Good Morning America

Not here it isn't, I'll write and say what I think, if it's offensive -- go . . . click off!

There's a problematic trend growing here in the "land of the free, and home of the brave" The right to freedom of speech is slowly being degraded to "freedom of speech for select segments of American society -- all others must shut up. Soon the Constitution's first line will change from "We the People"  to "We, the certain select ".

I don't know about the rest of you "others" but I have a huge problem with this growing trend. Trends tend to grow into raging monsters if you don't stop them when they're a tiny itch in the pants of society.

Upon reading a FoxNews article about the young man allegedly fired because he told a woman that her gay marriage was wrong, bothers me -- tremendously.

From what I read, the woman had mentioned to Peter Vadala, of Brookstone, a Massachusetts retail store, at least four times about her impending marriage to her lesbian lover. Mentioning these nuptials once, maybe twice would have been enough -- I'm sure the young man isn't deaf and speaks English well enough, to get the point.

Vadala believes she was goading him, and I totally agree. This controversy wasn't so much the fact that she and her partner are lesbians, it's about her needling, taunting, harassing  -- this is called GOADING :

"I found it offensive that she repeatedly brought it up" Vadala said. "By the fourth time she mentioned it, I felt God wanted me to express how I felt about the matter, so I did. But my tone was downright apologetic. I said, "Regarding your homosexuality, I think that's bad stuff" READ MORE

Common courtesy dictates that if your actions or speech offend someone else, stop! Unless of course the offense is intended -- this woman intended to offend.

The unnamed woman probably knows that Vadala is a Christian. Many people out there just hate the name "Christian" and she's probably one of them.

What she did was taunt, [her claws were out] she taunted this Christian young man until he said something that she could use to go complain about. It doesn't matter whether she's lesbian or not, she's female and we females can be ever so catty.

Reasoning says, that there must be a history between the two, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt, some prior conversations with him may have stuck in her craw.

No, I believe, that girlfriend knew what she was doing when she first started the conversation. She, like many gays, know that most Christians find this lifestyle offensive [there are exceptions to the rule, of course] and she found a target on which to vent her bile.

After Vadala voiced his opinion, she then threatened him with "HR, buddy" and the idiots at Brookstone fell for it hook line and sinker! Did he say that they should be burned at the stake, or that they should be stoned to death -- no, he didn't. Did he communicate a terroristic threat -- no,  if he had the media would have jumped all over it.

What's bothersome and dangerous,  is the fact that Brookstone cow-towed to this one person's gay agenda. In essence Brookstone, like many other corporations,set the dangerous precedence that only certain select segments of American society have the right to free speech while others must sit back and keep their mouths shut.

Vadala is young and inexperienced. He should have sensed what she was up to and walked away. Now, I strongly urge him to move to own Brookstone, and it's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc...

In fact more people need to start standing up for their right to freedom of speech -- we're slowly being handcuffed. 

I refuse to shut-up:

Girlfriend you were and probably still are a complete and total bitch.

You've just opened up a vipers nest, is what you've done.

Military personnel must always be able to trust their own and you've highhandedly obliterated a military sacred trust. 
 

The tragedy at Fort Hood in no doubt has America reeling. As a Veteran, I am stunned and feel violated.

Most of us are asking the how and why a trust usually so deep could be shattered here on our home soil. Or how and why a Soldier could turn on his comrades in such a hideous manner.

Being a Veteran [an old school G.I], I know about the military lifestyle and it's different from the civilian one. Every time I walk into a VA clinic or hospital I feel and see the difference. It makes me feel like I belong to a unit.

When I went to boot camp [way back when] I knew that the main objective of military training was to break down the old self and build a new one. We were taught not be individuals but to be a unit. It didn't matter that we may not have liked or down right hated another G.I., for some reason or another, it was ingrained in us that we were all one and were to always have each others back.

Trusting your fellow G.I. was and still is, a matter of life and death [At least that's how the thinking was back when I served this country]. This is especially true during war time and when we're on foreign soil. To think that this happened here on home soil and by an American, is mind boggling. 

Understand, this trust idea as a thought process maybe foreign to some civilians who've never been in the military or around the military way of life, but to those active duty personnel and many of us veterans, it was/is vital.

No one will truly know his answer as to why commit this most horrendous type of treason against fellow soldiers, until Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan speaks. This man has opened the door for every kind of American racist, bigot, Islamaphobe to come out of the woodwork.

There's already speculation starting to run a muck in the American community. The media and the government have been quite careful not to mention the words terrorist or terrorism.

To my way of thinking, Hasan's actions are nothing but terrorism because he's backhandedly terrorized America and American Muslims. American Muslims are now running scared, worried about any backlash that their community may suffer. Don't be fooled, yes, there will be some type of backlash. What, only time will tell.

In my opinion, he's committed the worst kind of treason against the American Government, the Military, the American people and most importantly the American families he's destroyed.

Terrorism any where, but especially on home soil, can not be tolerated. Question is, how is the Government going to handle this very, very hot potato.

My sincere and deepest condolences to all families and active duty personnel that this has befallen.

