Freedom of speech is one of the many freedoms we are afforded in this country and coming from someone with a very large mouth and a blog of all things it is greatly appreciated. However, lately I have been thinking there should be some stipulations put on that particular freedom or at least some general guidelines that out of respect for others we should all abide by.
This evening I watched a video on a fellow bloggers website in which they interviewed a number of people that attended the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington D.C. As I watched this I was disturbed by the number of people who felt so strongly about topic for which they could not formulate a coherent sentence. And even if they could by chance formulate a coherent and grammatically correct sentence their argument as a whole made no sense.
Now before everyone gets all worked up and tells me that I am being unfairly biased towards the people that land on the conservative side of the spectrum, I would like to say this. I have no problem debating the issues with someone identifying themselves as a Republican. We will probably agree on very little but if you are up to a good debate and can formulate coherent thought, bring it on, sounds like a good time and believe it or not we could be friends at the end of the day too.
I do have one request however. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, Christian or Atheist, or any other side of any other topic, please please PLEASE be able to formulate a coherent thought (preferably several thoughts strung together) and do some research on the topic you are debating to ensure that you have actual fact. Nothing is more frustrating to me than trying to have a conversation with someone and you swear you heard that exact same argument on one of those 24 hour new stations the night before. . .oh wait because YOU DID!
So the bottom line is I love that we have the right to freely speak our minds. I do it on a fairly regular basis. All I ask is that if you are going to take advantage of this wonderful right that you take a moment to collect your thoughts, put them in a coherent order, and take your fact checking beyond the "breaking news" you heard on CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS or any other ridiculous 24 hour all day every day new station.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Furry Friends
Many people know that I am the proud owner of two cats. And no one loves them as much as I do, one, because they are my cats, and two, because no one seems to appreciate the feline species the way I do. Cats are great for so many reasons but the bottom line is they are a great combination of entertainment and sass.
When you have cats you will never forget that you are in fact not the all powerful center of the universe. When you call either of my cats by name one of two things tends to happen one, they perk their ears but don't actually look at you, or if they are already looking your direction they look away as if to say I heard you but I am not going to give you the satisfaction. Cats can also be very affectionate, but make no mistake they are only affectionate on their terms. If the cats are strolling through the living room and I put my hand out to pet them and they are not in the mood, they will sink down the floor to avoid making contact with my hand. Sometimes when they do tolerate my affection they then immediately start licking the stop I touched as if my hand is too dirty for them. I am never sure whether or not to be offended by these actions or to laugh at their audacity.
Now on the flip side for as sassy as they are with me they also do some hilarious and down right odd things. Last night as I was getting ready to for bed and heard the tell tale sign that a cat was about to puke somewhere in the house. I searched the house to find the offending cat, I found Marv right after he barfed on my carpet and when I turned the light on he came running over begging for food. Seriously?? Only a cat could barf and then think about food that quick. Needless to say I didn't give him any and made him wait till morning.
On another occasion I heard a thumping sound coming from somewhere in the house, curious as to what the noise was I started searching the house. When I entered the kitchen the thumping got louder and as I looked around for the source, I saw a little white paw sticking out of a cabinet, then the paw would disappear and thump the cabinet would close. Turns out Claudia was smart enough to figure out how to use her paw, head, and body to get into the cabinet but was not smart enough to figure out the same technique would free her from the cabinet. I about died on the floor laughing while I let her out, and she looked at me like, "that's not funny".
I could go on for days with stories about them chasing each other around, attacking my feet in bed because I moved them under the covers etc. but I won't. Bottom line is there is never a dull moment in this house with two cats that either have me on the floor rolling or are reminding me that I am not the most important thing in the world and they have "better things to do" sometimes.
When you have cats you will never forget that you are in fact not the all powerful center of the universe. When you call either of my cats by name one of two things tends to happen one, they perk their ears but don't actually look at you, or if they are already looking your direction they look away as if to say I heard you but I am not going to give you the satisfaction. Cats can also be very affectionate, but make no mistake they are only affectionate on their terms. If the cats are strolling through the living room and I put my hand out to pet them and they are not in the mood, they will sink down the floor to avoid making contact with my hand. Sometimes when they do tolerate my affection they then immediately start licking the stop I touched as if my hand is too dirty for them. I am never sure whether or not to be offended by these actions or to laugh at their audacity.
Now on the flip side for as sassy as they are with me they also do some hilarious and down right odd things. Last night as I was getting ready to for bed and heard the tell tale sign that a cat was about to puke somewhere in the house. I searched the house to find the offending cat, I found Marv right after he barfed on my carpet and when I turned the light on he came running over begging for food. Seriously?? Only a cat could barf and then think about food that quick. Needless to say I didn't give him any and made him wait till morning.
On another occasion I heard a thumping sound coming from somewhere in the house, curious as to what the noise was I started searching the house. When I entered the kitchen the thumping got louder and as I looked around for the source, I saw a little white paw sticking out of a cabinet, then the paw would disappear and thump the cabinet would close. Turns out Claudia was smart enough to figure out how to use her paw, head, and body to get into the cabinet but was not smart enough to figure out the same technique would free her from the cabinet. I about died on the floor laughing while I let her out, and she looked at me like, "that's not funny".
I could go on for days with stories about them chasing each other around, attacking my feet in bed because I moved them under the covers etc. but I won't. Bottom line is there is never a dull moment in this house with two cats that either have me on the floor rolling or are reminding me that I am not the most important thing in the world and they have "better things to do" sometimes.
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