Greetings my Angry Angels! Sorry it has been a while, these winter colds can be brutal!! Fortunately I had Angry Woman to help nurse me back to health, which basically meant lots of juice and keeping me alone in a dark room lol. Whatever works right? With the new Obamacare I'm sure there will be plenty of victims or "patients" who are advised to do much the same. Just make sure you don't let anyone know you are taking care of a sick relative or the Service Employees International Union will start making you pays union dues. If you don't think that could happen, well it's already happening in Michigan. Un-fucking-believable right?
Well no not if you read any of my other posts...you would absolutely believe the depths to which politicians enjoy finding ways to screw their constituents. I'm not really going to get into it....you can read a good blog about it here: http://www.allamericanblogger.com/18752/seiu-collecting-union-dues-out-of-medicare-checks-in-michigan/ I just know that the amount of ridiculous bullshit we have to put up with is raging out of control.
For instance a school district in Long Island, NY is going to monitor their students off time, meaning not school time, with electronic bracelets designed to track activity levels. How much is THAT gonna fucking cost the local community? So aside from providing them three squares, schools are now gonna save the kids from obesity, caused by their own dietary plans? Excuse me from laughing. These are the same administrators country-wide who protect the "free speech" of students that results in the deaths of bully's and victims alike. These are the same administrators who are driving the standards of American education right into the toilet. I'm sure they will be massively successful in their efforts and Michelle Obama will take as much credit for it as she can.
And yes, that was total sarcasm.
You know that the funds spent on this program are just going to go to groups who support the ELECTED school board. It always does! The corruption in governmental oversight is as endemic as a crooked three-card monte game on a street corner. The hustlers just dress better and use bigger numbers.
I didn't watch the Presidential Address last night, I didn't need to. It's all the same. American's have to buck up and stick with believing in our ever expanding government. And by "buck up" I mean pay more. Our economy is in the toilet and we have to trust the people who put it there. Same with our education system and our legal system. Sure we can pay more, but to what end? The Fed borrows one dollar for every three it spends. That's a pretty dangerous ratio. And what has it gotten us? More regulations? More bureaucrats? Are they trying to solve the unemployment problem with more government?
That isn't working out too well for Greece, Spain and Italy and it sure as hell didn't work out for the Soviet Union. I wonder if North Korea has state mandated education...
What really gets me ANGRY though are jackasses like Warren Buffett who say that the rich should be paying more in taxes because he pays a higher real tax rate than his secretary. Wonder how much he pays his secretary? I mean the guy is worth $44 BILLION! If she is paying a higher tax rate than he is, then there might be a little bit of a moral gap here. This guy is the DEFINITION of crony capitalism. He is going to make quite a bit of money on the president torpedoing the XL Pipeline project, but we don't hear about that in the State of the Union do we?
We talked last week about how we should recall all these politicians based on their approval ratings, which personally I would love to see happen. But these sanctimonious jerks like Buffett, and Soros who want people to pay more and pay their fair share need to blow it out their ass.
How about you STOP SPENDING MONEY ON YOUR FUCKING BUDDIES!! It is really up to every Angry American to call bullshit on this merry-go-round! This incestuous relationship between government and business is being paid for by all of us. We are the ones who are sullied and soiled by this, not them. And even if they were, their sociopathic tendencies wear like teflon suits and the shit just rolls down on us.
Now before any of you kool-aid drinkers start in with the "It's the democrats fault" or "It's the republicans fault" I want you to take your head out of your asses and take a good long look at where we are. A REALLY hard look at what it was that made this country great, and what is fucking it up. BOTH sides pull the same crap and both sides are getting richer and richer and richer while we have to pony up an extra 22% for a pound of bacon than we did 3 years ago.
Long gone are the days of Teddy Roosevelt and George Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson, Reagan and Kennedy. These men built the greatest nation on the planet. It makes me really Angry and a little sad that the only choices we have to elect to lead this nation now are greedy, selfish propagandists and we are left with the lesser of two evils.
It's time all my Angry Angels, and Angry Americans everywhere, expect better and demand more. If we keep letting these asshats destroy our present, imagine how tragically empty our futures will be. Get loud, let your representatives know you are angry and demand a change in recall laws!
Great session today!
Next up: Forgiveness in death!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Who Do You Trust?
Greetings my Angry Angels! Hope today finds you well and you are all charged up for another Anger Management Session!
Yesterday I said we are going to talk about TV and thats what we are going to do.
Have you ever looked at the TV schedule and wondered how the hell do so many of these programs get on the air? Granted I have my guilty pleasures of watching some "competition" shows like Top Chef and Angry Woman seems to like Hardcore Pawn quite a bit, but who is putting all these reality shows on? Seriously! Every cable channel has at least three or four shows that are geared to this phenomenon. This doesn't even touch on these "talent" shows like American Idol or X-Factor or whatever, that are designed to tell us who is a star and who isn't.
Now there are some truly great shows out there, most of which you would have to pay for like Game of Thrones on HBO or Spartacus on Showtime. Sometimes the free cable channels hit a great story like the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica a few years back, or Firefly before Fox COMPLETELY fucked that up. But to look at the major networks schedule from season to season, they all rely on "reality" or instant gratification TV. There used to be a time when you would hear a song on the radio and either really like it or really not. Then you would call into the radio station and request to hear the song when you were sitting near your HiFi praying that Casey Kasem would get around to your request. The other way to hear about new music, or tv for that matter, was word of mouth. Basically a friend or family member would stumble on a new show or tune and suggest it to you.
Usually this last method was the best indicator of something that you would like assuming that your friends gave a damn about what you liked. But it's easier today. We don't have to wait for our friends to recommend anything because we have "experts" like Simon Cowell and that dried up dude from Aerosmith to tell us what real talent is. We get to pretend that we have a choice on who we are going to get to listen to ad nauseum through phone voting, but it doesn't really matter. Everyone involved in these types of shows makes money from top to bottom. And that is really what it always comes down to...the money.
Now I don't bear any grudges or hide any anger at these contestants seeking fame and fortune and generally putting forth a very honest effort. The process of natural selection as it comes to "The Next Big Thing" has changed somewhat and they are just adapting faster than some. But we as consumers have the real choice in the long run on whether or not to place our trust in what we should like as defined by Simon et. al. or if we should decide for ourselves. When it comes to music, and tv, and movies and other forms of entertainment there really isn't that much harm in promoting to the largest denominator possible. Notice I didn't say anything about reading as that requires a bit more effort and dedication, I mean "A Song of Fire and Ice" on which "A Game of Thrones" is based is only 5 books in, out of a planned 7 and that's already 5,000 pages. That and I'm sure there wouldn't be a huge tv audience for America's Best Author hosted by Stephen King.
So why the hell am I writing about this my Angry Angels?
You know what happens this year? That's right! The Mayan Long-count Calendar says this is the big year and the sun is gonna go crazy and Nibiru is gonna crash through the solar system and all hell is gonna break loose and everyone is gonna die. Except John Cusack. He'll survive and be the only remnant of the Huffington Post in the new world.
Actually it's a lot worse than sitting through 158 minutes of Roland Emmerich. It's a presidential election year. The ultimate reality show. The consequences are more dire with NONE of the humor in absurdity like most of Roland's offerings...
The tragedy however is that this season's run of The Greatest American Liar's X-Factor is going to result in NO CHANGES WHATSOEVER! You want to know why? Because just like the voting in American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, this is a reality show where your opinion matters for shit. For far too long the course of this nation has been shaped by people who have less and less in common with you, us, we the people. Yes I'm talking about corporate interests and crooked politicians and the rest of the circus. But before any of you start getting angry at those self-righteous conservatives or looney liberals, I want you to get mad at the people who deserve it and that's "US" my Angry Angels.
Yeah, they are the ones who have a 13% approval rating in Congress, but how many of them are not going to be in office come next inauguration day? Very few. And they are being led by someone whose approval rating is below 50%!! According to Real Clear Politics only 28% of us think the country is going in the right direction! 28%!! If only 28% of us think the country is going in the right direction, why do these people still have jobs??
In any other career path, if your boss said you were only doing a good job 28% of the time you would be out on your ass looking for another job!! So why do we let this continue? Why do these people still run our country? Because we let them!
I don't really care what side you are voting on, but a 13% approval rating for congress means NONE OF US TRUST YOU ANYMORE! But yet you are still in office, telling US what to do! Are you fucking kidding me?
I'm sure if Carrie Underwood had a 13% approval rating she wouldn't have won season 4 of American Idol regardless of any improprieties in voting or who in the corporate world was supporting her! Carrie has sold something like 13 million records and makes a ridiculous amount of money on tour so it would seem that putting our trust in Simon and Randy and Paula has worked out for all of us, especially her. But that is the American dream isn't it? Entertainment's version of natural selection worked.
So why does natural selection of politics seem to work in the exact opposite? Partially because the political versions of the American Idol judges are so incredibly rabid with partisan polemic that we forget there are actual issues and lives at stake and view the show as just another form of entertainment!! We get wrapped up in the emotion and drama of the show and forget that this isn't American Idol.
In 1960 the first televised Presidential Debate was aired on CBS between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Richard Nixon. Little did the nation realize 52 years ago that they were watching the first reality TV program. Image, for the first time, played a role in the shaping of our nation. In 1980 Ronald Reagan would use his ease in front of the camera to translate into a landslide election victory over Jimmy Carter.
