What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Monday, August 25, 2014

On a serious note...

Things to think about, part one:



This is Albert Ebosse.  A Cameroonian by birth, he played for a team in the highest soccer league in Algeria. He was a team leader in the 2013-14 season, scoring 17 goals.  He was poised to be a big star in the just started new season.

Now, he's dead.  His home fans were mad that their team, his team, got beat 2-1 in the second game of the seasons.  They decided to throw rocks at their team; one of them struck and killed the 24-year-old player.

You don't get that much in the US of A, where a more civilized (usually) kind of sports fan dwells.  But even here, we've seen fights in the stands, knifings in the parking lots, men taking swings at women.  And outside of criminal or civil proceedings, what have we seen the teams themselves do?

Why, they've banned all purses, backpacks, etc., except for the clear bags THEY sell.  Wow.


Now, for perspective, let me tell you what ALGERIA did.

- ALL soccer stadiums in the nation are closed indefinitely.
-The season at ALL levels is suspended indefinitely.
-The family of Ebosse will be paid the full amount of his contract, plus EACH of his teammates will be donating one month's salary.
-If the culprit is caught and he was indeed a fan of one of the two teams, that team might well be expelled permanently.
-The Interior Ministry will be investigating WHY a stadium that was in the midst of construction maintenance (hence the availability of broken pavement to throw) was open in the first place.


I wonder how long they will be without the season before one of the "good friends" of the perpetrator turns him in?

Point being, American sport has been willing to give hand slaps thus far just because we don't tend to do these things.  Oh, we can strip an owner of HIS property for saying the "N" word in private, such a heinous crime!  But pull over the Pittsburgh Steelers' top two running backs ( and a young lady) for DUI and marijuana possession, and three days later the ESPN headline is coach Mike Tomlin "might suspend them".  How is it a nation with such idiots in the fan base is enlightened enough to bring down a harsh and necessary punishment, where in the US of A, a team is only TRULY punished if the crime is PC enough?  Because death is just part of the game, but "God forbid" if a game is started with prayer.  Or an owner feels he can express his private thoughts without worrying about a wire taping him in his own home.


Things to think about, part two:



We hear a lot of people say about Muslims: if they aren't all bloodthirsty terrorists, why do we never here any of them stand up against Hamas, al-Qaeda, ISIS?

Well, listen:


CAIRO—The top Islamic authority in Egypt, revered by many Muslims worldwide, launched an Internet-based campaign Sunday challenging an extremist group in Syria and Iraq by saying it should not be called an “Islamic State.”
The campaign by the Dar el-Ifta, the top authority that advises Muslims on spiritual and life issues, adds to the war of words by Muslim leaders across the world targeting the Islamic State group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria. Its violent attacks, including mass shootings, destroying Shiite shrines, targeting minorities and beheadings including American journalist James Foley, have shocked Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, previously said the extremists violate all Islamic principles and laws and described the group as a danger to Islam as a whole. Now, the Dar el-Ifta he oversees will suggest foreign media drop using “Islamic State” in favor of the “al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria,” or the acronym “QSIS,” said Ibrahim Negm, an adviser to the mufti.
This is part of a campaign that “aims to correct the image of Islam that has been tarnished in the West because of these criminal acts, and to exonerate humanity from such crimes that defy natural instincts and spreads hate between people,” Negm said according to Egypt’s state news agency MENA. “We also want to reaffirm that all Muslims are against these practices which violate the tolerant principles of Islam.” (From the Epoch Times)



Next time the subject comes up, why not ask Brian Williams, Scot Pelley, or Chris Mathews why they don't report stories like these?  Answer- Giving any Muslim a break is not good ratings news.  You get a lot more viewers in this, or any, story by focusing on the loud, noisy, nutball minority.  Thus you never here about your Hometown Baptist Church's latest food drive, missionary sending, or VBS week, but PLENTY about Westboro Baptist Church and their never ending quest to mock everything good and pure in the service of Christ.  Notice I grabbed that story from a non-traditional news source- actually a pretty balanced source built by Chinese immigrants in NYC.  Watch network news, CNN, even FoxNews if you want to see what plays on sweeps week.  For truth, you need to get past the sound bites and be more aware.

Recently I unfriended someone on Facebook who thought his opinions were the well thought out, be-all, end all, while I was a member of the "Flat Earth Society" and was "Well programmed".  Moments after I unfriended him, another commenter on the post said to him to the affect, "Last time we had this discussion, you cited MSNBC as credible because a large network news channel surely thoroughly vettes their stories."  Needless to say, I laughed.

