An interesting 48hrs.



Netflix has provided me with an interesting glimpse into England… Great Britain I should say. I sat in awe as I watched Bloody Sunday. It is the documentary style telling of the events in Derry, Ireland on January 30th, 1972. While the event speaks for it’s self, I can only draw my conclusions from what I have read and watched in the account given by the film. To say it was a shock in an understatement. The great and just British government allowed this incident to happen without at least a reprimand or an apology to the families of the injured and dead. As one who was just there and listening to the various American injustices, this came as a huge surprise. U2’s Sunday, Bloody Sunday had always been a nice peaceful song to me. The true words behind it, behind the phrase never really were clear to me. The reasoning behind what happened, I understand. The infamous IRA (which I do not downplay in the least) had recently been accosting police and the military was sent in to quell this. What I can’t understand is how you can have a hatred for your fellow man to actually shoot them down in cold blood and unarmed. I felt a huge pain as the credits began to roll and the familiar strands of the song came on. Then, the names are read off of the dead and their ages. It really solidified it for me. The British government.



So I took this little gem and threw it into the local post office box and opened another set of offerings. Among the films was a documentary on Sir Winston Churchill. The wartime (World War II) prime minister of Britain is a very interesting and intriguing figure in history. Revered internationally as a strong leader, I never really had a chance to learn about him in school beyond his title. So eagerly opened this one in hopes of enlightening me. The first thing I noticed was this: 180minutes. Ish!! I thought this would be a quick hour-long documentary. I hate long films. So I put it on and started it before I was due at work. Needless to say, I was a little late. I will say this is a favorable documentary of the man, but they did point out his faults, his blunders and his memories attempt at re-writing history to remove any blame on himself… like DubYah. They quote Churchill as haven once stated “history will smile nicely upon him” and this film did exactly that in some cases. His domestic policies during the war were left to his brilliant speeches and his fights with Parliament. Otherwise, we are treated to his war thoughts and fears about Britain’s future in the world after the war. Make no bones about it the man had visions of grandeur and adored the spotlight. The film shows this as a re-occurring characteristic. The other thing the film shows is the humanity of the man who wanted to be great. He made huge mistakes and that prevented his great visions from being taken seriously. He foresaw the rise of the Nazi’s and the later effects of not dealing with the Soviets during and shortly after WWII. It showed me a bit of Britannia and some of the struggles of the war we never dealt with in the States. So my opinion is a little better of these islanders. The British government still sucks.





Who Am I?



I have my friends, but I rarely ask them what they think of me. Honestly, I would like for people to like me as I am. However, if people aren’t impressed or don’t care for my thoughts/feelings, I don’t let it get to me. That I should care what others think about me that I should worry about how others see me. I shall not do. Why? Why bother? If my love of Godzilla movies bothers people, so what? If I talk about sex too much, don’t talk to me. If I cheer for the wrong team, get over it. If you don’t care for me as much as I care for you, why should I let that affect our friendship/relationship? I believe too much is made of worrying about what other shall and will think about your thoughts, your actions, and your feelings. When I sign my name, it says Jamal, not saint J or the perfect one. I am human. As imperfect as they come. I don’t call myself by the titles of Christian, Catholic, best man, perfection or otherwise. When I pass away, I just want to remembered as a good friend. Someone who cared for those around him.



Movie Suggestion: Bloody Sunday



Song Of the moment: Peter Tosh – I Am That I Am

The Lure of TV
I am missing my laptop right now. This one for work should be just that. I have found the convenience of having a computer in front of the TV. Very nice. So I neglect my desktops in favor of my laptops and a weathered metal frame futon.

Dayum, You Want HOW MUCH??
1.89 for unleaded here. 2.49 in California. At least 15,000 civilians have died in an invasion in Iraq and we are going to end up with another four years of this mess. Yes, I said it, another four years. I liken Bush to a bad relationship. It's bad, and you know things are bad, but you stick with it because you are scared of change. Bush has not done anything to really be that "final straw". That one thing that finally makes one say enough is enough, we need a change. Oh, we liberals can scream about alienation from other countries and a huge military exercise which seems to get worse and worse as the days go by, but this may not be enough for the fence sitters. Kerry doesn't really seem to inspire. Maybe he is saving it for the fall. I liked Dean for his fieriness and for being the only to stand up and honestly say we have no business in Iraq and need to pull out. Kerry won't do that. So this bad relationship will continue...


Iragi's Don't Really Matter
Humanity states we can not kill or torture murders, rapists, pedofiles or otherwise within the US. To even suggest such a thing draws the ire of others. So why is it now ok to say abuse of the prisoners in Irag, Afghanistan and even Cuba is ok? Within the past two weeks, I have heard several members of Congress try to condone the actions of soldiers who have abused prisoners. POW's? Uh uh, sorry, this isn't a war. Regardless, there are still international laws to be followed. Human decency. We will never get to the bottom of this. The military is a brotherhood. You have to protect your people. But why did it take some damning photos to get the brought out into the public eye? These allegations have been floating around since the first prisoners were brought to Cuba. Remember those rumors... So why does this all come as a surprise to people? We have men and women in another country who have little to no experience with colonialism. They don't know how to intermingle with the civilians nor do they probably want to. More importantly, I doubt there is training on how to properly maintain a prison unless you are an MP of some sort. If the shit they did ever happened in a US prison, you bet some heads would roll. Instead, Congressmen are openly asking why should we treat these murders as humans. Tell me this Congressman, were any Iraqis in the planes on 9/11/2001??


Movie Suggestion: Run Lola Run
Song of The Day: Peter Tosh - Equal Rights