Banjo's World

Wow, I just cannot believe how great the responses to my first vlog were. Quite a large number of people sent me all sort of messages with nothing but praises. Nearly left me speechless to see quite a large audience who are deeply interested in vlog entries. Not only did I get great responses from this blogsite, I also got a lot of them from some deaf forums where I posted the link to my vlog. Not only is it a great concept, but also it’s even greater when we are able to subtitle these video clips. Google Video has done a great favour to the deaf and yes… the hearing too as well. After all, quite a lot of these people are “signing impaired”.

I’m also deeply grateful for the existence of DeafRead.com; they’ve done a great service to the deaf & hard-of-hearing blogosphere by unifying all of us and reach out to where no men has gone before. DeafRead.com is an amazing success as far I am concerned. There has been a few websites where the same goal was made but failed for some reasons. I believe the reason why it’s a successful site is because they made the html codes allowing any sites to list the latest entries listed on DeafRead. A lot of credits must be given to them for paving the road to expanding the blogosphere with a strong sense of diversity.

I want to thank all of these people who took the time to give me some constructive criticisms about my first vlog and I appreciate them very much. I’m going to take these and work on them for my next vlog. I don’t know when, but I hope it’ll be soon. I’m thinking of covering just one subject, but I don’t know which one yet. Till I posted it, I had absolutely no idea what a big deal it would be among the blogosphere. I showed it to a co-worker yesterday, this co-worker isn’t a signer and she ended up being blown away by it. I believe a lot of hearing people would find themselves blown away by the signing especially when it’s subtitled.

Oh yes, some people asked me about subtitles and how I made them. It’s quite easy to make. There’s a PC freeware for it, it’s known as “Subtitle Workshop”. Click here to access the page. There are some for the Mac, there’s one named “Miyu”. I haven’t gotten around to using it, so I’m not sure how easy it is to use. I have several, but I’ve used Subtitle Workshop on several occasions, mainly to tweak some subtitles I’ve downloaded. Just to remind you, Google Video recommends that you save your subtitles in either two formats, SRT (SubRip) or SUB (SubViewer). I hope that was helpful enough for most.

Have a grand day.

Originally posted on April 27, 2006

‘Battlestar Galactica’, the reimagined TV series is such a gem. Prior to the airing of the mini-series back in 2003, I was familiar with the original TV series. I never watched an episode of it, but I was aware of it. They also released the original onto the DVD format as a part of the big promotion for the new series. I never bought the set due to the clunky packaging design. I hope they will re-release it in a standard DVD packaging shortly so I can watch them. I’m sure the costume design and special effects are badly outdated, but it has to be popular for a reason. It has a large cult of followers.

Originally posted on April 26, 2006

There are so many activities you can do to keep yourself entertained instead of entering the world of boredom. One of them would be the media industry; they provide entertainment to the public. There are a large variety of concepts in the industry. The media industry is incredibly powerful; they’re everywhere you go, even in the public washrooms.

The movies are obviously my favourite part of the industry, as you can tell from reading my blog on a frequent basis. They can be found to be quite entertaining and something to pass the time by. I will be the first to admit that there are more awful movies being pumped out of Hollywood than the gems are. It has become a standard in the industry to provide mediocre and horrific movies, it is part of doing business. They want to make big bucks, but they don’t always succeed at it because they do blow a large amount of it on advertising their products quite often. Still, that doesn’t justify the blaming game.

The sad part of reality is that the media industry especially the video game developers and film producers often get blamed for the violence in our society these days. Parents set up lawsuits against the media industry for what their children did. The media industry includes a large number of established industries such as television, magazines, newspapers, advertisements and more. The reason why parents try to lay the blame on the industry is because they cannot handle the responsibility of their children’s horrific actions against the society. It is easier for them to blame someone else other than themselves. The parents have a legal and moral obligation to be responsible for their children till the age of eighteen, and they often ignore the importance of educating their children about life and responsibilities. Especially when their children are in their teenage years, for many, it is a hard time to go through with all the changes both emotionally and physically. The minute it becomes too late to take action with a child’s personal conflict is when they commit a murderous act; for example, a school shooting. The parents’ reaction to a school shooting on several occasions resulted in a multi-million dollars lawsuit. Of course, all or most of them ended up being dismissed from the courtroom.

To err is human, but to lay the blame on someone else is more human. It rings true when the parents attempt to lay the blame onto the others for their children’s actions. It is dead-on wrong to blame someone else for something that you know you are responsible for. Children are responsible for their actions too, but they do look to you to guide them through the journey to adulthood.

You would think that some parents would have an ounce of common sense when it comes to watching movies. If a movie has a warning label on it saying it’s not suitable for children, that’s exactly what it means. It doesn’t mean anything else. Yes, it is your decision on what to allow your children to view and what they can’t. That’s your responsibility, and if you see signs of the negativity from the movies influencing your children, take action, don’t blame the movies, and blame yourself. You allowed them to watch it in the first place; the movie producers don’t come to your doorstep and beg you to let your kids watch their movies. It’s all up to you; you have the absolute power when it comes to what movies they can watch in your household. The movie ratings are there for a reason, it’s to suggest what inappropriate contents are featured in the movie and how age-appropriate it is. God forbid you allow your children to watch ‘Debbie Does Dallas’! My father once said to me, “These parents whose blame the media industry should realize that the parents should be the one to be blamed in many ways because they are supposed to take care and watch over them”. I agreed firmly with him on his opinion, the media industry shouldn’t be blamed. It’s just business, nothing personal.

Peer pressure is common among all schools, and they can be a powerful influence on your children, mostly negative. As I grew up, my parents educated me on the dangers of some certain activities and the fact that they are illegal. They didn’t want to see me fall victim and ruin my future by getting involved. Thankfully, I was given the information I needed and I resisted the peer pressure, which is surprisingly easy to do if you know what to do. Education is the key, and having the parents commit to guiding their children through their life greatly increases the chances at being successful. Life is short, but children grow in a flash and will be out of your grip before you know it. So don’t wait, spend time with your children and teach them about life.

The media shouldn’t be blamed for the violence happening in this world. Violence is everywhere. You don’t need the media industry to cause problems; people already are doing a good job of it. We aren’t exactly a peaceful society; we have rapists and murderers on the roam every single day traumatizing and killing the innocents. Long before we had violent movies, Romans used to watch gladiators fighting each other and being eaten by the lions. The horrific wars between the American Natives and the American settlers, the slavery in Egypt, the two World Wars and many more barbaric events to go over in the history books.

The media industry is not responsible for the violence in our society.

It’s us.

Originally posted on April 23, 2006

There are so many different mysteries and phenomena that are still unexplained in this world. Spiritual activities continue to be one of the most unexplained mysteries because there are no physical evidences, and this is still just a big theory today. To many, it’s real and they’ve seen it. The reason why I’m sharing this with you is because I strongly believe in this subject. I believe I have seen so much that I could barely explain and I have no way of proving it. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Many people don’t want to believe in ghosts because they have a fear inside of them. Or they’re just skeptical due to the lack of experiences. Human beings have a tendency of being afraid of subjects that they don’t have a strong grip on to understand. It may seem to some people that I have more courage but I know that courage is being the only one who knows you’re afraid. If somebody who has a fear of ghosts saw some of the things that I have seen, it would really turn their hair white. Some of my stories about my early childhood are featured here. These experiences did make a big impact on my whole life just because of what happened in my childhood. As far I can remember, I was just 3 to 4 years old when these paranormal activities began occurring in my bedroom. I know this kind of strangeness wouldn’t happen to most people when they are young. It’s either that or they just keep it to themselves.

It took place in the middle of the night, I was sleeping gently in my bed; all of a sudden, the ceiling light in my room came on causing my body to react by waking up. I looked around; I knew that nobody was up at the time. My family wouldn’t dare to play tricks like that on me, as that would be a cruel practical joke to play on a 4-year-old child. I got back into the bed after turning off the light, then a few minutes later; the light came back on its own. Naturally, I began to get scared a bit. My eyes suddenly widen and looked at my closet door as it began to open slowly and that terrified me so much. I felt the urge to panic and ran to my parents’ room. I pounced onto their bed to wake them up. I dragged them by hands to my bedroom. They quickly inspected the room by their eyes. They proceeded to tell me, “It was just a bad dream”. At that time, our communication wasn’t as fine-tuned as it is today, I and both of my parents just had began to learn sign language, naturally I was already far ahead of my parents.

After being tucked back into my bed and my parents went back to bed, I was still terrified by what I had seen. My father already had shut the closet door wide shut and turned off the light. Shortly after dozing off, the light came back on once again. I turned my head to look and I saw an image on the ceiling, it has been burnt into my head forever and I’ll never be able to push it out of it. The image appeared to be an icy blue face. I recognized the face; it was one of the illustrated faces from a childhood toy of mine. It was a Ghostbusters Proton Gun; it had some slide images that you could project onto a surface. You could make the jaws of the characters featured in the slide images move. The face was moving its jaws but I wasn’t sure if it actually said something or not due to my deafness. I do believe that the spirit may have made the attempt to communicate with me; it wasn’t a success. Through the next several years, I’ve encountered and experienced a large number of paranormal activities, but I kept it to myself because I didn’t believe my parents would believe me after what happened in my bedroom that night.

