On the lighter side-Movies-Puppet Master: The littlest Reich (2018)

A puppet and his minions go on a bloody rampage when they come to life at an auction held to sell puppets. Bloody, gory with sex thrown in for good measure. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Hotel Artemis (2018)-Jodie Foster

In the future, a nurse runs a hotel where the injuries of the criminals are taken care of. Good idea but not as great as it was supposed to be. Recommended with caution

U.S decision to pull troops out of Syria

President Trump of the United States surprised his security team, the generals and the whole world, when he declared victory in the war against Islamic State (IS) and decided to pull out of Syria troops numbering roughly 2,000. It has been slammed by everybody including his hardened supporters and allies but the fact is it was the right decision. The United States has long been considered the World’s Policeman which it should not be and it has been given that U.S. troops should be ever present in all conflicts going on around the world and that is why the world has been complacent and enjoying relative prosperity at the expense of the United States. As for people saying that it gives Russia, Iran and Syria a relative advantage, so be it. The United States never intended to stay there permanently and it was time that since Islamic State is now defeated, the U.S. should get out of there.

Another thing to notice is that, the United States military is very much on the move and it can be deployed at a moment’s notice, thanks to its numerous bases around the world and its floating bases of aircraft carrier in almost all the oceans. And if Islamic State ever emerges again, the troops can be sent to the region really fast unlike other countries that are limited by their defense budgets and capabilities of their armed forces. Another decision which did not get that much scrutiny in all this commotion was the decision to pull out some of troops from Afghanistan. Again the right thing to do as we can send more troops when and if the need arises.

The Invisible Debt

I was reading an article about how a small town in China spent precious amount of money to erect a statue in order to lure tourist but it has become an eyesore and source of increasing debt which the town has to pay since the possible lure of tourists did not pay off as was envisioned. Although it was just one story but it is being increasingly replicated all around China, as it desperately tries to keep the momentum of increased economic activity in the face of a global slowdown of world economy and its increasing although invisible effect on the debt situation in China. And it is not only in China but increasing around the world that the situation of these invisible debts are not known to the public and if know can bring disaster to countries where these companies and cities are located.

And sometimes these debts are not even mentioned in the debt books and are treated as off balance sheet items hidden from investors who are not aware of how much debt they are taking on. A recent study stated that everybody in this world has almost USD 86,000.00 debt without even knowing what they essentially owe. Even the debts reflected in the official books of the western countries does not show the true hidden debt that the government owes to its citizen and everyone seems to believe that the debt reflected is the only one that are true and based on these statistics the price of the government securities are lower than they should be. Even the auditors who are supposed to keep track on these invisible debt are clueless about how much debt is out there or are they hiding these from the public. A true Mystery indeed.

On the lighter side-Movies-Bird Box (2018)-Sandra Bullock

A woman with two kids tries to reach a safe sanctuary when aliens attack the world. Anybody who sees the aliens kill themselves so the woman and her kids try to navigate their way out blindfolded. Interesting premise but overlong. Recommended with caution.

The woes of Public Transport in New York City

A rally was held to introduce congestion pricing in New York City during rush hour to solve the issues of subway funding. I have been watching this subway funding crisis since for so many years but still there has been no headway or any solution to this ongoing crisis. The politicians keep on coming up with various solutions but nothing pans out and becomes the law and thus people are subjected to fares and tolls increase every two years and still it is not enough to fund the subways. I don’t know where all the money goes as people and the subway authority keeps on demanding more funding but there is not enough to go around. The city blames the state but the state does not want to pay or does not have the money to pay for all the funding.  And the biggest of them all is the salary and compensation being paid to the employees.

Nobody has dared to question the salaries of the employees like if they are the holy cow that can’t be touched without igniting a union fight. The Politicians don’t want a fight with the unions and the unions keep on harping about preserving middle class jobs (which are buzz word for keeping the unions intact). Bold steps to address the issues of funding for the subways have to be taken but I don’t see it happening any times soon. And congestion pricing would not do alone and some other better solutions which address the subways without generating revenue from other sources will need to be taken.

On the lighter side-Movies-Have Sword, Will Travel (1969-HK)

A mysterious stranger with excellent sword skills come to the aid of a couple who are hired to transport cash to another city. Typical Martial arts mayhem but good for early effort. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Christmas Chronicles (2018)-Kurt Russell

Fun filled movie about a brother and sister and how they help Santa deliver presents for Christmas when his ride gets grounded. Enjoyable. Recommended 

On the lighter side-Movies-Leprechaun Returns (2018)

Leprechaun is back and he is looking for his gold and in the process committing gruesome killings. A group of sorority sisters who are fixing a house unwittingly leashed the Leprechaun. Fun filled gore movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-May the devil take you (2018-Indonesian)

Indonesian horror movie about a woman who searches an evil house in order to find out how her father died. Decent special effects. Recommended with caution

The French are rioting

Lately the French are becoming frustrated with their government and especially their President and having been rioting for the last three weeks. It all started with the increase in the price of fuel to fight climate change. French are already very heavily taxed and this may have been the last straw that people went ballistic and started this protest which has turned ugly enough to force the French government to retract the fuel tax but it does not seem to placate the rest working class people who are burden with so much tax that they have very few money left at the near end of the month to feed their families. It also does not help that the general public sees the French President as being elite and out of touch with the problems of the working class poor people of rural France who are struggling to make ends meet.

According to one recent study, the French are the most taxed people in the industrialized west and are getting taxed more and more. The climate change can be taken care of but to put more burden on people who are ill prepared to even feed their families just so that in the future the climate will be less polluted does not help their working class present situation. And if the government really cares about the climate then the rich should be taxed and also protection should be provided to the most vulnerable sections of society. Because you cannot expect working people to not think about the present while trying to preserve or save the future in which they may or may not have any stake. The present should be taken care now and the future would take care of itself if enough content people are convinced that it is in their own interest.

The pricing of Store brands and Brand names

Although it is not the first time that I saw it, but this may be the first time I am writing about it. I went to a grocery store to buy the usual stuff of water, milk and other things which caught my eye while browsing through stuff which are on sale and I noticed something which made me a bit curious. A brand item was on sale for exactly the amount of the store brand and it was not one item but several items stacked side by side. Although it does not happen quite often, but when a brand item is on sale for exactly the store brand item, why would anybody buy a store brand? And trust me I have used both the store brands and the brand names and there is still a difference of quality. I don’t understand that if a brand name is selling for exactly the same dollar amount as a store brand, why not the store brand would lower its price to compete with them.

I am curious guy and this intrigues me a lot. I would not buy a store brand if the price of a Brand name is the same as the store brand no matter how loyal I am feeling or how much I have gotten attached to the store brand. I buy store brand since they are a much cheaper than the brand name but if there is a sale which equates or even lowers the brand name prices to what I usually pay for the store brand, I will definitely opt for the brand name every time.

On the lighter side-Movies- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Animated-2018)

The monster family goes on a vacation on a cruise ship in this third outing as Count Dracula gets smitten by the Ship’s captain who may not be as she seems to appear. Enjoyable and fun sequel. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Skyscraper (2018)-Dwayne Johnson

A security guy for skyscrapers and his family gets trapped in the world’s tallest building and needs to find a way to stop the inferno and try to find out who was behind it. A popcorn action movie to say the least. Recommended with caution.

