The Gun Debate...

With gun control such a huge topic right now, I think it’s time for me to give my opinion on the whole ordeal and here it is…  Maybe it’s me but there needs be more restrictions and laws put in place to govern privately owned firearms.  My guess is that will be too broad for both the gun nuts and conservatives that want all privately owned guns taken away.

The gun nuts will try to tell me there are already too many laws in place and I’m trying to take away their rights due to the 2^nd Amendment.  First of all the 2^nd Amendment is a bill that was created in 1791 that gives people a right to keep and bear arms.  Let me stay that again, the bill was created in 1791 when none of those Founding Fathers could even fathom a semi-automatic or fully automatic assault rifle capable of killing 100’s of people in minutes.  Guns in 1791 were single shot weapons that couldn’t be reloaded within a couple of minutes.  They were loaded through the muzzle and by means of fire through a flintlock.  So basically, it was just as dangerous loading the damn thing as it was firing it at someone.  Revolvers wouldn’t be invented until 1835, use smokeless powder until 1885 or load bullets from a clip until 1890.  Shit, the first automatic rifle wasn’t even made until 1887.  Do you see the problem here?  These ancient “arms” weren’t capable of doing the damage they can do now.  If someone fired a 1791 musket in a mall, he would be tackled or put down before he could even load the thing a second time.

Let’s also look at why that Amendment was even put in there in the first place.  Well the country was brand fucking new and only extended as far as Ohio.  Which means there was a danger from Indians, other countries invading our young asses and wild animals breathing down our necks.  With an advanced military, police and other means of protection, I don’t think you have to worry about a Native American sneaking on your property to scalp your ass.

The nuts that want to stand behind the 2^nd Amendment just aren’t being realistic.  Also, the Amendment doesn’t say that laws can’t be put in place to regulate “arms”. In fact, I think if you could go back in time and ask any of these Founding Fathers, they’d be all for restricting who gets “arms” and how they should be regulated.  Especially if you could show them how destructive they become.  For those that want to take them away entirely, that’s not fair as well.  Not only is their protection for that in the Constitution but I think people should have a right to protect themselves or own anything they damn well please.  Most of the gun owners in the country are actually pretty responsible and if you look at the recent tragedies, pretty much everyone had the person stealing the guns or obtaining them unlawfully.

Maybe it’s me, but here’s a sample of things I would do given the power to help with gun control.  First, broader background checks that include everyone in the household where a gun will be located.  If anyone in the household was criminally convicted, was/is mentally unstable or has any other socialogical problems, then the HOUSEHOLD can not have a gun.  I don’t care if Mother Teresa is the one applying.  If she’s living with a convicted criminal with a mentally bi-polar son in the house, no deal!  Second, take all fully automatic guns off the market for private citizens.  I’m sorry, but I don’t see the need for fully automatic rifles in the public.  Its fine for law enforcement and military but you shouldn’t need a fully automatic assault rifle to go hunting with your buddies or to defend yourself against an intruder.  Third, make those that abuse ANY and all gun laws subject to strict penalties.  Mandatory 5 years in jail for even the smallest gun infraction.  Maybe that’s too extreme but if the laws that abuse guns are strict more people will obey them.

Lastly, I would like to see mandatory training programs set up with skilled military and law enforcement groups teaching them before you can obtain a firearm.  I think passing a test and background check are not enough.  Setting up groups that teach the importance of safety, the importance of the laws and the proper techniques for owning and using a firearm would prevent accidents and hopefully tragedies in the future.

Maybe it’s me, but it’s time to smarten up and for both sides to start thinking logically about this situation…

Teacher Loses Job Due to Porn Past

Have you read the story of a California middle school teacher that was fired from her job because she appeared in pornographic movies before she started teaching?  A California judge recently ruled that the teacher can NOT get her job back because she was in porn because it will impede her from being an effective and respected teacher/colleague.  Here’s a link to the judge’s ruling and more on the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/judges-calif-middle-school-teacher-cant-shake-porn-094317714.html

As I researched the story more, it seems that the teacher was only in porn for about eight months and it was before she was employed by the school.  It was due to financial reasons after she separated from her boyfriend.  It also seems that she hid or lied about being in porn because she was embarrassed and humiliated and in all honesty who wouldn’t be.  I can see why you wouldn’t offer up this information and then try and hide or deny it when it does become public.  I’m sure this was an awful part of this young woman’s life that she probably regrets every moment of her life.

