F Bombs Are Safer Than Guns

       Last blog of the semester is going to a short one! I chose Jordan Call's blog "Is She Really Lady Liberty?" Jordan starts the blog with a quick warning to those who might feel uncomfortable with the word "fuck." To be honest I am a little upset that I have missed this explicit blog this whole time. Jordan's style of writing is obviously to the point and blunt. Wasting no time to say his point ( Jordan I am guessing your a guy, I have a unisex name so don't hate me if I am wrong). He throws in colorful language like the F bomb and calling people "pussies." This type of in your face language has been proven to be both controversial and popular to people who use this style in front of larger audiences. If our platforms on these blogs were larger, Jordan would probably have a pretty big following because of his blunt style. What Jordan chose to write about is an important issue that has been a debate for a while now. I agree with everything he has said. Americans have this glorifying idea of guns and weapons. I too am guilty of wanting to be a bad ass and start bending bullets after I saw the hit movie "Wanted." But I also understood that this is real life, and people tend to get shot when their are real guns around.
         I don't understand this wave of thinking that you need to protect yourselves by having a gun. This isn't the wild west! Why the hell does anyone need a gun at school? More importantly, how are students that don't carry guns supposed to feel safe in a setting that is constantly on the news for having mass shootings? It is a ridiculous agenda pushed by the NRA and the fear tactics in the media that a decent amount of idiots have sucked up. My Brother was killed by a random civilian with a gun. When bullets go flying in the regular world, its not fun! Life is lost, mental strings become unhinged, and fear becomes life. If you feel the need to have a gun so badly, join the army! Take your invincible ass to a place that benefits the country. Otherwise, stop being paranoid, stop putting other people lives at risk, and as Jordan Call said "don't be a fucking pussy."

Political Tug of War

       On Thursday Governor Greg Abbott declared on twitter that "Texas will not tolerate sanctuary campuses or cities," Abbott said. "I will cut funding for any state campus if it establishes sanctuary status." This all coming from the recent petitions from students for college campuses to declare their campuses as a "sanctuary campus." In the wake of Donald Trumps victory for the presidential elect, many people fear that undocumented students are in danger of being forced to leave their productive lives as American students. Governor Abbot decided to make the threat on Twitter after students of Texas State University started petitioning for administrators to declare the campus as a sanctuary for immigrant students. While some universities argue that it is not necessary for them to declare it since law actually makes it extremely hard for law enforcement to enter the premises without a warrant or serious reason, the fear in many students is obvious.
       I understand the fear and anger that many undocumented immigrants must have in the wake of Donald Trump winning the election. Its the same fear that I believe many women, minorities, and citizens with morals and values must have after the many obnoxious threats that Donald Trump has made if he is to become president. I also understand the administrators of these campuses feeling the need to support their students in these protest, as much as I understand universities not wanting to put a target on their backs by publicly doing so. What I don't understand is Governor Abbott's need to threaten any person or entity on this matter. If the Universities want to make a stance, as long as there are no laws or regulations being broken, then they should have every right to do so. These campuses should want to protect their students as long as it is done legally and respectfully. Governor Abbott is turning this into a political pissing contest when it is meant to be a fight between the campuses and their students. For the state to threaten the universities rights to take a stance legally is ridiculous. More importantly it goes against the Texas mantra. Texas is a state that prides itself on fighting for our citizens to have the right to govern themselves without national law interfering when they don't need to. How do we then micromanage universities with threats when we have no right to? How does Texas, who was basically stolen from Mexico while also being largely if not mostly Hispanic, not lead the way of finding routes to protect our immigrants. I feel the most sorrow for the actual undocumented people who are in such danger. Its like there is a tug of war between people who don't agree with Donald Trump, and those that do. And the immigrants are what we are pulling apart.

