Posts Tagged ‘government’

Coming Out

Posted: March 25, 2014 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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This year in Ohio, same-sex marriage is on the ballot. As someone who supports LGBT rights, I’m throwing my support in for anyone who wants to marry someone regardless of their sex. It’s only just right.

But besides that, there’s something else I want to share with you all. I’m bisexual. I’ve been bisexual for nearly 21 years (though I’ve only just recently realized it) and I’ll be bisexual for the rest of my life. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

For those of you who aren’t very well-versed in bisexuality (or in the LGBT community at all, for that matter), this only means that I am attracted to men as well as women. I don’t really have a preference or a set type. All I care about is that I’m happy with the person I’m with and if they’re happy with me. I’m not confused or unsure of which one I really like, as some–even members of the LGBT community–might think. I also am not confused, living a horrid lifestyle, or have the Devil whispering in my ear (I think he’d rather whisper in the ears of Assad or Putin than in mine). It’s a biological trait based on a combination of several genes, and there could be a good argument that it runs in my family.

Also, I’m not oversexed or always looking at guys and girls in a sexual way. If I’m oversexed it’s because I’m a healthy young man in college, and we’re all oversexed to some degree. Also, don’t flatter yourself. I don’t look at every person hoping and praying for a hook-up, including you. I’m not even sure what my type is, so don’t assume you’re it. And I’m also not looking to molest kids or brainwash kids. The monsters who molest kids are only looking for power over victims or because they can’t rise to the occasion (so to speak) with adults, so they target kids. And you can’t brainwash kids to be LGBT: like I said before, it’s genetic. If you’re kid is LGBT, it’s because they were that way at conception. And the more you try to prove me wrong or pray away the gay or whatever, the more you’ll find I’m right.

And the LGBT community is not a cabal or a bunch of bullies. If there’s a cabal, gay marriage would already be legal in every nation on earth and anti-gay rhetoric would result in prison sentences. Also, calling us bullies is saying that a small minority, maybe 10-20% of the population at the most, is more powerful than the heterosexual majority and is able to beat up straight people on the streets. I really don’t think that’s the reality. Do you?

I also don’t let my sexuality define me. I’m not that kid from Glee who everybody identifies as “the gay guy” or “the gay guy with the really high voice”. I identify more with the fact that I’m a horror writer or that I’m Jewish than I do with my sexuality. So if you start calling me “the bisexual horror writer”, I’ll counter that with “I’m a writer that just happens to be attracted to both men and women.” And most people wouldn’t realize my sexuality if they looked at me. They might realize I’m eccentric or not your ordinary college student. But my sexuality? I’d need to reveal it or be detected by an actual gaydar for people to realize it.

How did this post become a testimony for the fallacies with most anti-gay arguments and how people should treat me? I’m not sure, but I want to say that I’m happy to let people know finally about who I am and not have to keep it to myself like a disgusting burp. It’s just who I am, like my being a writer or Jewish or that I can make a conversation amusing and strange with just one sentence. Just one part of being me.

And if you don’t like what I am, if you believe differently about my sexuality, then that’s your choice. Just don’t leave hateful comments or try to tell me I can be cured or that I’m going to Hell. I don’t even believe in Hell! Judaism has no set definition of the afterlife. We’re more likely to be plagued by acid reflux than by an afterlife of fire and brimstone for our transgressions, and I’m already on antacids. But if you want to try to change me or make me feel bad for being who I am, then I don’t think we should associate too much, online or offline.

Finally, I would like to close this post with a big, hearty thank you for all of you who’ve supported me and continue to support me. The love I’ve received and the acceptance of who I am is overwhelming, and I’m happy to be surrounded by so many understanding and loving people. It’s great to be who I am and not punished for it. So I bid you adieu till next time, my Followers of Fear (which might be later today, who knows?). And let me say to all those who are suffering from bigotry, it gets better. Don’t despair, because there are so many people like you and we all love you regardless of who you’re attracted to. All you have to do is reach out, and we’ll be there for you.

In the meantime, please enjoy this awesome video: Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It repeats a lot of what I’ve been saying here, and it is an anthem of love, truth, and hope for so many people out there. Please watch it with me. Thank you.

Meeting With The Veterans

Posted: March 22, 2014 in Living and Life
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I had a very exciting day today. A couple members of my study abroad group and I, along with one of the professors leading the trip, went to an assisted-living home to meet some veterans of WWII and Korea. It was quite the edifying experience, and we all enjoyed it immensely.

