Ten Commandments, Ten Reasons to watch

: "Ten reasons to watch Cecil B. DeMille's epic classic The Ten Commandments, a staple of Easter weekend viewing, sometime this weekend:
1) DeMille's grand old-Hollywood style filmmaking -- imagine a histrionic silent movie done with sound and color, and this is it;
2) Charlton Heston at his most messianic, going from matinee idol prince to elder statesman Moses (silver mane included) in the course of three hours;
3) Russian-born Yul Brynner as a regal Egyptian pharaoh -- and yes, compellingly sexy in his baldness;
4) Seductive minx Anne Baxter as Princess Nefritiri, desperately fumbling for sex symbol status while murmuring camp classic lines such as 'Oh Moses, Moses! You stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!';
5) A classic '50s 'all-star' supporting cast, including Cedric Hardwicke, Debra Paget, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson, Yvonne De Carlo, Nina Foch, and a 30 year-old John Derek as Joshua;
6) Mammoth (and kitschy) sets that are a wonder to behold -- and weren't created with computers!;
7) Plague after plague after plague that almost 50 years later will still creep you out;
8) The riotous living that the Cult of the Golden Calf indulges in, which appears to be modeled on some kind of exotic beach blanket party;
9) Two priceless cinematic moments above all: Edward G. Robinson as a Hebrew slave overseer (by way of the Lower East Side) bawling "Where's your messiah now, nyahhhh?"
and..
10) The parting of the Red Sea, possibly the first blockbuster special effects sequence, and the one by which all others were judged for decades." - Mark Englehart, as seen on IMDB.com

Bloomberg: Voting is for Citizens

Why is this even being discussed?

Remember what I said about "children's voting rights" in a previous post: liberals will do anything to swell the ranks of Democrat votersin order to shut out conservatives, no matter what the cost.

The King abdicates his throne

Adieu, Arnold Palmer. For all of my life, my dad has been a colonel in Arnie's Army even going to see the master in person on several occassions, albeit long after Palmer's prime. I'm amazed that Palmer has kept at it as long as he has, a true model of resiliency.

Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show

"...many parents and children got upset when a church trying to teach about Jesus' crucifixion performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs."

Ya think?!

Often, the debate in society is between the secular and the orthodox. Those of us on the orthodox side need to concern ourselves with is the normal and the COMPLETELY FREAKING INSANE!

The trappings of secular Eastertide may diminish the reason for the season (though the case could be made that Christmas is far more out of control, but I digress.) Its a subject for discussion among sensible, learned individuals. This incident, however, is zealousness with no rational thought. How is the beating of a symbolic small furry animal bringing people closer to Jesus?

"Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman"

Easter is a time of renewal and appreciation, not being whack'd on the head with ye olde time fire and brimstone. To those congregants who endured this madness, may your soul find rest in a faith community which grasps the true meaning of Christ's resurrection.

al-Qaida Threat Included in Bush Memo

"President Bush's August 2001 briefing on terrorism threats, described largely as a historical document, included information from three months earlier that al-Qaida was trying to send operatives into the United States for an explosives attack..."

What this has to do with hijacking airplanes and flying them into buildings is a connection I don't see. This intel was incomplete and vague. This search for a smoking gun is complete insanity.

9/11 panel member faults Clinton inaction

Why iosn't THIS front page news? Why aren't more people screaming for Clinton's head on a platter (no, thot THAT head!)?

"A Sept. 11 commission Democrat disagreed Friday with President Clinton's assessment there wasn't enough intelligence linking al-Qaida to a deadly attack on a Navy ship to justify an attack on the terrorist organization.

"Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey said he believes Clinton should have launched a military strike against al-Qaida following the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.

'I think he did have enough proof to take action,' Kerrey said on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' "

Ex-KKK chief Duke released from prison in Texas

For those too stupid to realize the big scam of David Duke, here's proof:

"Prosecutors said Duke told supporters that he was in danger of losing his home and savings, but said he sold his home for a profit, held numerous investment accounts and gambled away much of his take at casinos in Mississippi, Las Vegas and the Bahamas."

To all of those who voted for Duke against Edwin Edwards and used the "I can't vote for the crooked EWE" as a defense of your heinous abuse of the democratic process, the need of self-examination and penance is never more obvious than now, especially those who voted for him in large numbers back in 1999. Shame on you.

Regular Guys out at 96rock

Okay...so now what? Who's next? Wonder how my old buddy Rod Ryan is handling all this.

I hate to say this, but I'm ahead of the curve yet again, getting out of lowest-common-denominator radio when I did.

Unfortunately, there's little left for radio to do. It's sad history is one of continued dumbing down in the face of adversity, with the exception of movements like FM rock in the late 1960's and the alternative radio format at stations like KROQ, both of which were either absorbed and/or co-opted by more pedestrian trends. Now that Stern and everybody else of his ilk fels the vise tightening, there's no even-dumber-than-that option for radio to embrace. As long as the suits rely less on the business of show and more on the business of numbers, radio is a bankrupt medium. 75% of the stations are automated, the employees in radio suffer from extreme ADD, it's the lowest form of show business. XM sells tons of radios because you can catch Fox News Channel, or more precisely the audio half of the full TV presentation, in the car. With CD's and now DVD's in cars, there's no going back to "boss radio."