Now here is an interesting bit. On Oct 3, 1988 ( Oct 3 being my birthday, remember that!), Nancy Neuman President of the League of Women Voters, who had been a non-partisan host of the Presidential debates for the previous 3 elections issued a statement regarding the upcoming debates between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. This is an excerpt:
The League of Women Voters is announcing today that we have no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public. Under these circumstances, the League is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October in Los Angeles.
On the threshold of a new millennium, this country remains the brightest hope for all who cherish free speech and open debate. Americans deserve to see and hear the men who would be president face each other in a debate on the hard and complex issues critical to our progress into the next century.
The whole statement can be found here: http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/statement-nancy-m-neuman-president-league-women-voters
"Americans deserve to see and hear the men who would be president..." Yeah we still deserve that and I don't think we ever will see it again. And why? Because there isn't a SINGLE politician at the national level, and probably not at the state level either, who hasn't been carefully crafted by handlers and other big money interests. Now the first one of you who says that voting for our current president was a vote for change, I want you to go outside and punch yourself in your head until you can come back with some fucking sense.
We have a permanent class of professional politician in this country, and this profession comes with entitlements and liberties NONE of us have the opportunity to take advantage of. How many of these elected officials come out of office SIGNIFICANTLY more wealthy than when they went in? Damn near all of them. How many of my Angry Angels have jobs where you get to influence the stock value of companies you invest in by writing laws? I would bet a good amount of money to say "ZERO OF YOU!!"
Out of 300 million citizens in the United States these 536 with a 13% approval rating are the best we can do? No. They in fact are not. They are the ones someone has chosen for you to represent you. And they are presented to you by asshats like Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, all of whom have a vested interest in keeping you tuned in. And do these "presenters" really CARE about what happens to all of my Angry Angels out there? Hell no! They care about keeping their rancorous shows on the air, so they can get paid by their sponsors. The more of us that tune in, the more views their commercials get, the better. The more conflict they can create between the two sides, the angrier we get at each other, the more money they make.
Is this anyway to run a company let alone a country? OUR COUNTRY?? Fuck no!!
It's time we redirect our ANGER not at each other, but at the real problem in this country. The politicians who keep us as a class of serfs and constantly change the rules to ensure we never rise up. It's time they all go back from whence they came. If at the end of any given year the President and Congress have an approval rating of lower than 25% and the direction of the country is less than 50% that should serve as an automatic recall. If you are recalled, you do not get to run for reelection at the state or federal level. EVER.
Yeah I realize that this would cause some serious issues with our election cycle and blah blah blah. So what?? All you Occupy this and Tea that folks have to focus on one thing. Big Politics is NEVER going to let the system change. The power, the money, the control, the legal abuses, the two party system all of it is balanced against us. The fastest way for us to even the score out is to put them on notice that their jobs are in immediate jeopardy. Not when the election cycle rolls around. Now. Just like ours are when we don't perform.
Wipe the slate clean and starting fresh is sometimes the best thing we can do. And since the odds of a military coup are tragically small, we have to stage our own constitutional coup. Once we get rid of the top of the political class, maybe we can start with a real government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Until we turn off the volume on all these screaming heads on tv and stop believing when they tell us what our choices are, we are going to be stuck with the same type of discourse we have now. And quite frankly, I think Simon Cowell is a better judge of future performance than any of the Matthews and Becks and the rest of their circus folk are.
Great session today Angels!! Remember to take your ANGER and make a difference!!
Tomorrow: Group Session #3
GRRRRR!
Yesterday I said we are going to talk about TV and thats what we are going to do.
Have you ever looked at the TV schedule and wondered how the hell do so many of these programs get on the air? Granted I have my guilty pleasures of watching some "competition" shows like Top Chef and Angry Woman seems to like Hardcore Pawn quite a bit, but who is putting all these reality shows on? Seriously! Every cable channel has at least three or four shows that are geared to this phenomenon. This doesn't even touch on these "talent" shows like American Idol or X-Factor or whatever, that are designed to tell us who is a star and who isn't.
Now there are some truly great shows out there, most of which you would have to pay for like Game of Thrones on HBO or Spartacus on Showtime. Sometimes the free cable channels hit a great story like the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica a few years back, or Firefly before Fox COMPLETELY fucked that up. But to look at the major networks schedule from season to season, they all rely on "reality" or instant gratification TV. There used to be a time when you would hear a song on the radio and either really like it or really not. Then you would call into the radio station and request to hear the song when you were sitting near your HiFi praying that Casey Kasem would get around to your request. The other way to hear about new music, or tv for that matter, was word of mouth. Basically a friend or family member would stumble on a new show or tune and suggest it to you.
Usually this last method was the best indicator of something that you would like assuming that your friends gave a damn about what you liked. But it's easier today. We don't have to wait for our friends to recommend anything because we have "experts" like Simon Cowell and that dried up dude from Aerosmith to tell us what real talent is. We get to pretend that we have a choice on who we are going to get to listen to ad nauseum through phone voting, but it doesn't really matter. Everyone involved in these types of shows makes money from top to bottom. And that is really what it always comes down to...the money.
Now I don't bear any grudges or hide any anger at these contestants seeking fame and fortune and generally putting forth a very honest effort. The process of natural selection as it comes to "The Next Big Thing" has changed somewhat and they are just adapting faster than some. But we as consumers have the real choice in the long run on whether or not to place our trust in what we should like as defined by Simon et. al. or if we should decide for ourselves. When it comes to music, and tv, and movies and other forms of entertainment there really isn't that much harm in promoting to the largest denominator possible. Notice I didn't say anything about reading as that requires a bit more effort and dedication, I mean "A Song of Fire and Ice" on which "A Game of Thrones" is based is only 5 books in, out of a planned 7 and that's already 5,000 pages. That and I'm sure there wouldn't be a huge tv audience for America's Best Author hosted by Stephen King.
So why the hell am I writing about this my Angry Angels?
You know what happens this year? That's right! The Mayan Long-count Calendar says this is the big year and the sun is gonna go crazy and Nibiru is gonna crash through the solar system and all hell is gonna break loose and everyone is gonna die. Except John Cusack. He'll survive and be the only remnant of the Huffington Post in the new world.
Actually it's a lot worse than sitting through 158 minutes of Roland Emmerich. It's a presidential election year. The ultimate reality show. The consequences are more dire with NONE of the humor in absurdity like most of Roland's offerings...
The tragedy however is that this season's run of The Greatest American Liar's X-Factor is going to result in NO CHANGES WHATSOEVER! You want to know why? Because just like the voting in American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, this is a reality show where your opinion matters for shit. For far too long the course of this nation has been shaped by people who have less and less in common with you, us, we the people. Yes I'm talking about corporate interests and crooked politicians and the rest of the circus. But before any of you start getting angry at those self-righteous conservatives or looney liberals, I want you to get mad at the people who deserve it and that's "US" my Angry Angels.
Yeah, they are the ones who have a 13% approval rating in Congress, but how many of them are not going to be in office come next inauguration day? Very few. And they are being led by someone whose approval rating is below 50%!! According to Real Clear Politics only 28% of us think the country is going in the right direction! 28%!! If only 28% of us think the country is going in the right direction, why do these people still have jobs??
In any other career path, if your boss said you were only doing a good job 28% of the time you would be out on your ass looking for another job!! So why do we let this continue? Why do these people still run our country? Because we let them!
I don't really care what side you are voting on, but a 13% approval rating for congress means NONE OF US TRUST YOU ANYMORE! But yet you are still in office, telling US what to do! Are you fucking kidding me?
I'm sure if Carrie Underwood had a 13% approval rating she wouldn't have won season 4 of American Idol regardless of any improprieties in voting or who in the corporate world was supporting her! Carrie has sold something like 13 million records and makes a ridiculous amount of money on tour so it would seem that putting our trust in Simon and Randy and Paula has worked out for all of us, especially her. But that is the American dream isn't it? Entertainment's version of natural selection worked.
So why does natural selection of politics seem to work in the exact opposite? Partially because the political versions of the American Idol judges are so incredibly rabid with partisan polemic that we forget there are actual issues and lives at stake and view the show as just another form of entertainment!! We get wrapped up in the emotion and drama of the show and forget that this isn't American Idol.
In 1960 the first televised Presidential Debate was aired on CBS between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Richard Nixon. Little did the nation realize 52 years ago that they were watching the first reality TV program. Image, for the first time, played a role in the shaping of our nation. In 1980 Ronald Reagan would use his ease in front of the camera to translate into a landslide election victory over Jimmy Carter.
Now here is an interesting bit. On Oct 3, 1988 ( Oct 3 being my birthday, remember that!), Nancy Neuman President of the League of Women Voters, who had been a non-partisan host of the Presidential debates for the previous 3 elections issued a statement regarding the upcoming debates between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. This is an excerpt:
The League of Women Voters is announcing today that we have no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public. Under these circumstances, the League is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October in Los Angeles.
On the threshold of a new millennium, this country remains the brightest hope for all who cherish free speech and open debate. Americans deserve to see and hear the men who would be president face each other in a debate on the hard and complex issues critical to our progress into the next century.
The whole statement can be found here: http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/statement-nancy-m-neuman-president-league-women-voters
"Americans deserve to see and hear the men who would be president..." Yeah we still deserve that and I don't think we ever will see it again. And why? Because there isn't a SINGLE politician at the national level, and probably not at the state level either, who hasn't been carefully crafted by handlers and other big money interests. Now the first one of you who says that voting for our current president was a vote for change, I want you to go outside and punch yourself in your head until you can come back with some fucking sense.
