Progress or deception

Recently our president Barak Obama has come out in support of Gay rights, saying he approves of gay marriage, a huge step for the country though it was only in an interview and in no way changes any laws. Expectedly many people have split on whether this is just a political play for the upcoming election or whether he truly is in favor of gay rights. Most recently the Newsweek made the cover of their magazine President Obama with a rainbow halo over his head entitled "The First Gay President".

"The First Gay President"

While I am personally in favor of gay rights for a few reasons, some being:
When entering into a marriage you receive many rights that you are not eligible to hold while in a civil union.
This country was founded on the idea that each man and women could live freely by there own beliefs, without being persecuted, and undiscriminated against. We live under the basis of many religions not the most popular of the era or current time which in this case would seem to be Judeo Christian belief system. While however this belief system has good intentions there is a reason that our founding fathers chose to separate the church from the state, being a corporation or company of sorts the church could not act as a leader of a nation of many faiths. However the church tries to and does affect political views and laws in our government. Politicians begin to look for what will get them voted into office rather than what will properly represent all the citizens of this great nation both equally and fairly.
The word Marriage is in itself simply a term with many different meanings and understandings the most popular being that of the Judeo Christian belief system. Allowing a gay couple to be married would in no way effect or corrupt the reality of another heterosexual couple, a homosexual marriage would not in anyway make any other marriage any less real. As a famous poet once said "would a rose not smell as sweet if called by a different name?" We are persecuting a group of people based on love, they are being treated as less than human because they are different because their love isn't the "same". Bullied, harassed and kept from rights that any other person would receive to the point that some have been killed or committed suicide.
Some people state that it is a choice refusing to believe or accept the proven fact that it is the way some people are wired, they didn't wake up and just decide one day to be gay it is simply who they are.

The way we're wired

Some people however question the presidents conviction due to the fact that politically he has not always been open to gay marriage and just came out with his new beliefs in an election year. I personally wonder what the presidents true beliefs may be, has he truly changed his ideology or is this a new political ploy?

Protection or harrasment

After the horrific events of September eleventh it became clear that we had to somehow better airport security. Many felt unsafe, and unsure at a time when America had just taken a devastating blow. from this came the infamous TSA pat down, a technique in which:

 a  TSA  agent, a screener of the same sex will examine your head, shirt collar area, and waistband, and may use either the front or back of his or her hands to feel your body, including buttocks, around breasts, and between the legs, feeling up to the top of the thigh. Women in tight skirts that don't allow an agent to feel the thigh area may be asked to remove the skirt in a private screening area and will be given a gown or towel to put on. 

 however it is felt that TSA agents often times take things to far by unnecessarily patting down children, Targeting women and in some peoples opinion, violating the rights of citizens.


TSA pat down 00:56
Forced to show prosthetic.
the list keeps going 


I personally belive we should not have the pat down as part of security with new technology and dogs for both bombs and drugs there is no need for this invasive procedure. As  Benjamin Franklin said "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither."

A jet blast of stupidity

on Saint Marten beach in the Caribbean there is plenty to do whether its play on the beach, swim, or just lay out in the sun. Due to the close airport with short runways though a growing and very dangerous attraction is hanging on to the fence as the engine of a jet powers all the way up in a stationary position due to the short runways. While this is seemingly harmless fun it is in fact not due to the fact that it can lead to severe injury.

women thrown by jet

This is just one incident of the many I am sure have preceded and will follow. Officials need to do a better job to make sure tourists know the dangers and are kept off the fences. The state might think about investing in wind deflectors to help avoid injury and make the beach a safer funner place for everyone.

Misinformed

With all the different sites, all the information available to us whether on t.v. or one of the many other ways to acquire news I often find myself trying to find what source I can believe. With social media now a days stories get passed along quite quickly and can become a big thing such as a recent twitter post that has gotten a lot of attention.

misconceptions

While I am sure there is a lot of pain and suffering, murder and victimizing going both ways this tweet specifically was meant to cause an uprising a schism and a hatred of a specific group of people. While I do believe that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is a huge deal I do not believe you can proove a point by misinforming others.

The war on Christmas

As the Christmas season once again approaches so does the so called war on Christmas. A yearly event between the believers who believe they are simply celebrating their holiday and non believers who feel that God is being forced upon them. In New Jersey a sign has been hung that reads "Keep Christ in Christmas", while a banner normally doesn't cause this much of a racket, unnamed sources have asked The Freedom From Religion Foundation to step in. While the city claims the banner is hung from private property, and others claim it to be unconstitutional due to hanging over a public area (road).

christ in christmas sign

I personally believe that some people are to easily offended but I can see Christians being upset if atheist hung their own sign which they do propose to do, the sign would read:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Currently studying the supreme court in government class I feel one they would refuse to hear the case and two even if they did the banner would be allowed to remain, though it is in support of a specific religion and hangs in a public area there is equal opportunity for any religion to hang their own signs. I do however have to disagree with the Knights of Columbus because the banner does seem to directly take a shot at other religions and people not of the faith who celebrate the seasonal sensation most commonly referred to as Christmas. Had the banner read Merry Christmas or something along those lines I believe it would have been more appropriate.

Animosity

On Saturday Xavier faced rival University of Cincinnati in a game that ended 9 seconds short due to a fight which broke out at the very end of the game. Comments by kilPatrick in the pregame may have caused tension when he stated his beliefs about the level the team was at, singling out another player from the rival team saying Hollaway wouldn't make the bearcat starting lineup. Though it looks like Xavier began the fight with the shove at the end of the game that cleared the Cincinnati bench that may not be the case.

Xavier vs University of Cincinnati

the list of suspensions however were not that long with Yancy Gates and two others receiving 6 game suspensions for the Bearcats and Xaviers Tu Holloway receiving a one game suspension with two others receiving four game suspensions.

suspensions

I personally feel there is a growing amount of violence in sports especially professional and I feel players especially like Yancy Gates who threw a blindside punch bloodying the eye of a Xavier player should be punished more harshly than they are. Violence like that should not be a part of the sport and any player, not clearly defending themselves but being the source of aggression should lose any scholarship they have and be kicked off the team the rest of the season at least. I believe if we increased the severity of the punishment athletes would think before acting.

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer has been "smeared" by Defense giant BAE. The company wrote that Dakota was mentally unstable and an alcoholic, seemingly with no evidence to back it up. All this happened after Dakota protested the sale of the best military equipment available to Pakistan a country we sometimes have problems with.

defamation?

What a hero did for this Country

I personally believe it is disgusting that a company would make false accusations about a hero to save themselves. I also believe we should not be selling our advanced scopes to Pakistan who recently fired upon us  then after we retaliated with a missile strike the spoke out against us for our actions and ordered us to stop using the Pakistani base we fly predator drones out of.

open fire

retaliation