2010; in production)

—

As far as I can tell, dear readers, this will be the end of my “Inspirations in Artistry” series.  However, if other writers and creators come to the fore or prove particularly noteworthy, then you will find another installment in some future post.  ’Til then, thanks for reading so long and hope you’ll stay for some more rich chocolately reading.

This is the Scriptorium, signing off!

I never was one for slacking off, and that finally worked out for me.  Even on my days off, I could be found under a tree or in the park somewhere, studying more to make sure that I wouldn’t be passed over when a position opened up.

Before I knew it, I was a medical intern – ANOTHER PROMOTION!  I was so excited.

A few more promotions and I would be on my way.  Things were happening quickly.  I guessed that the supervisors at the hospital saw my potential and figured they could use it.  Life was a little easier now.  I could cook, sleep, and study at ‘home’ and I’d gathered the money to buy a sink.  Being a perfectionist, I couldn’t handle the dirty dishes laying around the yard.

While it was nice to be getting some extra recognition at work and a little more money than I had before, it didn’t come without responsibility and hard work.  Being on call was wearing me down and I was starting to get dark circles under my eyes.  I would be called in and by the time I was done helping with whatever emergency happened into the hospital, it was usually time for me to start my shift straight after.  Thinking about my appearance put my train of thought somewhere else.  I hadn’t dated anyone before or since Jonathan and I was beginning to get lonely.  I was moving my way up the ladder and that was great for me but it wasn’t as fun as it would be to share that with someone.

Two more promotions came quickly.  First to Resident…

…then to Trauma Surgeon…

These pictures really say it all about how hard all of this was.  I’d come this far though and I wasn’t about to give it up just to make it easier on myself.  I napped more often and got real sleep less often.

The promotions just kept falling into my lap.  Before I knew it, I was an Infectious Diseases Researcher.  It was unbelievable to me that I had come this car since I’d first planted my feet on Sunset Valley Soil.  I’d had a small place that I could really call home built.  Even if it’s a bit…plain(to say the least) I really love my little house.

Oh, and it turns out that my doubts about not meeting anyone were totally unfounded.

Meet Parker:

“Um filme surpreendente, empolgante e revelador. Um incrível documentário realizado pelo respeitado diretor Michael Moore na qual mostra a realizadade dos planos de saúde dos Estados Unidos da América, único país ocidental que não possui um programa de saúde público universal (O que seria o S.U.S. aqui no Brasil). Um documentário de sucesso tanto em público quanto em critica na qual compara os programas de saúde dos EUA com os de outros países como Inglaterra, Canadá e França onde os serviços de saúde são oferecidos de graça a população, e compara os EUA até com seu país “inimigo” chamado Cuba na qual os serviços também são gratuitos sem espectativa de lucratividade. Um filme que nos dá uma versão diferente do que conhecemos de “sonho americano” e que nos mostra que os EUA não são uma grande potência quando o assunto é saúde, chegando a estar na 37º posição no mundo neste quesito. Mostra que lá a  saúde é considerada um comércio e não uma essência de vida.”

Maikon Mendes Miranda

» Sinopse: As palavras “sistema de saúde” e “comédia” não são facilmente encontradas na mesma frase, mas no mais recente filme de Michael Moore elas podem ser vistas lado a lado. Para mostrar como as coisas funcionam na terra do Tio Sam, Moore ouve as histórias de vários americanos comuns cujas vidas foram despedaçadas, ou arruinadas pelo sistema de saúde americano. O filme mostra que a crise não somente afeta os milhões de cidadãos que não têm seguro de saúde – mas também milhões de outros que pagam religiosamente suas prestações e que estão freqüentemente lutando com a burocracia e com suas regras oficiais obscuras.

» Direção: Michael Moore
» Roteiro: Michael Moore
» Gênero: Documentário
» Origem: Estados Unidos
» Duração: 123 minutos
» Tipo: Longa-metragem

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Eu tenho o filme e garanto, vale muito a pena conferir, o filme é muito Foda!!

La reflexión filosófica de la Ética sobre la moral no tiene forzosamente un carácter normativo-tal es el papel de los moralistas-, aunque su crítica tiene incidencia en el obrar. Esta situación bifronte de la Ética se recoge en la distinción entre la ética normativa y la ética crítica o metaética.

