Alexander Flops at U.S. Box Office

The much-overhyped and overblown epic about Alexander the Great has fallen flat on its face; not because of the acting, but because of sexuality. For those that don't know, Alexander is portrayed in the film as a bisexual.

The studio must have realized that this would be a social test that could go either way, so the smart money would have been to have a smaller budget, and see how it went. But instead they rammed $155 million into the production of the film and $55 million into promoting it and hoped for the best. It appears they got the worst.

Box Office Mojo reports that as of today, November 29th, the film grossed $21 million.

Here are some other films with big budgets that made it because they were more acceptable to a wider audience:

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King....$144 million to make & market, made $377 million (U.S.), $1.1 billion (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $72 million.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...$139 million to make & market, made $326 million (U.S.), $926 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $62 million

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring...$143 million to make & market, made $314 million (U.S.), $871 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $47 million.

Titanic...$240 million to make & market, made $600 million (U.S.), $1.8 billion (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $28 million. This one was a gamble too, but Leo's star power and James Cameron's attention to detail made it work.

Braveheart...$72 million to make, made $75 milion (U.S.), $210 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $9 million.

Though I am loathe to admit it, the studio should have followed Michael Moore's example with Fahrenheit 9/11 ($9 million to produce, $15 million to market, $100 million plus in ticket sales in the U.S. , $100 million plus worldwide for a total of $220 million in ticket sales.) Bush-bashing was/is very popular worldwide, but Moore was smart enough to keep his budget down. As much as I disliked his distortions and hatred, it was targeted at a specific (unhealthy) emotion that was present in the American and global public before the election.

But with Alexander, the studio took a huge gamble and missed the mark. The only thing that can save the studio from a loss will be if the movie is a hit in other Western nations, which it could well be.

Re-imagining the Alamo didn't work either. They spent $75 million on making it, and made $25 million worldwide. I liked this film as I thought it was more realistic than what American history has made it out to be over the years. The "Was Davey Crockett captured and executed?" debate continues to rage on.

The lesson here is for movie studios to go conservative on the budget with their movies that have controversial issues. Better yet, don't even produce movies that contain raging social issues as they will be perceived as having a political agenda as "Alexander" is being described in some circles.

(All the figures above come from www.boxofficemojo.com)

Princess Diana: Seven Years Later and the Controversy Continues

Am I the only one who thinks people should get over Princess Diana’s death and stop reopening the wounds of her sons and family?

“Sensational” books are still being released, secret videos, stories of secret lovers and whispered conversations are being leaked on a regular basis. For crying out loud, let her rest in peace and give the princes a chance to move on. How many people think that Prince William and Prince Harry want to read about their mother and the scandals that she may or may not have been involved with? WHO CARES!

I think these opportunistic money-grabbers look for perfection in an imperfect being. That's a very hard standard to follow, so of course they're going to find faults with someone. She was a human being and made human mistakes. Get over it!

Anyone in favor of letting the past stay in the past? I see no sense in drawing this idiocy out any more. Seven years on, and she's still being analyzed.

Nasty Ukrainian Vote Fraud Story

If the story below is true, how can any government on Earth say that the Ukrainian elections were fair and impartial?

Vladimir Putin should be ashamed of himself!

Here's the Telegraph story.

Ukraine in Turmoil

A political nightmare is playing itself out in the Ukraine.

It’s become painfully obvious that democracy hasn’t completely taken hold yet. Reports of widespread cheating have thrown the recent presidential elections there into chaos and have led hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to take to the streets to protest the announced results.

The Russians have inserted themselves into the Ukrainian elections, which is a major part of the problem. While many Ukrainians feel that they share bonds with Russia, they do not want Moscow interfering with their internal affairs. The two countries are not joined at the hip in a Soviet-dominated political system and sometimes Moscow seems to forget that.

Vladimir Putin has a very bad habit of taking sides in other elections, which is very unfortunate. So he ought to quit complaining when the U.S. doesn’t go along with his choice for Ukrainian president.

Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789---The Real Thanksgiving Holiday--Not "Pilgrims and Indians"

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d dy of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

School Bans the Declaration of Independence

The attempted whitewash of U.S. history continued in California with a school banning U.S. historical documents like the Declaration of Independence from being taught to schools.

This is going way beyond anything that they have tried in the past.

The reason? The Declaration and other similar documents that were instrumental in the formation of our country and are a part of its foundation have references to God that atheists in California object to.

