Well my friends, It has been a long time. I was going to do another blog about my time here in China, but ... my time has been spent trying to experience another country. Maybe I will write about my experiences in China, but at the moment that is TBD. So why did I come back and post after so long? Well because of all the politics on Facebook.
I will point out that since being gone for 6 months, nothing much has changed. Congress/The President still doesn't do anything meaningful and everyone plays the blame game. It is Obama's fault, it is Bush's fault.... blah blah blah, If Clinton was in office.... I've heard it all. So why rehash old tired out material? It is because of these words that I've heard from people that have alarmed me: " I am a conservative" or " I am a liberal''. This is the nail in the coffin that is being hammered in to destroy America's political reasoning and conscience. Politics that equals turning people into red and blue Rock'em, Sock'em, Robots. People beating each other (verbally or physically)their "affiliation" until their opponents' heads pop-up.
In the 2012 election I voted for the Socialist Equality Party or the SEP. This alternate party was on the ballad in my home state of Wisconsin. Why did I vote for the SEP? This is because after discovering there were alternative parties on the example ballad for Wisconsin, I decided to go to their website, along with the other alternative parties websites and to check out their platform. I liked their platform and what they wanted to do so I gave them my vote. I knew that the SEP had a 0% chance of winning and that people would see my action as "wasting my vote", but after I turned in my ballot I happily walked out knowing I voted with my conscience and my knowledge, not voting out of fear of "voting for the better of the two evils"
The people have decided to choose an "affiliation" and defend their "party" to the bitter end, even when they know how horrible and corrupt that party is. Before posting your views, think about the people you are supporting and the people you are criticizing. This "take sides" mentality is what allows the Democrats and Republicans to have a political monopoly. Monopoly is a nice word, I should say a political dictatorship as both parties together have destroyed any chance of third parties from actually participating in TV debates or actually being able to compete at all. Third parties are lucky to get on the ballad at all, as was the case in Wisconsin in 2012 when I was surprised to see at least 5 other parties on the ballad.
"Conservatives" and "Liberals" need to put away their masks and return to being rational people. Your bickering is giving power to people who vote against you. People who will piss on you and tell you they are pissing on you. People who even want you to go against your own people because of "their beliefs". Before posting that next facebook political rant about the parties, think about " is this what they want? or what I want?"
Friday, August 16, 2013
Monday, November 19, 2012
Devin's Blog #21: Election 2012
The election of 2012 has been over for about 2 weeks now and it seems that some people are still angry that Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney. This is pointless and part of the arrogance that is plaguing this country. I personally did not vote for Obama or Romney in this election, I voted for the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). I voted for the SEP because the Democrats nor the Republicans do not deserve to represent the American people. If the 2012 election should be summed up it would be: Fear rules the oppressed. People only voted for either Obama or Romney do to fear, not because either candidate had a platform or talked about any reform, but because the people feared that one of the candidates would cause the downfall of the United States. The people keep believing in this " the lesser of two evils" election mentality that they forget "choosing evil from evil, is still choosing evil." The Democrats and Republicans both represent big business interests, war mongering, the destruction of the middle-class and failed economic policies.
The difference is that the Republicans openly support these ideas, while the Democrats are spineless and decide to hide behind " the party of the people", while at the same time continue the reactionary policies of the past such as: cuts that hurt the middle-class, massive military spending that drains much of this country's GDP, capitalist and big business healthcare policies that will result in more power for the insurance companies, the continuation of the Patriot Act, along with new laws that would allow the President to apprehend and kill American citizens without Habeas Corpus and Continuation of laws that allow companies to ship jobs overseas, to just name a few.
Nothing has changed from this election. The republicans still have a majority in the House of Representatives and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. This equates to the continuation of the past four years in which both parties will continue to wage a media war to deceive the American people that each party is to blame for this country's economic failures, while at the same time not creating any policies to help the American people. If there are any compromises, these compromises will only hurt the 99% while giving more power to the 1%.
It is time for people to wake up and start to see that capitalism cannot fix capitalism, just like the Democrats and Republicans cannot fix the people's woes. No matter if you choose to defend the Democrats or Republicans, it will not change the fact that millions of people are unemployed, poor, without healthcare, without an education, without a home, and without food. Election 2016 will be the same unless the people choose to vote for not a party, or their own self-interests, but vote pro-humanity, pro-advancement, and pro-people's democracy.
The difference is that the Republicans openly support these ideas, while the Democrats are spineless and decide to hide behind " the party of the people", while at the same time continue the reactionary policies of the past such as: cuts that hurt the middle-class, massive military spending that drains much of this country's GDP, capitalist and big business healthcare policies that will result in more power for the insurance companies, the continuation of the Patriot Act, along with new laws that would allow the President to apprehend and kill American citizens without Habeas Corpus and Continuation of laws that allow companies to ship jobs overseas, to just name a few.
Nothing has changed from this election. The republicans still have a majority in the House of Representatives and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. This equates to the continuation of the past four years in which both parties will continue to wage a media war to deceive the American people that each party is to blame for this country's economic failures, while at the same time not creating any policies to help the American people. If there are any compromises, these compromises will only hurt the 99% while giving more power to the 1%.
It is time for people to wake up and start to see that capitalism cannot fix capitalism, just like the Democrats and Republicans cannot fix the people's woes. No matter if you choose to defend the Democrats or Republicans, it will not change the fact that millions of people are unemployed, poor, without healthcare, without an education, without a home, and without food. Election 2016 will be the same unless the people choose to vote for not a party, or their own self-interests, but vote pro-humanity, pro-advancement, and pro-people's democracy.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Devin's Blog #20 Guns and Paranoia
I feel that I need to comment about guns since it will be an upcoming big issue because of the Colorado movie theater shooting that happened on July 20th. The debate about gun and gun laws is a never ending circle in this country, whether it is citing the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution, or blaming guns for the never ending violence that happens, these arguments are leading to a dead end. The questions is: why do people feel the need to own guns?
This question has been in my mind for a long time. I know the easy answer to this is " for protection", yet how many people need to own a gun for protection ? My experience has been that people either own a gun for hunting or just to own a gun. This "just to own a gun" attitude has become the majority, not the minority in this country. Gun laws in this country seem to resemble this attitude with laws such as "Conceal and Carry", which allows people to carry a gun (in a holster) on the street, but not allow to carry guns into stores, zoos, parks, etc...
So why make this into law? What is the point of this? To feel safe walking down the street? To defend yourself in case you meet dangerous people? Would a gun make you safe? If your answers are yes to these questions then consider how guns don't make you safe. The Conceal and Carry law allows you to carry a gun, but you have to place the gun in a holster and show that you have a weapon. This leaves you at a disadvantage because people can see that you have a gun and if someone wanted to rob you or harm you then they would want to take that advantage away or pull a gun of their own on you in which would probably be concealed. So in effect they see yours, but you don't see theirs. A gun can put fear into potential robbers, but then not all people are afraid of guns.
If people can come to this realization then why still the fixation about guns? This is a complicated question, but my opinion is that guns make people feel like they have power and a sense that with guns a "honor system" exists. People believe that weapons need to be used nobly and when someone doesn't then "they are cowards". If cowards only use weapons for bad purposes then the people who use guns for noble purposes or people who own a gun, but never harmed anyone are noble or good. There are many laws mankind has made with regards to guns, but this is the simple rational humans have with regards to weapons. The "good" people have weapons, but use them for "good " reasons, yet the "good" people are not always clearly defined.
The rational needs to be that guns are guns, they are devices that were created to kill and nothing else. Guns are weapons of mass destruction and need to be treated as such. The debate will go on to which guns are "legal" and "illegal" but it doesn't matter because under any circumstance guns can kill many people, but what is the part that scares people the most? The part that guns are easy to use and require no skill. Anyone can pick up a gun and use it, no training is necessary. The debate over guns should not be pro-gun vs anti-gun, but should be " why do ordinary citizens need guns?" and if that answer is yes then " how can we deal with the consequences?"
This question has been in my mind for a long time. I know the easy answer to this is " for protection", yet how many people need to own a gun for protection ? My experience has been that people either own a gun for hunting or just to own a gun. This "just to own a gun" attitude has become the majority, not the minority in this country. Gun laws in this country seem to resemble this attitude with laws such as "Conceal and Carry", which allows people to carry a gun (in a holster) on the street, but not allow to carry guns into stores, zoos, parks, etc...
So why make this into law? What is the point of this? To feel safe walking down the street? To defend yourself in case you meet dangerous people? Would a gun make you safe? If your answers are yes to these questions then consider how guns don't make you safe. The Conceal and Carry law allows you to carry a gun, but you have to place the gun in a holster and show that you have a weapon. This leaves you at a disadvantage because people can see that you have a gun and if someone wanted to rob you or harm you then they would want to take that advantage away or pull a gun of their own on you in which would probably be concealed. So in effect they see yours, but you don't see theirs. A gun can put fear into potential robbers, but then not all people are afraid of guns.
If people can come to this realization then why still the fixation about guns? This is a complicated question, but my opinion is that guns make people feel like they have power and a sense that with guns a "honor system" exists. People believe that weapons need to be used nobly and when someone doesn't then "they are cowards". If cowards only use weapons for bad purposes then the people who use guns for noble purposes or people who own a gun, but never harmed anyone are noble or good. There are many laws mankind has made with regards to guns, but this is the simple rational humans have with regards to weapons. The "good" people have weapons, but use them for "good " reasons, yet the "good" people are not always clearly defined.
The rational needs to be that guns are guns, they are devices that were created to kill and nothing else. Guns are weapons of mass destruction and need to be treated as such. The debate will go on to which guns are "legal" and "illegal" but it doesn't matter because under any circumstance guns can kill many people, but what is the part that scares people the most? The part that guns are easy to use and require no skill. Anyone can pick up a gun and use it, no training is necessary. The debate over guns should not be pro-gun vs anti-gun, but should be " why do ordinary citizens need guns?" and if that answer is yes then " how can we deal with the consequences?"