Ética normativa: éticas teleológicas, deontológicas y axiológicas.

La ética normativa es una disciplina filosófica que trata de señalar lo bueno o lo malo en la vida humana, siendo misión de la prhónesis, de la prudencia en sentido aristotélico (tema que trataremos más adelante pues merece mención aparte), su aplicación a la inmensa variabilidad de los casos particulares. Los principales modelos han sido los teleológicos (de télos, fin) y los deontológicos (de déon, deber). El primero viene ejemplificado por la ética aristotélica, en la cual el Bien es aquello a lo que todas las cosas tienden, siendo la eudaimonía (felicidad) el bien buscado por los humanos. La tarea de su ética consistirá en esbozar un modo de vida que nos conduzca a la dicha. Mucho después, utilitaristas del siglo XIX (J. Bentham, J.S. Mill) la asumirán, desde perspectivas diferentes, para promover “el mayor bien para el mayor número”, contribuyendo de algún modo al Estado del Bienestar.

La ética kantiana no se preocupa tanto por la felicidad, cuestión de nuestras inclinaciones, sino de que nos hagamos dignos de ella. Si el fin fuese simplemente ser feliz, la razón no sería el mejor mecanismo, sino un sistema instintivo. Por lo tanto, la razón, como capacidad práctica, deberá tener influjo sobre la voluntad para que ésta sea buena en sí misma, asimilada al cumplimiento del deber por el deber.

Max Scheler, con su Ética axiológica (de axión, valor) trató de otorgar al concepto de “valor” la centralidad que antes detentaran el “fin” y el “deber”.

Ética crítica o metaética: teorías descriptivistas y no-descriptivistas.

La Ética ha clasificado las distintas teorías éticas en descriptivistas (también denominadas realistas o cognitivistas) y no-descriptivistas. Dentro de las descriptivistas, las teorías naturalistas estiman que las condiciones de verdad de los enunciados morales son similares a los de las ciencias empíricas, por lo que los métodos de éstas serían suficientes para dilucidar su verdad o falsedad, sin precisar de ninguna premisa ética, dado que el significado de los enunciados éticos es similar al de aquellos otros en los que no aparecen términos éticos. Tras la denuncia de Hume respecto a la legitimidad de paso de “es” al “debe”, G.E. Moore criticaría esa concepción al pensar que incurría en lo que denominó como “falacia naturalista”. Su posición intuicionista comparte con el naturalismo el que los enunciados éticos pueden ser verdaderos o falsos y que los términos éticos se refieren a propiedades, pero sosteniendo que éstas son indefinibles (en el sentido de que serían tan indefinibles e inalizables como el amarillo), ni empíricamente observables, sino propiedades sólo accesibles a la intuición.

Frente a las teorías descriptivistas (naturalistas o intuicionistas), el no-descriptivismo, con F. Hutcheson y D. Hume, se desarrolló a mediados del siglo XX en el emotivismo de C.L. Stevenson y el prescriptivismo de R.M. Hare. Para el no-descriptivismo, ni los términos éticos se refieren a propiedades ni los enunciados éticos pueden ser parafraseados metalingüísticamente en el lenguaje de la verdad o la falsedad. Si alguien dice: “Esta mesa es blanca” podremos decir de la proposición que es verdadera o falsa, pero si decimos: “Matar es malo”, descritiva, aparentemente, es en realidad prescriptiva, pues “malo” no es ningún hecho del mundo, sino un valor introducido por el que juzga, así que únicamente cabe decir que nos parece correcta o incorrecta. Según el emotivismo, un enunciado ético no describe nada del mundo, sino que expresa las actitudes o emociones del hablante, haciéndose imposible el discurso racional en ética.

Nokaut Ryana Rhodesa na Jamie Moorze. Pojedynek odbył się 23 października 2009 roku.

Bestsellery w sklepie Pretorian – sprawdź teraz!

An Organ Donor?  These people had to be kidding.  I had 10 years between school and work and they were going to throw me to the bottom of the totem pole!?  Oh, Jonathan would pay for this.  Getting me fired, kicked out of my apartment with NONE of my things, and I had to move out of town because no one would hire me.  That man had it coming.

