Snowden: Don't Tread On Him

I was recently reading a opinion editorial in the NY Times by David Brooks.  This article is absolutely terrible.  Yes, David Brooks is a convincing writer with a strong command of modifiers, word usage and the like.  Yet when the article is viewed by the eyes of a critic like me, its flaws come to light, and the strong writing becomes a mask for lies.  I was especially critical of the article because it condemned Snowden's actions.  Edward Snowden did what he must; expose the corruption of our government and the increasingly police like state we are in.  The blue blooded Mr. Brooks, no he's not royalty, he's a democrat, claims that Snowden "violated the constitution."  The truth couldn't be more different.  Snowden exposed the true violators of our rights, the NSA.  Mr. Brooks states in one paragraph that some leakers have to break oaths.  Yet in the very next paragraph, he questions why Snowden breaks his oath of secrecy.  Could an editorial be more contradictory?  The other seemingly logical argument David Brooks employs is that Snowden's leak broke our societies basic trust of government institutions and institutions.  What?  We should trust the people who store our lives in giant databases, waiting to become evidence against us.  We should trust the government that does all of this behind our backs and without our permission.  Trust them?  Not a chance.  Never Again.

Rio movie review

    I found Rio to be a lot more than I expected.  In judging a movie by its stereotype, I thought it would be an average animation movie, two or three funny or cool things, all of which are shown in the trailer.  Rio, however, was different.  It captured my imagination with dazzling colors and voice character to match.  The bird themed movie use the most of its theme making "peck"tacular bird jokes.  The music was fun and exciting.  It made samba, a commonly boring ballroom dance, into something everyone could love.  As all good movies,  when I watched it, it really took me to Rio and I just wanted to shake my tail-feathers.

Memorial day movie review

A lazy monday, a good day for a movie.  What was popped into the dvd player I never had any intention to watch, I Am Number Four.  In watching how the beginning of the movie played out, I might have guessed that the phrase I am Number Four was John Smith's status in high school.  On the other hand it could be be his I.Q.  In retrospect John Smith should have reconsidered his life's ambitions more fully before making his descision ( and he should have read Carpe Diem).  Our oft criticized main character decides, against all good sense, that if he was going to fight off Eastern European looking Aliens, he might as well do it with his girl.  As you might suspect she was just there for moral support and extra suspense when they used her, an unarmed victim, as a leverage point.  But of course how could any other dumb movie with a main character to match be.  In the end I'll give this movie four stars out of ten, but why I give it four, you might just have to find out.