One day in the year of 1993, everything changed. The first sibling in the family had been staying in a hospital in the city of Toronto for three months. My mother stayed in the city to keep her company as any loving mother would do. My father stayed home with me and my other two siblings. During my mother’s absence, it isn’t very common for my parents to be apart for more than a night or two. One evening when he went to sleep in his big empty bed, something strangely happened. It was as if somebody was walking onto the mattress in a slow motion. Suddenly, he felt a set of hands rubbing his feet and they slowly went up to his knees, he saw with his own eyes, the skin on his knees were moving as if they were being rubbed. Quickly, he exited his bedroom after being spooked by the experience. After a while of being awake, he decided to go re-enter the bedroom and go back to sleep. He couldn’t go through with it as it had reoccurred. The same activity started night after night in the bedroom, he ended up sleeping onto the couch in the living room.

The day my mother came home from Toronto, she was heavily exhausted after all the stress of being in the big city for months. She decided to take an afternoon nap while my father was out doing errands. My father did not inform her of what had happened to him in the bedroom. He was too worried his own wife wouldn’t believe his story. Shortly into her nap, the same paranormal activity occurred as it had to in my father’s experience. She was startled and terrified. In fact, it was a more amplified version in comparison to my father’s, her legs were being pulled and lifted into the air screaming for help. My older brother and his friend immediately ran to the room and aided her out of the bedroom. They had caught a glance of what was happening to her, they were also terrified. My father instantly knew he wasn’t just imagining it as it had happened to his own wife in the very same room. In fact, they ended up sleeping onto a mattress on the floor in the living room for months before finally being able to sleep in the bedroom in peace.

One of my sisters also had some particular experiences, one evening when she had some of her friends sleeping over. They were all sleeping except for my sister; she saw a sphere entering her bedroom that had a glowing green aura around it. It was floating in the air and heading toward her. It stopped into a corner and frozen while still glowing for a few minutes or it may had felt that long to her and only had been a few seconds instead. Being terrified can make the time seems slow or fast.

I think I’ve shared enough stories for tonight. I wouldn’t want to be held responsible for keeping you up at nights.

Originally posted on April 28, 2006

Today, Universal Studios released the movie based on the true event that took place on September 11, 2001. Four airplanes were hijacked and three of them reached their targets. United Flight 93 did not. The passengers on flight 93 turned to each other for support and to form a plan to thwart the terrorists' plan. Click here to access the official site. The movie has been receiving a lot of praises from both the Liberals and Conservatives, 9/11 was where the Americans truly became united for a while till they went back to their old ways of hating each other's guts.

Originally posted on March 24, 2006

Recently, I was sent an e-mail regarding the blog entry titled, ‘Bitterback Mountain – Ungracious Losers’. The reader had made the attempt to post it in the comments section, but
it didn’t work for some reasons that I cannot explain. My blog is set to allow all of my readers to post their opinions and feedbacks. If you cannot, click here to send me an e-mail.

I felt that a misunderstanding had taken place and the main point of the article I had written was overlooked. I need to make a clarification regarding the blog entry I had written and hope that the misunderstanding will be cleared up.

I did not make fun of any movies. The title, ‘Bitterback Mountain’ was a metaphor in describing Annie Proulx’s reaction to the upset victory of ‘Crash’. To me, it made perfect sense, as she was the author of the original short story. As you may recall, I did not make any jokes regarding the homosexuality theme in the film. Nor did I make any jokes about the racial theme in the movie, ‘Crash’. In fact, I found most of the jokes to be heavily juvenile. I don’t care too much for Jay Leno or any talk show hosts; they aren’t what they used to be.

In today’s society, people find it easier to make a mockery out of homosexuality rather than using a racial theme. It doesn’t mean it’s right what they are doing. It’s a condition in the society. It has more to do with mind programming from the families and the mainstream media, which does make a large influence in how we think and react to social issues. However, I would have note the irony because I've seen people made fun for wearing a turban when they’re in fact, Sikh instead of Muslim. Turbans are mostly worn by Sikhs. Yet they are so intimidated by people of different backgrounds and not the Islamic terrorists. It’s a social condition that evolves to different themes through the ages and we always are fighting to break the barriers. People are like a flock of sheep, it’s easier for them to believe the negativity than it is to believe the positive perceptive of life.

The point of writing it was to show how I disapprove of people who react to their losses in such an ungracious manner. It’s a strong sign of being a poor sport, if I was nominated for an award and I didn’t win, I will not write an article and send it to a major newspaper saying how I should had been recognized for my works. It's just tacky. The best way to achieve a global recognizance is to not ask for it.

Had it been Paul Haggis, the director of ‘Crash’ who lost to ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and wrote a similar article to Annie Proulx’s, you can bet that I will react in the same way. Ungracious losers easily turn me off. It’s all about sportsmanship when it comes to victories and losses. I’ve seen ‘Crash’ and I do plan on seeing ‘Brokeback Mountain’ once I get the chance to. I never vow to not see a film, some people are just being ridiculous when they vow to not see a film simply because they find the storyline to be offensive. Some of the Jewish followers tried to accuse ‘The Passion of the Christ’ of spreading anti-Semitism only to end up looking like fools because it wasn’t. The movie was decent, not fantastic in my opinion. It was pretty over hyped.

An important reminder to my readers, my opinions is my true opinions. Any one will not sway my opinions. You are free to speak your mind here and be immune from any patronization. I don’t tolerate patronization here at my space. I treat all of my readers as my equals, no matter what. I will not treat my readers as if they have an I.Q. of 9. I strongly disapprove of the bloggers who does patronize their readers.

You are my equal and I will treat you like one, even if you don’t treat me like one.

Originally posted on March 14, 2006

Annie Proulx, the author of 'Brokeback Mountain', a former Best Picture contender at the Oscars slammed the recent upset victory for 'Crash'. The voters spoke and they will not be swayed by the reactions, not even from a sore loser. 'Crash' is still the winner, like it or not. It doesn't mean you have to agree, you have your preferences, they have theirs'.

Here's an excerpt from the article at Chicago Tribune,

"And rumor has it that [Lions Gate] inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of `Trash' -- excuse me -- `Crash' a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves and the debate over free silver."

To read more, click
here.

It's not everyday that you hear about a Oscar loser being so bitter. Sore losers aren't too appealing, they take everything for granted and act as if they are owed something. Sheesh, some people are just so ungracious these days. Just when you thought somebody would be just happy enough to be nominated for an award. By the way, Annie Proulx won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for 'The Shipping News'. A novel that was also adapted into a film starring Kevin Spacey.

Originally posted on March 5, 2006

Every year after the Oscars telecast, there's a bunch of "viewers" whining about the so-called politics. For your sake, you aren't being forced to watch the Oscars. You're only watching it to make some complaints to get attention and feel better about yourselves.

The Academy Awards members watch the movies and vote, not you. You get to watch the awards being awarded to the nominees, but you don't get to vote. So why whine? That's what People's Choice Awards are for.

I find it amusing when I see somebody making a fuss about a certain win being "politicized" when they are in fact politicizing it themselves. If you think they're all out to get the President; you're being paranoid. Last time I checked, the President has a 34 percent of the nation's approval on his performance and it's still sinking. As I recall, some people tried to say that Bill Clinton suffered the same problem, which is completely untrue.

Bill Clinton was at his lowest during his first year in office and suddenly, it spiked and never came down near to his lowest point since then. His lowest was at 36 percent in May of 1993 and it lasted barely 2 months then it went above 40 percent and never went any lower ever again. In fact, he has the highest approval rating for any outgoing president in history. President Bush's approval rating has suffered for a good while. Will President Bush be able to get a good rating when he finishes his second term? Click here to read a blog entry I made back in November on the presidential job performance ratings.

I doubt it. They're on the losing side. No need to be a sore loser about it. There may be some jokes that may not reflect the President too well, especially when he has such a low approval rating. Maybe the late night talk show hosts wouldn't be making fun of the President if his approval rating were high. I wish the best luck to Jon Stewart on his hosting gig tonight at the Oscars. He probably won't be a screamer like last year's host, Chris Rock.

By the way, I predict 'Crash' will achieve an upset victory over 'Brokeback Mountain'. Though I do predict the Best Director award going to Ang Lee for 'Brokeback Mountain', after all he does deserve it. Most of the times, both Best Director and Best Picture are awarded to the same movie. Though back in 2003, the Best Director went to the U.S. fugitive, Roman Polanski for The Pianist and the Best Picture award went to the musical, 'Chicago'. In 2001, Steven Soderbergh snagged the Best Director award for 'Traffic' and 'Gladiator' was declared the Best Picture. 'Shakespeare in Love' had an upset victory over 'Saving Private Ryan' in 1998, Spielberg was awarded the Best Director but they felt that 'Shakespeare in Love' was a better film. Nobody has talked about the movie in ages, I wouldn't be surprised if people barely remember it while they recall what a great movie 'Saving Private Ryan' was.

It doesn’t happen very often, it has only happened 20 times out of 77. Click here to view the database of "Picture and directing winners not from same film".

Hey, if I end up being wrong about 'Crash', at least it's just a prediction. I highly recommend the movie, it's a well-done film made on a budget of 6.5 million dollars. The only big budgeted film is Steven Spielberg's 'Munich' at 70 million dollars. Both 'Capote' and 'Good Night, and Good Luck' had $7 million each. 'Brokeback Mountain' was produced at a low price of $14 million. Just because the average moviegoer may had not seen them doesn't mean they are flops. All of them has made back or exceeded the budget enough to make a profit.

No need to politicize it. Repugnance isn't necessary. It's like listening to a spoiled 3 years old on a sugar high and throwing a temper tantrum. It's a simple task, just don't watch it if you don't support them. Otherwise, just shut up and enjoy the show.

To the Oscar nominees, good luck on winning the awards.

Originally posted on March 11, 2006

With all the people screaming about how all the illegal immigrants should be arrested and deported from the USA. Don’t they realize that it’s pretty much impossible at this stage now that the population of illegal aliens is now in double digits?