Increasing traffic on the road

I don’t know if it is I or is it the traffic is getting worse and worse every day. I have already written about my traffic nightmares and it is getting worse. Even when I leave around 6.40 in the morning, I see tons of cars driving towards the Lincoln tunnel and I just wonder and the way I am thinking about leaving early, the same kind of logic people think and they leave early to beat the traffic but it seems the traffic does not goes way and there are many different reasons for this. Accidents, construction work, late construction or emergency construction along with some stalled car or bus and during the school days school buses which unnecessary slow your progress towards your work. And when one is done with driving, there is the issue with subways and trains, sometimes they are on time and sometimes they have equipment problems, signal problems or track conditions whatever that means.

And the above is just the normal day. A week or so ago, there was an unlikely snow storm which dumped 6 inches of snow and it seems nobody was prepared for this resulting in a commute where it lasted three hours for me which can usually last an hour and for some more than three hours and it just makes me throw up, how much I alone am wasting sitting in a car to reach my home which is just 16 miles from New York. This increasing disdain and hatred for the commute I endure makes me want to stay at home and work from there instead of stressing myself out for a commute I dread. And on a Friday, I had to drop my sister at the New York Airport and afterwards around 2.30 started going back to my house and it took me more than 2 and half hours just to travel 35 miles. I am just so sick and tired of this ever increasing traffic mess and it seems I don’t see any solution to it as people are not willing to pay more taxes to build more roads and highways or the other solution is to make people work remotely more often.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018)-Shawn Michaels

Another in the long line of sequels where two marines try to save a kidnapped girl by fighting bad guys. It seems it was shot in one location as there is not much to wander around and the movie drifts from one action scene in one room to another action scene in another room. Recommended for action fans only and even they will not like what they see.

The migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexican Border

The crisis of asylum seekers at the Mexican border does not seem to die down as recently some of the asylum seekers desperate about their situation tried to gate crash the border with U.S. resulting in firing of tear gas by U.S. border agents to stop the migrants from illegally crossing into the United States. As usual, this supposedly harsh response has been criticized by some Americans and defended by some. Whatever is the case, this kind of behavior has resulted in a slowdown of the asylum process and dim prospects for the peaceful asylum seekers who did not take part in this mayhem. I understand their desperation but this kind of activity has harmed both their cause to seek asylum and also slow down the process of their application as from time to time, the border gets closed for hours and the backlog grows due to this situation.

And I also understand their right to claim asylum, but it should be done legally and in an orderly fashion, otherwise the border can again close of hours or even days resulting in harming not only the asylum seekers but Mexican citizens who travel daily across the borders and the flow of goods between the two countries. And also the borders cannot be open to let anyone in, like one cannot open their home to someone for indefinite period of time without knowing what kind of person they are and even if they know, they would still not let them stay indefinitely. So the people supporting the migrants should relax and chill and let the law takes its course as it do for millions of people who legally come to the United States through legal channels and legal points of entry.

Amazon’s Second Headquarters

After a yearlong search and creating a big hype about bringing 50 thousand jobs and around 5 billion dollars in investment, the decision was finally made to split the headquarters into two and thus New York and Virginia was chosen. The tax breaks given by both states obviously played a part in this decision but now some New Yorkers are claiming that a company as rich as Amazon does not deserve billions of dollars in tax breaks and this money could have been used elsewhere to better the lives of ordinary New Yorkers, although the top politicians who have worked really hard for this may disagree to this idea. Although with the split of the headquarters into two, the number of people to be employed also splits into 25 thousand each. And with that more pressure on public transportation and housing costs, cost of living and crowded neighborhoods.

I believe that with Amazon coming to New York and Virginia, there will indeed be some adjustments and costly adjustments to all facts of lives for New York but it will also have an economic impact as more start ups and other related fields will come close to where the Amazon headquarters will be and although the housing costs nearby will increase, homeowners who are already there will see the prices of their house increase but other areas close by will also see more economic activity due to this presence. There are some people who will always protest, as it is their right to protest but protest like these will not stop the march to progress as New York being a high cost state needs these jobs whether some people will like it or not.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Unity of Heroes (2018-China)

Chinese Hero Wong Fei Hung tries to thwart Western medicine people to poison Chinese people in this martial arts action movie. Not much excitement here. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Cam (2018)

A cam girl trying to reach the top 50 girls on the internet finds one day that her account has been hacked by none other than herself. Somewhere it has been listed as horror, which it is not, but it is a mystery with dosage of sex and some violence. It kept my attention without I drifting away from it. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937-B &W)-Warner Oland

An important aircraft is hijacked and its pilot murdered along with some important technology. Charlie Chan tracks it to 1936 Berlin Olympics to solve this mystery and retrieve the stolen technology. Recommended

And this concludes my review of all the important movies of Charlie Chan. Although I have put recommended in all of them, I know some of you would not like some of them. When I started watching, I was also not sure but the more I saw the more I enjoyed it and become addicted to it. And now I wonder if they could have made of it as it was entertaining and were short and to the point. No special effects and no gimmicks and they wrapped up nicely. Hopefully you would enjoy some of the very concise reviews that I wrote on them.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Black Camel (1931-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan investigates a murder on his home turf in Honolulu, Hawaii. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Rio (1941-B&W)-Sydney Toler

Charlie Chan is on a trail of a killer who has murdered her lover but she also gets killed when Charlie Chan catches up to her. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan gets involved in two murders while vacationing in Monaco. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan gets invited to a circus along with his family by the owner who asks him to investigate threatening letters to him eventually leading to his death. Charlie Chan investigates. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan solves murder at an opera house where one of the former employees is seeking revenge on the performers who are responsible for his current incarceration. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan tries to solve the murder of a expedition leader whose body is found in tomb. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at the racetrack (1936-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan solves a murder of the owner of a horse kicked to death. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in London (1935-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan is hired by a girl whose brother is scheduled to be executed if he is not cleared of a murder. Recommended

Everybody’s streaming

And here I am only talking about movies and not music as music sites have their own streaming which is exploding every day. But streaming music is much easier and not uses as much data than the movies which needs lots of data even for streaming standard version of a movie. I just know a few of the sites legally that stream movies which includes Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, Screambox, full moon streaming, Amazon, not to mention the streaming services of the Pay TV channels like HBO, Showtime (please note all the services mentioned are owned by their copyright owners and are used here for reference purposes only) and others that are not mentioned here. Now Disney ® is coming to streaming too and it is really becoming crowded as each of the above mentioned services are investing heavily in original programming and trying to get as many customers to their services as possible.

As more and more streaming becomes the norm, it is becoming harder for people to choose only one streaming services for all their needs as one person in a family may want to watch one show, while the other one may want to watch another show which may not be on one streaming services. That will hit the finances of the family and it may ultimately be that some of the streaming services may either have to consolidate or forced to close. Although, streaming is good as it allows people to enjoy entertainment in their comfort of their homes, but it is becoming quite expensive and difficult to choose which one to subscribe to and which one not to.

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan investigates murder and discover drug smuggling ring out of Shanghai. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Paris (1935-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan investigates murders related to forged bonds. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan’s Secret (1936-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan solves the murder of the heir to a huge fortune. Recommended

The latest California fires

I have been following the latest California fires and it has left me anguished and sorry for the people affected by it. A town called Paradise with a population of about 27,000 is almost completely destroyed by fire and many other towns including the celebrity filled beach town of Malibu have been ordered evacuated due to uncontrollable fires. Some five fires counted up till now are raging in California and with no chance of rain and dry winds coming in, the fires may spread further. Now it is useless to go through the ritual of why people are building homes in fire zones and they should not be there in the first place. California is really crowded and people have to live somewhere and since it is also expensive, wherever people will find place, they will try to make it their home. It is not as if this is the first fire, it has been happening each year but the solution is not there to be found as government keeps on providing assistance to the affectees’ each time somebody looses their house.

But I guess that the memories of this fire will also fade away except for those directly affected by it and things will resume as normal as it is done each year. But is this the only solution or the government is just shying away from seeking a permanent solution that will be hurt the tax payers less as the intensity of fires keeps on increasing due to climate change and the human impact. If the government keeps on doing the same thing over and over again each year and avoids painful decision to mitigate this situation, we will keep on seeing more devastation and heart breaks each year.

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937-B&W)-Warner Oland

Charlie Chan solves a murder while visiting New York. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Scarlet Clue (1945-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Some spies are trying to steal government secrets and don’t hesitate to kill people in the process. In comes Charlie Chan to investigate them. Recommended 

Another Shooting

There was another shooting in the U.S. where a lone gunman came and shot thirteen people including himself in dance bar. And with no surprise in this, he was a white male.

He was not a Muslim terrorists or an illegal immigrant or even an immigrant but a decorated soldier, who just snapped (or did he?) and just went out and killed and also he had the time to update his post on social media. The media reports that he has some sort of PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) or simply he had some mental health issue that prompted him to shoot and kill people. Now I don’t know the whole story about the motives behind this massacre as the law enforcement is still trying to determine it but what was the fault of the bar people that they fell to the wrath of this mad man. Is it more convenient for the general public to lay the blame on mental health and brush aside other factors?

The gunman was fully aware of what he was doing as he had a social media account and updated his post while killing. He used a smoke grenade to confuse his victims and when his magazine was empty, he started to load it again. He had a magazine which is illegal in California. So now folks, where does mental health comes into this, when all the above things point out to a sane person meticulously do all the stuff just to kill people. Another point to note is that I can understand that until 1973, the military had a draft where people had to join in so PTSD can be attributed to the involuntary killing of civilian and other human beings but after the draft ending, the military became and is a voluntary service where one knows exactly that when he or she joins, there is a highly and certain possibility that they will see combat and will have to kill people so I don’t get the PTSD part in this all voluntary army. One is voluntarily joining a service where you will be killing another human being, so the PTSD part is hard to understand. It is just me but I hope some of my readers can highlight this issue. Anyway, my heart goes out the folks whose sons and daughters died a tragic death.

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940-B&W)-Sidney Toler

A murderer escapes from a prison and hides in a wax museum where he hopes to have a plastic surgery to get back at Charlie Chan. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Dark Alibi (1946-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan tries to pinpoint the real robbers who were behind a robbery in order to exonerate an innocent man. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Dangerous Money (1946-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan encounters counterfeiters and others in his quest to solve the murder of a treasury agent aboard an ocean liner. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat (1944-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan investigates the murder of a chess expert in a locked room. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Jade Mask (1945-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan investigates the murder of a scientist in an old mansion. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan solves a murder committed by a phony psychic at the world exposition in San Francisco Treasure Island. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Shanghai Cobra (1945-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan tries to solve a series of Murders connected to stealing of radium from a bank Vault. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Dead Men Tell (1941-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan tries to solve a murder aboard a docked ship. Moody and atmospheric. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Reno (1938-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Another one of the Charlie Chan movies in which the detective solves a murder in a Nevada Hotel. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Castle in the Desert (1942-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan is invited to investigate a serious of deadly poisonings at an isolated Castle in a desert. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Distracted by the impending birth of his first grandchild, Charlie Chan and his No. 2 son holds a ship at the Honolulu harbor while investigating a murder. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan in Panama (1940-B&W)-Sidney Toler

Charlie Chan tries to catch a spy ring bent of destroy the Panama Canal Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise (1940-B&W)-Sidney Toler

This was the time, when I had not many movies to choose from and I have heard about Charlie Chan before but had never bothered to see its movie. So I decided that why not go back in time and see these movies which are easily available on the internet and they are short like around one hour give or take. This humble and very polite Chinese-American detective based in Honolulu, Hawaii was done by two white actors at a time when very few characters were given to Chinese or African American actors. Charlie Chan most of time appeared with this Chinese son who was named No. 2 son who provided a comic relief from the very serious Charlie Chan.  His best lines were, Correction please and Contradiction Out of around four dozen movies, I saw 27 or so movies in no chronological order. I hope you also will enjoy these movies as I will give brief synopsis of what is usually happens in these murder mystery movies.

Charlie Chan on a cruise across the Pacific Ocean tries to uncover a killer aboard.

Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Deadpool 2 (2018)-Ryan Reynolds

Although not as good as the first one, but entertaining nonetheless as Deadpool assemble a group of super heroes to protect an uncontrollable mutant from an evil alien enemy. As usual, a foul mouthed and action packed movie. Recommended

American Embassy in Jerusalem and Palestinians

When the Americans decided that they will move their embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel to Jerusalem, there was a lot of dire warnings and opposition from almost every part of the world but as I wrote it in my blog, there was nothing that was much going to happen and I was proven right. Now the Brazilian President has decided to move its country’s embassy to Jerusalem and there is again opposition but it is very mild, as the Arabs don’t care much about Palestinians and anything they say in their support is just to appease the small population of Arabs who oppose Israel as the efforts of the Arabs have now to been to how to isolate another Muslim Country Iran and in this sense, the Arabs have aligned their lot with the Israelis and the Americans. The Palestinians are the only ones who will fight this war and they should forget about their supposedly Arab brothers who don’t have the means or the will or the care to support them.

Instead of wasting their time and energy on symbolic efforts to discourage other countries not to locate their embassies to Jerusalem, they should concentrate on trying to strengthen their diplomatic skills on showcasing what is happening in their territories and present a united front. It is useless for them to rely on their so called Arab brothers as they have failed them time and time again. Ultimately, the Palestinians will live or die on their own as they will be the only ones face the guns of Israel as the other Arabs and Muslims go into a deep slumber.

On the lighter side-Movies-Revenge (2017-French)

When a man brings his mistress to his home where he has friends who would join him in a hunting party, things does not quite go the way it should be as the mistress takes bloody revenge when she is raped by one of his friends. Bloody and brutal French movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Meatball Machine: Kodoku (2018-Japan)

A mild mannered middle aged Japanese guy who is broke in every sense of the world is infected by an alien virus which has an opposite effect on him starts to fight the aliens taking over his neighborhood in this bloody and gory Japanese hyper movie sequel to the first one which I did not see. With scenes of naked breast, simulated sex and cut of penis, this film is not for all tastes and I really mean it. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Apostle (2018)

A man travels to an isolated island to rescue his sister in this bloody horror movie. Recommended with caution.

Caravans to a better future in the United States

Initially a large group of migrants trying to escape from poverty and violence in their war torn countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras started organizing groups of people to walk to the U.S. border to gain asylum. And now encouraged by the success of some previous small groups entering the United States, more and more groups of migrants are making the treacherous trek to the so called Promised Land-the United States. And with these groups comes the hardened attitude of the United States government as it bolsters the border protection forces by regular military troops. The President first tried to cut off the aid of the above mentioned countries, but with the action failing to stem the follow of the illegal immigrants, he has decided to send in regular troops to stop the migrants from entering the country through illegal routes at the border. He is also saying that the migrants will be housed in tents along the border areas till their cases are heard which maybe months or years in the making.

Although I feel for these migrants who are escaping poverty and violence in their respective countries but right now it is the worst time to try to get to the United States as the rise of racism and nationalism will slow down their progress to enter or gain legal status before the already millions of illegal migrants already in line to seek change to their status. Also these migrants need to understand that the legal path is always the right one even when you are trying to escape poverty and violence. If whole countries decide to migrant, then their countries will never improve. These citizens should realize that not everything will be solved even when they reach the United States as they will be treated as illegals for years to come and will never be able to assimilate in their adopted country.

