Tag Archives: Writing

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Choices

Adulthood is as awful as it can be amazing. You are able to own a home, raise children/dogs/whatever animal you choose, and you can eat ice cream for any and all meals that you may want without your mother informing you that you will get the biggest belly ache of you life. Yes, you will likely get a giant belly ache, and probably a sugar induced headache from consuming that much Hood chocolate chip deliciousness, but dammit I’m an adult and I want to. I choose it. I choose that deliciousness over my maple and brown sugar oatmeal.

Okay, maybe I did have Special K Honey n’ Oats instead of a delicious bowl of ice cream. Why, after all that ranting about “me being an adult, Imma do what I want”, did I eat a bowl of healthy cereal for breakfast? Because the important thing about being an adult is making choices, the right choices. As much as I want to eat ice cream all day long, it isn’t reasonable, healthy and it’s expensive. (Aforementioned ice cream comes at $5 a half-gallon when not on sale. You do the math.) Additionally, what would that show my kids? That they can eat ice cream all day long because mommy does it, and then I raise statistics rather than children, considering how terrible the stats for obese children in our country. It’s bad enough both boys and my lab have all picked up my nail biting habit. Choices.

As children, you make dumb choices all the time. If you’re lucky, those dumb choices will provide consequences to make you less dumb as you’re older. What happens when you grow up without any consequences to your dumb choices? You continue to make them because why not? Then, likely you look at other people who make great life choices and think “why can’t I have that?” The answer? Because YOU made a choice, and you need to either make a different choice or stop complaining about how awful things are. Because you can make choices because you are an adult.

My husband made choices to work his butt off to provide for his family. As a result, he’s a 29-year-old man and father of 2, who owns a home and can make sure that everyone is taken care of. We made a choice that our children were better off in my care than daycare, especially considering the obscene cost of daycare, so now I’m at home raising children and tending to the house. I could choose to sit around and play video games or watch television/movies all day, and every now and again I do make that choice. Instead, I’m trying to follow my dreams as a writer, and make some extra money doing so. Because I want to contribute to my household and because I want to show my children that following your dreams is important, as is being a contributing member of society.

Next time you look at something in your life that you don’t like, remember that you have a choice to change it. You can choose to go back school if you don’t like your job. You can choose to move out of your neighborhood if it’s really that bad. You can go to school if you can’t find a job, or find training and job centers to help you find something you like or may even love, or just something to help you get by. If you don’t make choices to change things, how can you possibly expect things to change? Our parents can’t help us all the time; they’ve done their job and they hope they have raised us self-sufficient enough to be responsible and functioning adults. Our parents can’t wave a magical wand to fix our choices like they could when we were kids because we’re adults in a sink or swim world. You’re the only one who can make your choices. You’re the only one who can change those choices. And if you’re not willing to, why should anyone else?

You’re going to stumble in adulthood. Some months you will worry about how a bill will get paid, or how much is on your credit cards. You will have to make tough decisions, like “is this neighborhood safe for my family?” or are the “schools good enough?” and be willing to make changes if necessary. You may not have anything in your savings account, or have to live off ramen a month straight. But life is hard and it’s sometimes painful to experience, but you can choose how you deal with it. You can make the choice to sit there and take it, or you can make the choice to change it. Choices.

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Freelancing and Me

Sure, I make beans compared to people who aren’t in this freelancing world. I have always wanted to be a writer, which is why I got into this to begin with. The only real benefit is that in the grand scheme of things, at least it’s something extra of an income to allow for a few luxuries here and there. When I can get more hours in due to my toddler being unusually behaved on a given day, I try to pile on more work in order to get a little bit more coming in. That doesn’t often or really ever happen, but sometimes it does.

It has given me a chance to complete NaNoWriMo two years in a row, and published both offerings. (Which you can purchase by following the links to the side.) Plus, with my toddler needing specialists to come to the house twice a week this really works out for me. Most people find what I do to be a joke, as if I’m a lazy person trying to pretend to work and be useful. I’m not taking any money from assistance; our family has earned every dollar. I’m not lazy, I just choose to follow a dream and not work a job that I hate. Do not make a joke out of it, because I take what I do seriously even if you don’t.

