Issue 185

News: Amazon puts out a book on pedophilia. Should it stay up?
There has been, particularly in recent years, panic has been rising about the possibility of pedophiles in our midst. Let me give you my take on the whole phenomenon: whoever wins, the human race loses. If those who panic win, eventually, it comes to pass that the mob mentality completely takes over, and sooner or later, it leads to a lynch mob mentality against anybody who shows even the slightest interest in any child but their own. Already, it has led to parents increasingly sheltering their children from other people. And if the pedophiles win? Do I even have to tell you why humanity is screwed if they win? The latest incident in the war on pedophilia is that people have discovered an eBook which was reportedly a how-to guide of how to seduce children. The news was leaked on Wednesday, a day so slow that Michel Houellebecq winning an award (and not even an international one) was front-page news on Wikipedia. However, rather than succumb to the mob mentality, I actually tried to look up some reliable information of what the book was about. For all we knew, it could have been a guide for teaching pedophiles to have relationships that didn't cross the line into sex. Of course, it took a few days before I could manage to find somebody who actually read the book (the Amazon review pages, when they were up, did not seem to have a single person who admitted to actually reading the book), and when I did, the hype was pretty much verified. It did include a guide for having sex with children. However, that said, I think that breaking the story to the media was a very bad idea; first of all, before they finally took it down, the ebook went from having a sales rank in the sextuple-digits to #114. For comparison, James Joyce's Ulysses is currently #322. In short, the media story gave this guy even more attention than he could have ever dreamed of, and far more than he deserved. Even if he ends up getting jail time, I wouldn't end up being surprised if he ended up with a book deal from a bigger publisher (as long as he writes about the ordeal of getting banned, and not more of the same.) The second reason is that, generally, if one work is banned, sooner or later, more people are going to lobby for banning things they don't like, and eventually, we'll live in the world of Fahrenheit 451 because everybody will have found some offense somewhere. In case you think I'm exaggerating, PeTA has been asking that books they don't like be removed. Granted, PeTA are, by this point, a joke, and it's less likely that those books will be removed. But the slope is already getting slippery. Whoever wins, the human race loses.

Film Review: Mary and Max. Simply put,this is probably one of the best films about Autism I've ever seen. I've seen films about autism that aren't exactly that good on their own terms despite being excellent portraits of Autism (films like Adam and Mozart and the Whale regrettably fall into this category), films which are good, but portray autism inaccurately (like Rain Man), and then there's works like Sonichu which suck hard, and fail to portray much of a portrait of Autistic spectrum disorders. That said, I did find it particularly interesting, particularly in the fact that it blends tragedy and comedy, veering between the two almost constantly.

Quote of the Day: "Do you have a pet kangaroo? When I was born, my father left my mother and me on a kibbutz. She shot herself with my uncle's gun when I was six. Do you like chocolate hotdogs? I invented the recipe for them and can send it to you."
_______________Max from Mary and Max.

Link of the Day: Brass Eye's take on Pedo-Hunting.

Tract Review: Love that Money! Yet another tract about how angels and demons are fighting over people's souls, with the twist that this takes place in the latest economic downturn.

Issue 155

News: Screw the Sea Kittens.
Recently, after RationalWiki got back online, I ended up going on the PeTA page, and was particularly struck by one part, where they talked about their attempt to stop the fishing industry. What really struck me was the fact that, as it turned out, they adamantly refused to call them "fish." Instead, they decided that it would behoove the movement to rename the entire class of animals from "fish" to "sea kittens," as if a different name would stop the fishing industry dead in their tracks, or even that fish even bear any deeper resemblance to cats than the fact that they share vertebrae. What is really bizarre about the campaign is that the entire campaign seems to be focused upon a site that seems more like they're advertising a show on Cartoon Network than trying to alleviate a big problem; the site is full of idiotic dialogue like the one sample that I have quoted below. If that's not enough, the site also has a game where you can create your own "sea kitten", and put it in makeup and a princess dress. I am sure that any real fish would rather get hooked then be forced to wear ridiculous clothing like this. The only possible reason this site exists is that PeTA is actually a deep cover organization trying to discredit the Animal Rights Movement by making them look like total idiots.

