Government Shutdown

Ok, this time I am pretty mad. If you guys are watching the news at this time right now, you'll probably see the "great" US government at its best. They are currently arguing or rather fighting like children on whether or not they can have their favorite toy. As you all should know, the affordable care act, is about to roll out tomorrow and the Republicans or rather the extremist terrorist group within the Republican party, otherwise known as the Tea Party, are doing what they do best, they are holding the country hostage. God, sometimes I get so frustrated with the government. I mean it is a bit ridiculous for the Tea Party to ask the American people to repeal AFA. The Tea Party should stop kidding themselves, I mean AFA was approved by Congress AND approved by the Supreme Court AND it was reinforced by the fact that the American People re-elected Obama. So I beg the American people that will vote in the midterm elections, next year. Please, PLEASE, do NOT re-elect the extremists Tea Party.They will continue this cycle of filibustering and fucking with the system until they will have destroyed the US government and disgraced it from its former glory. As always remember to Rip the Tape. (and I'm sorry for the language, but I'm really frustrated)

Situation in Syria

Ohh God, I think things are taking a turn for the worst.Syria, Egypt, the hundreds of thousands of people that are losing their futures every day. Syria, and the use of chemical weapons, has become a chance for countries to show their own political interests over the people that need them. The Assad regime has turned from bad to ugly and horrifying. Chemical warfare, deemed the worst kind of warfare, has been used on the citizens of Syria. The once center of many ancient kingdoms is now a place of horror and death on a regular basis. "President" Assad's refusal to step down from power has forced a civil war in Syria which in turn has uprooted thousands of people and has forced them to live their lives as refugees and in constant fear. In their moment of need the U.S and other countries have been postponing the military strike and other countries (I'm pointing at you UK) have refused to take part at all in this completely justified and necessary military action. However what I think is even worse than not participating, is using this predicament as an opportunity. The US is using this moment to its political advantage and Obama is using this moment to show that America is a unified country by making Congress vote on whether or not to take military action. Just yesterday, the US was ready for a strike, Obama could have striked and ended this tyranny sooner, but he is using this moment to "unify" the country, whatever that means. However even with all this I praise Obama, at least is prepared to do something to better the situation. But with the attitude of Congress these days my hopes aren't very high, but we'll see. Oh well I think that we can only hope that Obama and the rest of the World will make the right and absolutely necessary decision to help Syria and more importantly the people of Syria that are suffering in the hands of their unrelenting dictator and murderer. As always remember to Rip the Tape.

The News: Fact or Fiction?

Alright this one I need to tell someone about. This is probably the most influential thing that shapes how you view the world: THE NEWS. And I am telling you that the news is stupid. It's stupid because it is Cable news and cable news depends on viewers and ratings and most importantly money. Money is the number one reason that cable news is stupid. Cable news has to raise money and to do that they have to select stories that the viewers want to see, this changes things. it twists them and it makes them more perverse. The big three in cable news: CNN. FOX, and MSNBC, are all here to cover the news right? WRONG they are here to make money and what is the best way to do that? They tell stories that their viewers will keep on watching. For example, ever notice how much attention the media is giving George Zimmerman. I mean it's too much! Why does anyone care about what happened to Travone Martin! I mean I am not trying to be insulting here, but there are more pressing matters to cover than a case that will go on no matter how long CNN covers it.

back to cable news, here are the problems with, none of them present only the facts, and give the viewer the option to make their own opinion about that fact. All of the cable news networks are either strong liberal or they are strong conservatives. For example, MSNBC is a strong liberal and FOX is a strong conservative. Therefore they report news stories like they are opinions. The NEWS IS NO ONE'S OPINION, its fact. So how do we keep the news from covering BS, and things that aren't important? I guess there is only one answer to that question: We don't. As long as the news needs money they will only cover stories that they feel the viewers will like. Also where does someone go if they want a moderate reporting the news, not some partisan fool whose only goal is to make his opposition look like a stupid donkey that only knows how to lie? The answer to that question is also simple-- turn off your T.V because what your watching is probably just what the news anchor is describing of his opponent- A lying donkey. As always always remember to Rip the Tape.

Gay Rights?