I took an internal tour and realized there is more to this than just following a dream. The reality of the matter is that I don’t do so well out there, out in the real world. I’m awkward. I’m beyond socially inept. I speak my mind, often without any real concern for how people take it or how it comes out. I try, I really try to not be this way but I am. It is even more than that on most days. The idea of making phone calls for work makes my heart rate pick up. I don’t like talking on the phone, especially when I don’t know who the other person is. Business calls cause all sorts of anxiety. I even opt to not take jobs that require such contact as Skyping to keep regular contact on projects. I much prefer to just be sent what I need to do and send it back without any other communication other than written.

Being out in public also causes this. I don’t know how to associate with other people. I don’t know how to make small talk. I try my hand at it, and I get nervous because I’m unsure of how successful I am at it. Even at events with other people like myself, I find that I have an easier time if someone just hands me a glass of wine to get through whatever mental craziness happens to get me through those moments. It isn’t healthy. It probably isn’t normal, but what really is?

Ideally, I could go out and teach a college class on literature or creative writing. I wish I could go out and do book readings or some other really cool event like that. I have managed to, as a result of having grades forcing me to perform such actions, but not without downing a container of Tums and praying nothing comes up. Maybe I was just meant to be at home and live my life pretending to be Emily Dickinson. I don’t mind leaving the house, I just mind any interaction I may have to have with a person when I do.

So I work from home on my own terms. I work from home because I hope eventually my hard work will pay off and I will see my dreams come true. Or maybe I will just stay this forever anxious mess. I’m oddly okay with that. It isn’t about admitting you have a problem. It’s about accepting it and figuring your way around it.

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There is Nothing Wrong With My Son

Since last year, my family and I have been trying to maneuver around a tricky situation. Our youngest has a developmental delay. He was an early roller, an early crawler, and an early walker. Then one year rolled around, and he had only maybe a couple of words. Our pediatrician decided to recheck him a few months later and we’d go from there. And a year later, we are still on this journey.

Today knowledge is a heavily emphasized need that we have, because it’s how we succeed. It’s how we pass tests that are mandated by the states. We live in a society where competition in the education department is so heavily pushed upon our kids, and whether or not this is fair is  not what I am about to debate. This is about perceptions of children that are unfair.

There is nothing wrong with my son. Everyone felt the need to put in their 2 cents about him. And each bit of advice, albeit unintentionally so, was just as piercing as the next. I was flooded with “don’t listen to the doctors, they don’t know what they’re talking about. He’s just quiet”. I was flooded with “why does he need to be tested for Autism? He’s obviously not dumb.” It almost seemed like no one trusted that we could make an informed decision on our own.

My toddler started Early Intervention last summer. After a few months, he was still not making eye contact with anyone and still barely spoke. I second guessed my decision. “Why am I wasting an hour of my time a week while this woman just plays with my kid? Nothing is working.” It did seem hopeless. The specialist seemed to feel the same way, that this wasn’t working. She suggested to get him an additional specialist, a speech pathologist, and a neuropsych eval to see if he was Autistic.

Nervously, the evaluation came and went. There wasn’t enough to say that he was Autistic, but there was not enough to say that he wasn’t. I didn’t care. I just wanted something to help me help my son. Every week I analyze the notes the specialists take and devoted myself to the homework as if the grade was life or death. Every sound that even mimicked a word was a celebration. But then the evaluation showed something that none of the other testing did: despite everything, my son was a smart kid.

This showed soon enough. Any toy that the specialist would hand him, he would figure out quickly without needing anyone to show him how. If something was broken, he would hyperfocus on it to see if he could fix it. My son wasn’t dumb, we knew that. He just needed help without judgement. He needed someone to not analyze his deficiencies, he needed someone to help him grow his true potential. I kept him in Early Intervention because I knew they could help him in ways that I obviously couldn’t.

