happysunshine
JoinedPosts by happysunshine
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19
Aww Yaahh... TITS AND ASS PIX!
by happysunshine in.
sorry, am i wearing out the joke?
its like my new toy which has been played with too much, soon to be discarded into the corner of my e-playpen.
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26
Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
I feel like I'm writing a book here! Sorry, one more comment!
The 'bad' parts of this 'shocumentry'- namely getting an emotional reaction from people based on limited information- can lead to hateing people and violence also. This is what scares me about protests now. I feel like I've done a lot of research on The War, and I still don't know the answer or the whole story. I see others- with very cursory info- get into a fist-fight supporting one side or another. Is this too based on "pumping people with fear"? Is this from media sources? -J
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Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
One more post-
Ironically, in retrospect I feel like Moore might have been guilty of one of the media 'sins': pumping people with fear by not giving them all the available info. Haveing said that, I am moved by the majority of the film, and would recommend it to anyone. The part I found most important/familiar was the highlightng of media-led pumping people with fear and distrust of neighbor. This makes people depressed and live on a hair-trigger. This reminded me of the WTS life. Was the WTS born from such a climate of mass fear-mongering? It certainly survives on it now. I remember being delighted at the worst headlines on the news, because I knew I could spring it on people Saturday mornings.
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26
Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
OK, now for the good about BFC:
The Moore-critique web site said that BFC cast Lockheed-Martin in an unjust missle-lobing role as manufacturing/transpoting nuclear weapons. In fact, part of what they do is convert Titan nukes into NASA projects and monitore/control satalites. The site rightly shows up Moore's overstatement:
"So you don't think our kids say to themselves, 'Dad goes off to the factory every day, he builds missiles of mass destruction. What's the difference between that mass destruction and the mass destruction over at Columbine High School?'"
It's hard to envision a murderer making a moral equation between mass murder and a recon satellite, right?
However, if I'm not mistaken, Lockheed-Martin made those Titan nuclear missiles in the first place. I got this from their homepage:
BACKGROUND - Lockheed Martin built more than 140 Titan ICBMs, once the vanguard of America's nuclear deterrent force, for the Air Force. Titan IIs also were flown as space launch vehicles in NASA's Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s. Deactivation of the Titan II ICBM system began in July 1982. The last missile was taken from its silo at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, on June 23, 1987. Deactivated missiles are in storage at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. Lockheed Martin is responsible for transporting the Titan IIs from California to its facilities in Denver.
In any case, Lockheed-Martin has been responsible for manufacturing a lot of weapons of destruction. Atop pictures of a variety of military aircraft is this pronouncement:
These pictures speak volumes about pride in our past, the excellence of our achievements, and our commitment to the future.
It is here that I can overlook Moore's dogma for the greater point: When violence is used by an authority to 'solve' problems, there is a tendency to see violence as a solution in other contexts. Even if Lockheed-Martin or others don't engage in violence, if their success is based on indirect or past use of force to 'solve' problems, that trickles down. I feel I can totaly understand it if people in that community see violence as an option.
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26
Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
Additionaly, regarding the NRA/KKK connection (sorry about all the 'screaming', its a cut/past job):
Fact: The Klan Act and Enforcement Act were signed into law by President Ulysess S. Grant. Grant used their provisions vigorously, suspending habeas corpus and deploying troops; under his leadership over 5,000 arrests were made and the Klan was dealt a serious (if all too short-lived) blow.Fact: Grant's vigor in disrupting the Klan earned him unpopularity among many whites, but Frederick Douglass praised him, and an associate of Douglass wrote that African-Americans "will ever cherish a grateful remembrance of his name, fame and great services."Fact: After Grant left the White House, the NRA elected him as its eighth president.Fact: After Grant's term, the NRA elected General Philip Sheridan, who had removed the governors of Texas and Lousiana for failure to suppress the KKK.Fact: The affinity of NRA for enemies of the Klan is hardly surprising. The NRA was founded by former Union officers, and eight of its first ten presidents were Union veterans.Fact: During the 1950s and 1960s, groups of blacks organized as NRA chapters in order to obtain surplus military rifles to fight off Klansmen.
Now I would be interested to know more uptodate info from people in the know, as history could have changed. Also, there may be a history I don't know about. Any amateur historians out there?
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26
Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
Thanks for the comments all! They motivate me to educate myself.
Stephanus: I read the article and most of the related links. Very persuasive. A couple of things that struck me-
First the bad news for BFC: I think everyone walked away feeling like priss- "Charlton Heston is a gun-totting, neo-KKK idiot who walks away under fire." Moore failed to show stuff like Heston's comments at a 2001 Congress on Racial Equality Martin Luther King dinner. Here's a quote from a reporter:
"Heston remembered walking behind him [Martin Luther King] 'in that glorious day of triumph 37 years ago which was one of the great days of my life. He and I and 200,000 people marched on Washington DC. We've come a long way on race relations since that day socially, economically, morally, and in many ways the water cannons and police dogs of Selma and Montgomery are silent now thank God.'"
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26
Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
I know. I was "wowed" by the movie. I felt angry, emotional, introspective- all within the space of 2 hours. Are the connections like he says they are? Has anyone got any criticism?
I'm also reading "The Myth of Male Power" right now. That, and the movie, are changing the way I look at a lot of things right now. Its a bit scary, because I don"t know where these changes will take me. Anyway, what do you all think?
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Bowling for Columbine
by happysunshine inwhat did you think?
whats the deal with the nra kkk connection?
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happysunshine
What did you think? Whats the deal with the NRA KKK connection?
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82
Celine Dion
by JH inwould you go and see celine dion give a show in las vegas?
do you like her music?
celine dion poses with artictic director franco dragone at a news conference after the opening of her show, "a new day," at the colosseum at caesars palace on las vegas.
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happysunshine
*while everyone secretly buys tix*
I saw her in eastern canada pre-Aladin/Titanic days. Half the concert was in French! She was overly dramatic back then too. mabey a dozen people ran to the stadium stage after the show, and she said "don't hold back the people" with these sweeping messanic gestures. It was hilarious! But hey, c'est Quebec.
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In light of all the hub-bub, a thought for peace...
by happysunshine init's saturday night.
normaly, most of you would be studying the watchtower article for tommorrow morning.
how do you feel?
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happysunshine
It's Saturday night. Normaly, most of you would be studying the Watchtower article for tommorrow morning. How do you feel?
