So what you're saying is, the wise men were gay?

Can I really be one of the few people left that isn't completely tired of hearing about homosexual tolerance? I tolerate it, but you cannot force me to enjoy or even appreciate it.  Love who you love.  Fine, whatever.  But can't ANY tradition be left alone now-a-days???

Since when does a CHRISTmas nativity include homosexual couples?  Did I miss something in all my years of hearing about the birth of Jesus Christ? Do the scriptures talk about homosexual couples being present in the glory of the lord?  Somehow, I doubt I missed it.

So a Claremont, Calif. church (and I use the term loosely) decided to put up silhouettes of three couples in front of their church and had the audacity to call it a variation of a CHRISTMAS NATIVITY! These three couples consisted of man-woman, man-man, and woman-woman.  How very Christmasy of them. And once again we can say bye-bye (Christian) tradition.  That evil old tradition.  It's old, and dare I say conservative! It must be inherently evil! 

I guess I'm ticked off because I don't understand why the "church" felt the need to put up that kind of display at this time of year.  They knew (and probably intended for) many Christians would be offended by that display.  Not out of hatred or contempt for homosexuals, but the sacrilegious nature of said display.  The birth of Christ is once of the most important events (if not the most important event) to happen to mankind.  I can say that, even if I am not a steady church goer these days.  Either way, the birth of Christ is probably the most well-known story ever told.  And once again I ask, where was the part about 2 homosexual couples in that story?  Oh that's right, there isn't one. In fact, there was no mention of any couple other than Joseph and Mary. 

Christ preached to love thy neighbor as thyself.  Probably one of the hardest things for people to do is to treat EVERYONE as equals, but I would say, many try.  So am I a bigot for wanting the sanctity of Christmas to be preserved in a traditional fashion?  Does that really make me an evil person?  I certainly don't think so.  I do not agree with the vandals.  If that church (again, used loosely) wants to make a political statement using Christmas as their chosen platform, so be it.  I would do everything possible to avoid that stretch of city space so I wouldn't have to see that pathetic display, but I would allow that organization their right to display what they deem fitting. 

Again, I do not agree with the vandals knocking over the display, I just wish that organization used better judgment.  Christmas is turning into yet another time of year that puts Christians on the docket to be judged and ridiculed. Nothing is sacred to those who don't believe, including traditions that others hold near and dear.  It is unfortunate that the world feels it is okay to ensure everyone is treated "fairly" except, of course, Christians.

Would anyone be offended if someone placed a hijab on the woman? Would it still be considered a hate crime? Probably not, because apparently it is okay to hate and mock Christians as long as it is a minority group doing the hating. Some people have a very distorted view of equality...

The related article: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/lgbt-nativity-scene-vandalized-claremont.html

Bob Hodgson, “Historically, blasphemy has always been identified with criticizing, denigrating, or marginalizing the sacred, and in Jewish and Christian tradition it's connected with profaning the name of God, or persons such as Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or even teachings connected with the God of the Bible. It's the kind of categorical expression for vast disrespect of the most sacred and holy things in our faith.”

Oh, It's just a pledge..? I thought it was something serious!

Read this story.
 
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/blaze-exclusive-tx-high-school-students-made-to-recite-mexican-national-anthem-pledge-of-allegiance/

This is outrageous!! Honestly, saying a pledge to Mexico???? I  really want to put this entire blog in all caps because that is how outraged I am.  But since I know how annoying that is I will try to restrain myself.

I get that it is Spanish class... But lets examine that.  I wonder why it's called Spanish Language class and not Mexican Language class?  If they want Americans to learn Mexican, that is what they should call it.  Spanish come from SPAIN!  Weird I know... But that is simply a side note. How can a school district allow for the reciting of a pledge to any country but The United States of America?  You can't even call that a learning tool.  It is indoctrination.  Period.  And how dare they?

There is a distinct difference between teaching culture and pledging allegiance to a country.  If this teacher loves Mexico so much, what is stopping her from going back?  Obviously a rhetorical question, we know why she stays.  To indoctrinate.  She couldn't care less about the quality of education her students are receiving.  She is simply ensuring to push her agenda on to the students that are looking to her for guidance.  I am so glad there are still young men and women that have a the ability to decipher what is education versus indoctrination.  This 15 year old took a stand for what she believes and probably didn't win any brownie points with her school and teacher.  But she is someone who is an inspiration for looking evil in the eye and taking a stand against it!  Am I being melo-dramatic?  I certainly don't think so.  This is something that should not and will not be over-looked!

It is well known that the education system as a whole is dominated by left-leaning quasi-socialists who would like nothing more than to see the destruction of America if it ensures they still have a job on Monday.  This type of behavior, the one that allows for a Mexican pledge to be said but not an American one, must be stopped. This is the kind of issue that should bind the American people together, yet this is something that causes a great divide.  You have two types of reactions,  The outraged and the pacified.  What would your reaction be if your child came home and said, "today in English class we were told we cannot say the Pledge of Allegiance because it might possibly offend someone, but in Spanish class we were assigned to learn the Mexican pledge and National Anthem!" How would you react?  Well I for one will most likely never experience this, because it will be a cold day in hell when I send any child of mine to a so-left-it-is-almost-falling-over public school.  I have no choice but to relate everything I say back to my own experiences... I went through a year and a half of nothing but Arabic for 7 hours a day for 15 months.  Do you think I would have, even for a micro second, thought about learning a pledge to a middle east country??  Even for a grade?  Do I have to dignify that with an answer?  Would never happen.

The time has come for us to fight for our country!  We don't need politicians in office, we need people who want only THE BEST for the country that we live in.  We don't need people that support pledging our lives to the country outside of the one in which we are citizens.  I cannot suitably represent my outrage and disgust about this in this blog.  I have tried, and I have made something of my point, but it cannot stop here! 

AMERICA! WE NEED TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!!!!

Sean Hannity, "...why wouldn't anyone want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, unless they detested their own country or were ignorant of its greatness?"

Who needs gender anyway...

I've read just in the last 30 days or so some very interesting (for restraint against using a much harsher word) articles about the transgender society.  I must say I am pretty well appalled.  The first started when the liberal society deemed it necessary to place Chaz bono on dancing with the stars.  No why would they do that?  Chaz is not known for anything, ANYTHING except being once a female, now she is a mutilated female that appears male.  Go ahead parents, explain the "star" value in that!! Then, I read about a couple who refuse to disclose the identity of their child, so that that child will be able to decide for itself what gender it would like to be.  Trying to allow for a "freer, less constrained by social norms" childhood.  Can we even begin to imagine the detriment this child is going to face??  Then we move to DC, where they hold TAX-PAYER FUNDED seminar about how to get the transgendered community working and placed into jobs.  You think I'm kidding?  I will provide the link at the conclusion.  Then today I read about a couple that not only wants they child to choose his identity (we know he is a male named Tommy who they insist upon now calling him Tammy) because when he was THREE he signed a statement that he was a girl... Umm, 3 year old children say a lot of interesting things... Why would you cater to that?  WHY WHY WHY???  How completely irrational do you have to be?  So now this child is 11 and the lesbian (and yes I find that fact imperative to this story) parents are drugging their little boy to delay puberty until he makes his final decision about which gender he wants to be.  OMG, let me count the ways that this is going to ruin this little life.  It's INSANE to believe this is a healthy thing to do for a child.  A drug induced delay of puberty... It's down right tragic.

I would pose a question like I normally do about how did we (society) fall so far.  But I already know the answer.  Liberalism.  When you can treat human life as nothing more than a social experiment, you cannot have any regard or feelings toward your lab rat (read child).  I am saddened that these children will have to grow up in a world that they cannot and will never understand.  Their parents are literally ruining their children's psyche by giving them less than no direction or structure. And the thing is, everyone knew something like this would happen.

This is why parents should be both a man and a woman.  Lets leave the religious part out (although for the record, religion is where marriage began, so it is also where it should end.  But I will try to leave that argument aside for the moment) and focus on simple psychology. Do we have men on this earth for nothing but reproducing?  Is that their only job?  They used to be the strong, hard-working, bread-winners and family protectors.  Their job was to make sure their family had a secure place to live and food to eat, while the mother ensures the health and wellness of the children at home.  Endless studies show that for a child to be the MOST well adjusted, they should be raised in a home with one mother and one father, married.  What is so hard about that concept?  For those of you that know me know that even I don't necessarily fall into that category.  I LOVE to work and go to school.  HOWEVER... however, I am also not a mother, nor am I married.  But you can take to the bank, before I bring a child into this world I will have a husband by my side! Because I will most likely be a working mother, why would I want to put any added strain on my home life by not having a husband there to support me and our child.  It seems like common sense.

I want to point out I never accused homosexuals of lacking love.  That is not my argument.  Anyone can love, and really I think only very few people don't know how to love. Children are in need of certain influences in their life.  Single mothers raise successful children all the time... Yep.  But I would be willing to bet if you ask that child if they were missing anything growing up, they would tell you their father.  It is something that never goes away.

Now let me bring all of this full circle.  Rarely when a parent says "you can be anything you want to be" do they mean gender-wise!  If a child had the kind of influences they require there would be a far slimmer chance for the child to even have thoughts of gender confusion (unless you grow up with Sonny and Cher as your parents, and even they didn't delay puberty for their kid!!).  Encouraging an operation to mutilate yourself and try to make you believe that you are something you aren't is, in my opinion, evil.  To do that to your child can be derived from hatred towards humanity, not love for your child... Delaying puberty, especially without knowing the long-term physiological and psychological affects, is downright cruel.  YOUR CHILD ISN'T AN EXPERIMENT!

I left God our earlier.  Well I'm bringing him back now.  God doesn't make mistakes.  Everyone encounters challenges in their lives that may shake their faith, but God also never gives us anything we can't handle.  How dare anyone think they know better than him.  It's a tragedy and unacceptable.  I will always blame the parents of children like Tommy for literally ruining his life before he ever got a chance to live it...

Here are a few of the stories:
1. Chaz Bono http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/bio/chaz-bono/854710
2. Genderless children http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112
3. Tax-payer funded training http://cnsnews.com/news/article/dc-taxpayers-pick-tab-transgender-job-training
4. Drug-induced puberty delay http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/17/controversial-therapy-for-young-transgender-patients-raises-questions/

Alfred A. Montapert,  "Every person has free choice. Free to obey or disobey the Natural Laws. Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices."

He who has the gold... Should give it to the government

Tax brackets for federal income tax: http://www.taxbrackets2011.com/


Tax Bracket      Single                           Married Filing Jointly         Head of Household
10% Bracket      $0 – $8,500                    $0 – $17,000                        $0 – $12,150
15% Bracket      $8,500 – $34,500            $17,000 – $69,000                $12,150 – $46,250
25% Bracket      $34,500 – $83,600          $69,000 – $139,350               $46,250 – $119,400
28% Bracket      $83,600 – $174,400         $139,350 – $212,300             $119,400 – $193,350
33% Bracket      $174,400 – $379,150       $212,300 – $379,150             $193,350 – $379,150
35% Bracket      $379,150+                      $379,150+                           $379,150+

America, the land of opportunity...  Right?  Not if you are *ahem* RICH!

So my question is this... Who is Rich and why does everyone hate him!?  ;)

But on a serious note, what is the grudge the lower and middle class have against the higher class aka The RICH!  I can understand if people are a little bit jealous of others who have things that they don't, but are we right to begrudge them because of that? Are we really so jaded as to believe everyone with money is the same as Paris Hilton or Warren Buffet?  Just look at the numbers (well look at several reports about the "numbers" because they all have variations in them).  The "Rich" already carry the weight of the government's income.  The lower class doesn't pay taxes.  The middle class pays a small portion, but the so-called wealthy pay well over 50% of the federal governments income!  And some people have the nerve to say they need to pay more.  They need to pay their "fair share."  I IMPLORE you... Explain to me WHO are the rich, WHY should they pay more and WHAT would be considered their "fair share."

*crickets*

That's what I thought.  No one has a good answer for this. We throw the word rich around like it is all encompassing for anyone earning a gross income of $250,000/yr or more.  WHAT??  um, no, that just doesn't work for me.  Just because someone has a gross income of $250,000 doesn't mean they are riding around with limo service and eating lobster (or whatever the "rich" eat) for every meal and have a live-in
masseuse.  That all sounds over the top right?  So then if that is over the top and those "rich" aren't living like that, why do we as middle class citizens or the federal government think they deserve to pay more in taxes when it is career politicians making bad decisions that have run up the need for more federal income?  I know, that sentence was a mouthful, but it presents my point. 

I like to use myself as an example.  I am right now a Sgt in the Marine Corps with 7 years in.  My annual basic pay income is 31440 (you can look up all this military stuff online).  My annual housing allowance is 20052.  So my gross is roughly $52,000.  I'm a pretty average American.  I pay my state taxes, federal taxes and social security.  I contribute 10% to my retirement plan and pay my bills which are like most others.  I pay rent and have my utilities and insurance, car and credit cards, cell and internet; Same as MANY MANY others.  I don't have a ton of money fort extras but I live comfortably.  I give to charity when I can and I volunteer often.  Why do you care about any of this.  Well you may not.  But I wanted to present an "Average American" view before jumping into my illustration of the "rich".

Now lets look at Mr. Richy Rich making $250,000 A YEAR.  Lets say he has the identical bills that I have but in addition to all of that, he has small, family run restaurant.  He makes approximately 200,000 more a year than me right?  He should have TONS of money to spare... WRONG!!! He has either property taxes for his business or rent.  He has employees to pay.  He has food and equipment to buy.  He has lines of credit for the business to pay back, he has permits and licenses to renew.  AND NOW he has health care he must provide to his employees, and required paid sick days...  ETC ETC ETC!

