Thursday, August 22, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
How Missouri Does State Fairs
Video of the eventNow you've probably heard about this situation, its been all over the media the last couple of days. A Taiwanese exchange student filmed a video from his cellphone at some backwoods nowhere land of Missouri where a rodeo-clown was impersonating president Obama.
Now, first off I should say that as far as presidents go, I think Obama has done a fantastic job. Sure he frustrates me sometimes, but on the majority of issues I agree with him. However, that does not mean I'm about to go screaming bloody murder and racism like every other liberal seems to be doing at the moment.
There are people out there who are likening this tasteless prank to actions of the KKK. I think that comparison is disgraceful to all the innocent blacks who were lynched and beaten back when real violent racism abounded.
Why are people upset? It's not like this is the first time a president has been mocked or humiliated, the art of poking fun at presidents goes back to the very beginning, its a fundamental byproduct of democracy. In fact, from what I can recall we made fun of Bush in a much more vile manner (not that he didn't probably deserve it), but that's besides the point. What I'm trying to say is that dressing up like presidents and goofing off at rodeos is a part of our culture, it will never go away and never should go away.
I think a better indicator of how much racism still exists in this country is actually how little mockery Obama has received when compared to previous presidents. Even people who disagree with Obama often refrain from voicing their opinions on subconscious fear that they might seem racist. That does not condone a healthy democracy.
In an ideal world of course, people wouldn't make fun of presidents, they would only make fun of the presidents stand on specific issues and then engage in rational debates on the subject. But in a rodeo, and especially in my home state of Missouri, they are gonna roll around on the dirt regardless of who is president so who can blame them for expressing their political views in the only way they know.
Satires of Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yTbL93RrzY&list=PL7C4A17AD74963AB5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqrI3IibYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qVS4hUkiyk
Satires of Romney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxch-yi14BE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnAQXLMJIg8
Satires of Clinton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU3CYs77Ku4
Satires of Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehYoIKTsiV0
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
From an Atheist
About Every argument against god summed up in a minimally offensive and entertaining way. This channel has it all. http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkMatter2525/videos
My favorite of his Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODetOE6cbbc
My favorite of his Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODetOE6cbbc
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
The Injustice to Justin Carter
The big news right now is the Trayvon Martin case the and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, but I believe an even bigger american injustice is the treatment of Justin Carter.
Justin Carter, a nineteen year old kid, was having an argument with his friend on facebook about a videogame.
Friend (paraphrased): "You're crazy!"
Justin Carter: "Oh yeah, i'm so messed up in the head, i'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still beating hearts. Lol. Jk!"
Now as a teenage boy I can testify that things like this are said on a daily basis. Just a little while ago I sent an email to my friend with "go fuck yourself with a razor blade, jk" at the end of the message. Completely in jest, he was not offended. It's almost a game among us, to see who can come up with the most violent, descriptive and offensive things to say.
The only difference between me and Justin Carter, is that i'm lucky and he lives in Texas. Also, I don't have some stalker in Canada reading all my facebook posts and sending complaints to the local police. Justin was arrested, jailed, and held at 500,000 bail. Fortunately an anonymous donor met this price, and he is free right now, but he could go back to jail any moment and face up too eight years in prison. That is a third of his life, for saying one sarcastic joke, he even tagged 'just kidding' for clarification!
The most destructive element of terrorism, is the fear it creates. That is the secrete weapon terrorists have that as Americans, we are falling victim to. Why do you think the bombs at the Boston Marathon were designed to amputate limbs but leave victims alive to tell of the terrors? Wire taps, wars with innocent countries, the stockpiling of my personal information, I can tolerate all that, but by infringing on our freedom of speech the government has taken a step too far.
If you can be arrested for what you say on facebook, the beautiful wild place that is the internet will soon be turned into a polite society of terrified citizens. Even if the majority of people aren't prosecuted for what they say, the fact that one faces eight years in jail will make everyone more cautious. The government doesn't have to monitor all of us, it is enough that we know that we can be arrest for what we say, if so we will be too afraid to speak our mind.
Honestly what Justin said isn't even the worst statement on the internet, I doubt it's even close. Compare his words to that of common pop rappers in the mainstream culture of the youth....
Eminem: Well since age twelve, I've felt like I'm someone else
Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt
Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off
And smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross
Justin Carter, a nineteen year old kid, was having an argument with his friend on facebook about a videogame.
Friend (paraphrased): "You're crazy!"
Justin Carter: "Oh yeah, i'm so messed up in the head, i'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still beating hearts. Lol. Jk!"
Now as a teenage boy I can testify that things like this are said on a daily basis. Just a little while ago I sent an email to my friend with "go fuck yourself with a razor blade, jk" at the end of the message. Completely in jest, he was not offended. It's almost a game among us, to see who can come up with the most violent, descriptive and offensive things to say.
The only difference between me and Justin Carter, is that i'm lucky and he lives in Texas. Also, I don't have some stalker in Canada reading all my facebook posts and sending complaints to the local police. Justin was arrested, jailed, and held at 500,000 bail. Fortunately an anonymous donor met this price, and he is free right now, but he could go back to jail any moment and face up too eight years in prison. That is a third of his life, for saying one sarcastic joke, he even tagged 'just kidding' for clarification!
The most destructive element of terrorism, is the fear it creates. That is the secrete weapon terrorists have that as Americans, we are falling victim to. Why do you think the bombs at the Boston Marathon were designed to amputate limbs but leave victims alive to tell of the terrors? Wire taps, wars with innocent countries, the stockpiling of my personal information, I can tolerate all that, but by infringing on our freedom of speech the government has taken a step too far.
