Let your children play, rendezvous with foolish fun and delve into the depths of delicious treats on Halloween.
Whether it's religious beliefs, or just plain paranoia, there are some parents who won't allow their children to roam the streets without adult supervision on the annual pagan holiday. For very young children it's abundantly necessary for constant supervision whether it's quote unquote Devils night or not. Most children 11-years and older are very capable or roaming the cool dark suburban streets with their peers in quest for fondant treats on the last night of October.
When I was a youngster, trick or treating with my peers in the 70's, the horror stories filled our ears; razor blades in apples, drugs and rat poison harbored in some of the candy. According to a Huffington Post article "Manufacturing Fear: Halloween Laws for Sex Offenders, written by Emily Horowitz on the Oct. 21, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emilyhorowitz/manufacturing-fear-hallow_b_4135793.html) these things are unsubstantiated gossip.
Sociologists, such as Joel Best claim urban myths such as razor blades in apples, first appeared in the early 1970s, and then spread via word-of-mouth. Best has never found a death or injury of a child on Halloween related to candy based on his decades of research.
Horowitz's article makes an excellent point about children potentially receiving poison candy on Hallween. Her article states that the Center for Disease Control warns children to only eat pre-wrapped candy and to avoid all homemade treats. This is excellent advice, not only because some demented individuals would make something that is harmful to children, but if it is homemade, the people who made it may have cold or flu symptoms, thus unintentionally getting people sick.
As far as parents worrying about their children knocking on the doors of possible sex offenders and the worst things happening to their children, they should ease up on the worrying. Statics, real ones show that there no evidence of increased child sex abuse on Halloween. In fact in all cases of sex abuse against children, more than 92 percent of those crimes are committed by their parents or acquaintances.
Increased fear and anxiety and remove the fun and excitement from Halloween. The night should be a time to meet neighbors and connect with community Horowitz wrote in her article and I agree.
People are basically decent, though we read about the exceptions everyday Neil Peart wrote in 1987 for the Rush song "Prime Mover."
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Movie "Captain Phillips" Commands Little Attention
Heralded actor Tom Hanks latest movie details the realities of modern day piracy on the worlds seas, yet lacks a much needed cerebral punch.
"Captain Phillips" is worth a watch when its theater release has run its course. (2.5 star rating) The movie is Based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, a U.S. cargo-ship captain played by Hanks who surrendered himself to Somali pirates in 2009 so that his crew would be freed.
Somali pirate Muse, acted by Barkhad Abdi is the ring leader among the pirates who seize control of the cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama en route to Mombasa, Kenya. His counterpart, Bilal, characterized by actor Barkhad Abdirahman is the menacing force to the Americans.
Abdi, Bilal and the rest of the Somali pirates, because of their birth place and station in life are forced into sea crimes which ignited my intrigue on more global happenings. Excessive greed soon consumes Muse and Bilal after seizing helm of the cargo ship. The chaos begins soon after they kidnap captain Phillips and the U.S. Navy gets involved.
Screen writer Billy Ray adapted the story from the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Stephan Talty. Actors Hanks, Abdi and Abdirahman nailed their performances while everyone else had minimal roles including the alluring actress Catherine Keener who plays Hanks wife, Andrea Phillips.
Brief moments of intensity in "Captain Phillips" were too brief in this lengthy flick which is a onetime watch when it comes to Netflix.
"Captain Phillips" is worth a watch when its theater release has run its course. (2.5 star rating) The movie is Based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, a U.S. cargo-ship captain played by Hanks who surrendered himself to Somali pirates in 2009 so that his crew would be freed.
Somali pirate Muse, acted by Barkhad Abdi is the ring leader among the pirates who seize control of the cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama en route to Mombasa, Kenya. His counterpart, Bilal, characterized by actor Barkhad Abdirahman is the menacing force to the Americans.
Abdi, Bilal and the rest of the Somali pirates, because of their birth place and station in life are forced into sea crimes which ignited my intrigue on more global happenings. Excessive greed soon consumes Muse and Bilal after seizing helm of the cargo ship. The chaos begins soon after they kidnap captain Phillips and the U.S. Navy gets involved.
Screen writer Billy Ray adapted the story from the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Stephan Talty. Actors Hanks, Abdi and Abdirahman nailed their performances while everyone else had minimal roles including the alluring actress Catherine Keener who plays Hanks wife, Andrea Phillips.
Brief moments of intensity in "Captain Phillips" were too brief in this lengthy flick which is a onetime watch when it comes to Netflix.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
The Novel "Pirate Alley" has Its Brief Moments of Interest
The novel "Pirate Alley" is a graphic escapade of vicious rape, insane greed and certainly not for the faint of heart.