There has to be a different solution to this problem, it’s out of control and it isn’t getting any better. The USA has a large deficit and it’s growing, even though they swore to God that it’d be butchered in half by 2008 but will that happen? We’ll have to wait and see. With the deficit, it will be more difficult to use more resources to capture and deport the illegal residents. The public schools are already suffering due to poor funding and with the expensive costs of the wars; it won’t be easy to fund the agencies to chase these people.

There need to be a different solution, the USA cannot risk any more than it already has to use more resources to chase people around while the population keep on exploding. It will cost you even more in the future, somebody need to come up with a plan. I don’t know what can be done, we don’t have this kind of problem in Canada, we do have illegal aliens but we are able to keep it under control. We even do kick the refugees out of the country after a lengthy stay. It’s sad because many of the refugees have proven themselves to be law-abiding tax-paying civilians of Canada. With all the bureaucracy, it’s bound to drive me absolutely bonkers.

As of now, there’s an estimated population of 12 million illegal aliens from 8.4 million in 2000. What a difference 6 years can make. Yet they try to point fingers at countries like Canada and more for “harbouring” terrorists. They can’t even stop the Mexicans from entering the USA illegally. It’s amazing what blame games they resort to, they only have themselves to blame, and we didn’t encourage anybody to do it to the USA. The truth is, the President of America has a soft spot in his heart for the illegal aliens. Whether you want to admit it or not, do you remember his “Temporary Worker Program” proposal for the illegal aliens that got shot down back in January 0f 2004? It cannot be denied that President Bush is pushing for the illegal aliens to become legal residents of the USA.

It’s a great danger to the people of America economically wise. There are millions of unemployed Americans and it’s bad enough that they lose these jobs to these people. Not only that, there’s a large number of legal immigrants who went through hell to be granted the permission to reside in the country. I imagine they must feel quite insulted when they see these who are undocumented granted the freedom to reside wherever they wish to after breaking the law.

I wouldn’t be surprised if most people are able to “vaguely” recall it, it was swept under the carpet so quickly that one wouldn’t had the time to listen to the plan. Though there were good intentions in it, but the flaw was… it takes the job opportunities away from the legal US residents. Our-sourcing jobs isn’t helping much either, there’s even rumours of Apple setting up a call centre in India.

I do have great concerns for the welfare of the legal residents of any countries, they shouldn’t be denied the job opportunities and be given to illegal aliens who are willing to work for less. Wal-Mart has been guilty of hiring quite a number of illegal aliens and there is an occasional big bust at a big-box retailer for hiring undocumented civilians. Many, many American employers are hiring undocumented civilians because of the lower costs, I don’t think enough American employers are being arrested and sent to the prison. In fact, I believe American employers should be held on a higher account and be sought by the Federal agents because these people are encouraging and funding the illegal population to expand at an unstoppable rate.

The conclusion is, go after the employers and slap them with severe punishments. I believe it will slow down the population growth because not so many employers will resort to such a tactic after seeing all the harsh punishment being laid onto the people of their kind. In my opinion, none of them has to do with moral values; it's an economical problem. People should be held accountable for deliberately sabotaging the economics of the USA.

Punish the employers, not the illegal aliens. It’ll only cost the government more. This is an alternative solution and a potential reduction in costs to fight the ongoing illegal immigration problems. It's just an idea, there are many more ideas with a lot of potential. With the nasty deficit breathing down their necks, they should go back to the drawing board and go over more ideas on how to fight it.

Originally posted on April 6, 2006

Originally posted on April 17, 2006

Child pornography has always been a problem. But what people don’t understand is that an enormous world of danger to the children was opened more than a decade ago and not enough has been done about it. The Internet itself is the most powerful form of communication and distribution of child pornography and it has been proven many times over the years. Yes, they are fighting it but it’s not enough if the problem is not shrinking. Politicians have far too much self-interest and other political issues to focus on making themselves unable to fully commit to the war on child pornography. Children are being lured onto the Internet by the child predators every single day right under their parents’ noses.

This is also a problem in Canada, people are getting arrested and prosecuted for possessing such materials; which I applaud. However, the core of the problem continues to be complicated, that would be the photo developers and distributors of the materials. It’s not everyday you get to read about a photographer/distributor getting arrested and prosecuted.

Millions of child pornographic materials are being downloaded off the Internet
every hour around the world. That means more and more children are being molested and forced into performing sexual acts. It is an issue that continues to be heavily neglected despite the media coverage in our daily newspapers, TV News programs and more. Parents need to be made aware of the dangers of allowing minors to use the Internet with total freedom. A 14-year old girl may not like being supervised, but she’ll end up thanking you at her high school graduation for being a parent with a lot of love and concerns for his/her children.

It's a subject I don't like to discuss, but it's part of the reality. Reality bites.

I have 3 nieces and an either nephew or niece on the way this May. The oldest being 18, I'm proud of them and I do worry about the choice they make because of the potential consequences, but it's a natural trait in my family to care and worry for the others more than ourselves because we want to see each other succeed.

It is a problem that is very likely to be never eliminated, but it can be fought and reduced to a low number. One is too many, but it's better than having millions of children be used as sexual pleasures for the adults. Especially in countries like Taiwan where children are being rented as sex toys. People need to pay for what they're doing to the children.

They don't deserve this at all.

Originally posted on April 18, 2006

The mainstream media sure know how to ruin a good joke. Earlier today, I saw a ton of articles on Tom Cruise's insistence that he and his family plan to eat the placenta from Katie Holmes' womb.

I watched the recent interview on Primetime, Tom Cruise made a big joke out of the idea of eating the placenta. He did the same joke in an interview with the magazine, GQ. For some odd reasons, it was taken out of context. Big time.

Many "journalists" were actually reporting it as a fact instead of a joke. I was appalled to learn of it. Yes, it may be a tradition in some countries, but it isn't in North America. If people want to eat it, go ahead. I certainly wouldn't, it’s not something I believe in.

Want to see one example of what I'm talking about? Just click here. Now, click here to read the article stating that it was only a joke that Tom Cruise made. Even I instantly knew it was a joke by the way Tom Cruise said it in his interview on Primetime. Not only to mention that the controversial subject of Katie Holmes being forced into having a "silent" birth is a bunch of baloney. From what I've read, it isn't what the mainstream media made it out to be. It’s not a total silent birth where she’ll be punished for moaning in pain. Katie Holmes is allowed to express her pain but she also intends to keep it as low as possible.

They are both scientologists, it’s their choice. Not yours, not mine nor anybody else’s. Just like a Christian, Muslim, Sikh and more different followers of religion wouldn’t appreciate being personally insulted all around the world. Criticizing a religion is a different concept from personally insulting or ridiculing an individual for his/her beliefs. Ridiculing an individual for his beliefs is just a low blow especially when they’re making millions off it.

Congratulations to both Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on the baby girl, Suri. According to some sources, the meaning of the name is "Princess" in Hebrew or "Red Rose" in Persian. I wish the best to the two of you.

While that I’m still covering the subject on the actor, Tom Cruise. I am looking forward to Mission: Impossible 3. It’s J.J. Abrams’ first gig as a film director. He’s the co-creator of some of the big hits on the boob tube including ‘Lost’ and ‘Alias’. Ought to be a blast. Pretty much the first one this year I’ve been looking forward to watch at the theatres. Yeah, it hasn’t been a great year so far for Hollywood. I enjoyed the first two movies; the first one by Brian De Palma was better than John Woo’s in my opinion.

Bring on the action!

Originally posted on April 21, 2006

Gonzales, the Attorney General made a wake-up call to the people of America. The Attorney General himself has declared the problem with child pornography an online epidemic. Click here to read the article. He referred to it as a real threat, and I completely agree. It is a growing threat and at a rapid rate.

As I have tried to tell some people, they just don’t want to realize the harsh reality. People need to understand the natural dangers of not educating the children to take precaution measurements with their online activities. I don’t advocate taking the computers out of their bedrooms, but I do believe that a video camera has no place being in a child’s bedroom because they can do whatever they wish to with it behind closed doors.

Parents may think they know their children enough to trust them to make the right choices. They may be capable of making good choices, but they still make a lot of mistakes and learn from them. But to become sexually active on the Internet is a regret or trauma one may live with for the rest of their lives. The only way I can think of keeping a computer in the bedroom is to make house rules that the parents reserve the rights to inspect the computers on a frequent basis to ensure that their children are sticking to the rules. Otherwise, don’t connect them to the Internet except on the family computer.

The Internet is such a wonderful tool, I was blown away by it when my father subscribed to an Internet provider with a $25 package and we were limited to 10 hours per month back in the 90s. Just 10 hours a month? Not only to mention the dreadful slow modem we had. Nowadays, you can go as fast as the wind and stay on as long as you wish to. Now, with children being so savvy with the gadgets today, they can access anywhere without asking an adult for help. It also means they are more vulnerable to the dangers. Online predators are mentally ill and all twisted up in their heads, but they know how to lure children by just having an online conversation.

In fact, child prostitution is getting more common these days. According to the experts, an estimate of half the street-level prostitutes are under the age of 18 in Atlanta, Georgia. A large number of the sex clients are believed to be from out of the city and state. Sex tourism is a growing industry and it isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Click here to read an article on sex tourism thriving in the southern states of America.

It is a growing problem everywhere else including Canada, Romania, Taiwan and many more countries around the world. A frightening threat and not enough noises are being made about it. According to a study done at the university of Pennsylvania, there is an estimated 200,000-300,000 underage girls participating in the prostitution industry. The FBI has pinpointed 14 cities in the USA as centres where children are being exploited. The cities listed are Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C. I can’t say I’m surprised considering the population of all these cities and the strong communication networks that are invested in these cities.

I imagine it’s the same case in Canadian cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and more. Despite the laws we already passed, the problem is still growing. Gonzales is right, it is an online epidemic, potentially the biggest online epidemic we have ever encountered in our lifetime.

Now, are you going to talk to your children about the dangers of talking to strangers on the Internet? Don’t wait till it happens to one of your children.

Do it now and they will love you for it even if they didn’t see the point of having the conversation at the beginning, they will realize it sometimes after the talk. They don’t want to put themselves in situations where they are being asked to take off their clothes in front of a web camera with a pedophile watching.

Spare yourself the trauma of having to deal with such a situation. If this isn’t enough for you, then I don’t know what will. I don’t believe a parent would be pleased if they were to stumble onto a pornographic image or video and discover that it’s his/her child.

A big wake-up call to the people of Canada and America is needed.

Badly.

Special Thank to Magatsu of 'The People's Blog, Rants & News' for his contribution to the subject.

Originally posted on July 21, 2006

In the last few weeks, Paramount Pictures has held several advance screenings of Oliver Stone’s latest, ‘World Trade Center’. Obviously based on the horrific event that took place on September 11, 2001, a day I remember as if it was yesterday.

Several conservatives who attended the advance screenings surprised themselves by making some strong praises for the movie and applauded the director, Oliver Stone. The man himself isn’t well liked by many from the right because of his strong political beliefs and has communist tendencies. Though many Americans continue to be heavily misinformed on the true meaning of communism and socialism because of the ‘Red Scare’, but that’s another subject I’ll have to write about one day.

It’s great that a movie done by Oliver Stone is starting to gather some strong praises from the right. It’s about time that they’re not letting their politics get into their way of watching a movie that wasn’t politically influenced. It’s simply a movie about humanity and how they overcome the force of evil. You have no idea how much I wish people wouldn’t play politics over a movie that isn’t even about politics to begin with.

3,000 innocent souls departed from the city of New York City on that very day. This is the second movie from Hollywood that pays a big tribute to the victims and their families to come this year. I do believe we have forgotten 9/11 too soon. Nobody talk about it, nor do any of them recall how he or she felt on that day. Despite the big-shot columnists and political pundits expressing their “feelings” in relation to 9/11, I believe they are taking advantage of it to gain popularity and fame.

Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, John Kerry, George W. Bush, Michael Moore, Thomas H. Kean and many more are guilty of taking advantage of the 9/11 events to gain their fame and adding to their political statuses.

Now that I’ve mentioned Michelle Malkin, the thing about this so-called conservative is that she’s terribly biased to the point of no return. As a person, I believe in giving everybody a chance and I don’t hold grudges against him or her for his or her political beliefs, though I do think some people may be becoming mentally unstable once they start forming quite a number of conspiracy theories about their opponents and are unable to say a single word that would reflect their “opponents” positively. I have friends from both sides and I don’t see them as opponents, and I never will. I enjoy debating politics and I never get angry with my friends over our differences in opinions. If I seem to become somewhat miffed, it is because that person doesn’t know how to debate, not because of the opinions.

Now, why did I even bother to mention Michelle Malkin? Well, because she is “reserving” her “skeptical” judgment with the rest of the conservatives for the movie. It’s funny how Michelle Malkin cannot go on one story about a liberal without some smearing to go with it. Just click here for her bit on Oliver Stone getting praises from the right. See what I mean about some people being unable to go on without resorting to negativity? How the heck does this woman go on with her life with such an amount of negativity?

Can you imagine living with a person who is constantly complaining about the liberals, liberals, liberals or conservatives, conservatives, conservatives? I couldn’t live with anybody who cannot complain about anything else but politics. It’s just unbearable. Thankfully, I’m able to go on with my life without politics taking up hours of my time a day. I feel sorry for these who do. It’s certainly not a way to enjoy life if they are constantly ranting like rabid dogs.

John Podhoretz, a film critic from New York Post wrote a review. He gave it a poor review, but he seems to have a different perception on the events of 9/11. He believe it was a day of barbaric mass murder, not a day of hope. Myself, I believe it was both as we all witnessed thousands of people falling and being crushed to their death. We also all suddenly came together and came to help which brought hope to the people around the world. He’s entitled to his opinion, but I disagree with him.

I know I will be finding it difficult to bring myself to watch the movie; I even had a hard time watching the preview for it. Seeing the Twin Towers featured in a post-9/11 film sent chills down my spine as I remember the fear we all felt that day. We weren’t sure what to believe if the world was truly coming to an end or that we would be seeing World War III. I’m considering seeing the movie at the theatres once it hits the theatres on August 9. It’s not too soon, it should had been here earlier because people forgot too soon.

Originally posted on June 10, 2006

No, I am not joking. It's for real. They are opening one in Europe. I wonder if they'll open a detox clinic for movie addicts. Okay, that one was just a joke. Though I do think any form of addiction is nothing to make light of.

What opinion do I have of this? Well, I cannot take advantage of people's misery and a mockery out of it. Addiction is a serious burden on many people. Myself, I've never been addicted to alcoholic beverages, illegal substances or anything like that. I've never became literally addicted to something that my life began to disappear and holding onto something as if I cannot live without it. It's a mental illness, and I believe video games can become addictive and can become a problem if you allow it to happen. However, they are like illegal substances. You may start taking drugs but it's very likely you were already aware of the dangers surrounding them, but it's not like that with video games. Video games are often viewed as a recreational hobby.

It's hard for some people to imagine that it's a real problem and I don't believe most people are probable to becoming a video game addict. I would be willing to bet that it is linked to several mental illnesses that contribute as a factor to the cause of addiction. I do strongly caution parents to impose a severe limit on the time length of playing video games as kids are often interested in them and may neglect other important aspects of their lives. I enjoy playing games, but I don't often play them due to having a career and being such a movie buff eats up a lot of my time.

Just a word of caution, don't ridicule people for being addicted to video games, even if it seems silly. It may be but an addiction isn't something to make fun of. It's a real mental illness and people need help from it.

An addiction alone can ruin an individual's entire life including its career. People have lost their families and jobs to drinking and drug addictions. Just imagine what would happen with a video game addict, they’d never leave the room and take drugs to stay awake to play more. Even a drunk may take its time to give the kids a hug, but I doubt a video game addict will be able to spare a single second as every second counts to a video game addict.

Life, it's not always fair.

Originally posted on July 15, 2006

Moviegoers today aren't what they used to be. They are perfectly willing to spend their hard-earned dough on a ticket to a lousy movie like 'Saw'. Or even 'Hostel', which I haven't bothered to watch. I'm sick of movies that try to push the envelope on how far they can go without making the audience puke.

Today's people are far too desensitized to acts of violence; we are being constantly exposed to many horrific images. Yet these people don't care. Something's seriously wrong if people aren't bothered by such acts of violence, even if it's in a movie.

They do it for shock value, and if the tread keep up, these movies will be tame in comparison to what they bring us in the future. I've read about some horror movies from Japan being so extreme that the DVD distributors are reluctant to even consider bringing them.

What really baffles me is; why aren’t the moviegoers going to the movies that are worth seeing? For instance, ‘V for Vendetta’, I was quite surprised to find myself enjoying it quite a lot. When I saw the preview for it, I thought to myself, must be another one of these anti-Bush movies. Even though I’m not a fan of Bush, but I do get sick of how some filmmakers go overboard on their conspiracy theories. Michael Moore is a good example. As a moderate Liberal, I do find myself embarrassed to see how some of the people who claim to be liberal-minded act out their opinions of their opponents in the public. In my opinion, it’s all about having class, but too many people simply resort to mud-slinging these days from both sides. Back to the movie, I wasn’t too familiar with the background of ‘V for Vendetta’. I dug a bit deeper into it and discovered that it’s based on some graphic novels from the 80s’.

The movie was lucky to be made on a moderate budget of $54 million and grossed $70.5 million in North America. It could have been much better, but I believe it was due to bad marketing strategies. Several movies has gotten some awful marketing, it seems like some people just don’t know how to market a certain type of movie. ‘United 93’ was also made on a low budget of $15 million, but it grossed only $31.4 million domestically. Some people said that we weren’t “ready” and that it was too “soon”. What a bunch of baloney. These are the very same people who went to see far more disgusting duds like ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’ which made far more than ‘United 93’ did. A portion of the gross from the movie was given to a charity, but I’m betting that not a lot was given away because people these days are so full of themselves. ‘United 93’ was tastefully done with a large sum of respect to the victims. That movie portrayed these real-life characters in a very powerful and heroic way, while the fictional characters in ‘Saw’ was full of nasty secrets that nobody knew about and some wacko was out to “test” them in such a disgusting manner.

Yes, I am fed up with the moviegoers sending a portion of their weekly paycheck to the untalented filmmakers. What’s wrong with these people? I don’t want to see more of these movies making more money than they deserve. It seems like the moviegoers aren’t able to think for themselves and buy into the Pop Culture as if it’s a requirement. To be honest, most of what the Pop Culture has to offer are crap. They know they can sell any sort of dud because they know how to market it. Just because it may be popular doesn’t mean it must be good. Yes, some of what they have to offer are good, but quite a lot aren’t.

By the way, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was and is still a disappointment as a standalone movie. The book wasn’t that great either; it was only popular because of the subject surrounding Mary and Jesus. In 10 years, people will be saying, “The Da Vinci what?” when they are being asked about the movie. Many were and are doomed to this type of fate. I reckon it’ll happen to this novel and the movie. Dan Brown, the author has written far superior novels than his last one. ‘Deception Point’ is a good read and would make a good movie. ‘Da Vinci Code’ is a whole different story, and could have been adapted better. The only reason why it made $725,000,000 worldwide is because the book sold 40 million copies. The next adaptation, ‘Angels & Demons’ should be better, as long they don’t screw up the screenplay like they did with ‘The Da Vinci Code’. If they’re going to let the dollar bill be the judge of a movie, then we have a problem.

‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ grossed around $745 million worldwide, but it was not a great movie, just decent and geared toward the children more than the whole family together. The reason why this movie was a big success was because of its large base of fans from the last 50 years. ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ made a good amount, $850 million from around the globe. That’s no small figure, but is the movie any good? Sorry, but I still like the original trilogy better. George Lucas shouldn’t have written the screenplay all by himself. Sure, it had nice special effects and the battles were cool, but the overall experience was disappointing. I imagine it wouldn’t have been too difficult to write some good screenplays for some of these movies, but I guess some people just don’t know how to write.

Maybe they should consider making some movies with deaf characters and have the story revolve around them and with subtitles. Hey, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ made $611 million worldwide and it wasn’t even in English. So why not give it a shot?

Maybe they’ll be actually worth seeing.

Originally posted on July 17, 2006

As a deaf young man with a strong passion for the art of film, we do get treated to a major motion picture featuring a deaf character once in a blue moon, bur rarely as a leading character like Marlee Matlin was in ‘Children of a Lesser God‘ and ‘Hear No Evil’. Last winter, a movie titled ‘The Family Stone” which I found to be somewhat bittersweet, and I liked how they integrated the deaf character into the storyline, but still underused. The cast’s efforts to sign were noteworthy, as it showed how a family with a deaf individual should be portrayed.

Only God know how many times I have to see a movie where the method of lip-reading is used instead of signing, but the strange thing is, according to some sources, lip-reading even by the best lip readers are more likely to recognize no more than 30% of what is being said. Yet the deaf characters understand absolutely every spoken word in the movies. It’s just completely unrealistic, I don’t know any deaf people who are capable of reading lips like they can in the movies. I do know some deaf people with residual hearing who are able to understand nearly every word with a hearing aid on, but not by reading lips. Sure, I can understand that it’s necessary to take liberties with the storylines and characters to keep the movie pacing smoothly and more entertaining, but lip-reading is a cliché and need to be eliminated from the movies because it’s just not believable.

My family is all hearing, and they can sign to communicate with me. Just like the family does in the movie, ‘The Family Stone’. I know of many families with deaf individuals where they are expected to lip-read or wear hearing aids, many of these deaf individuals often find themselves alienated and frustrated because it takes a big effort to comprehend the spoken words especially when they were born deaf with low residual hearing. Hard-of-Hearing, now that’s a whole different story because they are more likely to succeed at understanding the spoken word with little effort later in their lives while it will continue to be a big frustration for the deaf in their adulthood. I’ve seen how many of these individuals communicate with their parents who cannot sign by making small gestures and mouthing words hoping they’ll understand. I just cannot imagine myself having parents who barely understand what I’m saying. Not only that, it would probably had changed my outcome in a big way. Would I be working as a full-time graphic designer for a media corporation today if it wasn’t for my parents’ efforts to communicate and encourage me to pursue a higher education and a professional career? My instinct tells me the answer would have been a big no.

What I’m saying is, Hollywood need to take less liberties with deaf characters and start creating a more realistic and suitable environment for the deaf rather than using a bunch of clichés. ‘The Family Stone’ took a big leap in making that effort, and I hope it’ll influence the other filmmakers to start researching the lives of deaf people. It is true that there are an incredible amount of different lifestyles among the deaf community, but we are seeing too much of the same thing over and over in the movies.

Which is why I think creating an animated movie featuring deaf characters would be a grand idea. Sure, it’s a financial risk; but how do you know it won’t succeed if you’ve never tried it? The best way to make an animated movie featuring deaf characters would be to go down the same route the filmmakers did with the movies, ‘The Polar Express’ and ‘Monster House’. These two movies used real-life actors; they wore utilized costumes and dots all over their faces. It’s quite a fascinating technology, and it’s still underused at the moment. Don’t worry about the ‘Dead Eyes Syndrome’ that you saw in ‘The Polar Express’, they’ve fixed that problem. There are a lot of details I could write down on how and what they do with the technology, but that would take a good while. To simplify it, they capture the movements and facial expressions of the actors onto the computers, they are now able to take these movements and turn it into a 3-D character model, you can even revolve the cameras around the 3-D models which give them the big advantage of improving the cinematography, and it definitely would give them the advantage of making the transition from real-life signing to animated signing much easier and smoother.

I can imagine the reasons why the executives in Hollywood would be reluctant to take such a risk, but look at the risks they’re taking on these days and many of them are flopping. Poseidon had a budget of $160 million and it made only $59 million. I think Hollywood should take the chance and make an animated feature with the deaf characters in leading roles. They can always do what Mel Gibson did with his movie, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ since it didn’t have a single word from the language of English, and they can subtitle it for the hearing audience.

So, what do you think?

Originally posted on July 18, 2006

Not a good Masseur by judging the facial and body expression of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Click here to view the video clip featuring Bush's infamous moment with the Chancellor. Hat tips to the 'Green Knight' for the scoop, and 'Crooks and Liars' for the video clip.

Not only to mention that it was probably embarrassing for the President. He probably didn't think this through, but since when does he in any situation to begin with? He have already gotten himself into a few embarrassing incidents and even was publicly rebuked by Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. There's also that remark made by President Bush that made its way onto the microphone during a private conversation between him and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair. Really, they shouldn't have reported that one to begin with, as it was a private conversation. Though, I think somebody need to teach him a thing or two about table manners and to not talk with his mouth full.

The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper was also there as a part of the G8 Summit. There's not really much to discuss, though he did make some efforts to bring the proposal and discussion of Canada being an 'emerging energy superpower'

Maybe the Chancellor did think it was amusing after being surprised, but the face she made at first is bound to give someone the impression that she isn't too amused.

Originally posted on June 8, 2006

Okay, most conservatives I personally know aren't heartless. Just like most liberals I know aren't. It’s just a parodied version of Ann Coulter’s new book, ‘Godless: The Church of Liberalism’. The title for this blog entry is well earned regarding a disgusting remark she made recently toward some of the political activists whose husbands died on September 11, 2001 in the terrorist attacks. Clearly, she is far too biased for her own good. I don’t think too much of Hilary Clinton either, even after she tried to add some character to herself after blasting Coulter. Sort of an odd egg if you ask me.

Yes, I do have my bias just like everybody does. Though, I do my absolutely best to keep it out of the way when I make my political commentaries and I put my personal feelings into it instead. That’s something Ann Coulter has failed to demonstrate, she absolutely refuse to see a single positive aspect about any other political philosophy other than conservatism. As a person, I believe there are positive and negative aspects in all liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism and more. For me, I’ll call it Banjoism. The philosophy is, I believe in what I believe, it’s that simple.

It's a matter of far the extremism goes on both sides of politics. For example, Alan Hevesi, the NY State Comptroller a while ago said to a bunch of college grads that he would “put a bullet between the President’s eyes” if “he could get away with it”. It was incredibly moronic of him to say such a thing. Even with his public apology, it was still quite damaging to his reputation. With his political agenda toward gun control; you would think he’d know better than to make such a comment to the public. Personally, I think he should resign; no politician should ever make a hint at wishing death upon the others. In fact, isn’t it a felony to wish death upon a president? A person can be jailed for up to ten years for making such a threat.

Ann Coulter, recently made an appearance on NBC’s ‘Today’ to promote her new book, ‘Godless: The Church of Liberalism’. She’ll do anything to make a quick buck these days and using ‘shock’ tactics can either work or backfire. In many cases, it works for her, as it will quickly become controversial leading to a spike in copies sold. Ann Coulter may have a lot of good points to offer on some subjects, but must the sheep always gleefully nod in agreement with everything she says on the television? No, you don’t have to. You are your own person with the ability to form your own opinions and stand up for what you believe in. It’s not the point she was trying to make; it’s her lack of decency that is causing the nasty backlash from the liberals, moderates and quite a good amount of the conservatives.

What I cannot believe is how many people are coming to her defense. It was dead-on obvious that Ann Coulter lack humanity in her character. She claims to be a Christian, but she acts in a quite unconvincing way for a Christian. I know this myself because I am a Christian and I was taught to never hurt people for political purposes. If Ann Coulter wants to talk about morals, she should at least practice it herself.

She said this on NBC’s ‘Today’, "I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.” How can this remark be ever justified? You cannot defend this. It’s different when you criticize a person for their political beliefs, but it is crossing the line when you are using their own family against them. Especially when they are dead. Never, never in my life have I used the death of someone against a person for political purposes.

I don’t believe in using death as a political tactic. Period. However, I will express my feelings toward world issues involving deaths in wars, poverty, genocide and more. They are not political; they are my personal feelings.

Ann Coulter is all about politics. Nothing more. She’s just doing this to make an extra million dollar. Such a shameful display of greed, she’s using all of her followers to turn a profit. It’s such a shame that some of these people have blinders on and aren’t even aware that they are being used to make her richer when she really don’t give a single crap about them. She just wants to make money, and that’s why she resorts to the ‘shock’ tactics.

Sorry folks, but it’s my personal opinion of her. A person with such weak humanity doesn’t settle too well with me when it comes to him/her being the ‘voice’ of a country. A country cannot be considered a great nation if it lacks humanity.

They are picking the wrong ‘voice’ to speak for them. At least, that’s what I believe and I am deeply concerned about it. Picking the wrong ‘voice’ to represent your country can be a grave danger to your welfare and the principles the country was built on.

They have the freedom to make their own choices. They often forget one thing; they usually come attached with consequences.

Just think about it. Is this what you really want for yourself and your country?

Originally posted on June 4, 2006

To the vandals of Toronto, grow up for God's sake! At least one mosque already had been vandalized in the city of Toronto after the news of the terrorism-related arrests. According to several news sources, approximately thirty windows at a Mosque were smashed. Not only that, some nearby cars was also damaged.

This was a response that was completely uncalled for. Just because the suspects were arrested doesn’t mean you are entitled to cause damage to anybody’s property, not even a church, mosque or any other religious establishment. It’s an act of stupidity; vandalism is never to be condoned.

This isn’t the time to get all politically correct. All of you need to remember that there are many different religions among the people including Christianity, Islam and more. All of these religions are about peace and love, none other. However, you also have to remember that many religions can be manipulated and used as a tool by the terrorists. Creating a series of provoking statements against a certain religion is going to do you no favour except stir up a nasty storm around the world. I am not saying we should bow to their demands, but it is also our duty to keep peace intact and that means no provocation.

No religion, I repeat, no religion should ever be provoked into a war. Especially when it come to massive religions like Christianity, Catholicism and Islam. Absolutely no need create a bloodbath over a few terrorists. I don’t just mean five terrorists, I am perfectly aware that they are now in the thousands who are actively setting off bombs and participating in suicide missions. Still, do the bloggers and politicians have to use their religion against them? These are the very same people who scream about Christians being attacked by the liberals, atheists and more during Christian holidays especially during Christmas. Yes, another hypocrisy. Personally, I believe the “War on Christmas” bit is just one big myth they are trying to dupe us into believing. It’s completely ridiculous and people are so quick to believe it’s a real problem. I celebrate Christmas as a Christian every year and I’ve never witnessed an anti-Christmas incident-taking place in my entire life. The only time I read about it is by the columnists and misguided souls.

Sure, I remember seeing a photo of a madman dressed like Santa Claus stained with blood all over as a protest to the commercialization of Christmas. That’s a different issue because Christmas is a holiday that shouldn’t be commercialized and is taken advantaged of by many capitalists. It’s a time where people celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, not Santa Claus or anybody else. So in a way, these protests makes sense but I think some went too far by turning Santa Claus into a madman. Santa Claus is based on a real saint, and should be respected as a figure but shouldn’t overshadow the meaning of Christmas. It’s not just about Jesus Christ; it’s also about humanity and the importance of love for each other.

Anyway, what I’m saying is. Leave the religions alone and hold the terrorists accountable for their actions and plans. They should be condemned to life in prison for their evil deeds to the world. No religions should be used as a weapon. Unfortunately, both sides are constantly using their religions as their choice of weapons. The more uses we get out of them, the more wars we will create.

The vandals need to grow up and stop acting their anger out because it’ll do us no favour except cause more problems among the society. Religious tolerance need to be encouraged among the people, there are many people around with different faiths. Many of them have several elements in common when it comes to their faith; it’s love and peace. Tolerating a religion doesn’t require joining them or sharing the same beliefs. It’s a way of agreeing to disagree.

Terrorists represent a significant small percentage of any religions, I believe in karma and justice will always be served, it may not happen now but it will happen later. It is our job to pull the danger out of the world and keep it safe. The terrorists need to be punished for wishing death upon the innocents.

Six billion souls living on the face of Earth, we don’t need a bloodbath just because we don’t share the same beliefs and opinions. We don’t need to fill the ocean with innocent blood.

Condemn the terrorists, not the religions.

Originally posted on June 3, 2006

Please give a big group of applause for the RCMP, CSIS and the local police authorities of Toronto and the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

Seventeen individuals were placed under arrest and charged with terrorism offences under the Criminal Code during a massive sweep Friday night. The authorities have been quite vague on the details, as it just had happened.

All we know are the names of the twelve men who were took into custody by the INSET (Integrated National Security Enforcement Team). Along with some details, but no specific targets were unveiled and there is a chance we may find out soon what they were. It was also confirmed that 3 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, triple the tonne used to demolish the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. A day I remember very well as if it had happened yesterday. Just like it was with 9/11. These days you don’t just forget. As far I know, they only have referred to the terrorist group as “Al-Qaida” inspired meaning they may not be directly involved with the global terrorist group.

The remaining five suspects, I believe their names will never be veiled as they are minors and protected by the Youth Offenders Act in the province of Ontario, they cannot be revealed to the public. Even if they are found guilty, they won't be named. Just remember one thing, they are still presumed innocent till proven guilty like all people are when they are charged with an offence or more.

I condemn all acts of terrorism. None of them will ever be justified. What disturbs me even more is how the mainstream media and some misinformed bloggers are screaming about how we are so naive and that we believe we are immune to terrorism. Everybody I know around here is perfectly aware that terrorism can hit any place in the world including Canada. Only if people would ever take the blinders off and understand that our decision to stay out of the Iraq wasn’t a sympathizing message to the terrorists. We will not get involved with a war we believe will contribute to the creation of several terrorist organizations. That’s another subject that I may discuss here someday.

Many of terrorist-related attacks committed during the last decade, Islamic extremists carried them out. As far I know, there are near approximately a billion Islamic followers out there. I still believe the terrorists represent a small percentage of the religion of Islam. As should most people. Religions in the past has been manipulated and used as a tool by many terrorists including the major religions in the last couple thousand years of mankind. It’s amazing how we have become so civilized yet so barbaric at the same time. I wish the barbaric part of man would be eliminated because it causes such an exhilarating pain to the world.

I don’t believe in sympathizing the terrorists for their anger toward us. I know they hate our guts, but I’m not going to worry about them and go on with my life. Life’s too short; enjoy it while you can. Before some of the Canucks start getting paranoid about our civil liberties being threatened by the potential increase in security measures, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s not going to happen anytime soon because of what happened yesterday. The terrorist plot was foiled thanks to the co-operation between the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) & the local police authorities.

Some people are already speculating that the attack was to be carried out on June 6. For these who may not be aware, the date forms the mark of the beast, 666. June is the sixth month, and this is the year 2006 forming 0-0-06. Though I’ll have to give you a big warning to take the speculations with a grain of salt. They often turn out to be nothing and these should never be relied on as facts. There hasn’t been much information given out on the subject but it’s likely we will find out more soon. Though I don’t believe we will get the full story as some probably will be held confidential for security measurements and may be part of more ongoing investigations in Canada.

The people of Canada as of yesterday have proven that all of us are capable of protecting the great nation from harm. Again, I congratulate the RCMP, CSIS and police authorities for their dedication to protecting the country.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Updated: Quite a bit of more information to read at Hot Air. Sure, I may disagree with the opinions they offer most of the times but this piece is worth a read as it has a lot of background information on the suspects arrested and dug deeper into the story. Click here to read it. Try to keep an open mind and there are still a lot more that has yet to be revealed.

National Post, a newspaper I don’t normally read posted an article that appears quite alarming. They are claiming that the terrorist group is linked to half a dozen countries around the world. Before the sweep yesterday, more than 18 related arrests were made around the world. Click here to read the article.

Originally posted on June 2, 2006

Yesterday, Mosdeux Studio released a 4-minute long short film to the Internet. Titled, 'Vital Signs' and is told entirely in ASL (American Sign Language), I found it to be quite extraordinary and definitely first of its kind in the art of filmmaking. They combine the story being told in ASL with visual shots of the characters and the sceneries. It was executed as well as two creeks merging into a river. Never have I seen anything like this in my whole life. Not only that, it also has sound as a way to add effects to the narration for the hearing. I could really feel the heart beating in the beginning and feel it fades away in the end. The response to the short film has been extremely positive, just click here to read all the comments.

I'm proud to endorse Wayne Betts, Jr. as an aspiring filmmaker with a bright future in sight.

Wayne Betts, Jr. is a filmmaker with a lot of potential; the short film was shot and edited with a very sleek yet professional look. I did a blog entry on one of his short films more than a year ago. The short film I reported on was called, ‘Blue Sheet’ which I did enjoy watching. The short film featured a young woman I once knew as a student at a school for the deaf that I used to attend. Click here to view ‘Blue Sheet’, as all of you know are aware, I’m a big movie buff. I know a filmmaker with potential when I see one. Wayne Betts possess it as far I can tell. It takes time to fine-tune your skill into something that will snatch the world’s attention. As he continues making short films, they are improving as he moves along. He also has done some commercials for HOVRS (Hands On Video Relay Service), they can be viewed here at this link.

Click here to view his brand new short film, ‘Vital Signs’. If you wish to view his previous short films, just click here.

So, is Wayne Betts, Jr. the real deal as in being the first successful filmmaker who just happens to be deaf? Chad W. Taylor, one of co-founders of Mosdeux Studio is starting to look that way too as well.

I believe he’s capable of becoming a highly successful filmmaker as he already has developed a strong sense of storytelling and cinematography. He can make it as long he is determined enough to do so. One day, he may find himself shoulder to shoulder with the great filmmakers such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Miyazaki Hayao, Quentin Tarantino, Sidney Lumet, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles and many more.

Wayne Betts Jr. and Chad W. Taylor, if one or both of you filmmakers are reading this. Both of you have my full support and I always thought you two had something that the world had yet to discover and it’s already being unveiled a bit more in each project you’ve brought out to the public eye. You’ll get wherever you aspire to be as long you keep up the great work you’ve been doing.

Rock on.

Originally posted on May 24, 2006

A Carl Reiner comedy starring Steve Martin in his early years as an actor. I've known about this movie for years but never got around to watching it. A few nights ago, I bought a copy of it on the DVD format. I knew to expect a comedic take on the oldies but I was taken off guard by some quirky moments in the movie. As this movie was released in the year of 1982, it still holds up strongly after two decades. The DVD I picked up had no special features except for a theatrical trailer and production notes. After seeing this movie, I feel that Universal Studios should favour a double-disc edition. Carl Reiner, the actor/director is still alive and kicking, better move on it before it's too late.

Anyway, what I really liked about this movie was how they wrote the screenplay around some of the classics, they took footages of actors including Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas, Joan Crawford, Vincent Price and many more from a bunch of movies and edit them together and have Steve Martin interact with them. It actually works very well in most of the movie. Carl Reiner himself is a comic genius, no doubt about that. So was Steve Martin, I like him today but he seems to have mellowed out a lot in the last few years in his comedic roles. I do kind of miss the old him.

The movie is in black and white and made to look like a movie from the 40s. It's a hilarious flick, and I highly recommend it. The DVD could be better though, I found the video quality to be quite grainy but it should be easy to watch without being distracted by the grains. I don't know about the sound, I'm just deaf, but I can tell you that it's in mono, not stereo. Yeah, it's kind of a drag, couldn't feel the action through the sound in this one. I got this at a sale at a store around here during the long weekend.

For these who enjoy comedies and classics, this may be a good one for you to watch.

Originally posted on May 20, 2006

For years, the mainstream media has preyed on the misfortunes of the celebrities. You have to remember that they are people, just like us. They aren’t superior or inferior to us. They are still people. Put yourself in their shoes; imagine what it would be like to be them. Can you imagine yourself being able to handle a quick trip to Wal-Mart while a dozen photographers are following you around and even ask you some personal questions?

I know I wouldn't like it. It's not a condition that people should accept when they choose to pursue a career in acting. Never, it's harassment. It should be illegal for anyone to stalk a person in order to generate revenues.

I believe a lot of these people were forced into the media spotlight. Just look at Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez and more. They all got ridiculed and mocked at their expenses of their misfortunes and even happiness. It's a sick obsession, and the mainstream media love it because it generates a pretty profit. Most of these people, all they want to be known for are for their acting careers, not their personal lives. They don't need to be mocked for it.

It's just wrong.

The mainstream media is a manipulator; they manipulate the truth and feed it to us as the truth. Now is the time for the people to wake up and smell the coffee.

Don’t support the mainstream media by believing their crap. It is none of our business to know the personal details of these people whose lives were invaded by the mainstream media.

It’s not a choice, neither is it a clause they forgot to overlook before pursuing the career. It’s a situation they are forced into.

To the mainstream media, I have no interest in any of the celebrities’ lives. All I want to see in the entertainment section are movie reviews along with the small details like the cast list, writers, producers, directors and more. Nothing more. I am absolutely confident that most people don’t care for it either.

Whoever thrives on the stories on celebrities’ personal lives need to see a shrink.

Originally posted on May 28, 2006

I always find myself astonished when I see how some people react to a different language being spoken in their presence. Maybe it's because I grew up using both American Sign Language and English. Being bilingual can have its benefits. Though I don't see the importance of preserving a language and making a law out of it.

You see, we are a society and we are always changing through generations. Modern English barely resemble English from the sixteenth century. A good amount of the language today contains a lot of words that were just slang words. Today, they are now in the dictionary with definitions.

All of you people have a life; you shouldn't let it bother you. People should be free to choose their lifestyles without being punished for it. Not only that, it is also rude to overhear a private conversation even if it's in a different language. Everybody has feelings; we shouldn't be hurting each other just because of speaking different languages. If that were the case, then I wouldn't be here today.

I use American Sign Language on a daily basis. Never once in my life has one approached me and told me to speak English. I do consider myself lucky that I live in a country where both English and French are primary languages, not secondary to each other. I don't believe in language laws, I don't believe it will do any favours to the country except create more hostility toward diversity. It may take guts to tell somebody to speak English especially when they weren't talking to you to begin with; but it doesn't make it right. By doing that, you are going to provoke a lot of people and it serves no purpose. Mind your own business. People don't appreciate unsolicited advices. You may live in Canada or the United States of America, but it is not just for you. It’s for both you and the three hundred million people living in the United States of America. The same principle applies to the people living in Canada.

People should be free to live the way they want to. People shouldn't be reprimanded for being different from the others. If you approach a person who has a weak grip on the language of English, try to have a simple conversation or just leave without getting all worked up and punch the person in the face for just speaking a different language.

It will only create a bad image for America and Canada if they create a language law. It is pretty obvious that it has a lot to do with Anti-Immigrant propaganda and putting the fear in Americans we've been seeing lately. Yes, immigration is a problem, but it's your own fault. You allowed it to go on for decades without taking action.

The Minuteman Project, why weren't they here back in the 80s? They waited and waited. They waited till it's too late. The immigrants are already among the Americans, they are a part of America whether you like it or not. The population is ballooning up at a rapid rate and it's nearly impossible to put a stop to it. They eventually will be able to slow down the migrating rate, but there are still millions of illegal immigrants living in America.

Texas from what I know is already largely populated with Hispanics and so are some of the other southern states. That's why you see a lot of organizations focused on Hispanic events taking place in these states because it's to serve these people and remember their heritage just like the Southerners like to remember the Confederate heritage. You don’t have to read any articles in the Hispanic section of a newspaper, or participate in a Hispanic event. Yeah, the Confederate federation isn't American at all either; they were traitors going against the government in the first place. Now it's just a memory, but I don't see how you can take pride in the people that were traitors to the country. It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s just an opinion of mine. To think of it, a lot of Southerners complain about the Confederate flag being taken down from government buildings while they verbally attack the Mexicans for flying their Mexican flags outside their houses in such a vicious manner. Hypocrisy at its best. The Confederate flag is not a prideful part of American heritage; it’s still viewed as the flag of the enemies and traitors. I don’t believe that a flag of a different country or heritage has a place in a government building except for the official flag.

What I’m trying to say is to let it go. Both Canada and the U.S.A. are countries that heavily promote the importance of personal freedom. Try to give everybody their personal freedom without treating them like criminals. Remember the old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Only if we would stick to this, we wouldn’t have to deal with this sort of silliness over the languages we speak. It’s not a chaotic situation.

Just enjoy your life while it lasts. It’s not worth getting all worked over little pet peeves.

Originally posted on May 26, 2006

The movie review on ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ was featured in a recent issue of the magazine, Entertainment Weekly. Part of the article caught my attention; it was a reference to the controversy surrounding the ethics on deafness and the cochlear implants. A reviewer named, Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote the article. I dug up a bit on this woman; I believe I know how this woman became aware of the controversial topic on cochlear implants. ‘Sound and Fury’, she reviewed it when it first came out. Since then, she has reviewed several movies featuring deaf characters.

Here’s the excerpt from the article with the reference included.

“An even bigger headline for the differently abled community, though, is the discovery of an antibody that can ''cure'' mutants and restore them to ''normalcy.'' But what is normal? ''You can't cure being a mutant -- there's nothing to cure,'' insists Storm, making the allegorical connections to homosexuality about as vivid as a fictional character with the power to control the weather can, short of taping a PSA. Rogue, meanwhile, who complains bitterly that she ''can't touch [her] boyfriend without killing him,'' is an interested potential client; through her, the deaf-community debate about the implications of cochlear implants finds a voice.”

To read the full article, click here.

I saw the movie recently, and I already had set a low expectation for the movie. The trick to enjoying a movie more is to always set low expectations so that way you won’t end up being disappointed as often. Thankfully, I felt more rewarded because I did enjoy it on some levels, even though it has quite a few serious flaws and holes in the script. It’s still decent, maybe a 6.5 or 7 out of 10. Brett Ratner is a decent filmmaker, but he wasn’t involved with screenwriters barely participated in the pre-production. He was suddenly hired as the director at the last minute before the movie was to be filmed. He did what he could in such a short period of time. 20th Century Fox is to be blamed for forcing the production to be rushed and neglect the process on the story development in order to make the deadline. I did feel disappointed due to the short running time and the flaws, but overall I enjoyed it but not as much as 'X2: X-Men United'. Anyway, that’s all I’ll say about how the movie was.

Back to the movie review of Lisa’s, I just thought it was interesting how an analogy was made on Rogue’s situation of being unable to touch as being compared to being unable to hear. However, the flaw in the analogy is, being unable to hear doesn’t exactly put some one’s life in a peril situation. Still, I can understand where she’s coming from because in the movie, a cure for the mutants has been found and many mutants began to question if they want to sacrifice their abilities in order to become a ‘normal’ human being. Just like many deaf people ask themselves if they truly want to give up the world of silence in exchange for the ability to hear the birds sing?

Personally, I’ve considered the idea of getting myself implanted with a cochlear implant several times during the last 10 years but in the end, I’ve always decided it wasn’t what I want. I do get the desire to hear once in a while, but I was born deaf and it doesn’t feel abnormal because I never was able to hear like a hearing person could. It’s different for a person to go deaf during adulthood, but being born is definitely a different experience and can be turned into a positive experience if your parents don’t look at it as a handicap. I just don’t feel comfortable with the idea of having a metal object implanted under my skin around my skull. Just like I never felt comfortable with the idea of getting a tattoo or piecing.

For many hearing people, they may find it difficult to understand why a deaf person would turn down the idea of getting a cochlear implant, and I don’t blame them for it. It’s because they never stepped into my shoes and they won’t ever even if they go deaf later in their lives; it’s not the same as being born deaf. It’s a living condition that you become accustomed to. After all, adaptation is a natural living condition for many. Sometimes, having a cure isn’t always the best option for somebody who already has adapted to a living condition. Another good example would be the movie, ‘At First Sight’ starring Val Kilmer. He played a blind man who was cured and then started to face personal frustrations, which is something I’ve always felt that I would face if I were given the opportunity to cure my hearing.