How much money does he have now?  But he is an evil, corrupt, selfish rich guy!  He MUST pay his FAIR SHARE of taxes!! Where is the logic in that?

Now do the same scenario with a millionaire but realize that he has 3 companies and gives an additional 10% to different charitable organizations. 

How much money does he have now?  But he is an evil, corrupt, selfish rich guy!  He MUST pay his FAIR SHARE of taxes!! Are you catching my drift?



Here's fun project for you to try,  investigate your favorite politician.  Find out how much (s)he makes each year and how much (s)he pays in taxes. (I would suggest checking multiple sources, because facts can get a bit skewed).  Let me know what you find out!  The answers may surprise you...

Let me go on the record as saying, I am FULLY aware that not everyone that makes a significant amount of money (what ever amount you deem that to be) is living a simple and just over comfortable life.  But those "rich" people are entitled to what ever luxury they want as long as they have obtained it legally.  If you want what they have work your ass off and someday you might just have it too.  You are only limited by your own goals and effort put towards those goals.  If you believe you can't have those things, you never will... Well, if the "rich" continue to receive tax increases, then why even strive for it!?  

"A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. "
Alexis de Tocqueville

The Star-Spangled Banner... Too violent?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Indiana-college-not-playing-the-national-anthem-?urn=ncaab-wp4428

This college in Indiana is not the first school or organization to refuse playing the American National Anthem.  We hear all the time about communities that refuse to fly the American flag, replacing it with some other country or organizational type of flag.  The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer required to be said in school (and when I was in school I said it EVERY DAY in multiple classes to include Spanish class).  God has become a symbol of religious oppression.  Speech against America is the only kind of limit-pushing free speech allowed these days.  Heaven forbid you speak out against another country!!

C'mon on people. What is going on?  I need someone to fill in this void in my brain which is the question "Why is it now "cool" to be as UN-American as possible while living in America?  Back to my example, the school in Indiana...  Who gave them the right to decide what the National Anthem is going to be?  I've never been given, nor do I want, a choice of Anthems to represent my country.  It is the Star-Spangled Banner.  That's it and that's all.  It is a representation of the country and the struggles it went through to become what it is.  No where does it say kill people or cause mayhem.  It doesn't say to assault your neighbor or lie, cheat or steal.  The bombs bursting in air is not the same as bombs bursting in a village and killing or mutilating the inhabitants of that village.

Why dopeople take everything so literally and, beyond that, act so hyper-sensitive today?  I just don't understand it.  If you really have such a problem with this country, leave.  Find something better somewhere else.  Let me be frank about this.  The national anthem means more to me than I can really express.  When I hear it no matter who is singing or what instruments may be playing, I not only get chills running down my spine, but I get tears in my eyes.  It is that important to me.  It is one of those very small, but very impacting reminders that I am doing what I do for the country I love.  God help the person who is bold enough to burn or vandalize an American flag in front of me.  I take the same approach to service members who run away when colors is about to play.  More often than not it is junior service members who haven't yet grasped why we have the tradition of raising and lowering the flag.  But I promise you and them, once they deploy to a country, to a base where you can no longer fly the flag, a deeper love and appreciation will develop for it. It is 15 seconds out of their lives to pay respect.

Respect is really what it all boils down to.  I feel personally insulted when foreign people take actions against this country, but 1000 times more when it is an American citizen doing those same actions. I will never be able to accept or fully understand the "it's only a flag/song/symbol" mentality.  Those symbols, or more accurately, what they represent is a part of me and every service member who has ever set foot overseas.  Those "small" things are what give us the motivation to drive on and get the job done.  It isn't the retirement or the medical or the GI Bill or the paycheck although those are all great things that we enjoy.  No, it is the love of our country that makes us do what we do as members of the military.  Granted, there are a few exceptions, but those exceptions don't tend to stick around long anyway.

I am a Patriot, I fight for free speech, and I respect the rights of every individual or any organization to no play the national anthem.  I don't agree with it, but they have that option.  But I will use my free speech to tell them how completely ludicrous and insane it is to think that you can replace the National Anthem with some other song of your choice.  It just doesn't work that way.  If you think the message of the country that you live in is too harsh don't play anything.  There is no need to disrespect the country, and anyone military or civilian that has given their life, in that way.   If you have never heard the complete Star-Spangled Banner I provided the verses below... ENJOY!!!

http://youtu.be/Kuv1Mt6kMOU

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 By Francis Scott Key

The new standard is no standard at all

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/21/deaf-rotc-auditor-fights-to-join-army/?cmpid=cmty_fb_Gigya_Deaf_ROTC_Auditor_Fights_to_Join_the_Army

Adapt right?  That is what we in the military are always told.  So how far do we take this notion? Where is the line of too far or too much?  Deaf people?  Really!?  This makes allowing homosexuals serving openly in the military look like a drop in the bucket in comparison.  And I am not a fan over homosexuals serving openly.  Look, we all know service members that are gay.  One of the most motivated and hard-working Marines I have ever known was gay, but he followed the rules and didn't make a big show of it.  This catered to group unity and morale.  Rules are in place for a reason.  Do they need to be adjusted and updated with the times?  Sure.  But once again I ask.. How far do we go?