We arrived there around a quarter to one in the afternoon and were shown up to the multipurpose room on the second floor. There, we met several veterans and one survivor of the Holocaust, a man by the name of Mr. Cohen, whom we all got a chance to speak to first. Mr. Cohen was a German Jew who lost his family at Auschwitz and was lucky enough to survive the camps. It was very humbling to listen to him speak about his experiences, about being evacuated from the camps when the Russians got close, about meeting his wife and moving into America, and most of all about getting the tattoo on his arm and ceasing to be anything more than a number. Mr. Cohen’s granddaughter was there as well, and she urged her grandfather t tell more stories, but he didn’t want to. I can’t blame him, considering the horrors he survived. It must be really difficult to relive them.

Afterwards we split up and went around the room speaking to different people about their experiences. There were two Navy men named Earl and Herb who had served on different ships and tried to give us an idea of what it was like living on a crowded ship like that. Not only did they do that, but they gave me an idea for a novel (sometimes I worry I get too many of those. Lord knows I won’t be able to write all of them at the rate I have ideas). We also spoke to a man who fought in both wars and a woman who packed the parachutes used by paratroopers in the European theater. Apparently she wrote her name on every parachute so that if something went wrong, they could find out who packed the parachute (luckily that eventuality never came up).

And that was just the experiences of me and a friend; the others spoke to vets we never got a chance to speak to. And every time we sat down to speak to someone, time just flew by. Before we knew it there were the final photo ops and the last chances to grab snacks and examine the WWII memorabilia brought in by a man whose father fought in the war (everyone got a little nervous when I started examining a Hitler Youth dagger and a German Luftwaffe short sword. Well, I’m sorry I write horror stories, but there’s no reason to think I’d actually use them! I don’ t kill people outside the books). And before we left, we all got some souvenirs: tiny can openers to open C-rations with. I’m not sure how we ended up getting those, but I was definitely grateful to receive mine.

But most of all, I was grateful to speak to so many veterans. The people who experienced WWII first-hand are a dying breed, as one vet observed during the final photo-op. And it’s true. We are losing more WWII vets and Holocaust survivors everyday. Getting to speak to them is a privilege that my children (should I have any) won’t be able to have. If the chance to speak to these living treasure troves of history presents itself to you, I hope you take advantage of it. I’m certainly glad I did.

I have to get back to the homework I have. The day just got away from me and I have a little bit more I want to work on before the day is out. And if I can get my hands on those photos, I will try to post them here on this blog, because it’d be an honor to share them with you all. See you later, my Followers of Fear.

Katniss vs. Zahara

Posted: March 16, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
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I got The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on DVD on Friday and watched it this afternoon. If I were to do a review, I’d say it was a very good adaptation of a book I absolutely hated for a number of reasons. However, I’m not writing this post as a review for Catching Fire. I’m writing this post because, after I took the DVD out and went to make my dinner, I thought to myself, “There is such a difference between Katniss Everdeen and Zahara.”

And indeed, there is a great difference between the two characters. And I’m not just talking about upbringing, religious identification, and their experiences. I think the biggest differences between Katniss and Zahara is their access to choices in their lives. (Okay, there’s also major differences in character development, but since all three books of The Hunger Games are out and only one book of the Reborn City series is out, I won’t go into that lest I spoil something).

In THG, Katniss rarely has any sort of choice in what she can or can’t do. Except for certain memorable instances, Katniss follows a script that someone else wrote, whether that be the Capitol or someone associated with the Capitol, or District 13 and someone in the rebellion. Sure, the moments when she gets a chance to make her own choices are pretty momentous. She volunteered for the Hunger Games, she nearly committed suicide using poison berries, and she killed President Coin in an act of revenge. But other than those moments, she’s mostly dancing to the tune of someone else’s fiddle. And she’s either unaware of it or she’s aware of it and so pissed off about it.

Zahara, on the other hand, has a little more leeway. When I wrote Reborn City and started planning its sequels, I obviously wasn’t planning on writing about Zahara’s choices. But after she’s forced to join the Hydras, she does find that she has a bit of choice in the events that occur later on in the story. And those choices do end up affecting the Hydras in several ways, whether  it involve a gang war about to go wrong, or by a simple encouragement that changes the way someone thinks. And as the series goes on, Zahara will get to make more choices, some of which will have greater effects than the previous ones she’s made.

