Now normally, I do not post political ramblings. There is enough of that on Facebook to make me want to rip the remaining hairs out of my head. However, an event happened that made me change my mind (at least this week).
On June 14th, 2017, a gunman opened fire on several Republican members of Congress as they were practicing for a charity baseball game against Democrats. 4 people (5 counting the gunman) were shot during the practice. 2 people were listed in critical condition, 2 people were treated and released, and the gunman was killed.
The gunman was a contractor who had his business shut down because he caused more damage to the properties he was supposed to be inspecting. He had been living out of his van in the Alexandria, VA, area for months before he opened fire that fateful day.
He had a bitter dislike towards the Republicans.
Now, the tough part of this. I am not looking to get into a political debate because people like what they like, and they believe what they believe. I'm not looking to try to "prove anyone wrong" because ultimately it is a waste of time, and a cause of lost friendships for no reason, whatsoever.
But one thing CAN be agreed on. Violence is not the answer. If you believe that violence is going to solve the problems in Washington, than maybe YOU need to be investigated, just in case, you plan on committing acts like this yourself.
Mr. Hodgkinson had a list of Congressmen he wanted to target. His motive was unclear at this moment. If he wanted to get the "old-timers" out of Congress, he didn't succeed. If he did it as a Democratic loyalist, he failed that too, because all he did there was make Democrats look worse.
The thing that needs to be remembered is that he acted on his own accord. He didn't meet with a bunch of Democrats and plan an assassination. This was a mentally disturbed individual who committed these crimes. And Democrats and Republicans participated in unity afterwards. The shooter didn't accomplish anything.
For people who want to get the old-timers out of Congress, you have that power. It is called elections. While people do not vote for the President directly, they DO vote for the members of Congress at every election. If you want a change in Congress, then vote for that change. Otherwise, you are just the minority. Killing people is not the answer.
And IF you are one of the sad, pathetic people who believes that murdering senior members of Congress is the answer, then newsflash. It isn't. The repercussions are far worse than what you think. Because senior members of Congress were attacked, there will now be more motivation for gun control legislation. This now hits home for Congress. They are going to be more determined than ever. And in the end, Congress isn't really more unified. A lot of those Congressmen have been there a while, and are good friends, despite their disagreements. People need to practice the same level of friendship. That while we may differ on things, politically, we can still be friends, and we can still get along.
Any one who believes that someone needs to die because of their beliefs is part of the problem in this country right now. If questioned about my political beliefs, I will share them. You can tell me yours, and I'll respect yours, even if I don't agree. That is part of what makes freedom so great. But believing that violence is the answer is what is going to tear this country apart. VIOLENCE NEEDS TO END!!! That is one thing that NEEDS to be agreed on. Republicans and Democrats alike don't want violence. So, knock it off. Act your age. People are acting like babies throwing temper tantrums, and using weapons instead of words.
Post your opinions. What do you think? Do you think violence needs to end? Will you be part of the solution? Share this post if you agree. Spread the word. Love your neighbor, even if you don't agree with him/her. You don't have to agree, but you have the freedom not to. Do not eliminate your freedom by trying to eliminate someone else's.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Saturday, June 10, 2017
2 Type rite is Gud
One of the biggest pet peeves I've encountered is bad typing. This is something that annoys me to no end. This is more than just a trend that shows up in countless comment sections of social media posts. This shows up everywhere.
The biggest issue is, it is deliberate. I can mind the minor accidental misspelling or the occasionally missed punctuation marks. However, this is becoming a permanent fixture.
But why is it being done?
Typically, when I read a post that is full of misspellings, missed punctuation, and nonsensical words, I find myself questioning the integrity of the person posting. Memes have become a staple of sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. They annoy me as well, but I have to accept them.
Twitter is kind of an exception on this, and may earn a free pass for bad spelling. When you are given a character limit, you have to try to make every character count. So, using "u" for "you" or "4" instead of "for" tends to be more acceptable. However, on a site like Facebook, where there isn't a character limit, it is kind of annoying.
Half of the time, I have to translate this shorthand typing into something that I can process as intelligible thought. Even then, the lack of proper grammar makes me question whether their thoughts can be considered "intelligible thought."
Employers do use Facebook and other social media sites to learn more about potential employees. Employers want to learn more about who they have working for them. If the person gives this great resume to their employer, and them employer canvasses their Facebook, they might find details that might make them second guess hiring that person.
We are now in the technological age. One of the things that happens less and less is hand-written notes. It is much easier to type and edit your thoughts through a keyboard then it is to grab a paper and pencil and actually just write out your note. I tend to type faster than I write, so I would agree with this wholeheartedly. However, I tend to try to type things out grammatically correct, and try to use proper punctuation. As I write less than I used to, the only way to really tell people about me, is to type it out. Doing so in an intelligible manner becomes more important for me.
