Hostages

I don't know why we allow aid workers into war zones.  I know that sounds cold, but there it is.  We know war zones are dangerous.  We know odds are they'll be kidnapped by terrorists.  If you don't want to be a hostage and/or gruesomely beheaded, don't go to the places where that's likely to happen.  If you do choose to go anyway, don't have the audacity to assume your government should pay terrorists to get you back.  It's your own fault you're a hostage.

I know I sound Republican, but it's one of the only things they make sense on.  When you pay the ransom, all you're doing is encouraging more hostage taking and funding terrorism.  Can we admit that funding terrorism is not in anyone's best interest?  And let's be honest.  While ISIS may say they'll give their hostages back if you give them money, you have ZERO reason to believe they won't kill them anyway.  ISIS kills people everyday. It's what they do.  If you find yourself a hostage of ISIS, make peace with God and get ready to die.  That's the only thing you CAN do.

Go ahead.  Call me hateful.  Say if it were me or my loved ones I'd feel different.  If it were my loved ones, I'd hurt.  I'd mourn, but I still know my loved ones are going to die.  I won't expect or demand a rescue mission.  And if I was ever a hostage, I wouldn't expect it either.

Maybe aid workers should be issued cyanide caps?

I know what you're saying now.  We can't in good conscience not help people in need just because it's dangerous.  That's why we'll keep having hostages.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to save the world and I commend those who take risks to do that.

But we still have to be practical.  The ONLY way to stop terrorists taking foreign hostages is to either REMOVE the opportunity by removing foreigners from the scene all together or to make it NOT BENEFICIAL to take hostages by not paying ransom.   It's no use boo hooing or raising a fuss if hostages are taken, because they knew what they were walking into and should be prepared for the consequences.

I pity hostages, but I refuse to reward hostage takers.  We should know better by now that paying ransoms SOLVES NOTHING.  And if you're going into a war zone, you should be prepared to accept the consequences even the ones where bad things may happen to you.  And that's the real end of the debate.

Why celebrate MLK day?

Every MLK day I take a long hard look around my neighborhood and wonder why we bother to honor a man who's message is all but ignored by the black community.  I'm reminded of how black people fought for equality and once the laws were on the books, stopped.

Stopped?  You think that's crazy? You think the fight for equality rages on? You cry white privilege and Ferguson and say you're still oppressed.  I say if you're oppressed it's your own damn fault.

You won the right to vote and didn't use it.  You won the right to a fair education and didn't use it. You made  it illegal to discriminate based on race in every aspect of society, workplace, shopping malls, restrooms, you name it and then left it at that.  Black teens voluntarily sit in the back of the bus these days.  Every club you join is almost always exclusively black.  You still have separate churches, radio stations, BET.  Why? Integration works both ways.  How are you ever going to be equal to white people if you don't go near them?

But for every African-American who steps up and makes something of themselves or who makes the effort to take their rightful place in the world, there's 20 more who CHOOSE not to.

That's right.  CHOOSE not to.  Because being poor and black doesn't make you drop out of school if you REALLY want to go.  Poverty and being black doesn't force you to join street gangs or use drugs. It doesn't get you pregnant at 15.  It doesn't mean you have to settle for welfare.  And white people aren't forcing you to either.  You either want to do good or you don't, but only you make that decision.

If you don't like being targeted by the police then go BE police officers and CHANGE it.  If you don't feel represented by your government, go VOTE for people who will represent you.  Better yet, go BE a politician and CHANGE things.  You had every opportunity to keep moving towards equality, but YOU CHOSE NOT TO.  It's like once the 1980s came, you just sat there and blamed white people instead of effecting ANY change at all.  WHY???

Every time you skip school or commit crimes instead of trying to get an education and a career, you're bitch slappng Dr. King.   Every time you sag your pants instead of dressing respectfully, you're bitch slapping Dr. King.  Every rap song, every grill, every use of ebonics, every last wanna be thug is an insult to every one of your ancestors who fought to win you freedom and equal rights.

It's time to stop playing the blame game, get off your lazy asses and GO BE EQUAL.  Because you can do that now thanks to Dr. King and a lot of people just like him.  Will you?

By the way, white people marched during the Civil Rights Movement too and there were white people protesting in Ferguson.  Times HAVE changed when it comes to race. People ARE more tolerant. Yes, even white ones. Your attitudes may not have kept up, but that's your own damn fault too.

Stop oppressing yourselves.  Stop living in the past. Get up and be the change you want to see.  Go BE equal or stop whining about inequality.  Otherwise, you're missing the entire point of celebrating MLK Day.

Religion of peace?

I'm starting to get offended that Muslims keep insisting Islam is a religion of peace.  Really?  THAT'S the story you're sticking with?

I never see Jewish suicide bombers blowing up women and children in the market the way Hamas does. I never see armed Christian militants kidnapping little school girls and forcing them to marry their soldiers like Boko Haram does. I never see Buddists invading towns and killing anyone who refuses to convert to Buddhism or handing out pamphlets on the proper way to rape an infidel like ISIS does.  Atheists never hijacked planes and flew them into buildings like Al Qaeda did.  I bet Wiccans find Harry Potter very offensive but they never shot up the publisher's office or put a hit out on JK Rowling.  Je suis Harry?

There may be the occasional nut job, but no other religion on the entire planet has so many people willing to martyr themselves for their religion or has such an organized and continuous militant wing as Islam.  Where is all the violence coming from?  I don't know.  The Koran maybe?  Because it comes from somewhere.  I don't know what Muslims are refusing to admit to themselves, but I know what I see with my own two eyes and Islam is not a religion of peace.

Islam is oppression.  Mormons didn't shoot little Malala just for trying to go to school.  The Taliban did because Islam teaches that women are property and aren't entitled to know how to read.  Yes, Islam okays slavery.  The Catholic Pope doesn't have people executed for disagreeing with him but Islamic law says anyone who disagrees with the prophet can be executed for blasphemy.

And yes, Islam is a religion of war.  Jihad is just as much a part of Islam as Christmas is to Christianity and it is taught to millions of little Muslim children in millions of mosques all over the world.  How else can you explain why so many people born outside the middle east join terrorist groups IN the middle east?   They're recruited somewhere.  Church maybe?  Where did the idea of the martyr getting 72 virgins when they die come from?  From Saint Mohammad because Islam does say it's okay to make war on the infidel, i.e. non Muslims.  Look it up.

But you still say Islam is a religion of peace.  I say PROVE IT.

Why is it always left up to the west and people of other faiths to fight terrorists?  Why don't Arab nations take the lead?   Why aren't Arab nations sending troops into Iraq to fight ISIS or into Nigeria to fight Boko Haram?  Why isn't the Palestinian Authority doing anything to stop Hamas?  Obviously because they're OKAY with what these groups are doing.  By the way, the majority of people killed by Islamic extremists are actually Muslim.  They don't seem to care.

But you want me to believe Islam is peace so I want you to prove it, Muslims.  I want YOU to clean house.  Try stopping the terrorists instead of hiding them. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Pakistan.

Until Islam does more than just whine it's all the west's fault and starts actually doing something to stop terrorism, until Muslims stop empathizing with terrorists and wages its own little war on terror, I will not be convinced that you mean me no harm.  If you want me to believe you're nice guys, prove it and stop promoting terrorism.

Je Suis Charlie

A week ago, some jihadists got so offended at a French magazine's editorial cartoon criticizing Islam that they stormed the magazine's office and murdered 12 staffers.  Most people condemned it but way too many people are also defending it.  They say the cartoons were offensive and the jihadists had a right to be angry.  No one's come out and said the murders are justified, but you know they're thinking it.

And they're idiots.  Political correctness is bull shit.  You can't sneeze without offending someone.  But worse than that, it misses the entire point of freedom of speech.  Remember that pesky first amendment?  It doesn't just apply to you.  It applies to everyone.  Even cartoonists who make fun of you.

Freedom of speech is supposed to guarantee your right to say what you want even if someone else finds it offensive because to not be allowed to say it means you don't have the right to free speech.  Who decides what is free speech and what isn't?  No one can because what's acceptable to one isn't necessarily acceptable to others.  Who decides who gets free speech and who doesn't?  No one should.  Either everyone has it or free speech doesn't exist.

But people do every day.  Some basketball mogul says something racist and has his team legally taken away from it.  You don't have to agree with the comment but who the hell are you to take his business away for saying it?  He doesn't have the same right to free speech you do?

And it doesn't stop there. There's a whole host of people who are made to pay for saying something that isn't deemed politically correct and we're ok with it because we tell ourselves speech has consequences.  Yeah, you can say whatever you want, but you will be held accountable for it in the almighty court of public opinion.

So is that what happened to those murdered staffers of Charlie Hebdo?  They simply said something they shouldn't have and paid the price for it? If you killed everyone who offended you, there wouldn't be anyone left alive.

People are idiots.  They're going to do things and say things that you're going to disagree with, but if you value your own freedom of speech, you can't deny it to others because that sets a dangerous precedent.  One day it'll be your turn and it won't feel so good.

So ignore the idiots.  You don't have to agree with what they say, but you shouldn't try to stop them from saying it.  Feel free to criticize them for it.  Exercise your own right to free speech and say why you disagree with them.

But you can't kill them.  The men who murdered the staffers at Charlie Hebdo are dead now.  They took hostages and the French police killed them in a shootout.  Twitter is all a glow with the hashtag JeSuisCharlie as millions show their support for Charlie Hebdo, offensive cartoons and all.  Still other media outlets are now questioning their own policies towards what's offensive and what's not.  People are scared of being offensive so I guess the jihadists won in some way.  The fight for the right to free speech wages on.

Will we learn anything from this?  Somehow I doubt it.

The Catholic Church, Inc

Don't be fooled by religious dogma. Anyone with a brain knows that organized religion is big business controlled by wealthy interests with desires for social and political influence.  Every religion is like this.  Every one.

We don't have humble religious disciples spreading God's good word.  We have corporations selling consumers a product so they can make a lot of money and get a lot of power.  And it's always been that way from the Greek pantheon to the founding of Christianity.  Why? Because religion didn't come from God. It came from man and man is greedy.  Man is selfish.  Man uses God every day as an excuse to do whatever he wants and still morally justify it for the God fearing public.

But in this blog, I'm ranting on those crazy Catholics again.

A special Vatican senate is currently in session in order to change current church policies that are deemed outdated.  They call it "modernizing" the Catholic church.  What it really is is the Catholic church revamping an increasingly unpalatable image to something fresh and more likable in order to stay in business.  These policy changes are nothing more than a corporation, Catholic Church Inc in this case, revamping its image to bring in more customers.  Why?  Money and power.

So when they say they're going to start allowing openly gay people to take communion, it's not because the Bible is suddenly ok with gay people.  It's because the Catholic church sees a new market among the LGBT community.  When they say birth control is fine now, it isn't because they suddenly accept women should have a say in their own health care decisions (or make any decisions that doesn't involve doing whatever a man says).  They're really just trying to appeal to female consumers.  Divorced people can come to church now because divorced people are potential customers.

And the more customers Catholic Church Inc has, the bigger its profits.  The bigger its profits, the more influence it can buy.  Citizens United was made for the Catholic church.

But in the end it's still just a lie.  Man made religion. God made God.  It's ignorant on your part to assume that you can only have a relationship with God through some ritual man invented or even by sitting in a fancy building every Sunday.

I'm not arrogant enough to say whether God is real or not, but I do know that if He is real, WE GOT IT WRONG.  God doesn't need your money.  He doesn't need your temples.  The whole damn world is God's temple and you can't buy your way into His favor.

Organized religion just uses your faith in God as a way to take advantage of you.  Why keep letting them?

Idiots with guns

Look, I understand this is a crazy world and a person has the right to defend themselves any way necessary if their lives are being threatened.  I'm not against owning a gun.  I'm not advocating abolishing the second amendment.  And it isn't fair to accuse me of being a socialist destroyer of freedom simply because I disagree with the open carry movement.

Because open carry is stupid.  Dangerous and stupid and history is on my side there.

Has knowing a person could have a gun EVER prevented a crime against them?  NO.  If anything, it just makes criminals more violent. The news is littered with tales of home invaders and potential muggers being shot.  They still tried though.  History proves me right.

But the bad guys didn't win.  That's the excuse we keep hearing.  Yeah, but they still tried.  So has having more guns decreased crime? Resounding no.

But that isn't even the point anymore.  There's always going to be crime no matter how well armed we are.  Again, nothing wrong with defending yourself if you're life is being threatened, but unfortunately, gun or not, you still have a good chance of facing danger. That's the nature of our world, sweety.

What I'm against is stupidity in gun ownership.  Does anyone outside the military really need a rocket launcher?  Do they really need armor piercing bullets?  Grenades? Clips with a hundred bullets?  Who are rednecks going to war against?  I'm sorry, but if you need a machine gun to go deer hunting, you suck at it and you need a new hobby.

The ONLY kinds of people who stockpile military grade weapons are dangerous people, conspiracy nutjobs who cream at the thought of taking down the government and taking over the country.  Do you want these kinds of people in charge?  Doomsday preppers are stockpiling, but they're just as nuts.  The Walking Dead isn't real, people.

In other words, the only people who need these weapons are the people who SHOULDN'T HAVE THEM.  No sane person wants or needs military grade weapons.

So there's no point to buy them.  If anything, there's EVERY REASON not to have them available for purchase.  TO KEEP THEM OUT OF THE WRONG HANDS.

Please don't tell me we need to defend ourselves against the government or those invading Mexicans.  Take your medication.

Which brings me to my next question.  What the hell is so wrong with background checks?  I don't care how criminals get their guns.  If you're a law abiding citizen like you claim to be, a background check is no problem for you.  End of debate.

As for you open carry idiots, do you feel safe when someone waves a gun in your face?  Then don't wave one in mine.  You're not defending your second amendment rights.  You're just being stupid.  You're just scaring people.

Let's be honest and admit a lot of the fear we have is a product of NRA propaganda and a sensationalized media playing on our emotions to sell their products.  The NRA isn't fighting for gun rights.  They just want your money.

There's nothing wrong with owning a handgun or a rifle.  It's the American way.  But we don't need crazy people running around with missiles.  We have to recognize that guns aren't our saviors and that a culture built on violence will only create more violence.

You really want to stop school shootings?  Stop teaching kids that guns are cool and teach them that they're dangerous instead.  Teach kids to respect guns and to be responsible with them.  You aren't being respectful to anyone or remotely responsible waving your guns around Walmart.

We need a little less gun waving and a little more common sense.

Assholes

There are some people who go out of their way to make others miserable.  They're called assholes and there's nothing you can do about them.  Like it or not, the world will always be full of assholes.

Why do people become assholes?  There are MANY reasons.  Rich people are assholes because they mistakenly believe money makes them better than others.  It doesn't so don't feel inferior to them.  They are no one of consequence to you.

But let's take time to acknowledge that most people aren't assholes ALL THE TIME, but only when they're in a bad mood.  Second, let's recognize that EVERYONE has bad moods and can potentially become an asshole.

Sometimes, you have a bad day.  Something bad happens or someone's rude to you and you get angry.  When this happens, it's human nature to lash out at others.  Should you?  The polite answer of course is no.  Will you?  Odds are you probably will.

That being said, there are MANY people who are so miserable with their own lives that they HAVE to share their misery with others.  People who feel oppressed want to feel power too and the only way they can do that is to be shitty to the only people they deem lower on the totem poll than themselves.  That's why the service industry gets the brunt of the assault.  Most customers only feel empowered when they get to boss around the poor kid whose entire job is to do whatever the customer tells them to.  They know the kid can't say anything back.

And that's what keeps assholes going.  Knowing that most people will either be forced to accept their behavior or will be too nice a person to get in their face about it.  We're told to ignore the bully.

The problem is, ignoring the bully doesn't make the bully go away.  It just tells them they've won.

Sometimes people can't see over their own lives and don't realize they're being assholes.  In that case, is it really so wrong to politely inform them?

A simple,  "Well, that wasn't very nice" or a "I'm sorry you're having a bad day. How can I help you?" can be quite a wake up call to the unintentional asshole.  It brings attention to their behavior and it isn't rude so they can't really complain to your manager.  Most people will recognize when they did wrong and apologize.

And for the intentional asshole, your politeness pisses them off.  It tells them you aren't fazed by them.  They have no real power over you.  They can't win.  They are just as big a nobody with you as they are with anyone else.

And that's the best revenge.