 

 

Wow guys its been a long time and many scandals have passed and many great things have happened in the last three months. Lets see here, there was the NSA, the AP scandal and also Benghazi ( no that was just those crazy conservatives, that we call Congress). However through all of this immense legislation has been struck down. DOMA and Proposition 8 have been struck down by the Supreme Court. DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act, was created so that the federal government would never recognize same sex marriages, well I can tell you this confidently, this absurd law has been struck down! Thank God, right ...well not really. DOMA was struck down but this does not create a blanket ruling, meaning the  Supreme Court did not make gay marriage legal is all the states, it just made the federal government recognize same sex marriages. Therefore the result is that only the states that allow same sex marriages, which is about like thirteen, only those states can gays get married, but those marriages will be recognized as legal and they will get their legal benefits. Prop 8, however will only apply to California. In California there was a proposition that said that gay marriage should be illegal, but this was after California legalized it. So two couples sued and the case wen t all the way to the Supreme Court. They decided that Proposition 8 was illegal and therefore gays can get married in California again. So where does this leave the country, well Gay marriage is legal in about 13 states and counting and it is illegal in all the others. However there are many unanswered questions left, for example what happens when a legally gay couple moves to another state and their marriage is no longer recognized and they don't receive their benefits? The path is still not clear but equality is coming, we can be sure of that. As always, Remember to Rip the Tape.

Prayers Go Out

My prayers go out to the families that were effected by the Boston Bombings. Just in case any one has been living under a rock I will reiterate what happened. On April 15, 2013 on the day of the Boston Marathon, two bombs exploded on the marathon, injuring 100's of people and killed 3. The bombings were done by two men, brothers, from Chechnya, Russia. They are radical Islamists from Chechnya. The  two brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are American Citizens. And having said that I come onto the issue at hand, many politicians are suggesting that the country should not treat these terrorists as American Citizens but as enemy combatants. The status of "Enemy Combantant" will let the country try the one brother that is still alive in a special military court without his constitutional rights. The military tribunal will let the government try these people without a trial by jury and other constitutional rights.I understand the mindset, of why people are suggesting this, but I believe that this will destroy everything that America stands for. An enemy combatant is a label that means he is part of the enemy's militia and therefore he is not American and should not be treated as such. However, this status does not and should not apply to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the brother who is police custody, because he is a Naturalized American Citizen, therefore he is not an "enemy combatant." If the United States of America starts trying Americans differently just because they committed a terrorist act, then we will lose the integrity of being a democracy, every American deserves his/her rights no matter if they are a terrorist or not, they are still American. If Dzhokar is treated as a enemy combatant then the terrorists have won, because the terrorist's goal is to diminish American values. We cannot let this happen.That's about it, and remember always Rip The Tape.

The North Korean 'issue'

Hey guys, this is my second post and hopefully it is going to be good ( crossing my fingers). Anyway I just want clear somethings. North Korea is a serious threat to our nation and the world, they might just cause another serious war and no one wants that. I hear many people that say that North Korea's missiles are a joke and that things will not get serious.However I assure you if North Korea tries to fire a missile it is going to cause some serious damage whether its physically or in some other fashion.If North Korea fires a missile it will severely intensify the situation there and the North and South's relationship will probably be damaged. So all I ask you to do is to take North Korea seriously. With this said its okay to poke fun at the whole situation  I mean come on, we're all human we all have to laugh a little. North Korea will probably not win the upcoming conflict that they are trying to provoke in the Korean Peninsula ( not if the US have anything to say about it). North Korea's missiles are ready, but the U.S and other countries have counter strategies to make sure that those missiles do no physical damage, so sorry Kim I don't think you are going to get very far. I am not even sure he knows what he is doing, he is a relatively  new leader and he is very inexperienced except for the fact that he was a general in the North Korean army.Maybe he is being manipulated by some insider or adviser that Kim has. Maybe he is an innocent child that  is just doing what his elders what him to do. And it also doesn't help that Kim sort of looks like Psy, I mean they are both Korean and both of them are not exactly in shape (just a little chubby). And so, I applaud all the people that joke about North Korea and their 'Nerf Gun' type missiles but I urge those people to take North Korea's threats seriously, this is not a simple matter and it should not be taken as such. Thank you guys for coming,hope to see you again, and remember always Rip the Tape.

Only Human

Alright this is the first post for Rip the Tape's blog, the purpose of this blog is to present things in a new light and hopefully all of my posts will be honest but I mean, come on, I am only human. So first of all, since I have taken a pledge to be honest I have to admit................my life is pretty amazing. Before I give out details of  my life the world must know I am only a teenager, I am actually a high schooler so I mean my life is as perfect as it can get for an average high schooler. SO why did I make this blog? Well its sort of for myself and anyone else that will listen to me  (hopefully there are people that have the patience to do so). Anyway, I just want to reiterate, this blog will try and bring new things to the table, like new ideas, and I will try and attempt to entertain you guys with my everyday thoughts. Wish me luck!

Signing off

Don't forget to always Rip the Tape