Life – Page 7 – Doug's Views

January 13, 2013April 18, 2020

Aaron Swartz Case Highlights Our Unbalanced Scales Of Justice

I didn’t know who Aaron Swartz was before hearing about his death this weekend. I realized I had heard of him once his biography was reported when the story of his death spread across the Internet. It seems Swartz committed suicide and that action might have been the result of stress due to his upcoming trial for computer fraud and abuse. If convicted he was looking at least 35 to 50 years in federal prison. What crime did he commit with his computer? He “stole” information from behind a paywall that he believed should be free to the public since we paid for the creation of the information. While his death is tragic for his friends and family, his case shows how unbalanced our justice system can be.

January 6, 2013April 18, 2020

Requiring Relief Aid Be Offset With Spending Cuts Is Typical Republican Heartless Stupidity

Hurricane Sandy damage along New Jersey coast

Another natural disaster and another opportunity for the Republicans in Congress to be dicks about approving federal disaster aid. It happened with the tornado in Joplin Missouri and the recent Hurricane Sandy on the east coast. Republicans say that any disaster aid has to be offset by spending cuts. Not only is the demand hurtful to those who depend on the target of the cuts, the social safety net, but the GOP demand is stupidly irrational. Federal disaster aid comes back as increased tax revenue from spending by restored businesses and residential restoration work.

We’ve had several major natural disasters in the past few years like the tornado that hit Joplin Missouri in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy that hit the east coast in October. Each time Federal disaster relief funds were requested in Congress and each time some Republicans said they would only approve the relief aid if the money was offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

January 5, 2013April 18, 2020

You Don’t Have A Right Not To Be Called An Ass

Stop Censoring Me Bitches

Political correctness is where one tries to think about the words one uses before speaking. It’s about diplomacy and tact. You also try to keep in mind if you would like it if someone used offensive words at you. On the other hand I don’t support censoring people who sound like assholes. They should be able to say what they want when they want. What I don’t support is when the assholes get angry and complain when their assholeness is pointed out to them. That isn’t censorship. It’s making an observation and if they can’t take it then maybe they need to shut their pie hole.

December 17, 2012April 18, 2020

I’m Sorry But I Can’t Really Know How You Feel

Watching the TV coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting this weekend, or rather trying to avoid it, I was concerned about the incident and feel sad for the families and friends of the ones who were murdered, However I can’t really know how they feel and I don’t want to. Some of the media coverage just seems too creepy for words and I wonder if I should feel bad for not feeling worse. How many more innocent people need to die to change our gun culture?

I remember how I felt after seeing the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 and I feel the same way after the Sandy Hook killings. I’m in funk but because the people who were murdered in Connecticut were not my family or friends, I don’t have a right to grieve. That’s for the friends and family of the victims.

December 15, 2012April 18, 2020

Another Reason Not To Believe In God

image of Bryan Fischer and Mike Huckabee

Bryan Fischer & Mike Huckabee:
2 douches for God

After yet another mass killing at a school, the religious right comes out of the wood work to explain that such killings wouldn’t happen if we just let prayer back into the schools or God let a tragedy happen because we moved away from Him. What a bunch of stank rubbish! I know that the religious right are unreasonable and shun logic but equating a school shooting with not being able to pray in school is a load of crap.