When does it all end?

I find it interesting that people are always calling things demonic or Illuminati symbolism. I get it. You have nothing else to bitch about. You have to tarnish everything people do because you have nothing better to do. Personally I don't care what the symbolism is in music videos or in performances. If you are afraid that something like that will influence the youth of today, then maybe you should start at home and not worry about what other people are doing.

Now I don't want to lump ALL Christians in the same group because not every Christian is close-minded and allergic to acceptance, however, most of the people I hear bitching about this claim to be Christians. I see it everywhere, though. Jay Z had Illuminati symbolism in his performance says one guy. Such and such is going to hell for the demonic lyrics in his song. My favorite is "play this song backwards, they have demonic phrases". Does everything have to have a hidden meaning?

Now what got me started on this was the fact that I saw a video on Facebook today from Good Fight Ministries. Now I know this will give them some press and I am OK with that. What I am not OK with is people trying to tell you what to see and that only their perception of something is true. Now is it possible they are correct? Well sure it is. Is it possible that these situations are totally benign and they are just reading into things? That is also true. I am not foolish enough to say that there are no Satanic messages in music nor are there any Satanic people trying to get their message across in music. I AM saying that not everyone is trying to add people to their cult or religion through music and videos.

Well these folks at Good Fight Ministries made a video stating that Katy Perry was, and I am paraphrasing, a vehicle for Satan trying to recruit the unsuspecting youth into Satanism. At the time of writing this article I haven't been able to find all of the interviews the clips were taken from. SO I can't say it was taken out of context. However, I have heard some musicians and artists say "I sold my soul to the devil" and mean that they are now a part of the machine that is about money not music anymore. I wouldn't take it literally meaning they sold their soul to Satan so they could have the fame and fortune.

With all that said I am not blind. I do see the symbols in performances. I do see the likenesses to these things people are complaining about. To me it is just entertainment. If I am doing my job at home to show my children what is right and wrong then I don't have to worry about society "corrupting" my children with their so-called perversions. This brings me back to the statement I made a million times. How does it hurt you if someone else wants to lead a life of sin, if that is what you call it by them being gay or using satanic imagery? I think just let people live their lives and not be so judgmental. Whatever happened to the sayings, "Only God can judge" and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".  The aforementioned video is posted below if you would like to take a look. This is just one assholes opinion. Feel free to make your own. It is not my job to tell you how to live or what to believe.

Is a McDonald's Ad Really That Serious?

During the Superbowl last night, millions of Americans got to see McDonald's latest attempt to recover from a very rocky PR atmosphere lately. Over the past few years, in light of Americans becoming more health-conscious and seeking more information behind the foods they eat, McDonald's has been under fire for serving what would be considered a deep fried, more acceptable form of dog food to the masses. Partner that with the protests last year for raising the minimum wage at fast food restaurants and it's safe to say that none of us idolize the advertisers that have to sit and come up with a way to paint their products in a positive light.

In the ad, McDonald's requested customers at random to commit public acts of affection. The result being that their meal is free in return. The prices were deeds such as "One big family hug" or as they requested one patron, "Dial up your mom, tell her that you love her."

The next day I get on my Facebook feed and I see this beaming blog from Gawker, where author Hamilton Nolan saw fit to tear apart McDonald's recent PR campaign. Hamilton said that "normal, presumably middle or lower class Americans seeking cheap food are made to grovel and put their most tender family dynamics on public display." From this phrase alone I can tell that Hamilton is both not lower to middle class and also must hate his family. After all, if you're going to attack a company for simply asking you to tell your mother that you love her as payment, there are much deeper issues in your family tree than what is for dinner. If you feel the need to go one step further and completely disparage that company for daring to ever ask someone to hug another person for money, I assume you must have been molested by Ronald McDonald.

I get it. In this political world where everyone needs to take a side, your blog has clearly chosen the liberal path that exists to try and make waves out of nonsensical issues. At least I'll have the decency to admit that I do it because I'm an asshole who writes about whatever he wants. I have no boss or higher authority who tells me to feel a certain way about social topics. For that reason, I've decided to unlike Gawker so I don't have to listen to their one-sided ramblings any longer.

I am not defending McDonald's because I believe they are a moral or innocent company by any means. They probably should raise their minimum wage some and it wouldn't hurt if they looked into changing their food. You see, this isn't conservative vs. liberal, I'm just a think-for-myself kinda guy. I wish the internet were full of more of the same.

Shots fired.

You Mad Bro?

What an incredible game that was. It had awesome defensive plays, touchdowns everywhere, impossible catches, and brawl that made WWE start calling agents. Now everyone knows there has to be a loser in every game but how you handle losing shows the character have.

Seattle showed they have no character. Not only from this loss but with how they handle themselves in general. I can’t take the overrated Richard Sherman talking his shit all day. Yeah you make a couple plays here and there but I hear more about you running your trap than making plays on the field. Shut up and play ball.

