The Wrathful Hypocrisy of the Gay Rights Community.

For those of you who do not keep yourselves abreast of current events, you may have missed perhaps one of the most important news stories in the past several years. Californian residents stood and defied the activist judges who overturned a previous measure defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The residents of California passed Proposition 8 52% to 48% and amended the states constitution and returned California law to prohibit same sex marriage.

Before I go further I wanted make it perfectly clear that I do not opposed the civil union of two consenting adults nor do I think it right to deny them the same financial and medical benefits heterosexual couples receive.

Now to the point of my post.  The residents of California have spoken and as in ANY OTHER democratic vote someone goes home disappointed.  Unfortunately thousands of "No on 8"  supporters have allowed their disappointment to fester into outbursts of hypocritical rage thus resulting in a massive mob mentality.  In order for this mob to maintain their momentum, they have, as all mobs do, focused their negative energy onto one single entity. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a.k.a. "Mormons".  

I will henceforth call this mob the "Ragers". 

Unknown to many people outside this mob of Ragers, there are websites now devoted to finding out every single Mormon who donated to the "Yes on 8 campaign".  Someone has compiled a list of both large and small donors and made them into spreadsheets. All of this is available online. If you are a Mormon and donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, do not be surprised to find your name on this list.   Upon further inspection you will discover that the site encourages the further identification of all members who donated money. This in and of itself is very disconcerting. Other sites are encouraging everyone to use online phone directories to find and boycott every mormon in the area. Who knows where this could lead? This rage is startlingly similar to the same wrath and bigotry of another movement against a religious group. Except that group was in Germany and it was the 1930's.  

What the Ragers forget is that first and foremost, the No on 8 campaign had MORE money than the Yes on 8 campaign did.  Had Proposition 8 failed, you wouldn't see thousands of people protesting Apple corp. HQ in Cupertino or thousands of people marching outside of Hollywood. You certainly wouldn't see a general complacency of the state government if the Yes on 8 supporters desecrated and forced the closure of the holy places of worship for those that were opposed to Proposition 8. Anyone caught desecrating said places would likely be locked up on hate crimes charges. Sadly, it is exactly these kinds of things that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are being subject to.  The entrance gates to the holiest places for mormons--their temples--have been marked up with graffiti. 

Another thing fueling the fury of the Ragers is that they got smacked upside the head by the law of unintended consequences.  In all their fervor to encourage a strong black and hispanic turnout in order to elect Barak Obama, they were caught off guard by the morally conservative vote of those same ethnicities. Blacks and Hispanics overwhelming voted for Proposition 8. How's that for a bit of irony?

All in all the Mormons are simply an easy target. Following the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the Ragers simply picked the easiest target. Protesting B.E.T. and Univison would be seen as racist and morally reprehensible, therefore they had to pick another target. Sadly they are ignoring their own blatant hypocrisy and targeting a group of people who exercised their own constitutional rights. 

 

Recently posted on Facebook

I recently posted the following message on a group in Facebook.

John McCain's historic nomination of Sarah Palin for VP is a first for the Republican party. Let's join together and help her get there.

In understand that some of you may be reluctant to invite your friends but this is a very important moment in history.  America is faced with a choice. An Obama administration would mean the devastating social and economic effects of European Socialism would be enacted. The current "do nothing congress" (which by the way has the lowest approval rating of all time and is ruled by the democrats) would essentially write Obama a blank check, plunging our economy even further in debt in this tough economic time.  In short the "do nothing congress" would emerge from their hibernation and wreck havoc on the American people and our economy.

McCan and Palin represent the real change.  Remember, both of them have fought AGAINST their own party when the republicans did something wrong.  It's not about political parties. It's about what's right.  McCain and Palin are going to grab the American government/economy by the horns and are going to wrestle it in the right direction.  That is something that Obama will not do.  Oh sure he'll wrestle the american government and economy...but he's going for a take down.

Last but not least, Let's show the liberals that conservatives are not a bunch of sexist, racist, rich, white, male landowners.  Let's show America that there plenty of people with common sense.  Let's help Palin get into the white house so that she can get this country turned around.

It's gonna be a long hard fight.  The liberals though for sure that they would be the ones to claim the honor of the first woman in the white house.  Let's prove them wrong in every way.

Don't be content to sit on the banks of the river of history and watch it flow by.  Be active.  Join the river and help direct its course.  That's what it means to be an American.

Show your support for Sarah Palin and a real change that is worthy of being called American.  The spirit of change is here. Invite your friends and encourage them to help redirect the tailspin America is in.

Invite all your friends to join "1,000,000,000 for Republicans for putting the first woman in the white house".  We still have a long way to go but we can do it. The liberals though that they would be the ones to claim that honor. Let's prove them wrong.

Liars and Cheaters: China Edition

I apologize for my laziness in updating this blog. I have about 300 excuses I could give but I won't.  I was lazy. Again I apologize.

The idea for this post came to me right after the opening ceremony of the Olympics a few weeks ago. Like most of the world, I was awed by the sheer volume and quality of the performance. What was not lost on me however is how the Chinese ceremony was, for the most part, pure propaganda. 

First of all, nearly all of the performers were members of the Chinese Military. 

Second, the flag bearers were Chinese soldiers rigidly goose-walking (which to me at least, looked rather goofy) like members of Hitler's SS. 

Third, the symbol for Harmony was continuously flashed throughout the ceremony.  While in the west the idea of  "Harmony" gives us the warm-fuzzies and makes us want to sit in a lotus position for hours on end, in China, Harmony is the Government's code word for Compliance. If one is not in compliance then he or she is not in harmony with the "people's" (a.k.a. the oligarchy's) will.  Therefore he or she is a threat and must be re-minded, re-educated, or eliminated.  With China's human rights record in mind, none of those options sounds appealing. Better to sit down and shut up. 

