Disturbing Children Cartoon Film Banned from TV

I saw this YouTube video the other day. Let me tell you, it’s really disturbing and creepy, yet fascinating and revealing. It is a claymation piece about three children with Mark Twain visiting a blank, dark world occupied by a powerful entity that you may interpret it as either Satan or God. There is a voiced dialogue (no captioning/subtitled) but you can watch the whole thing without them, as there are plenty of visual cues that you can easily understand.

Enjoy the video if you dare (about five minutes).

UPDATE: Found out that the video piece came from the 1985 movie, “The Adventures of Mark Twain”, directed by Will Vinton, famed for his “California Raisins” claymation. The synopsis of the movie below:

Based on elements from the stories of Mark Twain, this feature-length Claymation fantasy follows the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher, and Huck Finn as they stowaway aboard the interplanetary balloon of Mark Twain. Twain, disgusted with the Human Race, is intent upon finding Halley’s Comet and crashing into it, achieving his “destiny.” It’s up to Tom, Becky, and Huck to convince him hat his judgement is wrong, and that he still has much to offer humanity that might make a difference. Their efforts aren’t just charitable; if they fail, they will share Twain’s fate. Along the way, they use a magical time portal to get a detailed overview of the Twain philosophy, observing the “historical” events that inspired his works. ~ Doug Ferrar

George Orwell on pacifism and war

To all pacifists and peace-lovers, chew on this when George Orwell, the author of 1984, had to say about pacifism and the war in 1942:

Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one.

and

What I object to is the intellectual cowardice of people who are objectively and to some extent emotionally pro-Fascist, but who don’t care to say so and take refuge behind the formula ‘I am just as anti-fascist as anyone, but—’. The result of this is that so-called peace propaganda is just as dishonest and intellectually disgusting as war propaganda.

Pacifism and the War by George Orwell

If you think the era of President George W. Bush has resembled to that of some conditions described in 1984, then you would better be prepared for the era of President Barack H. Obama for some of the conditions described in Orwell’s other famous novel, Animal Farm.

11.22.08 Victory in Iraq Day: We Won!

Today is the Victory in Iraq Day. The Iraqi war is over and we won. Period.

Michael Yon of Online Magazine, a well-respected independent journalist/blogger and a US Special Forces veteran, having been embedded to several American and British military units in Iraq and Afghanistan , phoned Instapundit.com blogger to say this:

“THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:” Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good. “There’s nothing going on. I’m with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I’m with haven’t fired their weapons on this tour and they’ve been here eight months. And the place we’re at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there’s nothing going on. I’ve been walking my feet off and haven’t seen anything. I’ve been asking Iraqis, ‘do you think the violence will kick up again,’ but even the Iraqi journalists are sounding optimistic now and they’re usually dour.” There’s a little bit of violence here and there, but nothing that’s a threat to the general situation. Plus, not only the Iraqi Army, but even the National Police are well thought of by the populace. Training from U.S. toops has paid off, he says, in building a rapport.

He says the big problem everybody is talking about now is corruption. But hey, we have that here, too. He’ll be heading to Afghanistan next week. “Afghanistan is a bad situation, but on Iraq I can’t believe things have turned out so well.”

He thinks that Obama will be able to pull troops out, and send some to Afghanistan, without creating problems in Iraq. Michael will be reporting from Afghanistan soon, and sending back video, so stay tuned. Things aren’t going swimmingly there.

MORE DETAILS CAN BE SEEN HERE HOW DID WE REALLY WON THE WAR, no thanks to the Democrats and President-elect Obama, both have so far avoiding any reference of victory in Iraq for the U.S. troops. President Bush and his administration, especially General David Petraeus, should deserve credits for the right decisions made to go with the direction in Iraq after the fall of Donald Rumsfeld as the Secretary of Defense in 2006.

WE WON!! THANKS TO THE U.S. TROOPS!

Let’s honor all the troops, both living and dead, who have worked incredibly hard, under very difficult circumstances and conditions, to make life a bit more better for the peoples of Iraq for the future’s sake and acknowledge that their sacrifices have not been in vain after all.

Now, Afghanistan is a much bigger job to tackle and there will be a much bigger Surge there in the coming months. Here’s hoping President Obama doesn’t screw that up (though, I’m not holding my breath).

Remember these words from President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address:

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans–born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage–and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Today is the 45th year anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas.

Poll for DeafReaders: Would You Join Or Avoid It?

This poll is for all DeafReaders and deaf voters of college age (Gallaudet, NTID, CSUN, etc.). Please take your lovely time to consider and vote for your choice. It’s worth thinking about this.

Meanwhile, DCRepublicans have something to share with you all about Rahm Emanuel, back in a CSPAN interview back in August 2006, when he mentioned about THE plan to create something big akin to a civilian national security force in a rather bold but ambiguous tone.

Hmm.

Salute to the U.S. Veterans

Today, we salute the U.S. Veterans of the United States Armed Services. Thank you.

Today, it is also the 90th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the Great War, now known as World War I. The war officially ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 but the peace treaty – the Treaty of Versailles – for both sides were not signed until 28th of June 1919.

Unfortunately, that treaty was the clincher for another world war 20 years later.

Highly Recommended Movie: MONGOL

Sunday, I watched a really impressive foreign film from Russia, MONGOL, a story about the legendary Mongol warlord, Genghis Khan (a longtime favorite historic figure of mine since high school). However, this movie is not about the conquests of Ghenghis Khan, rather it is about a struggling young man named Temudjin (Temüjin) facing hardship and difficult odds stacked against him in his near-mythological ascendancy to power. However, his life is shrouded in mystery, later chroniclers and historians have pieced together an elaborate picture of a brilliant military warlord who later became Genghis Khan – “Universal Ruler” , and eventually the Emperor of China, the founder of the largest empire on Earth, which had a long-lasting impact on Europe, the Middle East and Asia long after his death.

