I was just thinking...
"Find a rope, find a tree, let's haaang the referee."
This sentiment against refs has always been a common thought to have while playing and spectating sports. For the most part, it is usually not directed at officiating of major league sports, but occasionally it is. Until seemingly somewhat recently.
Really, there have been problems with officiating for as long as there has been sports officiating. But, in recent history it is taken a much more major part of the game. Over the past few years there have been many instances of alarm with the officiating of games, starting with:
The Tim Donaghy gambling scandal
The biggest result of his exposure was not that he had gambled on games he officiated, but that there is favoritism based on sales, by many refs. His tell-all book exposed many other NBA refs as favoring certain teams and players, changing the way the game is played, and even the outcome. Some excerpts from this book, which I highly recommend reading, can be found here: http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-from-the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read
If you have ever watched an NBA game that has a superstar on the team, or a team the NBA wants to see win (i.e. the Lakers) because they will generate viewership, chances are you have seem some shady calls, and become slightly if not overly upset and frustrated with the refs. I know I have. It's despicable that the game is being changed for revenue's sake. That is not the way the game is supposed to be played, and it is unfair for the teams that aren't the ones the NBA wants to win, or don't have the superstar the NBA is selling.
Instant-replay for MLB
The possibility of instant-replay becoming part of baseball has been a major debate point for years, but finally came to some realization a few years ago, when instant-replay was added for questionable home run balls. This addition has been successful, but some fans still think there should be more instant-replay used, for instances like trapped balls, safe and out calls on the bases, etc. While I agree there could be more, I am content with the current usage.
Jim Joyce and the Armando Galarraga Perfect Game
Never have I ever seen anything like this before. A safe call on a clearly out throw, costing Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Jim Joyce is a great ump, and definitely one of, if not the best in the league. But he clearly got the call wrong in that Tigers-Indians game earlier this year. Instant-replay would have been extremely beneficial here. It's the way it is, though, and it's in the past, but I mean, Galarraga lost his chance at being in the history books because of a missed call by an ump.
The Koman Coulibaly Call
This is the event that spurred me to write this entry: In yesterday's (6/18) World Cup game between the US and Slovenia, there was possibly the worst call I have ever seen. (That, and the Jim Joyce "safe" call are definitely in the top 3) The US had been down 2-0, came back to tie it at 2, and with about 5 minutes left in the game, they had a corner kick. The bouncing kick from Landon Donovan ended up going off the well timed kick of Maurice Edu, scoring the winning goal. However, the goal was immediately waved off by ref Koman Coulibaly. The original sign was that it was offside. This turned out not to be the call, and it would've been an incorrect call, had that been the call. Coulibaly refused to give explanation as to what the call was on, but it was assumed to have been a foul call. Upon watching the play over and over again on television, it was determined by everyone in the world that any fould call that was made should have been against SLOVENIA, not the US. Slovenians physically held US players back, but Edu was able to cleanly escape and score. The call was incredibly wrong, and there was nothing done to deserve it. Even the unbiased English announcers said the call was ridiculously incorrect. While it yet remains to be seen the impact of this call on the US's future in the World Cup, it did severely impact the score of the game. The US won the game 3-2, but were only given a tie. If the United States does not make it to the round of 16 because they had two ties, but would've moved on had their Slovenia tie been called a win, (as it should have been) this botched call will go down in history as the worst call of all time. FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup has spoken about removing Koman Coulibaly from any more World Cup matches, which I agree with, but it does not give the US the win they deserved.
While I appreciate the work that many referees and umpires do, there are too many instances that should not be left with them alone. We have all this technology, which would be beneficial for the games, if used.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The War In Afghanistan
I was just thinking...