Film reviews: Inglorious Basterds. I finally saw this movie, and all that needs to be said is that, in the hands of any other director, this movie would have fallen flat on its ass in its own over-the-top-ness [To give the ending away, Hitler is shot to death by Jewish soldiers and the rest of the Nazi heirarchy is blown up and burned to death by two independent plots against them]. However, in the hands of Quentin Tarantino, it actually manages to be his best film since Pulp Fiction.
The Wicker Man. I also have wanted to see this movie for a long time, but the film's unavailability at the SPL has been a stumbling block. And the fact that the Neil LaBute remake is, by all accounts, an abomination that takes everything that made the film so original and nullified it, has certainly hindered me. But finally, it finally became available, but since the disc was literally unplayable, even on my laptop, but it turned out that it was on OnDemand. Finally, I managed to see it, and I must say that it must be one of the best horror films I've ever seen, partially because it was so differnet. It didn't seem to rely on big scares like most other films, and in the first half of the film, seems more like a musical than a horror film, but the atmosphere builds until the final twist and by this point, even though I knew exactly what would happen, it is clear that cannot dare stop the channel. Now, I think it's accurate to say that this is now one of my favorite movies. Incidentally, yes, my sample Sea Kitten was based upon Lord Summerisle's processional costume near the climax.

Quote: "Sea kittens talk to each other through squeaks, squeals, and other low-frequency sounds that humans can only hear through special instruments. Most ichthyologists—scientists who specialize in sea kitten biology—agree that this is just about the cutest thing ever."

Links are back: Just so you know I am dead serious about the Sea Kittens site existing.

Tract Reviews: Some Like it Hot. This has nothing to do with girl bands, gangsters, or transvestites. However, it's basically about a man and his grandpa going to meet Satan, and he talks about himself before going to the bottom level of hell.

Issue 22P

News: PETA. I know many of my readers may think that PETA is a crusader for good, but, despite everything the McCartneys, Pamela Anderson, et. Al. say, PETA is not the way it seems. First off, I would like to point out a discrepancy in their name. Their Name stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which implies that ethics is the same exact set of rules for all people, which it isn't. I don't believe that I should physically harm pets, but, and I believe most species across the world agree with me on this: Some species are good to eat. PETA has been known to picket Animal Shelters because they kill animals (because they kill animals who have been in too long, and try to do everything in their power to not kill them, so what are they supposed to do?). Now who does that Remind me of? He Said thinking of the Westboro Baptist Church. Back to PeTA and their fight against shelters, they probably want the shelters to free all the animals, including the ones that bite, and now, they will be blamed by the people of the city who don't work for PeTA. Although they want animals to be free, they want to do so by harassing people who disagree with them by use of violence and images of violence in meat packing factories, saying that Animals are Slaves, while millions of people in the Pacific are working as slaves in foreign countries for International Corporations.
And Eating Meat and Cruelty to animals is just the tip of the Iceberg. They Also Hate:
*Fishing (Which I never did nor plan to do)
*Circuises (Which I've never gone to)
*Dog Shows (I liked Best in Show)
*Horseback Riding (I don't really like riding horseback)
* Zoos (Which I like)
*Seeing Eye Dogs (Which help the blind)
*Pets (I have a pet dog)
*Honey (Which I do hate)
*Animal Testing (Which has helped many people, including PeTa's VP)
So, to all you people who own pets and Donate to PeTA thinking that they are just another organization like the AHS, you are being a hypocrite. Also, they actually support people financially who firebomb dissenters for their beliefs. Finally, they once bought a $9370 10x20 Walk-in Frezer, which was for 1325 Dead animals that they Euthanized at their Headquarters. So, everybody, PeTA is the largest group of Hypocrites by Far I know of in both Hypocrisy and Number: 3/4 Million.