So the school punished a Christian teacher who ignored the school’s ban. The teacher turned around and sued the school district for discrimination.

Banning the Declaration of Independence because it mentions God?? This is an attack on the very heart and soul of our nation. If it wasn’t for the Declaration, many parts of our current Constitution wouldn’t be there either, including the very Bill of Rights that some idiots are busy raping.

When will this nonsense end? Here's the story. Fools. They ought to ban stupidity like this!

Hunting Massacre in Wisconsin: A Hunting Dispute?

There's more to the story of the five hunters who were killed in Wisconsin than first meets the eye.

From what the mainstream media is saying, it was a dispute over a hunting spot. But from what details have come out, I do not think that the accused killer was hunting deer.

He was hunting humans.

He chased after the fleeing hunters, and gunned them down in cold blood. That was no argument over a hunting spot. The only reason he stopped was that he ran out of ammunition.

This guy is a predator. Gun control advocates will say that it's another reason to ban guns and hunting, but gun control laws wouldn't have stopped this guy. If he can kill five human beings without batting an eye, he'd have found a way to kill without the use of a firearm. Serial killers do that.

NBA Suspends Players Involved in Detroit/Indiana Brawl

The NBA came down hard on the juvenile behavior displayed at the Detroit Pistons/Indiana Pacers game, suspending nine players without pay.

The combined pay that will be forfeit will be over $10 million. I hope the teams donate this money to charity.

The “children” who were most directly responsible for this behavior will sit out a combined 143 games.

It’s not enough.

Now there should be civil and criminal prosecutions of both players and fans. The Auburn Hills police department has copies of the brawl that the networks filmed and are working on building cases. The sooner the better!

That had better be the last melee like this in the NBA.

NBA Means: No Brains Anywhere--Pistons vs. Pacers

Once again, professional athletes are being condemned for their behavior against fans. By now everyone has heard about the Pistons-Pacers game at the Palace of Auburn Hills and how players went after fans who were throwing stuff at them.

To the players and fans in attendance that participated in this brawl, shame on you for demeaning elementary, middle and high school basketball in this way. Oh, sorry, did I say that? I forgot, it was an NBA pro basketball game. Anyways, shame on you for providing a very bad example for aspiring (underage) athletes to look up to.

Hefty fines, suspensions, and arrests should follow. The example needs to be set: behave like total asses, and suffer the consequences. With any luck, the fines will run into the millions.

Kerry Says bin-Laden Message Cost Him Election

John Kerry is saying that the Osama bin-Laden tape that surfaced just before the election scared the electorate and cost him the election.

With all due respect, no it didn't.

He lost the election because he was too far to the left, was a flip-flopper and couldn't solidify his Democratic base.

"Anyone but Bush?" Not hardly.

Separation of Church and State Means Establishment of State Religion

The first sentence of the First Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Over the years, this has been construed by the courts as meaning “separation” of church and state. This is not correct.

This was to stop the establishment of an official state religion.

Now consider this:

By banning crosses, stars of David, crescents and other religious symbols (like the Ten Commandments or Nativity scenes) in public places and so forth, the court system is forcing secular humanism on the American people.

The court system has to recognize that secular humanism is a faith in itself. It professes faith in the works of man over the works of a divine creator, which religious people find offensive. Quite frankly, I find the concept of one group of people forcing their viewpoint on all others through the court an affront.

It is wrong for the court system to impose secular humanism on people who are faithful to God, or to the precepts of their own religious faith.

When will the courts stop hijacking the First Amendment?

Constitutional Protections: For All, Not For Some

I am of the opinion that proposed Constitutional Amendments which restrict the rights of the American people are very bad news and should be rejected by those in power out-of-hand.

The original Bill of Rights was designed to limit the government's ability to infringe on the rights of the American people. Among other things, the Bill was to restrict government control over the lives of the people and all of the Amendments since then have followed this general approach with the exception of one.

The 18th Amendment (1919) banned the import, manufacture and distribution of alcohol anywhere in the United States. It proved to be impossible to enforce and the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment fourteen years later.

The 18th remains the only Amendment that has been overturned in spite of recent efforts to overturn parts of the First (freedom of association, parts of free speech clause via the political correctness movement) and Second Amendments.

We must never surrender our Constitutional rights to security considerations. With the war on terror continuing to rage, the possibility of a shattering terrorist attack on our nation continues to exist, and with it the possibility of Constitutional alterations in the name of preventing a terrorist attack that may never happen.