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Devin's Blog # 19: I am somewhat back from Hiatus
So I have not created a blog since April 5th, but I am back, and hopefully will have some more activity writing. I have been busy. I finally finished college, which drained a lot of energy from me, but with my willpower I have succeeded. Now in June for 3 weeks I am taking a course to get a TEFL Certificate ( Teaching English as a Foreign Language) This certificate allows me to teach English anywhere in the world, so I am planning on going to China because I want to continue to learn the language. So what is there to talk about in this blog? Well just some things on my mind I guess.
1st- The stupid governor's race in Wisconsin. Yes I know it was a great accomplishment getting the recall, but to me it is a horrible practice because it places the advantage with the person being recalled. I mean Scott Walker does have to put out ad's, but with a recall he doesn't automatically have to step down as being governor. To me a recall seems to be the people's way of saying they have no confidence in the state legislature, so shouldn't there be a whole new general election for the legislator and the governor? In some of these recalls for state senators it has been two democrats, or two republicans going against each other, that to me is not democracy. That is just possibly replacing one person from a part, with another person from the same part, like in countries where a political party controls the government and can just appoint it's legislators....except now the people can do it because we think that is democracy in action. I say on June 5th vote no confidence because Scott Walker is a corporate fascist bent on destroying this state for his own gain and Tom Barrett is a guy who gets punched in the face. I see lose/lose here.
2nd- This has been going on for a long time, but what the fuck is what all the negativity out there? I mean negativity has become the new cocaine. This person can't do this, or that and that the regular person is low, so lets look up to celebrities like the Kardashans. This " get rich or nothing" attitude is fucking up this country and it doesn't help that if you dislike a rich person they say " don't hate on this person because he is rich, he/she has worked hard to get there" ummmm, only some people get rich that way, others not so much. For example Sean P Diddy Comb's son just got a $ 54,000 free ride to UCLA, the funny thing about this is? His dad is worth $ 500 million !!!!. If people bitch about this it isn't going to be because Sean P Diddy is rich, it is because this is incompetent. Regular people would create genocide to get this free ride to a good college, and with some many people needing college now, it goes to a kid who's dad is worth so much? I'm sorry, it is nothing against his son, according to the article his son has a 3.75 GPA, but so do other people who have no chance of getting that free ride. I mean if I was worth $ 500 million dollars, I could run for President of this country.
3rd- I saw The Avengers and I thought it was pretty good. I had low expectations for it since I didn't like the Captain America movie and the Thor movie and Iron Man 2, but this film was done well, with good writing and chemistry between the characters and some really awesome actions scenes, plus seeing Hulk fight Thor and Iron Man fight Thor was enjoyable. I would give it an 8.5/10 and would recommend seeing it. Now I can't wait for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises to come out.
4th- Some guy was shot and killed in Miami by a police officer because he was eating this guy's face, not to mention this guy was naked. The cop told him to stop, and he didn't comply, so the cop shot him, when he still kept eating the guy's face the cop shot him again and killed him.....zombie apocalypse anyone?
1st- The stupid governor's race in Wisconsin. Yes I know it was a great accomplishment getting the recall, but to me it is a horrible practice because it places the advantage with the person being recalled. I mean Scott Walker does have to put out ad's, but with a recall he doesn't automatically have to step down as being governor. To me a recall seems to be the people's way of saying they have no confidence in the state legislature, so shouldn't there be a whole new general election for the legislator and the governor? In some of these recalls for state senators it has been two democrats, or two republicans going against each other, that to me is not democracy. That is just possibly replacing one person from a part, with another person from the same part, like in countries where a political party controls the government and can just appoint it's legislators....except now the people can do it because we think that is democracy in action. I say on June 5th vote no confidence because Scott Walker is a corporate fascist bent on destroying this state for his own gain and Tom Barrett is a guy who gets punched in the face. I see lose/lose here.
2nd- This has been going on for a long time, but what the fuck is what all the negativity out there? I mean negativity has become the new cocaine. This person can't do this, or that and that the regular person is low, so lets look up to celebrities like the Kardashans. This " get rich or nothing" attitude is fucking up this country and it doesn't help that if you dislike a rich person they say " don't hate on this person because he is rich, he/she has worked hard to get there" ummmm, only some people get rich that way, others not so much. For example Sean P Diddy Comb's son just got a $ 54,000 free ride to UCLA, the funny thing about this is? His dad is worth $ 500 million !!!!. If people bitch about this it isn't going to be because Sean P Diddy is rich, it is because this is incompetent. Regular people would create genocide to get this free ride to a good college, and with some many people needing college now, it goes to a kid who's dad is worth so much? I'm sorry, it is nothing against his son, according to the article his son has a 3.75 GPA, but so do other people who have no chance of getting that free ride. I mean if I was worth $ 500 million dollars, I could run for President of this country.
3rd- I saw The Avengers and I thought it was pretty good. I had low expectations for it since I didn't like the Captain America movie and the Thor movie and Iron Man 2, but this film was done well, with good writing and chemistry between the characters and some really awesome actions scenes, plus seeing Hulk fight Thor and Iron Man fight Thor was enjoyable. I would give it an 8.5/10 and would recommend seeing it. Now I can't wait for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises to come out.
4th- Some guy was shot and killed in Miami by a police officer because he was eating this guy's face, not to mention this guy was naked. The cop told him to stop, and he didn't comply, so the cop shot him, when he still kept eating the guy's face the cop shot him again and killed him.....zombie apocalypse anyone?
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Devin's Blog # 18 The U.S. Supreme Court : A Vessel for Cronyism
The U.S. Supreme Court, one of the three main bodies of government created by the U.S. Constitution to solve this nation's largest legal matters, yet has become not a court, but a body of reactionary politics . The recent news regarding the supreme court is the battle over President Obama's Health Care plan or dubbed "Obama Care" Why is the supreme court addressing this issue? Because somehow Obama Care could be unconstitutional. How can this be so? I have no idea. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that states that the government cannot provide healthcare so why is there a dilemma? That answer is easy because the supreme court judges are hand picked by the President when one judge retires to fill his/her place, but depending on the President (either Democrat of Republican) appoints not a judge, but a conservative or liberal crony.
These cronies have not done much in the past forty years, the supreme court has reinstated capital punishment in the mid 1970's when before that it was outlawed for sometime, this system surely hasn't done anything to stop murders, and in the case of someone possibly being innocent (example: Troy Davis) the supreme court lets the injustice happen, because why harm your political base for one human life? Then in 2000 they decided the U.S. Election, not the people, but nine judges elected George W. Bush to be President. That was an epic fail to say the least then in 2010 the supreme court ruled that corporations and unions could supply unlimited amounts of money to presidential campaigns. Instead of siding with the people and stopping corporations to influence elections they decided that somehow corporations and unions are people! As to say a corporation as an entity has the same right as an U.S. Citizen guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution reads "We the People" not "We the Corporations".
Whether you agree or disagree with Obama Care, personally I don't like this plan and would like it to become a single payer plan as Obama once spoke about doing, but the U.S. Supreme Court should not be dabbling in political bickering and instead should be concentrating on creating justice for this nation, they could start by getting rid of corporate power in elections and overturn capital punishment which is illegal under article 8 of the U.S. Constitution because it's "Cruel and Unusual Punishment".
On another note, the supreme court might create another horrendous plan by voting to allow strip searches for crimes that need not warrant a strip search. This is against the law as the police need a reason to conduct a strip search. This, like other decisions passed down by this circus court is taking more liberty and justice away, not preserving it.
There are two options that need to be considered, either reform the court by setting term limits for judges and allowing elections to be held to appoint the nine judges, or get rid of the system completely.
These cronies have not done much in the past forty years, the supreme court has reinstated capital punishment in the mid 1970's when before that it was outlawed for sometime, this system surely hasn't done anything to stop murders, and in the case of someone possibly being innocent (example: Troy Davis) the supreme court lets the injustice happen, because why harm your political base for one human life? Then in 2000 they decided the U.S. Election, not the people, but nine judges elected George W. Bush to be President. That was an epic fail to say the least then in 2010 the supreme court ruled that corporations and unions could supply unlimited amounts of money to presidential campaigns. Instead of siding with the people and stopping corporations to influence elections they decided that somehow corporations and unions are people! As to say a corporation as an entity has the same right as an U.S. Citizen guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution reads "We the People" not "We the Corporations".
Whether you agree or disagree with Obama Care, personally I don't like this plan and would like it to become a single payer plan as Obama once spoke about doing, but the U.S. Supreme Court should not be dabbling in political bickering and instead should be concentrating on creating justice for this nation, they could start by getting rid of corporate power in elections and overturn capital punishment which is illegal under article 8 of the U.S. Constitution because it's "Cruel and Unusual Punishment".
On another note, the supreme court might create another horrendous plan by voting to allow strip searches for crimes that need not warrant a strip search. This is against the law as the police need a reason to conduct a strip search. This, like other decisions passed down by this circus court is taking more liberty and justice away, not preserving it.
There are two options that need to be considered, either reform the court by setting term limits for judges and allowing elections to be held to appoint the nine judges, or get rid of the system completely.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Devin's Blog # 17 Jon Hamm 2012
Here is a quote from actor Jon Hamm "Whether it’s Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated,” he said in the April issue of Elle UK. “Being a fucking idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you’re rewarded significantly. Incuriousness has become cool… It’s celebrated. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Jon is correct in every aspect of what he said, but it is because "it doesn't make sense" that keeps people and shows like this on TV popular and making millions of dollars. The less sense it makes, the more it attracts people. Why? because it's not real to anyone. Yes the Kardashian family lives in the real world, but their viewers take a trip to another world. Their viewers cannot in a million years relate to them or their lifestyle, but people are intrigued by it. It gives people a sense that their lives are not as exciting as the one Kim lives and thus need to keep up with her life.
Their viewers can even not like them because of their actions but will come back for more. This is because eventually Kim will been seen as the victim. In a commercial for her show you can see the tears and regret that Kim made when marring Kris Humpries, hell even Kris Humpries gets booed because he was married to her. Why do people care? or boo him? Does it matter he married Kim Kardashian? People wouldn't have known him if it wasn't for him marring her. People should be booing him for wasting air time on both "keeping up with the Kardashians" and watching New Jersey Nets games (the equivalent of watching keeping up with the Kardashians).
Jon has a right to be angry. He works hard to perfect his craft and he is awesome at it. Yet here are people who make an idiot out of themselves and are promoted more than a person who is a great actor. Sorry to say they are not in the same league. If you want to see how great Jon Hamm is then watch Madmen which will premiere it's 5th season on Sunday March 25th.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jon-hamm-calls-kim-kardashian-f-king-idiot-140010438.html
Jon is correct in every aspect of what he said, but it is because "it doesn't make sense" that keeps people and shows like this on TV popular and making millions of dollars. The less sense it makes, the more it attracts people. Why? because it's not real to anyone. Yes the Kardashian family lives in the real world, but their viewers take a trip to another world. Their viewers cannot in a million years relate to them or their lifestyle, but people are intrigued by it. It gives people a sense that their lives are not as exciting as the one Kim lives and thus need to keep up with her life.
Their viewers can even not like them because of their actions but will come back for more. This is because eventually Kim will been seen as the victim. In a commercial for her show you can see the tears and regret that Kim made when marring Kris Humpries, hell even Kris Humpries gets booed because he was married to her. Why do people care? or boo him? Does it matter he married Kim Kardashian? People wouldn't have known him if it wasn't for him marring her. People should be booing him for wasting air time on both "keeping up with the Kardashians" and watching New Jersey Nets games (the equivalent of watching keeping up with the Kardashians).
Jon has a right to be angry. He works hard to perfect his craft and he is awesome at it. Yet here are people who make an idiot out of themselves and are promoted more than a person who is a great actor. Sorry to say they are not in the same league. If you want to see how great Jon Hamm is then watch Madmen which will premiere it's 5th season on Sunday March 25th.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jon-hamm-calls-kim-kardashian-f-king-idiot-140010438.html
Friday, March 2, 2012
Devin's Blog # 16 The Separation of Church and Medicine
In the year 2012 the U.S. is having a political battle of epic magnitude: Whether to stay in 2012 or go back to 1950. When you think politics in the U.S. can't become even more ignorant and ridiculous a debate about contraception creeps in. President Obama sent a law to congress that under his health care plan, business and organizations that have hired staff must provide contraception to women free of charge. This created a huge backlash from Catholics that said this "infringed on our religious liberties" and should not be forced to provide contraceptives due to "their religious views" To compromise President Obama stated that under the bill religious places such as churches wouldn't have to provide contraceptives to their employees, the insurance would do so. Even this compromise didn't calm all Catholics worries.
It is of my opinion that although trying to be fair, President Obama went soft on this issue. The government issuing a law that says "employers must provide free contraceptives to their female employees" is not infringing on religious liberties. Why is this? because the health of the people of this nation is not in the hands of the church and religion and these entities do not have a say what is best for the people in terms of medicine. Their religious' rights do not enable them to take away what could help people's lives. Their religious' rights are: freedom to express religion without persecution anywhere in this nation, no matter what religion. They have the right to not agree with this law, or potential law, but have no right to ignore it or harm women's lives.
I can understand Obama's compromise to try and defuse the situation, but this still lead to thoughts of utter ignorance. Rick Santorum said if he was nominated the Republican nominee for the 2012 election he would explain why contraceptives are bad because "contraceptives cause more unwanted births and pregnancies" ...... What drugs is he taking? That is like saying "Toothpaste is bad because it doesn't clean your teeth" When it comes to medicine and women's and men's health, leave it to doctors.
This is getting to the point where religious universities are threatening to cut students healthcare because they have to provide contraceptives. What great religious and peaceful action, deny people the right to be healthy, I'm sure Jesus would've wanted it that way. In recent news crazy ass Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown laws student by the name of Sandra Fluke a "slut" because she said that her university should provide contraceptives because "Contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school," she said. "For a lot of students like me who are on public interest scholarships, that's practically an entire summer's salary." This is because "that Georgetown, a Catholic university, won't cover it for her"
The people and government must not allow this to happen. Health is and should be a universal right to the people of a nation, if not provided it is criminal. If doesn't matter if religion wants to stay in the 13th century, it doesn't mean the government has to nor the people. In addition this view about women and contraceptives does not reflect everyone's religious views, so a small group of people should not have a say about people's health and if people of religious views have a problem with abortion and unwanted births, then why wouldn't you support contraceptives? This would logically prevent such measures.
It is of my opinion that although trying to be fair, President Obama went soft on this issue. The government issuing a law that says "employers must provide free contraceptives to their female employees" is not infringing on religious liberties. Why is this? because the health of the people of this nation is not in the hands of the church and religion and these entities do not have a say what is best for the people in terms of medicine. Their religious' rights do not enable them to take away what could help people's lives. Their religious' rights are: freedom to express religion without persecution anywhere in this nation, no matter what religion. They have the right to not agree with this law, or potential law, but have no right to ignore it or harm women's lives.
I can understand Obama's compromise to try and defuse the situation, but this still lead to thoughts of utter ignorance. Rick Santorum said if he was nominated the Republican nominee for the 2012 election he would explain why contraceptives are bad because "contraceptives cause more unwanted births and pregnancies" ...... What drugs is he taking? That is like saying "Toothpaste is bad because it doesn't clean your teeth" When it comes to medicine and women's and men's health, leave it to doctors.
This is getting to the point where religious universities are threatening to cut students healthcare because they have to provide contraceptives. What great religious and peaceful action, deny people the right to be healthy, I'm sure Jesus would've wanted it that way. In recent news crazy ass Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown laws student by the name of Sandra Fluke a "slut" because she said that her university should provide contraceptives because "Contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school," she said. "For a lot of students like me who are on public interest scholarships, that's practically an entire summer's salary." This is because "that Georgetown, a Catholic university, won't cover it for her"
The people and government must not allow this to happen. Health is and should be a universal right to the people of a nation, if not provided it is criminal. If doesn't matter if religion wants to stay in the 13th century, it doesn't mean the government has to nor the people. In addition this view about women and contraceptives does not reflect everyone's religious views, so a small group of people should not have a say about people's health and if people of religious views have a problem with abortion and unwanted births, then why wouldn't you support contraceptives? This would logically prevent such measures.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Devin's Blog # 15 The Atheist Religion?
There are times when discussing religion that people will point out that Atheism is a religion. It is true that Atheism is a doctrine that states supreme beings do not exist, where as religion is the opposite doctrine. This debate continues because of the social awkwardness that people bare when choosing to call themselves atheists. There are also atheists that have criticized people who are afraid to call themselves atheists. I personally do not call myself an atheist, I prefer "non-believer" These are the reasons why:
Giving Self Titles: When people devote themselves to any belief system they automatically give themselves the title of "Christian", "Muslim", "Jew", "Buddhist" and so fort. This is the same for atheists, no matter how much they debate about their disdain for religion, they will separate themselves by giving the title of "Atheist". I find this to be ridiculous because there is no need for this self identification. As a "non-believer" (not a title I've given myself, just a term to use for clarification for my argument) I believe when you give yourself a title you cause yourself to be...
Stereotyped: If someone says to you "I'm a christian" and you respond " an atheist" there is a possibility that you will be viewed as someone with no morals and someone who will surely go to hell one day, and in doing so as an atheist you would possibility judge a christian as being a religious nut and someone who is arrogant. I believe no matter what title you could give yourself, life is life, whether it is good or bad, you will feel the same with or without a title.
Atheist quarks: Every time I see some news regarding the "war on Christmas" it pisses me off. I'm sorry but I'm not part of the group that says "you can't say Merry Christmas because I don't believe in Christ, you have to say Happy Holidays" This is stupid. If you are an atheist why would Merry Christmas offend you? It is just a greeting used for the Christmas holiday. I celebrate Christmas and I'm not a christian. You don't need to be religious to celebrate Christmas, it is just another holiday to get together with friends and family.
Fact Based: One reason that atheists give that supports their beliefs is that they believe in the facts and are not fooled by faith based beliefs. This does not need to be a core argument. People believe in facts because, well.... facts are studied and restudied. Facts are also proven, if someone is going to be arrogant to the vast some of facts then they are arrogant. You don't need to have religion to be arrogant. If you are an atheist then make a better argument than this, this statement only will harden the oppositions stance.
Politics: This is probably the biggest reason why I decided not to call myself an atheist. There is too much bickering over religion that there doesn't seem to be time to actually argue over the things that need to be done such as giving people health care, provided better schooling, making sure people have a roof over their heads, better income equality. In politics it forces you to take a side, and it is usually not the side of "getting shit done". People will instead of looking at political candidates platform, they will see if he belongs to a certain sect of Christianity. I mean look at the backlash at President Obama, people are worried that he is a Muslim, when he has stated personally that he is a Christian. People it is time to move on.
In closing, if people are afraid that by disclosing their non-religious beliefs because of being viewed as an atheist or having to call them self an atheist, then I say there is nothing to worry about because you don't have to. Each person has there own set of values, you don't need to give people an excuse to discriminate against you.
Giving Self Titles: When people devote themselves to any belief system they automatically give themselves the title of "Christian", "Muslim", "Jew", "Buddhist" and so fort. This is the same for atheists, no matter how much they debate about their disdain for religion, they will separate themselves by giving the title of "Atheist". I find this to be ridiculous because there is no need for this self identification. As a "non-believer" (not a title I've given myself, just a term to use for clarification for my argument) I believe when you give yourself a title you cause yourself to be...
