My Middle Men Moment

For over a week I have been agonizing if I should publicly write about a movie premier I recently attended: Middle Men.  You can imagine my trepidation writing about a movie which appears to be Studio 54 meets Boogie Nights and is about the creation of porn on the Internet. While the trailer certainly was designed to tantalize the masses by showing ample skin - to me this movie was as entertaining as it was thought provoking.  Throughout the fast paced story of sex, drugs, money, and greed there were strong underlying themes of business savvy succeeding and positive messages that appeal to our inner-self help/hope mantras. The movie touched upon core issues that lurk behind closed doors of our lives: faithfulness, family dramas, personal struggle, and selling out.

I would have never thought that the main character, Jack, would have become a hero or even a guiding force as there is so much about him that one could find despicable (i.e. the man who made sellable sex on the Internet what it is today).  However, Jack is not an adult film producer or even its advocate.  He is a businessman, a leader, and a fixer.  He was not in the adult film business, he was in the “fixing business.” Jack's track record of fixes fledgling companies gives way to his mantra, “Let's focus on why we are here” -- a line that I have used daily since I have saw the movie.

This concept of staying focused has really made me think.  Focus is an essentially skill that often gets lost in the shuffle of our day-to-day task oriented way of proceeding with our lives. My focus and goal, newly reaffirmed, is to educate people, advocate for people and causes and sometimes even shame or cajole people to be better. So I realized that this movie is not so dissimilar from my core beliefs and what I stand for. As important as it is to insure that the justice system does what it is supposed to, I want to also make sure I do my part: that is to teach others to open their minds and become aware. What will your refocus moment be like?

So my friends, the bottom line is this: Middle Men is a movie I urge you to see. It is now playing at selected theaters -- Find Local Listings.

What News?


Do we really want our President chillin' on the couch with the ladies of The View? I mean, isn't there other business he could be tending to...? Maybe yes or maybe not. It is August now where Congress is on hiatus and The Supreme Court is down for the count -- so what else is really going on?  I mean we can talk Mel until we are blue in the face, but as skilled as Radar is at making it news each day, it's really the same old story.


There is, of course, Lindsay Lohan whose release from custody would have been way more newsworthy if she threw a pre-rehab "blow out" party.  There is also the tragic case of Kyron Horman -- the news conference last week where even the media griped for calling a news conference when there was actually no update. There is Arizona, the thunderstorms in the Southwest, and of course the catastrophic BP oil spill.  But really no matter how you cut - things slow down in the summer.  The people who normally make news are watching the news from their hotel rooms, rehab beds, jail cells or - if you're Polanski - from wherever you want!


So what better change of pace than having our Commander-In-Chief have a little sit down with the ladies of The View where we can see him raw and see just how The President dodges questions on pop culture, life, and politics - right!?  Frankly, he said it best himself when he said he would rather answer questions about Afghanistan than about Mel Gibson.


But what I really wanted to know is: does Barack think Chesea Clinton needed $15,000 a piece porcelain port-a-potties with piped in music when there are people starving, jobless rate at record highs, etc. etc. Of course, if Chelsea is only to to get married once and mom and dad are paying - go for it, right? Did he think that the the "cheating" clause in Chelsea's pre-nup was appropriate? Did he think Hillary's dress outshined Chelsea? Ah soo many questions, but I'll leave the pondering to Diane Dimond whose coverage of Marriage de Golden Child on ET was simply awesome.


As for Obama's View appearance ... I still think he should have known who Snookie is -- that is a matter of National Security for sure! In any case, even though I still can't decide how I feel about the appearance I am happy to see that Obama is pushing the barriers of presidential appropriateness and at least trying to reach out to the regular folk. I am happy he chose August, and the only thing I guess that I am hoping for is that if he does something like it again -- he will actually weigh in on life's pressing issues: Should the bachelorette have chosen Chris Lambton instead? Should Jennifer Anniston go through fertility treatments? Was Charlie Sheen's sentence fair?

Justice for Stacey Doss & Baby Vanessa

Background & Commentary
Stacey Doss adopted baby Vanessa at birth with the help of an adoption agency. This was a legitimate adoption. Baby Vanessa, now two years old, has been ordered to return to Ohio. Vanessa will be cared for by her paternal grandmother, whom she has never met. Stacey Doss, Vanessa’s adoptive mother, was given until July 16 to turn over the child. Vanessa's allegedly violent biological father, Benjamin Mills, Jr. (who has a child endangerment charge on his record as well as being imprisoned for domestic violence) is seeking to take Vanessa away from Stacey, the only mother she has ever known. It is unclear why Mills suddenly wants to assert his paternity. As a former prosecutor, I see this as an case where bio-dad has desire to gain power and control over his favorite victim, bio-mom. So he is hurting everyone in the process to to gain power -- instead of thinking of the best interest of this child.


Please visit my recent posts on Baby Vanessa and join our fight to help Stacey Doss retain custody of her daughter.

SIGN THE PETITION: 

More information: Articles
Media Clips
NBC Ch. 4 Available at: 


Good Morning America Interview
Available at: www.robinsax.com/media.html

CBS Channel 2 News Link
Fox News Vigil Footage

NBC July 31, 2010

Statements from Stacey Doss: 
"My attorneys have told me that in California, an adopting parent and a child get a hearing in the case of a failed adoption to determine if custody must change or if, perhaps, a guardianship, which permits the birth parent to retain parental rights, is in order.  By blindly following Ohio's orders, the CA court denied me that right and violated my constitutional rights and my daughter's rights as well.
Wednesday July 14, 2010
"The California Court of Appeal has granted us our appeal request for an immediate temporary stay.  The response states, '...the child shall not be removed from Orange County, CA, until further order of this court.'  This means that Vanessa is safe in California, with me, for the time being.  We are elated that the emergency stay is based on the Appellate Court’s concern for Vanessa’s best interest. Today's decision is one victory in what will likely be a long fight.  We are hoping that this case is somehow precedent setting for all children in this country."   

Operation Vanessa (visit the site)
Facebook Page (to leave Stacey a message)

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