This movie was directed by Sergei Bodrov who obviously had done his researches in the history of Genghis Khan well enough to avoid past Hollywood-type depictions of the Mongolian leader in rather stereotypical ways. The production was jointly made with Russian, Chinese, Mongolian, and Japanese talents. The actor who played Temudjin (and very well-played, I say) is a Japanese, yet the rest of the cast is largely Mongolian and Chinese actors.

The cinematography of the film on location is simply breathtaking: vast, sweeping span of Central Asian landscape (principal photography was in China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia). My 27″ analog TV doesn’t do justice when viewing the movie in DVD with these breathtaking scenes (sorry, can’t afford a LCD HDTV ).

The action and battle scenes are not that anything dramatic and sweeping but useful to move the epic movie forward and not sacrifice itself for gory aftermaths. There was a really great final battle scene in which two surging stormclouds about to collide just as two large Mongol armies about to clash against each other, it’s really that impressive.

However, some historians and critics have accused the filmmakers of taking some artistic liberties about the life of Genghis Khan but willing to give it a pass since actual historical records are very sketchy and various.

In conclusion, you should go and rent/buy the movie and enjoy it. Accordingly, this movie is supposed to be the first of a trilogy. I do not have any information about the sequel to “Mongol” as of now.

Deaf Conservative Republicans – A new blog

No more hating and dissing the Republicans, okay? Obama is the new President, we know that and accepted the will of the people of the United States. But that doesn’t mean it’s end of deaf Republicans and conservatives still out there in the nation. I know there are some of you among the Deaf community but too afraid to come out, fearing being ostracized from the community by the cultural Deaf militants who are obviously supportive of Obama and his Change agenda. Be courageous and stand up for Republican principles and conservatism.

Mike McConnell of Kokonut Pundit has created a new blog – Deaf Conservative Republicans.

According to him in the first blog today:

The Deaf Republicans 2008 blog was phased out and no longer functioning. Instead, I set up a new blog without the year and changed it to “Deaf Conservative Republicans” since conservatism is what many of us Republicans believe in.

Mike is asking anyone who is a deaf conservative Republican can contribute to the blog with a piece or two, contact him there in the new blog linked above. You’ll be seeing few from me in the near future.

The deaf conservative Republicans are here for good and it ain’t over for GOP. Not by a long shot.

A National Holiday for Obama Already?

Hold it! STOP right there! This is going too far for you Obamaniacs.

President-elect Obama have yet to accomplish anything Presidential for the country and you still wanted to give him a National Holiday? This is completely ludicrous. He has not done a thing yet, people!

Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation’s 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

“Yes We Can” planning rallies will be at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the downtown McDonald’s restaurant, 1100 Kansas Ave., until Jan. 13. The goals are to secure a national holiday in Obama’s honor, to organize celebrations around his inauguration and to celebrate the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12 1809.

He may get a National holiday someday, if he has really accomplish something substantial and significant for the United States of America in the same manners as Ronald Reagan, the two Roosevelts, Lincoln and Washington had. Come back in 2076 when the USA celebrates its 300th birthday, still alive and kicking or celebrate Lincoln’s 300th birthay in 2109.

Drop the ludicrous plan for Obama’s national holiday. Now.

He is coming back in 2009!

Ruh-roh.

President-elect Obama may be facing his biggest foreign policy challenge next year, possibly the one “generated crisis” that Joe Biden inadvertently spoke about few weeks ago. It could mean or lead to a risky nuclear confrontation, though maybe not. Even so, it may be meant to test Obama’s resolve in an international crisis. Just as John F. Kennedy had in his second year as President during the Cuban Missile Crisis and we came disturbingly close to a nuclear exchange. Obama is going to have to deal with this guy below for the next four years.

Hi, Barack. Care to look into my eyes?

Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin wanted to come back as the President of Russia by asking his succesor to step down through a constitutional change, as reported in this Telegraph.co.uk article. The current Russian President Medvedev has a recent State speech to Russia but did not mention Obama as being elected the new President of the US. Next week, Medvedev could meet Obama in the G20 Summit initated by President Bush.

I think it could lead to a crisis regarding Venezuela, since Chavez the Bigmouth wanted the country to go “nu-ku-lear”. This AP article portends the coming Venezuelan crisis, with Russia and the United States facing against each other. This MarketWatch article indicated of Medvedev’s pointed rhetoric at Obama, assuming that Obama will blink in the face of pressures. The Europeans are not keen on Russia’s attempt to force the US to remove missile defense systems from the European soil on Obama’s watch.

The key to the coming crisis would be portended at the G20 Summit next week. Stay aware.

Bush Has Gotten A Bad Rap, Just Like Truman

Read the WSJ article by the lawyer who worked for John Kerry 2004 campaign.

It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.

Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country’s current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.

Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, “We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.”

Completely agreed with the whole article. This good man has gotten a lot of bad rap and flacks for the last 8 years. I’d supported some of Bush’s positions out of traditional principles and justifications to protect the country, though, I also did not support or agree with some of Bush’s controversial policies. I don’t care what you haters think and say about him, enough already!

Harry S. Truman

At least, if you have lived through President Harry S. Truman’s time as President, you probably felt the same sentiments toward him as you have for Bush, though maybe not, since he was a Democrat with the lowest voter approval rating ever when he left the office. Bear this finalé below in mind from the same article:

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty — a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

Last night, Obama stated that he has not earn my vote, like most Americans who did not vote for him. I will help him for the sake and good of the country, just not only for him as President but for my loyalty to my country, right or wrong.

Regardless of his unpopularity and your dislike of Bush, history will vindicate George W. Bush, just as history vindicated Harry S. Truman.