Hatred prevails

You know every time there’s a tragedy somewhere in the world, or countless times throughout the coming of the election, there would be messages and/or images circulated over the internet with the message that “love will prevail?”  Usually a lot of rah-rah positive rhetoric about how humanity needs to stick with one another and together, overcome the influences of the world that are motivated by hatred, greed and other negative connotations.  The message is always delivered with the best of intentions, and I have to imagine that most people who see it probably want to believe it.

The problem is that not everyone is going to see it.  Despite the fact that the world has advanced leaps and bounds technologically throughout the decades, in spite of popular opinion, the whole world isn’t connected to the internet all the time, and not every single American has a reliable data connection, a smart phone, or even a computer.

But most every single American has a television, or access to television.  The radio.  Physical newspapers.  No matter how big or small the markets, there are mediums that have transcended the generations, in spite of how often the technologically advancing want to anoint them as dying or fading into obscurity.  And these are the mediums that statistically have the greatest chance of reaching the largest contingents of American citizens, no matter how much the Googles, Comcasts, Verizons and other telecommunication companies would prefer it that everyone plugs in and gets with the program.

What I’m getting at is that all throughout the night of the decision, I heard the phrase “secret Trump voters” repeatedly, to justify the surprising number of voter turnout that pushed the button to vote for Donald Trump.  That phrase was as arrogant as it was ignorant, because there was no secret at all to who these voters were, and anyone capable of rational thought could quickly get the point to what turned out to be a pretty competent plan for the Trump camp.

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Things that made me think Europe is overrated

One thing that lots of people do that I think is a little obnoxious, is thinking that the way things are done in America are all flawed, and that they are undoubtedly and unmistakably better in other parts of the world like Europe or Asia.  I’m not going to pretend that America does everything right, but spending lengthy times abroad is an easy way to make comparisons, and discover that America sure gets a lot of things pretty damn right, and often.

European airports.  I challenge any person who loves to bitch about how chaotic, hectic and for whatever reason that doesn’t imply veiled racism “difficult” Atlanta Hartsfield-Latoya Jackson Intergalactic Nail Emporium and Hot Wings Shack Airport, to spend a day waiting for a flight in a European airport. 

Including last year, my frame of reference includes airports in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan, and all of them suck, compared to Atlanta Airport.  And it might be home to me, but Atlanta Airport is far from the best airport in the United States.

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Why does internet in America suck so badly?

I mean, we all know the answer to such a rhetorical question, but seriously, why does it have to suck this bad?

Like many Americans, I would like to embrace the notion of cutting the cord and completely absolving myself of cable television.  I mean, I have nearly 350 channels available on my subscription, with maybe 10 networks tops that I actually bother to peruse through, so why should I pay for that many channels?

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be cutting the cord any time soon, and frankly, I still think that we’re a long way off before the thought will gain any substantial traction in the near-future.

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I have a hard time believing this is real

Source: Whitesboro, New York, votes to keep village’s seal, despite allegations that it is racist, as it features a white man choking a Native American.

My first thought when I came across this story was that there was no way this could actually be true.  No place in America could really be represented by such imagery, right?  A white man choking a Native American, surely, there’s nothing wrong with that?

I honestly thought this was a fake, The Onion-like satire post that was kind of trying to go the route of Parks & Recreation, and all of the horrifically shameful murals all over Pawnee City Hall.  I mean, why wouldn’t artwork of a white guy choking an Indian go hand-in-hand with public bare-knuckle fighting between men and women?

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Now trending

I don’t really want to get too opinionated on the whole current issue of police officers killing unarmed black people, but I do want to point out what I think.

As unfortunate it is that this is all going down, it is still ultimately one gigantic media trend.  I can’t believe that I’m the only one who sees this for how it is, but the truth of the matter is that in light of one high-profile cops killing civilian story, all of them have been thrust into the spotlight for everyone to see when every single occurrence happens.

See, the thing is that if one scours the internet on a daily basis thoroughly enough, I’m willing to bet money that they can find a story of a police officer forced to kill a person in the line of duty, every single day.  Granted, they may not be allegations that the deceased may or may not have been armed, or allegedly yielding when it happened, but the fact is that police probably kill people every day.  Sounds gruesome, but not that it makes it any better, people, regardless of occupation, kill people, every day.  Shit, sparsely a day goes by where looking at local Atlanta news doesn’t yield a death happening in the AM hours.

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This is our country

Embarrassing, isn’t it? Normally, I’ll feign ambivalence to the unfortunate news of the world, but given the fact that this story is literally, quite unavoidable, enough thoughts have swirled around in my head to where I felt like writing something.

I’ll keep it short (as I can), because it’s not like there’s going to be any shortage of opinions on this matter, and mine certainly isn’t going to make or break anyone’s line of thinking.

I’m not qualified to say on whether or not I feel that it’s good or bad that the officer in question has apparently gotten off the hook without any sort of punishment, because I simply have not paid any attention. However, I do think that it’s completely unfortunate that the response of such a decision from the predominantly black community of Ferguson, Missouri has been that of a massive eruption of violence, vandalism, looting and general destruction.

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