Here’s a little backstory.  I was a med student in Riverview.  I fell in love with a doctor on the hospital board and subsequently started working in the hospital with him.  About 6 years in (4 months ago) I found out that he was cheating on me with a med student (I was a doctor by that time) and threatened to tell the rest of the board what he was up to with the student staff.  Within days, he kicked me out of our apartment by changing the locks, not even allowing me to go in and get my things.  He had me taken off the payroll at the hospital and all of my records were mysteriously gone.  There was no evidence that I’d ever even gone to medical school (the school I went to was a branch of the hospital, and thus controlled by the board).  I couldn’t believe it.  I had no place to go and no chance of getting my old job back.  I moved to Sunset Valley, hoping to convince someone of my past medical experience.  Regardless of what I knew, I just found out that it was irrelevant.  I would have to work my way back up again.  My parents were sympathetic but knew that I couldn’t find a job in Riverview so they told me about a family property that I could have in Sunset Valley.  There was no house there though.  There’s no way that they would ever let me live the life of a homeless person so I convinced them that I had a friend living here I could stay with until I got on my feet again.  Well…I don’t.  I’ll be staying on that property.  Here’s my story.

It would be hard to remember all of the terms I had to memorize in school, so I remembered to pack all of my old books from my parents house.  As a doctor, I just researched problems case by case and so I didn’t need to remember all of the terminology.  It felt good to be sitting in the library so I stayed a while…absorbing the normalcy.

Soon though, I got hungry.  This was going to be difficult.  Usually I could waltz into a warm kitchen with heated floorboards and make or order in whatever I was in the mood for.  As things stood now, I had $1,300 to my name and I needed to make it last as long as I could.  I went to the grocery store and bought some hot dogs and cooked it in the bark on someone’s leftover charcoal.  It all seemed so primitive.

After that, it was all about sleep.  It was 1:00 AM and I had to be at work at 9:00 the following morning.  I couldn’t mess this up.

My night on the park bench was far from restful, but I walked into work the next day with a bit of a skip in my step.  It had always been easy for me to get lost in my work and I appreciated the break of having to do tasks that were so mundane (leaving me with way less pressure and liability) compared to my usual responsibilities.  Work had left me a pretty stressed so a shower at the gym (I picked up that tip from some guy dressed worse than me at the park) and some time on the computer at the library got me back on track.

A few more mornings of waking up on a bench were in store for me…

I wasn’t totally without luck, though.  The next few days landed me a promotion!  Nothing to really brag about, but it was still better than what I had before.

Things were beginning to look up, but I still didn’t have very much to my name.  I soon got another promotion to Paramedic.

It was a more exciting job, at least, but still wasn’t paying what I needed.  I figured that I would have enough for a bed though, and that would get me off of the benches for a while.  No one wants to see the person that is supposed to save their life sleeping in public places…

It wasn’t much…but I was proud to ‘bring home’ the first pieces of my new life.  I now had a bed to sleep in, a refrigerator to eat out of, a shower to get cleaned up in, and a toilet to…well…you know.

Life finally seemed to be turning around for me.

I’ve been busy lately, lurking around other people’s legacy blogs.  Every time I get interested in one though, the author up and moves on.  I plan to keep this one running straight to the death of the G10 heir.  At least, that’s my goal.  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this interesting enough to make sure that I want to keep writing.  If you’re reading, leave me a message and let me know what you think?  Constructive criticism can only help me since this is my first shot at something like this.  Now, about the family.  I decided to give them the last name Moore because what does a legacy family in the Sims always want?  More.  I figured the name was suited for a legacy in this game.   Now I’ll introduce you to our founder.   You’ll notice she’s a woman.  All heirs to the Moore family will be women, I’ll be going for the Matriarchy point.

Founder: Carolyn Moore

Traits are Ambitious, Flirty, Lucky, Perfectionist, and Workaholic.

Lifetime Want: Become a World-Renowned Surgeon.

From here, the story will be told by Carolyn.

This gig was certainly a family affair. My sister has recently become one of the backing singers of the Dts along with a very good friend of mine. In addition to this the support act’s lead singer Peter Moore was the father of Ali from the Dts. It was a very fun gig. Got some good photographs have a look.

Peter Moore

The Dts