If any of you have been keeping up with the Japanese and their current events, then you know of the controversial visits of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Japanese shrine of the war dead. What is controversial about it, you may ask. China and North Korea continue to express their opinion that Japan owes war reparations and apologies for the atrocities committed by Japanese troops during and before World War II. Koizumi was quoted by Reuters to say, in response to his visit to the shr...

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to play Mr. Wardell for a fool. I do recognize good commentary in the making, however, after reading "15 Common Facts Debated on the Internet". I am torn. I don't recognize how one person can simply state his or her opinion as fact on such grandiose opinions and topics. I do recognize the frustration that can be felt by watching some people debate and horribly butcher history or popular public opinion, or even the 'standard national view'. I myself am hop...

Maybe I ought to clarify a few things, just to remedy a few misunderstandings. Earlier, while writing an article on how the Book of Revelations was coming to California, I made a poke at 'a plague of immigrants', which seemed to be misconstrued to some folks as a 'lack of value for human life'. Not true at all. In fact, I've donated a lot of time and work into contributing to my neighborhood via volunteer work and through education and service to others. And that was regardless of who was in...

Are you proud of the year that has passed us on by? Or are you living vicariously through somebody else's year? Perhaps you judge whether or not a year was successful on behalf of George W. Bush. Or maybe this year's music awards gave everything away to hip-hop and R&B stars, and you swear, just SWEAR this nation's music scene is going to hell in a handbasket. Maybe you are disheartened by the amount of troops that have died in the line of fire, or maybe your cable television programming con...

I know I'm not the only one thinking it: God has come to Judge California. What seems like a war-zone already, Los Angeles is about to meet its Maker. Consider the trumpets that have blown already: (1) San Bernadino, suburbs of Los Angeles, and a LOT of San Diego have gone up in flames. I know, I've witnessed it, as well as the sun being blocked out of the sky due to thousands of tons of ash floating through the atmosphere. (2) There was an earthquake in Central California, on t...

Okay, so there are a few million who served the United States in the military. And I'm willing to bet that at least a fourth of the aforementioned that served in the US Navy. For those of you who have served the Navy, I offer a disclaimer before I set about freeing the myths and fantasy about being a sailor: I'm not your average squid, so don't bleed your hearts and say, "the Navy made who I am today", because I don't care. Be proud of yourself, and what you do and where you come from. That ...

Hey, it's the point-the-finger society, and I'm a hopeless product. You made me, and now I'm going to impose my opinion upon you, because I'm American, and you should read what I have to say. CNN says that I expect too much, and that I'll become depressed and anxietic, because I won't be a star of Hollywood, even though I went through acting classes. I won't be on VH1, playing my alt-country, alt-rock, pseudo-indie, over-influenced music, even though I've been playing many instruments for yea...