Don't think Constitutional violations will happen? Constitutional protections are already being ignored by the Justice Department. Americans who were rounded up after 9/11 on suspicion of being terrorists have been held for three years without access to attorneys or the court system. There is no need to try these people in secret...bring the proceedings out into the open! If they have done no wrong, let the government beg for their forgiveness and offer compensation, but if they are criminals, then let the criminal system work.

The Sixth Amendment reads: "In ALL criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

Well, get on with it!

PETA Starts “Fish Have Feelings Too” Campaign

The animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has launched a new ad campaign that is focused on the feelings of fish and that they (fish) don’t deserve to be eaten by evil meat-eating people.

This, after actor/activist Edward Furlong and some of his friends were arrested for drunk & disorderly conduct in a supermarket following a drunken attempt to liberate a lobster from a water tank.

Sounds like PETA leadership needs a drink too!

Common sense seems to be in dangerously short supply with some of these groups.

Psychologists Blast Limbaugh For Telling People to GET OVER IT!!

Now the shrinks in Florida are getting into the election blues, too!

A psychologist is blasting Rush Limbaugh for telling people to straighten up and move on. It was just an election, for crying out loud!

Rush was commenting on people getting counseling because Kerry lost the election.

The story began when Rush jokingly offered free counseling to depressed voters (I took it to mean a kick in the pants) but psychologists who are treating these idiots fired back and said that Rush wasn’t qualified to do that. DUH!!

I think the affected psychologists should be ashamed to be taking payment for stuff as ridiculous as this! And what’s more, I cannot believe that the liberal mainstream media who were heavily invested in the Kerry campaign are buying into this crap.

Perhaps Palm Beach County should join Canada, too. What utter nonsense!

Here’s the story.

Bush Cabinet Changes Continue

The exodus of President Bush’s cabinet continued with the resignations of Colin Powell, Spencer Abraham, Rod Paige and others.

It was unfortunate that Powell wasn’t listened to as the build-up to war continued and he warned that if we invaded and conquered Iraq, we would own all of Iraq’s problems. His presentation of wrong CIA facts as Gospel-truth to the U.N. Security Council diminished his international stature, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. He believed the information that the CIA presented to him and was shocked when CIA Director Tenet backtracked on the facts at a press conference that Powell watched on TV.

Abraham’s attempts to secure our country’s nuclear technologies were also noteworthy. On his watch, investigations revealed deep problems at the Los Alamos nuclear facility, where computer hard drives disappeared, materials were misplaced and nuclear warhead designs went missing. The latter half of his tenure was marked by attempts to enhance security at American nuclear facilities, and his failure to get an energy policy through Congress. Abraham received his share of blame for the soaring cost of oil and refusing to use the strategic oil reserves to manipulate the price of oil at the pumps.

Paige called the National Education Association a “terrorist group” and then apologized for it. He also got mixed reviews on his performance. The No Child Left Behind Act piled tons of paperwork on local school districts, leading some schools to withdraw from receiving federal funds. Paige was then hit with accusations that his Texas school district under-reported the number of dropouts and manipulated data to make Paige and the Houston school district look good.

As much as half of Bush’s cabinet is expected to leave. Don’t read into it too much as turnover happens quite often between a first and second Presidential term.

Another Arafat for Palestinians?

The terrorist group Hamas is planning on having one of their members run for President of the Palestinian Authority, the position formerly held by Yasser Arafat.

The opposition is said to be a jailed Palestinian terrorist who is being held for killing four Israelis and a Greek monk.

The jailed Palestinian is said to be in favor of a negotiated settlement with Israel, but Israel won’t release him.

Am I the only one who thinks that having two terrorists run for Palestinian President (formerly held by the father of modern terrorism) is a REAL bad idea? I was talking with someone over the weekend who thought it was not such a bad idea given the fact that the Palestinians are at war with Israel and that Arafat was a PLO terrorist. I told him that this was the kind of appeasement that would cause the Palestinians to be dominated by terror groups whether they wanted it or not.

This will set a very bad precedence and could hurt the democratic process in that region of the Middle East for years to come.

Ashcroft Accused Judges of Interfering in National Security

Retiring Attorney General John Ashcroft says activist judges are threatening Bush Administration decisions on national security.

While I think he is right about activist judges, here’s what he forgot to say:

The Bush Administration decisions in question are unconstitutional and unconscionable. And Ashcroft, as the attorney general, was wrong to support such unconstitutional measures as detaining Americans without access to lawyers and the court system for over three years.