Commentary On My Fellow Classmate

       I decided to read and do a commentary post on my classmates blog "Football, Oil, and Guns- The Great State of Texas." Reading Juan's post on his blog was enjoyable because he has a great way of writing. He shows links and examples to the article he has chosen, while giving criticism in an intelligent way. He also chose a pretty interesting article that I was glad to read myself. Juan does a good job of presenting the reader with the overall message of the article, the authors core audience, and the authors attempted reasoning. He then ( and he gets brownie points for doing so) contributes a fair logic on the reasoning of the targeted Lieutenant Governor's lack of moral stance against the extremely sexist, misogynistic, and illegal acting Republican President Donald Trump. I agree with Juan's view points as well as the authors. The problem that the public and especially women have with Trump's words are not the use of "crude" diction. Women don't care that he used the word "pussy." This is 2016.  We care that a presidential nominee and a citizen in our community has bragged about his past and future attempts at sexually assaulting women on the basis that he is wealthy and would get away with it. This coming from a candidate in a party that diligently attempts to override any constitutional rights with moral and "Christian" values. The hypocrisy is outstanding and disappointing. Dan Patrick is being labeled a "pussy" for not standing against those who violate them.
       However Juan is intelligent enough to understand that in politics a sort of game must be played in order to stay in power or achieve certain power. So all though Dan Patrick may try to soothe certain backlash by tweeting (not acceptable in my opinion for an official if he or she wants to make a stance on an issue, by the way) instead of actively and formally expressing his disdain and withdrawal of support from such a morally incompetent ass-hat, he is doing it in a way that keeps his political career as a Republican safe. There is a reason why politicians have a stereotype of being liars. They have to sometimes hide from the truth. Abandoning his morals and values may be worth it to Dan Patrick in order to progress in his career. Or maybe as a man, he does not feel the same level of passion and anger as many of us who have pussies that don't need to be grabbed. Either way the original article brought to light the hypocrisy and lack of support in the whole scandal, and Juan's commentary on that did great in providing information, and the possible point of view of the other side.

Texas May Be Fracking Its Way Into Extinction.

        So my title may be a bit dramatic, but fracking and oil production is a huge problem to our environment. And Texas Government doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. Fracking is the process of drilling into the ground either vertically or horizontally, and uses fluids and high pressure to push out oil and natural gases. All big oil companies claim that fracking is harmless. They say that the technology and equipment that is used makes it impossible for any harmful substances to pollute any water or air. The problem is that the big oil companies also said that about off shore fracking, which is done in the ocean. And we all know how frequently there are huge oil spills that damage and impact the water life as well as the land around it in many ways. However Oil companies have lots of money to spare on advertising, political agendas, and pimping out government officials as "political prostitutes."
        The most recent "political prostitute" for the big oil companies is Texas Governor Greg Abbot. Abbot signed legislation recently that would allow Oil companies to drill and frack all over the state of Texas with barely any regulations. Abbot then claimed....

“This bill is so incredibly important,” the Republican said at a state Capitol ceremony. Flanked by the measure's sponsors, he said House Bill 40 does a “profound job of protecting private property rights.”

        Critics have said that the "House Bill 40" does not protect local cities and is so broad that it makes a way for Texas government to over ride local government on this topic. Fracking has been said to create multiple earthquakes and produce pollution to both water and local land, as well as adding to global warming. It is an environmental disaster. It seems no matter how many documentaries and Leonardo Dicaprio cameos that advocate against putting our environment in harms way, big oil companies and greed always stop progression.
         In 2011 the New York Times showed documentation that the oil companies and government are fully aware that the "waste water" that comes from fracking in highly radioactive and pollutes the water and soil from the surrounding drill site. Ninety percent of water used from fracking also never returns to the surface. That means drought ridden states like California and Texas have great amounts of water permanently removed from their natural water cycle. Fracking produces killer gas, fracking produces earthquakes from drilling into the earth, gas is leaked into the atmosphere creating more heat, and the list goes on and on. Fracking has been proven to be extremely detrimental to our environment. This practice will kill wildlife, plants, and millions of people in the long run. So why isn't our government doing every thing they can to slow the pace of global warming and eminent natural disasters? Because politician love money. So many laws are passed, or not passed because big business persuade our government officials to do so. Thanks to officials like Gov. Abbot, Texas will be on the list of places that allowed our world to be destroyed for the generations to come, all for money.