We have a permanent class of professional politician in this country, and this profession comes with entitlements and liberties NONE of us have the opportunity to take advantage of. How many of these elected officials come out of office SIGNIFICANTLY more wealthy than when they went in? Damn near all of them. How many of my Angry Angels have jobs where you get to influence the stock value of companies you invest in by writing laws? I would bet a good amount of money to say "ZERO OF YOU!!"
Out of 300 million citizens in the United States these 536 with a 13% approval rating are the best we can do? No. They in fact are not. They are the ones someone has chosen for you to represent you. And they are presented to you by asshats like Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, all of whom have a vested interest in keeping you tuned in. And do these "presenters" really CARE about what happens to all of my Angry Angels out there? Hell no! They care about keeping their rancorous shows on the air, so they can get paid by their sponsors. The more of us that tune in, the more views their commercials get, the better. The more conflict they can create between the two sides, the angrier we get at each other, the more money they make.
Is this anyway to run a company let alone a country? OUR COUNTRY?? Fuck no!!
It's time we redirect our ANGER not at each other, but at the real problem in this country. The politicians who keep us as a class of serfs and constantly change the rules to ensure we never rise up. It's time they all go back from whence they came. If at the end of any given year the President and Congress have an approval rating of lower than 25% and the direction of the country is less than 50% that should serve as an automatic recall. If you are recalled, you do not get to run for reelection at the state or federal level. EVER.
Yeah I realize that this would cause some serious issues with our election cycle and blah blah blah. So what?? All you Occupy this and Tea that folks have to focus on one thing. Big Politics is NEVER going to let the system change. The power, the money, the control, the legal abuses, the two party system all of it is balanced against us. The fastest way for us to even the score out is to put them on notice that their jobs are in immediate jeopardy. Not when the election cycle rolls around. Now. Just like ours are when we don't perform.
Wipe the slate clean and starting fresh is sometimes the best thing we can do. And since the odds of a military coup are tragically small, we have to stage our own constitutional coup. Once we get rid of the top of the political class, maybe we can start with a real government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Until we turn off the volume on all these screaming heads on tv and stop believing when they tell us what our choices are, we are going to be stuck with the same type of discourse we have now. And quite frankly, I think Simon Cowell is a better judge of future performance than any of the Matthews and Becks and the rest of their circus folk are.
Great session today Angels!! Remember to take your ANGER and make a difference!!
Tomorrow: Group Session #3
GRRRRR!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tebow, Jesus and the Holy Football
And another Hump Day is upon us my Angry Angels, and what a Wednesday it is! Four more days until the NFL Championship games and the Giants opportunity to avenge a regular season loss to the 49'ers and the Ravens attempt to find a way to keep the Patriot's out of the Super Bowl. Anyone who watched Saturday's game against the Bronco's is of course eagerly waiting to see what Tom Brady can do this weekend. It's hard to imagine that Brady was drafted 199th in the sixth round! With every touchdown this guy throws and every record he adds, talent evaluators in the NFL have got to be thinking "Dammit!!"
I'm sure there is no shortage of fans out there who think about what could have been if "our" team had drafted him. Personally I'm pretty happy with my team's QB Eli Manning. While he isn't Tom Brady (who is?) he did beat Tom in an incredible Super Bowl which is really all we as fans care about. We want wins and we want championships. In no other sport is one player so influential in it's teams success as the quarterback is in football. From off and on-field leadership, to strategy such as play calling, to overall skills, the QB gets the most of the glory and fame. Of course if they SUCK they get the lions share of the blame.
Having grown up a Giants fan and attending some memorable games, including the snow ball game in '95 where a San Diego Charger coach was knocked out by fans throwing snow balls. As most fans have, I have witnessed the best and the worst of the team but have been loyal throughout. When we ended up with Eli Manning "we" were overjoyed hoping he would be the second coming of his brother Peyton who almost single handedly turned the Colts into perennial contenders. I was even at the first "Manning Bowl" where the brothers faced off at old Giants Stadium leading a raucous chant of "Eli's Better!" Peyton would go on to win the Super Bowl MVP that year seriously calling into consideration my chant earlier in the season.
Then 2007 happened. In his third year as a starter, fourth overall, Eli followed his brother as Super Bowl MVP in one of the more improbable runs in sports memory. And we Giants fans seemed to forget Eli's 73.9 passer rating that year and 20 interceptions. Now Eli has had his ups and downs and if I'm doing my math right, he might actually have a shot at breaking Brett Farve's career interception record. One thing about him though is he doesn't really inspire a strong reaction, one way or the other, outside of the New York market. And I am excepting the sportscasters who seem to GUSH over him every time he's on tv.
Now Eli has a career 82.1 passer rating. Not great, not terrible...decidedly average. All of his stats point to a long career of average. Certainly not inspiring numbers but he does inspire his team to win when they NEED to. Another current QB who does that is Tim Tebow. Yet one major difference between the two is that football fans, no matter how casual, have a REALLY strong reaction to him, a surprising amount of it negative.
In 23 games Tim has a 75.1 QB rating, which is probably a little on the short side of average. His touchdowns both through passing and rushing are 29 with total turnovers 26. In 121 games Eli has total touchdowns of 189 and total turnovers of 196!!! Yeah you read that right!! 196! That's one and a half PER GAME!! So why are there websites supporting Tim Tebow haters and not Eli? Or any other QB for that matter?
Is Tim a great QB? Not right now. No idea on how his career will play out but it hasn't started too terribly. The arguments about him being one dimensional are concerns more for his coaching staff than anyone else, they knew what they were getting when they traded to draft him at #25 in the first round. I have a hard time believing that people would put SO much effort into HATING an average QB who hasn't even started a full season yet. Do they hate him for taking a team that started 2-3 to the playoffs after winning 6 straight?
Or is it something not football related?
For those of you not familiar with "Tebowing" the official "Tebowing" website defines the act as: to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. I suggest taking a few minutes and checking out http://tebowing.com/ My personal favorite so far is the plane load of people all tebowing in the center aisle, hopefully in response to a successful on-time landing. They even have a marketing and sales manager to promote Tebowing merchandise!! Anyone want to volunteer to promote Angry Man merchandise? I think I may be a few steps away from needing that just yet.
Now some of the backlash I have heard and read about this phenomenon is that people don't like how he is showing his faith and his thanks to a higher power that he believes in for giving him this opportunity. And somehow this means that he thinks he is superior to his detractors. Does that mean Hakeem Olajuwon and Muhammed Ali thought they were better than everyone else because of their religious faith? How about Josh Hamilton on the Texas Rangers or the now retired Kurt Warner? I remember Kurt being the subject of derision for thanking Jesus as his Lord and Savior after he won the Super Bowl, but certainly no websites devoted to mocking him. Certainly no DJ's weighing in on how they don't like his showing of religious devotion during games. Well what does that say about Olajuwon and Ali?
So there is no place for religion in sports? There is no place for belief in sports? Now my dear Angry Angels is where I normally ask "Why am I ANGRY?" Well not today. Today I ask "Why are THEY angry?"
They are angry because in their view, their own religion is being impugned. All around the country, actually most of the world over, people very strongly identify with sports teams. Doesn't matter if it's high school football in Texas, college football in Pennsylvania or soccer in Europe. To a huge degree people identify themselves as believers in a sports team, usually more devout in their following of their teams than their religion. We will wear a cross underneath our clothes while adorning ourselves with the colors of our team for all to see. And how does that work out for us? It didn't work out to well for San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, or New York Rangers fan and former US Marine Neal Auricchio Jr.
Tim wears his cross on his sleeve, and his beliefs for all to see. And while that bugs the adherents to the new religion of sport, what really drives them crazy with fear and anger is that his moderate success in their temple is attributed to a higher power that is not them. And that's not the worst of it. In under a year, imitating Tebow's shows of thanks and humility and service to something beyond the grasp of secularists has spread worldwide. Do a google search for tebowing images if you doubt me.
Instead of adhering to the holy writ of marketing plans, Tim, like many others before him, uses his gifts and his opportunities to fund better opportunities for those in need. His charity has raised $2.5 million dollars this year. Unlike ALL of the charities I have railed against so far this year, 100% of the donations go to the intended beneficiaries. How does he do that? He pays salaries and administrative costs out of his own pocket. You may not agree with all his viewpoints but you gotta give him respect for that. Actually what I think I respect more is that he would likely be doing this type of work regardless of his celebrity and success.
So what then is the fucking issue? As a group we by and large gave Michael Vick a pass on his behaviors because he was skilled. Same with "Pacman" Jones and Michael Irvin. Hell, Don King the boxing promoter was convicted of two homicides including beating to death one of his employees!! Why is redemption in sports valued more than someone who doesn't need redemption? Well it's because the one who doesn't need our redemption is out of our control. Do you think Vick got paid by PETA or the NFL for his public service announcements? I would wager no. Tim Tebow's existence is a public service announcement and there's not a damn thing his detractors can do about that. Regardless of his success on the football field, he measures his success off of it.
If even a small fraction of the people who take their pictures Tebowing adopt the generosity of self that Tim has, we will all be able to measure his success, and our own as well. Irrespective of our own faiths, shouldn't we all be trying to DO something in our lives that would make us WANT to throw a "Tebow?" If a few more of us Tebowed maybe we would have fewer Jerry Sanduskys in the world.