Stereotyped: If someone says to you "I'm a christian" and you respond " an atheist" there is a possibility that you will be viewed as someone with no morals and someone who will surely go to hell one day, and in doing so as an atheist you would possibility judge a christian as being a religious nut and someone who is arrogant. I believe no matter what title you could give yourself, life is life, whether it is good or bad, you will feel the same with or without a title.
Atheist quarks: Every time I see some news regarding the "war on Christmas" it pisses me off. I'm sorry but I'm not part of the group that says "you can't say Merry Christmas because I don't believe in Christ, you have to say Happy Holidays" This is stupid. If you are an atheist why would Merry Christmas offend you? It is just a greeting used for the Christmas holiday. I celebrate Christmas and I'm not a christian. You don't need to be religious to celebrate Christmas, it is just another holiday to get together with friends and family.
Fact Based: One reason that atheists give that supports their beliefs is that they believe in the facts and are not fooled by faith based beliefs. This does not need to be a core argument. People believe in facts because, well.... facts are studied and restudied. Facts are also proven, if someone is going to be arrogant to the vast some of facts then they are arrogant. You don't need to have religion to be arrogant. If you are an atheist then make a better argument than this, this statement only will harden the oppositions stance.
Politics: This is probably the biggest reason why I decided not to call myself an atheist. There is too much bickering over religion that there doesn't seem to be time to actually argue over the things that need to be done such as giving people health care, provided better schooling, making sure people have a roof over their heads, better income equality. In politics it forces you to take a side, and it is usually not the side of "getting shit done". People will instead of looking at political candidates platform, they will see if he belongs to a certain sect of Christianity. I mean look at the backlash at President Obama, people are worried that he is a Muslim, when he has stated personally that he is a Christian. People it is time to move on.
In closing, if people are afraid that by disclosing their non-religious beliefs because of being viewed as an atheist or having to call them self an atheist, then I say there is nothing to worry about because you don't have to. Each person has there own set of values, you don't need to give people an excuse to discriminate against you.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Devin's Blog # 14 Sticking to the Books
This week President Obama said that he wants to pass legislation that states no person can drop out of high school before the age of 18. The republicans, posting their opposition to anything Obama said that the federal government doesn't have the right to interfere in state laws regarding the age when a person can drop out of high school. Both parties are dropping the ball, isn't is about having children stay in school?
Personally I think that kids should not be able to drop out of high school or any pre-college schooling and home schooling should be banned. The freedom card cannot be played here. I don't care how many parents and students complain, kids need to complete school and get a high school diploma. The president's idea and the republican's are misplaced and do nothing to help the state of education in this nation. Home schooling does not help, parents are not qualified to teach a children advanced levels of the various subjects that students are required to learn. Parents should be the ones to help their children after the school day is over with, adding to their children's learning. A parent cannot teach their child everything even if they are intelligent in one particular field of education.
If my point isn't clear enough why children should be made to stay in school, then just go to New York City where they paint there road signs pointing to the "Shcool". I rest my case.
Personally I think that kids should not be able to drop out of high school or any pre-college schooling and home schooling should be banned. The freedom card cannot be played here. I don't care how many parents and students complain, kids need to complete school and get a high school diploma. The president's idea and the republican's are misplaced and do nothing to help the state of education in this nation. Home schooling does not help, parents are not qualified to teach a children advanced levels of the various subjects that students are required to learn. Parents should be the ones to help their children after the school day is over with, adding to their children's learning. A parent cannot teach their child everything even if they are intelligent in one particular field of education.
If my point isn't clear enough why children should be made to stay in school, then just go to New York City where they paint there road signs pointing to the "Shcool". I rest my case.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Devin's Blog # 13 What I want to do in 2012
Well I'm back for whoever follows my blog. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a start to the new year. So even though it is about 11 days after the new year, I decided to do a what I want to do in 2012 entry. Why you ask? Well... for the hell of it I guess. Here is goes.
I want to finish college. I have only one class left and after that I get my bachelors degree in history and a minor in Chinese language. I don't plan on going to get my masters at the moment and I don't know if I ever will. One of the reasons is I've spent enough time in trying to get the bachelors degree that I am sick of school and the other is the cost which is going up and up for schools.
After I am done getting my bachelors degree I want to get a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certificate. I want to do this because I hope I can help others learn another language, see if any of my methods can work to help people learn English, and I want to go to a foreign country especially China or Taiwan. I want to go to Taiwan or China because I want to practice and learn more Chinese. I need a ton more of experience with the language.
Speaking of Chinese, I plan in 2012 on trying to put more focus on learning the language. When I had Chinese language classes at the university they all flew by pretty fast and even though I would always get A's I didn't understand everything that was said when it came to the grammar. I also feel at times uncomfortable speaking the language and have a hard time understanding what is being said.
Getting some more exercise when winter is done. This isn't because I think I am getting too fat, but I would like to get some more exercise than I normally do, which is usually not that much. The exercises I would like to do is practice more of wing chun kung fu, run outside, and go bowling a lot more.
Trying to decrease my stress level is a never ending battle and usually I don't win, but I have to keep trying if I hope to stay somewhat healthy and don't have a heart attack or something like that, I'll let the views decide what could happen if I stay too stressed out. I don't know what exactly to do to keep my stress level down, but for now I will have to wing it.
There are going to be a lot of interesting movies I will be watching in 2012, that either are coming out in 2012 or have been released on DVD in 2012, one movie I can't wait to see is The Dark Knight Rises, I know that Christopher Nolan can make this final movie in the Nolan Batman series a memorable one and complete an awesome trilogy. Not to mention all of the awesome tv shows that come back in 2012.
Enjoying life more, this is a hard one for me to do at times because I usually don't always see stuff as sun shines and rainbows, so there are times when I have to work extra hard to get a positive attitude.
Seeing my best friend getting married. My best friend Matt is getting married this November and I will be his best man. I'm happy for him and excited to see this, but where in the hell did all the years go?
I want to finish college. I have only one class left and after that I get my bachelors degree in history and a minor in Chinese language. I don't plan on going to get my masters at the moment and I don't know if I ever will. One of the reasons is I've spent enough time in trying to get the bachelors degree that I am sick of school and the other is the cost which is going up and up for schools.
After I am done getting my bachelors degree I want to get a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certificate. I want to do this because I hope I can help others learn another language, see if any of my methods can work to help people learn English, and I want to go to a foreign country especially China or Taiwan. I want to go to Taiwan or China because I want to practice and learn more Chinese. I need a ton more of experience with the language.
Speaking of Chinese, I plan in 2012 on trying to put more focus on learning the language. When I had Chinese language classes at the university they all flew by pretty fast and even though I would always get A's I didn't understand everything that was said when it came to the grammar. I also feel at times uncomfortable speaking the language and have a hard time understanding what is being said.
Getting some more exercise when winter is done. This isn't because I think I am getting too fat, but I would like to get some more exercise than I normally do, which is usually not that much. The exercises I would like to do is practice more of wing chun kung fu, run outside, and go bowling a lot more.
Trying to decrease my stress level is a never ending battle and usually I don't win, but I have to keep trying if I hope to stay somewhat healthy and don't have a heart attack or something like that, I'll let the views decide what could happen if I stay too stressed out. I don't know what exactly to do to keep my stress level down, but for now I will have to wing it.
There are going to be a lot of interesting movies I will be watching in 2012, that either are coming out in 2012 or have been released on DVD in 2012, one movie I can't wait to see is The Dark Knight Rises, I know that Christopher Nolan can make this final movie in the Nolan Batman series a memorable one and complete an awesome trilogy. Not to mention all of the awesome tv shows that come back in 2012.
Enjoying life more, this is a hard one for me to do at times because I usually don't always see stuff as sun shines and rainbows, so there are times when I have to work extra hard to get a positive attitude.
Seeing my best friend getting married. My best friend Matt is getting married this November and I will be his best man. I'm happy for him and excited to see this, but where in the hell did all the years go?
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Devin's Blog # 12 Dronefull in Iran
A big story this week has been Iran capturing a United States spy drone. President Obama demanded that Iran give back the drone in which Iran's government replied "uhhhhh let me think about it....NO!" I don't condone Iran's government with it's theocracy and oppressing it's people by not having freedom of speech or internet along with many other things, but if people are going to get mad because Iran got a U.S. spy plane and think that we should go to war with them then they need to know about international law and history of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Any government has the right to shoot down or capture any unidentified flying object (UFO) that travels inside it's air space. If any UFO that is not allowed by said government to fly within the designated airspace then it could be interpreted as an act of war or violation of it's sovereignty. Iran has every right to be angry and paranoid that the U.S. could attack it's territory or invade the country itself. The U.S. has invaded the two countries that border Iran's east and west borders (Iraq and Afghanistan). This is not helping the matter of better diplomatic dialogue with Iran, not to mention it's turbulent history with the United States. In 1953 the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected president of Iran and replaced him with a dictator (Shah) to allow the U.S. to gain access to Iran's oil supply. In 1979 when the Shah was overthrown there was the Iran hostage crises in which Iran held U.S. embassy workers hostage for over a year. During the 1980's the U.S. government supplied Iraq with weapons to fight Iran, then playing double agent supplied Iran with weapons to fight Iraq.
During George W. Bush's term as president (2001-2009) he labeled Iran as part of the "Axis of Evil" which also consisted of North Korea. Then of course there was the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is no wonder why Iran might seek nuclear weapons and help fuel the insurgency in Iraq, which Iran has done. The U.S. government seems easy to label other countries as "enemies" or warrant paranoia when other countries seem to do anything the U.S. doesn't deem as acceptable. Then the usual course of action is to put sanctions on these countries. I'm not sure if these sanctions are working. In the case of Iran it doesn't seem to effect the way Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons or Iran's continuation of defiance towards the U.S.
Besides this story, another story semi-linked to Iran was the announcement by President Obama that military action in Iraq is over. President Obama warned (without naming) other countries that it will not accept interference in Iraq and said that the U.S. will continue to be a presence in the region. This warning was mostly likely directed towards Iran because as I've said above Iran has played a part in fueling the insurgence in Iraq and continues to have heavily influence in Iraq and the region itself. My skepticism tells me that even though military action is over in Iraq, the war is probably in reality far from over.
The United States for many decades has had a foreign policy of threatening other nations with it's military, in other terms a doctrine of brinksmanship. What happens when the threat of the U.S. military doesn't work? The United States needs to develop a foreign policy that puts away the paranoia card and start to man up. The U.S. needs to stop using spy drones everywhere and start meeting more frequently with these nations that the U.S. shies away from. The U.S. will continue to get nowhere if it continues to treat other nations as enemies and disregard international law by violating other nation's airspace. The U.S. government doesn't have to except how a nation's government treats it's people, but how can we possibly help the situation if we are afraid politically to help take the first step?
Any government has the right to shoot down or capture any unidentified flying object (UFO) that travels inside it's air space. If any UFO that is not allowed by said government to fly within the designated airspace then it could be interpreted as an act of war or violation of it's sovereignty. Iran has every right to be angry and paranoid that the U.S. could attack it's territory or invade the country itself. The U.S. has invaded the two countries that border Iran's east and west borders (Iraq and Afghanistan). This is not helping the matter of better diplomatic dialogue with Iran, not to mention it's turbulent history with the United States. In 1953 the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected president of Iran and replaced him with a dictator (Shah) to allow the U.S. to gain access to Iran's oil supply. In 1979 when the Shah was overthrown there was the Iran hostage crises in which Iran held U.S. embassy workers hostage for over a year. During the 1980's the U.S. government supplied Iraq with weapons to fight Iran, then playing double agent supplied Iran with weapons to fight Iraq.
During George W. Bush's term as president (2001-2009) he labeled Iran as part of the "Axis of Evil" which also consisted of North Korea. Then of course there was the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is no wonder why Iran might seek nuclear weapons and help fuel the insurgency in Iraq, which Iran has done. The U.S. government seems easy to label other countries as "enemies" or warrant paranoia when other countries seem to do anything the U.S. doesn't deem as acceptable. Then the usual course of action is to put sanctions on these countries. I'm not sure if these sanctions are working. In the case of Iran it doesn't seem to effect the way Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons or Iran's continuation of defiance towards the U.S.
Besides this story, another story semi-linked to Iran was the announcement by President Obama that military action in Iraq is over. President Obama warned (without naming) other countries that it will not accept interference in Iraq and said that the U.S. will continue to be a presence in the region. This warning was mostly likely directed towards Iran because as I've said above Iran has played a part in fueling the insurgence in Iraq and continues to have heavily influence in Iraq and the region itself. My skepticism tells me that even though military action is over in Iraq, the war is probably in reality far from over.
The United States for many decades has had a foreign policy of threatening other nations with it's military, in other terms a doctrine of brinksmanship. What happens when the threat of the U.S. military doesn't work? The United States needs to develop a foreign policy that puts away the paranoia card and start to man up. The U.S. needs to stop using spy drones everywhere and start meeting more frequently with these nations that the U.S. shies away from. The U.S. will continue to get nowhere if it continues to treat other nations as enemies and disregard international law by violating other nation's airspace. The U.S. government doesn't have to except how a nation's government treats it's people, but how can we possibly help the situation if we are afraid politically to help take the first step?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Devin's Blog # 11 America: The Lost Republic
Before I get into this discussion I am going to put quotes from the ACLU website concerning the "National Defense Authorization Act" : "The Senate voted last Thursday to pass S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would authorize the president to send the military literally anywhere in the world to imprison civilians without charge or trial. Prison based on suspicion alone. The power is so sweeping that the president would be able to direct the military to use its powers within the United States itself, and even lock up American citizens without charge or trial." "No corner of the world, not even your own home, would be off-limits to the military. And there is no exception for American citizens. Section 1031 — one of the indefinite detention provisions — of the Senate-approved version of the NDAA has no limitations whatsoever based on geography, duration or citizenship. And the entire Senate bill was drafted in secret, with no hearing, and with committee votes behind closed doors."
While you would think that the senate would care considering this bill destroys the U.S. constitution but " I'm not sure which was more surprising — that the majority of senators ignored the pleas of countless constituents, or that they also ignored every top national security official opposed to the provisions. Opposition to the detention provisions came from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Petraeus, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, White House Advisor for Counterterrorism John Brennan, and DOJ National Security Division head Lisa Monaco. The Senate ignored them all."
Has America really lost itself? First the Patriot Act now this? What is scary is that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are moving fast to try and pass a final bill that could be on President Obama's desk by next week. The President has said he would veto the bill with the provision provided, but will he? America always talks about how it is the epitome of democracy and easily blames other countries for not providing democratic laws, but with the way the U.S. has gone down the road this past decade and even the thought of this law destroys any chance the U.S. has to regain credibility in the world. I thought America fought the fascists in World War 2? Yet it seems that we only defeated Germany and Japan not fascism.
Also how funny when Americans talk about the fear of socialism and communism, yet fascism is pissing on them and telling them Marx did it. The mainstream media doesn't want you to know about this because why talk about important issues? This goes for all the major media stations not just Fox News.I thought America was suppose to be better than the terrorists? The truth is America is losing to the terrorists because it is willing to give up its liberties for security. No matter how it goes in Iraq and Afghanistan these wars and America's continuing transformation into a military state is the biggest price this republic will face. The only opposition I've read to this bill is from Ron Paul. Hopefully this will reach the American people so that there can be real protests and revolutionary acting, unlike the failed Occupy Wall Street Protests.
On another note the U.S. Government is also trying to pass a bill to censor the internet, so in one swing not only freedom of speech will be obsolete so will Habaes Corpus. All republics fall like this in one fall swoop without much resistance. Take a note from history because the threat of fascism is not gone.
Sources: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/behind-closed-doors-congress-trying-force-indefinite-detention-bill-americans
http://rt.com/usa/news/defense-ron-paul-detention-745/print/
While you would think that the senate would care considering this bill destroys the U.S. constitution but " I'm not sure which was more surprising — that the majority of senators ignored the pleas of countless constituents, or that they also ignored every top national security official opposed to the provisions. Opposition to the detention provisions came from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Petraeus, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, White House Advisor for Counterterrorism John Brennan, and DOJ National Security Division head Lisa Monaco. The Senate ignored them all."
Has America really lost itself? First the Patriot Act now this? What is scary is that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are moving fast to try and pass a final bill that could be on President Obama's desk by next week. The President has said he would veto the bill with the provision provided, but will he? America always talks about how it is the epitome of democracy and easily blames other countries for not providing democratic laws, but with the way the U.S. has gone down the road this past decade and even the thought of this law destroys any chance the U.S. has to regain credibility in the world. I thought America fought the fascists in World War 2? Yet it seems that we only defeated Germany and Japan not fascism.
Also how funny when Americans talk about the fear of socialism and communism, yet fascism is pissing on them and telling them Marx did it. The mainstream media doesn't want you to know about this because why talk about important issues? This goes for all the major media stations not just Fox News.I thought America was suppose to be better than the terrorists? The truth is America is losing to the terrorists because it is willing to give up its liberties for security. No matter how it goes in Iraq and Afghanistan these wars and America's continuing transformation into a military state is the biggest price this republic will face. The only opposition I've read to this bill is from Ron Paul. Hopefully this will reach the American people so that there can be real protests and revolutionary acting, unlike the failed Occupy Wall Street Protests.
On another note the U.S. Government is also trying to pass a bill to censor the internet, so in one swing not only freedom of speech will be obsolete so will Habaes Corpus. All republics fall like this in one fall swoop without much resistance. Take a note from history because the threat of fascism is not gone.
Sources: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/behind-closed-doors-congress-trying-force-indefinite-detention-bill-americans
http://rt.com/usa/news/defense-ron-paul-detention-745/print/
Monday, December 12, 2011
Devin's Blog # 10 My random thoughts 1.0
This is a new segment for my blogs I've just came up with to take a break from the regular posts and to try something new. In this segment I will discuss certain things I've read or heard about and things that pop up in my head. The topics in this segment won't have the normal length like my normal blogs. Some of these topics might be revisited and discussed in a full length blog when I've acquired more information.
It's almost Christmas time and for many this is a time for gifts and family, also a time for religious celebrations. I personally do not believe in god or any type of deity and certainly do not have a religion. I've many friends who are religious and believe in god and I like to have many discussions about this topic, not to argue with them, but just to find out what they think about certain issues. A few years ago my mom and I went down to Jacksonville, Florida where my cousin Joe lives and when discussing religion he asked me "Devin what keeps you going?" referencing "having faith". My answer was "I don't know" and to this day I still don't know what keeps me going on a spiritual level. It's hard when you are a non believer because you naturally become a realist and view the world through gloomy shaded lenses. This is not to say I don't feel any sort of happiness, but in all my years I can't bring myself to except that with all the things that happen in the world, there is a higher power that guides people, yet at the same time lets horrible things happen in the world.
I caught something on TV the other day for a new show called "shipping wars". I honestly do not understand these shows that have "war" in the title for example: Cupcake Wars, Cake Wars, Parking Wars, Garage Wars, Storage Wars, Storage Wars Texas. These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head I'm pretty sure there are or there are going to be more shows with "war" in the title. Why in the hell does everything have to be a war? I mean its only a war when there is shooting so if you are going to get my attention wouldn't it be better if lets say for Cupcake Wars that the contestants can shoot at each other? " Peanut Butter is done --BOOM--" There goes the whipped batter.
Still on the subject of TV shows why is almost every show seem to be a competition? I mean The Voice, American Idol, The X Factor, America's Got Talent and so on. I don't care about this and just because it is a competition doesn't mean it is interesting. The sad thing is people like to watch the show just to see the fuck ups. I'm just begging for the day when there is the show "The next big custodian" Can you imagine the intrigue? There are 8 contests who will battle for the top prize of the next big custodian, the prize not only gives them this title but a $ 7.50 hr job with no health insurance and a boss who is a total dick. Along with this I just want to see who can unplug the most toilets the quickest.
I heard that doctors in Europe found the Norway shooter Breivik to be insane and with him being declared insane could not face prison but be put into a mental asylum. First things first of course this guy is insane he killed 50 people and injured 150 more, plus he went to a kids camp and lit up the place. I don't get that with being declared insane he can't face prison time. There should be standards and test to determine this type of thing but if Breivik is insane then what the fuck does that say about serial killers and mass murderers? This guy should not be put into a mental asylum he should face prison for the rest of his life. The guy who talks to himself and says things like "bugs bunny ate all my carrots and now I have to settle for radishes" is insane, Breivik is just a murderer.
On a last note I'm not really updated on the current hip trend of music, I have my own tastes, but I don't know that many current artists besides the ones that are promoted heavily such as Lady Gaga. There is this song on the radio called "Tonight, Tonight" or maybe just "Tonight" sung by some guy and featuring Pittbull. I know of Pittbull because of the stupid Dr. Pepper commercial he is in and every time I hear this song on the radio there is a part where Pittbull says "now I'm on top of your girl ha!". How can you not laugh at this and at the same time think that it sounds like rape. I swear in many songs it sounds like the singer is going to rape some random girl or screw your girl, but hey the tune is catchy.
It's almost Christmas time and for many this is a time for gifts and family, also a time for religious celebrations. I personally do not believe in god or any type of deity and certainly do not have a religion. I've many friends who are religious and believe in god and I like to have many discussions about this topic, not to argue with them, but just to find out what they think about certain issues. A few years ago my mom and I went down to Jacksonville, Florida where my cousin Joe lives and when discussing religion he asked me "Devin what keeps you going?" referencing "having faith". My answer was "I don't know" and to this day I still don't know what keeps me going on a spiritual level. It's hard when you are a non believer because you naturally become a realist and view the world through gloomy shaded lenses. This is not to say I don't feel any sort of happiness, but in all my years I can't bring myself to except that with all the things that happen in the world, there is a higher power that guides people, yet at the same time lets horrible things happen in the world.
I caught something on TV the other day for a new show called "shipping wars". I honestly do not understand these shows that have "war" in the title for example: Cupcake Wars, Cake Wars, Parking Wars, Garage Wars, Storage Wars, Storage Wars Texas. These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head I'm pretty sure there are or there are going to be more shows with "war" in the title. Why in the hell does everything have to be a war? I mean its only a war when there is shooting so if you are going to get my attention wouldn't it be better if lets say for Cupcake Wars that the contestants can shoot at each other? " Peanut Butter is done --BOOM--" There goes the whipped batter.
Still on the subject of TV shows why is almost every show seem to be a competition? I mean The Voice, American Idol, The X Factor, America's Got Talent and so on. I don't care about this and just because it is a competition doesn't mean it is interesting. The sad thing is people like to watch the show just to see the fuck ups. I'm just begging for the day when there is the show "The next big custodian" Can you imagine the intrigue? There are 8 contests who will battle for the top prize of the next big custodian, the prize not only gives them this title but a $ 7.50 hr job with no health insurance and a boss who is a total dick. Along with this I just want to see who can unplug the most toilets the quickest.
I heard that doctors in Europe found the Norway shooter Breivik to be insane and with him being declared insane could not face prison but be put into a mental asylum. First things first of course this guy is insane he killed 50 people and injured 150 more, plus he went to a kids camp and lit up the place. I don't get that with being declared insane he can't face prison time. There should be standards and test to determine this type of thing but if Breivik is insane then what the fuck does that say about serial killers and mass murderers? This guy should not be put into a mental asylum he should face prison for the rest of his life. The guy who talks to himself and says things like "bugs bunny ate all my carrots and now I have to settle for radishes" is insane, Breivik is just a murderer.
On a last note I'm not really updated on the current hip trend of music, I have my own tastes, but I don't know that many current artists besides the ones that are promoted heavily such as Lady Gaga. There is this song on the radio called "Tonight, Tonight" or maybe just "Tonight" sung by some guy and featuring Pittbull. I know of Pittbull because of the stupid Dr. Pepper commercial he is in and every time I hear this song on the radio there is a part where Pittbull says "now I'm on top of your girl ha!". How can you not laugh at this and at the same time think that it sounds like rape. I swear in many songs it sounds like the singer is going to rape some random girl or screw your girl, but hey the tune is catchy.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Devin's Blog # 9 To Be Or Not To Be Pro-Capitalist
Awhile ago when looking at news about Occupy Wallstreet, one of the protests stated "we are not against capitalism, just against corruption and the way things are." I found this to be a strange statement because on the one hand how can you be protesting against the banks and greed, yet support the system that promotes that? I find that when it comes down to it people love the benefits of capitalism, but hate the system.
Capitalism has and will always be a system of exploitation. Whether it would be petty capitalism such as a farmer selling his crops, merchants selling commodities or the bankers/owners of production/corporations who are the major bourgeoisie, capitalism is about exploiting others to gain capital. The system will not change and cannot change, history has shown that you can only tame capitalism to a certain point, then it will go out of control. It is either removal of the system completely or live with the small immediate changes. You may ask why things cannot change, the simple answer to this is human nature. As humans we need or want things and the system of capital will always have humans desiring more capital.
The question is: "What do people really want?" Can people live with a hybrid system of a socialist/capitalist system where people can only make a certain amount of money and own a certain amount of property? Can people continue to support capitalism and at the same time want socialist programs, while hating the goals and desires of capitalism? Can people continue to support a system that rewards the few?
There are more questions people could ask, but these questions are hard to answer and can be only answered within the mentality of mankind. Capitalism in my opinion is like a religion, even if it is corrupt and causes humanities degeneration people will continue to find the small amount of good or happiness in it, but be blind to the bigger picture. Capitalism cannot be fought with an economic or moral debate but can only be studied like science. If people want to start fighting the corruption of the capitalist system then people need to start looking deeper into the system and approach it from a scientific point of view. Don't let dogma stand in the way of deeper understanding.
Capitalism has and will always be a system of exploitation. Whether it would be petty capitalism such as a farmer selling his crops, merchants selling commodities or the bankers/owners of production/corporations who are the major bourgeoisie, capitalism is about exploiting others to gain capital. The system will not change and cannot change, history has shown that you can only tame capitalism to a certain point, then it will go out of control. It is either removal of the system completely or live with the small immediate changes. You may ask why things cannot change, the simple answer to this is human nature. As humans we need or want things and the system of capital will always have humans desiring more capital.
The question is: "What do people really want?" Can people live with a hybrid system of a socialist/capitalist system where people can only make a certain amount of money and own a certain amount of property? Can people continue to support capitalism and at the same time want socialist programs, while hating the goals and desires of capitalism? Can people continue to support a system that rewards the few?
There are more questions people could ask, but these questions are hard to answer and can be only answered within the mentality of mankind. Capitalism in my opinion is like a religion, even if it is corrupt and causes humanities degeneration people will continue to find the small amount of good or happiness in it, but be blind to the bigger picture. Capitalism cannot be fought with an economic or moral debate but can only be studied like science. If people want to start fighting the corruption of the capitalist system then people need to start looking deeper into the system and approach it from a scientific point of view. Don't let dogma stand in the way of deeper understanding.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Devin's Blog # 8 Brief Ratings/Reviews of TV Shows I Watch
The Walking Dead- See Post # 7
Person of Interest- 8/10 This show has an interesting premise and characters, but needs to develop the characters and main points more.
X-Men Anime - 6/10 Not a bad X-Men Cartoon, but has few X-Men and a story I do not understand.
Death Valley- 8/10 The only thing I can stand watching on MTV, has some funny moments and a zany story.
Ghost Hunters- 7/10 As always you will have hit or miss episodes, but had a horrible Halloween live special.
Ghost Adventures- 7.5 Slightly better than Ghost Hunters, but has had some weird moments.
The Borgias- 9/10 A great first season and cannot wait for the second. Great acting by Jeremy Irons and the cast of characters are the right choice for the show.
Game of Thrones- 9.5/10 Having never read the novels. HBO has developed an awesome show that delivers a great political, medieval, and fantasy show. The show also left the first season with enough power to be intrigued with the second season.
The Killing- 8.5/10 I'm not a fan of detective or cop shows, but The Killing is interesting enough that it doesn't follow other cop shows of a criminal of the week plot and gives the audience clues to try and find the killer, the only downfall of the show is that it can be very slow at times.
Mad Men- 9.5/10 Another awesome season of Mad Men as Jon Hamm continues to be awesome as Don Draper. Hope season 5 will has more Don Draper craziness.
Breaking Bad- 9/10 Although it had its slow moments, Breaking Bad's last few episodes were pretty epic and a season finale that will bring the final season into utter chaos for the characters.
Kamen Rider Fourze- 9/10 A great follow up season to the excellent Kamen Rider OOO series. Has funny and likable characters along with good action.
Kaizou Sentai Gokaiger- 8/10 Good 35th anniversary Super Sentai show, but wish the past Super Sentai fighters would fight more along side the Gokaigers.
Garo Makai Senki- 9/10 A great continuation of the Garo series. The CGI effects are a lot better and the choreographed fight scenes are excellent. The plot is starting to develop into maybe something epic, but only time will tell.
Hell on Wheels- 9.5/10 A surprise series for myself because I thought it wouldn't be good, but great character development, along with great historical accuracy. Most of the characters are interesting and leaves the show with many different angles to go with.
Being Human (Original UK Version)- 9.5/10 An awesome series overall and an ending to season 3 that will change the series dramatically.