. . . .the in depth review on the LG EnV Touch 11000?

Many people value PhoneScoop's break down on wireless phones in their review section, but for some reason the ball has been dropped on the LG EnV Touch.

I usually go to PhoneScoop's website to read their professional take on all the new cell phones that have or are coming out. This morning, I visited their website and couldn't find their "Review" on the LG EnV Touch from Verizon.

Right now, PS is focusing on the Motorola Droid, I was wondering if they'd forgotten to write an in depth review for the Touch.

I found the Youtube video tour of the EnV Touch, but being old school, I like to read what's said more than watching a video [my computer is old and cantankerous like me so, you'll understand that the start and stop of videos tends to get on our nerves].

Not that I believe there's some conspiracy or anything like that, it just has me wondering what happened.

However, I did find user reviews. They like me own a Touch and from reading the first few reviews, we all agree that the EnV Touch is a great phone with some draw backs of course.

My ordinary folk review of the EnV Touch:

Likes:

1. The external touch screen is great. The graphics have fabulous resolution with this phone. The internal screen screen is just as nice.
2. The texting is great with this phone. The qwerty keyboard is larger than previous EnVs, which makes texting easier for us who don't see very well. For those touch screen purists, you can still text with the phone closed on the external screen.
   
3. The pictures taken with this phone are great. Much clearer than previous EnV models.
4. I like the ring tones on this phone -- ring tones are an id of mine and I like the ones that come with the phone.
5. Call quality is about the same as the other EnVs.
6. The contact list is good and I like how they've incorporated the favorites tab from the Dare [I own the Dare too]
   
7. Great MP3 player -- clear sound, with or without the headphones.
8. Fun writing pad -- you can personalize your wall paper with your own handwriting.
9. Touch screen doesn't freeze as much like the Dare.
10. Great thin design -- longer in length and thinner compared to the other EnVs.
11. Searching the web is better than the Dare.
    

Dislikes: 

1. Battery life needs serious help. It could be the phone I bought, but the battery drains much faster than what I'm use to with LG phones. You'd think that LG could have made adjustments to the battery since the graphics and programs are more progressive than previous models -- the 1500 mAh battery, not the 950 mAh, should have been standard.
   
2. Front screen is awful in the sunlight.
3. As with all touch screens, fingerprints are a problem [for me they're a problem, I don't like yucky stuff on my phone]
4. If you like using the speaker phone you can't when this phone is closed.

Overall, I love this phone even with its short-comings.

I'm more disappointed that PhoneScoop didn't have their usually great in depth review for the Touch. Usually, I'll make a decision on whether to buy a phone or not by what PhoneScoop has to say. That's how I made the decision not to buy a Blackberry.

Though PhoneScoop fumbled this one time, I still believe they're a great site and I'll continue to read what they have to say about any future phones that I'll buy.

 

David Weigel's bias is hard at work for the Washington Independence. This condescending attitude rankles me even when in writing.

Weigel of the Washington Independence found a poll on Fox News and wrote a blurb about it's findings.

He seems so -- surprised that the American public isn't as under informed as some segments of American society would like us to be.



From a Fox News Poll Headline: Most Blame Bush for Economy.

First sentence: Here's a somewhat surprising result from the new Fox News poll. Asked which President is "more responsible for the current state of the economy," only 18% say President Obama.

Well now, how stupid does the Washington Independence believe the American public to be?

Republicans are the only subgroup of voters who blame Obama.

Oh Really! Well I wonder; just why is that?  Republicans blaming  Democrats or visa versa for problems -- 'splain it to me, in the simplest of simple terms -- Lucy!

Look Weigel, do the math, most Americans already have:

Bush was President for 8 years. During those 8 -- terribly, terribly, long years -- he systematically dismantled the American economy all for the sake of the "good ole' boys network".

You do know who I mean -- those good ole' fellas at  the top 10 of 1% socioeconomic scale, those who actually pull the strings of this country. Back during the Bush Administration, Obama was no where near  the White House. It was just Bush number 2 with his Daddy probably lurking somewhere in the background.

Obama has been President for less than 1, count 'em [use your fingers if you have to] but count 'em <1 year.

So, why oh, WHY are you, at the Washington Independence [gasp!] surprised? Doesn't your  brand of media believe that the American people have enough cognitive prowess to intelligently figure out who's to blame. Don't you think that we know, all the way down to our pea-pickn' lil' hearts, that Bush was most certainly the one to orchestrate this American economic fiasco.

Of course when the Democrats gain control of the White House a mess will have to be cleaned up. No one can clean 8 years of mess within 8 months.

Does your paper or any of the other media of your ilk, truly think that "we, the people" of America are so bare foot, nose pickn',  hoot'en-nanny stupid that we can't figure things out.

I don't know about anyone else who's read your rag, but I view the article as an insult to the average American's intelligence.

Some of you professional writers, journalists, news whores, which ever the case maybe, are under the misguided impression that the average American, must sit at the dinner table with our feet comfortably, propped while we use our toes to eat and pick our teeth.