HIV/AIDS patients face immigration restrictions

UPDATE!

U.S. To Begin Removing Ban on HIV-Positive Visitors

Well then.  Seems I was a little late on this story.  Just yesterday the US Department of Health and Human Services got the ok to begin removing the ban.  Apparently its a long and quite confusing road to do so (read more in the link up top) but it could potentially be gone by the end of the year. Wonderful!

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(below is an except from the article posted on www.TheBody.com – an amazing resource for HIV/AIDS info)

http://www.thebody.com/content/art47485.html

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People With HIV Not Welcome Here

Nathan Schaefer, Felix Lopez, Vishal Trevedi, and Joshua Volle

Summer 2008

The U.S. remains one of only 13 countries in the world to bar even short-term visitors from entering simply because they are HIV-positive. (The other 12 countries are Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Moldova, Russia, Armenia, and South Korea.) This policy violates the human rights of immigrants and travelers and contributes to stigma and discrimination. Highly skilled workers who have full health insurance cannot seek legal permanent residence in the U.S. if they have HIV, unless they have an opposite-sex spouse or child who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. This discriminates against gay men and lesbians. Further, the ban undermines the global fi ght against HIVAIDS by blocking access to treatment and returning people to countries where HIV care is limited or unavailable.

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” The heart of the security agenda is protecting lives – and we now know that the number of people who will die of AIDS in the first decade of the 21st Century will rival the number that died in all the wars in all the decades of the 20th century. “

– Al Gore

The Hurt Locker – quicktime trailer

Fianlly, an Iraq war movie that is just that: a war movie.  No propoganda, from what I can see, just a straight out, intense looking war movie. Here’s a link to the quicktime version: http://www.apple.com/trailers/summit/thehurtlocker/large.html

Random sidenote: Another modern war movie I enjoyed was The Kingdom. Click here to see the trailer.

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” Chicks dig me, because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it’s usually something unusual. ” -  John Winger (Bill Murray) from the movie Stripes

new News and neat Mario shtuff

So our Govenor (unfortunately) decided to disappear for four days and tell no one of his plans to go…. hiking?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/mark-sanford-disappeared_n_219139.html

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And then we have some really bitchin’ Mario art.  Especially check out Anthony Jones’ hyper-realistic Mario interpretations!

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Geek News Galore

In preparation for the upcoming (ie: tomorrow) new Ghostbusters video game that is also a Ghostbusters sequel (squee!) I’ve found these incredibly nerdy yet also interesting articles on overhtinkingit.com.  The first one examines a very risky financial business plan for starting-up the Ghostbusters.  The second link is a somewhat comparison between Ghostbusters 2 and the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic.  It doesnt say that any of the comparisons were intended, but they are quite interesting nontheless.

The funnies.

Funny I: http://www.tressugar.com/3123168

and

Funny II (also accurate): http://www.tressugar.com/2715654

JCVD – Review

So, I’m not the biggest Jean Claude Van Damme fan in the world.  Sure, Bloodsport was awesome, and as much flak as I get for it, I actually liked the Street Fighter movie (c’mon, Raul Julia was in it! Gomez Adams!) .  But after the horribleness that was Double Team, I gave up on him.  Rampant reports of cocaine use only added fuel to the fire.  He’s recently been showing up again, off the coke and in some decent movies such as In Hell so, being as I hadn’t completely written him off, I decided to give JCVD a chance.  Man, was I surprised.  Not only can he act, but he can act very well, and does a great job in this role.  In the film, Van Damme plays a fictional-ish version of himself, a washed up actor who is losing his roles to Steven Seagal and just recently lost his kid to his ex-wife.  Things aren’t looking up for him when he returns to Belgium and, going to the bank, stumbles upon a bank heist.  Through some confusion, the police believe him to be mastermind behind the bank robbery and it goes from there.  Sounds pretty basic, but the plot is really a vehicle for Van Damme to vette a bit on his life, foibles and all.  In one very Charlie Chaplin-Great-Dictator-esque scene, he even goes so far as to address his drug problems and the pitfalls of international superstardom.  All of it feels very real and gritty, and I can applaud Jean Claude for having the balls to do a role like this. 

The film is backed by great production value.  Sound and music is all top notch with a very mo-town/funky score.  Occasionally the film is a bit too needlessly indie for my taste, but it can be overlooked because of the great content.  It’s certainly worth the price of admission and worth looking into.

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” Now who wants to go home? AND WHO WANTS TO GO WITH ME?!?”

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PS: This is funny:

Funny People trailer

Watch this:

Now. Let’s examine the good things about this trailer ala bullet-point style:

• Judd Apatow
• Seth Rogen
• Adam Sandler and it NOT being a kids movie
• Jason Schwartzman
• Eric Bana (hey, shut up, I like the guy.  Screw “Hulk” go watch “Munich” and THEN tell me you don’t like him)

Ok, too many bullet points.  Basically, I enjoy movies that seem like the main actor is poking fun at themselves.  Semi-autobiographical, if you will.  “Lost in Translation” being a wonderful example.  What, you havent seen that either?  Jesus, get out more.  Here. Yes, I know Bill Murray isn’t really playing himself.  But maybe he is, just a little.  And I love that in a movie.  Even Julia Roberts playing an worldwide famous actress in “Notting Hill” (yes, I saw Notting Hill, sue me) – I can respect that.  It seems to me that that is what Adam Sandler, and maybe even Seth Rogen, are doing here, and I look forward to it.  Now just have Rob Schneider pop up and you’ve got a hit. 

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” The more you know who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you. “ – Bob Harris (Bill Murray) from “Lost in Translation”

Firefighter news

Firefighter Sentenced On 11 Counts of Arson  (click link to view article – thanks FireLink)

I have no words, it just saddens me to read. 

Click on the picture below to read “Creation of a Firefighter” – author unknown.

 

UPDATE: Also, apparently one of the arsonists in the Australia fires was apprehended.  Click here to read CNN’s article.  Apparently he’s also being charged with “child pornography” too.  Killing 181 people AND kiddy porn?  The kindof guy you’d bring home to mom…

 

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” Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ” – John 15: 13

blurring the line between drama and comedy?

I usually don’t like to categorize movies, if I can help it.  Shoeboxing them into one “genre” just seems silly to me.  “Labels are for pickle jars” – thanks Liz.  But I’m not quite sure where this movie fits.  Is it a another Apatow-esque film or dark and bleak like Taxi Driver?  Who can say… below, the trailer for Seth Rogen’s newest “Observe and Report”.  By the way, not safe for work.

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” The world has no use for another scared man.  Right now, the world needs a fucking hero. “

movie trailers and other geekness to share

Check out this trailer for a new Judd Apatow-ish comedy “I Love You, Man” starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall).  On a sidenote, apparently Segel is interested in making a Muppet-puppet movie with Marshall’s director – click this link here for JoBlo’s scoop.  Anyone who thinks this is a stupid idea, may I remind you of the awesomeness of Dracula: The Musical from Forgetting Sarah Marshall? 

Also, thought this was funny, but really only if you’ve seen the Predator movie and remember it.

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” Die…. die…. I… can’t.”  - Forgetting Sarah Marshall