.: What’s Bruin :.

Boy Scouts placed a flag at each grave site in honor of the fallen

When Pourpa and I were leaving for the Star Wars convention last Saturday, we saw hundreds of boy scouts at the Veterans’ Memorial in Los Angeles. They were placing an American flag at each grave site to honor the memories and service of fallen soldiers. That made me feel good.

Then this story made me feel sick. This is not freedom of speech; it is a hate crime.

Tags: Commentary, flag, Memorial-Day

For dollars.

At least that’s they way I’ve felt for the last couple of weeks. It’s been “hella” crazy as they say.

Work is work. It just gets busier and busier as my responsibilities increase. But I do like it. I find it rewarding and satisfying. Thankfully, today I finished my latest storyboard just in time before my trip.

School on the other hand is a drag. My Photoshop class is okay, although this weekend I’ve completed two assignments in one day since I’ll be headed for Minneapolis soon. The EdTec class is just plain unmotivating. I hope to find more motivation other than the hope of future promotion and financial gain. But this week, we have an exam that I’m somewhat stressed about. I guess once I take the exam on Wednesday night, I can relax somewhat and pack for the trip.

Tags: Career, Commentary, education_and_training, Life, work

Can someone explain this one to me?

I guess Austria does not have the same freedom of speech (if at all) that we have here in America. I can’t imagine someone being sent to jail because they spoke out denying the Holocaust.

In this country, we might call that person racist. Upon further examination, we might even call them whacko, delusional, crazy, strange, or just plain stupid. People say all kinds of whacked-out things (e.g. Cindy Sheehan), but we don’t throw them in jail for three years– though I wish we would sometimes.

If I ever go to Austria or when I visit any other country, I’ll be sure to filter my speech. We take our basic freedoms for granted here. At the very least, we can learn from Austria’s practices that while we may have the freedom to speak, we must be keenly aware that freedom of speech does not absolve anyone from its consequences, no matter where you live.

Tags: Commentary

Then stick with it.

To my favorite player:

Andy, Andy, Andy . . .

What’s the deal? Brad Gilbert gets the Donald Trump nod; Dean Goldfine gets the Donald Trump nod. Next you’re gonna have to fire your own brother in a year, maybe two.

Personally, I have no idea why you didn’t stick with Brad Gilbert. C’mon now. He’s the coach that helped you get your one and only Grand Slam title at the 2003 US Open. He was able to bring Andre Agassi back to the pinnacle of the game after being ranked in the 100s, relegated to playing the satellite circuit and qualifiers.

You’ve worked yourself into a frenzy, physically. You’re noticeably different than when you won that lone title– bigger, stronger, and faster. But fundamentally, your backhand, return of serve, and net game are still liabilities.

You have a:

• Serve, but no net game (à la Pete Sampras).
• Serve, but no return (à la Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, and Björn Borg).
• Forehand, but your backhand is not a reliable secondary weapon (à Björn Borg).
• Lethal double-weapon combination of serve-forehand, but for some reason, you have not been able to put them together in the Big Ones like the greats before you.

So here’s some cheap advice from a nobody amateur tennis player:

Stop changing coaches and seriously change your game to shore up the weaknesses.

Tags: Commentary, Roddick, Sports, Tennis

After reading some of the few, yet popular, faith blogs on my Blogroll this morning, I have to express my disappointment in the closed-heartedness of some of the people leaving vitriolic comments regarding the movie, End of the Spear. Let me first clarify three points before I delve into my commentary.

1. I am not a gay-rights supporter or an advocate of homosexuality.
2. I believe the producers, director, casting personnel, and writers and whoever else SHOULD have picked a different actor to play the starring role of this movie instead of a homosexual activist.
3. Given my previous two points, I believe this movie is worth seeing for all.

My opinion is:

While this movie is just that, a movie that entertains, I believe the gospel message is preached loudly and clearly. Despite the fact the main actor in the film is openly against the God that I know, who sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the universe, God uses this fallen, unregenerate actor to demonstrate the power of the gospel to change sinful men and women and transform lives. The movie amazingly demonstrates 2 Corinthians 5:17. All people should see it.

The premise behind what I believe is best stated by the Apostle Paul:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.

Paul, Philippians 1:15-18

1. This movie is about entertainment, but it also has another purpose.: Movies entertain. I tire of Christian commentators on these faith blogs ranting. People, this is a movie, let’s not forget that. Lots of people will go to this movie because they thought the trailer was interesting and they will expect to be entertained. But … I do want to point out that all who see this movie will be encouraged in their Christian faith. Yes, if you pay attention during the movie, you will hear God’s message and plan for salvation. You’ll see the power of God to transform lives.
2. God is glorified, not mocked.: But the actor in the starring role is a homosexual activist. Yes? And ….? “But God is being mocked,” the ranters cry. Who is being being mocked? I contend it’s the homosexual activists. Yes, the actor was used in this film to communicate God’s love and plan for salvation through Christ. I’ve seen the movie. I know. Here’s what you see in the movie:

   The sin problem — These Hourani natives were killing “foreigners” and killing each other.

   God loves the sinner — There’s no better demonstration of God’s love than how the five missionaries devoted sacrificed their lives because they had compassion on the natives who were dying and going to hell because they did not know Christ. These missionaries gave their lives to bring salvation. What greater love is that to lay down one’s life for his friends? (John 15:13)

   God sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins. He died in our place, so we would not have to die. — The movie explicitly states this: “Waegongi has a Son. He was speared so that we don’t have to spear anymore and so we can live well.” The ranters exclaim that it’s not explicitly using the name of Jesus Christ. People who use this argument really have no missionary or cross-cultural experience at all in communicating the gospel message to those who have never heard it before. I think that before one can say whether or not the gospel has been communicated in this movie should first experience what it’s like to talk to Russians oppressed by communism and having atheism forced on them for decades or trying to talk to Chinese in Hong Kong. I think it’s pretty ignorant for people to say this movie does not communicate the gospel message. I’ve experienced cross-cultural missions firsthand and I know how difficult it is to communicate God’s truth in a language you can’t speak to people of a foreign and strange culture. The movie shows Christ being communicated to the Hourani tribe in the way they will understand.

   Following God’s Son is the only way to salvation — The movie communicates this in the most effective way possible: changed lives. True faith produces changed lives. If you don’t believe what’s in the movie, then listen firsthand to Steve Saint in his own words from the 2005 Desiring God National Conference. He gives details about his father’s killer being the “grandfather” to his children. Now if that’s not evidence of a regenerated life, I don’t know what is.

3. You will miss out on a very uplifting, encouraging, and faith-building experience if you don’t see this movie.: So the actor is gay. None of his “gayness” or gay activism comes out in the movie. Get over yourself. This movie is not about “gayness.” Was the actor the best choice for this movie? Definitely not. But I believe God is glorified despite the mistake in casting.

Tags: Christian, Commentary, End-of-the-Spear, faith, gospel, homosexuality, missions, Movies, Spiritual

Sigh. The dollar is a little bit stronger against the Euro right now. I wish it was like this when I was in Greece last May. Selfishly, I would like the Euro to suffer a major collapse so I can easily buy some property and a small house on the Greek island of Santorini, Mykonos, or Chios.

Tags: Commentary, dollar, economics, euro, Greece, quick_links

So I was driving home from work today, listening to my usual AM 600 talk radio with Roger Hedgecock. And a caller came on the line who announced that his son attends High Tech High.

[A couple of asides... I can't remember what the specific topic was about, but I do know it was something about education. Secondly, High Tech High is the sh**tiest place I have ever taught. That place sucks. Yup, it sucks worse than both VMHS and Fallbrook High School.]

So anyways back to the story. So this father was on the phone with Roger, relaying how his son got knee-ed in the groin by a girl during Study Hall. The reason? It was … get this … Cross-Dress Day. What were the administrators thinking when they planned that kind of student activity day at a public school?? Albeit a crappy charter school, but public nonetheless.

So according to this parent, here’s how it happened. His son and a buddy were sitting in study hall. Neither of them had dressed up for “Cross-Dress Day”. The kid asks his buddy why he didn’t dress up. His friend replies that he didn’t have time. When asked for a reason why he didn’t wear a dress to school, this father’s son replied back to his friend, “I thought it was just a day for homosexuals to express themselves.” At that point, a girl in the study hall, who was obviously eavesdropping, knee-ed the kid in the balls, falling him to his knees.

But wait, the story gets better. This kid, who is apparently a junior boxer and wants to be in the Olympics someday, belts this chick in the face and gives her a bloody nose with his punch as he goes down on his knees. So the girl gets suspended for a couple of days, while the boy gets suspended for five days and faces an expulsion hearing this Friday.

So Roger comments about how this is the oldest taboo in the book. A female can defend herself against a male attacker, but a male cannot defend himself against a female attacker. Roger told the dad to stir up the PTA (if they have one at that crappy place) and complain about Cross-Dress Day being violent and the treatment of his son as sexist. I wholeheartedly agree. I hope the guy turns up okay. Apparently, his doctor says he has a bruised groin. As for the girl, maybe she’ll need reconstructive surgery on her nose (just my speculation or hope). I hope her bloody and broken (?) nose hurt like nothing else has hurt before.

Roger told the dad that although the school has a good curriculum, which should be in every school in America. (I think that’s highly doubtful. Unless things have changed dramatically, HTH sucks and you’ve got to be an idiot to even go to school there in the first place.) The dad was surprised to hear Roger calling the school a bastion of political correctness, translation . . . the administration has a liberal indoctrination agenda. Hello! No kidding. C’mon, with a student activity day where you have to cross-dress, you’ve got to be pretty stupid or blind to be unaware of the radical agenda of the administration.

Anyways, the young man and his family should be thankful if he gets expelled. It will be the biggest blessing for him to return to a real, normal school, where you don’t get kicked in the balls if you refuse to participate in Cross-Dress Day.

Tags: Commentary, education_and_training, High-Tech-High, HTH, Humor, KOGO, strange-events, stupid-people, weird

I received a comment here in all caps with lots of profanity. I deleted it. But I’ve dissected it below (italics) and pasted it here in this new entry to point out how weird and strange the liberal mind is. Sorry, the expletives have been edited to raise the level of communication to at least the third grade level.

LISTEN A** H**E CONSERVATIVE FREAK!

Thank you. I’ll take the conservative part as a compliment. It’s the right way of thinking. My way of thinking believes in pro-life, enforced borders, legal immigration, capitalism, and the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I AM AT WORK NOW AND I SOMEHOW CAME ACROSS YOUR PIECE OF S**T NEGATIVE B*LL S***TING BLOG!

What company do you work for? Let me know so I can inform them of how you are using company time and company resources. And as far as I know, the liberals have not eliminated freedom of speech yet from our Constitution, so I guess I can continue to pretty much say whatever I want here. You have a convincing and nice way of proving that your point of view is correct. Maybe I should try capital letters and cussing more often.

I WISH I NEVER DID YOU ARE ONE OF THE MOST NEGATIVE PEOPLE I’VE EVER SEEN OR READ ABOUT. YOU DIDN’T SEEM TO HAVE ON GOOD THING TO SAY ABOUT ANYONE YOU STUPID DOUCHE BAG!

Thank you. I wasn’t aware that I had so much influence and power over you. I hope you have not seen me because I’m sure that I have never met you (thankfully) and I have no idea who you are. Feel free to never come back here again. Nobody is forcing you to read this. You sound like a very positive person, full of charm and goodness.

AND THE GUY ON THE RADIO THAT CAME ON WAS PROBABLY TALKING TO YOUR STUPID A**…SO I’LL PUT SOME MORE EMPHASIS INTO IT F**K YOU!

Now that’s intelligent, that is, for someone who is about four years old.

AND HOW THE F**K DO YOU KNOW THAT THAT GIRL WHO YOU HAD AN ACCIDENT REALLY WAN’T HURT…

Because it was a parking lot where I was going 5 miles an hour and because my insurance company had investigated her and learned that this isn’t the first time she’s tried to pull the wool over people’s eyes. By the way, you should learn to use proper spelling and grammar. “really wasn’t hurt”

WHY THE F**K DID YOU NOT TIP THAT WAITRESS…THAT IS JUST F**KIN RUDE! YOU A** MUNCHCHER.

I have no idea what you are talking about. What are you doing there at your work? Trolling people’s blogs? Reading stories that are weeks old? Stalker.

THEN YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO PUT A SCRIPTURE VERSE ON YOUR BLOG…SO WHAT ARE YOU SOME A** H**E CHRISTIAN WHO THINKS HE IS BETTER AND MORE HOLY THAN ANYONE ELSE. YOU STUPID BASTARD

Wow, I’ll have to put more verses on my blog. Obviously, the word of God had no effect on you.

P.S. I like how blogs make it easy to learn the originating IP address of each commenter. And in this case, it even gave me the domain name of the Internet access source, which happens to be this person’s work location. From there, I can easily get all kinds of contact information.

Tags: Commentary, stupid-people

That’s the price of gas that I paid this morning at the start of this Labor Day weekend. $2.91/gallon. It cost $53.75 for about 17 gallons to fill up the truck.

Can anything be done about this??!?!?

Tags: Commentary, gas-prices, Rants

Despite what the critics said about this movie, it was good. Sure it had its cheesy lines like all superhero movies do. There was not as much action as I would have hoped, but it definitely was not disappointing.

The only thing that decreased my enjoyment of the movie were the idiots throwing candy from up above us. Then going home from the theater there was the huge amount of post-movie traffic on the main streets. Because I was going the speed limit, some person of Hispanic descent was tailgating me. So he passes me and gets in the left lane in front of me, but when the light turns green he shifts lanes to the right because he doesn’t need to turn left. What a moron. Seriously, if I were mayor of this city, I wold conduct an illegal alien raid and deport everyone not here legally OUT OF THIS CITY and COUNTRY. But that’s just me. The illegals should be thankful I am not mayor.

Tags: Commentary, illegal-immigration, Movies, politics

Word of Advice to Pregnant Women (of any race): If you don’t want to get “tasered,” then obey the law and follow the directions of the police officers talking to you.

Tags: Commentary, stupid-people

Got your attention with that title.

I’ve been reading some posts on people’s blogs about celebrating “4-20″ today. I’ll be brief. If you smoke dope or do drugs, you are an asswipe, dumbass, and just plain stupid.

Tags: Commentary, Rants, stupid-people

On the way home from UCLA today, we had to gas up in Irvine, where the price for regular unleaded was $2.51/gallon. Around the Internet, I read that the price of oil is approaching $58/barrel. Just a few days ago, I paid $2.31/gallon. Now I’m not going to blame the President of the United States because I’m not a liberal who makes ridiculous conclusions simply because of hatred of the president. But I would like either the Governor of California or the President of the United States to do something about this situation. I think an official investigation should be launched into the US oil companies to see if there is anything remotely out of the ordinary going on like the energy price-gouging that happens in California (with Enron and such). Obviously, we can’t control what the lame OPEC countries do; they are going to screw us over no matter what since they hate Americans. But they sure do love to take our money away from us.

It basically costs about $40 to fill up the tank. And when I commute to work during the weekdays, I need to fill up every four work days. If there are 20 workdays per month on average, then I will have to fail up at least five times, which is roughly $200/month just on gasoline. That sucks. I’m not about to get another roller skate, mini, economy car. I like my truck and I like SUV type vehicles. But $2.51/gallon is ridiculous.

Honestly, I wish I could just telecommute from home. I can accomplish all I currently do at my work by “dialing in” to our network from home through VPN. Commuting is definitely overrated in today’s techno society. And since my position involves more service and intellectual capital, I can accomplish most of it from home. The only times I would need to commute would be to meet with our customers, take pictures of hardware or equipment, or work with the equipment for which we support. But that’s a whole different issue.

Back to gasoline pricing. There is no way the average Californian, much less the average American can continue to afford these outrageous prices. Plus, on top of that, you have the tidal wave effects of gas negatively influencing other business and industries. Because costs rise, then business do not prosper as much. When business don’t prosper, then people lose their jobs and our economy suffers. The only people making good here are the stinkin’ OPEC people and the American oil companies.

We need alternative fuel sources NOW. Let’s end our national dependency on fossil fuels and especially end the national nightmare of depending on foreign oil.

Tags: Commentary, gas-prices