When Freedom of Speech Attacks

There's been a lot of press about WikiLeaks lately.  Somehow they got their hands on some confidential documents from the U.S. government and decided everyone on the planet had a the right to know what they said.  Some of the dispatches were embarrassing, with diplomats painting other heads of state in a bad light, but some of the correspondence details important U.S. asset locations such as dams, communication pipelines, industrial plants, and other things that the U.S. see's as critical assets that could hurt the country if they were destroyed.  Thanks WikiLeaks for giving the enemy a target list, with directions.

So where does the line stop between freedom of speech and just plain irresponsibility?  I've read article after article on every major news web site about how WikiLeaks was putting soldiers overseas and citizens here in this country at risk, and I thought to myself "Are you kidding?  You people do this every day!"

It's true, every time the U.S. does something to capture or kill high ranking enemy combatants the press details exactly how they did it.  I remember several instances where coalition forces tracked down the enemy by triangulating cell phone signals, so the press tells everyone how they did it.  So now the enemy knows not to use cell phones. 

The enemy learns fast, and the press is their greatest asset for information on what we're doing to fight them.  They learn troop movements, tactics, and how our technology works simply by logging into any of the news outlets every day.

I think WikiLeaks is doing a disservice to this country, but the news media has no room to condemn them when they are just as guilty.  I'm all for freedom of speech, but I'm more concerned about the safety of our troops.  I think the press should be held accountable for being responsible with their mandate of reporting events.

The lives of our military members is more important than their ratings.

"God, it's unfortunate that we can't seem to get along here on this planet.  Please help us find love for one another.  And please keep our troops safe.  Thanks."

Rest in Peace

Earlier this week I had to put my dog to sleep.  Lucy was a great pet, she was mild tempered and obedient.  She loved to go for walks, and she took great care to sniff out the neighborhood.  My wife said it was like reading the newspaper to her.

Lucy had cancer.  We did what we could, including chemotherapy, but in the end she wasn’t going to get better.  It was a very difficult decision to put her down, but we knew it was the right thing to do.  So I loaded her in the car and took her to the vet and they euthanized her. 

Having a loved pet die is pretty difficult.  For me it brought out a range of emotions, one of which was how bad I felt that I had “killed” my pet.  Realizing that I had control of whether this living, loving animal lived or died, and actually naming the day and time she would die made me feel bad.

But then God reminded me of something, he gave us dominion over all living creatures.  Genesis 1:26 tells us “… and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  I used to think that all this meant was that we were at the top of the food chain and we could do whatever we wanted to animals.

I see things a little differently now.  Now I believe that having “dominion” over animals means that God has placed them in our care.  Just like the rest of the earth God created, we are custodians of all living creatures, and how we treat them is important.  It also means that we have the right to decide whether they live or die.  My wife and I had to make a difficult decision with Lucy, and I was feeling bad about it, but now I realize that it’s part of my custodial rights and duties, and in making the decision to stop Lucy’s suffering I used that right in a humane way.

God has given us great power over the earth.  It doesn’t mean that we can abuse it, we need to manage its resources, both animal and mineral with the principles He gave us.

“God, thanks for letting us have Lucy for 12 years.  She was a great friend.  And thanks for teaching me a lesson in all this.  My life with you is a constant classroom.  Thanks.”

Reversing Discrimination

Some firemen up in New Haven, Connecticut filed a lawsuit a while back that was finally settled today. They said they were passed over for promotion because of the color of their skin. One of the plaintiffs scored higher than anyone else on the captain’s exam that year, but his test along with 13 others was thrown out.

I know, you’re sitting there saying it’s typical racism, that black people are being discriminated against as usual. Well, the people passed-over for promotion were 13 whites and 1 Hispanic. Their tests where thrown out because not enough minorities scored well enough to be promoted.

It amazes me how our country bends from one direction to the next. We’re trying hard not to be racist, but we’re not actually stopping the racism, we’re just applying it to someone else.

The thing that bothers me is that every story I’ve read about this over the past few years has referred to the incident as “reverse discrimination.” This ticks my clock because there is no such thing a “reverse” discrimination. There is only discrimination, it's the same no matter who you apply it to.

Saying there is such a thing as reverse discrimination implies that only one race can be discriminated against, and everyone else is racist, like they are the only people who can commit discrimination, and if the minority group does it, they’re just reversing the discrimination they’ve been suffering through.

Discrimination and bigotry are the same for everyone. No matter what race you apply it to it doesn’t reverse it.

God created all of us, and Jesus told us to love one another as He has loved us. He didn’t specify a color.

And yes, I'm bigoted... I love everyone the same.

“God, please help us to see each other as you see us, and love each other as your Son told us. Amen.”

Misunderstood?

It’s interesting how people think they know each other, when they really don’t. We read papers and articles and watch the news expecting these outlets will tell us the whole story, but then you slowly find out you didn’t really know everything. Take this artist for instance. The Charlie Chaplin picture was drawn when the artist was just 9 years old. Pretty impressive, huh? This artist grew up with art of every type, and became pretty well known for it. Unfortunately he was known for both good and bad things in his life. He was praised for his contributions to art until someone pointed a finger at him and said he did something wrong, then the media vilified him without trial, ultimately turning his life’s work into nothing more than a party joke.

He spent his later years defending himself from accusations that were never proven true, or false. But it was still a struggle, and took its toll. But seeing these drawings made me realize that I never really knew this artist. He was so much more than just a performer. He didn’t just sing and dance really well, he wrote songs that continue to be famous today, and will be part of our culture forever. Here’s a short list of some of the songs he performed that you probably didn’t know he actually wrote himself:

Billie Jean
Black or White
Bad
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
Beat It
The Girl Is Mine
Remember the Time
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Wanna Be Startin’ Something
Scream

There are more. A lot more, and I’m sure you’ve figured out who the artist is by now. I guess my point is that people are more than just what other people tell you about them.

RIP Michael Jackson

How to Win the Nobel Peace Prize In 12 Days

I've been reading about President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize today. To be honest, I was a little shocked. He's only been in office for 9 months, and he hasn't really done anything that has shown results.

I'm not alone, I've read several stories today that gave comments from around the world, and a lot of them are confused too. Even the President of another country said it was way too fast, that Obama hasn't had a chance to really do anything.

It made me wonder just how political this award is. But nothing really said like this article about how the nominations are done for the Nobel prize. It turns out that nominations we due just 12 days after Obama began his term in office.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/09/tommy-seno-obama-nobel-prize-win/