Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The Aurora Massacre and the Gun Control Battle
Earlier this month I attended an evening showing of Brave, a delightful family friendly Pixar movie, here in Alaska. As we entered the theater, I noticed a young military MP, for so his uniform declare him to be. He wore on his hip not his service weapon, but clearly his personal weapon. I smiled inside when I saw him. I almost pointed him out to my children as an example of a man doing his part to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Instead, I simply nodded and told him thank you for his service to the country when I held the door as we exited the restroom after the movie.
As I have thought about the massacre in Aurora, Colorado over the past few days I keep seeing this brave soldier who in spite of the odd looks that several patrons gave him for wearing his gun open in public. I can't help but wonder what would have happened had this fine soldier and second amendment loving patriot been sitting in that audience. I am certain there would very well have been many injured and possibly other yet still some dead. However, I seriously doubt that it would have been the gruesome butcher's bill as this crazed psychopath has wrought upon all those suffering families and the community and indeed the nation as a whole.
The leftist will always claim it is the gun that killed people, but in reality it was this crazed individual who devised a way to injure so many. Yet these very same leftists will be crying for mercy for this murderer in a matter of day,s if not weeks after the initial rawness of the event has left our collective consciousness. These are the people who are the true root of this tragedy in my mind. It is their fear of an armed and polite society that has allowed the criminals to prey upon the unarmed populace at will. There is no substitute for an armed citizenry! The police cannot be there to protect us all at every moment of our lives. They can only respond to the call, which sadly is all too often far too late to do any preventative good for the true victims of most gun crimes.
There was a time when children carried rifles to school and there were no school shootings. There was a time when men and women openly carried guns and there was far less gun violence in the streets of the nation. Sadly, as we have allowed the Leftists to slowly steal our sacred Constitution. This is why we are now witnessing these ever increasing tragedies!
This nation needs far more trained and openly carrying Second Amendment supporters. I for one thank everyone who carries a gun either concealed or openly! They are the sole line of defense for many of us against these sorts of psychopaths.
As I have thought about the massacre in Aurora, Colorado over the past few days I keep seeing this brave soldier who in spite of the odd looks that several patrons gave him for wearing his gun open in public. I can't help but wonder what would have happened had this fine soldier and second amendment loving patriot been sitting in that audience. I am certain there would very well have been many injured and possibly other yet still some dead. However, I seriously doubt that it would have been the gruesome butcher's bill as this crazed psychopath has wrought upon all those suffering families and the community and indeed the nation as a whole.
The leftist will always claim it is the gun that killed people, but in reality it was this crazed individual who devised a way to injure so many. Yet these very same leftists will be crying for mercy for this murderer in a matter of day,s if not weeks after the initial rawness of the event has left our collective consciousness. These are the people who are the true root of this tragedy in my mind. It is their fear of an armed and polite society that has allowed the criminals to prey upon the unarmed populace at will. There is no substitute for an armed citizenry! The police cannot be there to protect us all at every moment of our lives. They can only respond to the call, which sadly is all too often far too late to do any preventative good for the true victims of most gun crimes.
There was a time when children carried rifles to school and there were no school shootings. There was a time when men and women openly carried guns and there was far less gun violence in the streets of the nation. Sadly, as we have allowed the Leftists to slowly steal our sacred Constitution. This is why we are now witnessing these ever increasing tragedies!
This nation needs far more trained and openly carrying Second Amendment supporters. I for one thank everyone who carries a gun either concealed or openly! They are the sole line of defense for many of us against these sorts of psychopaths.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Texting is Contributing to the Declining Political Discourse
I just watched a video on YouTube about texting. It seems to me that it has pertinence in the political arena and most definitely where the first amendment is concerned, as texting is now a dominant form of communication.
The "personal touch" as Patricia put is the key to great communication. When we use technology as a substitute for it our communications often times devolve into contextual chatter that loses it’s meaning outside of the moment and ultimately can contribute to a deeper feeling of isolation.
Where ever possible I maintain a clean well written text message, because it enables my meaning to be more easily transferred. If possible even in twitter postings I avoid using U in place of you, for clarity. I may not be as “hip” or whatever the cool lingo is nowadays however, I am less likely to be misunderstood; which is after all the point of communication to transfer knowledge intelligently.
I believe this is the primary challenge that stands before us as a society struggling to find its equilibrium in the digital age. The answer to how we facilitate the art of communication in the next generation isn’t set in stone; and as the father of six children, I can tell you that that I believe it starts at home. Yet as a public speaker, I have observed just how rare it is that this art is taught and I marvel at how scarcely it is applied.
The next time you are dining in a crowded restaurant, look around the room. I am certain you find more than one table at which all conversation is directed into the digital device rather than toward the live person who is sitting across from them.
I believe we are indeed rapidly losing our ability to interact with people at a personal level. The digital world allows us to substitute a faceless avatar for the living breathing intelligent and emotional being. This enables us to more easily ignore the content of our communications with an individual who can all too easily be spammed, blocked, or otherwise disregarded. Is it really so hard to understand why our nation’s political discourse has also become more and more shrill to the left and to the right over this same time period?
The answer is in Patricia’s “personal touch”, it is the key to great communication, in every aspect of our lives.
The "personal touch" as Patricia put is the key to great communication. When we use technology as a substitute for it our communications often times devolve into contextual chatter that loses it’s meaning outside of the moment and ultimately can contribute to a deeper feeling of isolation.
Where ever possible I maintain a clean well written text message, because it enables my meaning to be more easily transferred. If possible even in twitter postings I avoid using U in place of you, for clarity. I may not be as “hip” or whatever the cool lingo is nowadays however, I am less likely to be misunderstood; which is after all the point of communication to transfer knowledge intelligently.
I believe this is the primary challenge that stands before us as a society struggling to find its equilibrium in the digital age. The answer to how we facilitate the art of communication in the next generation isn’t set in stone; and as the father of six children, I can tell you that that I believe it starts at home. Yet as a public speaker, I have observed just how rare it is that this art is taught and I marvel at how scarcely it is applied.
The next time you are dining in a crowded restaurant, look around the room. I am certain you find more than one table at which all conversation is directed into the digital device rather than toward the live person who is sitting across from them.
I believe we are indeed rapidly losing our ability to interact with people at a personal level. The digital world allows us to substitute a faceless avatar for the living breathing intelligent and emotional being. This enables us to more easily ignore the content of our communications with an individual who can all too easily be spammed, blocked, or otherwise disregarded. Is it really so hard to understand why our nation’s political discourse has also become more and more shrill to the left and to the right over this same time period?
The answer is in Patricia’s “personal touch”, it is the key to great communication, in every aspect of our lives.
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