Gun Control is the latest "Wag the Dog" issue

You know what really annoys the heck outta me? When people make irrational expectations and impositions on the masses based on emotional responses to fringe scenarios.

All the hoopla and money spent on anti-gun regulation will not in any way limit the availability of firearms to criminals. Illegally obtained firearms come from more sources than US citizens can imagine. Sadly the US government has unwittingly been the primary supplier of firearms to the criminal base. By providing firearms over many many years to Mexico, Africa, and the Middle East we are introducing millions of dollars in firearms to other entities that we have NO CONTROL OVER for their firearms distribution.

The US State Department has an entire section on military assistance and reports to prove where the Class I assistance goes (yeah that's all small arms, automatic rifles, shotguns, etc). Then there are another set of classifications under this department that permit the transfer of everything up to biological and nuclear weapons design and testing.

Tack onto this the fact we have a separate department that is all about ensuring we can transfer anything and everything to other countries and agencies in the interest of security cooperation: http://www.dsca.osd.mil/Default.htm

They are planning to provide $2.6B in petroleum products (approx 860 million gallons) to Israel... Really? (http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2013/Israel_13-20.pdf)

Why are there so many who are jobless in the US? Why are we allowing importation of goods without taxing them to make it more cost effective to manufacture here in the US? Put high taxes on imports, reduce the cost of US based employment and manufacturing, and bring focus back to the US instead of trying to improve the world and neglecting our own.

Gun control legislation is simply the US government's attempt to "wag the dog", slight of hand to get you focused on the left hand while the right hand is engaged in what should be considered criminal activity. Where is the common sense in all of this? Who is going to be the first person to introduce legislation to ban pressure cookers?

If you have common sense, then take the time to tell our government to cease foreign aid, focus on aiding our citizens and not disarming them, stop providing millions of dollars in firearms to third parties, penalize outsourcing of jobs to make it cost prohibitive, penalize the import of goods to make it more cost effective to manufacture in the US, and help rebuild the American Dream!

SB323 - Youth Equality Act

SB323, titled the "Youth Equality Act" is an affront to private non-profit organizations. Authored by Senator Ricardo Lara, and sponsored by Equality California, this document (http://goo.gl/pDwEJ) indicates Equality California is clearly discriminating against not only the Boy Scouts of America, but against anyone who is not part of the LGBT community.

The message being sent is a simple one: While the LGBT community preaches tolerance, they are only seeking tolerance of other groups toward their lifestyle. By sponsoring SB323 they are forcing EVERYONE to be tolerant of the LGBT community, but they are not, in turn, being tolerant of the straight community, or the religious community. As a matter of fact, I could  locate verbiage on the Equality California website that indicates they are only fighting for the rights of the LGBT community, however there is no mention of the rights for straight people at all. That sounds like discrimination to me, discrimination against the straight community.

Even though the bill has been labeled "A bill aimed at pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay members" by the Dallas News, and takes aim at removing their non-profit status, it is important that every non-profit organization in California take note of the wording found in this bill.

An excerpt from the bill requires that:

(C) The organization does not discriminate on the basis gender identity, race, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or religious affiliation.

Based on this wording, SB323 is actually going to allow the state to exclude from non-profit status:

• Any religious group (the Catholic church is one of the largest providers of free health care in the nation); 
• Fraternities, sororities, the Girl Scouts, Boys only and Girls only private schools and universities (all gender based);
• Any organization targeting specific races or nationalities including the ACLU ("The ACLU also works to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities" - excerpt from their website which is discriminatory against Caucasian heterosexual males)
• And in the course of the bill, will also serve to remove the non-profit status from the LGBT groups (as they target furthering the rights of only the LGBT community and excluding the straight community, which again is discrimination), such as the one sponsoring the bill, Equality California. 

So while the LGBT community and Senator Lara are attempting to provide for youth advocacy, they are actually going to reduce the resources available to youth in California by limiting the tax breaks that existing organizations already receive while attempting to provide for today's youth. It seems to me a better solution would be to start another youth organization that is more ideal for those people who feel that the Boy Scouts does not meet their needs or is too restrictive an environment for some youth/leaders who wish to be active in such a community.

Equal Rights - The Stupidity Factor

Preface: This posting will probably ostracize me from some friends and family, and may cost me some of those relationships. I would hope that any friends and family that read this understand that I support equal rights and freedoms, and that I respect each group's right to retain their freedoms. 

Let me first say that I am really getting tired of all the one-sided equal rights brew-ha-ha. Everyone wants to be granted their equal rights. The problem occurs when one groups equal rights infringe upon those of another group.

This is more about conveying my contempt for double standards used throughout the continuing equal rights debate. Its simple folks, consider the First Amendment of the Constitution: of the United States, Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Based on this, if you claim to be a Christian, but do not believe in the resurrection of Christ, then you are not a Christian, as you do not believe in one of the core principles of the religion. Time to choose to either embrace the values of Christianity, or go find another religion. This does not mean you get to impose your beliefs on the rest of Christianity, and it does not permit you to waste the time of our already over-taxed court system by trying to have the judicial system force all of Christiandom to accept your belief.

Let us explore this interesting concept in a slightly different way...

If you are a devout and your religious texts embrace same gender marriage, then stick to your guns. If it does not, then that religious belief may not be for you and you should either support your religious texts, or find another religion that conforms to what you want to believe and support, or go found your own religious group that holds true to your values. 

The same holds true for non-religious organizations. If a private entity (church, religious organization, business, school, university, social group) has rules in place regarding their membership, practices, requirements, etc, then leave it alone. If its a public entity, then leave them alone! If you don't want to be part of that organization for whatever reason, then don't! Start your own organization, religion, school, whatever. Don't go pushing yourself into an organization that you do not support.

Here is an example. There is a group of people who did not like parts of the Boy Scouts program, so they started their own. They are called the Cascadia Scouts, and they have no affiliation with the Boy Scouts at all. They camp, and do all kinds of stuff like that, but they are not Boy Scouts, and don't want to be Boy Scouts. A new interest group was started and it is appealing to those who hold similar values.

Now we get into another hot topic: Same Gender Marriages

While there is a history of same gender unions throughout known history , today, out of 193 countries recognized by the United States, only 11 allow same sex marriages. That's barely 5% of all countries in the world. Strangely enough, that really does not have any influence over this article one bit, but it is an interesting point to note.

Unfortunately this kind of falls back to "religious doctrine" versus "equal rights under our Constitution." For the sake of this discussion lets try to separate the two. Attempting to force all religions to accept and embrace same gender marriage via court order or written law  is an infringement of our First Amendment rights.

If you put into place a law that allows all existing marriages are civil unions, any new civil unions should allow any couple, heterosexual or homosexual, to be legally bound and entitled to equal rights under the law, regardless of religious or social affiliation, you have now honored the First Amendment, and allowed couples the same legal rights regardless of gender.

Keep in mind that if you intend to be part of a same gender civil union, you may be going against your religious beliefs. Change the law, don't try forcing change upon the religions of the world. They are not yours to change. Start a new religion if yours doesn't suit your needs/beliefs.

That my friends is how this Equal Rights argument over homosexuality should be handled.

Happy 15th Birthday, Zachary!

Dear Zac,
15 years ago today God gave us another child. You. We love watching your mind work as you use it to solve problems, reason through life's trials, and navigate the complex relationships and opportunities that will shape you as you traverse adolescence and make your way to adult-hood.

We know the challenges you will be facing as you blaze the path of glory that will ultimately allow you to realize your dreams by shedding light on the goals you will achieve to get there. We are here for you to use as sources of experience, knowledge and wisdom.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to make any changes you need to ensure you go through each and every day, taking the time to learn new and valuable information, surrounding yourself with the people who will challenge your intellect, driving you to success, and pushing you to grow and experience all the opportunities life has to offer.

May the Lord wrap you in his influence, and grace you with the wisdom to minister to others on your journey in life.

- Love, Mom and Dad

ZOMG!!! Android ICS for my HTC Thunderbolt!

I waited... I waited almost a year in anticipation of Verizon's 4G network and the potential of what would come from it. My contract had already expired, and I waited. When the Thunderbolt was first released by Verizon, I waited another month for the reviews, then I bought it. I was so excited, speed, power, data, information, at my fingertips! Yes!!!

Then, Android Ice Cream Sandwich was announced to be released for 2012... Again, uber-excited! Then delay, after delay, after delay. Six months later, nothing. July... August... October... November... nothing. Then another announcement in January of this year, 2013. Well, I was eagerly anticipating this, but held no expectations. HTC and Verizon had already pushed it back a year. Finally, just a few days ago, as February was getting started the actual roll out was announced. What? Really??!! Woohoo!

So I ran the update. Saw the neat new lock window and thought "This is going to SWEEEEEEET!"

I unlocked the screen and there was a bit of a delay while the "Loading..." screen showed. Then I started trying to navigate. Yes, TRYING. This was the slowest, most sluggish environment I had used in ... years!. the following represents the string of expletives that issues forth while trying for 3 days to resolve the sluggiish UI: !@#)&^#$@^@#)  !@#%^%#$@)!@_&P $%&$ *(&# ^&@#( %^!@(& #$ %!@# % #)*%^&@#(%!@#

OK, I was done. Annoyed beyond belief. I had tried everything I could think of and everything that had been suggested online, expect a factory reset. I really didnt wat to do that. I would have to reload all of my apps. All off them. /cry.

I figured at this point, I really dotn have anything to lose. So I performed a factory reset. An hour later after running through the setup, adding back a couple of often used apps, I was feeling pretty good. The UI was responding well, and the delay was gone. Obviously there was something causing the issue. For now, I am good to go. Its working well, and I still love my android-powered THC Thunderbolt.