And with that our Anger Management Session for today draws to a close. Remember that ANGER without a directed resolution is pointless!
Tomorrow: TV!
GRRRRR!
I'm sure there is no shortage of fans out there who think about what could have been if "our" team had drafted him. Personally I'm pretty happy with my team's QB Eli Manning. While he isn't Tom Brady (who is?) he did beat Tom in an incredible Super Bowl which is really all we as fans care about. We want wins and we want championships. In no other sport is one player so influential in it's teams success as the quarterback is in football. From off and on-field leadership, to strategy such as play calling, to overall skills, the QB gets the most of the glory and fame. Of course if they SUCK they get the lions share of the blame.
Having grown up a Giants fan and attending some memorable games, including the snow ball game in '95 where a San Diego Charger coach was knocked out by fans throwing snow balls. As most fans have, I have witnessed the best and the worst of the team but have been loyal throughout. When we ended up with Eli Manning "we" were overjoyed hoping he would be the second coming of his brother Peyton who almost single handedly turned the Colts into perennial contenders. I was even at the first "Manning Bowl" where the brothers faced off at old Giants Stadium leading a raucous chant of "Eli's Better!" Peyton would go on to win the Super Bowl MVP that year seriously calling into consideration my chant earlier in the season.
Then 2007 happened. In his third year as a starter, fourth overall, Eli followed his brother as Super Bowl MVP in one of the more improbable runs in sports memory. And we Giants fans seemed to forget Eli's 73.9 passer rating that year and 20 interceptions. Now Eli has had his ups and downs and if I'm doing my math right, he might actually have a shot at breaking Brett Farve's career interception record. One thing about him though is he doesn't really inspire a strong reaction, one way or the other, outside of the New York market. And I am excepting the sportscasters who seem to GUSH over him every time he's on tv.
Now Eli has a career 82.1 passer rating. Not great, not terrible...decidedly average. All of his stats point to a long career of average. Certainly not inspiring numbers but he does inspire his team to win when they NEED to. Another current QB who does that is Tim Tebow. Yet one major difference between the two is that football fans, no matter how casual, have a REALLY strong reaction to him, a surprising amount of it negative.
In 23 games Tim has a 75.1 QB rating, which is probably a little on the short side of average. His touchdowns both through passing and rushing are 29 with total turnovers 26. In 121 games Eli has total touchdowns of 189 and total turnovers of 196!!! Yeah you read that right!! 196! That's one and a half PER GAME!! So why are there websites supporting Tim Tebow haters and not Eli? Or any other QB for that matter?
Is Tim a great QB? Not right now. No idea on how his career will play out but it hasn't started too terribly. The arguments about him being one dimensional are concerns more for his coaching staff than anyone else, they knew what they were getting when they traded to draft him at #25 in the first round. I have a hard time believing that people would put SO much effort into HATING an average QB who hasn't even started a full season yet. Do they hate him for taking a team that started 2-3 to the playoffs after winning 6 straight?
Or is it something not football related?
For those of you not familiar with "Tebowing" the official "Tebowing" website defines the act as: to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. I suggest taking a few minutes and checking out http://tebowing.com/ My personal favorite so far is the plane load of people all tebowing in the center aisle, hopefully in response to a successful on-time landing. They even have a marketing and sales manager to promote Tebowing merchandise!! Anyone want to volunteer to promote Angry Man merchandise? I think I may be a few steps away from needing that just yet.
Now some of the backlash I have heard and read about this phenomenon is that people don't like how he is showing his faith and his thanks to a higher power that he believes in for giving him this opportunity. And somehow this means that he thinks he is superior to his detractors. Does that mean Hakeem Olajuwon and Muhammed Ali thought they were better than everyone else because of their religious faith? How about Josh Hamilton on the Texas Rangers or the now retired Kurt Warner? I remember Kurt being the subject of derision for thanking Jesus as his Lord and Savior after he won the Super Bowl, but certainly no websites devoted to mocking him. Certainly no DJ's weighing in on how they don't like his showing of religious devotion during games. Well what does that say about Olajuwon and Ali?
So there is no place for religion in sports? There is no place for belief in sports? Now my dear Angry Angels is where I normally ask "Why am I ANGRY?" Well not today. Today I ask "Why are THEY angry?"
They are angry because in their view, their own religion is being impugned. All around the country, actually most of the world over, people very strongly identify with sports teams. Doesn't matter if it's high school football in Texas, college football in Pennsylvania or soccer in Europe. To a huge degree people identify themselves as believers in a sports team, usually more devout in their following of their teams than their religion. We will wear a cross underneath our clothes while adorning ourselves with the colors of our team for all to see. And how does that work out for us? It didn't work out to well for San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, or New York Rangers fan and former US Marine Neal Auricchio Jr.
Tim wears his cross on his sleeve, and his beliefs for all to see. And while that bugs the adherents to the new religion of sport, what really drives them crazy with fear and anger is that his moderate success in their temple is attributed to a higher power that is not them. And that's not the worst of it. In under a year, imitating Tebow's shows of thanks and humility and service to something beyond the grasp of secularists has spread worldwide. Do a google search for tebowing images if you doubt me.
Instead of adhering to the holy writ of marketing plans, Tim, like many others before him, uses his gifts and his opportunities to fund better opportunities for those in need. His charity has raised $2.5 million dollars this year. Unlike ALL of the charities I have railed against so far this year, 100% of the donations go to the intended beneficiaries. How does he do that? He pays salaries and administrative costs out of his own pocket. You may not agree with all his viewpoints but you gotta give him respect for that. Actually what I think I respect more is that he would likely be doing this type of work regardless of his celebrity and success.
So what then is the fucking issue? As a group we by and large gave Michael Vick a pass on his behaviors because he was skilled. Same with "Pacman" Jones and Michael Irvin. Hell, Don King the boxing promoter was convicted of two homicides including beating to death one of his employees!! Why is redemption in sports valued more than someone who doesn't need redemption? Well it's because the one who doesn't need our redemption is out of our control. Do you think Vick got paid by PETA or the NFL for his public service announcements? I would wager no. Tim Tebow's existence is a public service announcement and there's not a damn thing his detractors can do about that. Regardless of his success on the football field, he measures his success off of it.
If even a small fraction of the people who take their pictures Tebowing adopt the generosity of self that Tim has, we will all be able to measure his success, and our own as well. Irrespective of our own faiths, shouldn't we all be trying to DO something in our lives that would make us WANT to throw a "Tebow?" If a few more of us Tebowed maybe we would have fewer Jerry Sanduskys in the world.
And with that our Anger Management Session for today draws to a close. Remember that ANGER without a directed resolution is pointless!
Tomorrow: TV!
GRRRRR!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Rats Among Us
Greetings Angry Angels and welcome to our Tuesday session!
Today we are going to start off with a little bit of weird news, so go ahead and laugh where appropriate, but just keep in the back of your mind that I wouldn't be writing about it unless it made me angry!
So let us press on!
I read a news report out of the Virginia/DC area yesterday before doing the post on Joe Paterno and the Catholic Church regarding a new DC law regarding trapping and handling of vermin and pests such as rats, mice, raccoons, squirrels and so on. The law is the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010. The law roughly states that the vermin must not be killed but captured preferably in their familial group (lol) and RELOCATED, preferably across the Potomac into Virginia, which would be in violation of federal law. As you can imagine this doesn't sit too well with a lot of people, specifically the Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli. Some of the other people who this directly effects are those who provide pest control services and those who NEED pest control services.
Now those who provide the pest control services are going to see massively increased costs as they will no doubt have to be certified by the city as complying with the new law, not to mention increased labor costs associated with having to constantly check the HUMANE traps that they are mandated to use. Now since the traps don't differentiate between what gets caught in them,hence the de facto mandate for humane traps, the PROTECTED rodents get released while the non-protected ones get shipped off to "rehabilitation centers," which of course cost money to man and maintain.
So where do you think the costs of all this is going to get passed on to? Well first and foremost it's going to come from those who need pest control the most. Private citizens and businesses. The pest control businesses have to contend with higher costs to do business so they pass that along to their customers. Of course the pest controllers might just decide to take the vermin out of DC and dump them somewhere in Virginia, which is what Cuccinelli is concerned about. Who knows what kind of diseases these beasts may have contracted from the Occupy DC crowd, where they seem to be congregating. Well remember that the transport of wildlife across state borders is a federal crime. So anyone who gets busted will of course have their licenses pulled and the fines associated will likely put them out of business. So now the customers will have fewer choices at constantly increasing costs.
So here we have increased costs, potential layoffs, and potential spread of disease.
Sounds like a great law so far! Am I right to get ANGRY yet? You want to know why I'm angry and who is REALLY behind this sort of moronic legislation?
Animal Rights Activists have now SUCCESSFULLY put vermin as a higher priority than Humans on the law books in the nations Capitol. The massive scam that this represents is truly breathtaking. Who do you think is going to be responsible, and very well paid by the government, to run the vermin rehab centers? Friends of the DC council maybe? Recommended by animal liberation groups funded by PETA and other domestic terrorists? I would imagine that PETA or Humane Society of the United States or ASPCA was well paid for designing and endorsing the humane traps that will be the de rigueur of an industry now.
How long do you think it is going to be before trapping vermin at all becomes illegal? If you think that will never happen well you just saw the first step on the road to that end! Here we have the government of the seat of power of the United States mandating that "FAMILIES" of rodents be kept together and treated better than families of HUMANS who go through the DC child welfare system are treated.
Now my anger at groups like Humane Society of the United States has been documented in the post http://angryamericanman.blogspot.com/2012/01/breaking-your-heart-stealing-your-money.html for their deceptive use of advertising utilizing heart-wrenching images of poor abused kitties and puppies to tug at your wallets. But the endorsement of legislation such as the one in DC is bordering on reprehensible. And here is why: animals do not have rights.
One of the founding arguments is that since humans are animals all animals should have the same rights under the law that humans do. Well I disagree, humans are THE Animal. I capitalize Animal when referring to humans, because unlike other animals we are able to distinguish between our own interests and what is right. That ultimately is what differentiates the human species from ALL others. It is this obligation to distinguish between our interests and what is morally right is where Rights derive from.
Does a pack of wolves debate which deer to attack based on the social needs of the deer? Is there consideration that they might be orphaning a young deer by their actions? The answer to both is "no." They attack the deer which will prove the easiest to turn into dinner for the pack thereby serving ONLY their interests. There is no ambiguity in the animal kingdom. Humans as separate from the animal kingdom believe that animals should be treated with respect and compassion, especially those who are pets. Aside from romantic anthropomorphism in literature and the radical indoctrinated speech of animal rights activists, how often do animals DECIDE to treat humans the same way? Even our beloved pets act in their own self interest engaging in behaviors to continue their own care.
Human rights are enumerated through various governmental proclamations through history, but they are always based on a prevalent morality. As human morality evolves, so do the proclamations as evidenced by historical events such as the Sufferage Movement or the Civil Rights Movement which we celebrated with yesterdays observation of Martin Luther King Day. The right to vote, rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, rights to free speech, rights to freedom of religion are all based on morality. Human morality is always changing, animal morality does not exist.
What does exist within human morality and the Rights we enjoy is responsibility. A responsibility to the planet we inhabit as its custodians. When animals show that responsibility to each other and to the planet itself, then they can have rights. But until then, I have had my fill of the superior moralizing of people like Ingrid Newkirk and the Animal Liberation Front and the city council of Washington D.C.
We should certainly take a cue from the pest control experts in D.C. and get rid of the Rats that seek to take away your rights and treat all my Angry Angels like disease infested vermin. Vote to get them all out of the halls of power and lets relocate them to rehabilitation centers of their own.
Great session today everybody! In response to all the emails I have received on the issues with animals, pets and charities I have decided we will have an Anger Management Session once a week on Tuesdays. Please keep the comments and the amazing emails coming!
Tomorrow: Tim Tebow!!
Today we are going to start off with a little bit of weird news, so go ahead and laugh where appropriate, but just keep in the back of your mind that I wouldn't be writing about it unless it made me angry!
So let us press on!
I read a news report out of the Virginia/DC area yesterday before doing the post on Joe Paterno and the Catholic Church regarding a new DC law regarding trapping and handling of vermin and pests such as rats, mice, raccoons, squirrels and so on. The law is the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010. The law roughly states that the vermin must not be killed but captured preferably in their familial group (lol) and RELOCATED, preferably across the Potomac into Virginia, which would be in violation of federal law. As you can imagine this doesn't sit too well with a lot of people, specifically the Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli. Some of the other people who this directly effects are those who provide pest control services and those who NEED pest control services.
Now those who provide the pest control services are going to see massively increased costs as they will no doubt have to be certified by the city as complying with the new law, not to mention increased labor costs associated with having to constantly check the HUMANE traps that they are mandated to use. Now since the traps don't differentiate between what gets caught in them,hence the de facto mandate for humane traps, the PROTECTED rodents get released while the non-protected ones get shipped off to "rehabilitation centers," which of course cost money to man and maintain.
So where do you think the costs of all this is going to get passed on to? Well first and foremost it's going to come from those who need pest control the most. Private citizens and businesses. The pest control businesses have to contend with higher costs to do business so they pass that along to their customers. Of course the pest controllers might just decide to take the vermin out of DC and dump them somewhere in Virginia, which is what Cuccinelli is concerned about. Who knows what kind of diseases these beasts may have contracted from the Occupy DC crowd, where they seem to be congregating. Well remember that the transport of wildlife across state borders is a federal crime. So anyone who gets busted will of course have their licenses pulled and the fines associated will likely put them out of business. So now the customers will have fewer choices at constantly increasing costs.
So here we have increased costs, potential layoffs, and potential spread of disease.
Sounds like a great law so far! Am I right to get ANGRY yet? You want to know why I'm angry and who is REALLY behind this sort of moronic legislation?
Animal Rights Activists have now SUCCESSFULLY put vermin as a higher priority than Humans on the law books in the nations Capitol. The massive scam that this represents is truly breathtaking. Who do you think is going to be responsible, and very well paid by the government, to run the vermin rehab centers? Friends of the DC council maybe? Recommended by animal liberation groups funded by PETA and other domestic terrorists? I would imagine that PETA or Humane Society of the United States or ASPCA was well paid for designing and endorsing the humane traps that will be the de rigueur of an industry now.
How long do you think it is going to be before trapping vermin at all becomes illegal? If you think that will never happen well you just saw the first step on the road to that end! Here we have the government of the seat of power of the United States mandating that "FAMILIES" of rodents be kept together and treated better than families of HUMANS who go through the DC child welfare system are treated.
Now my anger at groups like Humane Society of the United States has been documented in the post http://angryamericanman.blogspot.com/2012/01/breaking-your-heart-stealing-your-money.html for their deceptive use of advertising utilizing heart-wrenching images of poor abused kitties and puppies to tug at your wallets. But the endorsement of legislation such as the one in DC is bordering on reprehensible. And here is why: animals do not have rights.
One of the founding arguments is that since humans are animals all animals should have the same rights under the law that humans do. Well I disagree, humans are THE Animal. I capitalize Animal when referring to humans, because unlike other animals we are able to distinguish between our own interests and what is right. That ultimately is what differentiates the human species from ALL others. It is this obligation to distinguish between our interests and what is morally right is where Rights derive from.
Does a pack of wolves debate which deer to attack based on the social needs of the deer? Is there consideration that they might be orphaning a young deer by their actions? The answer to both is "no." They attack the deer which will prove the easiest to turn into dinner for the pack thereby serving ONLY their interests. There is no ambiguity in the animal kingdom. Humans as separate from the animal kingdom believe that animals should be treated with respect and compassion, especially those who are pets. Aside from romantic anthropomorphism in literature and the radical indoctrinated speech of animal rights activists, how often do animals DECIDE to treat humans the same way? Even our beloved pets act in their own self interest engaging in behaviors to continue their own care.
Human rights are enumerated through various governmental proclamations through history, but they are always based on a prevalent morality. As human morality evolves, so do the proclamations as evidenced by historical events such as the Sufferage Movement or the Civil Rights Movement which we celebrated with yesterdays observation of Martin Luther King Day. The right to vote, rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, rights to free speech, rights to freedom of religion are all based on morality. Human morality is always changing, animal morality does not exist.
What does exist within human morality and the Rights we enjoy is responsibility. A responsibility to the planet we inhabit as its custodians. When animals show that responsibility to each other and to the planet itself, then they can have rights. But until then, I have had my fill of the superior moralizing of people like Ingrid Newkirk and the Animal Liberation Front and the city council of Washington D.C.
We should certainly take a cue from the pest control experts in D.C. and get rid of the Rats that seek to take away your rights and treat all my Angry Angels like disease infested vermin. Vote to get them all out of the halls of power and lets relocate them to rehabilitation centers of their own.
Great session today everybody! In response to all the emails I have received on the issues with animals, pets and charities I have decided we will have an Anger Management Session once a week on Tuesdays. Please keep the comments and the amazing emails coming!
Tomorrow: Tim Tebow!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Paterno's Priest Law
Happy Monday to all my Angry Angels! I hope you had a fabulous weekend and are looking forward to a new week of Anger Management sessions!
First off, how about them NY GIANTS! Wow!! Never did I think that the game would turn out like that. I'm really surprised about how well the Giants played and am feeling if we can keep that up I can't wait to see them play the Pats in the Super Bowl. And yes, I'm picking the Pats next weekend against the Ravens. I just don't think Joe Flacco has the chops to beat New England. Niners Giants should be a hell of a game if their playoff history is any indicator.
While enjoying the football weekend I had the opportunity to correspond with lots of people regarding the Penn State child abuse scandals. It is somewhat surprising to me how many apologists for Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary there are! I'm going to assume that the vast majority of the people I have had accuse me of hating Joe Paterno, or Penn State football are themselves Penn State alumni or current students. Much like when the Catholic Church priest rapists were being defended by people blinded by their own faith in the infallibility of their church and called me anti-Christian. That was quite a surprise to me as I was raised Catholic and by and large consider myself Christian today. Quite frankly I could give less of a damn about PSU football, or any college sports for that matter.
However with the realizations of the similarities between the reactions it occurred to me what was actually happening. We weren't watching the fall of a football program or a university, we were watching the fall of another type of church. One where belief was absolute and allegations were made against the faith, not just against the perpetrators of criminal acts or conspiracies of silence.
A few statistics from the John Jay Report which was based on over 10,000 allegations against over 4000 priests spanning 52 years.
In fact college football is probably the most widespread religion in the United States today! On a Wikipedia list of largest stadiums one has to go to the 16th entry to find the first professional stadium which is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ where BOTH the NY Giants and NY Jets. play. The top five college stadiums combined seat over 500,000 people! I wonder how many Catholics go to church every week. I would wager that between all the 120 Division 1-A schools more go to a college football game in a year than go to church. According to Forbes, Penn State's football team generates $100 million in revenue and an amazing $53 million in profit. PER YEAR!!
The defenders of Mike McQueary, the assistant at PSU who initially discovered the abuse, and Joe Paterno have universally expressed the same opinions being "What did you want them to do" and "They did what was required by law." Well I'm sorry but this type of argument is absolutely pathetic and it really gets the ANGER rolling.
I want all my Angry Angels to tell these pinheads the same thing. I want them to protect these kids!!
But what is the price of protecting kids? Is it one coaches status as a legend? Is it too costly financially to run investigations? Or is it the fear that our beliefs and institutions surrounding them won't stand the test of scrutiny?
Joe Paterno's legacy is destroyed. No matter how many wins he had, no matter how long he coached or any of his other accolades, he will be remembered as the man who turned a blind eye to child abuse happening right under his watch. Mike McQueary is even worse. He witnessed the abuse, reported it to Joe and dropped it. One particularly angry JoePa defender made the moronic comment that I wanted him to wear a cape and be a superhero. No. I wanted him to pick up a fucking phone. Don't need a cape for that. Call the police, call the DA's office, call a newspaper reporter for all I care but DO something. Two men had the ability to do something and did NOTHING! Don't give me that shit that they did what was required by the law. Fuck that law that absolves them from responsibility. What kind of person hears about this happening, a crime being perpetrated by one of his assistants and hands it off without doing anything? What kind of person WITNESSES it happening and does NOTHING? Reporting it to your boss? And then? These people were supposed to be responsible to their community and they shirked their duties. Joe Paterno's legacy isn't destroyed because of Sandusky raping those kids. It's destroyed because he had the opportunity to change the outcome of those kids lives, and he did nothing.
Is he as bad as Cardinal Law of Boston? Absolutely. They are both guilty of allowing their actions to perpetuate the abuse of children. While Joe and Mike's guilt is different from Law's in that theirs were sins of omission compared to sins of commission by the Cardinal, children were still abused. Whatever the means were, the ends were the same.
Now we have seen the sheer numbers associated with the fallout from the Catholic Church scandal. Quite frankly it is mind boggling the dollars that are spend on settling claims, not to mention the damage done to the "brand" that the Catholic Church represents. College football and athletics represent an equally HUGE amount of branding revenue. Kristi Dosh, a sportswriter, had a fantastic website called Business of College Sports. While she has moved on to other sports endeavors, I am going to link to a study she did regarding the top 50 profitable college sports programs here: http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/06/20/which-football-and-basketball-programs-produce-the-largest-profits/ These 50 programs represent at least $500 million annually!
That is a ton of money! Now I don't know if Kristi or other researchers at Forbes have included tv revenues which Roger Pielke Jr at the New York Times has estimated at $10.8 BILLION dollars! http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/11/24/how-should-college-athletic-conferences-be-organized/college-football-is-a-competition-for-tv-contracts We are talking some serious money here!
Everyone involved in college sports has an interest in this pie. Even a tiny slice of a gigantic pie is still a lot more money that we will see in our lifetimes. So like the Catholic Church protecting their pie, the NCAA has got to be wondering what is going to happen to their pie!
But there is a bigger pie that we all should be worried about. That pie is our humanity, integrity and responsibility. And we really have no-one to blame but ourselves.
For a very long time, we as Americans have been ceding our responsibilities to our communities to state and federal government entities, most specifically child welfare services. So now that the feds and the state have responsibility for our children's welfare what do we have to do? Do we just make them and let the government worry about their success or failings as children? Or do we let the government protect them from predators like Sandusky? Paterno and McQueary put their faith in their higher ups and the government to do what was right and look what happened. Do we trust government agencies where our kids are concerned? In 2010 the Deputy Director of New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families Department, that's the guy who is second in command, was arrested by the FBI for trading in Child Pornography!! Mark Edwards admitted to trading and downloading child porn for at least 10 years!! What the fuck?!?! How many others are out there? Remember 4% of all priests in the Catholic Church were implicated in abuse and that translated into over 10,000 allegations in 50 years. That's 200 a year average. I bet the NCAA is shitting bricks hoping that Sandusky (and possibly Bernie Fine in Syracuse) are as far as this goes.
This is where we have come to? We have learned the helplessness that Big Government and Big Church have so long encouraged. And now we are going even further in the apologists defense of a legend of Big Sports. The NCAA will investigate their schools and come up with recommendations. The DA's offices who aren't hamstrung by Big Governments ridiculous statute of limitations will do their investigations and hopefully file criminal charges. Big Government will help Big Sports protect their pie in exchange for tickets to games, or maybe a practice facility named after them. And we will all tsk tsk and move on with our lives, comfortable in our community of one.
And that makes me really dammed ANGRY. "Why?" you ask my dear Angry Angels...let me tell you why.
Because with that mentality we will NEVER be successful. With that mentality how can we hope to better ourselves or our communities by giving the responsibilities to someone else? How, when we can clearly see the results, can we allow this to continue? Big Government, Big Church, Big Sports, Big Charity all exist BECAUSE of us, we don't exist because of them. They owe us. And if they don't change their ways and be held accountable to us, we either have to move them along or bear the blame for what we let happen. We ALL have to get angry and take the responsibility BACK!!
We the people are angry. Very ANGRY. Let the word spread.
Great session today!
Tomorrow: Rats!!
GRRRR!
First off, how about them NY GIANTS! Wow!! Never did I think that the game would turn out like that. I'm really surprised about how well the Giants played and am feeling if we can keep that up I can't wait to see them play the Pats in the Super Bowl. And yes, I'm picking the Pats next weekend against the Ravens. I just don't think Joe Flacco has the chops to beat New England. Niners Giants should be a hell of a game if their playoff history is any indicator.
While enjoying the football weekend I had the opportunity to correspond with lots of people regarding the Penn State child abuse scandals. It is somewhat surprising to me how many apologists for Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary there are! I'm going to assume that the vast majority of the people I have had accuse me of hating Joe Paterno, or Penn State football are themselves Penn State alumni or current students. Much like when the Catholic Church priest rapists were being defended by people blinded by their own faith in the infallibility of their church and called me anti-Christian. That was quite a surprise to me as I was raised Catholic and by and large consider myself Christian today. Quite frankly I could give less of a damn about PSU football, or any college sports for that matter.
However with the realizations of the similarities between the reactions it occurred to me what was actually happening. We weren't watching the fall of a football program or a university, we were watching the fall of another type of church. One where belief was absolute and allegations were made against the faith, not just against the perpetrators of criminal acts or conspiracies of silence.
A few statistics from the John Jay Report which was based on over 10,000 allegations against over 4000 priests spanning 52 years.
- 81% of the victims were male
- 22% were 10 years old or younger
- 149 priest were responsible for roughly 3000 victims
- The 4000 priests represented roughly 4% of those practicing during those 52 years.
- $2.6 BILLION dollars have been paid out in abuse related costs since 1950
- $615 MILLION was paid out in 2007 alone.
- Bernard Francis Law, archbishop of Boston, was forced to resign after evidence of participation in the cover up of abuse by priests in his archdiocese.
- The Archdiocese of Boston was forced to close 65 parishes in order to pay out roughly $120 million in civil claims.
In fact college football is probably the most widespread religion in the United States today! On a Wikipedia list of largest stadiums one has to go to the 16th entry to find the first professional stadium which is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ where BOTH the NY Giants and NY Jets. play. The top five college stadiums combined seat over 500,000 people! I wonder how many Catholics go to church every week. I would wager that between all the 120 Division 1-A schools more go to a college football game in a year than go to church. According to Forbes, Penn State's football team generates $100 million in revenue and an amazing $53 million in profit. PER YEAR!!
The defenders of Mike McQueary, the assistant at PSU who initially discovered the abuse, and Joe Paterno have universally expressed the same opinions being "What did you want them to do" and "They did what was required by law." Well I'm sorry but this type of argument is absolutely pathetic and it really gets the ANGER rolling.
I want all my Angry Angels to tell these pinheads the same thing. I want them to protect these kids!!
But what is the price of protecting kids? Is it one coaches status as a legend? Is it too costly financially to run investigations? Or is it the fear that our beliefs and institutions surrounding them won't stand the test of scrutiny?
Joe Paterno's legacy is destroyed. No matter how many wins he had, no matter how long he coached or any of his other accolades, he will be remembered as the man who turned a blind eye to child abuse happening right under his watch. Mike McQueary is even worse. He witnessed the abuse, reported it to Joe and dropped it. One particularly angry JoePa defender made the moronic comment that I wanted him to wear a cape and be a superhero. No. I wanted him to pick up a fucking phone. Don't need a cape for that. Call the police, call the DA's office, call a newspaper reporter for all I care but DO something. Two men had the ability to do something and did NOTHING! Don't give me that shit that they did what was required by the law. Fuck that law that absolves them from responsibility. What kind of person hears about this happening, a crime being perpetrated by one of his assistants and hands it off without doing anything? What kind of person WITNESSES it happening and does NOTHING? Reporting it to your boss? And then? These people were supposed to be responsible to their community and they shirked their duties. Joe Paterno's legacy isn't destroyed because of Sandusky raping those kids. It's destroyed because he had the opportunity to change the outcome of those kids lives, and he did nothing.