Returning hero’s spawned in writer Stephen Coonts mind, Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini are the brains in thwarting depraved pirates who hi-jack a cruise ship with more than 800 passengers. The main characters Carmellini and Grafton are mere side notes to in the story which adds to the novel many flaws.
The cruise ship, Sultan of the Sea is sailing on the narrow gulf of Suei and the Gulf of Aden, perhaps the busiest highway for ships infested with pirates known a "Pirate Alley."
The very beginning of the books captures the attention span in moments, with a story line that has nothing to do with the main plot. I imagine Coonts was illustrating Carmellini’s ability to fight crime with wits and brawn.
The main villains Sheikh Ragnar and his partner in crime Mustafa al-Said epitomize evil the way Wall Street defines financial atrocity. Ragnar and Said are characters anyone who is not sadistic would love to hate. The two inhuman men lead the charge in the brutal raping to death of women and senseless torture and killing of other innocents people.
"Pirate Alley" is a tale about a cruise ship seized by Ragnar, Said and their savagely cruel gang of Somalia pirates with an insane goal to acquire the almighty dollar. The ships passengers are held ransom for 200 million American dollars.
The author Coonts said Somalia is without government with raging pirates swarming along the coast with armed hungry men eager to loot, pillage and rape anybody. It's like Europe in the Dark Ages or Wall Street.
I had mixed feelings about "Pirate Alley." On one had it had the gripping elements any story should have, intriguing characters and the arousal of the reader’s curiosity as to what will happen next.
Although there are surprises in the book, the story festers into futility in the middle and is soon muddled into a boring read. Without revealing too much of the story, the parts I did like were educational and pleasing to me. Commanding officer of the USS Richard Ward, Millicent C. Fjestand known as 'the old woman' and called big momma behind her back is a fun character with a dilly of weapon on her ship. The weapon is Mark 45 mod four; it fires shells five inches in diameter weighing 70 pounds each with a muzzle velocity of 2,650 feet per second. Mark 45's efficient range is 20 miles.
One of the rape victims, Nora Needling gets her revenge by bounding her rapist so tight with rope his hands turn white from lack of circulation. She then removes a certain part of his man hood with a kitchen knife and leaves him bound and bleeding to a slow death.
A violent appetizing beginning to "Pirate Alley" followed by a lackadaisical middle and ending nets the novel an average read.
Returning hero’s spawned in writer Stephen Coonts mind, Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini are the brains in thwarting depraved pirates who hi-jack a cruise ship with more than 800 passengers. The main characters Carmellini and Grafton are mere side notes to in the story which adds to the novel many flaws.
The cruise ship, Sultan of the Sea is sailing on the narrow gulf of Suei and the Gulf of Aden, perhaps the busiest highway for ships infested with pirates known a "Pirate Alley."
The very beginning of the books captures the attention span in moments, with a story line that has nothing to do with the main plot. I imagine Coonts was illustrating Carmellini’s ability to fight crime with wits and brawn.
The main villains Sheikh Ragnar and his partner in crime Mustafa al-Said epitomize evil the way Wall Street defines financial atrocity. Ragnar and Said are characters anyone who is not sadistic would love to hate. The two inhuman men lead the charge in the brutal raping to death of women and senseless torture and killing of other innocents people.
"Pirate Alley" is a tale about a cruise ship seized by Ragnar, Said and their savagely cruel gang of Somalia pirates with an insane goal to acquire the almighty dollar. The ships passengers are held ransom for 200 million American dollars.
The author Coonts said Somalia is without government with raging pirates swarming along the coast with armed hungry men eager to loot, pillage and rape anybody. It's like Europe in the Dark Ages or Wall Street.
I had mixed feelings about "Pirate Alley." On one had it had the gripping elements any story should have, intriguing characters and the arousal of the reader’s curiosity as to what will happen next.
Although there are surprises in the book, the story festers into futility in the middle and is soon muddled into a boring read. Without revealing too much of the story, the parts I did like were educational and pleasing to me. Commanding officer of the USS Richard Ward, Millicent C. Fjestand known as 'the old woman' and called big momma behind her back is a fun character with a dilly of weapon on her ship. The weapon is Mark 45 mod four; it fires shells five inches in diameter weighing 70 pounds each with a muzzle velocity of 2,650 feet per second. Mark 45's efficient range is 20 miles.
One of the rape victims, Nora Needling gets her revenge by bounding her rapist so tight with rope his hands turn white from lack of circulation. She then removes a certain part of his man hood with a kitchen knife and leaves him bound and bleeding to a slow death.
A violent appetizing beginning to "Pirate Alley" followed by a lackadaisical middle and ending nets the novel an average read.
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