At 3, they age out of the Early Intervention Program. Speechwise, he is just starting to meet developmental milestones for children younger than him. At 2 1/2 with the words he does know, he can tell you colors and shapes without much thought. He can name letters with ease and can count. He can even point to numbers and tell you what they are. I can’t wait to see what he finds out when he gets more words.

Now he is readying for another set of testing. This will show us if he qualifies for programs in Preschool, which has opened up a new door of commentary. “Do we really want him in the special education programs?” “Is having him labelled as special needs so early going to scar him and give people a reason to bully him?” “What will the other kids think or the parents think?” Maybe the parents will think “those parents really love their kid to do whatever it takes to help them succeed.” Children that age don’t know what makes other kids different from them. That’s stuff we put on our kids ourselves.

The point of this is that you are a parent that needs to make decisions for your own children and what’s best for them. Sometimes kids need some extra help. It doesn’t mean there is something wrong with them or that they are somehow broken. Whether or kid is Autistic or has some developmental delay, that is something you have to deal with and to hell with everyone else. You can sit in denial and pretend you can do it yourself, or you can admit that you can’t and do whatever you need to help your child. I’m lucky that my insurance covers this, but I would easily work 3 jobs if I needed to in order to help my child have a better life and I wouldn’t even bat an eye. That is what parents are supposed to do: whatever it takes.

Don’t feel so alone when your child may fall short in their development. You’re not alone. You will know what to do because like with everything else in parenting, it’s all instinct. There are more people struggling with these decisions every day than you think, and you can find so much information on the internet to help you figure out what you can do and connect with other parents also going through it. I did whatever it took, and my son is constantly flourishing.

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Look Guys, It’s Religion Not Hate

That should be a reminder to anyone who forgets that. Religion wasn’t meant to be some exclusive club that only the rich or specific race could join and all others be damned. Religion, at its true core and intention, is not about hate or exclusivity. Religion is not about creating governmental laws, it’s about creating moral ones. One does not need religion for morality; religion and morality are definitely not mutually exclusive, as seen by any terrorist or hateful organization can show you. Besides, last I checked there was a separation between church and state for a reason.

Indiana has just become the 20th state to enact a “Religious Freedoms Bill”. I agree with the principle that everyone should have the freedom to practice their own religion freely, but was that it’s true intention or was it the intention of only Christians could have these freedoms but not any other religion or lack thereof. What if a Muslim politician enacted such a law, would it be as welcomed as this one seems to be? No, in fact if any other religion tried to enact this, there would be an uproar about Muslim terrorists taking over America or some other similar statement. Does this mean the Spaghetti Monster gets his time now, and we can start having statues of him all over? Oh and the Pentacle should have its place, since there are a large numbers of Wiccans and other Pagans in America, so they should get this freedom. And the Satanists. But no, if they tried to do any of that people would shrug them off as “just trying to prove a point”, when this law does say that they have this right. What’s sad is they shouldn’t need a law for this right; they should be free to be what they are without discrimination.

Is this the same type of law that makes it legal for bakeries to refuse service to gay couples getting married? It’s a slippery slope back to the days of segregation, and I don’t think I am exaggerating this point. Especially not with the public outcry over race relations in America. History does repeat itself, if you don’t believe that you should go back and read a history textbook.

I worry for America. I worry that we’ve come to a point where we are more hateful and divisive as ever. Not just about race, but about everything. America was once a melting pot, that as long as you were a white Christian that wasn’t Irish, you were perfectly accepted. If you were Irish, a minority, and other religion that wasn’t affiliate with Christianity, you were left to rot in poverty and treated like second-class citizens. Have we really sunk that low that we are willing to not learn our lessons and go back to that time?

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The Time Has Finally Come

“The Science of Suicide”, my NaNoWriMo achievement of this year has finally been completed. The side bar where it says “Where to Buy My Work” has been updated for a link to a website where you can buy a physical copy of the book. The other link, which leads you to my Amazon Author Page will also have a Kindle edition that is in the process of being published as we speak. Feel free to stalk the page for the Kindle version to appear.