On the lighter side-Movies-Tag (2018)-Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner

Based on a true story about a group of friends who organize an annual game of tag just for the sole purpose of tagging the one friend who has never been tagged in his life. After a while, it wears you out, but still entertaining enough to get you through it. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Why don’t you play in Hell? (2013-Japan)

An amateur film crew gets involved with filming the clash of two Yakuza feuding clan in this over the top and extremely brutal bordering on cartoonish violence bloody movie. Recommended for utter craziness.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018)-Zach Mcgowan

Cheaply done action movie in the continuing saga of the scorpion king, this time trying to find a weapon with which he can defeat an evil warrior and his clan. Not Recommended

The worst mass murder of Jews in U.S. History

During the time the failed mail bomber was captured without anybody getting killed, another white racist who was filled with anger about Jews,  attacked a synagogue and kill 11 Jewish people who were there exercising their freedom to religion. Also in the ensuing gun fight, the gunman was injured, along with four officers. After capturing and presenting him in court, he has entered a Not Guilty Plea, which seems incredible as he was clearly the one who did the shooting as witnessed by many people. I think that there should an overhaul of this kind of justice system where he should not be deemed innocent as he clearly was the killer and after all the trials and drama, if he is proven guilty then what is the use of spending millions of dollars on a guilty person who has been proven guilty. I know I am just yapping about and I have deviated from the topic which is a white person full of hatred against Jews, can’t control his anger and decide to embark on his evil quest to kill as many Jews as possible.

I know that there are people out there who would give these kinds of acts of terror on the current U.S. President rhetoric about nationalist ideology but despite this, an overwhelming majority of people are acting out their anger by killing people. I know the level of racism has increased since he was elected President, and in this charged atmosphere where the whole country is divided and angry, there may be some people who may have been influenced by all this news and get encouraged to act out their racist tendencies which was kept inside for a long time. Anyway, it is a very evil act to kill innocent worshippers just because the killer acted on his perceived anger against a religious group who was not harming anybody. I hope justice is done and he should get the maximum punishment allowed by law.

On the lighter side-Movies-What the waters left behind (2018-Argentina)

An Argentinean horror movie based on a sad tragedy when a dam broke in a town which was flooded and numerous people were killed. So the premise of the movie is when the water receded, the town was deserted. This is when a documentary crew came to town to film its history and gets caught in a cannibalistic family who is ready to make them their dinner. Some bloody special effects and sex included, but nothing special. I thought the horror scenes were few and far apart. Not Recommended

The failed mail bomber

Recently after a series of bombs mailed through the U.S. postal system, a person was apprehended after a single DNA was found on a package sent by him to prominent critics of the U.S. President. And now he has appeared in a court with tears coming out of his eyes. The things that are coming out for this person is quite sad and sometimes hilarious. Let me elaborate, he was a loner and strapped for cash and did different jobs and supposedly was a very enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. President. It has been reported that he was a white supremacist and thought that only whites and those with racist and nationalist credentials ought to be in this world alone. The hilarious part is that he was not even a white guy but his father was a Filipino who married a white woman of Italian descent and so he was half white and half Filipino.

It is also reported that he wanted the world to go back to the Hitler days but now you can just imagine the low IQ of this guy. If he was in the Hitler days, his father would have been killed because he was a Filipino and his mother would have been killed because she married a Filipino man and this mail bomber would have been killed just because he was of mixed breed. Even if he was in Philippines, the Japanese would have killed him since Japan was occupying Philippines at the time of Hitler. So before becoming a so called white supremacist (which he is clearly not as mentioned above and reported by various media outlets), he should have read some history to see where do a mixed race person fit into a world of White supremacy.

On the lighter side-Movies- The Lady Hermit (1971-Hong Kong)

A student seeks a reclusive master so that she can fight an evil strong man. Plenty of martial arts action. It looked great at that time, but now it seems dated and slow. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Death Kiss (2018)

Slow moving and ultimately unsatisfying rip off of Death wish movie with a Charles Bronson lookalike going after criminals in his own way. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Wrath in Silence (2018-China)

A father looks for his son who is missing in this slow moving mystery action movie. Not for all tastes. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Sleep no more (2018)

An experiment into sleep deprivation goes horribly wrong. Not worth your time and effort. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-I am Vengeance (2018)

An ex-soldier takes revenge for the murder of his friend in this slow moving action movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Lake Placid: Legacy (2018)

Despite reading bad reviews, I could not resist this continuing saga of the series, although it has nothing to do with lake placid anyway. A group of explorers discover a hidden land where horrible experiments have created monster alligators. They try to fight back as their numbers dwindle. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Occupation (2018-Australia)

A group of people decide to fight back against alien invaders in this good effort from Australia. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Intensive Care (2018)

Three criminals try to rob a dying woman’s house but run into a badass live-in nurse. Nothing new here. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-A Quiet Place (2018)-Emily Blunt

In the future, a family tries to stay silent in the face of alien creatures that attack at the sound of a voice. Great and unique movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Blockers (2018)-John Cena

Three girls decide that they want to lose their virginity on prom night and their parents scramble to stop this after learning of it. Funny and silly at the same time, but entertaining nonetheless. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Malevolent (2018)

A brother and a sister scam ghost hunting business gets a reality check when they encounter real ghosts. Entertaining horror movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Truth or Dare (2018)

An innocent games turns deadly when someone begins punishing people if they don’t play. Predictable horror movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Rampage (2018)-Dwayne Johnson

Three different animals grow big in size and goes on a rampage pitting heroes to stop them from destroying a city. Fun action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Operation Red Sea (2018-China)

Chinese Marines tries to rescue hostages in Africa in this high octane, patriotic full action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Den of Thieves (2018)-Gerard Butler

Los Angeles cops vs. criminals bent on robbing the Federal Reserve Bank branch in Los Angeles in this action packed crime movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Executioners (2018)

Four females enjoying a get together in a lonely house fight back against vicious criminals. Initially entertaining but then goes downhill. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Detective K: Secret of the living dead (2018-Korean)

The detective is called back to investigate bodies with bite marks. Continuous entertainment in this ongoing series. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Death Wish (2018)-Bruce Willis

Remake of the highly entertaining Charles Bronson movie about a law abiding citizen going off the deep end when his family is attacked. Although a modern remake, it does not resonate with today’s time. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Gringo (2018)-Joel Edgerton

A mild mannered and law abiding citizen crosses into criminal world for his boss in this entertaining black comedy movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Ready Player One (2018)

A creator of a virtual reality game in a near future society dies but not before revealing that the winner of his game with big fortune. Loud and obnoxious movie with overwhelming special effects. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Red Sparrow (2018)-Jennifer Lawrence

A ballerina is recruited by a Russian intelligence agency using her body as a weapon. Entertaining movie involving with sex and violence. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

You have to watch the whole series in order to understand this finale. A group of teens tries to uncover the cure behind a deadly disease by infiltrating a mysterious city. I can’t explain much without going into detail but it is not a great movie to waste your time one. For people who want to complete the series, yes it is recommended but overlong. Others not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Black Panther (2018)-Chadwick Boseman

Although one of the biggest blockbusters with majority African American cast, this movie failed to impress me. Although praised by almost everyone but I was not that much into it. A leader from an advance tribe of people must fight off a challenger and take his tribe to the future. Too serious for a super hero movie. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Psychokinesis (2018-Korean)

A bank security guard gains super human strength and tries to save his estranged daughter from evil construction people. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Tomb Raider (2018)-Alicia Vikander

Remake of the much better Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie. This one is not that great with poor acting and rehash story line about a daughter of a disappeared adventurer who goes looking for him. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Sherlock Gnomes (2018)-Animated

Gnomeo and Juliet recruit Sherlock Gnomes to find out the mystery of disappearing garden ornaments. Cute little animated movie. Recommended.

On the lighter side-Movies-Hunting Emma (2018-South Africa)

A supposedly meek girl witnesses a murder in the wilderness and the killers go after her but get more than what they bargained for. Nice effort by South Africa. Enjoyable movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Confidential Assignment (2017-Korea)

North Korean crime organization forces both the South and North Korean to pursue it in this enjoyable action/buddy movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Phantom Thread (2017)-Daniel Day-Lewis

A renowned dress maker becomes infatuated with his assistant in this slow moving but satisfying drama. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Insidious: The Last Key (2018)

In order to understand the movie, you will have to watch the other Insidious movies but in this it perfectly shows that you don’t need to. Cheap thrills but still can give you some scare. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)-Dwayne Johnson

Four teenagers are magically transformed in a video and they have to finish the game in order to get back home. Enjoyable. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Wolf Warrior II (2017-China)

Chinese Special Forces vs. terrorists in this all out patriotic action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Mumon: The land of Stealth (2017-Japan)

A ninja movie with ninjas earning a living by selling their services to the highest bidder. When the master ninja kills the young son of a warlord, all hell breaks loose. Interesting action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-War for the planet of the apes (2017)-Woody Harrelson

The defeated apes plot revenge against a renegade army colonel. Excellent action sequences coupled with good drama. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Hostiles (2018)-Christian bale, Rosamund Pike

A slow moving western in which an army officer is tasked to escort his greatest enemy, a Native American chief to his home. Not much action and overly long. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Man Hunt (2017-HK)

A lawyer tries to clear his name for a crime he did not commit. Action movie from the director of stylish hardcore Hong Kong action movies hardboiled and killer. Okay time killer.  Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Paradox (2017-Hong Kong)-Louis Koo

A tough Hong Kong Cop travels to Thailand to find his disappeared daughter. Martial arts action and thrills throughout. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)-Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana

Sequel to the first movie in this continuing comedic adventure of super heroes as they try to help their leader find his true heritage. Action and comedy sprinkled throughout. Recommended.

On the lighter side-Movies-Primal Rage (2018)

A couple driving through the Pacific Northwest gets entangled with hostile locals and a deadly creature. Okay horror, action movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Game Night (2018)-Jason Bateman, Rachel Mcadams

A group of people who play game nights gets entangled with real life gangster. Enjoyable and interesting movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Tremors: A cold day in hell (2018)-Michael Gross

Some movies literally need to be put to rest like this one with horror and comedy mixed in but still it is really bad. Skip it if you can. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Never leave alive (2017)

Two survivors on an island deal with a madman hunting them. Great title, but literally bad movie with bad acting. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Super Troopers 2 (2018)

Unfunny sequel in which the super troopers are tasked with manning an area disputed between Canada and the United States. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)-Sylvester Stallone

The team reunites to infiltrate the impregnable prison to get one of their team imprisoned in this claustrophobic and light on action movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-It came from the Desert (2018)

Creature feature should not have been made in the first place with big spiders stalking party goers in a desert. Totally not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Pacific Rim 2: Uprising (2018)

Monster robots battle monsters in the future in this sequel to the first Japanese inspired movie. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-12 Strong (2018)-Chris Hemsworth

True story of a team of Special Forces who saw the first combat in Afghanistan after 9/11 attacks. Enjoyable movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Party Bus to hell (2018)-Tara Reid

A party bus breaks down in a desert with a cult of Satan worshippers begin stalking them. Overacting hurts. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Hurricane Heist (2018)-Maggie Grace

Thieves to try to steal money from the U.S. mint while a monster hurricane hurls their way. Loud and improbable but okay time killer. Recommended with caution

Cultural Appropriation

Lately a great deal of hoopla is being raised in regard to Cultural appropriation. Meaning roughly the use of minority symbols and making it their own by the dominant culture (being the white one) or roughly like that. Now I am not from the dominant culture but I still don’t understand this concept. The people who are or may be doing it, they may have done it innocently and not to offend the minority people from whom they have borrowed temporarily the symbol. Some people who this later apologize but there are some who double down and say that they did not meant to do no harm. But in these times of cultural sensitivity or I should say political correction and also the social media that has all consumed us, there is less mercy shown to these apologies. I have read some of the comments regarding this new sympathy for the cultural appropriateness and they have not been kind.

Now I may not understand this but let me put it straight forward, maybe someone out there will have a different perspective then being overtly bias. If a white person tries to adopt a minority symbol, should people bend over themselves to denounce this or should be a cause of celebration that this symbol which was somehow unknown to the world outside of their cultural confinement has gained wider acceptability. Some people are also getting emotionally sensitive to Yoga now that the supposedly majority White population has embraced it wholeheartedly. And regarding disrespecting one’s culture, can someone please define what does even mean. In order to amend their past mistakes, if they have done so, some people have become champions of minorities and everything which is even in a slightest light mood gets shredded on social media. Anyway, I don’t see any cultural appropriation when the white majority is adopting minority stuff. To me, they are not making it their own but giving free publicity and making it known to the wider outside world.

On the lighter side-Movies- American Assassin (2017)-Michael Keaton

A guy seeks revenge by joining a counter terrorism group when his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Bodyguard (2016)-Hong Kong

A Chinese martial artist seeks revenge in this hardcore over the top martial arts extravaganza. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Foreigner (2017)-Jackie Chan

A businessman seeks revenge for the accidental killing of his daughter in a bombing. Different and serious Jackie Chan. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- The Outlaws (2017-Korean)

A police detective tries to keep peace between warring factions in Seoul. Action galore. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Villainess (2017)-Korea

A female assassin seeks revenge in this inventive Korean action thriller. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Annihilation (2017)-Natalie Portman

A scientist joins an expedition into a mysterious zone. Head scratching science fiction. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Paddington 2 (2017) Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins

The further adventures of the talking bear who pursues his perfect gift for his aunt which gets stolen. Enjoyable movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)

A billionaire experimenting on sharks gets attacked by them and his team of scientist in this unnecessary sequel to the much better first one. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Commuter (2018)-Liam Neeson

An unsuspecting ex-cop is asked to locate a passenger before his last stop or face deadly consequences in this suspenseful thriller. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Justice League (2017)-Ben Affleck

Batman, Superman, wonder woman and other super heroes team up to fight even greater evil in this special effects action/ science fiction blockbuster movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)-Frances Mcdormand

A woman challenges local authorities to catch the culprit of her murdered daughter. Superb acting by all. Overall a great movie winning two Oscars.. Highly recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Steel Rain (2017-Korean)

A coup in North Korea forces a soldier to escape to South Korea with the President. He has to work with the skeptical South Koreans to prevent a nuclear war. Interesting Korean action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Strangled (2016-Hungarian)

A brutal killer is on the loose in a small town in Hungary, while an innocent man awaits his fate of being accused the real killer. Interesting Hungarian thriller. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies- The thousand faces of Dunjia (2017-HK)

Action fantasy movie about a group of warriors trying the save the world from unearthly monsters. Recommended.

On the lighter side-Movies- Blade of the immortal (2017-Japan)

A skilled samurai who has been cursed with immortality agrees to help a girl avenge her parents. Highly stylized movie with almost nonstop action and gore.

On the lighter side-Movies- Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield (2017-China)

A secret police member tries to seek a girl who can help him unveil the conspiracy behind his framing by corrupt official of the government. Again hard to detail the story and you will have to go back to the first one to find out the details. Just enjoy the action and forget about the story. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- Wu Kong (2017)-Chinese

An ordinary man refuses to bow down to his destiny and rebel against gods. It is hard to tell the story without going into the much detail and also you have to see the related Money King movies in order to find out what is happening. But fantasy and action galore. Recommended with caution

Slavery by Choice

Recently a famous rapper said on an interview that slavery was a choice. The shocking part was that the rapper is an African American but with outrageous and outspoken views. But this created a backlash but not if it were a white person and the issue has been quietly put down due to his supposedly erratic behavior. Although I had to scramble back to my history books and look to see if this was true, but could not find anything. His point was that the slaves were far numerous and they had weapons in the shape of their agricultural tools so they could have fought back. And as such they were not only physically slaved but also mentally. Now this is somewhat the alt-right or white supremacists people have been saying in one way or the other. But here I am not talking about what they are saying but what this African American rapper said that caused a few surprising ripples and then it died down.

He has all the right to say what he wants and people have the right to be outraged too but the most unsettling and hypocritical part is that the African American community shrugged it like it did not matter but if a white person would have said that out aloud, he would have been censured severely by white liberals and minorities. I can see a definite hypocritical manner in how this situation is handled and there is definitely a bias in how some people will protect their own even when he tries to insult them.

On the lighter side-Movies-Golden Slumber (2018-Korean)

A delivery man tries to evade the law after he is framed for the murder of a presidential candidate. Thrilling action movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Re:Born (2016-Japan)

An ex soldier fights his way to protect the one he cares. Action scenes throughout. Bloody and gory movie. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Bloody Chainsaw Girl (2016-Japan)

A high school girl with a huge chainsaw battles mutants in her high school in this outrageous, gory and ultimately silly Japanese movie. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Black Water (2018)-Jean-Claude Van Damme

Aging heroes fight well built people in this lame duck movie. An operative is kidnapped and awakes at a black site on a submarine. It is sad to see your favorite action heroes slowing down in such lame movies. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Daddy’s Home Two (2017)-Mark Wahlberg

They are back and this time the rival dads have to deal with their own dads. Predictable but enjoyable movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Jigsaw (2017)

A supposedly resurrected killer is linked to a killing spree in the city. A reboot of the gruesome franchise. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Lucky Logan (2017)-Channing Tatum

Brothers try to pull off a robbery during NASCAR® event. Interesting execution. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies- Slumber (2017)-Maggie Q

A sleep doctor tries to help a family from the evil entities that invade their dreams. Interesting premise but as usual farfetched fantasy. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- Geostorm (2017)-Gerard Butler

A sci-fi movie about a network of satellites going haywire and attacking earth atmosphere. As usual, time for one person or group of persons to save the earth. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Kenneth Branaugh

When a murder happens on a train, a famous detective is asked to investigate. Not as great as the first one (1974) but enjoyable nonetheless. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy (2018)

Some movies refuse to die and this is one of them, an ex military man joins a futuristic prison to race against a champion of a illegal race. Action galore. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Post (2017)-Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep

A cover-up about the Vietnam War unfolded by a prestigious newspaper in this highly enjoyable movie. If you don’t know about American History, then you would have a hard time following it but watch it for how a newspaper resist government pressure to publish information which is deemed essential for press freedom. Highly recommended.

On the lighter side-Movies-Molly’s Game (2017)-Jessica Chastain

True story of an Olympian who starts a high stakes poker game and becomes a target of government. Highly enjoyable with great performance by Jessica Chastain. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Thor: Ragnarok (2017)-Chris Hemsworth

The continuous adventures of the man with the special hammer. In this one, he is imprisoned and tries to escape to prevent the destruction of this world. Enjoyable with wit and special effects. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Shape of Water (2017)-Michael Shannon

A mute and lonely janitor starts a friendship with an alien in a top secret facility in the 1960s. Weird movie to say the least but enjoyable. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies (2017)

A group of people fight to survive amidst a zombie outbreak. Chaotic, messy and bloody. Not particularly interesting. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Only the Brave (2017)-Josh Brolin

Based on a true story, a team of firefighters battle to save a town from a massive fire. Good action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Victor Crowley (2017)

A sequel to Hatchet III, a killer is accidentally resurrected again and proceeds to do more killing. Not worth your time. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Braven (2018)-Jason Momoa

Average action movie about a logger trying to protect his family from drug dealers. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Accident Man (2018)-Scott Adkins

A killer goes after people when his loved one gets killed by them. Average actioner. Recommended for action fans only.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Debt Collector (2018)-Scott Adkins

A martial artist goes to work for a debt collector in this average actioner. Recommended for action fans only.

On the lighter side-Movies-Children of the Corn: Runaway (2017)

A pregnant who has escaped the murderous children cult tries to protect her son from them. They should stop making so many sequels or I should stop seeing them. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Terrifier (2018)

Low budget gorefest about a clown who terrorizes some people on Halloween night. Gory and bloody.  Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Timetrap (2018)

A group of people explore a cave where time runs more slowly than outside world. Low budget intriguing movie. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Wonder Wheel (2017)-Justine Timberlake

A slow moving drama about a stranger on Coney Island, New York who befriends an unhappy housewife of a carousel operator. Excellent cast but a bit downer and sad drama. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Darkest Hour (2017)-Gary Oldman

Winston Churchill, an accidental Prime Minister of Great Britain in World War II, tries to decide whether to negotiate with Germany’s Hitler or fight him. Excellent acting by Gary Oldman. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Disaster Artist (2017)-James Franco

An aspiring actor befriends a rich eccentric guy and together they head to Hollywood to make a movie. Funny and hilarious movie. Stay with this movie, you will not regret it. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Lady Bird (2017)-Saoirse Ronan

A great coming of age movie of a teenager in California. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Brink (2017-HK)

A cop tries to thwart a gold smuggling scheme on high seas. Good action movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Shock Wave (2017-HK)-Andy Lau

Terrorists in Hong Kong hold a tunnel full of cars and people hostage. Tense and suspenseful action thriller. Recommended

Hell No!

Although it has since been denied by the Pope but it was reported that in a private conversation, the Pope has said that there is no hell and after much protests, the Pope’s representative had to come out and said that he did not said such a thing. I was a little surprised by this statement but when the Pope’s rep came out with a rebuttal, I was somewhat relieved. But even if he had said this privately, why a person, no less a pope, who is a spiritual leader to hundreds of millions of Catholic Christians worldwide, would ever say that there is no hell.

I read a long time ago an article in a magazine that how the churches are increasingly deemphasizing the concept of hell and concentrate on the nice world of heaven. I don’t know why is that? Maybe because in the minds of people, a just and loving GOD will not create a place where a person would suffer ever for their sins committed in this world or maybe it is because nobody wants to hear their loved ones, not even the ones who have been super evil, suffer eternal damnation in hell. And mind you, I am not a religious scholar but to be just there has to a heaven and the counterpart hell. Because how would people believe that there is going to be justice done when some person is wrongly killed and there is no retribution in the hereafter. So anybody has the choice to say there is no hell but then they should better believe that there is no heaven either because you cannot be selective about one thing and not the other. So you can believe whatever you want but I for one believe that there is heaven and hell and what you sow in this world will reap in the hereafter unless you repent for your sins you do and make amends for what you did wrong to other people. No preaching here but that is my belief.

The rise of the Social Media Protests

Since the inception and popularity of the social media, nothing seems to be hidden from the public eye any longer. Anything out of the ordinary you do or something that hurts another person physically is recorded instantly and put on the social media in real time and if it looks outrageous, it goes viral instantly forcing the person or persons doing the act run for cover or in some cases resign from their position. And that person if he or she is in a public authority, the corporation of public entity instantly comes under pressure to make amends to the person affected by their employees’ actions. If you have seen news lately, there has been constantly flurry of social media outrageous occurring almost daily and the sad (or fun) part is that despite all this outrage going on, some people still manage to the do the stupidest thing that they can think of even if in their normal daily life it would do fine and find themselves the scorn of the hundreds and thousands of social media public.

Prime examples of social media protests are numerous and it happens almost every day in the U.S. and around the world. It includes a guy being dragged out of his paid seat on an airline, two African American male being arrested in a star bucks for no fault and countless others which are happening as I write and will continue to be on going since everybody nowadays is keen to record anything and everything but if something is recorded which is controversial then the explosion of social media protests takes over like anything and the accusers are face to feel the wrath of the public as well as the law. Everybody knows that it has been happening for a long time but nowadays the difference is that all your negative actions are recorded for the world to see and you become a target of protests not only locally but also internationally. This is the power of social media and one should be careful what they should say or do because you never know who is recording and what is being recorded.

On the lighter side-Movies- Happy Death Day (2017)

A college student relives the same day again and again of her murder and this thing will continue until she finds the identity of her killer. Although a good movie overall, but the annoyingly repetitive nature of the movie, now being employed in several films, is becoming tiresome. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies- The Adventurers (2017-Hong Kong)-Andy Lau

A French detective is on the trail of a group of top thieves who have pulled of a heist. Action galore. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Atomic Blonde (2017)-Charlize Theron

An undercover British agent is sent to Germany during the cold war to investigate the murder of an agent. Action packed movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The Dark Tower (2017)-Idris Elba

A gunslinger tries to protect a tower which holds the universe together from evil. An eight book series shrunk into an half an hour movie. If you see it as an original movie, it is good but seen as an adaptation of the eight book series not good. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Wonder Woman (2017)-Gal Gadot, Chris Pine

An Amazonian woman fights for justice in this special effects laden action fantasy movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Battle of Memories (2017)-China

In the future, you can erase your bad memories, an author tries to erase the memories of his bad marriage only to have side effect of acquiring an unsolved murder. Good story and movie, although you will have to pay attention carefully. Recommended with caution.

Healthy food is bad, unhealthy food is good

I eat food to live not live to eat food and as such I am much of a carnivorous than a vegetarian. But apart from regular food, I try to eat as much healthy food as possible but sometimes it is really hard as most of you have come to find out. I didn’t mean to say healthy food is bad as my title suggests but if one is not accustomed to it, it will taste weird. I will give you my example, I have started eating Wheat bread instead of the regular bread on doctor’s orders a few years ago and I am still continuing it, although it makes me yucky. Same thing goes with chips as I see original ones and then the ones with less fat content and obviously original ones are so good and the modified ones are not that great.  Chicken and lamb and fish are definitely better but red meat is the icing on the cake and even when I mostly eat Chicken and fish and lamb, I still crave steak and burgers once in a while.

I have seen people who have high blood pressure and cholesterol and are diabetics still sometimes cheat on their diet and eat unhealthy food although their version of unhealthy food is with no calories or fattening content but nevertheless not healthy. I sometimes don’t have the patience to go for the healthy food even it means good for my health as doctor ordered or nutritionist recommended food is not my cup of tea and I bet that overwhelming people will agree with me. If not you can just see the long lines outside burger joints and steak houses serving mostly fat filled food, although they have also added food which are considered healthy but their main revenue comes from the unhealthy part. And despite the phenomenon of organic food and dieting craze, there is an epidemic of obesity not only in the U.S. but all over the world and even when there is shortage of food; people tend to eat unhealthy meals whenever they can. I, for one, keep on trying to balance my intake of food but still junk food wins in the end.

The trade war between China and the United States

So finally it had to happen, when push comes to shove, the United States already promising to slap tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the U.S. finally followed through with it and slapped tariffs. And China not ready to lose face to its own citizens retaliated in kind although with much less products. But since China exports more to the U.S. than the other way around, China will lose more but this trade war is not going to be good for either side as the U.S. is highly dependent on Chinese goods and their buying of the U.S. bonds and China needs to be careful not to antagonize the U.S. too much as it is their largest export market. Already the trade war is not even started in essence and the stock market is acting like we are in a full blown war. It has been on a losing streak a little bit here and a lot more there.

It is just an unnecessary thing and it would do that much to correct the trade balance between China and the U.S. Unless the U.S. consumes less of Chinese goods and China exports less, there will always going to be trade imbalance. But here is the classic economic dilemma that it all relates to supply and demand, there is a demand for Chinese products and thus China exports its surplus items to the U.S. where there is a demand. I believe that this back and forth trade war will continue for some time and things will settle down once the new normal starts to kick in.

Curiosity is good

A curious mind is good for everyone and mostly it was done to discover something before the current state of affairs in the world, when everybody seems to be a suspect and the governments encourage people to be vigilant about their surroundings. And in the essence, the governments of the world are encouraging people to be aware or what you see and hear and observe and if it sounds suspicious then report it without hesitation. So curious and inquisitive minds do not put you in trouble and it can and has led to many scientific discoveries and have saved many lives just because the individual or individuals were vigilant of what was going on. But throughout history, curios people have discovered many things but sometimes being curious got you killed. Today you really need to be curious enough to make sure that you are safe not only for yourself but others around you.

Babies are very curious and they look cute but society sometimes don’t like too curious mind as some adults want to be left alone and don’t want people to poke their noses in their businesses. But I have seen many examples that some curiosity have led to the capture of prevention of some violent act. So don’t be afraid to be a little curious because you never know you have save some lives or discover something useful which can help humans in the future.

Don’t blame whole for sum of its parts

If some person did some wrong, people tend the blame the whole race or ethnicity associated with it without realizing that they are also part of some race which may have done wrong in the past or maybe in the future. For example if some Muslims tend to terrorize the world with their extremists ideas, people generally tend to blame the religion and its book without reading the contents of it. Same thing happens with colored people or someone in the minority, people generally believe that the whole race is at fault, without realizing that you cannot blame the whole race, religion or ethnicity for the acts of an individual. People don’t blame the acts of a white man on the white race just as the acts of an individual should not be blamed on the whole race. If your car has some problem, you isolate that problem and if it has multiple parts broken, you replace it and don’t throw away the car just because the cars lights or any other small thing is not working or is broken.

Same goes with individuals of a particular race, you should isolate that trouble maker individual and should not blame the entire race for the acts of that individual as they overwhelming majority of people are peace loving and hard working good people, it is only the bad apples that make the entire race suspect in the eyes of the whole society. So we should not blame the whole for the sum of its parts as the parts can be replaced in order to fix the whole.

Long haul flights for passengers

Recently new long haul flights were revealed and I as an individual passenger was disgusted. Not in the sense that it is wrong but who would want to be in the air for 15 or 16 hours with nowhere to go, killing their time with nothing to do even after watching movies or other stuff on the screen if they are available. The most I can remember is that the longest flight I have taken was the direct flight to Hawaii which was 10 hours in the air (I may have taken longer flights but that I don’t remember) and at that time it was torture since the airline did not provide free movies or television and you have to buy them but the flight was smooth enough that I manage to swallow it. But these long haul flights which are like 15 or 16 hours nonstop flights are really for some people that can endure this.