Maybe it’s me but if this woman is qualified to be a teacher why shouldn’t she be allowed to teach?  She didn’t do anything illegal, starring in pornographic videos is not against the law and while some may object to it, a woman (or man) can do whatever they want to do with their body within the law.  The judge’s decision stated that the teachers decision to “engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students.” Everyday you hear about infidelity of our leaders, hell, even the former President of the United States (Bill Clinton) cheated on his wife with a young intern while in office.  Now look at him, he’s one of the most popular former Presidents and he is a sought after public speaker.  I’m sure a lot of people look to him as a role model.  There are countless others in politics, sports and other areas of life.

While she may not be everyone’s ideal role model, you could make the argument that she should be looked up to as a role model.  This woman was down financially and unfortunately had to do some terrible things I’m sure she regrets but then she got herself out of that situation and now is working as a teacher.  I’m sure it was hard road to do what she did and her story must be amazing.  Maybe her story could help young woman not make the same mistakes she made and her life experiences could be a very valuable life lesson to these woman to not only stay in school but not rely on a man to support them.

I also wonder how many of our teachers have checkered pasts but because they aren’t plastered over the internet they are allowed to keep teaching.  How many teachers did questionable things in college?  Maybe they were a part of a fraternity or sonority that hazed other people, or maybe they drank obscenely in college, perhaps they even slept around a little.  I wonder how many regret what actions they may have done when they were younger or in college.  Yet, they are the ones that get to decide the fate of this poor young woman.  Maybe it’s me but if this teacher is qualified for her job, she should be able to teach. 

Maybe, just maybe, we should try and keep minors off these porn internet sites that you have to be 18 to access.  Where are the parents or other teachers that are allowing their children to look at these sites and actually condoned trying to find her old videos?  The article makes it look like teachers and students were actively trying to find her videos, even making it seem like they tried at school.  Where is the punishment for their acts?

What do you think of this story?

Fundraising Campaigns At Work!!!

You know what I really hate?  I hate when my company hassles me and wastes my time in their damn money raising campaigns every year.  EVERY year I’ve been working for this company, which dreadfully just passed 10 years, I’m hit with the

United Way

campaign AND the Let’s Go Arts campaign.  I don’t really have anything against both charities, well I shouldn’t say that because I strongly dislike the Let’s Go Arts program, but the way my company tries to extort money out of me is frustrating to no degree.

Not only do I get 2 to 3 e-mails daily about these fundraisers but I also get print-outs, posters, “contests”, and sometimes other methods of mayhem I can’t even fathom to explain.  For instance, one year we had a “silent auction”, and I put that in quotes because basically we had a tag sale with crap people didn’t want anymore and instead of throwing it away brought it into work and decided to try and peddle it off on us.  Sorry co-worker, I don’t want your used Foreman Grill or baby clothes from your demon offspring that I have to hear about everyday.

I wonder how much it costs for these fundraisers.  We always hear we raised this much money but did they take out what they actually spent?  How much paper did you use to print out those materials?  How much time did you waste writing up those terrible e-mails or meeting with the committee to come up with those awful ideas and “contests”.  I doubt it but I’m sure our shareholders are happy that we’re wasting company time to try and raise $400 bucks for the

United Way

.  (By the way, I’m fully aware that using company time for the blog is probably not what the shareholders want me doing.  Stop pointing that out d-bag.)

How about the Let’s Go Arts campaign?  Not only do I hate being bothered and hassled about participating but could we pick a sadder campaign?  It’s for the Greater Hartford Arts programs.  I’m sorry but unless it’s going to the artists that graffiti the terrible city of Hartford, CT I don’t really care about the Greater Hartford Arts community.  In fact, instead how about we just take the money we raised for the “arts” and give it to the city to help take down old abandoned buildings or clean up the once historic North Side of the city.  Nope, instead let’s give it to the Arts and not be able to walk in a once great part of the city.

Sorry, I got off track there, back to these horrible campaigns I’m bludgeoned with every year.  It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even read the e-mails or print outs, nope, I just hit the delete button and file the print outs in the recycle bin.  As for the “contests” and other great ideas they come up with, I do my best to be “busy” on a fake phone call or avoid the “temptations” of the cookie sale in the lunchroom.  I don’t want to buy a home-made cookie from my co-worker who I know most likely doesn’t wash their hands in the rest room and smells like they bathed in perfume because they got up late and couldn’t take a shower for $1.  Seriously, one cookie for $1?  I can get a whole box of Entenmanns’s or Chip’s Ahoy for that amount.

Maybe it’s me, but if you want my money for your fundraising campaign, stop hitting me over the head with it and stop with the unnecessary and very unwanted bullshit.  Just tell me what we’re doing and if I decide to drop some change your way, good, if not I don’t want you at my desk asking me about it.  I’m all for giving to charities but I’ll be damned if I ever do it at work again.

It's Valentine's Day so Make Sure you Love Someone or At Least Buy Them Something!

Ah, the good ole Valentine's Day is upon us again and you know what that means, it's time for my annual rant on how pointless Valentine's Day is.  I still don't get it and luckily I have a great wife who thinks mostly the same way I do.  We don't buy each other gifts, in fact this year I even got her to agree to a no cards rule.  I just simply explained that after I opened the card, I would hold onto it until Saturday then throw it in the garbage.  We're not in high school anymore, we don't have a shoe box full of love notes and cards we're saving to look at with our friends.  So no gifts, no cards just do what we normally do, which by the way is hang out and enjoy each other's company.

I just don't see the whole point of buying gifts, going out to a special dinner and cards.  I can do all those things any day of the year so why MUST I do it on February 14th?  Maybe it's because we have a kid now and getting a sitter is a pain in the ass during the week or maybe it's because we've been married for over 7 years and have spent so many romantic nights that doing it when we're "supposed" to feels awkward.  We go out to dinner all the time, have nights out by ourselves, I don't know, it's just crazy to me because we have this crazy date on the calendar I'm supposed to love my wife more today.

Hey guys, how about you love your wife/girlfriend/friend/family (whatever) EVERY day and not just go overboard on Valentine's Day?  Maybe it's me but I'm sick of this commerical made-up holiday.  I say it every year and I'm going to continue to say it.  I guess it's good for the economy and shit but it's sickening the amount of people that look at this day like it's a magical day and they should be loved more than usual.  Get over it.  Do what I do, boycott it.  Spend the night in with that special someone, cook a nice meal and enjoy a peaceful night of romance (by the way, you can do that every other night of the year as well).

Clapping After a Movie

One of my biggest pet peeves happened again yesterday.  The dreaded clapping at the end of a movie!  I don't fully understand what the clappers get out of the practice.  Do they understand that no one that made the movie is in attendance?  Do they think that I or my other fellow movie patrons actually care that they liked the movie enough to warrant an applause?  I've seen this so many times, it's pretty hard to count, actually I'm willing to bet that at about 90% of my movie theater experiences there has been clapping after the movie.  Well, maybe not, I've seen some real bombs at the movies but I'd say that 75-80% of the movies I see, some idiot or most likely idiots clap after the final scene.

I just don't get it.  Who are they clapping for?  The actors, director and producers aren't there.  The theater ushers waiting to clean up the eight dollar popcorn you barely finished don't give two shits about what you thought about the movie.  Believe me, I could care less!  It's not like if I was on the fence if the movie was good or not, I'm going to be swayed by your clapping.

