We should learn to be more tolerant...

so these idiots can kill us. Read this article:

Thousands in Sudan Call for British Teddy Bear Teacher's Execution

Yeah, they are peace loving. Can someone please order some more MOAB bombs, we might need them.

Movie Review (Hitman)

Hitman is one of the best, very violent though, video games ever made. Naturally I was skeptical when someone tried to make a movie out of the game but decided to give it a shot. The movie is as good as you can get from a video game adaptation and you really shouldn't have high expectations from this type of film. The movie is fine and was worth $5.50 and I only have two complaints. Number one, they really should have had Vin Diesel or Jason Statham play 47. Olyphant is a great actor but his voice and pretty face did not lend themselves well to the character. Number two, if you are going to have a "love interest" in a film like this don't use an ugly girl. She was not attractive and I turned away every time she disrobed, which was plenty.

Movie Review (3:10 to Yuma)

WOW! 3:10 to Yuma is the story of rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) struggling in almost all areas of his life. His oldest son doesn't respect him, his wife is tired of his ineptitude, and the local "rich guy" is driving him off his land via harsh means. To make matters worse he is in the middle of a three year drought and his cattle are dying. Enter the famous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), feared by all who have seen him except a grizzly old bounty hunter (Peter Fonda). He has robbed and killed more than he can count and his gun, "the hand of God", is well respected. Their paths come together and Evans sees the chance to turn his whole life around by doing a single good deed and escorting Ben Wade to the prison train with a few other men.

This movie was incredible. Bale and Crowe were amazing and each played their parts perfectly and there are several quotes that are dynamite. I would rank this up there as one of the great westerns even though it is a remake. I did absolutely hate the ending, I don't think it ended this way in the original but it certainly could have been a little better, and stuck to the original story line.

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Will Smith "Comes Out"

I am, was, a huge Will Smith fan until about five minutes ago. I have long considered him one of the best actors out there, and he keeps his movies somewhat clean when compared to the rest of the trash out there. Today, I read this:

Will Smith Equates Bible and Scientology

Will Smith conquered space aliens in "Independence Day," and now he apparently believes they are real.

Smith admits in the issue of Men’s Vogue on sale Tuesday that he has studied Scientology with Tom Cruise and doesn’t disagree with its basic tenets.

In doing so, he finally "comes out," joining Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and a handful of other Hollywood types in their devotion to this controversial religion.

For a long time, Smith has denied joining the Church of Scientology with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, explaining that it would go against the beliefs of his late grandmother. But for some time, insiders in Hollywood have insisted the Smiths were, indeed, brought in by Cruise.

Smith concedes that his kids are being home-schooled, just as are those of Cruise, Travolta and other Scientologists.

In the article, Smith refers to "Thetans," who are space aliens in the vernacular of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

"... in all of the experiences I’ve had with Tom and Scientology, like 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible," Smith tells Men’s Vogue writer Hudson Morgan.

"The Bible says, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' And you know, there’s a Scientology principle: 'Do not create experiences for others that they cannot comfortably perceive.'"

He continues: "The Bible talks about your spirit being immortal, that you were created for existence beyond your physical body. Well, that’s no different from Scientology. I don’t think that because the word someone uses for 'spirit' is 'thetan' that the definition becomes any different."

I have a feeling that clergy and practitioners of both the New and Old Testament might take umbrage with that idea. Scientology is considered a dangerous cult in some countries, including Germany.

Scientology is dangerous, misleading, and certainly a cult. The members of this cult are flashy and persuasive and can make a "religion" that is very comfortable for people to wear. The good news is that, with the spread of information, they are losing members like mad. Anyone who thinks the whole world is mind-controlled by space aliens dreamed up by a sci-fi writer is perfectly happy here.