The Best Little Blog in Texas Happens To Also Be Dumbest

          I happen to love the assignment of commenting on personal opinionated blogs. It gives a better reason  to figure out where conservatives get their ideas and thoughts. Which I learned today apparently comes out of their asses. When I saw this assignment I already knew that I wanted to go for a right winged conservative blog. It's just no fun only hearing from a certain group of like minded individuals. So when I clicked on The TexasFred Blog and immediately saw the quote "God, Guns, and Guts" accompanied by a very fierce picture of the American Eagle, I instantly knew that I had found the one. I literally smiled at the newly found ignorance.  It took me just a few scrolls down the page to find an entry that oozed ignorance and stubbornness. So I enthusiastically read his post about "The Truth about Islam."  I had no idea that I could be so blessed to find the truth about one of the oldest religions from a white Christian Texan! Talk about being above the stereotype. All this time I assumed that conservative religious Texans had a convoluted and incredibly inaccurate idea on the Islamic religion. But here I was presented with an obvious multicultural scholar. Someone who understood that the quote "God, Guns, Guts" spoke parallel with Christian's views and obviously epitomized Jesus's ideology. I couldn't wait to be educated on who this Historian was.
  
          Fred Witzel is the author and host of this blog and is a self proclaimed "highly opinionated conservative." When asked to describe himself he uses words like "blunt, bold, and brash." He repeatedly notifies his readers that he is an angry gun owner and that he hates Libtards (a classy play on the merge of the word Liberals and the offensive use of the word Retard), Socialist, and of course Obama.


"I detest Libtards and old Hippies that support Barack Hussein Obama. I detest Obama too, but it’s NOT a racial thing, regardless of what Liberals tell you. I detest Obama because he is a Liberal/Socialist, America hating dope head and he is trying to destroy America. "

          Fred's audience is obviously geared towards other right wing conservatives and gun toting extremist as his cheerleaders. However, he also welcomes those who don't agree with his views or might get offended by his ideas, while simultaneously telling them to leave if they don't like him. Like an onion, he seems to have many layers to him that will only make you cry the deeper you deal with him.

         So he decided to repost an earlier subject on his new found "truth" on Islam. He starts by advocating the idea that the president of the country that he loves with so much anger is indeed a "brother" of  the terrorist group ISIS. He does this by purposely writing Obamas full name, that obviously has some Muslim origin to it, and stating reasons why the president doesn't say "radical Islam." He does this in an incredibly formed run on sentence. He then makes this statement.

 I am not surprised by it but I find it amazing that supposedly *peaceful* Muslims can stand idly by as a herd of Islamic TERRORISTS do what they do in the name of their religion.

          Surprisingly, (not surprisingly), this wise Christian has never heard of radical Christian terror groups like the KKK, or the raping and pillaging of the Native Americans, or the Aryan Brotherhood, or slavery. All done in the name of the Christian religion. After babbling he then makes this comment.

Don’t even try to deny it happens; Muslims MURDER other Muslims for belonging to a different sect of Islam, it happens all the time.

          So is it all Muslims? Or just some that we should hate?

         Witzel then list passages from the Quran that show violence towards anyone that isn't heavily devout to the Muslim religion. Passages that I, as a person who once read the Quran, do not recognize. He then makes this statement-"I try to be a fair man, I strive to present TRUTH on my blog." After already making this statement-"What? I’m wrong you say? Maybe I am."

           Which one is it sir? Are you all knowing or not? Have you read the Quaran? Have you actually had an intellectual conversation with a person affiliated in this faith? Or have you just copy and pasted ideas from other Radical Americans? As you can see, my faith in Witzel has started to wilt. I assumed that someone whom makes such offensive and strong statements as Islam is a cult that rapes and murders would have all of the facts straight.
          After reading this mans blog I don't feel depressed or stunned as many might feel when brought such hatred, hypocrisy, and misinformation. I know this is how many feel and think. But if I have to make one final critique on Witzel's work, I would say this. You cant call the post "The Truth about Islam" when it is statements that we have all already heard many times, and more importantly, statements that have not been proven to be TRUE but instead opinionated. 

So I Read This Edditorial Article......

