Don't Believe The Fear Mongering About North Korea

Don't Believe The Fear Mongering About North Korea

First all, you should understand that there's always a "threat of war" whenever the powers that be want to fill the people's minds with fear.  There's nothing new under the sun.  Could war happen?  Sure.  War is happening now.  We're in a constant state of war, but the media doesn't show us what is happening in other countries.  When our soldiers die, they don't want to show us the coffins coming back.  They just talk about it in a completely sanitized way to keep you asleep.  People are dying now because of war.  They don't want people protesting the never ending war.

With respects to North Korea, they like to tell us how they are a threat to fire a nuclear missile at the United States or an ally.  They might be able to.  They might not.  Do they have the capability?  In reality, their leader knows what will come down on him and his country if he tests the resolve of the United States and its allies.  He's not going to do anything but saber rattle, and that is the plan at this point.

You might ask why until you understand the truth of what is happening over there.  A good portion of North Korea is in poverty.  When the rest of the world is allowed to see footage, it's usually edited to show things in a good light.  Occasionally, we get glimpses that are not pretty.  The "Dear Leader" has a propaganda machine that tells the people what he wants them to know and only what he wants them to know.  To be fair, other countries, including the United States, do the same thing, though maybe not as severely.

The difference is, he has his people afraid of us in a way that our own government tries to make us fear a nuclear attack from them.  When he launches missiles into the ocean, it is a way to show his people how strong he is as as leader and how powerful his country is.  This is why his people get constant military parades and a display of the county's might.  He just wants his people to know how strong he and his country are, just the way his father showed them.

While you can't say it will never happen, it's not likely to happen unless it's escalated by people provoking it.  It is the desire of a certain element of the global elite to have a war, but there's something to consider.  There's not much we as a people can do, other than protest.  We can't live in fear over something we can't control.  We should also understand that it's not the North Koreans or the people of any other country that we are supposed to be at war with that are bad.  It's just the leaders manipulating it all.  The problem is, the leaders point their finger of blame at whomever, and the people blindly go along with the fear mongering.  It's nothing new.

If I Owned A TV Station

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to own a TV station. I could broadcast whatever I wanted. I'm reminded of the comedy UHF, which starred Weird Al Yankovic. He took over his uncle's TV station, and after some creative programming, the channel becomes a success.

Part of me would want to do a music video channel like we used to have with MTV. Concert footage, interviews and music from all sorts of bands. I wouldn't stick just with what are supposedly the hits. There would be room for all kinds of music. Then again, maybe I'd settle for an hour or two every day.

I'd love to give some exposure to some of the amazing creations that are on the internet. People can't see some of these shows unless they look for them. On my channel, its as easy as hitting a remote control. There's lots of stuff I'd like people to see. Shows like Journey Quest, Standard Action, Space Janitors, The Guild and so much more.

People work hard to put that stuff out there. It deserves to be seen. I'd love to get Star Trek Continues on TV as well as the Lord Of The Rings inspired movie Born Of Hope. Then again, this might be more of a challenge to get on TV because the fans who created them don't own the rights to the characters.

I'd love to create some shows myself. Use a local theater and actors and start creating shows and long plays, film them and put them up there. Comedies, dramas and all sorts of good entertainment. Maybe even a daily soap opera. I'd love to do this thing differently.

I'd have a news program, but we wouldn't follow the scripts the other local stations use. We'd get in there and investigate things. We'd ask questions. We'd do our best to cover the things that mater to the community, so I would want reporters who weren't afraid to get out there and really report.

It's a shame it takes so much money to run an independent TV station. I bet I could do it right. We need some fresh ideas now more than ever. Too much of what's out there is copying and following the leader. Not enough innovation, in my opinion.

Star Trek Continues Is Finishing The Original Five Year Mission

First, I'll get on my soap box.  I'm a fan of the independent people out there creating new entertainment content through crowd funding and sharing it on sites like YouTube for free.  I actually enjoy some of that more than what's on corporate TV.  Shows like Journey Quest, Standard Action and Space Janitors are fun to watch.  Then, you have fan content that is created using other people's IP, such as Chad Vader Day Shift Manager, Adult Wednesday Addams and Star Trek Continues.  At any moment, the IP holder can shut you down as they did with the Addams show.

I don't much care for the current Star Trek product.  In my opinion, it's gone too far from the Roddenberry vision, and that's my problem with all of these "reboots" that claim to make it better that we remember.  Hollywood has run out of ideas.  With technology as it is now, it's cheaper for fans to create content that looks as good visually as the original.  That's the case with Star Trek Continues.  Vic Mignogna is a life long fan of the original Star Trek.  William Shatner's James T. Kirk was a hero of his.  When he started to create Star Trek Continues, he called it a love letter to the original series.

He invested his own money into creating the first episode and gave it away on YouTube for free.  Having shown what he could do, he started crowd funding efforts to pay for new sets and new episodes.  Every episode is free.  He's not doing it for the money.  None of the crew is.  They do it for the love of the show.  The show has gained the respect of Gene's son, Rod Roddenberry.  Chris Doohan, the son of James Doohan, play Scotty.  Even William Shatner himself had praise for Vic's performance as Captain Kirk.  What could possibly win the praise of these people?

