Musings and Mirth

Horrible Humans

I know only human being I’d actually like to murder. Now, I can add a few soldiers to the list:

Congolese militia are threatening to slaughter rare mountain gorillas in Congo’s Virunga National Park after they raided the eastern reserve at the weekend, killing a wildlife officer, officials said.

Up to three more local wildlife workers were injured in the attacks early on Sunday by Mai Mai militia fighters on three conservation and tourism camps in the park, in
Democratic Republic of Congo’s violence-torn North Kivu province.

Officials in Virunga, Africa’s oldest national park established in 1925, said on Monday the attackers looted the three sites, seizing arms and communications equipment.

The area attacked is only two hours walk from a unique and isolated population of gorillas, according to WildlifeDirect, an organization involved in conservation in Virunga, which is home to half of the 700 mountain gorillas that remain in the world.

“This was an unprovoked attack on our Rangers and other wildlife officers who protect Virunga’s wildlife. And the Mai Mai said that if we retaliate, they will kill all the gorillas in this area,” Virunga’s Park Director Norbert Mushenzi said in a statement distributed by WildlifeDirect.

During the raids, 13 other local wildlife workers were taken hostage by the militia fighters but were subsequently released, WildlifeDirect said.

Source

Great Man of the Day

Dlisted found this quote by Gabriel Byrne which is, to me, like a breath of fresh air. I love it when people call out Oprah on her shit. Love the woman (is Oprah God?) but seriously, she really does airbrush herself to death on her mag.

“Every single picture was airbrushed. Women look at those pictures and say, ‘Why don’t I look like that?’ and husbands say, ‘Why doesn’t my wife look like that at 50?’

“There’s a picture of Oprah on the cover where she looks about 12. If I bought a magazine and put pictures of myself looking 19, somebody would say to me, ‘Stop it’.

“I saw this hilarious ad that had this woman with two tiny wrinkles by her eyes. It said, ‘This is what you look like at 60.’ I know nobody who looked like that even at 20.”

I used to drive down Sunset every day to work and always pass Diane Keaton going in the other direction. She looks great to me but I gotta say, in real life she looks nothing like she does on TV, in film or in print. I give her props for at least trying to look her age, though. Here in America, we’re screwed on the age thing. In the UK, women on TV, as in desirable women on TV, look like adults. You don’t see there being a particular need to only put young and hot women on. I think this is part of the reason here in America actresses are being bred dumb and dumber every year. They are grown to appeal to the target demographic. Therefore, none of the smart, talented actresses are getting themselves known because they can’t get cast in anything. Over in other countries there isn’t such a manic need to appeal to young boys therefore, all different types of women of different ages and sizes are seen on television and in film. It’s a beautiful thing.

Oprah isn’t helping matters. It’s true that she isn’t THAT wrinkled. I saw her on Rachel Ray, though, where the lighting isn’t as well-designed for her face and she finally did look a bit closer to her age.

It’s a shame that I have to raise my daughter in a culture that hates the way we grow and age, where even a woman like Oprah must look good at all costs. And good means not looking like herself. Her real self.

The Poor Whales

I can’t bear the recent story of the lost whales in Sacramento. A mom and her calf got stuck when they swam down the wrong river and now they are on display, confused, and swimming in circles. They were encouraged to swim back out by whale sounds, which worked for another whale back in the 1980s. But that was a male whale and, let’s face it, homeboy would do anything to get near a female whale, even if it wasn’t his own species. But these are females and they’re probably smarter. And anyway, she clearly has other things on her mind:

The scientists have been playing sounds of whales feedings rather than love songs. “Because she is with a tending calf we don’t think she would be interested in any breeding-related calls at this point,” said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist at the National Marine Fishery Service.

It’s all very sad. Unless they find a way out soon they’ll die. They can’t feed off of anything in the fresh water river. Good god, somebody please do something.

More of the sad whale’s tale

What is it About Scientology?

I don’t think the religion is as bad as people think it is yet the church does nothing, and I mean nothing, to help change the perception about it. It is that so much of it is a mystery to the general public and any time anyone tries to expose it, well, you see what happens. The BBC Panorama episode, available for viewing on Film Threat, shows the difference between being attached to a major media outlet and being a publicist, or spokesperson, for a church. Journalists, good ones anyway, won’t fall for spin. If you try to spin them, they’ll spin it right back on you. This piece is a bit disturbing, even if there are two sides to every story. They ought to bring out in the open what it is their church is about – so people know, so they don’t have to guess.

I think human beings do need religion because life is so utterly unbearable half the time. Why not have faith in a higher power if it eases the pain. But there is isn’t very far to go from attending church to giving over your life to it, to ultimately ending your life for it. Much good has been done in the name of religion, but lord knows the devil has dipped his hand in too.

Film Threat is here

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

About Me

I spend way too much thinking about me. This is the blank space where that paragraph should be.