Movie Review (Perfect Stranger)

I remember being in a theatre and seeing the trailer for this movie some time ago. In the trailer it appears that a journalist is attempting to get close to a, supposedly, corrupt man to expose him. This storyline looked fantastic, intense, and dramatic. Halle Berry, Bruse Willis, and Giovanni Ribsi really did a great job as they played their roles out during the course of the film. Unfortunately Miles (Ribisi) is supposed to be a hacker and everytime they show his computer screen during his "hacking" they show ftp logs or he runs fdisk. Neither of these actions will uncover what he should be doing but at least it wasn't cartoony crap. The film is tense at moments as they try to reveal Harrison Hill's (Willis) corruptness, but has these goofy flashbacks to Rowena's (Berry) childhood. As the movie unfolds it plays out kind of like I thought it would and then a train wreck happens in the last five or ten minutes of the film. The writers evidently thought the movie wasn't entertaining so they throw in this weird twist at the end that is completely unnecessary and actually made the film completely suck. I think they were going for the "Sixth Sense" type of shocker but instead of dropping one subtle hint, the wedding ring rolling across the floor in Sixth Sense, they take about five minutes and explain the intricacies of the twist. Note to screenplay writers, if you have to explain it that much it's crap. The language in the film was also ridiculous, I lost count of how many time the f-word was used. I understand throwing that out for effect at times in a movie but when it gets used 3 times per minute it loses its punch.

The bottom line:
This movie completely sucks! It would have been great if they had done what was in the trailer and not tried to add something that wasn't there. Let's face it, unseen plot twists used as a punchline at the end of a movie are rarely perfected. Examples of this art can be seen in the aforementioned Sixth Sense (Bruce Willis stars) and also the movie Primal Fear (Edward Norton stars). That's how you pull off the mental bomb at the end of a movie instead of just making your movie a bomb by crapping it up.

The New England Patriots

I am not a Patriots fan, but this is the best football team I have ever seen. You can tell they are the best because the ridiculous excuses are already starting to fly. Coach Shula says they should have an asterisk because they were "cheating." Say what you want, I wouldn't want to play this team on any Sunday.I also think the only real contenders out there right now are Green Bay and Dallas. People are finally starting to see that Peyton Manning's offensive line was the key to his success too.

"Non-Traditional Families"

What this article does not point out is that these statistics are for all children without both non-biological parents. This would, obviously, include gay couples.

The dirty little secret of cohabitation

DAVID CRARY; The Associated Press

Published: November 18th, 2007 01:00 AM

Six-year-old Oscar Jimenez Jr. was beaten to death in California, then buried under fertilizer and cement. Two-year-old Devon Shackleford was drowned in an Arizona swimming pool. Jayden Cangro, also 2, died after being thrown across a room in Utah.

In each case, as in many others every year, the alleged or convicted perpetrator had been the boyfriend of the child’s mother – men thrust into father-like roles which they tragically failed to embrace.

Every case is different, every family is different. Some single mothers bring men into their lives who lovingly help raise children when the biological father is gone for good.

Nonetheless, many scholars and front-line caseworkers interviewed by The Associated Press see the abusive-boyfriend syndrome as part of a broader trend that deeply worries them. They note that an ever-increasing share of America’s children grow up in homes without both biological parents, and say the risk of child abuse is markedly higher in the nontraditional family structures.

“This is the dark underbelly of cohabitation,” said Brad Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia. “Cohabitation has become quite common, and most people think, ‘What’s the harm?’ The harm is we’re increasing a pattern of relationships that’s not good for children.”

The existing data on child abuse in America is patchwork, making it difficult to track national trends with precision. The most recent federal survey on child maltreatment tallies nearly 900,000 abuse incidents reported to state agencies in 2005, but it doesn’t delve into how rates of abuse correlate with parents’ marital status or the makeup of a child’s household.

Similarly, data on the roughly 1,500 child abuse fatalities that occur annually in the United States leave unanswered questions.

Many of those deaths result from parental neglect, rather than overt physical abuse. Of the 500 or so deaths caused by physical abuse, the federal statistics don’t specify how many were caused by a stepparent or an unmarried partner of the parent.