Earlier this month the "war" in Afghanistan became the longest war in US history. While there is still some speculation that Vietnam was still technically longer, the point remains the same: We've been in Afghanistan for too long. We went into the country with the mission of stopping al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden, in direct response to the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Of course, the US was successful in capturing/killing many al-Qaeda leaders, but the leaders have been replaced, and bin Laden still remains on the lam, or possibly dead. Meanwhile, the Taliban and al-Qaeda have moved on to other countries in the Middle East, mainly Pakistan, rendering the war unsuccessful. The plan was to establish democracy in Afghanistan, which is relatively true now, but they have a corrupt government, where elections are fixed. Technically, that should be none of the US's concern, but they remain the military force there, and are needed for the security of the turbulent nation. There is no end in sight, the US troop numbers are being increased, not decreased. The withdrawl plans seem like an "if" at this point. Like Vietnam, we have gotten ourselves into a war that was not winnable, and that would be difficult to leave.
It is sad, but most of my life as a knowledgeable member of a nation has been in a war time. I disagree with the pursuit of war, however I am realistic and understand that there is no negotiating with organizations like al-Qaeda, and that sometimes war is unavoidable, and not a one-sided decision to make.
I do support our troops, I do not support war. The war in Afghanistan needs to end. Wars need to end. Unfortunately, there are too many people in this world who cannot simply be talked out of violence, and that is how wars begin. I realize a world without war is a utopia, and unrealistic, but ending a conflict like Afghanistan shouldn't be too much to ask.
Afghanistan is a similar war to Vietnam, yet, it does not receive the same sort of strong feelings as Vietnam got. Protests and rallies against the war were daily occurrences in the 60's, but there is hardly anything now. Does nobody care?
The best way to support our troops is to bring them home.
Earlier this month the "war" in Afghanistan became the longest war in US history. While there is still some speculation that Vietnam was still technically longer, the point remains the same: We've been in Afghanistan for too long. We went into the country with the mission of stopping al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden, in direct response to the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Of course, the US was successful in capturing/killing many al-Qaeda leaders, but the leaders have been replaced, and bin Laden still remains on the lam, or possibly dead. Meanwhile, the Taliban and al-Qaeda have moved on to other countries in the Middle East, mainly Pakistan, rendering the war unsuccessful. The plan was to establish democracy in Afghanistan, which is relatively true now, but they have a corrupt government, where elections are fixed. Technically, that should be none of the US's concern, but they remain the military force there, and are needed for the security of the turbulent nation. There is no end in sight, the US troop numbers are being increased, not decreased. The withdrawl plans seem like an "if" at this point. Like Vietnam, we have gotten ourselves into a war that was not winnable, and that would be difficult to leave.
It is sad, but most of my life as a knowledgeable member of a nation has been in a war time. I disagree with the pursuit of war, however I am realistic and understand that there is no negotiating with organizations like al-Qaeda, and that sometimes war is unavoidable, and not a one-sided decision to make.
I do support our troops, I do not support war. The war in Afghanistan needs to end. Wars need to end. Unfortunately, there are too many people in this world who cannot simply be talked out of violence, and that is how wars begin. I realize a world without war is a utopia, and unrealistic, but ending a conflict like Afghanistan shouldn't be too much to ask.
Afghanistan is a similar war to Vietnam, yet, it does not receive the same sort of strong feelings as Vietnam got. Protests and rallies against the war were daily occurrences in the 60's, but there is hardly anything now. Does nobody care?
The best way to support our troops is to bring them home.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Tea Party (no tea involved)
I was just thinking...
Everyone knows about the "Tea Party" by now. A group of conservative protesters who tour the nation putting on rallies in protest of anything and everything that Socialist/Nazi/Communist/Hippie president Barack Obama does. While I do not support their message, I do support their freedom of speech and freedom of opinion, regardless of how incredibly wrong it is ;)
Most notably, the Tea Party has spoken out against the notion of Health Care Reform. Yea, yea, I know. This passed months ago. That's beside the point. The point is that these people, who are the same people who supported George W. Bush through blunder after blunder for 8 long, terrible years, are AGAINST the government helping its own people! I can't seem the wrap my head around this aspect. Why WOULDN'T you want your government to help you? I understand the Republican philosophy is for as little federal government power as possible, but seriously? You don't want help, if it's offered?
One of the Tea Party's main points against Health Care Reform was the cost. A valid point, yes, but hypocritical, DEFINITELY. For 8 years, the Tea Partiers had no issue with all the government money used to fund an unjust, illegal war, which was started on information that turned out to be completely false. They were okay with the government using their tax money for killing people from other countries, but if that money were to be used to HELP people WITHIN the country, THEN it is a catastrophe! THEY MAKE NO SENSE!
The people who seem to be leading, or at least fueling the wrongness of this "Tea Party", are none other than Nazi-Whistle-blower Glenn Beck, and I-can-see-Russia-from-my-house crazy Sarah Palin. While I have an immense hatred, and could rant about those two for hours, I will save that rant for the next time they do something ridiculous (don't worry, that won't take longer than a month!). I bring them up now not because what they say is so obviously wrong, but because it is BELIEVED! The "Tea Party" was supposedly formed to, like the original tea party, dissent against the government. While I fully support dissent (I have a pin that reads: Dissent Protects Democracy, which I fully believe) what they are engaging in is not dissent. They are lemmings! Just because Sarah Palin says and Glenn Beck writes it on his blackboard does in no way make a fact! The "Tea Party" movement is founded on lies accepted as truth!
In the end, protesting for an honorable cause is a good thing, a great thing, even, but what the "Tea Party" is doing is not for an honorable cause.
Everyone knows about the "Tea Party" by now. A group of conservative protesters who tour the nation putting on rallies in protest of anything and everything that Socialist/Nazi/Communist/Hippie president Barack Obama does. While I do not support their message, I do support their freedom of speech and freedom of opinion, regardless of how incredibly wrong it is ;)
Most notably, the Tea Party has spoken out against the notion of Health Care Reform. Yea, yea, I know. This passed months ago. That's beside the point. The point is that these people, who are the same people who supported George W. Bush through blunder after blunder for 8 long, terrible years, are AGAINST the government helping its own people! I can't seem the wrap my head around this aspect. Why WOULDN'T you want your government to help you? I understand the Republican philosophy is for as little federal government power as possible, but seriously? You don't want help, if it's offered?
One of the Tea Party's main points against Health Care Reform was the cost. A valid point, yes, but hypocritical, DEFINITELY. For 8 years, the Tea Partiers had no issue with all the government money used to fund an unjust, illegal war, which was started on information that turned out to be completely false. They were okay with the government using their tax money for killing people from other countries, but if that money were to be used to HELP people WITHIN the country, THEN it is a catastrophe! THEY MAKE NO SENSE!
The people who seem to be leading, or at least fueling the wrongness of this "Tea Party", are none other than Nazi-Whistle-blower Glenn Beck, and I-can-see-Russia-from-my-house crazy Sarah Palin. While I have an immense hatred, and could rant about those two for hours, I will save that rant for the next time they do something ridiculous (don't worry, that won't take longer than a month!). I bring them up now not because what they say is so obviously wrong, but because it is BELIEVED! The "Tea Party" was supposedly formed to, like the original tea party, dissent against the government. While I fully support dissent (I have a pin that reads: Dissent Protects Democracy, which I fully believe) what they are engaging in is not dissent. They are lemmings! Just because Sarah Palin says and Glenn Beck writes it on his blackboard does in no way make a fact! The "Tea Party" movement is founded on lies accepted as truth!
In the end, protesting for an honorable cause is a good thing, a great thing, even, but what the "Tea Party" is doing is not for an honorable cause.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Issues with Facebook
I was just thinking...
Everyone in the United States, and millions of people abroad know of the power of the social networking tool that is Facebook. While it is incredibly useful for communicating with friends, old and new, planning events, and overall organization of all things social, it is also an outlet for lots of things I take issue with.
To begin with:
The movement to "liking" pages, which are connected to you profile in your "interests," "activities," "music," "movies," "books," and the like. While this is not a big deal, I don't like it. I want my interests to be MY interests, not links to pages about it.
Also, with some new policy I don't really understand, your interests can be shared with outside, who can in turn advertise to you, and see what you are doing. Any information you share with Facebook is now shared with anyone on the internet. This is very Big Brother-esque, if you ask me. Because of this, my Facebook no longer has any of my interests or activities, save for a few that I am largely involved with (i.e. ROCU). There is a way to get out of sharing your information with outside groups, but the link to it has since been rendered impossible to find with Facebook, as it is now not possible to access links you have posted in the past, unless they were recent, or if you want to keep going back to older and older posts. If I have time to do so later, I will surely share this link.
There are many groups which I find to be absolutely sickening. While I am a big proponent of freedom of speech, some of these are just ridiculous. I will now use my freedom of speech to tell you why these groups/pages are so awful.
It's not racism, stupid! You are here ILLEGALLY!
Yes, I briefly spoke on this one the other day, but it's pretty ignorant. The part of the Arizona Immigration law that people consider racist isn't that people who are here illegally are being found out about, but rather that if you LOOK like you COULD possibly be here illegally (meaning if you look Hispanic) you are subject to arrest, if you don't have papers documenting your legal right to be in the United States. THAT is racial profiling, and so incredibly wrong. People that support this law need to better understand what is really going on.
Period pains? try getting killed by your own care package!
My friend's brother joined this group ("liked" it?) a while ago, and I immediately took issue with it. Of course, he had an issue with me having an issue with what he "likes," but that's not the point here: I understand, he is a gamer, and I can figure how getting killed in online play by something meant to help you could be unpleasant, but, seriously, IT'S A VIDEO GAME. It's not real life! Something tangible and real, like period pains is definitely something to be taken more seriously than death in a video game. Real, physical pain should not be taken lightly, especially in comparison to something that is NOT real, like video games.
"Dear Lord, in the past year you have TAKEN AWAY my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze; my favorite actress Farah Fawcett; my favorite singer Michael Jackson; and my favorite salesman Billy Mays. I just wanted you to know that my favorite president is Barack Obama.... amen."
Well, this one is definitely the most shocking one I have seen. This made CNN and other news outlets, and with good reason. I understand, this is probably a joke, but that is not a funny joke. You don't joke about the death of politicians on something as public as Facebook. Not only is it despicable that someone would want this (what has he done that is so wrong?) but the fact that hundreds of thousands of people joined it is even more sickening. Everyone is entitled to their own political thoughts, but suggesting that your president be killed is crazy.
God, give us back Tupac and Biggie and we will give you Justin Bieber.
C'mon! Seriously? I understand, you're upset because Tupac and Biggie were people you liked, and that you dislike Justin Bieber, but, like the Obama page, you shouldn't joke about death. And let's at least pretend to know how the world works. You can't bring people back from the dead, EVEN IF you exchange them for someone already alive.
Of course, there are many other groups/pages that are just as despicable and disgusting, but I believe this was a good sampling to dissect.
Tomorrow: The Tea Party and Health Care Reform.
Everyone in the United States, and millions of people abroad know of the power of the social networking tool that is Facebook. While it is incredibly useful for communicating with friends, old and new, planning events, and overall organization of all things social, it is also an outlet for lots of things I take issue with.
To begin with:
The movement to "liking" pages, which are connected to you profile in your "interests," "activities," "music," "movies," "books," and the like. While this is not a big deal, I don't like it. I want my interests to be MY interests, not links to pages about it.
Also, with some new policy I don't really understand, your interests can be shared with outside, who can in turn advertise to you, and see what you are doing. Any information you share with Facebook is now shared with anyone on the internet. This is very Big Brother-esque, if you ask me. Because of this, my Facebook no longer has any of my interests or activities, save for a few that I am largely involved with (i.e. ROCU). There is a way to get out of sharing your information with outside groups, but the link to it has since been rendered impossible to find with Facebook, as it is now not possible to access links you have posted in the past, unless they were recent, or if you want to keep going back to older and older posts. If I have time to do so later, I will surely share this link.
There are many groups which I find to be absolutely sickening. While I am a big proponent of freedom of speech, some of these are just ridiculous. I will now use my freedom of speech to tell you why these groups/pages are so awful.
It's not racism, stupid! You are here ILLEGALLY!
Yes, I briefly spoke on this one the other day, but it's pretty ignorant. The part of the Arizona Immigration law that people consider racist isn't that people who are here illegally are being found out about, but rather that if you LOOK like you COULD possibly be here illegally (meaning if you look Hispanic) you are subject to arrest, if you don't have papers documenting your legal right to be in the United States. THAT is racial profiling, and so incredibly wrong. People that support this law need to better understand what is really going on.
Period pains? try getting killed by your own care package!
My friend's brother joined this group ("liked" it?) a while ago, and I immediately took issue with it. Of course, he had an issue with me having an issue with what he "likes," but that's not the point here: I understand, he is a gamer, and I can figure how getting killed in online play by something meant to help you could be unpleasant, but, seriously, IT'S A VIDEO GAME. It's not real life! Something tangible and real, like period pains is definitely something to be taken more seriously than death in a video game. Real, physical pain should not be taken lightly, especially in comparison to something that is NOT real, like video games.
"Dear Lord, in the past year you have TAKEN AWAY my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze; my favorite actress Farah Fawcett; my favorite singer Michael Jackson; and my favorite salesman Billy Mays. I just wanted you to know that my favorite president is Barack Obama.... amen."
Well, this one is definitely the most shocking one I have seen. This made CNN and other news outlets, and with good reason. I understand, this is probably a joke, but that is not a funny joke. You don't joke about the death of politicians on something as public as Facebook. Not only is it despicable that someone would want this (what has he done that is so wrong?) but the fact that hundreds of thousands of people joined it is even more sickening. Everyone is entitled to their own political thoughts, but suggesting that your president be killed is crazy.
God, give us back Tupac and Biggie and we will give you Justin Bieber.
C'mon! Seriously? I understand, you're upset because Tupac and Biggie were people you liked, and that you dislike Justin Bieber, but, like the Obama page, you shouldn't joke about death. And let's at least pretend to know how the world works. You can't bring people back from the dead, EVEN IF you exchange them for someone already alive.
Of course, there are many other groups/pages that are just as despicable and disgusting, but I believe this was a good sampling to dissect.
Tomorrow: The Tea Party and Health Care Reform.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
BP Oil Spill
I was just thinking...
By now, almost everyone has heard about the BP oil spill in the Gulf. You would think that a disaster of this magnitude (it is already worse that the Exxon-Valdez) would be something that would be a uniting event, breaking partisan politics, with the whole country coming together.
April 20th the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion started the largest offshore oil spill in US History. 50 days later (it is exactly 50 today) and there is still gallons upon gallons of oil gushing towards the Gulf coast. Birds, fish, and other wildlife are covered in gloppy, disgusting oil. You've probably seen the disturbing pictures by now. While there are relief efforts, not enough is being done. If you have the means and opportunity to go down and help out, please do. Also, I recommend boycotting BP gas.
While the spill itself is sickening on it's own, some people's reactions are just as sickening. Lots of ignorant people have been referring to this oil spill as "Obama's Oil Spill." Not only is that name incredibly unfair to President Obama, and not giving credit where credit is due to BP, but it is also not true. Obama had nothing to do with causing this spill. In fact, all blame lays solely on British Petroleum (BP). Fox News has been credited as calling this spill "Obama's Katrina." To compare a natural disaster to an oil spill that could have been prevented had the company had credible safety procedures is despicable. This brings me to the point that BP, in the last 4-5 years has had 740 safety violations. "Wow," you may say, "that's a lot." You're probably also thinking, "well, I bet all oil companies have similarly high numbers of violations." NOT TRUE! The next closest is Exxon, with 8. EIGHT! BP is a disgusting company run incredibly badly and should be punished exponentially.
Please do what you can to stop BP. Write letters to politicians, protest, boycott, make phone calls, anything. Let us not let an avoidable disaster like this ever happen again.
Also, send support to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. They have had to deal with too much too quickly with Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill.
Tomorrow: Dissecting disgusting Facebook groups.
By now, almost everyone has heard about the BP oil spill in the Gulf. You would think that a disaster of this magnitude (it is already worse that the Exxon-Valdez) would be something that would be a uniting event, breaking partisan politics, with the whole country coming together.
April 20th the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion started the largest offshore oil spill in US History. 50 days later (it is exactly 50 today) and there is still gallons upon gallons of oil gushing towards the Gulf coast. Birds, fish, and other wildlife are covered in gloppy, disgusting oil. You've probably seen the disturbing pictures by now. While there are relief efforts, not enough is being done. If you have the means and opportunity to go down and help out, please do. Also, I recommend boycotting BP gas.
While the spill itself is sickening on it's own, some people's reactions are just as sickening. Lots of ignorant people have been referring to this oil spill as "Obama's Oil Spill." Not only is that name incredibly unfair to President Obama, and not giving credit where credit is due to BP, but it is also not true. Obama had nothing to do with causing this spill. In fact, all blame lays solely on British Petroleum (BP). Fox News has been credited as calling this spill "Obama's Katrina." To compare a natural disaster to an oil spill that could have been prevented had the company had credible safety procedures is despicable. This brings me to the point that BP, in the last 4-5 years has had 740 safety violations. "Wow," you may say, "that's a lot." You're probably also thinking, "well, I bet all oil companies have similarly high numbers of violations." NOT TRUE! The next closest is Exxon, with 8. EIGHT! BP is a disgusting company run incredibly badly and should be punished exponentially.
Please do what you can to stop BP. Write letters to politicians, protest, boycott, make phone calls, anything. Let us not let an avoidable disaster like this ever happen again.
Also, send support to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. They have had to deal with too much too quickly with Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill.
Tomorrow: Dissecting disgusting Facebook groups.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The "Patriot" Act
I was just thinking...
Last night I watched "The US vs. John Lennon" and I was reminded of government wire tapping and spying on their own citizens. This type of despicable behavior has been going on for years, but most recently with the Bush Administration's passing of the USA PATRIOT Act. This stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act. Of course, this sounds like a positive act, a good tool in battling terrorism. But what is not made clear with the name is the fact that this act made it LEGAL for the US Government to wiretap and other forms of spying on their own citizens. Yes, governments have had this type of control over their citizens regularly, but NOT in so-called democratic republic. The act did not LITERALLY give the government the right to wiretap ANY citizen they wanted, but it might as well have. They were given the right to spy on anyone they considered to be a possible threat to the United States. Which, in essence, means they could spy on anyone. THEY are the ones who decide who is a possible threat, AND the ones who carry out the spying. Big brother much? I think so.
This act is clearly a violation of rights of privacy, and SHOULD be illegal.
Recently, a similar type of unfair abuse of power has been enacted in Arizona, where their recent immigration law gives cops the right to ask anyone who APPEARS as if they could be here illegally (i.e. ANYONE who looks even vaguely Hispanic) for their "papers" (documentation that they are legally allowed to be here). If the accused party does not have the "papers" on their physical body, they are subject to immediate arrest. Sickening. This legitimately sounds like something that would have been done in Hitler's Germany, minus the death camps. It is, and should be considered incredibly illegal. It is a law allowing severe racism.
Via Facebook, I have seen support for this Arizona law, with groups named "It's not racism, you're here ILLEGALLY." These support groups do NOT understand what it is about the law that is wrong; The law gives the hand of the law (cops) the right to arrest ANYONE who LOOKS like they COULD possibly be here illegally. Yes, the government has the right to deport/detain/arrest those here illegally, but to round up anyone because the way they look is disgusting and wrong.
This brings me back to the original law discussed, the USA PATRIOT Act. This contrived acronym was used because a majority of US citizens are stupid. If it sounds like something good, like patriotism, they will automatically assume it is itself good. It's just like liking Green Day. They were good at one point, so people assume they still are, and don't come in with a critical eye, immediately accepting dreck like "21st Century Breakdown" as a good album, even though it is clearly not. The same goes for laws like the USA PATRIOT Act.
There are so many issues with this country that need to be addressed, and the USA PATRIOT Act is definitely one of them.
Tomorrow, I will talk about the BP Oil Spill.
Last night I watched "The US vs. John Lennon" and I was reminded of government wire tapping and spying on their own citizens. This type of despicable behavior has been going on for years, but most recently with the Bush Administration's passing of the USA PATRIOT Act. This stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act. Of course, this sounds like a positive act, a good tool in battling terrorism. But what is not made clear with the name is the fact that this act made it LEGAL for the US Government to wiretap and other forms of spying on their own citizens. Yes, governments have had this type of control over their citizens regularly, but NOT in so-called democratic republic. The act did not LITERALLY give the government the right to wiretap ANY citizen they wanted, but it might as well have. They were given the right to spy on anyone they considered to be a possible threat to the United States. Which, in essence, means they could spy on anyone. THEY are the ones who decide who is a possible threat, AND the ones who carry out the spying. Big brother much? I think so.
This act is clearly a violation of rights of privacy, and SHOULD be illegal.
Recently, a similar type of unfair abuse of power has been enacted in Arizona, where their recent immigration law gives cops the right to ask anyone who APPEARS as if they could be here illegally (i.e. ANYONE who looks even vaguely Hispanic) for their "papers" (documentation that they are legally allowed to be here). If the accused party does not have the "papers" on their physical body, they are subject to immediate arrest. Sickening. This legitimately sounds like something that would have been done in Hitler's Germany, minus the death camps. It is, and should be considered incredibly illegal. It is a law allowing severe racism.
Via Facebook, I have seen support for this Arizona law, with groups named "It's not racism, you're here ILLEGALLY." These support groups do NOT understand what it is about the law that is wrong; The law gives the hand of the law (cops) the right to arrest ANYONE who LOOKS like they COULD possibly be here illegally. Yes, the government has the right to deport/detain/arrest those here illegally, but to round up anyone because the way they look is disgusting and wrong.
This brings me back to the original law discussed, the USA PATRIOT Act. This contrived acronym was used because a majority of US citizens are stupid. If it sounds like something good, like patriotism, they will automatically assume it is itself good. It's just like liking Green Day. They were good at one point, so people assume they still are, and don't come in with a critical eye, immediately accepting dreck like "21st Century Breakdown" as a good album, even though it is clearly not. The same goes for laws like the USA PATRIOT Act.
There are so many issues with this country that need to be addressed, and the USA PATRIOT Act is definitely one of them.
Tomorrow, I will talk about the BP Oil Spill.
Monday, June 7, 2010
First post!
I was just thinking...
Fundamentalist Christians take issue with stem cell research and cloning, saying that "We can't play god," yet, their bible says that we were "created in god's image." If we were created in god's image, then why can't we take after god's actions of creating things in our image? If we are supposed to be like god, shouldn't we be meant to act like god?
Fundamentalist Christians take issue with stem cell research and cloning, saying that "We can't play god," yet, their bible says that we were "created in god's image." If we were created in god's image, then why can't we take after god's actions of creating things in our image? If we are supposed to be like god, shouldn't we be meant to act like god?
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