Why the difference? Well, I guess you’d have to ask the authors. In addition to wanting to create a story that was a commentary on both our addictions to violence and reality TV, Suzanne Collins also wanted (I’m assuming) to allow readers to relate to the feeling that our lives are not our own. We’ve all been there, had those moments when we felt our lives weren’t our own, where we felt like our lives are being directed by someone else. Maybe our parents, our employers, our teachers, our government, our spouses, etc. Basically we have to subordinate our lives to the needs or whims of others. This speaks to plenty of people, particularly teenagers and young adults who are constantly pressured to fulfill the wishes and pressures of the adults around them. I can only guess as to why Mrs. Collins wanted to weave that theme into her trilogy, or if she even realized what she was weaving in until it was already there. What is obvious that Katniss exemplifies that theme of lack of control over one’s life, and it’s part of why people identify with her.

With Zahara and RC on the other hand, the intentions were very different. I realized early on in writing a novel about street gangs that people in gangs or in slums or broken families or several other similar situations that they feel like they can’t leave the situations they’re in. This attitude, which seems to perpetuate itself over generations in a terrible self-fulfilling prophecy, horrified me. Imagine people who didn’t try to change their horrible lives because they felt that trying was impossible, that it would only lead to pain and regret. Where they were was where they belonged. Throughout the trilogy I try to fight that belief through the travails of Zahara and the Hydras, making choices and fighting for not only their lives, but also to live their lives as they wish.

So I guess this difference in opportunity and choice for Katniss Everdeen and Zahara Bakur really just boils own to the intentions of the authors when we were writing our stories. I strove to write about teens fighting against a world that oppresses them and tries to control them, while Mrs. Collins seems to have written a story about a world where, among other things, the lives of others are maddeningly not their own.

It’s interesting what the intentions of the autor can do for a single story, isn’t it?

That’s all for now. Tomorrow school starts up again, so I’m heading to bed to get ready for the big day. Goodnight, Followers of Fear, and have a great week.

New Ideas At Work

Posted: March 12, 2014 in ideas, Reflections, Writing
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Today at work, I had a mostly usual day. Went through a ton of files, ate lunch, went through another ton of files, and had conversations with some of my coworkers about life, the weather, and the job. Pretty average. Oh, except for the fact that I came up with several different ideas for short stories and articles today. About 16 new ideas total, if I remember correctly.

And this is not unusual for me: just yesterday I had an idea for a psychological horror novel. The day before that, I came up with a science-fiction/horror novel, all while sitting calmly at my desk and going through file after file after file. So while coming up with so many ideas in a single day is somewhat unusual for me, coming up with ideas while working or going to classes is a pretty regular occurrence for me.

Why am I making a blog post out of this? Because there are some writers–not many, but some–who are under the mistaken impression that holding any sort of job will stifle creative juices and ruin them as an artist. For example, I used to be on friendly terms with a writer and blogger over in Europe. He wrote a lot of poetry, took plenty of photos, and was working on a novel. For reasons that I never found out, he and his wife separated and he ended up living on the streets. Because he didn’t want to get a job that would most likely force him to be a slave to a corporation or a government (at least based on his political views I assume that’s why he didn’t get a job), along with his views that a job would ruin his artistic power, he asked his readers to donate money to him through PayPal so that he could buy airline tickets to America where his parents were. Nobody donated, which he felt was a personal insult and he got really nasty afterwards. When I tried to be nice and encouraging to him, he swore at me, leading me to stop following him. Last I checked he’s still in Europe and living on the streets billing himself as a starving artist.

Now, I’m not saying that all artists who refuse to get jobs are like this. Many are the kindest, sweetest people you’ll ever meet. They’re sincere about wanting to do well in their chosen fields. But I do want to let artists of all kinds know that a job won’t necessarily ruin your career and your skills, whether you’re selling only a few books or several thousand books. In fact, sometimes a job can help you. Several of the people in my office read my work when it comes out; I wouldn’t have made some of the money I’ve made without their help. Not only that, but I’ve made a few connections through my job, including with a screenwriter I met today who’s working on a screenplay while helping students out with financial aid and other questions during the day. Tomorrow I’d like to give him the name of a professor at school who also has connections to Hollywood. I figure that’d help him.