Is he as bad as Cardinal Law of Boston? Absolutely. They are both guilty of allowing their actions to perpetuate the abuse of children. While Joe and Mike's guilt is different from Law's in that theirs were sins of omission compared to sins of commission by the Cardinal, children were still abused. Whatever the means were, the ends were the same.
Now we have seen the sheer numbers associated with the fallout from the Catholic Church scandal. Quite frankly it is mind boggling the dollars that are spend on settling claims, not to mention the damage done to the "brand" that the Catholic Church represents. College football and athletics represent an equally HUGE amount of branding revenue. Kristi Dosh, a sportswriter, had a fantastic website called Business of College Sports. While she has moved on to other sports endeavors, I am going to link to a study she did regarding the top 50 profitable college sports programs here: http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/06/20/which-football-and-basketball-programs-produce-the-largest-profits/ These 50 programs represent at least $500 million annually!
That is a ton of money! Now I don't know if Kristi or other researchers at Forbes have included tv revenues which Roger Pielke Jr at the New York Times has estimated at $10.8 BILLION dollars! http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/11/24/how-should-college-athletic-conferences-be-organized/college-football-is-a-competition-for-tv-contracts We are talking some serious money here!
Everyone involved in college sports has an interest in this pie. Even a tiny slice of a gigantic pie is still a lot more money that we will see in our lifetimes. So like the Catholic Church protecting their pie, the NCAA has got to be wondering what is going to happen to their pie!
But there is a bigger pie that we all should be worried about. That pie is our humanity, integrity and responsibility. And we really have no-one to blame but ourselves.
For a very long time, we as Americans have been ceding our responsibilities to our communities to state and federal government entities, most specifically child welfare services. So now that the feds and the state have responsibility for our children's welfare what do we have to do? Do we just make them and let the government worry about their success or failings as children? Or do we let the government protect them from predators like Sandusky? Paterno and McQueary put their faith in their higher ups and the government to do what was right and look what happened. Do we trust government agencies where our kids are concerned? In 2010 the Deputy Director of New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families Department, that's the guy who is second in command, was arrested by the FBI for trading in Child Pornography!! Mark Edwards admitted to trading and downloading child porn for at least 10 years!! What the fuck?!?! How many others are out there? Remember 4% of all priests in the Catholic Church were implicated in abuse and that translated into over 10,000 allegations in 50 years. That's 200 a year average. I bet the NCAA is shitting bricks hoping that Sandusky (and possibly Bernie Fine in Syracuse) are as far as this goes.
This is where we have come to? We have learned the helplessness that Big Government and Big Church have so long encouraged. And now we are going even further in the apologists defense of a legend of Big Sports. The NCAA will investigate their schools and come up with recommendations. The DA's offices who aren't hamstrung by Big Governments ridiculous statute of limitations will do their investigations and hopefully file criminal charges. Big Government will help Big Sports protect their pie in exchange for tickets to games, or maybe a practice facility named after them. And we will all tsk tsk and move on with our lives, comfortable in our community of one.
And that makes me really dammed ANGRY. "Why?" you ask my dear Angry Angels...let me tell you why.
Because with that mentality we will NEVER be successful. With that mentality how can we hope to better ourselves or our communities by giving the responsibilities to someone else? How, when we can clearly see the results, can we allow this to continue? Big Government, Big Church, Big Sports, Big Charity all exist BECAUSE of us, we don't exist because of them. They owe us. And if they don't change their ways and be held accountable to us, we either have to move them along or bear the blame for what we let happen. We ALL have to get angry and take the responsibility BACK!!
We the people are angry. Very ANGRY. Let the word spread.
Great session today!
Tomorrow: Rats!!
GRRRR!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Group Session #2 "Sleep Well Sweet Girl"
Welcome my Angry Angels to Group Session #2.
In our groups sessions we address a reader comments and more frequently reader emails. As usual I can be reached at angriestmaninamerica@gmail.com
Before I address the week's feedback I want to send out a very warm regards to Jennifer Petkov and her husband Scott. For those of you who don't remember the Petkov's, they were the ones from Trenton, Mich who took to cyber-bullying Kathleen Edward and making her life a living hell. Kathleen, of course was completely asking for it since at the time she was all of seven years old and suffering from Huntington's Disease. I'm sure that having her as a neighbor really fucked up the Petkov's eugenics fantasies of a perfect Michigan. Especially since Kathleen's mother Laura had already died of the same disease.
Aside from posting pictures on Facebook of the little girls face with crossbones underneath, I thought it was a stroke of genius to build a coffin and drive it in front of the Edward's house while honking your horn.
Is this what passes for fun when you are 33 in Michigan?
On the positive side young Kathleen passed today at the age of 9. I hope every one of my readers, and everyone in America will take a moment and say a silent prayer for her soul which is now reunited with her mothers. And remember how a young girl showed us all a beauty and strength that most of us can only hope to have briefly in our own lives.
Once you are done with those silent prayers, I want you to remember the Petkov's faces. Anytime you think that there isn't pure, sick, disgustingly evil sacks of shit out there to prey on you and your children, you remember these two. You remember that all the suffering that Kathleen and her family went through, these people were there to make it worse.
Maybe we can redirect some of that anger and do something with Kathleen's name on our hearts. Volunteer a few hours at a children's hospital or a after school center. Just do something to wipe a little bit of the darkness off our hearts that the Petkov's have soiled us all with. Be just a little better to someone tomorrow than you were today.
Actually, I've got an even better idea. I want every single one of my Angry Angels, every damn one of you to send a two word email to David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee. In the subject line put Bullying Legislation and in the body, just two words. Kathleen Edwards. And while you are at it send it to every legislator you can. Hell you can even make up your own email addresses and sign it "AN ANGRY ANGEL" if you are afraid of reprisals from these uber-bullys.
Bullying is a crime, no matter the perpetrator, no matter the victim.
On a side note, I have seem to have really struck a nerve with the HSUS/PETA and animal postings last week! I think I am going to do a weekly post on this issue as I have received a TON of information on these scams from people around the nation! Very excited to get so much feedback from you, and of course it does nothing to assuage my anger!! You my Angels are making this more fun by the day and of course it wouldn't be effective Anger Management if we weren't YELLING about it!
So what would you think about doing specific topics per day? I'll think about it this weekend while I'm watching the Giants pull off the biggest upset of the season by knocking the Packers out of the playoffs! Go Blue!!
And a shout out to Angry Angel Matt celebrating birthday 37! Good luck making it to 38 and thanks for the emails!
So my Angry Angels, have a great weekend relax a bit and remember little Kathleen Edwards.
Until Monday!
GRRRRR!
In our groups sessions we address a reader comments and more frequently reader emails. As usual I can be reached at angriestmaninamerica@gmail.com
Before I address the week's feedback I want to send out a very warm regards to Jennifer Petkov and her husband Scott. For those of you who don't remember the Petkov's, they were the ones from Trenton, Mich who took to cyber-bullying Kathleen Edward and making her life a living hell. Kathleen, of course was completely asking for it since at the time she was all of seven years old and suffering from Huntington's Disease. I'm sure that having her as a neighbor really fucked up the Petkov's eugenics fantasies of a perfect Michigan. Especially since Kathleen's mother Laura had already died of the same disease.
Aside from posting pictures on Facebook of the little girls face with crossbones underneath, I thought it was a stroke of genius to build a coffin and drive it in front of the Edward's house while honking your horn.
Is this what passes for fun when you are 33 in Michigan?
On the positive side young Kathleen passed today at the age of 9. I hope every one of my readers, and everyone in America will take a moment and say a silent prayer for her soul which is now reunited with her mothers. And remember how a young girl showed us all a beauty and strength that most of us can only hope to have briefly in our own lives.
Once you are done with those silent prayers, I want you to remember the Petkov's faces. Anytime you think that there isn't pure, sick, disgustingly evil sacks of shit out there to prey on you and your children, you remember these two. You remember that all the suffering that Kathleen and her family went through, these people were there to make it worse.
Maybe we can redirect some of that anger and do something with Kathleen's name on our hearts. Volunteer a few hours at a children's hospital or a after school center. Just do something to wipe a little bit of the darkness off our hearts that the Petkov's have soiled us all with. Be just a little better to someone tomorrow than you were today.
Actually, I've got an even better idea. I want every single one of my Angry Angels, every damn one of you to send a two word email to David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee. In the subject line put Bullying Legislation and in the body, just two words. Kathleen Edwards. And while you are at it send it to every legislator you can. Hell you can even make up your own email addresses and sign it "AN ANGRY ANGEL" if you are afraid of reprisals from these uber-bullys.
Bullying is a crime, no matter the perpetrator, no matter the victim.
On a side note, I have seem to have really struck a nerve with the HSUS/PETA and animal postings last week! I think I am going to do a weekly post on this issue as I have received a TON of information on these scams from people around the nation! Very excited to get so much feedback from you, and of course it does nothing to assuage my anger!! You my Angels are making this more fun by the day and of course it wouldn't be effective Anger Management if we weren't YELLING about it!
