Saturday, December 29, 2007
"Are you a god?"
In the first Ghostbusters movie, a wicked demon-like creature asks the guys if they are gods. Dan Aykroyd responds in the negative to which the demon nearly blows them off the top of a very high building. Ernie Hudson scolds him, telling him that if someone asks if he is a god, the answer is yes.
Enter Al Gore, the god of Global Warming or its new name, Climate Change. Well, if he is not a god, he is the prophet of the god who will someday destroy the world through global change/warming/whatever. Yes, Al Gore knows how the world will end and he is warning the planet that, with his help (i.e. money given to his companies, oops, I mean cause) we can save ourselves from eminent destruction. Whew! That was close.
I guess old Al has never read the Bible from cover to cover. Otherwise, he would know what many Christians have known from the beginning of humanity. God is in control and He has not yet given up His sovereignty to mankind. In other words, God knows how it will all end and He has not changed His plans just to please Al and his science-is-god crowd. Despite Al Gore’s faith in man as the ultimate decider of the end of the world, I believe I will keep my faith in the One who created it all, told us about it and made it clear that He will determine how it will all come to pass.
Sorry, Al. You are not a god. You are not even a very good prophet.
Enter Al Gore, the god of Global Warming or its new name, Climate Change. Well, if he is not a god, he is the prophet of the god who will someday destroy the world through global change/warming/whatever. Yes, Al Gore knows how the world will end and he is warning the planet that, with his help (i.e. money given to his companies, oops, I mean cause) we can save ourselves from eminent destruction. Whew! That was close.
I guess old Al has never read the Bible from cover to cover. Otherwise, he would know what many Christians have known from the beginning of humanity. God is in control and He has not yet given up His sovereignty to mankind. In other words, God knows how it will all end and He has not changed His plans just to please Al and his science-is-god crowd. Despite Al Gore’s faith in man as the ultimate decider of the end of the world, I believe I will keep my faith in the One who created it all, told us about it and made it clear that He will determine how it will all come to pass.
Sorry, Al. You are not a god. You are not even a very good prophet.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
How To Not Strike!!
Few but the die-hard TV viewers have noticed the Writers Guild strike outside of California. In the Golden State, the work stoppage has aggravated an already bad fiscal situation. California has for years overspent in an attempt to out-socialist the national politicians by offering everyone everything for which the government could pay. The result has been tight budgets from local up to the state level. The inactivity of the writers has shut down the entertainment industry and, by proxy, most of the economy of the state.
But in the rest of America, the strike has had little impact. Basically because of the sorry state of entertainment in general. The major networks have produced little to excite the viewing public as is testified by the Nielson ratings. The film industry puts out crap and super crap on a regular basis, as can been documented by the lackluster box office receipts. As a consequence, few have noticed much of a change in television or movies.
Enter the writers and their leadership’s decision to strike. The thought process seems to have been an attempt to shut down television’s January/February schedule, the most profitable months of the year for the venue. The strike card was the best card the WGA had in its hand. Playing it in a timely fashion was the key to the negotiations and the union leadership blew it big time. The January/February period was already headed for disaster so, in effect, the Guild saved the Moguls the embarrassment of explaining to sponsors and shareholders why they were unable to draw a decent audience. The Moguls can now point to the writers and blame them for the lack of revenue. Now the only weapon left in the WGA arsenal with which to pound the producers is pain. For the writers to win this strike and achieve the contract they want, they must enforce as much pain on themselves, the Moguls and everyone around the entertainment community as they can to apply pressure on AMPTP. Look at it like a movie where the director totally loses the plot and so must resort to random, senseless violence to salvage the picture. Hold your nose on this one.
My personal observation, as an outsider looking in, is that the writers had written a romantic story about a bunch of Jacks who went up against the Giant and won. They expected to be out on the picket lines for a few days of vacation, socializing with friends and coworkers, the Moguls would see the error of their ways, having discovered the resolve of the writers as a collective then to have every one of their demands met and back to work. Now they are angry because, as is the practice in Hollywood, the producers have changed the script. Granted, the AMPTP managed to make it a bomb like so many good ideas gone wrong but now everyone is stuck with it. Like an audience in a bad film, you just have to sit there and eat your popcorn and hope the end comes soon so you can go to the restroom.
But in the rest of America, the strike has had little impact. Basically because of the sorry state of entertainment in general. The major networks have produced little to excite the viewing public as is testified by the Nielson ratings. The film industry puts out crap and super crap on a regular basis, as can been documented by the lackluster box office receipts. As a consequence, few have noticed much of a change in television or movies.
Enter the writers and their leadership’s decision to strike. The thought process seems to have been an attempt to shut down television’s January/February schedule, the most profitable months of the year for the venue. The strike card was the best card the WGA had in its hand. Playing it in a timely fashion was the key to the negotiations and the union leadership blew it big time. The January/February period was already headed for disaster so, in effect, the Guild saved the Moguls the embarrassment of explaining to sponsors and shareholders why they were unable to draw a decent audience. The Moguls can now point to the writers and blame them for the lack of revenue. Now the only weapon left in the WGA arsenal with which to pound the producers is pain. For the writers to win this strike and achieve the contract they want, they must enforce as much pain on themselves, the Moguls and everyone around the entertainment community as they can to apply pressure on AMPTP. Look at it like a movie where the director totally loses the plot and so must resort to random, senseless violence to salvage the picture. Hold your nose on this one.
My personal observation, as an outsider looking in, is that the writers had written a romantic story about a bunch of Jacks who went up against the Giant and won. They expected to be out on the picket lines for a few days of vacation, socializing with friends and coworkers, the Moguls would see the error of their ways, having discovered the resolve of the writers as a collective then to have every one of their demands met and back to work. Now they are angry because, as is the practice in Hollywood, the producers have changed the script. Granted, the AMPTP managed to make it a bomb like so many good ideas gone wrong but now everyone is stuck with it. Like an audience in a bad film, you just have to sit there and eat your popcorn and hope the end comes soon so you can go to the restroom.