Moving on to Marshawn Lynch. Dude, get a damn grip. No one is trying to fuck you over by asking questions. Every other player in the NFL sucks it up and answers questions because that is what the job calls for. Oh, don’t let me forget the shoe fiasco. There was no need for that distraction. Just play the game.

Now to the loss of the Super Bowl. Bruce Irvin, if you are going to be mad at someone and throw a punch, make sure you hit the right person. That would be your retarded quarterback.  Who throws the ball on 1^st and goal from the one yard line? What a way to ruin a great game by acting like some spoiled 5 year olds in Pop Warner. How about acting like you make millions to play a kids game for a job. There is no need to start throwing blows because you are pitching a fit from losing a game.

In the end, I have to give the Patriots a well-deserved congrats. They never stopped playing and did what they had to do to become four time Super Bowl champions. I do have one thing left to say. This is a little advice from a former middle school wrestler. Gronk, learn to sprawl bro.

Chris Kyle Should Not Have His Own Holiday

In case you haven't heard, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent out a tweet that said, "I have declared February 2 to be Chris Kyle Day in Texas." If you've been living under a rock, Chris Kyle is the American soldier who the American Sniper film is based on. Kyle accumulated 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable kills during his illustrious career with the Navy SEALs. Get your hate speech and rhetoric ready internet, because I'm gonna tell you why this was an ill-conceived idea.

I will preface this by saying that I am not anti-war or anti-military. I think war has its place when it is absolutely unavoidable. I respect the men and women who fight for our country. They're both American heroes and simultaneously just doing their job. I don't mean that to undermine their duty or bravery, but that will be further explained later in this post. I am also from Texas. So while the rest of the internet will surely have people on a particular side of the political fence that will say Texas is foolish and immoral for creating such a holiday, very few will be like me and residing inside of it.

Chris Kyle is an American hero. He did an excellent job as a Navy SEAL during our war with Iraq and he should be commended for that. Which he has been, by the military themselves, The New York Times for American Sniper's 37-week run on their Best Sellers List, and by Hollywood through the film that was made about his life. Not only has he been remembered, he's been glorified more than any member of the military ever was. I'm not here to argue for or against if he's earned any of his previous accolades. However, I do not believe he should have a holiday, in Texas or otherwise.

First and foremost, he's a killer. I do not say that to take away credit for the accomplishments he's made. I've stated my thoughts about the job he did in Iraq, but you cannot take only the good side of what he did and ignore the ugly parts. If you give a man a holiday for being an exceptional sniper, you're also giving a holiday to a man for being an extraordinary murderer. For all the lives he saved, he also took some away. The reason he murdered people is still relevant. That's not me painting the picture the way I want it to be seen, as some would say. It's seeing the entire canvas for what it truly is.

We have a Memorial Day for our fallen soldiers. That's not to say that some members of the military don't deserve a certain amount of unique praise, which they do receive from the military themselves and by those close to them. Hell, if they're good enough they may even get awarded by the President of the United States. There is no shortage of praise given for those men and women who put their lives on the line, but we don't have enough days in the year to handpick out every soldier who did a great job and give them all holidays. Is Chris Kyle more special to us than the 3,493 Medal of Honor recipients we've awarded for their dire moments of courage and bravery during battle? No, he's not better than them. We shouldn't put him singly on his own pedestal simply because he has a movie about his life. He was a great man, like many who came before him, and he should be honored on Memorial Day with them.

With that in mind, if Chris Kyle deserves to have his own holiday, why was Johann “Hans” Breyer arrested in Philadelphia and held without bail until he died in a hospital bed awaiting his extradition hearing for Germany? Both of these men were merely soldiers during a war performing orders handed down to them. Both men were mass murderers and national heroes to their own countries during the time. The one difference is that Johann Breyer would have been killed by Hitler for disobeying his orders if he didn't act them out. So we live in a country that simultaneously sends the message that if you're a fantastic soldier who kills a lot of people for another country during a war, we'll seek out war crimes against you and ship you off to whatever country wants your head. However, if you do the same job for us, you deserve a movie deal, a New York Times best selling book, and your own holiday? Talk about mixed signals.

Eat What You Kill

I am not a hunter. I have never been hunting. That is important for me to preface this post with that statement, because I don't want you to be under the impression that I have a dog in the fight. I believe in big game hunting, under the right conditions. 

The liberal media and it's activist zealots will have you believe that every animal is sacred. I disagree. Unless you are a vegan, you eat or have eaten beef. Do you know where your beef comes from? Do you worry about the lives of those animals, or only the majestic animals that society deems are inappropriate for us to kill?

The hamburger you ate for dinner started out on a ranch. If he was in Texas or Arizona, some of his herd probably died from the heat. If he was in the more northern states, some of them froze to death instead. If they survived the temperatures, they were afforded the luxury of getting branded with a fire iron, getting their testicles ripped away, and their horns were cut or burned off. 