Maybe it's me but it's time to stop clapping at the end of a movie.  Let's save the clapping for live events (sports, Broadway, etc.) and just file out of the theater and get on with our lives.

Perhaps I should start a new trend...Every time I hear clapping at the end of a movie I'm going to BOO loudly.  Even if I enjoyed the movie.  That way I could really piss off these people.  I'm sure that will spark some debate and best of all....FIGHTS!

Cocaine - It's one hell of a......song???

As I was listening to a local radio show last evening, Eric Clapton’s classic song “Cocaine” came on.  While I love the song, I thought to myself, why in the world would they play this song on the radio?  More than half the song will be blanked out.  Well you can imagine my confusion when the whole song played and they didn’t edit one word.  Not one!  Imagine if my seven year old son had been in the car.  I would’ve surely been asked, “Daddy, what is cocaine?”  Which would have been a very interesting talk at such a young age but I guess it’s never too early.

It got me thinking about other songs and other stations that play music and block out drug and sexual references.  For instance, the two local Hip Hop and R&B stations block out all marijuana, ecstasy and sexual references all the time. Sometimes a song comes on and more than half of the song is blanked out, it’s basically just one long instrumental.

Aren’t all radio stations following the same regulations?  I’m confused.  I’d hate to bring race into it but is it a black and white thing?  It can’t be that the Eric Clapton song is portraying cocaine as being bad because the song glorifies it the same as most rap/r&b songs.  The only thing I can think of is that it’s from a different era and therefore it’s a “classic” and can be played as an oldie.  Either way it’s on the radio waves for children to hear and I’d like to see similar radio sanctions across the board.

Truthfully, I’d like to see less or no restrictions but that’s the United States and we’ll have to deal with it.  My problem is if you’re going to edit weed and sex, then you better mute Eric Clapton declaring his love for cocaine.

Maybe it’s me but the radio stations clearly want you to do cocaine and not smoke weed while having sex with a bad a*$ bi$#h.  Sorry for the censorship, this must be a hip hop / r&b station.

Your thoughts?

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Have you seen the news today about an author and special ed teacher that claims Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer promotes bullying?  Here’s an article that discusses the claims made by this “professor”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-bullying-fox_n_1129731.html

I’ve been watching this Christmas Special for my entire existence.  Every Christmas for the past 30 years I have watched this movie at the very least once a year, now that I have a child, probably closer to two times a year.  Not once have I every thought, wow, Comet and Santa are really giving it to Rudolph.  Not once have I ever said shame on you Comet for bullying poor old Rudolph and damn you Santa for not reprimanding him.

I’ve realized that the Comet and the other reindeers were making fun of Rudolph because he was different but they weren’t bullying.  No one punched Rudolph in the gut and said he wanted his lunch money.  No one flushed his head down a toilet.  Not once did I say to myself, holy shit Comet is setting a bad example for my child by picking on Rudolph.

You know why I never thought of those things?  It’s because the whole story is about Rudolph over coming the mocking and ridiculing to become “the greatest reindeer of all.”  I guess I always so it as an underdog story and how despite not looking the same, he overcame that and became the hero. To take out the other reindeers picking on Rudolph and not accepting him would be to RUIN the story of the underdog against all odds.

Lastly, I think we are going a little too crazy with the whole censorship of children materials.  Kids aren’t as gullible or stupid as the media claims them to be.  My child isn’t going to go to school and become a bully because he wants to be like Comet from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  What’s next editing out Charlie Brown’s Christmas so they don’t mock Charlie Brown at the end saying his tree is stupid?  Really, this author/professor has a problem with Rudolph?  God help us if he re-watches Charlie Brown Christmas.  I just watched that two nights ago and the children mock, ridicule and call Charlie Brown names pretty much the duration of the special.

Maybe it’s me but we need to leave Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer alone.  Keep it as the underdog story that it is.  We need to stop pretending our children are so stupid that a Christmas special from 1964 is influencing them into a world of bullying.  Our kids are listening to the story of how it’s ok to be different and rooting for Rudolph, not sad because Comet is mean to him.