        The online website for the "My Statesman" newspaper has an editorial article written by Glenn W. Smith about the moral compass on the idea of "sanctuary cities." Smith is a longtime political journalist for the Texas Newspaper, and a Democratic consultant. His article covers the controversial term "sanctuary cities" and its affect on Texans. "Sanctuary cities" is apparently a term used to describe cities where the local law enforcement doesn't go out of their way to stop and profile citizens to check if they are legally in the country. This has been a hot topic since many politicians have used this term as well as immigration reform and plans as a way to exploit a problem for their political gain. This has been seen in many republican and conservative campaigns, and is even greater known in presidential hopeful Donald Trumps campaign. Donald Trump declares he will build a border wall and that cracking down on immigration laws is a must. Texas formally does not have any "sanctuary cities" since the legislature agrees to follow the guidelines put in place by the federal government when it comes to immigration policy. However, most law enforcements do not go out of their way to pull over random citizens and ask for proof of citizenship. Yet.
      
       My only problem with Smith's article is completely in his writing. It is hard for me to critique the writing of a man who has had what I would assume years of critical writing on political topics. But I just really hate his style of writing. It isn't very attractive to the eye or brain the way he jumps from one point to another almost mid description. I found myself having to re-read whole paragraphs that I just finished because I couldn't at first understand what he was trying to convey. Its like reading the words of someone who is high on caffeine. It seems all over the place to me.

       He then goes on to make this wonderful argument that the idea of 'sanctuary cities' in this country is ridiculous since it shouldn't be a privilege to not be harassed and profiled for your immigration status.  As if it should be a blessing to be in a city where you don't get pulled over just because you look a certain race, and asked every day to prove your citizenship. He totally has my vote on that topic. This thinking that local law enforcement should all of a sudden also become immigration police is ridiculous. As if there aren't already enough problems between law enforcement and racial profiling. This is also unconstitutional. It is the same as the racially provoked and recently banned 'Stop and Frisk" that Mayor Giuliani so passionately enforced and supported. Its unconstitutional and only adheres to a certain "look" and "type" of people.

       Smith ends the article with last objections to use of law enforcement striving to be immigration police, yet says that "local law enforcement should do what is best." This rubs me the wrong way because Smith just made an entire article on how police should stick to being its communities protectors and that participating in immigration searches will  lead to a riff in the community's relationship with them. He just made a stand to then end it with, well you officers do whatever you think is best? doesn't  make sense. Smith seems to have a sound moral compass and I relate to his views better because I as a reader have many of the same political and liberal stands as he does. However, this article could have been written  with a much more precise style, because reading his work gives me a headache.

Irony Hits Texas With Knee Scandal

           Texas official Sid Miller went to Facebook the other day to announce that he will no longer be watching any of the NFL games until its players are forced to stand during the national anthem according to the Texas Tribune. In his post he states that "disrespect to our flag, and our great country" is something that he apparently can no longer stand. This coming from the recent trend of athletes taking a knee during the national anthem in order to show their disapproval of the racial injustice that occurs in our country. Many players have resorted to this form of protest. Both men and women, minorities and white Americans, and even college and high school players. This first started when San Francisco player Kaepernick first took a knee before his highly televised game.

          Sid Miller is a Republican who is the Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He is a supporter of Donald Trump and has received many negative comments for various scandals. He recently billed tax payers for a trip to Oklahoma where he claimed to be speaking on politics with officials in Oklahoma's government. While instead he flew there to get a "Jesus Shot" from a doctor there for "chronic pain." He also received criticism when he posted a photo on his Facebook insinuating that the only way to have peace with the middle east is to bomb them.

           We have all heard the controversy over the taking a knee during the anthem protest. And to be honest, if there is a point to be made against this protest, it doesn't help that it is constantly being made by old white Republican men. I am just being honest. It helps those against this even less when the same guy saying that its a "dishonor to our country" has been caught lying to tax payers and abusing his power in government. If that isn't dishonorable I don't know what is. Whether you agree with the "knee protest" or not, it leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth when the same people who are angered by this don't seem to be angered by the actual injustice that these players are protesting. The same people who are angered by this are not angered by their presidential hopeful Donald Trump not placing his hand over his heart during the pledge on live TV.

          It is important for people to know what their politicians are doing and believe in. Especially if those beliefs have a bit of a racist underlying tone behind them. As the very well spoken Jesse Williams once said, " If you have a critique for the resistance, then you better have an established record of critique for our oppression."

Hello Everyone.