Billy Jack R.I.P.

Er um...to whom am I writing this morning, after losing so many U.S. readers by staying offline so long? How many of you remember Billy Jack? The computer says most of you live in countries where it's unlikely that that movie was ever available, but I just had to reminisce a bit...

In 1971 that movie was madly controversial. I didn't see it for forty years after it was made. Heard a lot of snarky remarks, dirty jokes, and allegations that it was pornography (there is a fairly distant shot of Billy Jack's female friend skinny-dipping, and although it's obvious that no actress was harmed in the making of the movie it's also fairly obvious what's going on when the script calls for her to be raped). I learned to sing "One Tin Soldier" long before anybody mentioned where it came from.

Lots of commentary at this Blaze article shows that people who remember Tom Laughlin's movie, or movies, are about evenly divided between liking and hating the star/producer of Billy Jack.

As a middle-aged nostalgia-tripping movie viewer, I thought it was awesome how well he managed to be both of those things. But the plot? Uh-oh...uh-oh...Dave Urbanski saw Billy Jack as a prototype of Rambo, but wasn't anybody else reminded of David Koresh? (No. Billy Jack was what David Koresh wanted to be, not what he actually was. But. Still.)

I didn't even know there was a series. I'm glad the fictional Billy Jack survived as long as his creator did...sorry he misled the poor dweeb who confused a mixed-up-rebels movie with real life.

Rest in peace, Tom Laughlin.

Marion Barry, the King of Chutzpah

Dave Urbanski shares the video of D.C. Councilman Marion Barry, formerly known as "Mayor For Life," and his latest controversy...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/11/fox-news-host-scolds-democrat-marion-barry-you-should-probably-be-thrown-out-of-office/

Many younger men less abundantly endowed with money, connections, and chutzpah have been thrown out of less responsible positions for less serious offenses than Marion Barry. Nevertheless, at this point in time, I'm sort of impressed that Mr. Barry is still alive. He has become the new Strom Thurmond: whatever you think of him, personally or politically, you have to admire his sheer longevity.

Exciting Fire Safety Video

"Shocking video" is a phrase that usually sends me straight to the "Delete" button, but in this case Dave Urbanski's video is worth watching. In Clarksville, Tennessee (not far from Kingsport), a man remembers the fire safety technique he learned as a child--and it saves his life in a gas station accident caused by an apparently insane driver.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/10/shocking-video-stop-drop-roll-saves-mans-life-in-fiery-gas-station-crash/

This is one "exciting" video we recommend to young readers. Practice doing what Mr. Porter does in this video. Some day it might save your life.

Justin Carter and the Coward's Way

Bullies are cowards. Cowards are bullies. If you're unbearably afraid of some real danger to yourself, and you also have no integrity, you're likely to relieve the emotional tension by beating up someone much less dangerous than you are. Hence:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/03/concussions-black-eyes-put-in-solitary-confinement-nude-for-days-tx-teen-jailed-for-facebook-comment-reportedly-suffering-behind-bars-on-suicide-watch/

Okay, so we can all think of twenty or fifty "insane" jokes that would have been funnier than the one about killing kindergarten children, and Justin Carter was old enough to know better, and he deserves to be suspended from Facebook for ten years and completely cut off from the Internet (including cell phones) for at least one year. But in the total absence of any evidence that he seriously even thought about any physical act of violence, should his humor-impaired condition be treated as a crime?

It must be nice to live in Comal County these days, when nobody needs to be in jail more urgently than a teenager with a defective sense of humor. Lol and jk.

The Change.org link is in Dave Urbanski's article, but let's put one in here too:

http://www.change.org/petitions/release-my-son-justin-carter-in-jail-for-a-facebook-comment

New York City School Lunches: The Documentary

Look out, Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock. Here comes the next young documentary filmmaker, Zachary Maxwell, with a 19-minute hit movie documenting the yuckiness of school lunches...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/19/filmmakers-hit-documentary-exposes-sad-state-of-nyc-school-lunches-and-hes-11/