“The Science of Suicide” is listed as a “Juvenile Fiction”, as it was originally aimed for a younger audience. However, I do believe that people of all ages may appreciate the themes of the book. I encourage you to check it out, in addition to check out my other books for sale on the Kindle.

The book is about different thoughts about suicide and why it happens. I hope that it addresses some thoughts others may have and have some points that others might find insightful. It was meant mostly for that, and I hope that conveys as I intended.

This book would absolutely not be possible without my husband and his constant lectures of “you’re too talent to just give up”, because I constantly wanted to give up during this entire process. He has always been my number 1 supporter and I could not love him more for it. He never insulted me, he gave me incredible advice as to the flow of the book, and if he was interested in reading it, I know that I have at least accomplished something.

I hope you all check out the book. You can follow my tweets for live updates on when the book will be available on the Kindle eBook store. Thank you guys for reading! Also thank you to NaNoWriMo for giving us writers a place of encouragement to keep going even when we don’t think we can anymore.

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It All Started with a Doorbell

I was working away, when I heard the ring of my doorbell. I went, unsure of what to expect. I don’t normally ever get visitors, let alone visitors that actually ring my doorbell. I wasn’t expecting a delivery. Reason of deduction led me to the likely result of a Jehovah’s Witness being my impromptu visitor. I answered the door, with a dialogue in my head, and I was not disappointed.

“Hi! Good morning to you.” The pleasant woman responded as I opened the door. “Here is an invitation to you, to join us in hearing the good word of Jesus.”

“That’s mighty nice of you. Have you heard of the good word of the flying spaghetti monster?” I replied.

She looked at me, stunned. “Um. No. I haven’t heard of that. He must be a fake God.”

I smiled. “Well, what makes one fake God better than another?”

She had no response, and quickly left me with the invitation in my hand. I watched her scurry down the driveway as fast as she could. I was probably inappropriately pleased with myself over this exchange.

Which leads to an interesting point. What does make one God better than another, that people are willing to kill over this ideal? The answer might shock you: there is no difference between the God that each religion claims to cherish. This God that they all believe in believes in equality, kindness and other positive feels that the so-called believers forget exist. Instead, they would rather fight over which of their “fake” Gods are better than another and cause public debate over it. Are Atheists better than Christians? Are Christians better than Muslims? Where do the Jewish fit in on this grand scheme of awesome?

No. Atheists are not better than religious fanatics, because they can be just as ignorant and unaccepting as the religions they claim to hate. People have a right to religion as they have a right to not walk down that path. I don’t believe there is a God, but I don’t consider myself an Atheist. I don’t believe because I have a hard time stomaching what religions do in the name of their love of God. Spewing hate rhetoric on all sides and ignoring that people just are born different is not something I want to have anything to do with. Does this make me a horrible person? No. I believe that people should be charitable and kind to others and I don’t believe I need religion to do that.

I have people lecture me all the time about my choice to put my children through Catechism classes. “But I thought you were an Atheist?” “I thought you were intelligent, how could you brainwash your child that way?” I think that is as closed-minded as it comes. Just because I don’t believe does not mean I shouldn’t give my child the choice to believe. If my sons want to remain Catholics as I have raised them, then that is their choice. If they choose another path, that is their choice as well. What matters is that I gave them the choice to be whatever they want. If they want to convert peacefully into another religion, that is their right. Part of parenting is allowing children to make these types of decisions on their own.

So next time you find yourself judging another person, think about if that’s the type of belief system you want to have in your life and if that is how you want to raise your child. Children learn by watching their parents. If you teach them hate and disrespect, that is all on you and not your religion. Just because their God (or lack of God) is not yours, does not mean that you are automatically a better person as a result. We all walk the same path down here, and what happens when we die is all the same no matter what religion you follow: you’re dead.

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Trying to Do What Is Breast

I haven’t been around in a while. I have been caught up with work, specialists, and parenting and have once again neglected this. Finally, everything seems to have slowed down, in which now I can focus on other tasks on my to-do list, such as finally book editing and a side project I was given to accomplish. My hopes of my book being published this month seems to not be a likely goal, but I’m hopeful if I can just sit down and focus on it long enough without interruptions, I can do this. However, I am a mom of a toddler and a tween so that is all wishful thinking. All I can do is take it one day at a time.

