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I haven’t watched the Oscars (or any other award show for a while). Last year (2010) really did it for me. With Sandra Bullock winning in “The Blind Side”.

After thinking about it for a while and seeing “The Social Network” (which I think should have been named “Social Network”, but I digress), I realized why I was so down on the Oscars.

For the Big 6 awards:

• Best Picture
• Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Best Director

Films and Actors / Actresses will be disqualified from nomination if the film has the following characteristics:

• Is a revision of a previously released movie proposed to the Academy (ie: a remake, reboot, etc.)
• Movies “based on a true story” can only be submitted after the protagonist has passed away (the whole story is finished).

While the stories like “The Blind Side” and “The Social Network” are entertaining, the stories are not finished. They are really not worth being told. Awarding a movie about about one snippet of people’s lives, is like giving a Pulitzer to a book based on one chapter.

I really want to separate the art of movie-making vs. a movie / performance as a work of art.

Contact page is here.

Graphics quality is so-so, but the same experience is shown on my TV, PC, Mac and even the iPad.  So much potential.

What will make me a true believer?  A Netflix-style library.  Think GoG + OnLive.  I would totally pay a monthly fee to have a whole library of games at my finger tips.  Especially one that would travel with me.

I was also in Asia for the 2002 WC.  I can remember watching the USA / Mexico Round of 16 game in a bar, and when the USA scored, I was the only one standing up and cheering…  (granted it was Singapore)  I wonder if this would have happened if I was in a bar overseas during the USA / Algeria game.

It was an average WC for the USA.  They need a striker.  Time to start getting all those undersized shooting guards and converting them to soccer forwards.

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• Corporations are afforded many of the same rights as people, which they shouldn’t.
  • This allows ease of creation of “non-profits” to make (now unlimited) donations to the politicians of their choice.
• “We have something the founding fathers never intended, career politicians… They make decisions to save their job.” – David Walker on “The Daily Show”.
  • Our “leaders” are no better than any joe off the street.  Coupled with item #1, means that our current laws

Solutions: I am a “liberal” in the current political terms.  However, what I propose should be fairly nonpartisan.

• How do you make corporations behave as responsible commercial entities?
  • The Federal government should regulate them within the bounds of its authority.  They should regulate interstate and international commerce.  (See article linked above)
  • For too long states and cities have pandered to large retail chains and companies by making it appealing to move to their city / state to increase revenues, etc.  Now we’re paying the price.
• How do you make the politicians care about the people instead of their own interests?
  • Politicians need to realize they are in a position of service to the people (and with the previous argument, this does NOT include corporations)
  • Citizens should make city and state politicians more accountable.  Constitutionally speaking, the States are supposed to have the power in the United States of America.  The Federal government is supposed to have limited power.  Citizens need to keep more money locally and become involved in local and state issues.  Vote in city and local elections.
  • The election of Obama does give me hope that those after GenX will not have the same fevered greed I and those older than myself share.
  • In the mean time, there should be a path for people that are exiting the corporate world to enter the world of service (politics, teaching).

As a total side note: I have come to believe that we are at the end of the “Golden age of retail”.  Large department stores and chain stores are an endangered species.  Their huge explosion into all the areas of suburbia was brought on by the availability of cheap credit and lowered costs of goods as manufacturing shifted to China.  Since the former is like totally gone with the last financial crisis, we should really start looking at how to enable the local businesses again, especially service and small scale manufacturing / farming.

I do want to say that I believe in:

• You can treat people fairly, but not the same.
• Every should be given opportunity.  America loves a comeback story, let people fail and pick themselves up.  If they are unable to pick themselves up, then we figure out how to help them.
  • ex: Not everyone needs to go to college.  If kids flunk their high school exit exam, hold them to it.  Don’t lower the damn criteria.  (again, politicians trying to hold onto their jobs)
  • We cannot confuse education for experience.
• I believe Unions are a bane on many industries.  The reasons they were founded for many reasons no longer exist.  People need to take personal responsibility for their actions, and not have a group negotiate on behave of the least capable of a group.  It marginalized the truly talented of the group.
• Morality and religion are not one and the same.  We all want responsible, ethical, moral people with integrity in our political system.  Our country has separation of church and state.  Leave deities out of politics, focus on helping the people.  It usually starts with “treat others as you would like to be treated”.
• Ideologies need to take a back seat to governance of the city / state / county.
  • In our current political climate, we have two parties who throw “wedge issues” into the media (ie. abortion, gay marriage, etc.) things that ideologically are important, but are really secondary to what we really need out of our leader and political parties, the want and desire to make this country a better place for all of its law-abiding citizens.
  • I also think that politicians need to have an incentive to do some core things, ie: their pay should be reduced to $1, if they cannot pass a balanced budget on time.

Now, I need to figure out how to put all these words into a personal action plan.  Support your local and state governments.  Criticism without solutions is a complaint.  Propose solutions.

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