I knew when I decided to join the Marine Corps that I had to meet the standards in place.  One of the things that I struggled with was, and still is, my weight.  While I don't think anyone would say that I am fat or that I look overweight, I always ride the line when it comes to weight in time. So how is this relevant you ask.  I have never EVER thought that the Marine Corps needs to adjust it's standards to accommodate me just because I struggle to meet them.  While my family may think I'm "special" and that the standards are too tough, I would NEVER petition to have the standards lessened just because I struggle to meet them.  PERIOD!  So I can't possibly understand where a Deaf man decides that just because HE wants to serve that we have to make adjustments for him.  Change the standards.  Make an exception.  I have news for him.... HE IS NOT THAT SPECIAL.  NO ONE IS THAT SPECIAL.

I have respect for the man for wanting to serve his country.  It's honorable and I wish everyone, both in and out of the military, had that kind of enthusiasm and drive.  However, the potential consequences outweigh the potential gains in a scenario such as this.  No matter how hard he tries and how much effort, enthusiasm and motivation he exerts, he would ALWAYS be a burden on his command.  The military would have to make special arrangements constantly for him.  Spend money that it otherwise wouldn't be spending (and in a time of economic recession, that is not the best idea).  But lets look at the bigger picture.  He would at all times be putting his comrades in a potentially dangerous situation. Stateside or deployed.  Who thinks that the danger is only overseas?  Those of you who say, "well just give him a desk job." are you serious?!?  Let me take you back to November 5, 2009.  A terrorist act  here at home, in AMERICA, on an Army base.  You think those victims didn't have a chance... Well they had a better chance than someone who couldn't even hear the commotion!  Someone who would have to take additional time just to orient to the situation before being able to adapt and spring into action.  So take your "desk job" excuse somewhere else, because it is not an intelligent solution.

When people join the military they are at the mercy of the military needs.  You know when you go to the recruiter and he asks you what you would like to do?  You then give him your dream sheet of jobs and he tries to get that for you.  But you can ask probably 1 in 5 Marines, if not more, if they received the job they thought they were signing up for.  You will get a lot of hell no's in there! There is a really simple explanation for this.  The service uses you how they see fit.  Marines are Marines, and they can put you anywhere they want, anytime they want, and oh by the way, they don't need to give you a reason for doing so. You join the service to accommodate the service NOT the other way around.  The military is not set up to cater to "special circumstances or needs!

So I ask you, when is enough enough? Is there any longer reasons to have "standards" if we make exceptions for anyone that wants one?  We an on the verge of having one of the weakest militaries that the US has ever seen.  How much further do we want to go... Where will we draw the line?  If you don't meet the requirements to wear a uniform reassess.  There are thousands and thousands of government jobs that directly support the military and it's operations.  Find one that you can excel in and make the military stronger.  Don't weaken it by trying to break the mold. Change is not always for the better or greater good.

Samuel Johnson, "It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality."  

Bring on the adjectives!

"California students rank in the bottom 10% nationally in reading and math, (based on 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress Test scores), but Governor Jerry Brown just signed a bill into law to ensure they know more about gay historical figures than kids from any other state. The Assembly passed the measure on a 49-25 party line vote after it passed the Senate, 23-14; Democrats control both chambers." Written by openly gay Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)

The Fair Act aka Bill Number: SB 48.  Nothing makes me happier than to quote and openly homosexual democrat when he agrees with me.  Here we go again.  Let me start off by saying I don't give two cares about what you do in your bedroom.  Not my concern at all.  I have no inclination to tell you what I do in mine.  So why glorifying homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexual-ism and transgender-ism (which I will address later on) a bill?  Why do I have to know what kind of sex you have (or have had) in order for your accomplishment to be relevant?  

The idea behind the bill is to promote tolerance in elementary and middle schools.  There is nothing wrong with teaching our children that we have to be tolerant of other peoples decision, even if it is not what we would choose for ourselves.  But this  bill is indoctrination of ideas that these children most likely will know nothing about; sexual preference. This takes history and turns it into sex ed.  Once again, I keep coming back to one question... "Who cares?"  What is the relevance?  