I mean if you are at your house, you still move around for the above mentioned duration, so how is it possible that with cramped seats in the economy class you would be able to sleep or sit still and if you have some cranky passenger beside you or behind or in front of you or a small child who is constantly crying (even adults can cry in this situation), it becomes unbearable. Even if you have the means to fly first class with enough space for you to lie down, this more than half a day of continuous flight is not for the faint of heart. I don’t want to say never but for now, I am not looking forward to having this kinds of nonstop flights anytime soon or later.

The highs and lows of insurance

I received my car insurance recently and I started to wonder how complex it is for the insurance companies to make judgment about their clients based on age and record of driving. And it is not just the car insurance but any kind of insurance can be involved in this calculation. Car insurance is based on your driving record and the age, for example if you have a perfect driving record and you are in the mid fifties, your insurance will go down but here is the dilemma, since at this age, most of the people who have kids add their teenage kids to their insurance since the kids start driving around that time when their parents are in the fifties and even if your own insurance goes down ,due to the addition of your kids, the insurance shoots through the roof, since teenagers are new to driving and they can easily be involved in more accidents then the more matured ones.

In the case of health insurance, initially your premium does not increase much since you are young and healthy so you may not use health visits but once you get old, you develop some diseases and constantly need health care which drastically increase your insurance premium, completely opposite to the car insurance premium. Something happens with life insurance as your initial premium is less and it goes up as you get older. Home insurance depends upon how much your home is worth and the location where you live, if it is high crime area, your insurance will be high and vice versa. So just like life has its up and down times so does the insurance premium you pay.

The fans

Every category imaginable has fans in the midst. Some maybe very small groups and some maybe very large, some may be very quiet and some maybe very vocal but there fans everywhere for almost everything. Sport fans are the most vocal and obsessive about their teams, but there are fans of movie stars and singers who are equally obsessive about their favorite actors and singers and dream of just meeting them one day. I, for one is also a fan of movie stars but I do not dream of meeting them one day like some others do, if it happens, it happens otherwise I not going to keep on lamenting about not meeting one.

I have seen some fans crying when they see their favorite celebrity and some even faint which is absurd but everybody has different emotions and sometimes it is hard to control emotions when you thought what was impossible becomes possible.Although obsessive fans are okay as long as they stay within their limits but there are some who may cross the path of privacy and decency of their stars and may even endanger them. And it has really happened in the past as some deranged fans have literally attacked the people when they have come very close to them. I know most of the fans are literally in love with their favorite stars and would never do any harm to them; it is the one who are borderline psychotic obsessive ones that the stars need to be careful with. And since you don’t know who this psychotic one is among millions of innocent looking fans, it is for this reason; the stars keep on having bodyguards and maintain delicate balance between engaging with their fans while keeping a safe distance from them.

On the lighter side-Movies-Strangled (2016-Hungarian)

An innocent man is found guilty of murdering and raping several women while the actual killer is out loose. Enter a detective who tries to find the real culprit. Good effort by Hungary, although some scenes are disturbing. Recommended with caution.

On the lighter side-Movies-Jailbreak (2017)-Cambodian

Cops transporting a key witness to a prison become trapped in the prison and must use all their skills to escape. Enjoyable martial arts action movie from Cambodia. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Children of the Corn: Runaway (2017)

A pregnant woman escapes from the children of the corn, only to be followed by them in another town years later to induct her offspring. Silly continuation of the series should be stopped. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-I remember you (2017-Iceland)

A couple moves into an abandoned house only to find it haunted with its past. Okay thriller. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Forgotten (2017-Korea)

A man sees his brother being kidnapped. He returns but the brother suspects that he may not be the same person. Intriguing mystery movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Another Wolfcop (2017)

Werewolf cop springs into action when a businessman tries to convert the inhabitants of a small town through his brewery into weird animals. Gory and bloody, if you like the first one, enjoy this one too. Recommended with caution

Living in the Past

It is nice to live in the past as someone has said, it is cheap. But constantly being nostalgic about the past does not help the present and definitely will not help the future if you keep on dreaming of recapturing the glory of the past without much leg work. Many individuals are guilty of it and many countries are also in the habit of dreaming about the past glory of their country that once was. Sometimes I do reminiscent about the past years and I believe many people do but I also not keep on glorifying my achievement of yesteryears and not do anything to surpass that glory. And here is what some people and countries do to sleep on their past glories while lamenting the current state of affairs. For example some old people lament the current state of affairs and long for the time when life was simple and manageable.

In the United States, the current trend I suspect is that to dial back to the time when America was mostly white (I may be wrong but the policies of the government sure makes it so). In the Islamic world, there is still nostalgia about the past glory of the Islamic empire and on it rest the dreams or the fantasies of the Muslims who dream of regaining that glory and to achieve this some of the Muslims have gone to the extreme right and started violent and deadly confrontations with fellow Muslims and Non Muslims to achieve their goal in a violent way. Other Muslims just lament their present states and keep on harping about how great they were before without trying to achieve greatness again with hard work and persistence. But I believe this is not only related to Islamic world as I am sure other countries and culture lament the time past and not happy with the changes that are happening to fast for them to appreciate.

Being identifying with one race while born in another

This may not be a recent case but there was this lady who said that she is African American and she identifies with them with having grown up with their culture and also gotten a job at a national Black civil rights organization only to be exposed by her parents that she was born white. Now she still insists on being a black (albeit a light skin one) and she has kept on going this charade. And by charade I mean, I can you say that you are black just because you are exposed to black culture and raised among them. I have lived in Hong Kong for some part of my life and I love Hong Kong Movies and fascinated by Hong Kong, but I have never said that I am Chinese by virtue of being raised and liking their culture. And there is a name for it too; it is called Transracial which is being identified with a race or culture different than from which one was born in.

For me it does not bother me a bit where you consider yourself one race or the other. It is a free world and if you want to identify yourself with another race or culture which is different from your original one, be my guest. But the fact is do the people of that culture accept you as their own even when you literally worship them. Even when you become immersed in their culture totally, I have strong doubts that the people from that culture will accept you as their own and that is the dilemma they will face when and if they decide that they want to move to the country to which they are currently identifying themselves. Even if they stay in the United States, they can call themselves whatever they want but they will still be treated on the basis of their birth not on the basis of what they think they are currently.

Is it ok to use slurs in talking with your own race?

Controversial post: Reader's discretion is advised

I don’t know how to phrase this but I will try to explain as much as possible and since my blog is in English, so I will only concentrate on this language. If you have heard people talk to each other, usually there are greetings and then you talk but there is this curious thing about using slurs when talking with your own race and again this is in English so I stick with this as mostly African American people when talking to each other use the N-word as much as possible and this has seeped into the entertainment culture and it has become like a street language. I have never heard white people say hi “white Trash” or hi “Redneck”, it is just a normal greeting but you hear the hip hop and rap music, there is a plethora of the N Word and despite the half hearted efforts of some people, the use of it has not been stopped or curtailed.

The only thing that has changed is that when some non black person says it, they have to apologize for using  a racial slur or it becomes a big deal like you have offended the whole African-American community, but have literally heard this word spoken on the streets of New York without immunity and even some non white people use it while talking with their compatriots without realizing it being a racial slur. And I would be blunt that most of the activists rallying against this word don’t want non white people to use it while not doing enough to discourage among their midst. I may be wrong but I suspect that the African American community don’t want to retire or abolish this word as it shows their uniqueness and they want to be the sole owner of this word while raging against anyone outside their race using the word as if it is blasphemy but it is okay to use among themselves however they want. If the use of this word is to be banned, it should start with the African-American community taking the charging and trying to make this word offensive to everyone not just to non black folks.