Tag: USA

Violence

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

So, as I’m writing this, I’m finishing watching the excruciatingly long “Django Unchained“. Before this movie, I’ve been somewhat okay with Quentin Tarantino’s overly violent films, but this one is just absolutely ridiculous. However, the reason I didn’t like it wasn’t because the script was written by a five year old or because the acting was probably the worst I have ever seen, it was because of the unfathomably ultra-violent content.

Just watch this scene from Django Unchained and tell me if it doesn’t make you a little uneasy.

Viewers Discretion is Advised

I can’t begin to imagine why anyone would be into movies like Django, Saw or any of the other modern movies that rely on violence to draw a crowd. Movies like Django are only memorable because you see gunfights where the blood rains down in the scene and makes it impossible to see what’s happening, or scenes where naked hillbillies get their junk blown off.

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Freedom Flys

frog3Leave a comment

frrg

Tyranny persisted after the dark day.

It did not come from outsiders or attackers.

It came from the people with power.

Of course they talked about safety.

Safety from citizens, safety for citizens.

In a sense it is just another way for control.

The people protest nothing is done.

Security it seems often comes above safety.

Detainment and profiling is the norm.

It seems in a time of crisis democracy slides toward dictatorship.

There are some who wish to be secure and free.

It is they who allow basic freedoms to be restored.

The slide toward democracy begins.

Little Kim

smackyjackjackLeave a comment

Poor North Koreans.

Not only do they have to live in a state of complete dictatorship and just a pure totalitarian nightmare, but they think it’s a good idea to keep showing off their nuclear arsenal and taunting America and it’s allies.

This whole situation is so ridiculous.

Yes, I see that America is pretty close to last on the list of countries with good international relations *cough* Abu Ghraib! *cough*, but who in their right minds think that nuclear war is a good thing to get started?

Well, apparently this guy does.

Mr. Un, I’m sorry, but the US is capable and ruthless enough to convert your country to ash within about an hour. Yes, that’s pretty messed up, but that is a definite possibility if you take one more step in the direction of nuclear war again, it might be time to get out of Dodge.

Need to Skate

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

Seeing as the hockey season has been over for about a month or so I haven’t been on the ice as much.

The season just started this past Thursday, but sadly I had to bench myself and sit in bed at home sick.

Tomorrow night is the 2nd game of the season and I am ecstatic about lacing up the skates and going out to play hockey.

I honestly have not skated as much as I should have in this off season, but hey I can’t be perfect.

What I really need is to find time to start lifting in the gym again, but I have no idea where that is going to fit in.

This season is going to be the one, I feel it.

Last season brought some new faces to Team USA, myself included, but this season we have all worked together and we know what we are walking into.

It is time to get down to business and change the face of Team USA.

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Alpha Dog, the Alpha Robot

frog3Leave a comment

Robots have been around for several decades doing jobs that human can’t or simply won’t do. At first these robots were used purely for manufacturing but as technology advanced so did robotic potential. Robots are now breaching many sectors including the military. One these robots is Alpha Dog.

https://i0.wp.com/i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/02/08/LS3_Jan-5-2012-image_1.jpg

Dog is a robot designed by DARPA to carry equipment that the average soldier can’t. Alpha Dogs carrying capacity is approximately 400 pounds for 20 miles; Alpha Dog has to refuel every 24 hours. This year Alpha dog began its first outdoor test, before it was linked to a hydraulic system that confined it indoors.

https://community.emc.com/servlet/JiveServlet/showImage/38-3736-33751/darpa.jpg

It remains to be seen whether or not Alpha Dog will be effective in the field. Critics have said that its lack of armor would make it extremely vulnerable.

Are We Still a Democracy?

therightliberalLeave a comment

I often hear people saying “we live in an oligarchy” or “we live in a plutocracy” (or both). We title ourselves a democratic republic, but is that still the case today?

First, a few definitions (from Google) for those younger/ignorant readers:

1. Democracy: A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives

2. Plutocracy: Government by the wealthy

3. Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution

4. Republic: A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch

5. Totalitarian (from Wikipedia because I liked their definition better): Government regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life

6. Meritocracy: Government or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability

So, now that’s out of the way we can start to look at this. Immediately we can say that we do not live in a meritocracy given that the GOP controls the House.

It would be very hard to say that we are not living in a plutocracy given that most of the politicians in Washington are extremely wealthy and the fact that it is damn near impossible to be elected into a high position without wealth from the private sector.

The debate could rage on about whether or not we live in an oligarchy or not but I would argue that if we are in a plutocracy (which we are) then it must also be an oligarchy because the elected officials are only from the top 2% or so, which is a (relatively) small group of people.

It is quite clear (just by the definition) that we do not live in democracy solely based on the definition. That being said, we do live in a representative democracy in which we vote for people that vote for us. It is not a democracy in the original sense, but it is a modification of it.

Added to that is the part of us being a republic. I think that without a doubt we are a republic if you look at the definition, there just isn’t really any arguing with that.

And then we get to my favorite, the totalitarianism. Based on that definition it would be hard to argue one way or another. Yes, the government does control much of our lives. But, we do still have freedoms that we use daily. In my mind we have not gotten to the point of being totalitarian and I feel that the American spirit will keep that away.

So what are we then? I would say we are a Demoplutoligaric Republic, but that’s just me.

We live in a society that is becoming more and more elite. Although the tone of this may sound pessimistic I am not. My feeling is that we must commit to what we want to be, we must make progress in some direction.

If we want the wealthy to rule the country, lets be honest about it and just commit to it. If we stop being closet elitists then we can decide to make progress. That being said, we must be careful what we choose.

We live in a key time where the power could switch very quickly into hands that may not use it in the way we want. We as a country must come together and decide where we need to go and how we will get there.

Adios Iraq

therightliberalLeave a comment

This past week, President Obama announced that all troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011, just months away.

What fantastic news! It was not our place to go in to Iraq for oil in the first place and we are finally getting out of there.

Hopefully our role as the World Police is fading. Unfortunately the fact that it is fading has more to do with our financial situation than our realization that our invasions of other countries is unethical.

So for a celebration and a little fun, let’s look back at some of our idiotic invasions.

Chile: A CIA led coup to overthrow the government of Chile in 1973. We went in because we did not agree with Marxism, which when you think about it is a really stupid reason. It shouldn’t matter what we think of another countries government, it should matter what the people think about it.

Cambodia: Really the whole invasion of Southern Asia but Cambodia was the most ridiculous in my mind. We had no right to be there and yet our bombings and war tactics lead to the deaths of over 2 million people. Not soldiers, not corrupt leaders, just people.

Lebanon: Our military actions against the Shi’a “rebels” was just ridiculous. They were not killing their own people and they were not going after other countries. And even if there were some questions regarding their positions on social issues, what authority was given to us to go in and invade?

Saudi Arabia/Iraq: 1990 saw some of the most obvious forms of the World Police. We took sides in the Kuwait and Iraq conflict. We killed over 200,000 people in Iraq (yes that is people again, not just soldiers and leaders, people) because we felt Kuwait needed some protection. This spelled a huge turning point in the US’s foreign policy in the Middle East, it all went down hill from there.

There are many that I did not include, many other very important instances of the US overstepping their authority. Now spells the end of another chapter of these, frankly stupid, invasions.

I hope that we have learned, that we realize that all these invasions do is cause death and debt. But history tells me there is no point in having hope, that our need to dictate the “proper” forms of government and social treatment outweighs our common sense.

So just try, try to realize the lack of progress each one of these invasions spells. Let’s learn something.