Now, to the real topic at hand: boobs. Well, actually nursing in public. It is a hot topic of debate, especially in my little corner of Western Massachusetts.

I was casually reading my Facebook on Friday, as I had completed all my work and felt that I deserved a day on the couch clearing my DVR. I did clean off most of my DVR, but I also spent way too much time following a series of threads on a page that I liked because it was this amazing place that my toddler loves to play at. I love it, because it’s clean and inexpensive and it is awesome for working on his developmental delays that the specialists work with him on. Apparently they tried to institute a “nurse covered up or in a room” policy, which is illegal in Massachusetts. Okay, we like the law, so 300 comments about how she’s in the wrong and it’s illegal and blah blah, the page takes down the post and changes it to a series of “I didn’t know it was illegal, policy won’t be enacted, please be respectful” posts, to which the owner got equally attacked for.

I sat and read everything that was written. People that had never even been to this small business were giving it 1 star ratings to tank the reviews, which were pretty much all 4 or 5 stars. People posted pictures of themselves nursing, made comments about how formula fed babies should be covered up because it is offensive to see someone be a terrible parent and not nurse their child. People were vicious and cruel and completely out of line. What came out of a “please cover up” post came a torrent of unleashed rage upon anyone who disagreed with them or even said this place was a great place to visit. In fact, even today if someone comments about how it was a great place, someone comments about how it is a terrible place for not welcoming nursing moms. Only to unleash further viciousness upon anyone who dared like this place because it didn’t fit in with their values and views.

I was appalled. I was offended and angry. I was horrified. And it wasn’t the policy that made me feel this way. It was everything that happened afterward that I found so appalling. I think I saw the worst of humanity, the truth in the old adage about how women are the cruelest to one another. It pained me. Every word horrified me and made me wonder what made people so god damn high and mighty that they could belittle people based on their opinions when they are trying to prove a point about how they matter. They do matter, but so do the people that disagree with them. That’s what makes America so great: we are entitled to have our own opinions as long as they match yours.

Do I feel uncomfortable watching a woman nurse in public? Sure, I absolutely do. Does that mean that it shouldn’t be allowed? That’s what I trust our politicians to decide. I didn’t even like it when I was trying to nurse when the lactation consultant watched me. Am I a terrible mom because I couldn’t nurse as a result of my son’s inability to latch on? Absolutely not. Did I pump full-time to provide milk for my son? Yes I did. Does that make me any better than a person who chooses to use formula? Absolutely not, no more than me giving birth naturally makes me any better than someone who used an epidural or a C-section. Nursing or providing breast milk for your child does not make you the best mom in the world, just because. And if you think that, the problem is you. Moms need to stop attacking other moms, because being a mom is the hardest job in the world. As long as your child is nourished with good food, played with, taught lessons, and attended to, you are a good mom. Whether you nurse, bottle feed breast milk, use formula, buy baby food or make it, as long as you make sure your child is provided for that is all that matters. As long as you are there for your child and making sure it grows up with good role models and morals, you are doing it right. As long as your child is succeeding and you are doing everything it takes to allow success, you are a good mom. It’s when you start failing at any of those, that you are no longer a good mom. A drug addict that pawns off their kid all the time on someone else to raise is not a good mom just because she breastfeeds her child.

Then there is this video, from my local news site. I posted it on my Facebook, but I feel it does prove an excellent point here.

Take note of the first mom they keep panning back to outside giving an interview. I was too busy being horrified about the state of that little 8 month old daughter she had in her arms. She discussed about how she wants to empower women in any decision they make and civil rights to nurse wherever they want. Now, for those who do not live in our area, please note that when this interview took place the wind chill was in the negative degrees. Her 8 month old daughter is outside, cheeks red from cold, without protection from the cold.

So does nursing make you a better mother than everyone else? No. Should people be attacked if they prefer to cover up when nursing? Nope. Should a mother be vilified for being unable to nurse or deciding formula is the right decision for their family? Again, I’m going to say no. Should people be vilifying a company that was trying to mistakenly please everyone and put everyone who stands behind the company on some terrorism list? No. Should we start accepting everyone’s differences and opinions because that was what our great country was founded on? I say yes, and no one should ever think they are better than anyone else just because their high horse says so.

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The Gay Agenda

I figured I would go with the “buzz word” of the time, because we all know gay people want to take over the world like the Muslims do. It will be a battle of which one will destroy America first. My money is on gay people. They are much more fierce and scary when they want to be. Trust, I would never cross any of my gay friends. Never. Ever.

Most of the introduction is entirely sarcasm, except for the not wanting to cross any of my gay friends out of their sheer fierceness. That is completely true. I want nothing to do with that wrath. More so, I am mocking the idea that gay couples wanting to get married is them trying to take over America and ruin us. Do I want to see a gay couple making out in public? Absolutely not. Before you label me as a homophobe, please read this next sentence: Nor do I want to see a straight couple going at it in public. I just don’t want to see anyone using the mall bench as a place for them to pretend it’s their mom’s couch. I want no part in that. Maybe I’m a prude. Probably. But my not wanting to see it does not mean that I think it’s any of my business what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom. If a person wants 6 bedmates at the same time while reenacting scenes from “50 Shades of Grey”, I don’t need to know nor do I think it’s anyone’s business but their own. Should there be a law against this too? I suppose in some people’s eyes, as long as the man parts stay with the woman parts as God intended, then they can do whatever they want.

With the recent discussion of the Supreme Court taking up the issue of whether or not banning gay marriage is constitutional, we can see a real change in our country. This is the same change interracial couples waited for, and now the times have changed. Because of this huge step in civil rights I am able to be married to my soul mate, who’s only crime back then would have been that his mother came from a country that wasn’t in Europe. This is the next phase of the civil rights movement, created so all people would have equal rights. I absolutely think they are going to say that it is unconstitutional. This will come at the dismay at religious zealots that feel that the bible versus are something you can pick and choose what you believe. If you are going to use the bible as your life’s laws, follow everything. Otherwise you are just a hypocrite that is spreading hate.

Over the weekend, I saw “The Imitation Game”. It was a fantastic movie, and Benedict Cumberbatch was fantastic in it. (Not that you would dare question his amazing talent… right?) I was expecting those far out there religious crazies to go off on this movie being another push for the gay agenda in America. I was shocked to see so many articles about how this movie was another ploy to further push the gay agenda in hopes to destroy America. I was even more shocked after watching the movie and saying to myself afterwards “what gay agenda?” They don’t emphasize that he is gay. They mention it maybe a few times in the movie, including that horrific ending. Not horrific as in graphic, but as in as a human being I found it morally horrific what happened to him especially after watching about all the good he accomplished. Just because he was gay, he was given a cocktail of medicine to chemically sterilize him as we would do with a pedophile just because he liked men. He wasn’t the only person to suffer as a result of this “indecency law”. I’m sure those who believe that this movie pushed a gay agenda would wish us to reinstate such a horrible law, but if that’s the case I think we should be able to lock up assholes and make them suffer horrible fates as a result of how they were born to be.

In fact, I think the movie could have done more. I understand that they wanted to focus more on his achievements rather than make the movie into a political statement. I’m actually okay with that because I don’t want to go into an overly political movie when I want to just watch something entertaining. But there was so many people who had suffered like he did, while others like Oscar Wilde decided to just go to jail. And a great man killed himself because of this cruel punishment. (Though some people speculate murder, I’m going to go with injecting cocktails of medicine into a person without knowing all the side effects probably does not help matters.) They could have at least given us the real ending instead of adding his death as a side note at the end of the movie. If nothing else, that could have made a difference but again I understand the need for the movie to be about his achievements and not his personal life.

The lessons of this post? What people do in their bedroom is not your business. Who consensual adults want to marry is not your business. Imprisoning people and doping them with medicine because they are homosexual is wrong. The Imitation Game is a great movie, and you should see it. Any comments? Feel free to share.

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Now Reporting Today’s News Yesterday

It seems that I write more posts about how the media fails the American people more often than I care to mention. It probably is one of my most frequent topics, just because the media’s job is to hold people accountable for things and to keep its people informed of facts. The media fails us constantly. They only people they hold accountable are whatever people they want to hold accountable, and have become propaganda spreading machines. What makes them any different than media in other countries that are controlled by government to spread messages? The difference is we claim “Freedom of Speech”, which in actuality gets sent to the highest bidder because it’s about ratings and sales, not information being properly distributed to keep Americans informed.

Yesterday, there was a shooting at a Boston hospital. Every article I read alternated the ending of the story. All stories agreed that it was a cardiac surgeon that was shot. Some decided that the person was in custody after the shooting, others decided that the shooter had shot himself/herself. Everyone agreed it was a senseless tragedy It was like reading a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story. (Seriously, who didn’t love those?) Eventually, I gave up trying to find out what happened and eventually forgot that I had even cared. Why? Because the media wanted to be the first to get the story out, facts be damned.

This isn’t the first time this had happened, and it won’t be the last. Another more widely known flub is what happened with the ObamaCare supreme court ruling. Remember when they announced that it was unconstitutional? People roared with excitement! People, who immediately shut off their television rather than watch the rest of the breaking news report, went straight to the internet to troll. “Socialism is dead! Long live ‘Merica!!!” “On to further our fight for access to healthcare! We won’t be stopped!!”. Had these people watched their choice of newscast, they would have realized that upon further reading of the decision, their original report had been wrong and in fact it was ruled constitutional. Instead of being concerned with facts, they wanted to be the first to report it. Another memorable moment? When media outlets started circulating pictures of the “Boston Marathon Bombers”, two Arab looking young adults. They were being labelled terrorists, when they were just guilty of being Muslim at a place where a terrorist attack took place. Instead, two boys probably just a tad less white than I were ended up being the culprits while those original people pictured ended up having their lives harmed and potentially risked as a result of the media wanting to be first rather than be accurate or even correct.

To my other point about media propaganda, I bring into evidence an actor that I really enjoy watching. I read the headline “Seth Rogen Compares ‘American Sniper’ to Nazis”. My immediate thought was “Oh Jesus. Another celebrity that put his foot in his mouth. What an idiot.” Conservative media, and other people who follow it blindly, rant on about his un-American statement. (Hilariously, discussing their right to freedom of speech, ignoring his because they don’t agree with him that American Sniper is a nazi propaganda film). One even stating that as a soldier, they had fought for his god given American right, probably not doing enough research to know that it is his god given Canadian right since he is in fact, Canadian. Back to the point. I follow him on Twitter, and I actually read his post. “American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that’s showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds.” I read that over a few more times, and I didn’t understand how that goes into “AMG AMERICAN SNIPER IS NAZI PROPAGANDA!!!” I didn’t understand the outrage. Even his tweets afterward made complete sense. I didn’t understand the controversy here. I still don’t understand the controversy here. So one movie stylistically reminded him of something else? If  it weren’t for the “Deflategate” controversy, I would agree with him that this was all just a result of a slow news day.

Which leads me back to the original point. I think I have read pretty much every article about how “Belicheat” struck again. I gathered it was mostly non-news since I had also read just as many articles about how Rodgers likes an over-inflated ball or how some people like to alter the ball so it’s more worn in. I even read an article where a team had heated balls during cold games. After all that, I only got one thing out of it: Any other team would be slapped on the wrist and talked about for one day on the news. Instead, since the Patriots were already caught with their hand in the cookie jar once, they are automatically guilty forever and ever. Some say the balls were taken out during halftime, which was when the Patriots really demolished the Colts. Did it help them win? Probably not, unless a deflated ball makes defensive players see a guy with a ball running towards them and decide to make a path rather than tackle him. Is it cheating? Absolutely and they should be punished for it. Is there one news article that is a reliable source at the moment? Of course not, the news fails at their job and should all be fired for people with actual journalistic integrity because this new form of media fails at what they were supposed to be doing: keeping the masses informed.

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Sometimes the Best Intentions…

Ideas to better a person’s life is always a positive. There are individuals that need help to get a foothold in the world. The ideas aren’t the problem here: people are the problem. Ideas are awesome, but not when people start finding ways to take advantage of such ideas or that they don’t think through the ideas and they become very bad version of their intentions.

Programs like WIC and Food Stamps, and various other forms of welfare are great ideas, in principle. When I was a single mom, I worked as hard as I could at my minimum wage job for sometimes 80 hours a week and couldn’t make ends meet on my own. Programs like this were intended to help people like me, those who worked hard but needed help to support their family. Now, the program has become a shadow of what it was because there are people out there that take advantage of these programs because they don’t feel like working. There are people trying to get help on these programs that can’t, because there are people who are finding loopholes so that they can sit around and just collect free money. Which is sad, because there are people who actually need this help and can’t get it because there are dishonest people mooching from a great idea that had great intentions. See, the problem isn’t the programs but the loopholes and people taking advantage of them.

Which leads me to the new program the president wants to put into place: free community college. That’s a great idea. I went to community college so that I could get all my pre-req’s out of the way because I blew a ton of money on a private 4-year college that 6 years later I still owe $30,000 left on and that doesn’t include the year and a half that my mother paid for from her retirement plan. It’s an economical plan that many people today are using. There are professions that you can get that are decent pay from a 2 year degree. This could be a fantastic idea. Get some people, who are trying to make something of their lives and want a degree to give a better lives for their families, to school so they can get off of welfare and into the workforce. Except, I see a problem. Who is going to pay for this amazing plan? With such a high amount of national debt, the government should be focusing on fixing their budget and the debt rather than paying for education. Would it come from our taxes? So we have to pay more for a program that people might take advantage of, like with every other entitlement we have in America? How can we even guarantee that our tax money is even going to go to this program and not to add onto the pocket of our congressmen? Even more than that, will we have to pay more in state taxes as well because they want the states to foot a portion of the bill? This sounds like a great idea, that is not well thought out at all. The government has great ideas that are never thought out and end up being money drains on the American people because they can’t balance their budget like the American people have to do on a daily basis.

If you want us to stand by your ideas, we need to have a plan that we can believe in and follow. This plan on the surface sounds fantastic. When you think about it for a few days, it starts to seem like a disaster. What if it becomes a requirement for people to stay on welfare? So you’re forcing people to go to school that doesn’t want to, and it ends up being a waste of money because they don’t go to class or fail because they just want the money? (Not saying that all people on welfare are cheats, but let’s be real here: there are some.) Then the tax payers are wasting money on tuition for people who aren’t taking it seriously. Then there’s the point of: high school is free and people take it as a joke. I didn’t take it seriously, nearly flunking out of high school. Then I went to college, and I had to pay for it and I was sure the hell going to make sure that I got what I paid for. I left community college with a 3.9 GPA, and graduated my 4 year college with a 3.4 GPA. A far cry from my barely there grades in high school. Fact: people work harder when they pay for it or have something to work for. This could be another consideration when debating this topic.

I do agree college costs are out of hand. I fear for my children going to college because I don’t think we’ll be able to afford helping pay their way, unless I start selling novels or my husband runs his own IT company. Or both, at the rate the costs are going up. I keep forcing the idea of working hard and getting good grades in hopes that it sinks in and he gets scholarships. I encourage additional activities like sports and band to help the scholarship push, not to mention he needs to get whatever he can to get a leg up on the competition to even get into college. I’m not alone in this. I don’t have hope that the government can fix it, because everything they seem to touch goes to hell fast. I don’t think this is the way though, at least not at this time. Maybe when our national debt gets dropped and the government learns what a budget is. We can’t afford to put money into more new programs when we can’t even afford the ones we have now.