So when is enough, enough? Never have I ever thought, "hmmm, I really wish in this book they would have mentioned that this guy was a heterosexual..." I mean come on!  It's ludicrous to even think such a thing... Unless of course you are somehow a minority group.  Then you are "entitled" to all kinds of opinions that no one else is entitled to.  My thought is this.  If someone has done something great for the GLBT groups and happens to be homosexual, great mention it because it would be relevant at that time.  But to say, "Mr. X, the gay, white, short, thin, blue eyed, brown haired, atheist, father of 2, country bred,  etc etc etc...", is so bloody uncalled for!  Honestly why does any of that matter!?  And where is the line?  Who is important enough to get their "group" an adjective or at the very least made to be a worthy point of mention?

As the Senator said, where is our focus?  This is like feeding one hungry chicken out of 50 total chickens while the hen house is burning to the ground.  The priorities are not straight here.  Sometimes it is ok to take an unpopular stand.  Right now the world is so afraid of coming across politically incorrect that we will look the other way when there are things which are more pertinent and demanding of our attention, just so we can address a minor minority issue.

Education is so vital, and yet, becoming worse and worse by the day, here in America. I am going to address this more in depth in a future blog.  But for now, can we all just take a step back and reassess?   Think about what is important when it comes to education.  What you want your kids to learn.  Are Mathematics, Reading and literature, English, Science, Physical Education and basic History not important? Lets get the basics down before we get carried away in the details.  If we were to find out James Madison was a gay man, would that somehow change the Constitution?  Not for me it wouldn't. Ask yourself that about anyone you have ever learned about in history.  Ask yourself if knowing their sexual identity will really change what they are known for...

Get ready... The last thing I want to address is this. I have not now, nor can I ever accept transgendered people.  I under no circumstances cannot support legislation that preaches it is OK to try to change your natural GOD GIVEN gender.  It is IMPOSSIBLE!! It cannot be done.  You can mutilate your genitalia and take hormones all day every day.  You can modify the way you walk and talk, but you cannot change the chromosomes that you were born with.  I am as small minded about this as you can get, because it doesn't make sense.  God can't make that kind of mistake, and you are not smarter than God.  Period.  I find anyone that is considering a sex-change operation mentally ill.  My children, if I were to ever have any, would never be allowed to learn that kind of trash in a school that they are attending.  I would review the curricula extensively to ensure that kind of indoctrination wouldn't be preached to my family.  I know some of you want to scream at me right now that it is their choice and they have the "right" to do what they feel is necessary for them.  Believe me, there is nothing you can say on this that I haven't already heard.  Some justification for this absurd and appalling notion.  Feel free to leave a comment if you would like, but I will fiercely and adamantly defend my position on this. If I ever become an elected official in CA ( or any state for that matter) I will make it my personal goal to remove any such teaching in public schools AFTER ensuring that the basics that I mentioned earlier are address and resolved in a satisfactory way.  This I can guarantee!

 
We are concerned solely with indoctrination, one-sided presentation of ideological controversies and unprofessional classroom behavior. Andrew Jones 

 

Everybody's Blue - I know you are but what am I Pt II

So here we are half way through 2011.  More than a decade into the 21st century.  Yet for some reason here in American and in every other country across the world we are still plagued by hatred. Discrimination, Misogyny, Homophobia, anti-Semitism, and Racism to name a few.  I really want to focus on Racism though (not that the others aren't as important, but, all that would take entirely too long to cover in one blog! For another day).

IN MY OPINION There are 4 main groups involved with racism today.  Yes I am fully aware that EVERY race gets discriminated against, however I am talking about what we are hearing about on a daily basis in our world TODAY! I consider the MAIN groups to be  Arab, Mexican, Black and White Americans.  Don't make that face just because I added White Americans in that group.  I will explain my thoughts.

As long as I have been alive I have been hearing about racism. I bet its been the same for you.  The difference is how it may have been presented to you.  In my life it has boiled down to this, never judge based upon what you see.  It is certainly the idea of don't judge a book by its cover.  However it would be very trite of me to sit here and say I never make assumptions about a person before I ever talk to them.  I do.  Not intentionally, but your mind is always working.  Always assessing.  So your true first impression is going to be on what they look like, how the dress or how they act towards and around other people.  But first impressions are not the end all be all for any intelligent being.