Film Idea: Actually, a Novel Idea that is a spoof of a book I read and hated entitled The Five People You Meet In Heaven. My Spoof is called The Seven Dwarves you meet in Hell. In it, after having a heart attack brought on by a Flash Screamer, Cthulhu Jones answers to 7 people he knew on Earth, but each has metamorphasized into a Dwarf and is head of their own Hell, which varies only by Colour Schemes. Each one tells Cthulhu about the meaningless of life.

Review: Sunset Boulevard. In this 110-minute film, William Holden plays a screenwriter who narrates the story of his Hollywood Career and his relationship with Gloria Swanson. With its fascinating portrayal of life in Hollywood and star studded cast, it is no wonder that it is considtently in the Top 250 on IMDB.

Quote of the Day: "I hate Morrisey so much that if Morrisey says 'Don't Eat Meat', then I'll Eat meat. "
_____Robert Smith.

Link of the Day: lostfrog.org
A collection of bizarre photoshops related to a child's poster for a frog.

Tract Review: T-Z
The Terminator- A simple David and Goliath Tract.

That Crazy Guy- A girl has premarital sex and gets gonorrhea and AIDS. Chick tells the Evils of Condoms.

The Theif- A man is robbed and he converts the theif to Christianity.

The Thing- A mexican woman is possessed by a Demon and is Exorcised. Read for the Shyamalanesque Twist at the end.

This Was Your Life- The chick Publications Classic about a man whose life is reviewed by Angels.

Tiny Shoes- As his son dies of an infection, a Mexican drinks until he is Saved by Christ.

Titanic- Not related that much to the film of the same name, a man boards the Titanic, and rejects God and goes to hell.

The Traitor- Stereotyping Hindi as Pagans since 1990.

The Trap- This shows the Evils of Reincarnation.

The Trial- A Priest, Minister, a Rabbi and An Imam walk into a Courthouse. They are seen condemning a girl because She gave a girl a piece of paper saying "John 14:6". This is sort of like Karka's Trial, but the defendant has a puropse in the Courtroom.

The Trick- Ladies and Gentlemen, the Satanic conspiracy to kill people on Halloween, mentioned in at least 5 other tracts is revealed.

The True Path- Like One Way, but for the Native Americans.

Trust me- A teen gets high, arrested, raped, and HIV'd and dies just after reading a Tract.

The Tycoon- A Buddhist dies, while Chick prpetuates the misconception that Buddhism is a religion. It is really a philosophy.

Unloved- As a man's development is shown from childhood is contrasted with his Sister's great life, he is saved by a Friend.

the visitors- Two mormons learn about their Church.

The Wall- A tract with a NASCAR theme. You know Chick must be desperate when he is prosceletyzing to Rednecks.

The Warning- A man tells how his father got saved when his overalls got stuck on barbed wire when he tried to go into snake-infested water. Then he talks about the biggest Snake attack in History as read in Genesis 3.

War zOne- An bully in an entire school of Delinquents is turned on to Christ when he steals a girl's Chick Tracts, one of which is this very tract.

What's Wrong with this Picture- A woman is offended at a Pacific Islander worshipping a Bird on a painting in a museum. Shows the value of Lightening up about paintings.

Where's Rabbi Waxman?- An Anti-Semitic Tract that states a Rabbi died in his sins with Fluid in his lungs after rejecting the New Testament.

Who Cares- In the 20th Bible Series Tract, A post 9/11 Muslim is beaten up and Bob Williams Tells him about the Good Samaritan.

Who me?- Chick shows the power of passing out Chick Tracts.

Who's Missing- In the 24th Bible Series Tract, Bob Talks about the Rapture.

Who murdered Clarise?- An Abortion Clinic Doctor is told about The Massacre of the Innocents, the Holocaust, and Abortion being the exact same thing.

Why is Mary Crying?- Because she is being Worshipped.

Why No Revival- In his First ever tract, Chick Talks about the conditions in this world for Christians, and ask for a revival.

The Word (Became Flesh)- Chick uses Bible Quotes to Explain JEsus.

Wordless Gospels- A man in the Target Group is seen speaking the Gospels to his people without words and he converts the entire tribe.

I will devote the next Tract Review to Those Tracts I cannot find online.