Remember, children’s brains are like sponges. Their learning development processes at rapid rate making it easier for them to acquire the ability to read, speak and write. I am perfectly capable of reading and writing, but I don’t have a strong grip on the ability to speak, I can speak but just not good enough to carry on a lengthy conversation. It becomes more difficult as you age to learn a completely new concept or a life skill on a large scale. I’m not scared of being able to hear, it just don’t appeal to me as an important part of my life as I’ve never had it to start with.

I have no idea what Lisa is like as a person, but I’ll like to know what her views on deafness and the issues surrounding the subject are. After all, there’s a lot of interesting perceptive out there even if I strongly disagree with some of them. It would be a boring world if everybody shared the same opinion.

I love when I come across an article especially a movie review like this, it gives you something to think or discuss with the others. Even if I disagree with it, it’s still worth discussing. No real opinion was revealed in the movie review, but it’s definitely a good reference as the world of X-Men has certain elements that hit close to home on several issues including racism, homophobia, sexism and more forms of discrimination.

Maybe that’s why I’m so interested in the X-Men stories, because I can relate to them. So can many people from the minorities.

Any thoughts? Feel free to share your opinion!

The picture of the boy and girl with the snowman, I drew this back in either 1991 or 1992. So I would have been around 7 to 9. This was part of the four drawings I did, one of each season. My homeroom teacher encouraged me to draw these and sent them to a charity organization, thousands of entries were sent and only 4 or 6 would be selected and they would be developed into a variety of stationary materials. Their biggest line-up was the greeting cards and the winter-themed drawing I did was selected.

I recently was shown this by my grandmother, my talent as an artist has gone a long way since then. I guess you could say it was good for a barely 8-year-old kid at the time, but I’ve done better. One day, I’ll have to dive into these old boxes in the basement and have all the old memories flood back into my head. I had a lot of fun back then as a kid. Though I still do have a lot of fun today, but it’s just in a different way. I remember what it was like, and it was more carefree and we didn’t care about looking stupid in public. As adults, we bear more responsibilities for our actions, and we aren’t as innocent.

Life, it has its share of advantages of disadvantages but we get to make our own choices and that’s the biggest advantage of being an adult. Though there are always the potential consequences. If we are too afraid to take risks in our lives, we may never get what we aim for. To make something happen, you usually have to take risks.

Back to the subject on the drawing and the contest, I was really thrilled at the time when I was told that I had been selected. I did receive some prizes including a t-shirt and more. I also got a framed certificate as recognition. There aren’t really much to share on this, except that it was one of my best childhood moments.

Originally posted on May 22, 2006

I watched the movie, 'The Da Vinci Code' today at the local theatre. I found it to be pretty slow; it ran at around 149 minutes. Probably including the credits, it felt like it was more than three hours long. The movie was just plainly awful when compared to the book. 'Angels & Demons' was better and would have been a better movie if it were put into the right hands. 'The Da Vinci Code' had a lot of dialogues and the writing style wasn't made for a movie.

Ron Howard, which I have a lot of respect for as a filmmaker did a poor job on this one. So did Tom Hanks, who I also think highly of. From the beginning, I never felt absolutely confident in the team especially when I learned that Tom Hanks had been casted in the main role. I meant, Tom Hanks? He is a terrific actor, but it was pretty obvious he wasn't fit for the role. The original choice, Bill Paxton would had done a better job, so would many other actors. They only picked Tom Hanks because he's famous.

They didn't need familiar faces for this one; this book sold fifty million copies around the world. The book sold itself, and the movie would have sold itself too with unknown actors. That's the area where the Harry Potter movies succeeded. They didn’t need famous actors for it. If the book sells itself, you don’t need famous actors to sell it. It's just a pity how they let this one go to the dogs. They spent $125,000,000 on this movie and I nearly cricked at some moments. Some that I nearly laughed at but obviously not intended.

The critics were right on the money. This movie is terrible. Better stick to reading just the novel. I'm not even comparing because I don't believe in comparing books to movies due to the fact that they are two completely different media formats. Although I do expect the movies to stay faithful to the core of the stories, and the movie did do that in some areas but failed to capture the thrills that were found in the novel.

However, I do have to make a note of Ian McKellen's wonderful performance. Everybody else turned in a lackluster performance, Tom Hanks mostly stood around and tried to look like a serious professor and say lines to sound intelligent, like "I need to get a library!” Geez. Paul Bettany was not at all a creepy guy; he looked stupid and acted like a baby only to die with a crossed pair of eyes.

I highly recommend you avoid this stinking dud. If you really want to see this movie, rent it when it's out on DVD. It's not worth seeing at the theatres, especially with all the grainy flashback scenes. This would have turned out differently and probably better if they had gotten J.J. Abrams to do this one.

They definitely could have done better.

Originally posted on May 16, 2006

Many people among our societies have faced bullies on more than one occasion. Some get by without a problem, but some are unlucky and constantly deal with one or more bullies. Even some deal with it on a daily basis, and these bullies are what we refer to as serial bullies.

They are one of the worst bullying types. I've dealt with several serial bullies in the last few years. Somehow I've always managed to get by just fine. You learn how to control the situation within a certain amount of time. Although, not everybody will manage to deal with these types as well as some can. The one type of serial bullies you don't want to ever deal with is a sociopath. I've dealt with at least one of them and it wasn't easy.

There are ways of spotting signs that you may be in a situation with a serial bully. Many examples are listed in this blog entry with links attached to them. Don't fear, you can fight back. After all, I'm here to help you.

Bullying Type - Sociopath (aka Psychopath)

This type of serial bully often is motivated by power, gratification, personal gain and survival. The mindset is set up quite simply, and that is manipulation, deception and evil. Sociopaths are quite talented at manipulating emotions in the others. Now, when it comes to malice, they are often set at a very high level when held accountable. A lot more than you'll see in the average joe.

Here are some of the examples that can be used as signs to spot to determine if one is a sociopath.

• Jekyll & Hyde personality
• always charming and beguilingly plausible, especially to those who are capable of protecting or enhancing the sociopath's position
• excels at deception (this must never be underestimated, but always is)
• excels at evasion of accountability
• is extremely and successfully manipulative of people's perceptions and emotions (eg guilt and anger)
• silver-tongued, has an extreme verbal facility and can outwit anybody (including a top barrister) in verbal conflict
• will often engineer himself or herself into a position of authority as gatekeeper of the organisation and thus the person through whom all information must flow, and the person to whom all requests for services must be referred - which he or she then takes delight in denying
• is adept at appearing to offer weak and inadequate people the positions of power, control, security, influence or respect that they crave but would otherwise be unable to achieve - such people are unaware that their consequent dependence on the sociopath makes them permanent manipulatees and pawns

To get more examples, click here. (Source: BullyOnline.org)

• emotionally immature
• selectively friendly - is sickly sweet to some people, rude and offhand to others, and ignores the rest
• is cold and aggressive towards anyone who sees them for what they really are or exposes their strategies for gaining attention
• overfriendly with their new target, especially in the initial stages of a new working relationship
• overhelpful
  
• overgenerous
  
• manipulative of people's perceptions, but in an amateur and childish manner
• manipulative with guilt
  
• sycophantic, fawning, toadying
• uses flattery to keep a person in authority on side
• everything is a drama, usually a poor-me drama

To get more examples, click here. (Source: BullyOnline.org)

• similar to the attention-seeker
• is one of life's chronic underperformers and is best described as ineffectual in everything
• craves undeserved respect and attention and will go to considerable lengths to acquire them
• hangs around the fringes of a profession
• not professionally qualified but claims they are a professional because they sit next to a professional or work alongside or near or in the midst of professionals, or provide services to professionals
• lacks the ability, competence and professionalism to be a qualified professional
• wants so much to be seen as competent professional person but is unable and unwilling to put in the work to achieve this
• is unable and unwilling to apply knowledge gained from experience but instead devotes time and effort to improving skills of deception, manipulation, false claim, denial and projection
• may have been rejected by their chosen profession for lack of competence
• is spiteful towards and despises anyone who is qualified in the profession from which the bully has been excluded by virtue of lack of competence
• is likely to be vilifying the profession they want to belong to or which they're claiming to be part of or which they are claiming to represent
• displays a deep-seated envy and jealousy of the professionals that he or she works alongside or claims to serve
• harbours a bitter resentment, grudge, distaste and contempt for the professionals that he or she works alongside or claims to serve
• is likely to be criticising, condemning, disadvantaging and causing detriment to the professionals he or she works alongside or claims to serve
• may seek positions of power over the professionals he or she works alongside or claims to serve, perhaps to facilitate a compulsion to criticise, condemn, disadvantage and cause detriment

To get more examples, click here. (Source: BullyOnline.org)

• often successful in their narrow field of expertise
• regarded as an expert
• valued by the employer because s/he brings in the money, status etc
• ruthlessly pursues objectives regardless of the cost
• ruthless determination to succeed
• can be successful over the medium term in their field
• task focused
• zero people skills
• control freak
• mainly but not exclusively male
• often has a favourite who receives extra attention but who is expected to reciprocate with sycophancy
• favours, protects and promotes non-threatening sycophants whilst marginalizing and hindering the advancement of those with higher levels of competence, especially in people skills
• apt to betray those formerly favoured, especially when the favoured person starts to show independence of thought or action, or starts to receive more attention or become more popular than their mentor

To get more examples, click here. (Source: BullyOnline.org)