JOHN RUBENS is no Mother Teresa.

First Pitch: this is pretty cool. #HaroldReynolds: I like the location on Greinke’s pitches. Home Run Trout.

Bedtime Stories:

Once upon a time there was a short man nicknamed El Chapo.  He made some people feel good and others feel very bad.  One day, El Chapo and his friends came across a little girl playing in the woods.  She had a wicker basket El Chapo wanted to carry his goods for their journey through the tunnel to the other side of the forest.  The little girl was on an errand to bring lunch to her grandmother in the neighboring village–but El Chapo was no neighbor any longer.  He got in a fight with the Patron who put him in a dungeon and had escaped with the help of his gang.  El Chapo and his friends offered the little girl money and candy if only they would give him her basket full of food stuffs intended for her grandma.

El Chapo’s closest friend and body guard spoke to the little girl. “What’s your name little girl?” he said smiling.

“Little Red Riding Hood.”

“Oh, so you’re a hood too.  We’re hoods.  Do you speak Spanish?”

“Yes, but my mother told me not to speak to strangers,” Little Red Riding Hood replied.

“Well she meant in English.  You can speak Spanish to us.  Spanish is no bozo no-no in Los Angeles,” the Guapo bodyguard lied.

“Leave her alone,” said El Chapo.  “What do you take me for, a child molester?”

And El Chapo and his friends looked for a wolf to prey on while Little Red Riding Hood went to her grandmother’s house and told her all about her acquaintance with El Chapo, El Guapo and their friends in the woods.

You can look to the left and
Look to the right
But you will live in danger tonight
When the enemy comes he will
Never be heard
He’ll blow your mind and not say a word
Blinding lights, flashing colors
Sleepless nights
If the man with the power
Can’t keep it under control

Some heads are gonna roll

Excerpt: Some Heads Are Gonna Roll by Bob Halligan

What if #ISIL is like the #mafia? Don’t believe in action movies or fairy tales even if they star your favorite actors #Intent #MarlonBrando #MichaelDouglas

Do ex-cons have freedom of speech? #MichaelMilken, #AndyFastow, Mrs. Fastow, #MichaelCopper, #KenLay [deceased] #JeffreySkilling [prisoner]

When the U.S. Constitution had to be amended, one would think the U.S. Government would admit they had an incomplete or even faulty document to live and govern by.

When the opposition to what “the People” deem constitutional consistently use it to circumvent the spirit of the constitution, something is wrong.

That’s what Country Joe hit on and that’s what we have here: “A failure to communicate”.

Twitter, once decried as a source of misinformation, proved more accurate and prompt than mainstream media and even fledgling online sources due to the checks and balances inherent in the “free speech”  of one’s on-line constituency.  Once the mainstream media learned the gravity of their situation, they have co-opted social media into a potential arena of “#newspeak”* and temporary “#glitches”.

*Orwell’s 1984.  See also, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and the films 2001, A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick.

Not a bad film.  Nominated for an Academy Award, this intricate film weaves four countries and their peoples together over a Winchester rifle in the hands of two mischievous, adolescent boys.

The three storylines modulate with intensity and intrigue on their own merits until the denouement, where the ending strikes as somewhat ambiguous and quizzical.  Nevertheless, the three stories are complete in their own right although their connection to one another enhances the picture immensely.  The cinematography, especially the segments shot in Morocco where the inciting incident occurs, strikes me as the piece de resistance which earned its nomination ten years ago.

Possible themes: Americans are leaders/adventurers; Asians still in need of love and understanding; Moroccans are still mistreated, underprivileged, undereducated; Mexicans still suffer from separation anxiety and national origin identity dysfunction exacerbated by a border of right and wrong that doesn’t seem right.

2 1/2 stars

copyright John Rubens July 12, 2015

For every #DonaldTrumpPinata, I don’t know who I’d like to hit. Is it a crime to hit a pinata of a female? I suppose it would be a #judge.

President Carter: “No one was killed.” Bill Clinton: “Can I kill them tomorrow?” #43: Psalm 75; Candidate Hillary Clinton 2008: “[I’ll blow them to kingdom come.]” Donald Trump on blowing up Iraqi oil fields, “Who cares.”

I can’t help hoping New Jersey and their owners fall on hard times. #Mafia