Be warned- I do research beyond the mainstream.  I don't hold that up as being always right, but it does give me the right to tell anyone who says I'm "programmed" to go shit and fall in it.  At least in Bob Radil's case, I was nicer than that.

I told him to "have a nice life."


11 comments:

  1. I don't blame you at all for unfriending that person. Politics aside, it drives me insane to see the level of intolerance and ignorance on both sides that is out there. At some point, it's a matter of humanity. What about the NFL player who sexually assaulted his significant other? Was his punishment worthy of the crime? No.

    I get the same feeling when I hear people say we need to put God back in schools, which essentially means a Christian God. My immediate response in my mind is send them to a religious-based school, but in public schools if you will be doing that, you need to introduce other religions and give them the same privilege. While on a different level than Islam, it hurts inside when someone puts me in a category with the priests who molested children in the Catholic church. A few do awful, despicable acts and we group everyone in that evil category? Because it's easy and gives ratings with the drama. Not right.

    Man, I'm never this lengthy in comments...

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    1. Not only ratings, but it saves us "thinking space"- one size fits all means we can judge without any real thought. I was glad I was schooled in a Catholic school for the grounding, and the clean, loving "agenda" we were taught. Though I found my way to another perception of the grace of Christ later, I do not regret it for a moment.

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    2. Exactly why we intend to do the same with Aubrey, but it's definitely a choice that should be made, not one that is thrust upon you.

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  2. Just goes to show that there are always two sides to everything. I try to do thorough research on things before I shoot my mouth off. Doesn't always work out, but I try.

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    1. When one jousts with atheists and religious trolls as I have, it pays to look at all sides- if you can find them.

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  3. How do I found you on FB?
    That is so sad for that soccer player to be killed. His poor family!
    I cant even begin to really truly comment how I feel about our sports teams getting merely a slap on the hand. My own Dallas Cowboys has such a history of fights, drugs, rapes, etc . Michael Irvin for one is a scum bucket who constantly was at Booby bars and taking girls to motels from his limo while doing drugs but yet he gets into the hall of fame!! I wanted to throw up. My blood pressure is rising so I better go.

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    1. I replied to your e-mail reply to my comment on your blog (did that make sense?) with the FB info, let me know if you don't get it. And also, Irvin is an idiot on NFL Network too... but Warren Sapp, they fire. Go Figure.

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  4. Chris:
    It's posts like THIS one that give me sincere HOPE for humanity, and I think you produced ample evidence to back that up.
    --Sports...where to begin...?
    First off, you have GOT to see Philly "fans"...most fickle creatures God has created.
    Will turn against their own team on a damn DIME (and give nine cents change).
    That Mike Schmidt column about Pete Rose and how he SHOULD be considered for the BHoF was well thought out, and Schmidt should know...he PLAYED with Rose on the Phillies World Series winning team.
    And yet, we see it every time...over-paid "athletes" getting another free pass for dubious (if not outright criminal) behavior.
    Then some jerkwad latches on to a team's NAME to distract us from those misbehaving "boys"., and the lemmings glom onto this crap like it's REAL news....
    These days (for me anyway) the more MAJOR the sport...the farther I am in avoiding it like an Ebola outbreak...it's that simple.
    As to the Muslim thing...
    (rolls eyes). All of these people have got to get TO-GE-THER and take on the RADICAL SECTS of their OWN religion,...you cannot parse this any more succinctly.
    Thing is, too many of them don't WANT to...and yet THOSE people outnumber the radicals well over 100 to1.
    (probably more like tens of thousands to one)
    You can't get THOSE odds at ANY casino on the planet.

    I'm also one of "those" people that gleans news from multiple sources (and yes, that can take time), in order to corroborate what I initially hear and read, and also to see if OTHER SIDES of the story are forthcoming,.

    Better to be SLOW and properly informed, than rush in and be marvelously incorrect, as many of the "lame-stream" media often are.. NO knee-jerks here.

    In the end, it IS all about ratings and demographics...and if "we" are not in the mix, too bad. The best we CAN do is keep bringing the TRUTH as another voice in the wilderness...

    Excellent post.

    Stay safe up there, brother.

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  5. We all need to unfriend someone at some point

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    1. Especially when the "friendship" is serving no useful purpose.

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