Lastly, the sheer vastness and undisclosed expenses of the ceremony was breathtaking. I was amazed when China rolled out that several hundred foot long LCD screen.  However, while I was sitting and marveling at the technology that is possible nowadays, I couldn't help myself from thinking "Wasn't there some big earthquake in China that killed 70,000 people a month or two ago?" 

70,000 people is a lot of people. I went to high-school in a small town of about 4,500.  That is 15.55 times the population of my town obliterated in one day. How many quake survivors could have been fed on the money that it cost to make that screen?  Probably several hundred thousand.  As cynical as it sounds, perhaps it's China's idea of natural population control.  That's 70,000 people that won't be having children anymore. Don't blame the government. Blame nature.

Like many other people, when China disclosed that the angelic seven year old voice that the world heard came from an unseen pudgy little girl I was angry.  Sure the lip-sync was cute, but the emotional letdown of finding out we were duped was a bit like finding out that soylent green is actually people. Finding out that much of the ceremony was computer-generated only made it that much worse. All of fakery coupled with the copious rule-breaking made the Chinese seem desperate and weak, not to mention sinister.

So what does all of this mean?  It means that China wants to play with the big boys. The want to show the world that they too, like the U.S., U.K. and Russia are a military power that should be both feared and respected. The message to the people of China was clear. Power and security rest with the state.  Personal autonomy is not an option when confronted by intentions of the state.  

The world should take heed from these Olympics. China was warning us. They are big, and they are getting stronger.  There is a cultural nationalism and arrogance unparalleled in the west (except in France but the french don't count).  Their patriotism is even more than what one might see on the 4th of July in Texas. 

China controls a huge percentage of the world's manufacturing. It wouldn't take much to transform all those toy factories into ball-bearing plants.  While militarily their technology might not be up to par with the likes of the West, they don't need it.  With 1.3 billion people, the Chinese government could begin conscripting soldiers, arm them with pitch-forks and we would be hard pressed to stop them.  

All in all, The world must keep a close eye on China. The dragon has begun to roar.

I am a surviver

I've gotta make a confession.  I succumbed to a nearly ever present temptation of mine.  I bought World of Warcraft.  W.o.W. as it is known in "gamer circles", or anyone who is too lazy to type out W.o.W., is perhaps the most infamous MMPORG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) since Everquest. This blog is going to be my take on it.

As far as video games go RPGs are among my favorite. I also like online gaming because of the unpredictability of human interaction. Being both a RPG and online made W.o.W. an alluring title to me. I have always been satisfied with the Blizzard development team in the past.  However, the monthly subscription fee was a turn off. If I buy a game I  bought the game. I don't want to have to keep paying for a game that I've already bought. As you already know however, I caved and bought the game.  

After playing the game all week and advancing my character several levels I've decided that the game is way overrated. I do understand how some people may be drawn or even addicted to the game but I ultimately became bored.  Killing three bizzilion low level creatures cause you can't kill anything that gives you decent XP grows tiresome.  Begging anti-social 13 year olds with  high level characters to babysit you through a dungeon only to have them constantly berate your "noob" status is equally unsatisfying.  

All in all I was disappointed, but on the positive side, I survived one the the "most addicting" games out there. Thats good news for my wife because she have to never have to worry about being a "Warcraft-Widow" (not that she would have to even if I did continue my subscription).  It's also good news for my pocketbook.  Warcraft without the expansion can be picked up for about $20.  If you were to buy access in six-month blocks it would be nearly $150 a year just in subscription fees. If you do the month-to-month option it is $180 in fees.  That's $200 a year if you buy the new expansion pack every year just to trade nerd insults and go on mind numbing quests to kill kobolds and dragons.  Not too mention teaching your character cooking, blacksmithing, herbalism, and sewing. What about using that $200 and spending the same time and money actually learning how to cook. I guarantee that with practice, and the same amount of money a person could learn to cook pretty well. It might even earn him or her a real date.  Granted its not the same as flirting with a mysterious night-elf druid or a flirtatious gnome rogue but at least you'll feel it if you get a kiss.

[For clarification's sake, and at the request to further clarify by my wife, I have never flirted while playing W.o.W.]

Introduction

Hello readers.  Since this is the my first post I thought it would be most appropriate to formally introduce my blog.  My entrance into the "blogosphere" (hackneyed cliche I know) is without fanfare, trumpets or even a kazoo. In all honesty, I will be pleased if I get more that 25 readers during the total life of the blog.  

My title may seem apathetic and I agree that it lacks the pizzazz of good marketing but I honestly feel that for the most part, the title of a this blog is extraneous. I will eventually post serious Op-Ed articles that I have carefully researched but there will be some posts that are full of ramblings, rantings, ravings and even whimsy.  We shall see what the future brings. 

I will strive to update my blog as often as possible. I hope to update it at least once a week.

I will be more motivated to continually update this blog if I am able to reach a sizable audience. This means, that I need your help.  If you have blogs, link me to them and I'll link you.  Tell your friends and family about my blog and help me build readership. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog feed! 

  I hope that you find my blogs entertaining, informative and at least a little interesting. Please feel free to comment on my articles.  I am very much interesting in creating a dialog.

*Warning*  I may at some point in the future post material that many may find inflammatory. I do this in the interest of stirring dialog.  Often times, real interest in a subject is not sparked unless someone presents things in a controversial way.  

With all that said, I think it is time to bring this first post to a close.  Plus I've got a warm bed calling my name.