So don’t worry about losing your creative streak if you get a 9 to 5 or even just a part-time job. It may actually make you more creative, or give you the drive to produce better work just so you can get out of that job. I’ve certainly benefitted from working. I’ve come up with so many ideas over the years while working in the financial aid office. I don’t think I would’ve come up with those ideas if I was in a different setting.

Not to mention the fact that I would’ve had to move back in with my parents or become homeless long ago if I hadn’t gotten a job. Trust me, I’m very grateful for that. Especially since I’m sheltered from the cold. Do you know how bad the weather can be in Ohio in winter?

If you’re still not sure, just go ahead and try it. Give it a month or two. If a job does kill you creatively, then I’m sorry that you can’t write while holding a job. And if you don’t find any change or instead find yourself becoming more creative, then I’m glad things are working out for you and I wish you luck in whatever occupation you’re currently working in.

How has holding a job affected your creativity? What advice do you have for authors who are concerned about how a job might affect their writing?

One Year Since Newtown

Posted: December 14, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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I’m not sure there’s a single American in the country today who opened a newspaper, got on their smartphone, or connected to the Internet who doesn’t realize that today is exactly a year since the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Even now, the memories of that terrible day are resurfacing in my mind’s eye: sitting in bed, seeing that a school has been shot up by a gunman. Fatalities, fear, fingers already being pointed, conspiracy nuts shouting their insanity. But for a little while, the American people, a people so prone to heat and rage and division, were united in a way that hadn’t been seen since 9/11. We cried and memorialized the dead. There was grief for the 20 children and six adults who died, grief from people who’d never heard of Newtown until that day. There were numerous memorials and tributes, online and on TV and across the nation by everyone from children to the most powerful of politicians.

However in the days, weeks and months since Newtown, as we learned about the gunman Adam Lanza and we heard stories about the dearly departed. that unity broke up. We looked for solutions to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again. In a year full of monstrous mass shootings in Aurora, Wisconsin, and now in Newtown, advocates for stricter gun safety laws hoped that Congress would pass sensible gun control laws. And with ninety percent of Americans behind measures such as a ban on automatic rifles and expanded background checks, it looked like there might actually be some change this time. Second Amendment advocates meanwhile balked at these proposed measures, and instead said gun control laws didn’t work and called for administrators to be trained in firearm use and to hire security guards for schools. In the end, some states such as Colorado, New York, and Maryland passed their own restrictions, while President Obama passed 23 executive mandates and Congress failed to pass any laws that would truly satisfy either side.

Normally I would use a post such as this to advocate for stricter gun laws, but I’m tempted to not do so in order to keep the dead in mind on this horrible day. However, I read articles that show that the gun maker for the rifles used in the massacre actually had an increase in sales after Sandy Hook, and I feel a little sick to think anyone could profit off a tragedy such as this. Not to mention that nearly a year after Sandy Hook, there was a shooting at a school eight miles from Columbine High School, as if to remind us how little has been accomplished since then.

So I’ll speak and say, a year later, parents are gathering around dinner tables with a vacant seat. They wish to hold their kids close to them, but they can’t. And across the nations, parents and children, siblings and cousins, friends and families, lovers and colleagues, lose someone dear to them because of gun violence. In fact, approximately 30,000 people each year are lost to gun violence, the equivalent of nearly 1154 Sandy Hooks.

We need to do something about this tragedy, but is throwing more gasoline on a fire really going to help? No, it will not! We need to choke out the fire, not give it more fuel. So if you can, call or email your legislators. Support gun control groups if you can afford to. And if you own firearms of any sort, make sure it is in a safe place where it won’t hurt anyone who might accidentally stumble upon it. And I know any Second Amendment advocates will be furious with what I’ve written here, but let me tell you, I’m not advocating for taking away all guns from your homes. Even freedom of speech is regulated when that speech is used to incite violence or is used in a malicious manner. Shouldn’t guns be treated the same way?

And besides, do you really need a military grade automatic rifle? There are no zombies or enemy armies waiting to attack, you can’t go hunting with that kind of gun, and a simple handgun is enough to ward off any burglar or rapist. Just saying, is all.

I’m going to leave you with this video I found. It describes all the grief I feel for the victims of Sandy Hook, and I think it’ll resonate with you too on this most horrid day.

Stop Being Overdramatic!