So back to my groups.  It is hard to find a starting point here.  So I guess I will go in the the order of appearance... Arab.  Oh boy this is a touchy subject!  Well I guess when you single out any group specifically it becomes touchy... But I digress... I know a few people of Arab descent. Friends, teachers and simple acquaintances.  As a lot of you know, I am in school learning Arabic at this moment, therefore along with the language I am also learning culture, history and mannerisms as well. I know Muslim Arabs as well as Christian Arabs.  Some devout and other passive in their religions.  I detest the thought of judging everyone I know by societies current standards of who Arabs are.  Or even who Muslims are.  Not all Arabs are Muslims, not all Muslims are extremists and vice versa.  That being said...  Sometimes it is not fun to be of a certain ethnicity here in America.  Everyone (cept the Caucasians right!?) has had their share of pain.  There were times when it wasn't ideal to be Jewish or Japanese etc.  Unfortunately today, it is not ideal to be Arab.  What are the facts?  That fact is that a lot and I will even go as far as to say the majority of terroristic attacks and threats come from Arab people.  Muslim Extremist Arabs.  This IS NOT all Arabs!!  You can agree or disagree, that is your prerogative. But we cannot live in a world of fear.  This fear presents itself most often at the airport.  You are probably not going  to like what I have to say.  I believe in profiling.  But profiling the intelligent way.  You can profile people based upon INTELLIGENT information, not suspicion stemming from fear.  What I mean by this is, pay attention to NO-FLY lists.  Target people with known terror ties.  Etc etc.  I still agree that random additional security checks need to be made on everyone to reduce threats, but we have to be smart about it.  We can't OVERLOOK anyone in the name of political correctness.  I have a much greater understanding of the Arabic culture now that I have been dealing with Arabic people every day for months now.  They are no different than the rest of us.  They have bad apples in their bunch and so does everyone else.  The difference IMO is that those bad apples together are more organized (and patient to boot) than many other discriminatory  and/or terrorist groups. 

Mexicans.  So you might find my position on Mexicans a bit tougher than my position on Arabs.  Here's the thing.  I don't discriminate against someone because of their heritage, race etc.  Goes back to the book cover analogy.  But here my problem is the masses.  We have MASSES of illegal Mexicans crossing the American border.  Before you jump down my throat and tell me it isn't just Mexicans, yes, I am FULLY aware of this.  I know we have illegal immigration from EVERYWHERE... Got it.  Who is the bulk?  Mexicans.  Let me remind you I said ILLEGAL.  Someone WITHOUT permission...  This act makes you a criminal. We all know that.  But the other side of the story is the Legal immigrants and the US born citizens of Hispanic descent.  A lot of people look at all Mexicans as if they have committed some horrible act.  Really?  In today's world?  It's just strange that we believe that even though we have never spoken to someone that we instantly know their worthiness to be here.  I just wish more of the Legal Mexican Immigrants would take a stand.  They went through the tedious process and no one should be more pissed off than them about how the Illegal masses are giving them a bad name.  As a side note to legal/illegal immigration... My father and his family are legal immigrants here... So don't tell me that I know nothing of the subject.

Black People.  Is that the politically correct term now a days?  Not really sure because it continues to change.  Look, you can hate me for saying this or resort to calling me a childish name, but I have absolutely 100% no sympathy or empathy for the "oppressed black man".  It doesn't exist.  Hasn't in years.  GET OVER IT ALREADY!  Did dark skinned people suffer through slavery... Yes.  Were they looked at as less than white men... Indeed they were.  And it is a bloody travesty to boot! No one (save savage criminals) should be treated as less than human... But my question is HOW LONG CAN YOU HOLD THAT GRUDGE??  Right now, today I am 29 years old.  Guess what... I am a white woman who has NEVER owned a slave.  I come from a family that also never owned slaves.   So with that being said, it would seem to me that there is a common consensus among a fair portion of the black community...  As long as they are still the "victims" they can receive more entitlements.  Maybe they don't think about in those words, but that is what is shown in everyday actions.  When you have blatantly racist groups such as the naacp working to get you benefits because you "deserve" them just because you are black and oppressed therfore you don't have to work as hard as me, once again, I don't feel too bad about your struggle.   Yeah there are some groups like KKK that still (for some ungodly reason) exist., and they are as ignorant and despicable as any other hate group, discriminating against a persons color instead of character.   I am not making light of the struggle that slaves dealt with in their lives, but how can you move forward by living in the past?

Then there is my last group.  The average everyday Caucasian.  In today's world  there is nothing worse in the eyes of the public than being a successful, white, Christian male.  Because if this is you, you must have done something very corrupt to get where you are.  Why is it that we have to constantly apologize for being successful?  It just blows my mind.  "White" is the new minority.  Believe it or not folks, we are no longer the majority group in America.  Yet, do we demand "minority" rights???  God help us if we did.  And I am under no circumstances saying that we should.  I don't think people are entitled to things just because they belong to a group.  I simply think that White Americans need to stop being blamed for the woes of other races.  If we excel its because we have worked for it.  Just as any other American does.  White men are NOT the only successful people in America.  Get with the times.