Being Human (US Version)- 6.5/10 Although this version had some okay moments, it doesn't come anywhere close to the UK version in terms of story, characters, and character development. I will watch season 2 in hope they go with a completely different story, than in season 1 where they took most of season 1 of the UK version's plot, changed some things, and ended up not being interesting in the end.
Person of Interest- 8/10 This show has an interesting premise and characters, but needs to develop the characters and main points more.
X-Men Anime - 6/10 Not a bad X-Men Cartoon, but has few X-Men and a story I do not understand.
Death Valley- 8/10 The only thing I can stand watching on MTV, has some funny moments and a zany story.
Ghost Hunters- 7/10 As always you will have hit or miss episodes, but had a horrible Halloween live special.
Ghost Adventures- 7.5 Slightly better than Ghost Hunters, but has had some weird moments.
The Borgias- 9/10 A great first season and cannot wait for the second. Great acting by Jeremy Irons and the cast of characters are the right choice for the show.
Game of Thrones- 9.5/10 Having never read the novels. HBO has developed an awesome show that delivers a great political, medieval, and fantasy show. The show also left the first season with enough power to be intrigued with the second season.
The Killing- 8.5/10 I'm not a fan of detective or cop shows, but The Killing is interesting enough that it doesn't follow other cop shows of a criminal of the week plot and gives the audience clues to try and find the killer, the only downfall of the show is that it can be very slow at times.
Mad Men- 9.5/10 Another awesome season of Mad Men as Jon Hamm continues to be awesome as Don Draper. Hope season 5 will has more Don Draper craziness.
Breaking Bad- 9/10 Although it had its slow moments, Breaking Bad's last few episodes were pretty epic and a season finale that will bring the final season into utter chaos for the characters.
Kamen Rider Fourze- 9/10 A great follow up season to the excellent Kamen Rider OOO series. Has funny and likable characters along with good action.
Kaizou Sentai Gokaiger- 8/10 Good 35th anniversary Super Sentai show, but wish the past Super Sentai fighters would fight more along side the Gokaigers.
Garo Makai Senki- 9/10 A great continuation of the Garo series. The CGI effects are a lot better and the choreographed fight scenes are excellent. The plot is starting to develop into maybe something epic, but only time will tell.
Hell on Wheels- 9.5/10 A surprise series for myself because I thought it wouldn't be good, but great character development, along with great historical accuracy. Most of the characters are interesting and leaves the show with many different angles to go with.
Being Human (Original UK Version)- 9.5/10 An awesome series overall and an ending to season 3 that will change the series dramatically.
Being Human (US Version)- 6.5/10 Although this version had some okay moments, it doesn't come anywhere close to the UK version in terms of story, characters, and character development. I will watch season 2 in hope they go with a completely different story, than in season 1 where they took most of season 1 of the UK version's plot, changed some things, and ended up not being interesting in the end.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Devin's Blog # 7 My thoughts about "The Walking Dead"
Where do I begin with this, I like The Walking Dead, both the graphic novel and the TV show, but the TV show has been "The Walking Slow", a term my best friend Matt made for the show. Now to be fair it is difficult and maybe it is nitpicking to try and compare the two, but something has to be said. The Walking Dead has all the tools to be not only an awesome show, but an incredibly explosive TV series. The make-up and special effects on the zombies are awesome and very well created. The acting is top notch with great performances that brings out the emotions of the characters.
These things considered, there is a huge gap between the graphic novel and the TV series. This is of course is obvious because if you read the graphic novels, you would know what is going to happen and there are budget restraints to consider, yet I feel that the writing is starting to become subjugated to TV standards. What I mean by TV standards is that you have to write the story and plan on where to make the best episodes count.
The TV standard for a graphic novel such as The Walking Dead is a tall order because of what the graphic novel does to the various characters and it's almost sadistic nature, where people can be taken away from the reader in a second, it presents a world where morals are a luxury and how society in this world effects and changes people. The TV show has been able and not able to portray this at times yet the reason for the latter is because the TV show is not pushing the extremes that the graphic novel has. It will push for an episode or two, but then goes into a slow transition where there seems to be nothing going on, and with this the viewer cannot fully feel the anxiety, fear, and horror of death around every corner.
If the TV show is going to make a statement, then it has to start digging deep and unleash the nature of the beast. I'm perfectly fine with the TV not being 100% exactly like the graphic novels, but for the sake of TV and the novels it represents please commit to the full energy the graphic novels bring. Don't go half ass and give the view one big event, or scene once in 7 episodes, leave the viewer feeling that every episode counts and not just the mid-season and season finales.
I'm not sure the reasoning of AMC to have The Walking Dead return in February. This seems a little too late and too far away for people to remember what the hell happened. If I had to give a rating so far on Season 2 of The Walking Dead it would be about a 7/10. Some good things, but missing the massive potential.
These things considered, there is a huge gap between the graphic novel and the TV series. This is of course is obvious because if you read the graphic novels, you would know what is going to happen and there are budget restraints to consider, yet I feel that the writing is starting to become subjugated to TV standards. What I mean by TV standards is that you have to write the story and plan on where to make the best episodes count.
The TV standard for a graphic novel such as The Walking Dead is a tall order because of what the graphic novel does to the various characters and it's almost sadistic nature, where people can be taken away from the reader in a second, it presents a world where morals are a luxury and how society in this world effects and changes people. The TV show has been able and not able to portray this at times yet the reason for the latter is because the TV show is not pushing the extremes that the graphic novel has. It will push for an episode or two, but then goes into a slow transition where there seems to be nothing going on, and with this the viewer cannot fully feel the anxiety, fear, and horror of death around every corner.
If the TV show is going to make a statement, then it has to start digging deep and unleash the nature of the beast. I'm perfectly fine with the TV not being 100% exactly like the graphic novels, but for the sake of TV and the novels it represents please commit to the full energy the graphic novels bring. Don't go half ass and give the view one big event, or scene once in 7 episodes, leave the viewer feeling that every episode counts and not just the mid-season and season finales.
I'm not sure the reasoning of AMC to have The Walking Dead return in February. This seems a little too late and too far away for people to remember what the hell happened. If I had to give a rating so far on Season 2 of The Walking Dead it would be about a 7/10. Some good things, but missing the massive potential.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Devin's Blog # 6 XXX Alert: Porn Stars are reading to your Kids !!!!!
Recently there has been some outrage at former porn star Sasha Grey for allowing her to read to elementary grade students. Before I comment on how stupid this outrage has been, on a side note, where the hell was this when I was in elementary school? Jeez the students nowadays are spoiled, Ipods, cellphones, Ipads, porn stars reading to them, what else do they want?
Now on to the topic, why is this so hard to shallow (That's what she said) for people? I mean does her former career define her as a person? or as a matter of fact make her a bad person for being in porn? The answer should be no to both questions, but the people are always saying "What about the children?"
The children are going to be just fine with a former porn star reading to them, I mean if parents are worried about their kids wanting to look up porn because of Sasha Grey, the mothers of these children should be more worried more about their husbands looking up Sasha Grey's porno videos, I mean where do you think he gets all of those sexual ideas he wants to try out.
People need to stop panicking about this small nonsense and start to just focus on their lives. There are more pressing matters in the world to worry about and porn shouldn't be one of them, I mean when you think about it, porn is probably one of the things that brings joy and happiness to many people, in the spirit of the holidays, it is the gift that keeps cumming and cumming.
Now on to the topic, why is this so hard to shallow (That's what she said) for people? I mean does her former career define her as a person? or as a matter of fact make her a bad person for being in porn? The answer should be no to both questions, but the people are always saying "What about the children?"
The children are going to be just fine with a former porn star reading to them, I mean if parents are worried about their kids wanting to look up porn because of Sasha Grey, the mothers of these children should be more worried more about their husbands looking up Sasha Grey's porno videos, I mean where do you think he gets all of those sexual ideas he wants to try out.
People need to stop panicking about this small nonsense and start to just focus on their lives. There are more pressing matters in the world to worry about and porn shouldn't be one of them, I mean when you think about it, porn is probably one of the things that brings joy and happiness to many people, in the spirit of the holidays, it is the gift that keeps cumming and cumming.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Devin's Blog # 5 The Education of America: What is to be done for the future?
There is a lot of talk about the state of education in America. Most of the coverage has been negative with the media saying how America is behind China in education and students need to be proficient in math and science. President Obama even stated that this country needs a "sputnik" moment to vitalize the low grades in math and science.There are tons of debates about how to fix the education system in this country, but nothing seems to be in place to fix the problems. The politicians, instead of putting more effort into education are placing solutions that are closing down schools and increasing the price of education in this country, so I've decided in this blog to discuss my thoughts on how to fix the education system.
1.) End the System of Forcing Students to go to Schools That Are Only in Their Districts: This systems has never worked and continues not to work, students are getting a poor education because they are forced to go to bad schools because of where they live. Students and parents should have a choice of where they want to go to school, as should the teachers have a choice in which school they want to teach.
2.) All Year Around School: I know future students would hate this, but it needs to be done. Students need more time to learn the vast amount of subjects that are taught. All year around education would allow teachers to plan their lessons in a spacious manner instead of having to cram lessons because the school semester is only 8 months long. It would also allow more time for students to get help learning the subjects. All year around education would help parents because they could keep a solid work schedule and not worry about a 3 month long summer vacation, on the teacher side it would allow the teacher to stay employed all year.
3.) Broader Subject Matter: One of the great things about getting an university education is that I've had the opportunity to learn about different subjects I've never learned before and to learn more about the subjects that I enjoy. An adjustment in the school system could have students not just learning about American history, but also East Asian History, European History etc.. Also allow students to learn about more ideals in Science, Politics, Literature etc.. and in addition allow students to learn more languages such as Chinese, Korean, Russian, German, instead of just having the one option of Spanish.
