My last post made me want to go find The Lord of the Rings teaser I mentioned. How much more amazing would this teaser have been if you were sitting in a theater with absolutely no idea that the movies were being filmed, and suddenly this came on the screen?
Some time before I saw The Sixth Sense, a friend’s girlfriend was telling me how much I needed to see it and how the movie had a “twist ending,” to which I immediately replied “so Bruce Willis is dead?” She tried to deny the statement, but I knew. She’d ruined it for me. What other twist ending could someone put into a movie about a kid who sees dead people?
Last night, my wife and I finally watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For months, Frank Marshall and others on the production denied that Shia LeBeouf’s character Mutt Williams was the son of Indiana Jones. Less than halfway through the movie, he is revealed as exactly that.
Just a few days ago, Senator Joe Biden claimed that he was “not the guy” when asked about the possibility of being Barack Obama’s running mate.
Why do people keep lying to me?
Via HotAir:
I have some important news that I want to make official.
I’ve chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.
Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois — the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.
I think there is a belief that keeping a secret for as long as possible gives it more impact when the secret is finally revealed, and in some cases that can definitely be true. Continuing the movie comparisons, I really wish the first knowledge I’d had of The Lord of the Rings films had been the trailer with the ring spinning through the air interspersed with the famous “One ring to rule them all…” line rather than knowing about the filming years ahead of time. That said, when someone’s on to your secret, fess up. Lying to me doesn’t fool me — it just makes me trust you less.
Remember, I am not a licensed financial adviser and cannot give financial advice. Before investing in any securities, you should consult a licensed representative.
Something that has really impressed me at work is how many of my employer’s clients have contacted him during the recent economic downturn not to panic or pull money out of the market, but to simply reevaluate their asset allocation and even to put more money into their accounts to take advantage of investing while the market is low. He’s taught them well. They’re doing exactly what firms like the American Funds suggest they should do, and fulfilling the role of a financial adviser.
I won’t embed the video due to content, but I appreciate this sentiment from the late George Carlin.
Via Jawa Report:
Now there’s one thing you might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians, everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall from the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American Universities and they’re elected by American citizens…If you have selfish, ignorant citizens you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders.
This is essentially the same sort of thing I’ve been saying to anyone who will listen to me for years now. Our political system is the product of our culture and society, and our culture and society are the products of each of us individually. If our political system is corrupt, it is because our society is corrupt. If our society is corrupt, it is because our society is made up of corrupt individuals.
Personally, I don’t think our society is corrupt, or at least that it is not completely corrupted. We have problems and they need to be addressed. The way to do it, I think, is the way so few seem to seem willing to try, however — it is to look within ourselves and improve what we find there.
There are far too many people among us who are far too willing to blame the problems they perceive in our world (whether those are objective problems or the world not comforming to their subjective views) on others. These other people may be vague or very definite, such as people with different political or economic views. All too often, the blamed group become targets of ridicule and anger. Of course, ridicule and anger don’t solve any problems. Yelling and screaming don’t change minds, especially if you’re yelling and screaming about subjective opinions and not factual truth.
But I digress. The way to truly fix the problems we have is to rid ourselves, each and every one, of the hatred and blame. We rid ourselves of dishonesty, greed and selfishness. We begin to care more about the welfare of other others and about getting along with the people we meet regardless of differing views — even if other peoples’ views don’t include giving us the same courtesy. Then we raise our children to do the same.
Eventually, our children, our grandchildren and so on will be the politicians, the business owners and the community organizers. If they have been raised right, if they do not automatically hate or dismiss others because they are too tolerant or not tolerant enough or because of political or religious differences, then the change will have been made.
At least, that’s what I think.