Posted: December 12, 2013 in Politics and Leadership, Reflections
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I’m hearing a lot of comments on political news shows about how certain programs the government is doing or how certain actions being taken are being considered as slavery/apartheid/the Holocaust/genocide/etc. by certain people. I’ve just got one thing to say: quit the melodrama! Obamacare is not apartheid or slavery, abortion is not the Holocaust, shaking hands with Raul Castro is not the same as shaking hands with Adolf Hitler!

You see, there are certain groups here in America–African Americans, South African immigrants, Jews, etc.–who get really upset every time their national/ethnic/religious persecutions and injustices are used flippantly in political speech. It belittles the tragedy, makes it seems trivial. I mean, take slavery for example. It seems absurd if I compare myself to a slave if I complain about my homework every day, doesn’t it? How about being told to go to bed by your parents? Does that make you a slave? No it does not!

And actually, not only are these statements trivializing the tragedies in question, they are terribly inaccurate. Obamacare is not forcing people to work in horrid conditions and receive little or no benefits for it and are actually mistreated by overseers. Nor is Obamacare forcing people who are not enrolled in its programs to live in separate areas of towns or even of the country and putting strict legal restrictions on interactions between those enrolled and those not enrolled in the program. And unless abortion has become the state-sponsored deportation of fetuses to ghettos or work camps where they are subjected to conditions meant to either kill off or turn them into human beasts while my back was turned, I think it’s a little much to start comparing your local Planned Parenthood clinic to Auschwitz!

Of course, you’re free to disagree with me. That’s the lovely part of America: we can all have our own opinions, and as long as they don’t lead to violence, becoming socially ostracized, or aren’t a symptom of some mental illness,  we can express them as we wish and expect little or no backlash. However, I urge you to be cognizant of your words when you make a comparison between something you disagree with and a terrible tragedy or an unspeakable act. You may offend somebody with such an interpretation of events or a comparison. And if you don’t care who you offend in making these statements–my, how callous can you get!

And if my point hasn’t gotten across how gross these comparisons are, let my friend Dr. Sheldon Cooper show you how ridiculous these comparisons are.


Get the picture?

Oh, no comments that are offensive or trying to convince me that Obama is out to get Americans or whatever. I don’t want to hear it and I’ll delete those comments should they show up here. I’m just saying, be careful what comparisons you’re using, because many find them upsetting and terribly inaccurate.

Review: “Battle Royale” by Koushun Takami

Posted: December 1, 2013 in Novel, Review, Writing
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The edition I got from the library. God, it was good! Blew my mind…and possibly a finger off. That explosive.

Some of you may remember from a while back I finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy and wrote a less-than-favorable review of it. It was around that time, I started to hear about a book that predated The Hunger Games and was considered by some fans to be much better than Suzanne Collins’ trilogy. And when I heard it was a Japanese novel, then I got really interested (typical me, I’m a nut for most things from Japan).

This past month I finally found the time to get the book, titled Battle Royale, from the library and sit down to read it. As I got about a hundred pages in, I started musing to myself that this was the sort of story I would like to write, well thought-out, exciting, and extremely well-written. About two-hundred pages in, I was so engrossed it was really difficult to put it down. And by three-hundred pages in I was staying up late just so I could read more! And today I finished Battle Royale, which has officially become one of my all-time favorite novels.

And of course, I had to write a review of it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the novel by Koushun Takami, the story takes place in a world where Japan is the seat of the Republic of Greater East Asia, which as far as I can tell is what would happen if Japan had come out much better from World War II as an authoritarian empire. In this Republic, junior high classes are selected randomly throughout the year to take part in survival games in which the classmates must fight each other until only one student survives. The novel tells the story of one particular class, Shiroiwa Junior High Class 3B and its 42 students, selected for the heinous Program and forced to fight each other on an isolated island in the Seto Inland Sea. The novel focuses mainly on the exploits of Shuya Nanahara, Noriko Nakagawa, and Shogo Kawada, three classmates who plan to escape the Program, despite the number of obstacles meant to keep them in the Program (not to mention classmates that are all-too willing to take part in the Program). The novel also looks at the lives of several other classmates, so that by the end of the book you feel you know at least a little bit about a majority of Class 3B.

And the twists and surprises in this story will keep you reeling until the very end. You can quote me on that and take it to the bank.

