Balanced History

There is currently a movement going on to ban recognition of anyone from history who by today’s standards would be seen as a bad person, regardless of the great things they may have also done. One example is that some people want to remove George Washington’s name from schools and other sites because he was a slave owner. This is a dangerous thing. To judge the past by the perceived justice of today is not something anyone should do. Is it bad that Washington owned slaves? By today’s standards, Absolutely. By the standards of his day… No.

We as a people and as a society evolve. Our standards of good and evil evolve. That is a great thing! However, we need to let the past be the past. We cannot improve the present, let alone the future, if we are so busy attacking ghosts. We need to learn from the past, of that there is no doubt, but we also need to let go of our own guilt, hate, and victimhood of how things are now due to the past in order to be able to create effective change. If we are so focused on changing what happened in the past, we cannot focus on what needs to change now. If you don’t like how you are treated, find a way to make people treat you how you want to be treated. Yes, I know easier said than done and not everyone will see beyond face value. However, if you don’t affect change yourself, why should anyone else change?

We have to admit that we are all flawed. I know some of you are thinking “Well duh! I know that!” and some of you are thinking “I’m not as flawed as you are!” Guess what… Those are flaws. That is entirely your ego talking. If you truly want to admit you are flawed, you should have thought about what flaws you know about way back in your mind that you try to hide from everyone, even from yourself.

Without being able to shut off your ego and admit that you too aren’t perfect, you will never affect change in yourself nor in the world around you. Will you be thought of in two hundred years by your ancestors the same way we are now being told we should think of George Washington? Odds are you will be. In two hundred years the world will be an entirely different place with entirely different morals and societal standards. All you can do is try to do great things and improve the world so that your “bad deeds” as seen from the future, are outweighed by the good things you have accomplished. Kind of like George Washington who was integral in our separation from England, winning the Revolutionary War, setting up the foundation for The United States of America, and laying the path for all the amazing things we have done since. So, yes, George Washington was a slave holder. But he himself laid out the path for a nation that fairly soon after, abolished slavery.

Dreamt of Philosophy

It’s interesting how life and science fiction can help you learn more about humanity, its flaws, and its greatness.

I’ve been spending time with a new friend who has been having a rough… life. Through my friend’s eyes, I am seeing more and more of the subtle messages that have long been in both my real life and in the Science Fiction that I enjoy, in new or more in depth ways. This is, to me, why community is so very important. If we only see the world through our own filter, or through the filters of the same sources, without change we can become so complacent with our world view that we can no longer see anything outside of what we expect to see. To quote The Bard “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Those words are always on my mind, now so even more. Shakespeare knew so very long ago, that one singular point of view will always prevent one from seeing the entire picture!

How have you challenged your point of view lately?  What lessons have you learned to expand your dreamt philosophy?

So, you want to blame guns?

So you want to blame guns?

Let me ask you this, my dear students. How many of you have bullied someone this year? How many people have you spread rumors about? How many times have you posted on social media that someone should “just die”? “Kill themselves”? Or said anything else along those lines?

How often have you seen someone else bullied and joined in?

How many times have you seen someone bullied and ignored it?

How many times have you gone over to the person who was being a bully and told them “That’s not okay”.

How many times have you gone up to the person who was bullied and told them that other person is a jerk and just to ignore them?

How many times have you given a hug to that bullied person even if you weren’t friends with them and said “You matter!”

How many times have you ditched your “cool” friends because they were constantly attacking people either verbally or physically?

How many times have you stood up for others?

Guns are not to blame for school shootings. However, you probably are. It’s okay though, just pretend like an inanimate object is at fault so you won’t have to feel bad and start changing your own behavior. Just keep on pretending like everything will be okay once guns are gone. It’s not like people are also killed homemade bombs… by being run over by cars… by being stabbed… by being poisoned… beaten, strangled, kidnaped and murdered in secret, or a million other ways. Because hey, guns are to blame for everything right?

No, you are to blame!

If you want gun violence to stop, stop treating people in a manner that makes them want to kill you. Even if it’s that weird kid who has no friends, or that jock who is always making inappropriate comments, or the teacher of the subject you don’t like. If you want to be a voice for change, you have to change yourself first. Stop blaming other things, other people, or whatever else makes you feel like it’s not your fault.

Take action. Get your head out of your ass and realize gun violence can be stopped by you! No new laws have to be passed. You just have to be a better person and help make other people realize they can be better too!

It really is that simple. Just be nice.

Climate Change

The United States of America has a very interesting debate on climate change going on. Some say it’s real. Some say climate change is false.

The biggest contributor to climate change is according to those who believe in it, is pollution. So what has our country done to combat it? We passed a lot of laws on industry about how they are allowed to make things. How their plants can operate. How much pollution they can create while making all those products we as consumers love to buy.

This made manufacturing very difficult for corporations. They had some choice though. Do they follow the new regulations to make the same products with less profit? Do they follow the new regulations and make the same products at a higher cost that the consumer will have to live with? Or do they just move their manufacturing to another country with fewer regulations?

I’d say it’s obvious what the majority of corporations chose to do. They all moved their manufacturing! The good news is that this has drastically cut pollution in the United States. The bad news is that pollution in China, where much of the manufacturing has moved to, has reached toxic levels.

You see, we didn’t actually cut pollution. We just moved it to another place where it was less obvious.

If we as a nation are really going to cut down on pollution, we’re going to have to pay more money for cleaner manufacturing practices. We’re going to have to stop over consuming. Sorry, no new car, phone, computer, or sound system every year or two. We’ll have to actually use things until long after they’ve broken and annoy us.

The truth is: most citizens of The United States of America are too greedy to admit this truth. We all want to have our cake and eat it too, as the old saying goes. Sadly, we are not as honest with ourselves as we should be if we are those who believe in climate change and are determined to do something about it.

Look at Hollywood. How many actors claim to fight climate change while having several million dollar homes across the world… with multiple cars, heated pools, perfect looking chemically fed lawns and gardens? How many celebrities have multiple children? Pets? Or other resource taxing things?

If we want to make changes, we’re all going to have to compromise. Unfortunately, the majority of people would rather have their stuff.

So, the next time anyone goes on a climate change rant, ask them how old their phone, car, laptop, is. Because until that answer is more than a few years, that person is just pretending to care. 

Not My President...

Emotions don’t change facts.

To all the #NotMyPresident people. If you are a citizen of The United States of America, then Trump will be your President, unless you move and renounce your citizenship really soon.

For the Record: I hate Obama. I think he’s a liar, a racist, and all sorts of other horrible things. He’s still my president though. As was George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Ronald Regan, and Jimmy Carter. Every President that I have lived under has been My President. Not because I agree with them. Not because I like them. They are/were My President because they were the leader of my country. A country that is more amazing than every other country on the planet (in my opinion). My emotions towards a person do no change the facts of reality. Honestly, every single President of the United States of America since George Washington is My President. They have all kept this country going. The job sucks. The power is very limited. And someone will always hate you enough to wish you dead. That’s pretty insane when you think about it. And yet, every President from George Washington to President elect Donald Trump has chosen to live that life because they believe in the United States of America, its people, its ideals, and its dreams.

That’s monumentally impressive in my eyes.

So before you make that next post or comment about #NotMyPresident… remember, just because you dislike someone, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have good intentions or believe in this country as much, or more, than you do. It just means that in the U.S.A. we have a massive amount of diversity and that makes it very difficult for everyone to feel 100% content all the time.

Take a breath. Focus on your goals, and take appropriate action to make them a reality without destroying someone else’s attempt to reach their own goals. That’s what the “American Dream” is all about. 

November 19th 1863

Have you ever read this famous speech from November 19th 1863?

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Now that you've read it, do you comprehend the weight and force of history that it was born from?

I hope everyone does. This country is amazing, we fight to reach our dreams and defend our rights! That is an amazing thing. An amazing freedom! Look at other countries, where else does this happen? Where else are you free to state publicly that you disagree with the government?

Yes, some freedoms can be taken too far, but they also serve a purpose to prevent other freedoms from being taken away by the same government we live under. Government tries hard, but sometimes it fails. When that happens, We The People must stand up and remind the government what this country is supposed to be!

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is there for a reason. Please at least know that reason before you attack it.

Without the Electoral College, massive city states like New York and California with their population could decide every presidency and leave the rest of the nation without a voice.

That I can promise you would start a true second civil war!

Do the research yourself. I know people don't like the "popular candidate" to lose. But just because they are liked in the heavily populated areas, does not mean they are liked in the more rural areas of the country. 25 states voted for trump by the majority. He was more popular. It's just that those states have fewer people. The states like New York and California have more people and they voted for Clinton. Just those two states alone can nearly equal the population of the rest of the damn country!

Do you really want only those two states deciding what is right for your state?!

I live in Colorado. At an Elevation those two states largely can't even fathom. Do you really think they'd be able to know fairly what we need here? How rough the winters can get? How we need hospital equipment that can function in a thinner atmosphere? How we can't farm year round without a lot of special planning and equipment?

Seriously! Every state needs to have it's own voice. Yes, someone always ends up screwed one way or another, but the Electoral College is there to try to minimize that!

In this election, you may not like that, but what about the next election? What if you repeal the Electoral College and in 4 years it allows Trump to be reelected just based on the popular vote, and then you learn he'd have lost the Electoral vote?

No system of government is perfect. There will always be situations where you feel like it fucked up! But! You have the power to change it the next time! In two short years there will be more elections for the House and Senate. If you vote, you could start the process to block the Republican control. In four years you can vote for someone else entirely on either side!

In the meantime, you can work with groups and foundations to help those you fear for (including yourself). This is The United States of America! Not everything is controlled by who the president is!

For Pete's sake, Marijuana is Federally Illegal in this country, but Colorado and other states have legalized it! Why do you think that just because Trump is president your state looses? Hell, Trump has even said himself that on many controversial topics he wants to send control Back To The State Level!

Start making a plan if you fear Trump. Plan on how to make your state what you need! Start working with other groups who share your needs/concerns. Take proper action. You have more than enough control if you choose to use it. Become a speaker for the concerns you have. Start a youtube channel on it. Start a Podcast. Start a Charity if you want to!!

This is the United States of America! You can do more than march up and down a street holding a cardboard sign while yelling that you hate Trump!

Stop acting like you lost and the world ended! This is your new starting point. Are you going to get up and walk? Or are you just going to lay on the ground until you die?

The choice is yours!

Why I chose to vote the way I did.

We had two candidates who nobody wanted to vote for. No sane person was excited to make this choice. For me, it came down to one thing. The Second Amendment.

Here is why:

Both candidates were hateful liars. Both candidates have broken laws. Both candidates wanted to improve our country the way they think is best.

One candidate was pushing restrictions on the 2^nd Amendment. The other was assuring us they’d throw open the doors and let us have our 2^nd Amendment Right as it was intended.

To me, that was the deciding factor.

Think about it my way for a moment. One person wants to rule the country and limit my rights for self-defense and my rights to fight tyranny if needed. The other person wants to rule the country, but promises me the right to self-defense and to fight tyranny if needed.

Of course I’m going to vote for the person who promises me the ability to keep an equal footing!

Why would I vote for someone who I don’t like and don’t trust who also requires me to fight with my hands tied? The choice sucked! It really, really, sucked! But at least I have the Right to rise up and fight this candidate, to protect myself, my loved ones, my friends, and that stranger on the street.

That other person… wouldn’t have left me with that right.

Yes, Bernie would have been a much better option. Sadly, that other person and their team ensured he didn’t have the chance.

So, I chose hateful liar number one, and if you need me to fight for you, you know I’ll be there. Just like I hope you would have been there for me if your hateful liar number two had won. 

Make The United States Fit Again!

• ·         Anti-Trump post = 10 push ups
• ·         Trumps a racist/misogynist/sexist/bigot = 30 sit ups
• ·         Scroll past a blacked out profile pic = 1 minute plank (add one minute for every day past election day)
• ·         #Imstillwithher = running in place with high knee raises for one minute (add one minute for every day past election day)
• ·         See a Riot or shooting post over the Election = 10 burpees (add 10 burpees for every day past election day)
• ·         “I feel sorry for (X) minority” = 20 jumping jacks
• ·         Anything along the lines of “RIP America” = Side Plank for 1 minute per and do both sides (add one minute for every day past election day)
• ·         Someone you know moves out of the United States after saying they would = No Coffee for 1 week
• ·         A celebrity you follow moves out of the United States after saying they would = No Sugar for 1 week
• ·         News Media says Bernie would have beaten Trump = No GMO food for 1 Month

Think you can survive this? 

Choices and Questions

We are all able to make choices. Do we wish to be the person made from easy choices? Or do we wish to be the person made from hard choices? What is the effect on our spirit from each type of choice? Should we only make hard choices? Easy choices? Or should we make both? If both, how do we know when to choose the hard decision over the easy one? How do we know what is Right? How do we know what is Wrong? Is the world only black and white or are there billions of colors seen and unseen that we need to acknowledge to be able to reach who we are supposed to be? What if you’re blind and are unable to see any colors? How will you make your choices then?

For me, I truly try to answer questions like this in the simplest way possible. Those answers come from additional questions thought.

Will this help me? Will this harm me? Will this help others? Will this harm others? Is the good greater than the harm? To me? To them? If I choose to help myself, will I have a chance later to help others who are harmed by my choice? If I choose to help others, will I later be able to recover from the harm to myself? If not, can I live with that harm I took on to help others? Will they help me now that I’m in need?

So many questions for every decision, so many answers too! It has been said: There are two spirits inside us all who fight for dominance. The one that will win, is the one we feed the most. Sometimes we may need to feed the evil spirit with in, but hopefully we can feed the good spirit on a regular basis so it will not be harmed when we must make bad choices for good reasons. Jumping in front of a speeding car is a bad idea, but if you save your child by pushing them to safety, it is worth the consequences.

Life is no easy thing. Every decision has a ripple effect and we won’t know until the end, if they added up to a tsunami or canceled each other out creating smooth waters. 

Deadbeat Dads

Yes, deadbeat dads are a very bad thing, but… it goes both ways. Here’s the deal. If you want fewer deadbeat dads (or moms, because that’s a thing too) there are a few very effective ways to make it happen.

• Know who you are having sex with! If you don’t know someone well enough to know if they want kids in the first place, don’t sleep with them! 

• If you haven’t know the person long enough to know you are willing to spend the next 18 years of your life interacting with them on a regular basis, don’t sleep with them. 

• If you know the person already has kids and is a deadbeat, don’t sleep with them!

• If you aren’t comfortable talking to the person about the possibility of having kids due to having sex, don’t sleep with them. 

It really is that simple. Get to know the person properly. Over several years! Then sleep with them. If you or they aren’t willing to wait, then they probably aren’t willing to wait around for a kid to grow up before they move on with their life.

Ladies, you have the most control. You are the ones who can have babies. You can turn off access. If you really want fewer deadbeat dads, be a lot pickier about who you sleep with!

Personally, I refuse to sleep with anyone who has multiple kids from multiple men. Hell, I won’t sleep with a woman who offers herself to me the first few months we date. I don’t want to be in a position where my children grow up in a broken home. It’s not fair to them, their mom, nor me.

Sex creates life, but to live your life, sex is not mandatory. To live a happy life, sex should be meaningful. Not just a way to feel good. Be responsible! Don’t risk your happiness, your children’s happiness, nor your partner’s happiness! Keep your privates private until you are truly ready. Because otherwise you just look like a dumb slut regardless if you are male or female. 

Get Ready to Vote!

Early voting and mail in voting is starting. This political season has been especially volatile and many people have lost track of the purpose of voting.

There are people to hate on both sides of the republican/ democrat party lines. However, this vote is not about who you like as a person. We are voting on issues.

Issues such as abortion, gun laws, health care, and many other things. Please don't let your opinion of a human representative interfere with you voting for what matters to you personally.

Vote the issues and only the issues. If you wait for a respectable politician to vote for, you'll never have a reason to vote.

Politics are about what matters most to the people, not who the people like, trust, or respect. (Especially when we have no options at all in those categories.)

So please, Vote! It does matter, the issues at stake matter. The people involved matter too... but the issues are always whats most important. People come and go in politics. Laws tend to stick around long after.

Shoot to Wound

After every police involved shooting that makes the media someone says that “Police should shoot to wound, not shoot to kill”. This is quite possibly the dumbest thing anyone can say and is always said by people who have zero first hand gun experience and watch too many Hollywood movies.

For starters, if you shoot to wound then that leaves time and ability to armed violent criminals to keep shooting and killing innocent people. If you shoot to wound and the criminal is on various drugs or alcohol they can be immune to pane. This means that they will keep killing innocent people as well. Additionally, if you shoot to wound you have to aim for arms or legs, which happen to be the most mobile and fastest moving portion of the human body. Arms and legs are also small targets compared to someone’s torso making them harder to stop. If the criminal is shot in the leg, then their arms are still working and they can keep shooting and killing more innocents. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Police are trained to shoot to kill and keep shooting until they are certain the threat is eliminated in order to protect as many innocent lives as they can. If your spouse, child, or lover is in the area of a mass shooting or potential mass shooting, do you really want the police to be trying for trick shots like in Hollywood movies? If you are thinking that’s a realistic plan, please go to any gun range that rents guns, and try to pull off those shots yourself. You’ll quickly learn that such shooting is largely Hollywood magic. There are very few people who are actually capable of such feats. Police are also taught to shoot to kill for the reason I mentioned above. If a person is on various drugs or is drunk enough their body will not respond to the damage of a shot meant to merely wound. Talk to any police officer or DEA agent who has been in a shootout with a junkie or drunk, they’ll have stories that will keep you awake at night for a month!

Along the lines of “shoot to wound” is the movement to have police use less than lethal weapons such as Tasers and Shotguns loaded with beanbag rounds. These options too will not work on Junkies or drunks. If they can’t feel a bullet wound, they sure aren’t going to feel a beanbag or a jolt of electricity. Additionally, less than lethal weapons are not non-lethal! They do kill in a variety of circumstances. Those include if the criminal has a pacemaker or heart defect, brittle bones, has had previous surgery or injuries that resulted in weakening the breast-bone, and various other reasons for both Tasers and beanbag rounds. Also, beanbag rounds will kill children as if it were a real bullet due to their bones not being fully formed and hardened. Tasers will kill children because they are set to a power for full grown adult criminals. If the child has a gun and points it at a police officer, the officer has no safe way to take down the child. Especially if the officer wants to avoid getting shot by the child who’s pointing a gun at him anyway.

Now I’m sure some of you reading this will think, well what about pepper spray? It only works in very close proximity and tends to backfire just as much as it helps. What about a Taser or Beanbag round just for children? The police officer would have to know ahead of time the perpetrator was a child, which is seldom the case. Also the Police officer would have to carry these extra devices and be able to access them as quickly as their primary weapons or they would be risking those innocent lives again that are in danger from a violent child with a gun! If you think that still sounds reasonable, please go to your local police department and ask to speak with an average uniformed officer. Take a good look at the equipment they already carry. Ask the police officer how much all the equipment they already carry weighs. Ask them how many of their fellow officers suffer from chronic health problems due to carrying all that equipment around with them for their entire shift for their entire career. Then ask yourself if it’s actually reasonable to force that officer to have more equipment and more training for the extremely low occurrence of responding to a violent child with a gun in order to keep that violent criminal alive.

Seriously, please take some time to learn about the facts and reality before yelling out obtuse things like “Shoot to Wound”. Take time to know something about guns before you decide how they should be used, or what they’re capable of. Take some time to think! As the old saying goes, it’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot, than to open your mouth and prove it. 

Why don’t we actually learn from things that inspire us?

How many times have you been inspired by something or someone? How many times have you thought “They Are Amazing!” and just left it at that? I know that at the very least I see one inspiring thing a week. Sometimes one inspiring thing a day, and yet, for some reason that inspiration never holds. Why is that? Do we think that inspiration is only for a certain few? That those inspiring people are rare and that we can’t become them? It honestly makes no sense to me. 

Lately I wonder if the reason the inspiration doesn’t hold is because as a people we spend so much time being told You Can’t, You Aren’t Good Enough, You Don’t Matter that it has actually programed our minds to believe it. There are even meditation experts who say such thoughts to program our mental computer (Brain) and trap them into a negative pattern.

How to make it stop! The hardest question there is. Those meditation experts say you can think your way out by retraining your mind. Some others just kick on their stubborn streak and decide they will be the best no matter what! The rest of us, I think we just need to keep trying, fail, try again, and repeat until we succeed in becoming someone who inspires others. We have to decide that while failing sucks, we will only fail attempt and we’ll try again as soon as we have made some adjustments to our plans.

Anyone can succeed. Literally ANYONE! The only real trick is to not give up. Become a sore loser, refuse to stay beaten. Make your goals happen even if they take a lifetime.

This is all stuff I need to do myself. I hope you will join me! Heck some of you may even beat me to the finish line. I’m okay with that, just remember to keep looking for me to catch up and pass you! 

Courtesy signal

Let’s talk about the Courtesy Signal on a car and what it means. The Courtesy Signal (Turn Signal, Blinker, Indicator, or whatever name you use) is simply there to notify other drivers of your intent to turn or to change lanes.

This is not a request for permission. If a car is diagonally in front of you and their courtesy signal comes on showing they are about to move into your lane, you do not have any right at all to speed up, block them, honk at them because you speed up trying to block them, flip them off for getting in front of you, or any of the other childish and moronic things drivers seem to do anymore.

For your information, if a driver is on an On Ramp, or another such lane that is ending, and they are signaling that they are coming into your lane and you block them… you are legally guilty of Road Rage and any other laws the responding office can come up with after the car crash you create.

Simply put, when someone has their Courtesy Signal on, be courteous and let them over. If you are too road ragey, too stupid, or too oblivious to let that driver over, please turn in your driver’s license and relegate yourself to public transit for your own safety as well as everyone else’s.

There are enough traffic issues and bad drivers out there already, don’t be a jerk to the few who actually signal and follow other traffic rules. Remember, everything is on camera now. Many people have their own dash cameras. Many people record cell phone video randomly trying to be the next 15 minute of fame viral video person. If you choose to do something rude in traffic because you feel anonymous during the morning or evening rush, don’t. There is a very real possibility that it will end up on the internet, the news, and possibly even on your mother, grandmother, or boss’s computer or TV screen.

Again, if you are too childish to drive please turn in your driver’s license and use public transit. We’ll all be safer for it. 

Bathrooms and Gender

Okay, let’s talk about bathrooms and gender. This is a topic that is quickly becoming a pet peeve for me and many others. So here is my point of view. 

Gender is not a mental condition. You either have a penis or you have a vulva. If you have a penis you are scientifically male. If you have a vulva, you are scientifically female. Yes, you can have a penis and love things typically associated with women. You can have a vulva and love things typically associated with men. But that does not change your scientific gender!

What’s that have to do with bathrooms? Simple, if you have a penis you are physically able to use a urinal and if you have a vulva you are not. Most men’s bathrooms are mostly urinals with one or two stalls for when men have to poop. Women’s bathrooms are entirely stalls because a vulva is not conducive for using a urinal. By stating that people who mentally feel they are the opposite gender should be allowed to use that genders bathroom is effectively ordering all businesses to remodel their bathrooms. Not only is that unfair, but it is also expensive, and for historical buildings it is completely unrealistic.

Adding to that, the lines for women’s bathrooms are already long enough! Do we really want to add in people who have a penis to that line just because they want to wear dresses and high heels? Do we really want to have that long line for the one or two stalls in the men’s room so women who like jeans and short hair can take them up while some poor guy who desperately needs to poop has to wait an hour? It’s not even close to being a fair situation. Bathrooms have been designed for hundreds of years based on gender. If you want ask that future bathrooms not have that allowance, that’s fine, but please don’t bankrupt some poor Mom & Pop business just because you feel like a gender that you scientifically aren’t!

If the words on the door stating Mens and Womens are offensive, we can change them to Penis and Vulva for you. It will still be just and gender specific from a scientific stand point, but maybe sensitive emotions will be happier.

I have no problem with people who feel they are in the wrong body. It’s fine if you have issues with what you were born with, many people do. Please though, be reasonable! You can’t change your scientific gender by simply feeling it’s wrong and wishing. There are too many side effects from what is being asked. The cost of renovating every public bathroom in the country is the one. The ability for sexual predators to have easier access is a second (and yes, there are already cases of this happening in states with gender fluid bathroom laws). Third, is the very simple fact that denying science and denying who you are has never, and will never, be healthy.

I for one, don’t care if you have a penis and happen to love dresses and thongs or if you have a vulva and happen to love hockey getting into spitting contests. Be and do what makes you happy! Just remember that your Rights to happiness stop when it harms others. Putting someone out of business is causing harm. Opening access for sexual predators is harm. Most importantly… making someone have to wait an extra-long time to poop just because you don’t want to admit your scientific gender is a fact and not an emotion… that is seriously cruel! 

Anger Management

Anger and rage are still taboo topics in society. If someone comes out as having a bad temper they are almost immediately ostracized by the public at large. Unfortunately, just like so many other things, anger is something we should talk about more, not less.

Let’s start of by making some clarifications: there is anger, ANGER, RAGE, and Blind Rage or Fury. These are not all the same thing, but levels of escalation. If you’re angry you likely just found someone keyed your new car. If you’re ANGRY then you just keyed someone’s car. If you’re in a RAGE, you likely just took a baseball bat to someone’s car while they were in it. And if you are in a Blind Rage or Fury, you may be soon guilty of murder. All these versions of anger though… they come from triggered emotions. Some people jump from annoyed to being a fury because of an emotional backload that keeps the person in a constant state of agitation. How do I know this? Simple, I’m that person. I have had issues with Rage and Fury my entire life. It’s something I’ve had to work on my entire life to understand and control. I’ve tried many recommended tools, and I’ve found many of my own from other sources. That’s what I want to share with you.

Not every anger management tool out there will work for every person. We are all individuals after all. However, by learning what works for others we can find ideas about what may work for us. Don’t get discouraged or angry about techniques that don’t work for you. Knowing that technique doesn’t work for you is actually a type of success. You have to rule out what doesn’t work before you can find what does work. For me, the whole “Just count to 10 if you start feeling angry” trick is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of! Seriously, how the F*** is that useful. All it does is annoy me more because I feel like I’m a grade schooler again being looked down on by everyone else in class.

What does work for me? There are a few things that help me keep my cool. First, I walk away. If whatever it was (human, computer, cell phone, door jamb after stubbing my toe, whatever) is still in my sight, I’m likely to lash out. When I get angry at any level my body tends to shoot out a lot of adrenaline instantly and it clouds my judgment just as quickly. The second thing that helped me start to get control was a nice heavy 80lbs punching bag. Due to that rush, I needed to clear my system as fast as possible of adrenaline so I could get my mind back on track. Nothing clears the head like some physical exercise for me. The third trick I learned was from a book titled Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams. There is a story in the book about the author having a panic attack while facing a major health issue and Joe talks about how he recognized how the panic attack was only making his situation worse. Joe also talks about the techniques he used to calm down and regain control of his body’s actions which arrested the panic attacks effects on his already dire situation. When I read that section of the book it was dawned on me that I could use the same techniques for my temper if I could just train my brain to recognize the situation like Joe was able to.

With this new technique idea in mind I started consciously monitoring my emotions as often as I could. It was not easy and even to this day it’s not always easy to keep a mental third person point of view on myself and my actions. It does oddly work though, and every year, more and more I’m able to keep that point of view active and keep my temper under control with ever increasing regularity. Some days I do still need to go hit my punching bag, or spend a couple hours at the gym to clear myself of building stress, but I am now much more confident that when RAGE and FURY hit me it will be for a justifiable reason rather than because I stubbed my toe, and if I do need to physically let loose… I know I’ll only hit my punching bag.

Again not everyone is the same when it comes to anger, rage, and fury. We all have our own minds and life circumstances. However, if you are reading this and have temper issues yourself, I hope my conversation with you here will help you get the control you need or at least give you an idea for how to work on getting the control you need. No one enjoys being controlled by their emotions. Especially those of us whose main emotion seems to get us in all sorts of trouble, but hiding the fact that we have such emotions just places a greater burden on yourself and makes your temper that much more volatile. Take a step back mentally, physically, or both and do what you need to be in control of yourself the way you want to be in control. Trust me, if I can do it… anyone can! I just wish I’d have known all this when I was a kid. Then my family, the walls in the house, the doors in the house, and steering wheel of my first car, and several other things would have remained in much better condition! These days, the only thing I feel like I’m likely to damage is my own wrists from the meditative effect I get while hitting my heavy bag or lifting weights a few racks up from what I should probably be using on those bad stress days.

I hope you feel better about who you are after reading this. It was and still is a hard subject for me to talk about openly because I hate being out of control. However, taking control and starting a discussion with you all, is another step I’ve been needing to take.

Take care, and be peaceful. 

It Could Never Happen Here

“It could never happen here.” Is one of the dumbest thought patterns humans seem to have. I’m not sure why the human brain is designed for denial, but it most certainly is. This mentality of seeing something bad happen elsewhere in the country, or in the world and people thinking “How sad, I’m glad that could never happen here.” is a trap of the denial mindset. We need to break out of that mental pattern and admit that anything can happen at any time and plan for ways to prevent it.

How can we break that mindset? There are a few ways. First, anytime something bad or strange happens take a few moments to think about what you would do in that situation. A major example that is currently going on would be Riots. This year we’ve had a few riots in the United States, how would you react if there was one in your city? Would you get caught up in the insanity and participate? Would you hide in your home with a frying pan clutched in your hand all night? Would you sit at home with your home defense firearm of choice nearby and loaded? How long would you stay like that? How long could you stay like that? Do you have provisions (Food, water, candles, flashlights, batteries)? It’s something to think about.

Personally, I think if riots started in my city I’d be at home with the lights off and every firearm I own loaded and close by. I know I have food and water to get through at least one night safely. Fortunately many riots die down during daylight hours, but what if it didn’t? A lot of people joke about what they’d do during the “Zombie Apocalypse” riots are just the real world version of that. A severe storm can place you in a similar situation as well though. However, it’s something that most people never really plan for. You can’t always make a last minute fix work. This is why planning is necessary.

Back to our example of a riot: night one, hide out. What about morning after one? Seeing as how the riots that have happened this year have always lasted more than one night, and have escalated on the second, what is your next step? I have already decided that if the riot did die down on the morning after, I’d pack up everything I care about and need then split town. Sometimes just a few miles will get you to a safe area to weather the next night while being able to sleep. You may even be close enough to still go to work. If you can’t make it to work though, call in sick. If you’ll be fired over it, so be it. Your safety is far more important than a job. Your family’s safety is far more important than a paycheck. Do what you must to be safe!

What if the riot doesn’t die down or roads/bridges are too damaged for you to get away? That’s where you hope you hope you have your “Zombie apocalypse” survival kit stocked up! Either way, start inventorying everything you have in your house. Figure out what you have and see if you can make it work. If you don’t have water and the water is still working, fill up every container you have! Heck, clean and fill your bathtub up with water too, it’s better to skip bathing than to die of thirst. Next, check on your friendly, peace loving neighbors. Do not go to houses you don’t know, do not go to the house that has the delinquent teens who get brought home by the police on a regular basis. Check on the old lady who lives across the street, but do so carefully! Everyone will be scared and on a shoot first fight or flight mode. Call out from the curb if you’re approaching a house, call out from the hall if you’re in an apartment/condo complex. Keep your voice calm and soothing though! Keep your protection with you at all times!!! Be paranoid, but don’t be too scared to take action. If you can get your neighbors together you can share resources. Someone may have a ton of batteries, someone may be a hobby candle maker, someone may be a doomsayer and have a fully stocked bunker with enough provisions to keep the entire peace loving collection of neighbors safe and fed.  Again though, Be Safe! Riots can bring out the dark side of anyone, so keep that protection at hand whether it be a steak knife, a cast iron skillet, or an AR-15. Get the best group you can. Grab your emergency documents and your backpack of things you can’t live without. Get your group together and stay in the safest location you can get to with your neighborhood peace loving pack of allies. It’s always safer to be in a group than to be alone. The larger the group of peace loving people, the better!

Do I sound like a crazy person? Probably, but I’d rather be safe and crazy sounding than dead with people thinking I was reasonable.

“It could never happen here.” You’ll be surprised just how easily it can happen here. Being prepared in case something bad happens is always better than assuming nothing bad can ever happen. As the old saying goes “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.” There is no harm done by being prepared. No one gets hurt. However, if you aren’t prepared, there is a much greater chance of something bad happening. Switch off your denial setting in your mind and make sure you are ready. I’m sure there were many people in Milwaukee and many in Charlotte who “knew” riots would never happen there.  

…and the Anti-Gun community proves the Pro-Gun point once again

So tonight a sound bite is going around again claiming that Donald Trump is calling for Hillary’s assassination. He did not say anything at all along those lines!

Effectively Trump said, if you are anti-gun and believe being gun-free is the path to peace, then start with yourself. People who are pro-gun have also said this same thing many times. Basically, Mrs. Clinton, please put your money where your mouth is. Remove the guns from yourself (No idea if she’s armed or not, just covering all the bases.) and from your security team and show us that you are willing to start the process.

No one is saying she can’t have a tactical vest for protection, no one is saying her security can’t have vests. Heck no one is saying they can’t have Tasers, Billy clubs, or even baseball bats. All Trump and the rest of the Pro-gun community have asked time and time again is for Hillary to live by the principals she professes are the future America needs to fight and reduce gun violence.

That’s it. That’s all that was said/inferred/meant/ yadda yadda yadda…. If you are anti-gun you will only ever be seen as a hypocrite if you are simultaneously using guns for protection. Even worse, you are proving yourself to be a coward.

Here’s the real truth. Hillary Clinton knows she’s safer with armed security. She knows that the “Common sense gun law” debate is a joke and waste of time. She also knows that it’s polarizing and is good for making each side more divided. What Hillary (and Obama) has yet to realize is: Guns are not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. There are a lot of Democrat’s who are hunters, gun collectors, or competition sport shooters. It’s a losing topic, but it’s a great distraction!

You don’t have to take my word for it, do your own research. Yes, I could share a million links on the subject, but someone would claim they were biased or from ‘untrustworthy sources’, or some other reason. However, I will make a recommendation on where to start. Chicago (Obama’s favorite city) has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Look at gun violence numbers there, then compare them to a state with less strict gun laws. Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska are a few I can think of off the top of my head. California has strict gun laws as well and may be, size wise, more comparable to Texas.

As for what Trump said, seriously, calm down. He in no way suggested assassination! The Democrats assuming that Trumps remark suggesting that Hillary disarm to prove her point means she will be assassinated, just proves that the Pro-gun people are correct in stating that no law stop criminals, but a fear of being shot does! 

It's Constitution Day!

The anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of The United States of America!

There are many so many things citizens of The United States take for granted. If you read The Constitution you will quickly see so many things you do daily that were specifically written out as an Unalienable Right.

Why did the founding fathers and those who came after feel the need to put these Rights in writing? That's simple. They'd just fought the Revolutionary War so they could stop having these rights repressed by tyrannical governments.

The very First Amendment of the Constitution was: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." You know when you say Obama is a jerk, or that George W. Bush was a war monger. Or you state that the Christian God is a fairy tale. If you said that before the Revolutionary War you would be jailed for it... sometimes you would have your tongue cut out, or just be hung for treasonous speech. Yeah, it really was that bad.

The Second Amendment was the Right to Bear Arms:" 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." Why was this the second thing the founding fathers thought to put in to place? Simple, again, they just fought a war to win their freedom and wanted to ensure that if anything ever went wrong in the future that The People would be able to fight to keep their Rights. They wanted as many citizens to be armed as possible so that they could challenge the government should it turn tyrannical at any point in the future.

The Third Amendment added was" No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." This was a major issue in times past but less of an issue now. Still something to look up and understand the importance of. If you are a poor farmer and you suddenly were told you had to house and feed 20 soldiers, you wouldn't be very happy.

The Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Is to prevent legal harassment. If you don't have a justifiable reason to accuse someone of a crime, no law enforcement agency can search or seize your person, home, or property." (Again, this was a huge issue pre-revolution and there are even issues today along the same lines.)

The Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." This may be one the the most important parts of the entire document. It is also why 2nd amendment supporters and many others are against the current "No fly, No Buy" gun restriction laws the Democratic Party keeps pushing for.

These are just the first 5 amendments of The Constitution. There are many more and as a citizen of The United States of America, you have the right to know them all. You can read the entire constitution at will in many places. The sections I copied are from http://www.constitutionday.com/constitutional-amendments-bill-of-rights.html