It should have been Ashcroft who was telling Bush that suppressing Constitutional protections was a wrong decision, instead of the idiot judges in question that Ashcroft has no control over. Further, suppressing the Constitution is not national security…it’s bad policy.

I think that the Bush Administration should spend a little bit of time studying the American Civil War, and President Lincoln’s attempt to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in 1861, so that Confederate sympathizers and copperheads could be arrested for the duration of the war. The Supreme Court eventually ruled the suspension without an act of Congress as unconstitutional.

Some of the Americans arrested shortly after 9/11 had nothing to do with terrorism, but because they are of Middle Eastern background, the authorities held onto them. Now I think they’re afraid to let them go without charging them with something, because they’ll have an open-and-closed case of false imprisonment, denying American citizens their civil rights, and other similar accusations. It’s a huge liability question for this Administration or the next one to deal with.

We cannot hold people prisoner until they do something wrong. If they haven’t done anything wrong, they should be released. Period.

Police Use Stun-Gun on Six Year-Old

This one I have to question…

Police were called into Kelsey Pharr Elementary School in Miami to stop a six-year old boy from hurting himself and others with a shard of glass that he had gotten from breaking a picture frame in the principal’s office. He apparently cut himself and was wielding it like a knife to keep everyone at bay. There are several versions of the news story circulating on the web with different facts of the incident so I’ll leave it there.

The police arrived and used a stun-gun on the kid to immobilize him so that he could be disarmed.

Nailing a six-year old with 50,000 volts to take a piece of glass away? Give me a break! Why the hell didn’t two or three people rush the kid and take the glass from him? Was this boy 6’4” and 275 pounds and built like Arnold Schwarzeneggar? No, he’s probably 3’9” tall and weighs 45 pounds. Perhaps he’s obese and weighs 90 pounds. Who cares?

Both the staff at that school and the police need to be retrained on how they deal with aggressive six-year olds. DUH!!

I did a google news search on “boy taser” to research this story and came up with lots of news articles of cops using tasers to stop rampaging kids both successfully and unsuccessfully. There have been a handful of deaths resulting from police using these weapons on children.

Electricity can affect heart rhythm and 50,000 volts can have a devastating effect on a person’s long-term health. If we put this in another light, a medical procedure that used to be used to restart someone’s heart is now being used by police on children of all ages to control them. Is this wise?

Since the cops and the staff (all adults mind you) were overmatched by a six year-old child with a piece of glass, I guess they needed the help. I’M KIDDING!!

Arafat: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

The world now knows that Yasser Arafat passed away quietly during the night. He wasn’t killed by a Hamas sniper, as the so-called Bible Code predicted; he died quietly in a hospital bed.

I do not like to speak ill of the dead, but the tributes coming in from world leaders are an affront to Arafat’s victims.

Exactly how many people did Arafat send to their graves when he was a radical PLO leader?

He ordered airliners blown out of the sky, the terrorist attack on the Olympics in 1972, bombings of pizzerias, bus stations and assassinations of his enemies. Some have said that he introduced modern terrorism to the world. Islamic Jihad and other terror networks benefited from Arafat’s support in their terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

Does the name Leon Klinghoffer ring a bell?

I’m not going to offer the Palestinians condolences on the loss of their leader. I hope that there isn’t a Palestinian civil war and that they and the Israelis find peace before they blow one another off the map.

May God show more mercy to Arafat than he showed to his victims.

Gonzales May Be Next Attorney General

White House counsel Alberto Gonzales is said to be an early favorite to replace John Ashcroft as Attorney General.

I’m concerned about this choice as he has been involved in creating some of the problems that I perceive within the Justice Department. He publicly defended policies of holding onto suspects without access to legal representation or to the court systems for prolonged periods of time. The Supreme Court has ruled that legal limbo is illegal under the due process clause as I’ve mentioned before.

We need a new direction, not a continuation of a failed direction.

This is most unwise. They need an independent thinker who is not a buddy of the President.

An Attorney General needs to have enough distance from the President to order up independent investigations in the event that wrongdoing by the President or the Administration is discovered. That is what infuriated me about Janet Reno; she didn’t when she should have; she did when she shouldn’t have. The Justice Department is not the White House defense team. As the nation’s top cop, the Attorney General needs to enforce the law, not disregard any aspect of it.

The President really needs to think this through.