The worst offenders of this are memes themselves. Memes can become very popular and widespread in a short amount of time. Memes that have improper grammar and horrible spelling send a message to other people encouraging the use of broken language. Eventually things like spelling and grammar will become obsolete in the next generation. This is a problem especially when communication is so important. It is important for the recipient to understand and fully comprehend the context of the message the sender is trying to convey. Memes turn this problem into a widespread epidemic that must be cured.
So, for the sake of the future of communication, please try to type intelligently. Show the world just how smart you are. Show the world the knowledge that you possess.
What are your thoughts? Where do you think the future of communication is headed? Do you think that broken language will eventually translate to broken speech too? Let me know in the comments [in an intelligent manner]. :)
The biggest issue is, it is deliberate. I can mind the minor accidental misspelling or the occasionally missed punctuation marks. However, this is becoming a permanent fixture.
But why is it being done?
Typically, when I read a post that is full of misspellings, missed punctuation, and nonsensical words, I find myself questioning the integrity of the person posting. Memes have become a staple of sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. They annoy me as well, but I have to accept them.
Twitter is kind of an exception on this, and may earn a free pass for bad spelling. When you are given a character limit, you have to try to make every character count. So, using "u" for "you" or "4" instead of "for" tends to be more acceptable. However, on a site like Facebook, where there isn't a character limit, it is kind of annoying.
Half of the time, I have to translate this shorthand typing into something that I can process as intelligible thought. Even then, the lack of proper grammar makes me question whether their thoughts can be considered "intelligible thought."
Employers do use Facebook and other social media sites to learn more about potential employees. Employers want to learn more about who they have working for them. If the person gives this great resume to their employer, and them employer canvasses their Facebook, they might find details that might make them second guess hiring that person.
We are now in the technological age. One of the things that happens less and less is hand-written notes. It is much easier to type and edit your thoughts through a keyboard then it is to grab a paper and pencil and actually just write out your note. I tend to type faster than I write, so I would agree with this wholeheartedly. However, I tend to try to type things out grammatically correct, and try to use proper punctuation. As I write less than I used to, the only way to really tell people about me, is to type it out. Doing so in an intelligible manner becomes more important for me.
The worst offenders of this are memes themselves. Memes can become very popular and widespread in a short amount of time. Memes that have improper grammar and horrible spelling send a message to other people encouraging the use of broken language. Eventually things like spelling and grammar will become obsolete in the next generation. This is a problem especially when communication is so important. It is important for the recipient to understand and fully comprehend the context of the message the sender is trying to convey. Memes turn this problem into a widespread epidemic that must be cured.
So, for the sake of the future of communication, please try to type intelligently. Show the world just how smart you are. Show the world the knowledge that you possess.
What are your thoughts? Where do you think the future of communication is headed? Do you think that broken language will eventually translate to broken speech too? Let me know in the comments [in an intelligent manner]. :)
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Off With His Head!!!
Kathy, Kathy, Kathy...
What did you do wrong???
Yes, for the most part, we have all heard about this disembodied head that Kathy Griffin took to a photoshoot. And what a mess it made. This picture cost her sponsorships, her job at CNN doing New Year's Eve hosting, and respect from a lot of former fans.
People said that the head was gross, gory, and offensive.
I agree with people's sentiments. It was gross, gory, and offensive. But people shouldn't be getting so worked up about it. Kathy Griffin is a comedian. Jokes can be in poor taste, and while people may be offended by the joke, it is still just a joke.
There are a lot of comedians who tell jokes that can be perceived in poor taste, but it doesn't hurt the career of the comedian. In fact, a lot of the raunchier, more offensive comedians actually make the bulk of their career earnings, by being offensive.
Now, did she go too far? To be honest, yes she did.
But we are living in a society where sneezing the wrong way will get you bitched at by someone. Everything is offensive. President Trump was picked to be president, mainly because he promised to not be PC. He wanted to push the limits and get away from the PC world we were getting into. Now, everyone gets offended by everything, and it is disgusting in a way.
Perhaps, Kathy Griffin was doing the same thing? She was "pushing the envelope" and seeing what she could get away with. She did go too far. But nowadays, it doesn't take much to go too far.
"South Park" had an episode called "Cartoon Wars" where Cartman hated the show "Family Guy." He hated it so much, that he actually went to sabotage the show by putting something into the script that would make the show so offensive, that an episode of the show would be banned. His logic was this, "As soon as a show has to pull an episode from the air, it starts a domino effect that causes the show to have to pull more and more episodes until the show is inevitably canceled." It is actually pretty sound logic.
This logic applies to comedians as well. If a comedian has to apologize for going too far, that could be the end of the line for that comedian's career. Let's look back to Michael Richards. He went to far and yelled racist remarks at a heckler at a comedy club. His career was OVER. He had to issue a public apology, and his career came to a screeching halt.
The same thing could happen as a result of this. Comedians shouldn't be required to apologize. Any time a comedian puts themselves into a situation where they HAVE to apologize, it tends to end badly. Kathy Griffin put herself into a situation where she felt she should have had to apologize.
But wasn't the point to be "unapologetic." What comedy needs right now are comedians willing to "push the boundaries" and to not be PC. Her photoshoot was a reflection of who she is: cynical, deliberate, and unabashed. In fact, I kind of liked the photoshoot picture because it was honest with how she felt. It was purposeful.
And yes, CNN had a right to pull her job. Her sponsors had a right to drop her from their company. Freedom of speech does not grant you freedom of employment. The companies had a right to drop her for her expressing her point of view. But that isn't anything new either.
But, in my opinion, she went wrong when she apologized. She shouldn't have been ashamed by the picture. She perfectly stated her point of view with that picture. It was everything it needed to be for her. I applauded that, despite the trouble it would have caused her. But as a comedian, she shouldn't have apologized for it. She should have stood behind the image. It stated what she wanted to stay, and apologizing for that makes her weaker for it. No longer will she seem to be the same deliberate comedian that took the picture.
What are your view points on this? Do you think she was right to apologize? Do you think our country is becoming to PC? Were you offended by the picture? Give me your point of view!!! Thanks for reading.
What did you do wrong???
Yes, for the most part, we have all heard about this disembodied head that Kathy Griffin took to a photoshoot. And what a mess it made. This picture cost her sponsorships, her job at CNN doing New Year's Eve hosting, and respect from a lot of former fans.
People said that the head was gross, gory, and offensive.
I agree with people's sentiments. It was gross, gory, and offensive. But people shouldn't be getting so worked up about it. Kathy Griffin is a comedian. Jokes can be in poor taste, and while people may be offended by the joke, it is still just a joke.
There are a lot of comedians who tell jokes that can be perceived in poor taste, but it doesn't hurt the career of the comedian. In fact, a lot of the raunchier, more offensive comedians actually make the bulk of their career earnings, by being offensive.
Now, did she go too far? To be honest, yes she did.
But we are living in a society where sneezing the wrong way will get you bitched at by someone. Everything is offensive. President Trump was picked to be president, mainly because he promised to not be PC. He wanted to push the limits and get away from the PC world we were getting into. Now, everyone gets offended by everything, and it is disgusting in a way.
Perhaps, Kathy Griffin was doing the same thing? She was "pushing the envelope" and seeing what she could get away with. She did go too far. But nowadays, it doesn't take much to go too far.
"South Park" had an episode called "Cartoon Wars" where Cartman hated the show "Family Guy." He hated it so much, that he actually went to sabotage the show by putting something into the script that would make the show so offensive, that an episode of the show would be banned. His logic was this, "As soon as a show has to pull an episode from the air, it starts a domino effect that causes the show to have to pull more and more episodes until the show is inevitably canceled." It is actually pretty sound logic.
This logic applies to comedians as well. If a comedian has to apologize for going too far, that could be the end of the line for that comedian's career. Let's look back to Michael Richards. He went to far and yelled racist remarks at a heckler at a comedy club. His career was OVER. He had to issue a public apology, and his career came to a screeching halt.
The same thing could happen as a result of this. Comedians shouldn't be required to apologize. Any time a comedian puts themselves into a situation where they HAVE to apologize, it tends to end badly. Kathy Griffin put herself into a situation where she felt she should have had to apologize.
But wasn't the point to be "unapologetic." What comedy needs right now are comedians willing to "push the boundaries" and to not be PC. Her photoshoot was a reflection of who she is: cynical, deliberate, and unabashed. In fact, I kind of liked the photoshoot picture because it was honest with how she felt. It was purposeful.
And yes, CNN had a right to pull her job. Her sponsors had a right to drop her from their company. Freedom of speech does not grant you freedom of employment. The companies had a right to drop her for her expressing her point of view. But that isn't anything new either.
But, in my opinion, she went wrong when she apologized. She shouldn't have been ashamed by the picture. She perfectly stated her point of view with that picture. It was everything it needed to be for her. I applauded that, despite the trouble it would have caused her. But as a comedian, she shouldn't have apologized for it. She should have stood behind the image. It stated what she wanted to stay, and apologizing for that makes her weaker for it. No longer will she seem to be the same deliberate comedian that took the picture.
What are your view points on this? Do you think she was right to apologize? Do you think our country is becoming to PC? Were you offended by the picture? Give me your point of view!!! Thanks for reading.
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