Wired News: Trojan Horse Attacks Mac OS X

A virus targeting Mac OS X was inevitable. It was just too good to have not one virus damaging to Macs, and not to have Mac owners like myself worry about problems associated with Windows. Oh well. Time to boot up anti-virus for the first time ever.

The Passion, Pilate, and the political vocation

"It has been striking that so many commentators on The Passion have remarked on how sympathetically Gibson portrays Pilate. Some have gone even further to say that the Christian gospels themselves were written to cast Pilate in a favorable light, with an eye to not offending the Roman imperial power. But to see Gibson's Pilate as a sympathetic figure speaks volumes not about Gibson or the gospels, but about the state of our political culture."

Father DeSouza goes on to list seven (nice biblical number) different examples in Pilate's conduct of political squirreliness.

Where's mah stories?

"Powell might be wise just to let this die quietly, as hell hath no fury like a soap opera mom scorned. If you need proof just ask any local network affiliate switchboard operator what happens when the soap mom's favorite soap is interrupted by a sporting event or a weather report. The lines light up and the soap moms complain. And now with FCC commissioner Copps considering policing the daytime airwaves, soap operas might be the next target for a government agency that can easily be dubbed 'As The FCC Commission Turns.'

"And the FCC thought they had trouble with the Howard Stern audience."

Truer words were never spoken!

'One Child, One Vote' Suggested

"TURIN, Italy, APRIL 5, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Christian Associations of Italian Workers proposed the right to vote for children, exercised by their mothers or fathers.

"The proposal was aired at the recent of the national congress of the group. Luigi Bobba, its president, had already presented the idea in an article published in Il Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest-circulation newspaper.

"'We are faced with a democratic dilemma; that is, the lack of political representation of the interests of minors,' he said."

You watch folks...the Democrats will come with this idea if the Italians are successful with it. Mark my words. Anything to swell their numbers. With ethnic Catholics and inner-city mammas with seven chill'runs among the constituencies they covet, its not hard to imagine a senario like this under the guide of "we're the real family values party" and "equal right for ALL."

Deliver us!

HISD may promote failing kids to cut dropouts

Yes...it's called cheating.

C-Murder Found Guilty, Receives Life

Just to refresh your memory.

Where's the outraged Bill O'Reilly when we need him?

Rapper C-Murder granted new trial in La. murder case

My only hope is that this new trial proves even more conclusively that this monster is guilty. The guy he killed was a 16-year-old kid trying to get an autograph. This may sound, "Old Testament" but on the surface it looks like capital punishment in this case is justified.

Meanwhile back here on da bayou...

I attended the Palm Sunday vigil at St. George yesterday. Normally, as Latin Mass devotee to the hilt, I'm at the 9:30 AM liturgy @ St. Agnes downtown, but with this whole daylight savings shift and working until midnight, I didn't want to risk waking up late - a wise decision since I ended up rising at 9:45. So I went to St. George and was pleased by the homily given by Father Joey Angeles.

First of all, Father Joey is a rockstar. I'm told he is a trained opera singer, and there's no doubt the good cleric can wail - attend mass and dig his plainchant take on the doxology "Per Ipsum" (aka "Through him, with him, in him...) He obviously has a great artistic bent.

It's no surprise that he signaled his approval of Mel Gibson's Passion this weekend during his homily which is always filled with concepts of right and wrong, a rarity in this post-"God is Agape" world. The exact words he used escape me, but he said something to the effect of the movie vividly bringing the crucifixion to life for millions.

God Bless You, Father Joey. You GET it.

Calif. Teacher Fired for 'Passion' Credit

My first thought when reading this: the liberals are striking back.

Okay, that might be a bit presumptuous to assume, but consider these facts:

1.) It was a teacher in a Catholic School. Why would an institution with a mission to educate youths in the faith dismiss and employee for this?

2.) The whole R-rated excuse is being thrown about: "The school's principal, Marilyn Fleming, said it is against school policy to assign students to watch R-rated movies." Oh no...not the almighty "school policy"!

As the more-detailed rating system shows, this film was not rated R due to content of prurient interest; no sex or bad language or other "sinful" content appears in this film. Of course its violent, which befits the situation - no less than the cruel torture, crucifixion and death of our Lord.

3.) Nothing compulsory about this #1: The teacher did not show the film in class, thus exposing the little cherubs to that nasty-wasty "viowence" and the supposed "anti-semitism" (which is a trojan-horse argument disguising the true intentions of its proponents, which are anti-Christian, or at the very least anti-orthodox.)

4.) Nothing compulsory about this #2: This was not a mandated assignment, it was potential extra-credit for any student who wished to see it. Disapproving parents could have certainly said, "sorry junior/missy, but you'll just have to get that 'A' by working your behind off on your regular course work."

5.) Firing the teacher is a bit harsh. Come on - you fire a teacher who breaks the law or does something flagrant which endangers the students or goes against church teaching. On the surface, it looks as if he was dismissed for this one infraction: there's no discussion of whether this man was a good teacher or any other circumstance surrounding his firing. Was this a straw that broke the camel's back? Or was it a quick and decisive move by a liberal parties within the diocese to silence dissent?

People of good will in America are sick and tired of this crap. This is the kind of move that forces parents to home school their kids.