A Rainy Sundy
It has been overcast all day, and rainy for a good portion of the afternoon, and now into the evening.
Read moreAuthor: B. John
When A Methodist Pastor Withdraws the Welcome to Gays and Lesbians
For over 10 years I’ve been a member of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church here in Tampa. In 2011, at the urging of a large group of members, the Administrative Council of the Church adopted a statement of welcome to all, which was to be placed on our website. Unfortunately, we were recently appointed a new pastor who’s animus towards gay people has caused to him to withdraw that welcome and remove the statement from all public display. In fact, he’s gone so far as to have our listing removed from a website that does nothing more than provide a geographic directory of gay-welcoming churches. He did it without any consultation with the Council, and has acted in some questionable ways.
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Mud-A Movie Review
Two boys, Ellis and his friend Neckbone, who find a man named Mud hiding out on an island in the Mississippi. Mud describes fantastic scenarios — he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper, who is waiting for him in town. Skeptical but intrigued, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. It isn’t long until Mud’s visions come true and their small town is besieged by a beautiful girl with a line of bounty hunters in tow. It was a movie well worth watching, and I’m sorry it’s taken so long to getting around to reviewing it.
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World War Z-A Movie Review
Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must brave horrific dangers and long odds to find answers before human civilization falls. This is likely the best movie of the summer.
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The Zimmerman Trial
I couldn’t let the George Zimmerman case go by without commenting. I think the main issues in the case are being overrun by our desire to make the main issue one of race. The case certainly has two points of race running through it, but the primary issues here are Florida’s draconian self-defense laws, and our concealed-carry law. Let’s get the racial issues out of the way first. I certainly believe race played a role in this case. Zimmerman clearly, based on the 911 call, profiled Trayvon Martin because he was a young black man, but that’s not the primary cause of this situation. Florida’s insane Republican Legislators have blood on their hands as well.
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United Airlines Epic Fail
Last week I flew to Chicago to attend a professional conference. Due to delays caused by weather, it came out that, despite United being willing to give me $200 to take a flight the next morning if mine were overbooked, they wanted to charge me $75 to give up that same seat, but take an earlier flight that would have actually got me home on time.
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The Hangover Part III-A Movie Review
In the aftermath of the death of Alan’s father, the wolfpack decide to take Alan to get treated for his mental issues. But things start to go wrong on the way to the hospital as the wolfpack is assaulted and Doug is kidnapped. Now they must find Mr. Chow again in order to surrender him to the gangster who kidnapped Doug in order to save him. A worthy sequel, with lots of good laughs.
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Fast and Furious 6 – A Movie Review
Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.
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The Last Great Day
A brief portion of an NPR interview a couple of weeks ago set me off on a week of reflection and memories. Greta Gerwig said, “You don’t know when the last time of something happening is. You don’t know what the last great day you’ll spend with your best friend is. You’ll just know when you’ve never had that day again.” What are some of your last great days with friends?
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Family Group Hates Anti-Bullying Campaigns
Bob Kellogg, a reported for the SPLC designated hate group, American Family Association, has published an article about Laurie Higgins campaign against GLSEN’s anti-bullying campaign. Every expert says that to have an impact, these initiatives have to name the kinds bullying one wants to stop, but God’s gentle person, Laurie, doesn’t want LGBT students mentioned as targets. I can only assume that means, since she has no training or expertise in the topic, that she wants to reserve the right to bully LGBT students.
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NOW Raising Money on Already Lost Marriage Causes
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and their President, Brian Brown, just have not had a good year. Back in November they lost most of their anti-equality marriage amendments. Recently, several States have adopted equal marriage laws, and there are two cases before the Supreme Court related to gay marriage. If you’re Brian Brown and NOM, you squeeze your supporters even more.
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