The author does a very good job managing a very large and diverse cast, giving most of the characters at least a little characterization so that those you meet seem at least well-developed, even those who only show up for one or two chapters. Takami-sensei (as he would be addressed in Japan) also manages to tell a very bleak story with engaging finesse, wasting not a single word. The action sequences are so terrifying you’ll be hearing the climax from Stravinsky’s The Firebird during the climax (at least I did), the musings on life, the government, and the meaning of the Program will pierce deeply, and the emotions of each character hit you pretty hard as you get to know these kids. And when you find out why a government would have a Program like this, you’ll think to yourself the same thing you’ll end up thinking when you read the resolution of the story: “That’s so clever! Scary, but clever!”

There was only two moments where I was dissatisfied with the story. One was I wanted to see more of a certain character that died midway through the novel. The other moment, later in the novel, was I had trouble believing that a certain character wouldn’t get treated for a potentially-fatal-if-let-untreated wound after he sustained it and the danger had temporarily passed. Why wouldn’t he get the bullet out before it killed him? There was time for it!

Other than that, I absolutely loved the story. Even the romantic subplot of the novel was woven in beautifully, and didn’t annoy me like it might’ve in a certain trilogy I could name (oh wait, I did name it! Never mind). The plot was quick-paced, terrifying, and left you with an impression that doesn’t go away.

All in all, Koushun Takami-sensei’s novel Battle Royale gets a 5 out of 5. I haven’t been able to immerse myself into the world of a novel in a long time, and after I was done, I didn’t want to leave because I’d grown to love some of these characters so much and so desperately wanted to see what would or had happened to them.

I’m going to go reserve the movie version from the library now. I doubt it’ll be as good as the book, but at the very least it should be interesting. Maybe even review-worthy (though that could also happen if the movie is incredibly terrible when compared to the book). Unless something else awesome happens tonight, I’ll blog on you later, Followers of Fear. Goodnight.

Why Again Did We Let Zimmerman Go?

Posted: November 26, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
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Remember George Zimmerman? The guy who shot Trayvon Martin? Guess what he’s done now: he’s threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun and threw her out of the house when she tried to dial 911. When the police searched his car, they found an AR-15, a shotgun, and three handguns. He’s been let free on a $9,000 bond, and he’s entered a plea of not guilty. And this isn’t his first brush with the law since he was let off this summer: he’s been pulled over three times for speeding and assaulted his wife (yeah, he’s still married). The only reason he wasn’t arrested with the last one was because of lack of evidence.

Now, back during the Trayvon Martin trial, those who supported Zimmerman were saying that he was defending himself, that Trayvon was high and unstable and dangerous. They ignored that he had a history of violence before the Martin incident, and they might just try to ignore this situation altogether. But I’m going to repeat what I said back then: that George Zimmerman attacked an unarmed teen and killed him, and got away with it because of lack of witnesses, including the victim who understandably couldn’t speak, and because of a law that makes no sense to me. Yeah, I don’t support Stand Your Ground laws. They basically say I can go into a public setting with a gun, start a fight with any random passerby, and shoot them if I feel threatened.

But the point is, Zimmerman’s proven that he’s more likely to instigate an incident than defend himself. This is his second assault since his acquittal. It’s only the first with enough evidence to actually go to trial. So I’m just going to be the first to say this: Zimmerman should’ve been convicted back in July, because he assaulted Trayvon and killed him. But he didn’t, and then he attacked his wife and girlfriend. Either of those assaults could’ve been avoided, just like Trayvon’s death could’ve easily been avoided, but we allowed them to happen.

I just hope that this time around, Zimmerman gets convicted, because honestly if he keeps getting off like this, his head’s only going to get bigger and he’ll think he’s invincible to prosecution and punishment. And I really don’t want to see the carnage a man like that can leave behind when he believes he’s unstoppable.

Let the trial begin!

Texas Women Can Breathe A Bit Easier Now

Posted: October 28, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Social Activism
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Looks like someone in Texas is actually looking out for its women.

You may recall a few months back that Governor Rick Perry of Texas called in two special sessions of the legislature to put forth numerous restrictions on women’s access to abortion by regulating everything from specifications on what sort of room an abortion can be performed in to restrictions on the doctors themselves in performing the abortions. Pro-life activists claimed that the legislation was to protect the lives of women, while pro-choice advocates said that the laws would shut down all but six of Texas’s abortion clinics.

If you ask me, the move was just another attempt for politicians to thrust their noses into places they don’t have any right to be in, and apparently a large number of Texans agree with me. During the first special session, state senator Wendy Davis went on a 13-hour filibuster that ended when the legislature forced her to step down on account of some really stupid technicalities. The outrage was so terrible that the booing crowds kept the legislature from voting before the end of the deadline, giving Texan women a reprieve. However the second session they weren’t so lucky, as the restrictions were passed.

However now a judge in Texas is calling the restrictive legislation unconstitutional and has blocked the measures from going into effect tomorrow.  District Judge Lee Yeakel wrote that his decision was based that he couldn’t find a rational relationship between the measures and protecting both the lives of women and the fetuses they’re carrying, and therefore the measures have been halted. Texas’s AG says he plans to appeal the ruling as soon as possible, but for now it seems that women’s rights and bodies in Texas are safe.

And to those who will comment on this blog and say the judge is overstepping his bounds or that these measures will help women, I have this to say: the judge in question was given the power by the federal government to determine whether or not the measures were constitutional. Therefore he was doing his job when he blocked the measures, so he’s not overstepping any bounds, he’s just disagreeing with you. And these measures don’t help women, they just make it much more difficult to get a safe abortion in the state of Texas, which will cause many women to look for alternatives, sometimes unsafe alternatives. Who exactly is that helping?

And by the way, James Holmes, Son of Sam, and several killers were all legal owners of guns. If you believe we should make abortion clinics more heavily restricted because this one clinic in Virginia was unsafe, shouldn’t you also agree that guns should be more heavily restricted along the same lines because of how many people die of guns every year?

Think about it.

We Need To Change

Posted: October 28, 2013 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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I just read a report online that said that since the Sandy Hook massacre in December, aproximately niney-nine hundred shooting deaths have occurred in the United States. Yes, that’s correct. 9,900 deaths have occurred in the United States since the Sandy Hook massacre ten months ago. And that’s just the reported deaths. According to Slate.com, which keeps a tally of gun deaths in the United States, suicide by firearms aren’t usually reported in terms of gun deaths by police and the media, so the official number of firearm-related deaths may actually be much higher.

But still, 9,900 deaths is pretty steep. It’s over three times the number of deaths that the United States sustained during the September 11th attacks. And what has been done about it? Have any laws been passed that aim to stop gun deaths? States like New York, Vermont, Maryland, and Colorado have adopted much more stringent gun control measures in order to prevent more tragedies, and President Obama issued over twenty executive orders regarding gun control in the wake of the tragedy. However measures to fight gun violence have dried up somewhat, especially on the national level.

Why? Because a small but extremely vocal and well-funded group of people, some of whom are very out of touch with the organizations they head, believe that any measure to curb the sales or ownership of guns is a violation of the Second Amendment. Yet we still fund millions of dollars to take out terrorists overseas who in recent years have caused far less American deaths than guns have.

I’m not arguing we shouldn’t go after terrorists. But guns are causing more deaths than terrorists right about now, and it’s only going to get worse if nobody does anything. And I know that for certain Americans having a gun is a way of life. It’s consider sacred. But guess what? The United States is losing innocent lives because people are using firearms in ways they shouldn’t be used or have access to firearms that, in other nations, would be restricted to use by military personnel only.

And don’t say that gun restriction will lead to a totalitarian state. Governments are more capable of incompetence than controlling every aspect of the citizens of an entire nation. Look at the shutdown if you want proof. And don’t say gun control led to the Holocaust, because numerous factors led to the Holocaust, and so far in my Holocaust class I haven’t seen a single reference to gun control being apart of Hitler’s rise to power. And saying gun control laws don’t work because anyone determined to get a gun can is like saying traffic laws or stealing laws don’t work because people will still speed through red lights and will still take money from your wallet if they can get it.

Besides, Australia has done very well with gun control, so why can’t the United States do well? We’re both a nation that overthrew British rule, have had or still do have problems with people of certain ethnicities, and have had massacres in the past that have devastated our people.

So I’m asking anyone reading this that if you think gun violence is out of control in the United States, please say something. On your blog, to your congressman or senator, to the local newspaper or in your church/synagogue/mosque/temple/whatever. Try and make your voice heard if you’ve had enough of people dying and want the killing to stop.

We need a change. We need to be the change. And I’m not going to stop shouting about this till I see some change for the better.

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