Here We Go Again

Dear government agent who has to read this,

You're the only one who reads these (unless Google counts my view when it's been posted, which would be stupid, but whatever). I bet you have a bunch of other people you have to go through too, can't have just one agent for every person in the U.S. Unless we're talking outsourcing.... but that's a different matter entirely.

We have had another mass shooting, as you are no doubt aware. It's impossible to enjoy a scroll through Facebook without some form of vitriol from one side or the other. I'm not eloquent enough to actually argue my case in a comment section. This has lead me to say "screw the first amendment" and give up entirely on expressing my views. I can think whatever the hell I want if I don't say a damn thing.

However, what is the point of ideas if you can't express them? It's a big reason why this only gets updated when things like this happen. Both sides are hyper-focused on one side of the issue and fighting over what was the actual cause of this shooting.

The answer? Multiple things you idiots. There's glaring holes in logic on both sides, and they are both so blinded by their zealotry that they can't see it for themselves. So blinded are they that they have the right answer, despite those on the left saying they have open minds. They don't, they just use people's pointing out of their holes as invitations to bash gun by-backs and removing guns from the households of responsible gun owners.

Does gun control need to happen? Obviously, we can't keep going the way that we are going. Something needs to be done. However, there is a difference in supporting reasonable gun control, which would allow responsible gun owners to keep their guns, and straight repealing the 2nd Amendment. That's never going to happen, because that would need a new Amendment (27th I believe) to repeal that.

There's an argument being used by the left listing things that were the norm in 1791 (Bill of Rights ratified) and how things are different now. The issue with this is that it blurs the line between what is venerable and what is outdated. They do not see how that could be used to apply to all of the Bill of Rights, just because they are so focused on fucking over the second. We have never outlawed the use of the N-word in any of its forms, it's just become stigma to use them. There are no banned words, because they are protected under the first amendment. Guns are different from words, but if the core of some stupid meme is enough to validate comparing the NFL to slavery, then fuck it.

On the right I've seen a meme saying that they won't listen to anything about gun control from people alright with killing babies (abortion). That's just hypocritical to the extreme. It strengthens the argument on the left that the right loves guns more than children. I also just saw an argument that more people died from the plane crashes on 9/11 than killed by guns. That just made the poster sound amazingly ignorant. Though as I think about it I don't think that person has ever flown on a plane, and is in for a rude awakening when he does for the first time as an adult.

This is probably the last post I'm putting here for a long time. I'm tired of everyone just thinking that it's one thing or another. It's access to guns, toxic masculinity, and our culture in general. Gun control alone isn't going to do what needs doing, but neither is putting our heads in the sand.

 A guy I knew once explained the difference between the mindset of a gamer, and the mindset of a jock. If you tell a gamer that they can't do something, they know that that something isn't possible; the rules of the game won't allow it. They accept it and move on to things that they can do. Tell a jock that, and they will fight to find a way to do it anyway. America is a jock, we tell our people they can't do something, and they say "fuck it, I'm gonna do that". It's a part of society that both sides are capitalizing on, so they aren't going to see it that way.

A final word to the right: Get your priorities in order. Just seriously, sort that shit out.

A final word to the left: There's a method/principle used in behavioral modification that states that if you want someone to do something they are not inclined to do, get them to do something small first. It doesn't have to be related to the thing that you truly want them to do, but that does work better. An example is if you want a child to clean their room, but the child doesn't want to, ask them to pick up just one thing (i.e. favorite toy) and put it in a specific place. Then ask them to do something slightly larger (in this example put just the toys away in a room that needs to be more than just picked up). Then ask them to do the thing that you want them to do. You could also break down the larger task (i.e. SENSIBLE gun control) into constituent parts that BOTH sides can agree to, and at the end you have SENSIBLE gun control. Once people start saying yes, it's harder to start saying no. Try that instead of just bashing things over people's heads.

A final word (I know, hypocrisy) to both: However you do it, do it quick. The way things are going, America is going to burn to the ground. We will not burn in a vacuum however. If we go down, the whole world goes with us. We'll be living in Fallout or something worse if we keep going the way we are going.