For starters, they have the look of the old show down to a science.  The lighting is dead on.  The ship looks like it did then.  The sounds and the uniforms are perfect.  The show looks like it could have picked up right where the original left off, which is the intention.  They are completing the original five year mission.  We have different actors playing the iconic roles, and though they all have big shoes to fill, they do an amazing job and show respect to the original show in their performances. 

Vic always said he was planning 13 episodes, but that has been cut to 11 due to new guidelines from CBS and Paramount on what can be done.  This happened after a company using the Star Trek IP made an attempt to profit from what they were creating, which is a direct violation of the IP.  This caused guidelines to be released that severely limit what can be done. 

Another well known fan creation even had actors from the Star Trek franchise playing their famous roles, and they've gone back and cut out all mentions of Star Trek IP from that show.  The writing is on the wall.  With the IP holders flexing their muscles, big efforts to create new fan content will fade away.  I'm not happy about that, but this is what happens when you play in somebody else s sandbox.  We've seen some interesting Middle Earth projects get shut down by The Tolkien Estate.

If I had the power, I'd authorize Vic and his team to do as many Star Trek Continues episodes as they need to tell the story of the rest of the original mission.  They aren't rewriting the original cannon.  They are simply telling the rest of the story.  Paramount and CBS will probably never go back to that.  The movies are creating history in an alternate timeline that many of us couldn't care less about.  However, having Star Trek Continues around gives us at least a taste of the Star Trek that many of us prefer.  I think Roddenberry would approve.  I'm disappointed that there's only three more episodes left, but I understand why it has to be that way.  Vic never intended any disrespect to the copyright holders.

In the episode that was just released a few days ago, Still Treads The Shadow, Vic takes on a dual role as Captain Kirk and old Captain Kirk.  Wouldn't it have been cool to have Shatner play old Kirk?  The older Kirk was created after a previous encounter with the USS Defiant.  A second ship in another time line was created.  The current Kirk came back safely from his first encounter with that ship.  In the other time line, the other Kirk was created and abandoned by the crew.  His only companion was the ship's computer.  It evolved to be his friend and protector.

One of the themes of this episode is one in which the other Kirk is coming to terms with the fact that he has lost all of those years out in the middle of nowhere.  All of his friends and family are gone.  He was abandoned.  There's the idea that he couldn't do some of the things he wanted to do because he was so far away.  I can relate to that a bit.  Years go by quickly, and before we know it we're looking back on what we did.   Was it a good life?  Did I make good use of my time, or was it squandered?  The older Kirk also has an over protective ship's computer looking out for him.

There was a scene in sick bay that I'm particularly fond of.  If you remember the sometimes heated discussions that would take place between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock, you can appreciate this moment.  Todd Haberkorn plays Mr. Spock pretty well on this show, and Chuck Huber plays Dr. McCoy.  The scene had the feel of those old discussions, and it made me smile as I thought back to the days of Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.  Scenes like that are part of what made the old show so special to many of us.

I'm not giving away spoilers, because you should watch it for yourself.  It's that good.  This was the eighth episode, and you can find all of the episodes on their website.  If you haven't seen any of these shows and you are an old Star Trek fan, you are in for a treat.  You can now binge watch eight episodes.  After you are through, you'll be sad to know that it's not going to be around much longer.  At least we still have three more episodes to go.  Who knows?  Maybe fate will smile on Vic and the talented crew and allow them to continue this show?  The IP holders have the right to decide who can and can't use it.  It's a nice dream anyway.

You can check out the official Star Trek Continues Site HERE

Why Did Peter Deny Knowing Jesus Three Times?

One of the interesting stories in The New Testament was the tale of Peter on the night Jesus was taken into custody. At The Last Supper, Peter told Jesus how loyal he would be to him. Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times before the next morning.

That had to be a creepy moment for Peter. Maybe not when Jesus said that to him. I'm sure Peter meant what he said at the time. He wanted to stand with him, but he was a mortal man. He had the fear of death in him, despite what Jesus was preaching.

Peter knew that Jesus was going to die. In that moment, he had a choice to make. He could stand with him and suffer the consequences, which could mean death. Or he could deny him and live another day. He did what many would do in that moment. He went into self preservation mode.

There are moments in life when we know we have to take a stand. It may not mean life or death. It may be a career decision, a relationship decision or a financial decision. In those times, we know we have to make our choice and live with it.

As Peter was denying Jesus, he felt shame. He was supposed to be a friend and disciple, and yet he didn't have the courage to stand with him. Why did Jesus tell him that would happen? I think it had something to do with the fact that he wanted Peter to learn a lesson about himself.

It could very well be that as the world changes, we will be forced to make a decision similar to Peter's. If you believe the day is coming that Jesus is coming back, or even if you believe that the effort to make a one world government won't be a good thing, we all may have to make a choice.

Do we go along to get along, knowing that it's not really the right choice? It's about self preservation. Or, do we stand up for what's right and risk the consequences? Maybe these aren't questions we can truly answer until we are in those moments where we are really tested.