However, there are many other studies that, taken together, reinforce the concerns. Among the findings:

• Children living in households with unrelated adults are nearly 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries as children living with two biological parents, according to a study of Missouri abuse reports published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2005.

• Children living in stepfamilies or with single parents are at higher risk of physical or sexual assault than children living with two biological or adoptive parents, according to several studies co-authored by David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center.

• Girls whose parents divorce are at significantly higher risk of sexual assault, whether they live with their mother or their father, according to research by Robin Wilson, a family law professor at Washington and Lee University.

“All the emphasis on family autonomy and privacy shields the families from investigators, so we don’t respond until it’s too late,” Wilson said. “I hate the fact that something dangerous for children doesn’t get responded to because we’re afraid of judging someone’s lifestyle.”

Census data leave no doubt that family patterns have changed dramatically as cohabitation and single-parenthood became common. Thirty years ago, nearly 80 percent of America’s children lived with both parents. Now, only two-thirds of them do. Of all families with children, nearly 29 percent are now one-parent families, up from 17 percent in 1977.

The net result is a sharp increase in households with a potential for instability, and the likelihood that adults and children who have no biological tie to each other will live in them.

“I’ve seen many cases of physical and sexual abuse that come up with boyfriends, stepparents,” said Eliana Gil, clinical director for the national abuse prevention group Childhelp.

“It comes down to the fact they don’t have a relationship established with these kids. Their primary interest is really the adult partner, and they may find themselves more irritated when there’s a problem with the children.”

That was the case with Jayden Cangro.

In July 2006, his mother’s boyfriend, Phillip Guymon, hurled the 2-year-old 9 feet across a room in Murray, Utah, because he balked at going to bed. The child died from his injuries.

Jayden’s mother, Carly Moore, has undergone therapy since the killing. Yet she continues to second-guess herself about her two-year relationship with Guymon.

“There’s so much guilt,” she said in a telephone interview. “I never saw him hit my kids, ever. But he was gruff in his manner – there were signs that he wasn’t the most pleasant person for kids to be around.”

Guymon has been sentenced to five years in prison for second-degree felony child abuse homicide. Moore thinks the penalty is far too light.

“It’s a hard thing,” she said, recalling Jayden’s death. “You go off to work, you say, ‘See you later,’ and then everything’s completely shattered in a split second.”

Some women can’t see the trouble even when it’s right in front of them.

Jennifer Harvey of Springfield, Mo., acknowledged in court last summer that she continued to date a man for two months after becoming suspicious that he’d killed her 18-month-old son, Gavin.

“I was in denial,” said Harvey, who was placed on five years’ probation for not acting on her suspicions. The boyfriend, Joseph Haslett, was sentenced to life in prison for suffocating the toddler with a headlock.

Such cases trigger a visceral reaction, but there are no simple solutions. Some of the worst cases of child abuse involve biological parents, and examples abound of children thriving in nontraditional households.

“There’s no going back to the past,” said Washington and Lee’s Robin Wilson. “We don’t tell people who they can cohabit with. We don’t tell them they can’t have children out of wedlock.”

Still, there’s agreement that many adults in high-risk households need better parenting skills – whether it’s the harried young mothers often guilty of harmful neglect or the boyfriends and stepfathers often responsible for physical abuse.

“These boyfriends increasingly have been raised without fathers and been abused themselves,” said Patrick Fagan, a family policy specialist with the conservative Family Research Council. “Among the inner-city poor, the turnover of male partners is high. Where’s a boy getting the model of what a father is like?”

Visiting Churches

We have been attending a church lately but don't know if that's where we will make our permanent church home. Last Sunday we visited Cornerstone Church of Knoxville. I have some friends that go there, and really wanted to try it out. Mrs. Dude checked the website and everything looked great. We showed up Sunday and the place was gigantic but we were immediately greeted and walked through how to check the children in and things went smoothly. The music was fantastic and we were really enjoying ourselves thinking this might be a great place to learn more about. Before the senior pastor took the stage one of the other members got up and talked about the importance of reading, and during his speech about buying some of the books in the bookstore he mentioned that this church ascribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Senior Pastor said the same thing during his sermon, so we decided to look into this when we got home. I was unfamiliar with the Westminster confession until I learned it was Calvinist. I am not a fan of Calvin but I still needed to know more about the whole Westminster thing. Turns out it relies heavily on predestination, which I do not believe that God chooses to send people to hell before he creates them. This removes all free will from the equation which is ludicrous. Additionally, this statement of faith believes that only certain infants who die go to heaven, and that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. I am no fan of Catholicism, but the Pope isn't the Anti-Christ.