4.) Bridging the Government with the Private: All government operated education is not working. There has to be a way that allows for the government to help it's citizens afford and get an education, but at the same time allow public schools to be more privatized so the schools can give future students an up to date education.
5.) Grades Are Not The Only Way To Judge: This country is obsessed with grades. It is the only standard on which to judge a student's merit, but grades don't tell the whole story. I've passed classes with an A or B and could care less about the subject matter or have not found it interesting, all I've had to do was just pay attention, do the homework and I would pass. There needs to be a system created to follow student progression. I'm not saying schools should scrap tests, but schools should give tests to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the students not as a system of pass and fail. Understand better a student's strengths and weaknesses would give teachers the tools to help each student move forward without having to worry about statistical grade value.
6.) Allow Creativity: A big problem with public education is that it doesn't teach students to become creative. When learning a subject matter, it just teaches the students facts and this is how to get to point A and B, but by going through the college system, you need to learn how to complete assignments using methods not taught, no one taught me how to write history papers, I was assigned papers to write and I needed to figure out how to write the subject matter and what to write about. This aspect could be used with other subjects to broaden the student's mind to think outside the box.
7.) Give Teachers More Freedom to Teach: Teachers have to follow a strict protocol when teaching a classroom. Teachers have to accomplish XYZ by this date or XYZ by this month. Teachers should be able to use the vast amount of mediums to help their students learn and to teach in ways that students can understand not only one thing about a subject, but many things.
8.) Math and Science Are Not the Only Subjects that Matter: As in my opening statement I mentioned that math and science seems to be a focal point with politics regarding education but a school's criteria should encompass not just math and science, but the liberal arts and language. At the university I took an acting class, I'm not going to become an actor, or am good at acting, but I learned a lot from this class, not only about the art of acting but about having more confidence to do something that is not comfortable, I also learned about how to have fun.
1.) End the System of Forcing Students to go to Schools That Are Only in Their Districts: This systems has never worked and continues not to work, students are getting a poor education because they are forced to go to bad schools because of where they live. Students and parents should have a choice of where they want to go to school, as should the teachers have a choice in which school they want to teach.
2.) All Year Around School: I know future students would hate this, but it needs to be done. Students need more time to learn the vast amount of subjects that are taught. All year around education would allow teachers to plan their lessons in a spacious manner instead of having to cram lessons because the school semester is only 8 months long. It would also allow more time for students to get help learning the subjects. All year around education would help parents because they could keep a solid work schedule and not worry about a 3 month long summer vacation, on the teacher side it would allow the teacher to stay employed all year.
3.) Broader Subject Matter: One of the great things about getting an university education is that I've had the opportunity to learn about different subjects I've never learned before and to learn more about the subjects that I enjoy. An adjustment in the school system could have students not just learning about American history, but also East Asian History, European History etc.. Also allow students to learn about more ideals in Science, Politics, Literature etc.. and in addition allow students to learn more languages such as Chinese, Korean, Russian, German, instead of just having the one option of Spanish.
4.) Bridging the Government with the Private: All government operated education is not working. There has to be a way that allows for the government to help it's citizens afford and get an education, but at the same time allow public schools to be more privatized so the schools can give future students an up to date education.
5.) Grades Are Not The Only Way To Judge: This country is obsessed with grades. It is the only standard on which to judge a student's merit, but grades don't tell the whole story. I've passed classes with an A or B and could care less about the subject matter or have not found it interesting, all I've had to do was just pay attention, do the homework and I would pass. There needs to be a system created to follow student progression. I'm not saying schools should scrap tests, but schools should give tests to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the students not as a system of pass and fail. Understand better a student's strengths and weaknesses would give teachers the tools to help each student move forward without having to worry about statistical grade value.
6.) Allow Creativity: A big problem with public education is that it doesn't teach students to become creative. When learning a subject matter, it just teaches the students facts and this is how to get to point A and B, but by going through the college system, you need to learn how to complete assignments using methods not taught, no one taught me how to write history papers, I was assigned papers to write and I needed to figure out how to write the subject matter and what to write about. This aspect could be used with other subjects to broaden the student's mind to think outside the box.
7.) Give Teachers More Freedom to Teach: Teachers have to follow a strict protocol when teaching a classroom. Teachers have to accomplish XYZ by this date or XYZ by this month. Teachers should be able to use the vast amount of mediums to help their students learn and to teach in ways that students can understand not only one thing about a subject, but many things.
8.) Math and Science Are Not the Only Subjects that Matter: As in my opening statement I mentioned that math and science seems to be a focal point with politics regarding education but a school's criteria should encompass not just math and science, but the liberal arts and language. At the university I took an acting class, I'm not going to become an actor, or am good at acting, but I learned a lot from this class, not only about the art of acting but about having more confidence to do something that is not comfortable, I also learned about how to have fun.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Devin's Blog # 4 Occupy Wallstreet: The Revolution America doesn't need.
As I hear more and more about the occupy Wall Street movement, the more and more I am not in favor of it. I favor that people want to take action against corruption and the overwhelming greed in this country, but these are the reasons I don't favor it.
1. Doesn't have a clear message. After weeks and weeks of protests around the country I still have no idea what the meaning of this occupy Wall Street is. Revolutions and protests succeed when a group of people have similar goals and directions on how they want society to change, but Occupy Wall Street doesn't have any of that. The protesters are not going to change anything just by saying "Wall Street sucks" People need concrete ideas such as "Higher Taxes for the rich, Government reform, No Lobbyists in Washington etc..." Then stick to those ideals. What I fear is that these people will protest then come election time re-elect the same politicians who are doing nothing to help this nation. This is what happens when there are no goals.
2. Meaningless action. Protesting is not always the solution, critical action is needed to make a point, but the Occupy Wall Street people say "We want to keep it peaceful" Well, that doesn't always get your point across. If you are going to Occupy Wall Street then actually occupy Wall Street itself. Why not take the building for the people? What are the police going to do? Arrest hundreds of thousands of people? I saw what failed action did when people protested in Madison Wisconsin against Scott Walker, all that happened is Scott Walker passing horrendous bills. Walker might be recalled, but that didn't stop the damage.
3. Lack of enlightenment. If you look back in history, when revolutions and changes happen, an enlightenment period is usually born, but in the case of Occupy Wall Street, there is no enlightenment. I don't see the people suggesting any ideas on what can be done. Maybe they are all thinking of Lenin's book "What is to be done?" and trying to figure it out, but at least start sprouting out suggestions. Just being liberal minded doesn't cut it, it takes a deep sense of wanting to restart or change society, not just acting like you do.
4. No Clear Enemies. When you oppose something, naturally what you oppose is your nemesis or enemy and in Occupy Wall Street there are no clear enemies. It seems to me that people are blaming just Wall Street, but that is too broad. The protest need to start blaming certain persons who are causing this problem, whether it be a politician or a CEO.
1. Doesn't have a clear message. After weeks and weeks of protests around the country I still have no idea what the meaning of this occupy Wall Street is. Revolutions and protests succeed when a group of people have similar goals and directions on how they want society to change, but Occupy Wall Street doesn't have any of that. The protesters are not going to change anything just by saying "Wall Street sucks" People need concrete ideas such as "Higher Taxes for the rich, Government reform, No Lobbyists in Washington etc..." Then stick to those ideals. What I fear is that these people will protest then come election time re-elect the same politicians who are doing nothing to help this nation. This is what happens when there are no goals.
2. Meaningless action. Protesting is not always the solution, critical action is needed to make a point, but the Occupy Wall Street people say "We want to keep it peaceful" Well, that doesn't always get your point across. If you are going to Occupy Wall Street then actually occupy Wall Street itself. Why not take the building for the people? What are the police going to do? Arrest hundreds of thousands of people? I saw what failed action did when people protested in Madison Wisconsin against Scott Walker, all that happened is Scott Walker passing horrendous bills. Walker might be recalled, but that didn't stop the damage.
3. Lack of enlightenment. If you look back in history, when revolutions and changes happen, an enlightenment period is usually born, but in the case of Occupy Wall Street, there is no enlightenment. I don't see the people suggesting any ideas on what can be done. Maybe they are all thinking of Lenin's book "What is to be done?" and trying to figure it out, but at least start sprouting out suggestions. Just being liberal minded doesn't cut it, it takes a deep sense of wanting to restart or change society, not just acting like you do.
4. No Clear Enemies. When you oppose something, naturally what you oppose is your nemesis or enemy and in Occupy Wall Street there are no clear enemies. It seems to me that people are blaming just Wall Street, but that is too broad. The protest need to start blaming certain persons who are causing this problem, whether it be a politician or a CEO.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Devin's Blog # 3 Republican debates are pointless
As I check the news from time to time, you come across all kinds of interesting stories, like Iran possibly hiring the Mexican Cartel to kill a Saudi diplomat, come on Iran, first of all you are taking away ideas for the last season of Breaking Bad, secondly I guess the USA and Iran has something in common: hiring Mexican labor to do the jobs that Americans and Iranians don't want to do. Time will tell if all the information is correct, but now on to these wonderful Republican debates. Personally I don't watch them, but honestly do you need to? What new ideas have the Republicans created? Yes lets hear how we can enact failed Reagan policies like the "Trickle Down Effect" and continuous tax breaks for the rich. Yes lets make America into a theocracy and continue capital punishment, but in a funny way the Republicans have spoken with the help of candidate Herman Cain. Not only is he the only black republican candidate (hey you have to have the token black guy if you are republican) and has a name you could put as the main character in an action block buster, but has said what should be on every republican slogan "If you are poor it is your fault". Ah how refreshing to hear those words because it has been the truth all along for the republicans, yet oddly the democrats haven't done anything to oppose that notion. It's funny because Hank Williams Jr. gets fired from Monday Night Football because he said "Obama is Hitler", but no one is censoring this guy? Funny the priorities in America, blame the redneck singer for his views, but don't blame the politician for his 6th century view points.
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