Once their beautiful life on the ranch has come to an end, they get sent to a feedlot. Feedlots are these wonderlands of pure enjoyment, where the cows frolic in the feces-filled holding pens and get chronic digestive problems from the foods they're given to fatten up. The air is always fresh with ammonia and methane due to the amount of manure. We give them drugs though, to keep them breathing.

These are the animals society has deemed it okay for us to eat. Not only that, these animals have to be raised in these conditions and fed to us in this manner if we don't all intend to hunt and we wish to sustain ourselves on meat. There are simply too many people with too high demand of beef for us to raise the amount of cows we need in a hospitable environment. However, there isn't a public outcry for the thousands of these cows every year that live an existence of torture and abuse. We instead focus on big game hunters who kill one lion in Africa and take a picture with it. 

First and foremost, the African lion is not endangered. That is a common misconception. The Obama administration has recently proposed listing the animal as threatened. If it is listed as threatened, it will still be legal to kill those lions even in America with the proper permits, but I'm not here to argue semantics. If it were to be listed as endangered or threatened and outlawed, of course I'm all for preservation of the species, but we aren't there yet. 

I don't believe in hunting these animals purely as a trophy. However, I do believe that as long as you eat the meat and it isn't illegal to hunt, I don't care what animal you kill. Why do we treat these predators as a majestic animal who deserve a more dignified death than the deer, cows, or pigs we kill regularly? I think the public has a delusion that the majority of the animals in the wild live a full life to begin with. While a bullet in the head is not the most humane way to go, the savage lifestyle of living as a free-range animal predominantly lends itself to dying either by starvation, weather conditions, or being eaten alive. They don't usually grow old and die like we assume. Darwinism is the most evident in these species. 

What is wrong with your balls?

The NFL has been in the news a lot this season. I already wrote about the Ray Rice issue. There are a ton of pressing issues in the league right now. A lot of players have addiction issue, there are PED’s being used, and more and more domestic violence claims unsettled. With all of this going on the powers that be are attacking the Patriots for deflating footballs during the game.

During the AFC championship game on Sunday January 18, 2015, between New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots used balls that were under-inflated. They were not inflated to the league minimum. When a ball is under inflated it gives the players a better grip on the ball. The quarterback can get a better grip for passing the ball and the receivers can catch the ball better. From where I sit this did not cost the Indianapolis Colts the game.

The referee’s inspected the balls at half time. They noticed the balls were under-inflated and replaced them with balls that met the requirement. After this happened the New England Patriots still outscored the Indianapolis Colts 28-0 in the second half. If you are looking at throwing a game out because of an issue that could have impacted the game, then look at how the game went after the issue was noticed.

The other issue I have with this is people calling for a ban from the Super Bowl for the Patriots. You have got to be fucking kidding me. What happens when you do this? Do you just award the Seattle Seahawks the game? Do you make them champions on the count of forfeit? Do you put in the Colts who, after the balls were discovered as being altered, didn’t play well enough to win the game? If you want to fine the Patriots, suspend some people, take away draft pick, or all three then that is fine. Just think about things before you start handing out ridiculous punishments. Although it wouldn’t be the first time the NFL dropped the ball if they get this one wrong too. However, this is just the opinion of one asshole. It won’t amount to much in the long haul. It makes me feel better to get it off my chest though.

Remembrance Day

In Canada, Rememberance Day is today. It is the day that our nation honours the veterans who have served and sometimes even gave their lives for us. Last week I was at my childrens' school, watching the Rememberance Day assembly. My daughter's grade two class was doing the presentation. They read from some scripts and sang a couple of songs. I was very proud of my little girl. My youngest though, struggled to appreciate the solemnity of the situation. Forty-five minutes is a long time to be quiet and still when you're four. He wriggled, rambled, played loudly with his toys, and generally did the things a kid his age does.

Rememberance Day hits pretty close to home for me. My grandfather and his father-in-law before him both served during wartime. (My great-grandpa had a bullet scar on his butt cheek to prove it. Not that I would have asked him to...) My friend spent almost a year in Afganistan during the most violent part of that conflict. It took him months to adjust to regular life, or as much adjustment as he'll ever be able to have. I deeply respect what they and so many others have given to the rest of us. With that in mind, you'd think I'd be freaking out on my twitchy little man. I did my best to keep him quiet and calm, but I didn't take his outbursts as show of disrespect. I actually felt the opposite. 


The fact that, at that moment, my son's biggest problem in life was that he just dropped his toy was a wonderful thing. He didn't understand why we were all quietly gathered in that school gym. He doesn't know what war is, or it's terrible costs. He's never seen anyone get shot, unless he walks in while we watch a grown up show. Everyone he can ever remember meeting lives in peace. I can't describe how I felt when I realized what a gift that truly is. 


I know the world's far from completely peaceful. And yeah, lately, even Canada hasn't escaped the threat of terror. (RIP to our two home soil casualties.) But we live in an era that knows greater peace than any time before, thanks to the sacrifices of thousands of men and women. I know it's not nearly enough, but thank you. I'll never forget.