I want to end with this... I don't see what blaming someone else for your problems will get you.  I don't see how lowering test expectations is beneficial to a company simply because a specific number from a specific group didn't meet the standardized requirements. We need to push ourselves harder to achieve a higher quality, not lower the bar so more people "achieve" at a mediocre level.  There is no sense in rewarding the lazy or unqualified.  If you don't pass a test the first time around, study harder and take it again... Don't cry racism!  The two do not go hand in hand.  Personal responsibility will take you further in life than crying and whinning and screaming inequality.

You can hate me for this if you want, but these are my thoughts right now.  I may change my mind in the future as the world is constantly changing and evolving, and that is my prerogative to do so.

Florynce R. Kennedy: There aren't too many people ready to die for racism. They'll kill for racism but they won't die for racism.

I know you are but what am I...?

Seems pretty childish right?  Well it is.  And I guess my problem is this... Why has name calling become the norm in attempting to make "your sides" argument?  I mean it is everywhere.  Whether you are Red, Blue, Purple or Green it all ends the same.  Well that's stupid.  He/She is dumb.  That person is such a (enter expletive here).  Do we really have to allow our discussions and debates to end in such a puerile way?

I see this everywhere, from simple every day conversations up through heavy political debating.  Some things in life are stupid or ridiculous.  That's the way it is.  But how can that be your final word?  EXPLAIN!!!  Tell me how and why something is unsatisfactory.  Give me educated solutions to the problem.  Simple name calling will not solve anything.

I am clearly not the most intelligent person out there.  At best I have an average IQ, and I have not completed college and/or earned a degree.  But if I am feeling strongly about a particular issue I can tell you why!  Will you agree?  I have no idea,  (and since somehow I have an even split of liberal and conservative friends there is a 50% chance that you don't agree with me) but I will give you the reasons that I agree or disagree with something, whatever the topic is.  I will admit, I've had to stop and research things that people have presented to me, things I had never heard before, but just because I didn't know a piece of information doesn't give me the right to stick my tongue out and say well that's just stupid and walk away.  I will listen.  Sometimes in the end we may have to end with agreeing to disagree, but won't that make us feel a little more like, say, Adults?  Maybe even Professionals?

You know, even as I am writing this and going back and rereading it I realize it might come across as a little condescending, and maybe it is. This doesn't apply to everyone, because there are civilized people out there (and I consider you civilized if you have the discipline to refrain from using slurs to make your point) and those are the people that I will give my time over to.  Do you remember when your mother told you "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"?   I'm going to amend that a bit... If you don't have something nice to say, just don't resort to name calling.

*update*  For the record, throwing things even something as relatively "harmless" as GLITTER  (harmless unless of course it gets in your eyes and blinds you) is not only the epitome of childish, IT IS ASSAULT!  Those people that resort to these kinds of methods are people that don't truly have anything to say.  They want glory and prestige, their 15 minutes if you will, and nothing else. They only harm their "causes".


Dave Barry "The word user is the word used by the computer professional when they mean idiot. "

TSA part II

I WISH I could take credit for writing this...


Thought I would share this great dystopian satire–note the paragraphs about the TSA cavity search….
Thanksgiving (?) 2022

Winston, come into the dining room, it’s time to eat,” Julia yelled to her husband. “In a minute, honey, it’s a tie score,” he answered.

Actually Winston wasn’t very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington . Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its “unseemly violence” and the “bad example it sets for the rest of the world,” Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn’t nearly as exciting.

Yet it wasn’t the game that Winston was uninterested in. It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey . Even though it was the best type of VeggieMeat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce and mince-meat pie), it wasn’t anything like real turkey. And ever since the government officially changed the name of “Thanksgiving Day” to “A National Day of Atonement” in 2020 to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims’ historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold. Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats – which were monitored and controlled by the electric company – be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.

Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family. Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of life-saving medical treatment. He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort. “The RHC’s resources are limited,” explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. “Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Ed couldn’t make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines-for everyone but government officials. The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn’t want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.

Thankfully, Winston’s brother, John, and his wife were flying in. Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added “inconvenience” was an “absolute necessity” in order to stay “one step ahead of the terrorists.” Winston’s own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for “unequal scrutiny,” even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.
The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. “A living Constitution is extremely flexible,” said the Court’s eldest member, Elena Kagan. ” Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example,” she added.

Winston’s thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism or any of a number of other calamities were “just around the corner,” but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility. It didn’t help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking tobacco anywhere within 500 feet of another human being. Marijuana is however permitted and encouraged. Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13. The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to “spur economic growth.” This time they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.


He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2011, when all the real nonsense began. “Maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today if we’d just said ‘enough is enough’ when we had the chance,” he thought.

Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so


Martin Luther King, Jr "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed"