Again...

Unless you were totally unplugged from all forms of information on Monday, you are aware of Monday's shootings at the Navy Yard in Washington, DC.  First, I want to express my deepest sympathy to all the people who lost family and friends in this violent attack.  We have so much that we still do not know.  At this point we know the shooter's name.  Why?  What led to this?  No answers, yet.

What I do know is this.  The victims in these attacks seem to all have one thing in common.  A feeling of helplessness.  They often describe hiding in closets or under desks.  You can literally hear the fear in their voice and rightly so.  I had a friend when I was little.  We were very close friends, but she moved I moved, both many times over.  Our families kept in and out of touch, but I hadn't seen her for years.  I remember finding out that she and 7 other people were killed just before Christmas several years ago by a disgruntled employee.  I remember how I felt when I first heard this.  I remember how angry I was that someone was that cowardly.  I can't imagine what the survivors and their families, as well as the families of the victims are going through.

Sadly, for the victims in these crimes, many of these attacks are in areas where people are not legally allowed to carry weapons for self defense.  I would imagine, in the case of this young man, there would have been many qualified shooters who could have stopped him from his murderous shooting spree.  Major Hasan, the shooter at Ft Hood, chose to fire on defenseless soldiers.  Again, these very qualified soldiers were not allowed to carry weapons for personal defense.  It seems there is always something in common with bullies, cowards, predators and their ilk-  they know where they can do the most harm to people.

What have we learned? Obviously nothing.  Each time one of these horrendous events occurs, our politicians line up and argue both sides of the cause.  What we are left with is a bunch of hot air and that is never helpful.  Simply put, it always reminds me of school and the entire class getting in trouble when one person does something wrong.  Oh, little Johnny wanted to pick a fight at lunch?  The whole class is punished by missing recess.  The whole class suffers.  Little Johnny will probably get hurt tomorrow and we'll go through the whole process again.

The discussion should never start with taking rights away from law abiding people.  They should never be punished for the actions of criminals.  It should also never be assumed that they will commit the heinous crimes these madmen have devised.  We have so many rights in our country.  One of the most important rights in any society is the right to defend oneself.  The right to protect our lives and the lives of those important to us.  We help countries fight for these rights.  Any discussion that begins with taking an inalienable right from law abiding citizens, is moot.

Mental health is an issue that is briefly discussed and then left.  It's the third rail of health care.  Honestly, if it 's bad now, it is not going to get better with the implementation of Obama care.  There are serious issues that need to be discussed within the mental health topic.  We briefly touch them, then quickly begin arguing about guns.  If you can help the troubled mind, you can go a long way to stop this kind of violence.

So, as the discussion heats up again.  Let's be thoughtful about it.  Let's be thoughtful about what the real answers are.  Self defense, conceal carry, these are not bad words.  They are proven to work.  Mental health and the weakness of that system right now.  There is so much that can be fixed there.  Let's start somewhere.  Finally, human life... every human life, is so very important.  Can we start treating them with dignity and respect from day one to the end?  Maybe we can just start with that.

September 11th, Conspiracy Theories, Radical Islam, Freedom... Or, Simply Put, What is Going Through My Head Right Now.

As I was reading everyone's posts on Facebook this morning about the September 11th attacks, something just hit me.  Maybe a couple things hit me, not just one.  First,  we live in a world of constant information. The majority of America saw the attacks happen in real time, BUT, there are people who say it was a facade.  A giant conspiracy.  The government did it.  The Jews did it.  Whatever people come up with, it's ridiculous.  The Boston bombings are recent in our memories. There was the same conspiracy theory reactions to them.   Are we at the point in life that we believe what someone wrote on a computer more than what we see and hear with our own eyes?  Yeah, this is a real still photo of the plane hitting the building.  Unfortunately, it did happen and to far too many people it was their last day on this earth.

Photo Courtesy of http://images.nationalgeographic.com/

I think we do this for a reason. I think we don't want to believe there is that kind of evil in the world. We want so believe we are all good and want the best for each other. We don't. We want what we want.  These radicals want an end to civilized society. They want Sharia law.  Look at what is happening in the middle east right now.  Look at what happened a year ago in Benghazi.  We can go back further than that, but why?  Again, it's painful to look at because it's the worst parts of humanity.  It's real.

We can go into the theology of all this,  but here is the thing.   We are all made in God's image.  That's the good side of us.  The side that is heroic and runs to save people in a burning building.  The side that overcomes fear, to keep others safe.  We are also given free will.  God didn't want a bunch of mind numbed robots walking around.  He gave us the choice choose Him and choose life, or choose evil and choose death.  Far too many of us choose death.  When it happens, we suffer as a whole. 

I will say briefly, that there is a better way.  God made it by sending His Son to die for us all.  If you want to know about it, here is a passage that might help you.  It's pretty simple, actually it's very simple: Romans 10

So today, while we remember September 11.  Pray for wisdom to see through the conspiracies.   Pray for the people all over the world who are being oppressed by radical Islam.  Christians who are being killed because they will not renounce their faith in countries like Egypt and Syria.  Churches that are being burned down.  Pray for the children who live under such brutality.   Pray for freedom for these people.  Not just American freedom, freedom in God. While you're praying, thank God for your freedom, because as September 11 showed me, it's not to be taken for granted.

Robert Griffin THE Third...

The other day while I was riding in the truck, I was listening to the local sports radio that carries a certain unnamed 4-letter mega sports channel.  The host of the radio show was complaining about RG3 and how much press he was getting.  The first thing I did was scream, 'Then shut up!".  Of course, the radio did not relay my message of wisdom to the host and he kept speaking.

You see, the host's mega channel as been promoting Robert to the inth degree.  Robert has been the first story in every broadcast for the last few months.  For example- Robert says he wants to play.  Coach Shanahan says Robert can't play right now.... In depth coverage with our NFL insiders to follow in a few minutes.  What do the insiders say, you ask?  Well, basically that Robert wants to play, but his coach wants him healthy.  Ahhh, Duh?!  Robert's knee brace was off when he came out to practice!!!!  Oh the humanity!  Do we have a clip of that?

The host was also lamenting that Robert had a documentary on the 4-letter mega sports channel.  REALLY?  It's your channel!  Go to the network and say, "Enough is enough.  We are not reporting any more about Robert."  Isn't the fact that he is complaining about the documentary bringing publicity to said documentary?  Seriously, give me a break.

So in the spirit of complaining about sports figures and the fame they are being given, I have a list for the 4 letter mega sports channel, which I will now refer to as ESPN.

1.ESPN,  I am tired of you building up people, to only tear them down.  The list is too large to mention, but lets just name RG3, Tebow, A-Rod and Johnny Football (ok, so the last two may deserve the tearing down part a bit) to start out with.

2. I want to know what is happening in the world of sports.  I want to see replays of key plays in games.  I want to know who is getting signed by whom.  Who has been cut.  I want to watch live sports.  I want SPORTS STUFF!!!  Lots of it.  Stop the blabbing.

3. I do not want to see any more chickified stories about "so and so" or "what's their name".  Stop playing stories with the slow sappy music and people crying.  Please reserve those for news programs or Oprah's next interview.  I want to see home runs and run saving catches, football hits and touchdowns, NASCAR crashes, basketball winning shots, and of course GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLSSSS!!!!!!!!  If I want to be moved to tears, I can watch The Notebook.

4. Lastly, keep the politics out of sports.  The thing is, sports is a getaway from the stress of the real world.  I don't want to know about any politician's prognostication on the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the World Series... You get it.  They are politicians.  Most of them have never been athletes.  If you really want to mix it up, go to B-Dubs and get your normal guy or gal watching the game to give their pick.  It would probably be a lot more entertaining.