So what would you think about doing specific topics per day? I'll think about it this weekend while I'm watching the Giants pull off the biggest upset of the season by knocking the Packers out of the playoffs! Go Blue!!
And a shout out to Angry Angel Matt celebrating birthday 37! Good luck making it to 38 and thanks for the emails!
So my Angry Angels, have a great weekend relax a bit and remember little Kathleen Edwards.
Until Monday!
GRRRRR!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Running of the Bullys
Greetings Angry Angels!
Welcome to our Anger Management Session! I hope that you are ready for a great topic today and that you are well rested. It's been a great day so far celebrating Angry Woman's birthday so I'm all charged up and ready to vent!
Last week we spoke about a bullying incident that led to the bully actually getting killed http://angryamericanman.blogspot.com/2012/01/out-with-old.html. While this is far from the norm, it does show that regardless of who is doing the bullying and who is the bullied, there can be very far ranging tragic consequences of these types of behaviors.
Recently there has been a peak in teen suicides and a good amount of studies are showing a link between bullying and depression and suicide. If you want to read more about them please feel free to visit the American Psychological Associations website and look at some of their reports and links http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/index.aspx
Now when I was growing up the big rage to blame teen suicide was on music, specifically the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was founded by Tipper Gore and her like-minded nanny-state morons and all of a sudden I've got stickers all over my albums (yes vinyl for those of you who remember them!) and suicide counselors on stand by in the high school.
After a while the furor died down, law suits against musicians were ultimately tossed and most of us went on our way. We all seemed to forget about the suicides and how really devastating they are on a community and a family. That was of course well back before the internet and mass media became what it is today facilitating rapid and global dissemination of news and opinion.
So now we, my Angry Angels, have a rise in teenage suicides again, this time focused within the LGBT community, and due at least in part to harassment and bullying. Now if you want to reread the post listed above you will get a really good idea on how PISSED OFF it makes me for any child to be victimized while adults, especially teachers, ignore the problem or down play their own roles and responsibilities.
I really thought that I had reached my own peak of anger until I read an article out of Tennessee. Apparently there is a group of ass-hats down Tennessee way calling themselves "Family Action Council of Tennessee" who think that there should be exceptions to anti-bullying laws. The Family Action Council's President, David Fowler, a former Republican state senator has gone on record as saying that any anti-bullying laws need to protect the free speech rights of those who want to express their views on homosexuality and "not create special classes of people who are more important than others."
Now I'm sorry but as I consider myself somewhat of a conservative, but did my head just fucking explode from the sheer idiocy of this statement? Excuse me Dave, but you think that RELIGION is now an excuse for bullying if the victims are GAY? So you approve of creating a special class that YOU belong to in order to protect your narrow minded views but not to PROTECT people from your narrow minded views?
So bullying should not be a crime if it's claimed as a "religious" view point. Hmm. So to follow that along then, since we aren't creating special classes if a group of gay Episcopalians bullied your child into suicide because of his straight and narrow (no doubt inherited from you Dave) that wouldn't be a crime either right? Or how about if a group of Muslims bullied your child into suicide because he doesn't believe in Allah, that wouldn't be a crime either would it?
You know what REALLY makes me fucking ANGRY though? Is that this shit for brains feels perfectly justified in excusing the death of an American child in order to spout his own brand of bigotry. We have talked a little bit about this before Angels and you know I have ZERO tolerance for people like this schmuck who want to be a little bit more equal than others because of their belief in their own superiority.
Now I'm not going to make this into a gay rights blog or anything of the sort, but I fully support Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project in saying that this type of legislation condones hate through a specious religious sanction. Teaching kids to hate and to bully is fucking ridiculous. It's not enough that they have to go through the dangers of growing up in the first place, but we have fuckers like Dave who want to turn our schools into killing fields? I don't really give a damn about who is being bullied, or who is doing the bullying. Protect our kids goddammit!! I'm talking to all the school administrators, I'm talking to the coaches, I'm talking to the priests, scout leaders and especially to the other parents. AND I'm talking to our legislators!!
Oh did you guys think you were going to get a pass on this one? Not a chance on your fucking lives!! Now back in 2010 the Feds stepped up their game and warned that "if school administrators fail to properly deal with harassment based on gender, race or other issues, they risk being cited for contributing to a pattern of civil rights violations that could, in extreme cases, lead to a cut in federal funding." This from a CNN report from August of 2010. Personally I would like to see the wording stepped back and rather than the ACLU and the LGBT groups making it their issue how about we make it a KIDS issue. How about we protect ALL THE KIDS?? HUH? You think THAT would make sense and make schools worth going to?
Recently there has been a peak in teen suicides and a good amount of studies are showing a link between bullying and depression and suicide. If you want to read more about them please feel free to visit the American Psychological Associations website and look at some of their reports and links http://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/index.aspx
Now when I was growing up the big rage to blame teen suicide was on music, specifically the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was founded by Tipper Gore and her like-minded nanny-state morons and all of a sudden I've got stickers all over my albums (yes vinyl for those of you who remember them!) and suicide counselors on stand by in the high school.
After a while the furor died down, law suits against musicians were ultimately tossed and most of us went on our way. We all seemed to forget about the suicides and how really devastating they are on a community and a family. That was of course well back before the internet and mass media became what it is today facilitating rapid and global dissemination of news and opinion.
So now we, my Angry Angels, have a rise in teenage suicides again, this time focused within the LGBT community, and due at least in part to harassment and bullying. Now if you want to reread the post listed above you will get a really good idea on how PISSED OFF it makes me for any child to be victimized while adults, especially teachers, ignore the problem or down play their own roles and responsibilities.
I really thought that I had reached my own peak of anger until I read an article out of Tennessee. Apparently there is a group of ass-hats down Tennessee way calling themselves "Family Action Council of Tennessee" who think that there should be exceptions to anti-bullying laws. The Family Action Council's President, David Fowler, a former Republican state senator has gone on record as saying that any anti-bullying laws need to protect the free speech rights of those who want to express their views on homosexuality and "not create special classes of people who are more important than others."
Now I'm sorry but as I consider myself somewhat of a conservative, but did my head just fucking explode from the sheer idiocy of this statement? Excuse me Dave, but you think that RELIGION is now an excuse for bullying if the victims are GAY? So you approve of creating a special class that YOU belong to in order to protect your narrow minded views but not to PROTECT people from your narrow minded views?
So bullying should not be a crime if it's claimed as a "religious" view point. Hmm. So to follow that along then, since we aren't creating special classes if a group of gay Episcopalians bullied your child into suicide because of his straight and narrow (no doubt inherited from you Dave) that wouldn't be a crime either right? Or how about if a group of Muslims bullied your child into suicide because he doesn't believe in Allah, that wouldn't be a crime either would it?
You know what REALLY makes me fucking ANGRY though? Is that this shit for brains feels perfectly justified in excusing the death of an American child in order to spout his own brand of bigotry. We have talked a little bit about this before Angels and you know I have ZERO tolerance for people like this schmuck who want to be a little bit more equal than others because of their belief in their own superiority.
Now I'm not going to make this into a gay rights blog or anything of the sort, but I fully support Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project in saying that this type of legislation condones hate through a specious religious sanction. Teaching kids to hate and to bully is fucking ridiculous. It's not enough that they have to go through the dangers of growing up in the first place, but we have fuckers like Dave who want to turn our schools into killing fields? I don't really give a damn about who is being bullied, or who is doing the bullying. Protect our kids goddammit!! I'm talking to all the school administrators, I'm talking to the coaches, I'm talking to the priests, scout leaders and especially to the other parents. AND I'm talking to our legislators!!
Oh did you guys think you were going to get a pass on this one? Not a chance on your fucking lives!! Now back in 2010 the Feds stepped up their game and warned that "if school administrators fail to properly deal with harassment based on gender, race or other issues, they risk being cited for contributing to a pattern of civil rights violations that could, in extreme cases, lead to a cut in federal funding." This from a CNN report from August of 2010. Personally I would like to see the wording stepped back and rather than the ACLU and the LGBT groups making it their issue how about we make it a KIDS issue. How about we protect ALL THE KIDS?? HUH? You think THAT would make sense and make schools worth going to?
And how about rather than just cutting funding, because really who does that hurt, how about we start holding administrators of the schools and the perpetrators equally responsible and make it a federal children's civil rights crime. Who gets hurt if the funding gets cut? Certainly not the union protected teachers!! So who get's the shit end of the stick? Your ANGRY kids do, who incidentally are mandated that they attend these government institutions. So the next time you get up in a politicians face and you get a shithead response from an idiot like Michelle "It's Not a Federal Issue" Bachmann you tell her to get on the same page or get the hell out of office. The government makes our kids go to their schools, learn what they want to teach, and subject them to falling standards and now excepted bullying and we are supposed to sit back and take it?
You know who is responsible my ANGRY ANGELS!! All our kids are equal and deserve equal protection under the law. I don't care your race, creed, orientation, or religious bent. Equal means EQUAL. Let your representatives know, lets your school board know, let your neighbors and everyone else know: Equal means equal.
While you are doing that I strongly suggest a great website
http://www.bullypolice.org/ founded by Brenda High. I came across the site while researching this moron from Tennessee and I am sure I will be referencing their materials in the future.
That wraps up our session for today Angels! Group session #2 tomorrow so keep the emails and feedback coming in.
GRRRRR!
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