If you can be arrested for what you say on facebook, the beautiful wild place that is the internet will soon be turned into a polite society of terrified citizens. Even if the majority of people aren't prosecuted for what they say, the fact that one faces eight years in jail will make everyone more cautious. The government doesn't have to monitor all of us, it is enough that we know that we can be arrest for what we say, if so we will be too afraid to speak our mind.
Honestly what Justin said isn't even the worst statement on the internet, I doubt it's even close. Compare his words to that of common pop rappers in the mainstream culture of the youth....
Eminem: Well since age twelve, I've felt like I'm someone else
Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt
Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off
And smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross
Tyler the Creator: I'll Crash that fucking airplane that that faggot nigga B.o.B is in
And stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus
And won't stop until the cops come in
Game: Wolf Grey Jordans use his intestines for the strings
Snatch up Rihanna and throw her in front of a fucking train
Sniff a fucking unemployment line of cocaine
Tie Lil B up to a full tank of propane
I don't see any of those individuals facing eight years in prison for what they said in their songs?
Christ, sometimes I want to bomb the capital of Texas and eat the still beating hearts of whoever created this crackpot justice system.
Lol Jk
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Snowden vs. The World
Heroic whistle-blower to some, anti-american espionage agent to others; Edward Snowden raised a lot of controversy when he leaked confidential information about questionable government activity to the public.
I don't however, believe we should focus entirely on prosecuting Snowden in this scandal, the second guilty agent is our own governments. So far as I understand, Snowden exposed that the government was gathering data about phone communications, such as when certain calls were placed and from what numbers.
This breach of privacy I don't believe is very severe when compared to the wiretaps during the Busch administration, or even when compared to the unregulated intake of information our government currently has access to in our online communications. I believe there's no reason the government shouldn't be able to monitor phone calls, especially if that is essential to stopping acts of terrorism or protecting citizens.
But there's a key difference between the government's access to our online interactions and their access to our phone records. We had no knowledge that they could access our phone knowledge. This, as far as I am concerned, is the actual crime. I don't understand why it was necessary for the government to try and hide this function of their espionage service, other than protecting the president's public image of course, but by keeping their phone-record surveillance a secret, they turned it from a form of protecting the American people into a secret weapon that could 'potentially' be used against us.
I believe Snowden deserves a meddle for exposing this furtiveness.
After all, we are a democratic nation, so how can we decide when to sacrifice privacy for protection when the majority of us aren't privy to the sacrifice.
I don't however, believe we should focus entirely on prosecuting Snowden in this scandal, the second guilty agent is our own governments. So far as I understand, Snowden exposed that the government was gathering data about phone communications, such as when certain calls were placed and from what numbers.
This breach of privacy I don't believe is very severe when compared to the wiretaps during the Busch administration, or even when compared to the unregulated intake of information our government currently has access to in our online communications. I believe there's no reason the government shouldn't be able to monitor phone calls, especially if that is essential to stopping acts of terrorism or protecting citizens.
But there's a key difference between the government's access to our online interactions and their access to our phone records. We had no knowledge that they could access our phone knowledge. This, as far as I am concerned, is the actual crime. I don't understand why it was necessary for the government to try and hide this function of their espionage service, other than protecting the president's public image of course, but by keeping their phone-record surveillance a secret, they turned it from a form of protecting the American people into a secret weapon that could 'potentially' be used against us.
I believe Snowden deserves a meddle for exposing this furtiveness.
After all, we are a democratic nation, so how can we decide when to sacrifice privacy for protection when the majority of us aren't privy to the sacrifice.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Teenage Alcohol Consumption
I'd like to start by saying that I don't believe prohibition is an option. Alcohol is a fundamental part of our culture, and trying to take it away from people will only cause trouble (just look at the twenties). Sex and alcohol were the reason humans settled down and developed civilization in the first place, so what kind of sad society would we be living in where those two things weren't readily available.
Now obviously, there are problems with alcohol, such as drunk driving, the addictive effect it has on certain victims, and excessive teenage consumption. The reason teenagers are so good at drinking and so bad at stopping (as demonstrated in recent movies like Project X, and TV shows such as Skins), is because during the vulnerable stage of their life when they are learning how to drink moderately, instead of having guidance they are forced to indulge in secrecy. They have no mature adults present to suggest when they've had too much.
Of course, there's a good reason that it's illegal for youth to purchase or possess alcohol. Until the brain is fully formed I don't doubt that there's a large risk poised by alcohol (although this didn't stop Victorian children from drinking beer three meals a day). But is the excessive age limit of 21 really a wise decision? In many countries alcohol is legal to citizens at the age of 18, but only mild alcohols such as beer and wine. That way they have time to learn moderation before they are introduced to stronger concoctions.
Anyway, this was a rather neat article I found about global age limits for drinking.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html
Now obviously, there are problems with alcohol, such as drunk driving, the addictive effect it has on certain victims, and excessive teenage consumption. The reason teenagers are so good at drinking and so bad at stopping (as demonstrated in recent movies like Project X, and TV shows such as Skins), is because during the vulnerable stage of their life when they are learning how to drink moderately, instead of having guidance they are forced to indulge in secrecy. They have no mature adults present to suggest when they've had too much.
Of course, there's a good reason that it's illegal for youth to purchase or possess alcohol. Until the brain is fully formed I don't doubt that there's a large risk poised by alcohol (although this didn't stop Victorian children from drinking beer three meals a day). But is the excessive age limit of 21 really a wise decision? In many countries alcohol is legal to citizens at the age of 18, but only mild alcohols such as beer and wine. That way they have time to learn moderation before they are introduced to stronger concoctions.
Anyway, this was a rather neat article I found about global age limits for drinking.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html
Monday, May 13, 2013
Neil Armstrong Screwed Up
I love how politically correct spell check is, it wants me to replace mankind with Human kind.
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