Friday, December 5, 2014

Headlines or Head Lies?


Headlines or head lies?



"New York City police officers killed a man Thursday after he had broken up a fight between two other men, insisting on placing him in a chokehold and slamming his head to the pavement, piling on top of him as he gasped for air and as he continually told the cops he couldn't breathe."

VS.

"A career criminal died Thursday of medical complications after vigorously and repeatedly resisting arrest." 

The first and actual headline is biased and inflammatory. It is not impartial reporting geared towards bringing the truth to light. Some would say that by its very nature it is criminally negligent. Its designed to evoke strong emotions and sell papers or increase viewers.

The US Constitution gives us freedom of speech and press, but there are some limitations. You can't legally yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater as a joke. The Fighting Words Doctrine basically says that if you say certain things it the same as throwing the first punch or otherwise initiating violence. Why is the media not held to the same standard? If you print defamatory lies about a person or organization you can be charged with libel. Why do the police and we as readers put up with this? Do we want to be tricked into a revolution? Into protesting and rioting in the streets? What ever happened to journalistic integrity and getting the facts.

Fox News is heavily biased and has a mostly Conservative. Republican, Christian viewership. CNN and MSNBC are both extremely liberal. BBC seems to be the best place to get national American news with minimal slant. They're they British Broadcasting Company. Pretty sad for us dwellers of the Land of the Free.

Whether you get your news on-line, watching television, or reading an old fashioned newspaper or magazine, let your provider know that the truth is what you want; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Oops, they did it again!

The Chicago Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers on November 9th in spectacular fashion, 55-14. Setting a new NFL record, this was the second week in a row that the Bears gave up 50+ points, It is the third time in eleven games the Bears have given up 50+ points. Previously it took the Bears 759 games to give up 50+ points in three games. This leaves the Bears at 3 - 6 so far for the season.

At game time, the Packers had the worst rushing defense in the NFL. With multiple interceptions, the Bears somehow failed to notice that.

Despite the Chicago Bears horrific losses and apocalyptic season, head coach Marc Trestman said he still enjoyed this job more than he did working at Burger King. Trestman stated everyone had to lose sometime and he was getting it out of the way for the next three hundred and seventy two seasons.

When asked about the possibility of substituting the Bears defense with Green Bay Packers fans, Trestman said he already did that.

Former Bears linebacker, Julius Peppers, now a Packer, said he thanked his lord and savior, Mike McCarthy, for letting him play with a real football team one more time before he died.

Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler said he didn't give a shit as long as he got paid and wide receiver Brandon Marshall didn't start yelling again.

Green Bay Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he was happy to have a Bye week two weeks in a row.

Those Bears fans everywhere, who didn't commit mass suicide, said the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears were the greatest team ever.

Bears owner, Virginia McCasky, said the Bears didn't need cheerleaders and that she'd had her nails painted green and gold.

George " Papa Bear" Halas rolled over in his grave.



Monday, October 27, 2014

Fandumb

If you were a boxing fan and your favorite boxer, Punchy Knockchop's manager or agent put out a press release that said that he was getting a bit addled, long in the tooth, and due to extensive and repeated head injuries, Punchy was going to retire, you might be a little sad. If the same source said that upon Punchy's retirement a promising young fighter named Sockem Indaface was going to take over and be Punchy Knockchop for here on out and you should continue to idolize him and pay exorbitant amounts of money to see him fight you might say something along the lines of, "WTF? Are you shitting me? That would be totally insane!" So why is it people are so fiercely loyal to professional sports teams for decades or lifetimes? For the sake of history or loyalty they will follow a losing team season after season and pay the same price for tickets, hats, jerseys, etc., as for the championship team's memorabilia and such.

I wasn't raised in a sports family, so those people look like tools and masochists to me. If you change one player, coach or trainer, it's a different team even if the essence remains temporarily. Teams are sold, move to other cities, and are renamed and people get that. Why is the rest so hard to grasp? Why do people hold a grudge against "their" teams rivals or against a team that shares the name and location of a team that beat the team that shared the name and location of their team twenty years ago?

Tribalism run rampant.

Watching sports is a fun form of entertainment. We see great feats of athleticism and it's hugely rewarding to root for and see an underdog win. I've seen sports bring out the best and the worst in players and fans, but I've never once seen a single sports hero.

If a movie star gets exposed as a drunk, drug addict, wifebeater, dog fighter, or communist, we quit supporting them through refusing to pay to see their films and they become obsolete. If a director puts out several movies in a row that bomb, we quit going to see their next one.


Professional athletes are some of the highest paid people in the world for doing something they enjoy with relatively little prior experience or training. They get paid to play. Not to win. Not to perform, to play. We, the fans, pay to see them play, and we pay to advertise for them by buying clothing, collectibles, autographs, household goods etc. with their ugly logos plastered all over them, even if they are the worst team in the league year after year. That isn't fandom. It's marketing and being a tool.

Don't even get me started on Go Fast, Turn Left NASCAR.

If your team sucks, pick another or just enjoy the sport for what it is: entertainment. You owe no professional sports team anything until they start paying you. Additionally, you owe other sports fans nothing.

If you want to support a college or high school team because the school's athletic department adds so much to the school's academics or finances, have at it.


Now that you've been deprogrammed, feel free to go outside and play with yourself.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Loyalty is Earned.

I'm on the fence. I've always said The Chicago Bears were my football team, but the last two years that I have really started learning about and paying attention to football have left me disgruntled. The 1985 Chicago Bears were my team. I met Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Virgil Livers, Noah Jackson, and Alan Page when I was young and they were stand up guys who played for the love of the game, the team, and the fans, not just the money and their egos.

 The current Bears' Quarterback, head coach, and owner just plain suck. I didn't grow up a sports fan, so blind undying love and unquestioning life long loyalty to a group of people based on the uniforms they are wearing and where they are "from" gives me the head shakes at best, the heebie jeebies at worst. Just because the Bears are stuck with Blameless Jay Cutler for at least two more years doesn't mean fans are. We owe them nothing. If he can't pull his head out of his ass soon, it might be time to look at the other 31 teams or just enjoy the game for the game's sake although the rivalry is fun.

 Martellus Bennett, the Bears' tight end, said the fans had a right to boo them after their poor performance against the Miami Dolphins. He said their job is to entertain. You have to earn your fans. And keep earning them. Just like actors, singers, or any other entertainers.

 You wouldn't live in a condemned house just because it had some great history. Life doesn't work that way. Neither should sports fandom.


 They've got some great talent, but with poor leadership they are a constant heartache. Near weekly. The Chicago Masochists.

I've been a big Aaron Rodgers fan for some time now...

Monday, September 29, 2014

I'm a 1985 Chicago Bears Fan

I grew up around Chicago and consider myself a Chicago Bears Fan. After watching the Green Bay Packers annihilate the Bears yesterday I found myself wondering if life really was too short to be a Chicago Bears fan, especially with Jay Cutler at the helm. Now I can't blame the loss completely on Jay, our defense didn't show up either and Aaron Rodgers was his usual spectacular self. I know, blasphemy from a Bears fan. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's quarterback.

Anyway, I got to thinking about what makes a professional sports team fan a fan. There are so many parallels to religion that if there is a Hell, there'll be special seat in the eternal nosebleed section just for me. But this is about sports. The majority of the herd picks their favorite team based on where they live or who their friends and family like. Its not like high school where its your kid, the neighbor's, or you are alumni. Its the team someone has spent a lot of money putting together and placing a local label on and then marketing the hell out of them. Most aren't even local guys before getting drafted. We had Virgil Livers, a Chicago Bears CB living across the street from us when I was in high school (Go Bisons!) and I was fortunate enough to meet Alan Page, Noah Jackson, and Sweetness himself, Walter Payton. A few years later I met Mike Singletary. Those meetings, their kindnesses, and my proximity made me a Bears fan.

These many years later I look at these guys on television and they aren't my Bears. Not a one of them. Sure I like Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffries, Robbie Gould, and the good Mr. Bennett, but I like a lot of players on a lot of teams. These Bears uniforms are similar, but so what? One personnel change and its a different team. I haven't lived in Chicagoland for over twenty years. What is my loyalty to? A memory? The best marketing team? I am a tool. Just like all of these independent badass outlaw bikers who have to wear their genuine Harley-Davidson underwear. We Bears Fans get taught to be loyal to a team that's tickets sold yesterday for an average of over six hundred effing dollars each! It was $237 each for the cheapests seats at Soldier Field and fifty bucks for parking! What blue collar worker can take his family of four to ever see a game with those prices? The owners aren't doing us any favors. Neither are the players whose salaries are so high that paying them makes getting into a game prohibitive for a majority of their fans.

We love our so called sports heroes with their great displays of athleticism, but what do they give back? Where is their loyalty to us? People like Aaron Rodgers and Charles Tillman give back to the community and it is highlighted for all to see, but they are the exception, not the rule. Why do they get paid millions of dollars to play a game they love, while our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines often barely get by with great sacrifices and too frequently loss of life or limb?

I think it comes down to this. I like some athletes more than others. Having a favorite team invests me and keeps me interested. My team doesn't have to be the best or have the best QB, RB, WR, defensive line, etc. It just has to be mine. I will say this though, I believe in progress and I don't believe in getting bit by the same dog twice. If the owners don't love the game, the teams will suck.

I'm a 1985 Chicago Bears Fan. The Monsters of the Midway will live on forever in my heart and mind, but these Bears, I don't know. Show me something.


R.I.P., Sweetness.

P.S. Aaron Rodgers is the shit.

If you liked my post or it least found it interesting, please follow my blog at:http://ACunningLinguist.com

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Holy Hypocrites!

I posted this happy little barb on MY facebook page as a general reminder that hypocrisy sucks and was rewarded with the standard "Don't persecute me for my beliefs" shitstorm. Funny how its still okay to persecute the Gays... Go figure.
Calling Gays sinners and persecuting them, then saying you would never intentionally hurt people or you will pray for them is insane. Its like running down pedestrians without ever touching your brakes or adjusting your steering and then blaming them for not being in the *crosswalk. 

Saint Augustine said, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." 

I had it totally ingrained in me growing up that being gay was vulgar and despicable and that gays were beneath contempt. I still get the heebie jeebies being around gays (of both sexes) engaging in Public Displays of Affection. Guess what? That's just too fucking bad for me. No really. I can be offended or disturbed all I'd like. Its my problem, not theirs. If one set of consenting adults is allowed to do something, any set should. I don't have to like it and its none of my business unless someone is trying to force me to partake. I have gay friends and family that I love. The residual discomfort that I have from growing up in a typical Puritanical American community with our sanctioned prejudice against homosexuals is small penance compared to what others have gone through for having the audacity to be born gay and love someone of the same sex.

Gays don't want your prayers, love, or acceptance. They want you to mind your own fucking business. Get over it and get over yourself. If you don't like sick, twisted and unnatural then burn your bibles. You remember that book that says if I rape a virgin and I get caught I have to keep her and pay her pimp daddy 50 shekels for her ass. Lucky fucking her, getting to be my punishment for life. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

Drop the labels and judge people by what they do with one rule: Respect other's persons and property. That's it. The Golden Rule.

*Crosswalk; 

cross·walk

  [kraws-wawk, kros-] noun A very narrow and confined path from here to there within an insanely complex set of rules and a large number of blind spots that ignores all other ways and opportunities and may or may not get you to your destination without getting flattened by a random church bus, a nun on a moped, or the Hand of God.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Punish Actions, Not Beliefs.

I am disturbed, both as an American, and as a human being, by the fiasco involving the NBA, the LA Clippers owner, Robert Sterling, and Robert Sterling's disgruntled, spoiled whore of a mistress. The NBA has banned Robert Sterling from all NBA activity for life and will demand that he sell his team; his property.

I do not agree with or share Sterling's beliefs, but I argue that he has the right to them. Under the First Amendment, NONE of us should be prosecuted for our beliefs, but only for our actions when they are criminal, and not by public opinion.

No evidence has been presented that Clippers players are paid less than others in the NBA or that Sterling discriminates against them otherwise. His record of racial discrimination is public, yet everyone of these players made the decision to join his team and take his money. Ridiculously insane amounts of his money for skills that do nothing but provide entertainment in one of the least dangerous professional sports there is.

Mr. Sterling is being figuratively tarred and feathered by the press and the NBA for expressing his opinions as a party involved in a conversation in which he should have had a legal, reasonable expectation of privacy.

I think it is absolutely ludicrous that Al Sharpton should be speaking about racism with anyone. Anyone willing to speak on the same platform as him about race is questionable at best. He is a hatemonger.

Does Sterling's right to own property take a backseat to his obligations as a sports team owner and to the NBA?

The sound clips I heard seem to mark Sterling as a white separatist, not a white supremacist, but his mistress is part black and part Hispanic.

We have Black Miss America, black churches, BET (Black Entertainment Television), and People talking about forming a black basket ball league. Any disagreement with any of these brands one a racist in today's society.

I fully support Clippers advertisers' right to end their sponsorship because of the bad publicity. They, like any sports team is a business. There are a lot of glass houses out here. Do they ban NBA players for life and cancel their contracts for using the "N" word (which I didn't hear Stirling do) in private conversations?

We will never eradicate racism entirely as long as we remain human. We are wired for tribalism and to be wary of those who are different from us. Worshipping our sports teams is just one example of that tribalism run rampant. Spending $300 for a team jersey is a great example of the brainwashing many sports fans submit to.

It seems like it is "okay" to discriminate in America if you are in the majority, like Baptist parents prohibiting their daughter from bringing home for dinner her atheist boyfriend. Is it okay for an employer to fire a Baptist after finding out he told his daughter (outside of the workplace) he'd rather she didn't broadcast her relationship with an atheist at his workplace? What if the father is an atheist and the boyfriend is a Baptist?

I for one am boycotting the NBA for infringing on a team owner's right to freedom of speech, no matter how ignorant or misguided some of us might find his beliefs to be.

Wake Up, America!



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Nocturnal Invader!


Just before 9 O'clock tonight I was driving home on the Interstate, car windows down, enjoying a cool breeze and the end of a perfect day. My serenity was abruptly interrupted when an unknown object of indeterminate size flew in through the driver's window, thumped into my chest, bounced off of my lap in an unhappy way, and disappeared into the darkness! My heart jackhammered in my chest and my mind exploded in a million directions; WTF was that!? A BAT!? A VAMPIRE BAT? A fat man's stoogie? A dud Malotov cocktail? The Holy Grail? Reacting as any sane person would, I whipped out my Fenix Tactical LD22 flashlight (My pistol remained holstered. I'm not THAT big of a girlyman!).

I shined the blinding 215 lumen beam down into the murky darkness, wondering what abject horrors abounded, waiting to pounce, and wondering if I'd have to bail out of the car at 70 mph. There on the floorboards, glaring up at me in the light was the Cold Steel FXG Jungle Dart that normally nestles above my sun visor to greet any carjacker foolish enough to stick his head or any other unneccessary appendages through my car window.

Despite my mild embarrassment, it could have been far, far worse. It could have been a fucking bee. Fuck bees in cars. Fuck bees in cars with a baseball bat.



Thursday, February 6, 2014

Repeal Marijuana Prohibition


Repeal Marijuana Prohibition

As many of my friends know, I am a former police officer, soldier, and sailor and have worked in two different drug rehabilitation centers. During my time as a police officer I was pro-legalization when it came to marijuana despite the so called War on Drugs and despite not being a user myself. I saw the unjust laws do much greater harm to both individuals and our society than the recreational use of marijuana ever could. Among other things, our already overcrowded prisons are filling with non-violent offenders who had mandatory minimum sentences, often with no hope of parole, while murderers and rapists walk free. It was not a popular stance as the unConstitutional property seizures these laws allowed provided a lot of funding especially among smaller law enforcement organizations. A police officer saying they smelled marijuana created all sorts of probable cause and exigent circumstances to violate even more of our rights. Today I am a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.LEAP.org) and want to see these laws repealed.

You don't have to have breast cancer to support cancer research and you don't have to use marijuana at all to support changing marijuana laws. Do the research and get the facts.

Repealing Marijuana Prohibition isn't about being stoned 24/7. It's about getting the government out of our personal lives, bedrooms, and medicine cabinets. It's the freedom to make our own informed adult decisions when they harm no one else. It's about fair laws and fair punishments. Marijuana has been used very successfully in treating cancer, seizures, Lupus, RA, Fibromyalgia, insomnia, chronic pain, depression and numerous other maladies. It is a much safer choice for recreational use by adults than alcohol.

Will big pharmaceutical companies control the cannabis market when cannabis is legalized for adult use? Only if we let them. Cannabis is a medicinal herb and it should be regulated as an herb, not as a pharmaceutical or a street drug.


Marijuana's non-psychoactive cousin, Hemp, which is another absolute miracle plant, is illegal because of it's relationship to cannabis and big businesses like Timber, Plastics, Oil, Pharmaceutical companies, privately ran prisons, and others who all profit from the prohibition, as do the corrupt politicians owned by them.

If you drive distracted whether it's because of alcohol, marijuana, texting, eating food, talking on your mobile phone, or fighting with your partner or kids, and you hurt someone or damage another's property you need to be held accountable. Just having marijuana in your car should never be a crime for an adult any more than unopened alcohol.

The NFL bans its players from using marijuana even though almost every player suffers from chronic pain and could be helped and healed faster without having to rely on dangerous narcotics. Knowing the type, strain, and potency of the cannabis they used would let them enjoy its benefits, be they medical or recreational. Just like for the rest of us!

As much as the government has tried to prohibit and misclassify it, scientific research backs all of these claims.

For over three years I have ran the facebook page Repeal Marijuana Prohibition. This makes me a target, which I don't enjoy (The squeaky wheel gets the boot heel). Change takes effort and sacrifice. I've watched my daughter in excruciating pain from Endometriosis as she was prescribed harmful, addictive narcotics that only mask the pain without helping her heal. I have severe sleep apnea, insomnia, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, circulation issues, chronic pain, bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, and arthritis, all of which have been successfully treated with Cannabis in others. If I were to choose to treat myself I would risk fines, jail time, loss of many VA medical benefits, freedom, second amendment rights, social standing, and much, much, much more. So I don't. Parents often lose custody of their dependent children. I take a stand hoping that myself and others will eventually be able to reap the benefits of this natural healer and freedom.

Repeal Marijuana Prohibition's purpose is to free marijuana & hemp from the bonds of ignorance, fear, & propaganda and to overturn the unconstitutional laws that still make its use a crime in so many places.

Recommended reading;

The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer

Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country by Peter McWilliams

The Truth About Addiction And Recovery by Stanton Peele

Marijuana: Gateway To Health by Clint Werner

Please like and share our facebook page; Repeal Marijuana Prohibition

Check out NORML (National Organization for the Reform or Marijuana Laws) at www.norml.org

MMP (Marijuana Policy Project) at www.mmp.org

LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) at www.LEAP.org

Safer Choice at www.SaferChoice.org

The Libertarian Party at www.lp.org

These are just a few of the worthwhile organizations that you can join in making a difference.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Size Still Matters

Once again, I am hoping to find a special lady. The online dating sites are vicious meat markets, but if you don't get out a lot or work with the public, they are a bit of the only game in town. Of all my preferences that I state, the one that gets the most comments is always my statement that I am rarely attracted to BBWs (Big Beautiful Women). I'm not denying that there are some gorgeous plus sized women out there, but the great majority of them don't get my heart thumping and my motor running. Faking it because of their other great qualities is living a lie and it doesn't change things. "Fake it until you make it" is not an option. The heart knows what the heart wants.

Women assume that because I am a big guy I will like or settle for big girls. Not the case, nor is it a fair or reasonable assumption. I realize some ladies won't be attracted to me in anything other than a platonic way because of my size. I can accept it or I can change. That is within my power. Same for the ladies.

Different people carry weight differently and some bigger folks have a lot of muscle tone as well as padding. Grace and movement are big factors too.

I've seen women thirty pounds overweight who look like Mrs. Potatohead and others who are eighty pounds overweight who are graceful, light on their feet, and sexy.

I'm packing a good bit of extra weight, but I'm built like a linebacker and play volleyball and still jump and block. Not exactly sloppy fat or a formless blob, but I still desire to take it off. I've quit smoking numerous times and it always plays havoc with my weight. Despite medical issues, I alone am responsible for what goes in my mouth and that is the ultimate factor in what one weighs.

I don't whip out a bathroom scale on the first (or any) date, but I know where I feel comfortable and attracted. Its not a matter of who will be better in bed or look good on my arm. Its who I am drawn to aesthetically and emotionally. I don't have a type, but I prefer slim, athletic, or average built ladies. Don't get me started on what women consider an average build! What attracts me fluctuates. What doesn't, not so much. Unfortunately, it seems to be the way of the world and very few of us are exempt from it.

America is mostly overweight. We pay for it in health, at the workplace, socially, and in love.

That's just my two cents.

Twisted Faces - Caricature Art from Rock Cowles

Twisted Faces - Caricature Art from Rock Cowles
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Caricatures by Rock Kowulz