Guns, Terrorism, and Why I Hate Both Sides

THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM SAYING THAT THE VEGAS SHOOTING WAS A GOOD THING, NOT AN ACT OF TERRORISM, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN BE CONSTRUED AS IT NOT BEING THE TRAGEDY THAT IT IS.


This IS however, a vent/rant about how both sides are using the Vegas shooting to their own petty ends and only making things worse for the nation TOGETHER. Alright, let's get started.

To anyone reading this, yes, you random NSA worker who has nothing else to do but check inconsequential Blogger posts, you should know that I'm not putting this somewhere like Facebook, because I am friends with people on both sides. I like these people as people, even when I don't agree with their opinions. However, this means that posting these thoughts on Facebook would result in a mini-WWIII on my post. I won't have that. So it's here, for you poor NSA worker who has to read this to make sure I'm not some terrorist threat. You're welcome.

That out of the way, let's really start. I've been seeing a lot of stuff on Facebook about the Vegas shooter. A lot of it from the Liberal side is pointing out that he's an older white man who had something like 42 guns, and that that makes him a terrorist. He is, and 42 guns is a lot of guns for one man to own, I'll admit both of those points. However, they are putting it in a way that makes it seem like anyone who is an older, white man with a gun collection is a potential terrorist. This is in stark contrast to how they want us to view Muslims, Blacks, and other minority groups.

Newsflash Liberals: if you want people to not generalize people, DON'T FUCKING GENERALIZE PEOPLE. There are bad people of every damn stripe out there, and there are just as many, if not more, good people in those EXACT same stripes. YOU INVALIDATE YOUR ARGUMENT BY DOING THIS!

It's times like this where you actually see the humanitarian concern for people from the Conservative side of things. Sure, the way that they are saying it is by asking for prayers, but it's not just Christians who pray. Jews pray, Muslims pray several times a day, people of all religions pray. Though when not asking for prayers, or pointing out that there were POLICE doing their jobs of protecting people (Yes, Liberals, not ALL cops are power-tripping douche bags), they are freaking out over the whole kneeling during the Anthem thing.

Get the fuck over that people, respect is shown in different ways. There are many reasons why kneeling could be seen as MORE respectful than the hand-over-heart salute that we were taught in school. Sure, it's not the standard, but don't you kneel before images of God? The flag is a representation of our nation, just as a statue of Jesus is a representation of God.

One of the biggest reasons that I am writing this post today is because I saw a post saying that we should "re-think" the Second Amendment because guns are so much scarier today then they were in the 18th Century, posted by a Liberal. I get really angry with them when they start showing that they are NO FUCKING BETTER than the Conservatives. If they want to be something other than Conservatives with different ideals, then they should grow the fuck up and start acting the way they want other people to act. It only takes a few people ACTUALLY doing things different to spread that around, then it'll be the new norm. As Ghandi said: BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD. This isn't a hard quote to understand. Want to normalize LGBTQ+? Don't make a big deal about there being gay characters on shows/in movies. Be happy that they are there, but don't shove it EVERYONE'S faces.

Sorry, tangent. Liberal's have really got my goat today. If we were saying anything about altering/repealing/restricting the FIRST AMENDMENT like the Liberals want to do to the SECOND AMENDMENT, they would be crying that it was the end of the world. Sound familiar? It should, because that's what the Conservatives are doing right now. This also means that Liberals, and Conservatives on some level, have forgotten the actual point and meaning of the Second Amendment. Let's fix that for you, my captive NSA audience.

The Second Amendment reads thus: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

Thank you Google and the Constitute Project. "A well regulated Militia" what is that? A militia is any informal military like group that is made up of normal men and women within a given community. At least, that's what it meant when I was taught in school. Typically, in the time that the Constitution was written, and the Bill of Rights, a militia was used for defense of a community in war time. These militia were regulated by the societal norms of the time, and a call to arms mobilized the entire town to various duties. This does indicate that the Founding Fathers weren't planning on society becoming focused around such large cities as we have today. THE FOUNDING FATHERS WEREN'T PERFECT, they weren't some form of Eldar Farseers from Warhammer 40K, they were just men. Militias can still be formed today, it would just take a different form to mobilize people. 

Question: What is this well regulated Militia for? Answer "security of a free State". What does that mean? The most straight-forward answer to that question is that it is a way to legally coup the Federal Government. Everything in the Constitution is aimed at making America the best country that it can be, and not like England at the time. This means that there are checks and balances within the branches of government, and the PEOPLE for whom the government is supposed to work for, have to power to end governments that do not suit the needs of the PEOPLE. 

That's right Liberals: YOU SHOULD BE WANTING THIS TOO, IT'S HOW WE KEEP FROM ENDING UP LIKE COUNTRIES IN AFRICA, OR SOUTH AMERICA, OR THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE IT'S JUST A REVOLVING DOOR OF DICTATORS. 

Yes, guns changed, they are scarier. However, we shouldn't be rethinking the Second Amendment, we should be working within it. Ending the Second Amendment really puts the entire Bill of Rights on the chopping block. This includes the First Amendment for anyone not remembering that the Bill of Rights is our first ten Amendments to the Constitution. The First Amendment, the one that allows me to write this post, Liberals to say that the Second Amendment needs to be changed, and Conservatives to ask for prayers for a community struck by tragedy. 

The Vegas shooting, along with all other mass shootings, is a tragedy. We should be pulling together as a nation to move through this. Instead, Liberals and Conservatives are driving a wedge into society along partisan lines, keeping people away from the open and honest discussions that are needed in these times. To those who say that the war for gun control was lost when we "Decided that killing children was alright" in reference to Sandy Hook, that wasn't gun control that failed. That was access to appropriate mental health care, that failed that man. He didn't own that gun, his mother did, he killed her too. Saying that Conservatives view the killing of children as acceptable is a stain on the memories of those children who died, and the janitor and teacher who died defending those students who survived. You dishonor yourself when you say that, and you dishonor them. 

Go educate yourselves people. Learn what the Amendments do, actually learn them, what they are for. It's not as simple as they make it seem in elementary school. That seems to be when we learn the Bill of Rights, and any expounding on it just gets tossed straight out the window, even when it's the nuance that holds the real meaning. 

The main issue with Communism/Socialism: We're only equal at the bottom

There is a lot of stuff I'm seeing on social media that is communistic/socialist leaning. I understand that there are people that are frustrated with our (America's) current economic set up. It's far from perfect and anyone saying otherwise is pretty well deluding themselves. That being said, there are no perfect economic systems, just like there aren't any perfect ANYTHINGS in the universe. Everything is flawed in some way, what we need is the way that least screws us over.

Communism/Socialism sounds great on paper, everyone working together to help each other. That's what we want for the world right? Not really. The issue is that people posting these things want their own lives to matter.

That leads to the biggest issue of all: we all want our lives to matter. We want to be important, we want to have a purpose, a meaning to our existence. We feel that it is our right to have more meaning in our lives.

To be truly equal we all have to be on the same level: the bottom. It can be the prettiest bottom we can make it, but it will be the bottom. We cannot have true equality without a base for society.

I'm currently reading a book that demonstrates just how hard it is to make the bottom a pretty place. It's called Faith of the Fallen written by Terry Goodkind. It's a whole society that believes that people are evil, sinful creatures that can do no good. They have committees and lines miles long to ensure that everyone who can work has some work, and that those who "can't" work are still able to "live". It makes things nearly impossible to do anything, and people are just accepting of it. They don't really help each other to make anything better. They just suffer through what is put in front of them every day.

That isn't what we want for our society, that isn't even what those people want for our society, yet it is the road they would try to lead us down. We need to remember that Communism only works in small numbers where everyone can find meaning in helping each other. 

What to do now: #thelonggame

Donald Trump has been sworn in as President of the United States. A lot of people are very upset about it. One of my uncles is very vocal about his displeasure. At least one other friend is alright with sharing a post saying that Trump is a dictator just from his first week. I know that Trump is not going to be a good president, unless something really strange happens, however I think it's still a bit early to say that he is a dictator. I know that he has done some things that I don't agree with and can be seen as dictator-esque. However, there is nothing that can be done about it now. Some may say that we should impeach Trump, however that would make Pence the president. The new Vice President would be selected by Congress from the active members of Congress. This has multiple issues, starting with the impeachment itself. The House of Representatives needs to ratify Articles of Impeachment and then the Senate tries them. There is much legal debate as to what is actually an impeachable offense. With the Republican Party in control of Congress there is no way that an impeachment will happen.

What does this mean for the millions of Anti-Trump people? It means we need to start a long game. For Democrats at the least it is times to look towards the mid-term elections in 2018. It's only a year away, so viable candidates are going to need to be selected for states that have mid-term elections. If the Democrats can get Congress back it will stall much of what Trump might try.

 For supporters of third party, and truly want change in the political landscape; the 2016 race really started in 2015. That means it's really only two years before we can expect the 2020 race to start. This means that grassroots movements need to start now so they can grow. Third party candidates need to have more attention going into the race to truly become viable presidential candidates to nose in on the scene that the Democrats and the Republicans have held for so long.

Also, liberals, could you please stop being like the conservatives were for the whole time that Obama was in office? It's driving away people that you need in order to bounce back from the loss in November. If you want to be seen as better than the conservatives, you need to actually act like it. At this point in time, there is nothing you can do about Trump that will actually solve anything. I know that we live in an instant gratification world, but sometimes the long game is the only way to achieve what is needed for the greater good.

#thelonggame starts now.

A Quote on the Presidency

"... nothing you do in the White House matters. You know why not? Because as far as the mass of voting morons is concerned, while you're in office, you'll be the worst single president they've ever had. Until you stop. Then it's some other poor bastard's turn. And even  that doesn't matter, because ten, twenty years later, they'll look back on you, and wonder why they didn't appreciate you when they had you. In hindsight even Warren Gamaliel Harding looks good. You, uh, following me? You don't get to make a difference. You don't get to do jack shit. You know what you get? You get an entry in the history book, and every 15 minutes, every day at Disney world, an animatronic puppet wearing your face will wave or nod when the spotlight hits it." ~ Neil Gaiman The Sandman, World's End, "The Golden Boy"


That seems like a very appropriate description of the presidency. I don't remember George H.W. Bush, but he only got one term. I know plenty of people who didn't like Bill Clinton. The number of people who disliked George W. Bush is sad, considering he lead us through some pretty tough stuff. Perhaps not correctly, but with firm belief that what he was doing was right for the long term. There are also plenty of people who have been vocal about their dislike of Barack Obama (if I remember right he had the lowest approval rating of any re-elected president, beating George W. Bush). And this is just the presidents that have served since I was born.

We need to change the manner of our discourse with each other when our opinions differ. This country is too divided to continue in the manner it is seems to be heading in. Perhaps it is not too late, I stated in my last post that in a way, we all lost this election, let's find a way to change that around so that everybody wins. Not just the white majority, but the minorities of every stripe, America should win the election, not a party, or a person.

What Everyone is Talking About

Last night America, the country that I live in, elected a caricature of a human being. I find this quite saddening. Hopefully there will be no terrible or irreparable damage done to the global image of this nation. Fortunately there are systems set in place by the founding fathers of this nation that will hopefully prevent the worst things from getting through.

There are many who seem to believe that this is a step backwards, and that by electing Mr. Trump we have voted for oppression of minorities, women, and LGBTQ+. I do not think that this is entirely the case. It is not a step in the right direction, that much is given. However, it does not mean that they will become oppressed any more than they are now.

The best thing to do now is to look to the future and seek ways to prevent this type of election from ever happening again. We need to find honest, real people to run in 2020, not caricatures. I hope we can all agree that this election was arduous on us all, this cannot happen again. We must remember that a house divided against itself cannot stand. We have clearly seen, and have been seeing for far more than just this year, that we are a deeply divided nation, and social media is showing we are divided against ourselves.

I once stumbled upon a book called Unwind it was the first in a series of books. The set up of the book was that the debate on abortion escalated into a war called The Heartland War. It was basically Civil War round two. The government ended the war by saying that life began at conception and was protected until about the age of 15. At that time, if the parents chose, a person could be "retroactively aborted", but still had to remain "alive" in some sense. This process became known as "unwinding", and the various parts of the "unwound" would be grafted onto people with serious injuries. There were many people who were put up for unwinding, for several reasons. There were even some who were unwound without real cause, but as a "tithe" for status or something. At the end of the book there were several people who had been saved from unwinding and were starting to organize to try and fight for the losers of the Heartland War, which the book points out was everyone.

That is how this election has gone, and possibly would have gone either way. We, as a nation, have lost. Now we need to look to the future, and try to come together to set this right, for all of us.

Interacting with Police

I recently made a post, but this has to be shared. I also recently made the mistake of commenting on a political-leaning post on Facebook, reminding me why I use this as my outlet instead of Facebook. The post I commented on involved a Black couple talking to their child about how to interact with police. They essentially were telling him to be submissive to police, put  his hands in the air and do as the officer says, even if the child (teen I would guess) does not understand what the officer wants and to not question if he becomes confused. I made the comment that the parents should be teaching their child to start with respect for police and that should help in most situations. While I understand this could sound naive, it feels more like a solutionist (if that wasn't a word before, I'm making it one) answer, than total submission EVEN IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND something the officer has said. I feel that is just as likely to lead to disaster than finding a way to politely ask the officer to repeat or clarify their statement. This does not invalidate, or deny that there are bad cops out there who are not worth their badge. If the officer is worth their badge they should be willing to work with people so that there are no shootings, there can be miscues from both sides though. Total submission without questions or even trying to stand up for your own rights is not going to change the situation, and more likely to put the officer on edge. I ask you, the reader (assuming you exist), to place yourself briefly in the shoes of the officer, the shoes that seem to me to be the most ignored. You are trained to read body language, and to look for threats because you need to be able to respond in a quick manner to protect yourself and/or others involved. You see a person, pulled over for broken tail light, place their hands up as if you are already pointing the gun at their head, or they remove themselves from the vehicle and lay on the ground with their hands on the back of their heads. What does this tell you? They aren't asking any questions, not even the standard "what seems to be the problem officer?" Do you try to reassure them? How do you go about it? Do you become suspicious because this person seems to be acting in a guilty manner? This is not saying that racial profiling isn't a thing, but does it only come from the officers? Does it come not just because the officers are biased, but because parents truly do have that type of conversation with their children and the person you have pulled over for a broken tail light believes that you are going to treat them unfairly, and possibly shoot them for something they probably didn't know about, and had no control over? Did this person's friends and family instill such a fear of officers that they immediately fear for their safety and are dong this in an attempt to get home alive? Cooperation is one thing, but submission seemed to be the message. I couldn't find a good wording to search for this picture, but I'm sure if you try you can find it. I'm sorry I don't have it in the post.
As stated in previous posts, I used to work in therapeutic group homes (I now work at a hospital), and the large majority of my group home kids were Native (I live in the Western US, this is our main minority group, followed by Hispanic/Latino). These children were taught practically from birth that police were bad, it caused them to be more defiant with officers, or to be terribly frightened of them. They would look to us the staff before interacting with the officers, as if they needed to know that it was alright for them to say anything.
What I want people to try is respect first. If the cop is worth his/her badge, that officer will work with you, regardless of race (I would hope, I understand this isn't always going to be the case), and if they are not worth their badge, they would probably have given you a hard time, no matter what you did. I hate to think that there are that many police officers who are not worth their badge, but we all know that the media is about the most biased thing outside of Congress. Spread respect, I know that it's slightly different for everyone, but try some general kindness like please/thank you, if you have to reach for something in your purse/wallet/glove compartment, state what you are retrieving and try to keep your hands as visible as possible. Also, for anyone, try to have that type of stuff out before the officer reaches your window, It can help you remain calm (or hide your fear as is more likely, cops are scary and getting pulled over is never fun) and helps to make the stop shorter so there is less time for a situation to escalate into violence for either side. Most officers are men and women just trying to do their jobs and keep people safe, this includes you.
I found the picture, here it is: