The Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy in the military recently came under quite a bit of scrutiny as a part of Obama's campaign promises. Before 2010 ended, he also wanted to end the restrictions on the LGBT serving our country on sharing their true orientations.
Personally, I think there was a lot of hype made over a matter that didn't need it.
Really, the way things have been talked about it feels like if you're in the military, you can expect soon for people to be dancing around singing "I'm gaaaaaaaaaay~!" I know that won't happen, but that's how it feels. There is just so much media hype and whatnot that it's insane.
I'm on the fence about it myself.
I do think it's wonderful that they're repealing it for the sole fact that I never liked that men and women could receive not just a discharge, but a dishonorable one at that for being gay and wanting to serve their country. Love is not supposed to be a crime, but under that policy it was. Being removed dishonorably from the military can lead to issues with getting employed as a civilian, with how the public treats you, with getting certain permissions, and a whole mess of other things. And it's not like people can see why you were dishonorably discharged necessarily, and you might not get a chance to explain.
So effectively, it was something that could ruin your life.
By removing the DADT policy, we're now opening up the ranks to the LGBT free of the fear that they have to hide lest they lose everything no matter what.
But if I were in the military, I certainly wouldn't tell anyone that I like women.
Even though the policy is being repealed, I don't think it's a good idea to be completely open about it. If it comes up, fine, but really... think about it. If you're serving a month long duty on a submarine, you're going to be stuck in close quarters. That alone is going to make for some discomfort, because as humans we do like our space. Now add in to this factor some homophobia and an openly gay sailor (we're not going to dive into the jokes on this one lol), and you've just poured the powder out of the keg.
Let us also look at women in the military. It's been coming out in the news recently about the high rape issues there are. What makes people think that this won't carry over to the LGBT crowd too? No, I wouldn't want to take that chance. Because no matter what policy says, it's been shown repeatedly that officers can and do choose to look the other way.
So looking at it, I'd say yes to not allowing the dishonorable discharge anymore, and boo to actually going around sharing that you're gay. It's just not a good idea.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sticks and Stones
I've been blogging about the news a lot lately. Might as well keep up the trend!
Related Article: Source
Mark Twain was an amazing author who wrote two of the most controversial books; Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In their day, the satire and topics in them were controversial. Today, it's the liberal use of the word "nigger" that has many people up in arms.
I'm sorry to anyone offended by it, but the book should remain as it is. I don't see the purpose to altering such an amazing literary work because we are ashamed of our history. These words are not being used because the book is made to offend someone. They are not written in there because it's known to be wrong to say. Nigger is in that book because in 1885, that is what black people were often known as.
It was a mere 20 years after the civil war. While colored was probably slowly seeping into culture at that point as a more acceptable term, we were still adjusting to not being slave owners, and to black people being a part of the free population. It takes years for people to fully accept such monumental change, and in that time, people didn't have to.
Changing words in the book to "not offend people" is like trying to change our history, and hide things. We're supposed to be uncomfortable when learning about things we did that are now embarrassing. If we weren't, then we wouldn't have learned anything. And if we don't share the past in the best ways possible to teach about it, we are doomed to repeat it.
Let's look into the origins of the word a bit, to understand better why it really did start as just a word, and why it is the actions that make it something to be disgusted about, and not the word itself.
"The origin of the word "nigger" is in the Latin "niger," meaning "black." The word, as "niger," entered into Spanish and Portuguese. Early Modern French obtained it from Portuguese where it became "negre" and "negro," respectively. English acquired the word from French, which was manifested in earlier English variants, such as "negar," "neegar," "neger," and "niggor." "Neger" is a current word in both Dutch and German, as well as Scandinavian languages. " - Source
"In researching this story, I looked for the origins of 'nigger.' Some scholars say 'nigger' was derived from the Latin word for the color black which is spelled 'n-i-g-e-r.' Then I spoke with Professor Robin Lakoff. She's a sociolinguistics professor at the University of California's-Berkeley Campus.
She believes the word 'nigger' is a deliberate mispronounciation of the word 'negro.' That, she says, is why the word has so much negative power." -Source
"Etymologically nigger is a doublet with negro as they both ultimately derive from niger, the Latin word for "black". Note that it does not necessarily mean "a black person", just "black" the color. On the other hand, Africa's Niger river and the country of Nigeria were given those names because of the color of the people there. Nigger entered Middle English as neger, a form of the Old French negre, itself borrowed from the Spanish negro, "black"." -Source
"The modern word nigger is a variant of an older term, neger, pronounced with a long /ee/ sound, which is still in use in Caribbean dialect. It comes from the French nègre, in use to mean a black person since at least 1516, and ultimately from the Latin niger, meaning black. The word negro comes from the same Latin root, although the route negro took into English was via Spanish, not French. " -Source
So as we can see, the word "nigger" comes from Latin, and as Americans we bastardized the word to suit our needs. The word itself is a mispronunciation for the Latin word for black. It's not offensive in that sense. It's when you add the history behind it that we have a problem.
When Mark Twain wrote those books, much of that history was still being written. "Nigger" was still a commonly and openly accepted term, and probably was not as derogatory back then as it is now.
So now, by changing the verbiage of the books, we're essentially trying to re-write and change history. Why? Why not use it to teach instead? Why not teach the origins, and why it has become to mean something so different? Because let me tell you what, finding the origins of the word is no simple matter. I don't trust Wikipedia necessarily, so finding what I did took a bit of digging. But I'm always happier to be informed.
No, the books need to stay as they are, and people need to understand where the negativity comes from, and why it wasn't there yet at the time of writing. Because I firmly believe that it's only through learning both the good and the bad, that someone can understand properly why they should and shouldn't do something.
So rather than suppress it, we're better off to use the books to teach with, so that kids understand why they shouldn't use the word. And so that we can better understand the rich history our ancestors have left to us, for better or for worse.
Related Article: Source
Mark Twain was an amazing author who wrote two of the most controversial books; Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In their day, the satire and topics in them were controversial. Today, it's the liberal use of the word "nigger" that has many people up in arms.
I'm sorry to anyone offended by it, but the book should remain as it is. I don't see the purpose to altering such an amazing literary work because we are ashamed of our history. These words are not being used because the book is made to offend someone. They are not written in there because it's known to be wrong to say. Nigger is in that book because in 1885, that is what black people were often known as.
It was a mere 20 years after the civil war. While colored was probably slowly seeping into culture at that point as a more acceptable term, we were still adjusting to not being slave owners, and to black people being a part of the free population. It takes years for people to fully accept such monumental change, and in that time, people didn't have to.
Changing words in the book to "not offend people" is like trying to change our history, and hide things. We're supposed to be uncomfortable when learning about things we did that are now embarrassing. If we weren't, then we wouldn't have learned anything. And if we don't share the past in the best ways possible to teach about it, we are doomed to repeat it.
Let's look into the origins of the word a bit, to understand better why it really did start as just a word, and why it is the actions that make it something to be disgusted about, and not the word itself.
"The origin of the word "nigger" is in the Latin "niger," meaning "black." The word, as "niger," entered into Spanish and Portuguese. Early Modern French obtained it from Portuguese where it became "negre" and "negro," respectively. English acquired the word from French, which was manifested in earlier English variants, such as "negar," "neegar," "neger," and "niggor." "Neger" is a current word in both Dutch and German, as well as Scandinavian languages. " - Source
"In researching this story, I looked for the origins of 'nigger.' Some scholars say 'nigger' was derived from the Latin word for the color black which is spelled 'n-i-g-e-r.' Then I spoke with Professor Robin Lakoff. She's a sociolinguistics professor at the University of California's-Berkeley Campus.
She believes the word 'nigger' is a deliberate mispronounciation of the word 'negro.' That, she says, is why the word has so much negative power." -Source
"Etymologically nigger is a doublet with negro as they both ultimately derive from niger, the Latin word for "black". Note that it does not necessarily mean "a black person", just "black" the color. On the other hand, Africa's Niger river and the country of Nigeria were given those names because of the color of the people there. Nigger entered Middle English as neger, a form of the Old French negre, itself borrowed from the Spanish negro, "black"." -Source
"The modern word nigger is a variant of an older term, neger, pronounced with a long /ee/ sound, which is still in use in Caribbean dialect. It comes from the French nègre, in use to mean a black person since at least 1516, and ultimately from the Latin niger, meaning black. The word negro comes from the same Latin root, although the route negro took into English was via Spanish, not French. " -Source
So as we can see, the word "nigger" comes from Latin, and as Americans we bastardized the word to suit our needs. The word itself is a mispronunciation for the Latin word for black. It's not offensive in that sense. It's when you add the history behind it that we have a problem.
When Mark Twain wrote those books, much of that history was still being written. "Nigger" was still a commonly and openly accepted term, and probably was not as derogatory back then as it is now.
So now, by changing the verbiage of the books, we're essentially trying to re-write and change history. Why? Why not use it to teach instead? Why not teach the origins, and why it has become to mean something so different? Because let me tell you what, finding the origins of the word is no simple matter. I don't trust Wikipedia necessarily, so finding what I did took a bit of digging. But I'm always happier to be informed.
No, the books need to stay as they are, and people need to understand where the negativity comes from, and why it wasn't there yet at the time of writing. Because I firmly believe that it's only through learning both the good and the bad, that someone can understand properly why they should and shouldn't do something.
So rather than suppress it, we're better off to use the books to teach with, so that kids understand why they shouldn't use the word. And so that we can better understand the rich history our ancestors have left to us, for better or for worse.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Birds Birds Everywhere!
So I posted this blog entry a little while back. Not even a week ago. As if that weren't a freaky enough thing to be blogging about, I get to add on!
Article 1: Source
"NEW ORLEANS — It isn't easy being a blackbird in the South.
First, New Year's Eve fireworks were blamed in central Arkansas for making thousands of blackbirds confused, crashing into homes, cars and each other. Then 300 miles to the south in Louisiana, power lines likely killed about 450 birds, littering a highway near Baton Rouge."
Article 2: Source
"STOCKHOLM — Officials say about 50 birds have been found dead on a street in Sweden.
Veterinarian Robert ter Horst says the cause of jackdaws' deaths was unclear but that fireworks were set off near the scene Tuesday night.
The birds were found dead on Wednesday."
Right, so now we've got more dead in Louisiana, and it's spreading to Sweden! This is just plain creepy.
And I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a minute that tons of fire works are responsible for both mass deaths. It just seems too unlikely that such a thing would happen twice for the same reason. And I don't believe that so many birds would fly into a power line and die. Especially since at least the ones in the states were all the same kind of bird.
This is freaky. I don't have an explanation for it, but I doubt what the experts are saying.
Article 1: Source
"NEW ORLEANS — It isn't easy being a blackbird in the South.
First, New Year's Eve fireworks were blamed in central Arkansas for making thousands of blackbirds confused, crashing into homes, cars and each other. Then 300 miles to the south in Louisiana, power lines likely killed about 450 birds, littering a highway near Baton Rouge."
Article 2: Source
"STOCKHOLM — Officials say about 50 birds have been found dead on a street in Sweden.
Veterinarian Robert ter Horst says the cause of jackdaws' deaths was unclear but that fireworks were set off near the scene Tuesday night.
The birds were found dead on Wednesday."
Right, so now we've got more dead in Louisiana, and it's spreading to Sweden! This is just plain creepy.
And I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a minute that tons of fire works are responsible for both mass deaths. It just seems too unlikely that such a thing would happen twice for the same reason. And I don't believe that so many birds would fly into a power line and die. Especially since at least the ones in the states were all the same kind of bird.
This is freaky. I don't have an explanation for it, but I doubt what the experts are saying.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The World is not Safe for Children
Video: Click Here
I just watched that and it's just... wow. It's really sad to see that most people are too afraid to get involved and try to help. Either because they're scared of the attacker, they don't know if it's really a kidnapping, or if they're afraid the police will somehow end up pinning it on them... it's just sad.
Two hours though... that's just way too long. Most people would be long gone with their victim. What's more sad is it took two young men who probably have no children of their own to figure it out and take action. And boy were they! Someone was about to get the shit kicked out of them if it weren't a staged kidnapping. Wow!
For those who are wondering what the video is, in short it's a news reel of a staged kidnapping. The guy grabs the young girl, and she starts screaming "You're not my daddy! Help me! Someone help me! He's not my daddy!" A lot of people stop and turned to look, but it takes two hours before two young men turn and take off after the guy. The mother of the little girl watched with horror from a van with video cameras that no one would help her child. I'd be horrified too, personally.
Just when we thought the world might be becoming a safer place... it's not.
I just watched that and it's just... wow. It's really sad to see that most people are too afraid to get involved and try to help. Either because they're scared of the attacker, they don't know if it's really a kidnapping, or if they're afraid the police will somehow end up pinning it on them... it's just sad.
Two hours though... that's just way too long. Most people would be long gone with their victim. What's more sad is it took two young men who probably have no children of their own to figure it out and take action. And boy were they! Someone was about to get the shit kicked out of them if it weren't a staged kidnapping. Wow!
For those who are wondering what the video is, in short it's a news reel of a staged kidnapping. The guy grabs the young girl, and she starts screaming "You're not my daddy! Help me! Someone help me! He's not my daddy!" A lot of people stop and turned to look, but it takes two hours before two young men turn and take off after the guy. The mother of the little girl watched with horror from a van with video cameras that no one would help her child. I'd be horrified too, personally.
Just when we thought the world might be becoming a safer place... it's not.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Mom and Pop Should Balance America's Checkbook
It really does amaze me sometimes just how far in debt this country is, and how bad our politicians are doing getting us out of it.
I mean really, many people out there who are 35 years of age or older are perfectly capable of balancing a checkbook and living within their means. They always make sure to double check their receipts and keep good records of where their money is going. And they know how to prioritize what they need.
Look at my own mother for example. She runs her own business, and it's not doing so great. So she hasn't been cashing her paychecks for a while, and instead we've been living off Dad's disability and social security income. This means that we've had to cut back on a few things, and give up the excess.
Christmas was not as extravagant. When we go grocery shopping, we don't buy tons of cookies and bags of candy. We can't go out to just any movie or concert or theatrical performance anymore. While we still have cable, we dropped the extra channels like HBO and Showtime. And all sorts of other things, because that's what we needed to do to make it work.
My parents recognize the fact that you can't keep the same lifestyle when life is constantly changing.
Somehow, our politicians seem to live in this daze that they can let America just stay on its same path, and not worry about where life is taking this country.
We are going further and further into debt every day. And the government keeps instituting useless spending.
I'm sorry, but the health care reform is not needed. We can't afford to add anymore bills right now. We can't have it. Whether or not it oversteps the Constitution (which I do believe it does) doesn't totally matter if we can't afford it.
We need to stop handing out so much to foreign countries in federal aid. No one does the same for us, and what happens outside of America really ought to be none of our business anyways. But most importantly, we can't afford it!
Politicians don't need more money, the country does. So all this shit where they vote themselves another raise... I don't think I need to explain this one.
Welfare needs to be repaired. How many dollars are being wasted by careless spending in this department. To summarize my idea on welfare until I get a chance to go into details on it, basically you put a time limit on welfare. And only in extreme cases are exceptions made. Because welfare is not the same as disability.
Social Security Disability needs to be fixed too. There are some people out there who are abusing this too, and cracking down on it will help. First and foremost though, unless there are some serious extenuating circumstances, you should have to have been paying into the system for a minimum of ten years before you can even qualify for social security. I know there are some people who really don't have a choice, but that's a different story. We're talking about Joe Blow who pulls all the strings possible to get social security and be lazy. Or forges the documents.
Useless committees and such need to be abolished. I'm sure we've got some that just aren't doing anything to help improve the country, but we're sinking billions of dollars into a year. Let's analyze what every committee does in the government, and reduce them. Hell, there are probably redundancies too!
Keep everything transparent too, so Americans can have a say on it. Believe it or not, we're pretty good with money. Well, a chunk of us anyways. And we can help our appointed officials be good with our tax dollars too. Might get the country back on its feet.
And hell, while we're at it lets make the states start budgeting within their means too.
It'd be nice, wouldn't it? To have a perfectly balanced budget? It won't happen though, probably.
I think it's humorous though, that our government, the highest form of leadership and business, cannot get a balanced budget nor are they held accountable for where they spend what. But so help you god if you should be a business owner who gets audited, and you can't account for every last penny to the IRS. If the IRS could audit the government, I bet we'd be appalled.
And I bet we'd have a 100% fresh batch of people in office, because I doubt any of those politicians we have now are above corruption.
So I say throw out the experts, and get rid of the family lines of people who've been in office forever. Drag up the recliners, clip boards, ashtrays, and reading glasses. And hand America's checkbook over to the people who can actually balance one--the moms and pops of the world.
We'd be good to go in no time flat.
I mean really, many people out there who are 35 years of age or older are perfectly capable of balancing a checkbook and living within their means. They always make sure to double check their receipts and keep good records of where their money is going. And they know how to prioritize what they need.
Look at my own mother for example. She runs her own business, and it's not doing so great. So she hasn't been cashing her paychecks for a while, and instead we've been living off Dad's disability and social security income. This means that we've had to cut back on a few things, and give up the excess.
Christmas was not as extravagant. When we go grocery shopping, we don't buy tons of cookies and bags of candy. We can't go out to just any movie or concert or theatrical performance anymore. While we still have cable, we dropped the extra channels like HBO and Showtime. And all sorts of other things, because that's what we needed to do to make it work.
My parents recognize the fact that you can't keep the same lifestyle when life is constantly changing.
Somehow, our politicians seem to live in this daze that they can let America just stay on its same path, and not worry about where life is taking this country.
We are going further and further into debt every day. And the government keeps instituting useless spending.
I'm sorry, but the health care reform is not needed. We can't afford to add anymore bills right now. We can't have it. Whether or not it oversteps the Constitution (which I do believe it does) doesn't totally matter if we can't afford it.
We need to stop handing out so much to foreign countries in federal aid. No one does the same for us, and what happens outside of America really ought to be none of our business anyways. But most importantly, we can't afford it!
Politicians don't need more money, the country does. So all this shit where they vote themselves another raise... I don't think I need to explain this one.
Welfare needs to be repaired. How many dollars are being wasted by careless spending in this department. To summarize my idea on welfare until I get a chance to go into details on it, basically you put a time limit on welfare. And only in extreme cases are exceptions made. Because welfare is not the same as disability.
Social Security Disability needs to be fixed too. There are some people out there who are abusing this too, and cracking down on it will help. First and foremost though, unless there are some serious extenuating circumstances, you should have to have been paying into the system for a minimum of ten years before you can even qualify for social security. I know there are some people who really don't have a choice, but that's a different story. We're talking about Joe Blow who pulls all the strings possible to get social security and be lazy. Or forges the documents.
Useless committees and such need to be abolished. I'm sure we've got some that just aren't doing anything to help improve the country, but we're sinking billions of dollars into a year. Let's analyze what every committee does in the government, and reduce them. Hell, there are probably redundancies too!
Keep everything transparent too, so Americans can have a say on it. Believe it or not, we're pretty good with money. Well, a chunk of us anyways. And we can help our appointed officials be good with our tax dollars too. Might get the country back on its feet.
And hell, while we're at it lets make the states start budgeting within their means too.
It'd be nice, wouldn't it? To have a perfectly balanced budget? It won't happen though, probably.
I think it's humorous though, that our government, the highest form of leadership and business, cannot get a balanced budget nor are they held accountable for where they spend what. But so help you god if you should be a business owner who gets audited, and you can't account for every last penny to the IRS. If the IRS could audit the government, I bet we'd be appalled.
And I bet we'd have a 100% fresh batch of people in office, because I doubt any of those politicians we have now are above corruption.
So I say throw out the experts, and get rid of the family lines of people who've been in office forever. Drag up the recliners, clip boards, ashtrays, and reading glasses. And hand America's checkbook over to the people who can actually balance one--the moms and pops of the world.
We'd be good to go in no time flat.
The Birds
Source Article: Click Here
"Environmental service workers finished picking up the carcasses on Sunday of about 2,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in a central Arkansas town."
Okay... holy smokes. Does anyone else feel like it's some crazy scene that could have been in The Birds? I kinda do. I know that the birds didn't die in the movie, but so many birds dropping out of the sky dead just kind of rings to the same tune. Wow.
I definitely feel bad for the birds though, definitely makes you wonder what would take out so many birds in a one mile area. Even more so, that's a lot of birds of the same kind for such a small area!!! Creepy!
Hopefully though it's from nature, and not humans. But these days you just never know.
Creepy.
"Environmental service workers finished picking up the carcasses on Sunday of about 2,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in a central Arkansas town."
Okay... holy smokes. Does anyone else feel like it's some crazy scene that could have been in The Birds? I kinda do. I know that the birds didn't die in the movie, but so many birds dropping out of the sky dead just kind of rings to the same tune. Wow.
I definitely feel bad for the birds though, definitely makes you wonder what would take out so many birds in a one mile area. Even more so, that's a lot of birds of the same kind for such a small area!!! Creepy!
Hopefully though it's from nature, and not humans. But these days you just never know.
Creepy.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
My Review of SENSEABILITY GAME
Originally submitted at UncommonGoods
Get ready to touch, time, see, smell, balance, bluff, listen, locate and laugh your way through this outrageous game! Senseability is the game that brings you to your senses as teams race to perform fun challenges spread over 10 sensory categories. Could you identify a hidden symbol using only your...
Hilariously Great Time
By Saknika from Saratoga Springs, NY on 1/1/2011
Pros: Interactive, Fun, Entertaining, Can Withstand Use
Cons: Difficult Instructions
Best Uses: Friends, Family, Adults, Teenagers
Describe Yourself: Average Person
Was this a gift?: Yes
This game is best played in large groups with people you're not afraid to be silly around. You'll also want to play in a room with space, because you won't be sitting down for it. Get ready to laugh, because there's no avoiding it! I think the only thing about this game that could be improved on are the card instructions. Sometimes it's easy to understand what you're supposed to do, and sometimes it takes a little bit of asking around to figure it out. But it's worth it, and makes for a lot of great memories. Definitely not for kids though, because it does require some pretty good motor skills and knowledge of life in general.
(legalese)
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