When one of the members of Cornerstone called to ask about our experience we said that we loved everything but couldn't ascribe to that confession of faith. Long story short he defended his position for about 25 minutes before he admitted he did not know what the WCoF actually said. The conversation was always pleasant but there were a couple of times where we were told we needed to study the scripture more so that we would come around to believing God may have created me to go to hell no matter what I do. We pointed out our position based on:

Rom 10:9

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Jhn 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

These two, of many, verses show that your decision is important. I DO believe God knows whether or not you will reject Him, I DO NOT believe he chooses for you to reject HIM. We also said that if you plan to ascribe to this elitist narrow point of view, you should perhaps call yourselves Presbyterian since they are really the only folks that ascribe to these points of view. Sects of the Presbyterian Church broke away from the main branch in the early 1800s over these very points. At this point the member said "What about Job?" "God did terrible things to Job." This is incorrect God selected Job, but Satan orchestrates all evil, no evil comes from God. Sometimes he allows it to happen but he does not do it. It was a good conversation, I hope he felt as well about how it went.

Agressive Drivers Suck

On Monday evening I was taking my 6 year old daughter to ballet at 1615 heading South on Cedar Bluff road. I was in the left lane going 40 or 41 Miles per hour, speed limit is 40 here, and coming up on a car in the right hand lane going slightly slower than I was. 20 feet before I reached that vehicles rear bumper a green late 90's GMC jimmy with the license plate number 006-BDC, Knox County Tennessee, raced up on my right and cut in front of me. I had to get on the brakes to avoid clipping the vehicle's left rear and also laid on my horn. The young person responded by flipping me off to which my daughter asked "What is he doing daddy?" I said, " He is being very stupid." I immediately called the police and phoned in what this person had done. I hope he enjoyed the visit he received.

After Dropping off my daughter I needed to run down Kingston Pike and make a deposit at our bank. The speed limit on Kingston Pike is 45 between the two locations I had to visit and traffic was pretty heavy so people were going between 40 and 47 I would guess. I was, again, in the left hand lane going right at 45 while traffic in the right hand lane was closer to 40. There were easily three cars ahead of me going the same speed but well-spaced. About halfway to where I was headed a little red Honda something pulled right under my bumper and stayed there. He would alternate trying to destroy his hood on my trailer hitch with swerving to the middle turn lane as if he was going to pass me there. This guy had definitely seen too many movies with great stunt drivers and over corrected his swerving at least three times almost causing him to slide into the slower right-hand lane.

Why is everyone in such a hurry to get places. You don't get there more than two or three minutes faster even if you go your vehicles top speed. Being a good driver doesn't mean you go fast. I refer you to one of my favorite web pages: Click Here!

Discovercard Customer Appreciation

This is a great story about how big companies love to take care of their faithful customers. I have been a Discover cardholder since 1995. I used this card exclusively over the years for everything unless a merchant did not accept discover. Unfortunately, I never paid one dime of interest even though i would often have 3k per month or more charged to the card.

Two months ago, Mrs. Dude noticed an odd charge we couldn't put our finger on. We called to dispute the charge having done this many times in the past as some merchants aren't easily identifiable on a credit card statement. During the conversation the phone-monkey asks, "Do you want to cancel the account and have a new card issued?" Mrs. Dude responds "No thank you." At this point we are transferred to a different department and notified that our cards have been canceled. When we inquired why we get told "It's standard policy." We, calmly, point out that this has never been the case and if it is standard why were we asked if we wanted it canceled? This question receives no answer. It was almost midnight at this point so I decided to handle this from work on Monday. We had also been assured our new cards were being sent overnight to us. When I called to find out why these people ask a question tehy intend to answer for you, the smartass young phone-monkey says "Listen, you might be upset but we are just trying to protect you here." I asked "What did you do to protect me? The charge was disputed correctly and I was not reporting card or identity theft." He says, "We know a lot about this type of stuff here, it's complicated but in your best interest." I decided to let him know that I work with identity theft, PCI compliance, computer crime, and other nuances of his "complicated" world and that he could feel free to transfer me to customer service. I got a very apologetic guy on the phone who was friendly but helpless. He also informed me my new cards had never been sent out and corrected that issue. He asked what he could do to make it right, to which I gave my typical response " I want a plasma TV." He instead offered me 5% cashback on certain purchases. This is available to everyone and I already had that so he offered me nothing.

I am writing this because we have stopped using our discover completely and yesterday I got a letter that I was hoping was an apology. Instead it was a marketing letter saying how nice it was to talk to me and hey I could still get that 5%. I also just got this month's statement, instead of the normal thousands of dollars it was 1% of the norm, I hope they notice but doubt they will.

If anyone from Discover Card Service would like to respond please feel free to write captn.dude@gmail.com .

Hollywood Writer's Strike

Does anyone really care except for the employees affected by the fallout? I mean really, these people have churned out mainly filth for the past 6 years or so. I can't even let my kids watch daytime TV anymore because the commercials for prime time shows like "The Family Guy" or "How I Met Your Mother", or really anything these days, will come on and say something completely offensive in the middle of a children's show. Equally as bad, my girls were watching the "American Girl" series of movies one day and had to be subjected to Viagra ads. Try writing something decent and maybe the American people will care that you aren't getting what you feel you deserve. I need to get a Tivo or Microsoft Windows XP Media Center, which does the same thing for no monthly fee, so I can edit out commercials and program only shows that aren't vile.

What does a Jehovas Witness believe?

Do you know? This dude is brave, though he misspeaks about Lazarus, he meant "the rich man." Awesome job though.

What do Mormons believe?

Do you know? This guy's presentation gets some knocks from folks but his facts are accurate. Remember that many of these facts are actually kept from the body of the LDS church and they typically only know what they are told by the people higher up in the organization. The LDS church is not accepted as a Christian denomination by any Christian faith; also Joseph Smith was widely regarded as a con-man and treasure hunter when he decided, I mean had a vision, to start this church.

Great Song from one of my favorite artists

More from Dr. J.

Here are some more presentations from my favorite apologist. It is important to note that when he holds up a bible or references faith, he is speaking to believers. When he speaks to non-believers he sticks only to the science refuting whatever claims may be thrown at him. I am hoping he will soon put up one of his college presentations where he has open question and answer sessions with students and their professors who do not believe in creation, these sessions are amazing.

These videos can be seen in their entirety at the weblinks given below each. They will soon be available in better quality DVDs available for purchase at the Points of Origins website.

title : "Can a Cool Christian Chill with Evolution" compromising Genesis doesn't work
audience : private Christian middleschool science class
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/861673/
can_a_cool_christian_chill_with_evolution/

title : "Starlight and a Young Earth" why we can see stars a million light years away
audience : mixed ages at Indianapolis Creation Evidences Exposition
Part One : http://www.metacafe.com/watch/860489/starlight
_and_a_young_earth_part_1/
Part Two : http://www.metacafe.com/watch/861782/starlight
_and_a_young_earth_part_2/

title : "What's Wrong with the Truth?" evolutionary lies in high school biology books
audience : mixed ages at Indianapolis Creation Evidences Exposition
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/860424/
whats_wrong_with_the_truth/

title : "Alternative Views of Creation" smart-sounding ideas to make Genesis "fit" with Darwin
audience : mixed ages at Indianapolis Creation Evidences Exposition
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/865737/
alternative_views_of_creation/