Religion of Peace

Ah, Islam, the Religion of peace, strikes again. Taking exception to the Pope's reading of someone else's words, not his own words, peaceful Muslims are attacking churches, shooting nuns and burning people in effigy. Can you feel the tolerance and peace of Islam now? No? Smack. Kick. Punch. Now can you feel our peace infidel? If you don't admite we are peaceful, we'll blow you up!

"Seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza were attacked following Benedict's comments."

More tolerance and peace? Isn't it strange how muslims the world over can insult Christians and Jews constantly without touching off fires, explosions, murders and calls for assasinations. And how the left of this country never demands apology from any of the people in the Islamic world that routinely bash Christianity and Judaism, that routinely preech and practice intolerance and that seek to destroy anyone not agreeing with their religion of peace. But let the Pope insult Muslims and watch out, we need apologies, we need grovelling. Why, how dare you accidentally insult the worlds most insulting and intolerant religion. Bash Christianity all you want but don't dare insult Muslims or the liberals will demand apology. Cowards.

I'm tired of the Muslims being offended and protesting something once a week. IF you're Muslim and you didn't like the Pope's speech..tough shit. Get over it. Don't like some cartoons? Tough shit. Stop blowing stuff up and perhaps you'd find more acceptance for the most violent, oops, peaceful, religion of our lifetime. Stop whining Muslims. You bring this on yourselves with your routine intolerance and the endless calls for someone's head.

Attacking churches, shooting nuns, calling for the pope to be tried as a criminal in Turkey, burning things, calling for his death. Very peaceful. Stop trying to fool people and just put it out there: If we don't agree with you, you'll kill people. Stop the whining and the burning of innocent towels (although my stock in Bed, Bath and Beyond does go up everytime they do) and stop the dancing in the streets everytime you shoot someone. The Pope owes no apology for expressing the opinion of someone else in a speech and he need not fear for his safety. IF the Pope called for apologies and beheadings everytime Christianty was slandered by someone in the Muslim world it would be a full time job. Islam may not be the most peaceful religion, but at least it's hypocritical.

Soccer Leagues and Sissifying America

I recently began a stint coaching my sons soccer team and I have discovered that, in this league at least, sports aren't what they used to be.

In Americas on-going effort to feminize everyone and avoid a hurt feeling at any and all costs, youth sports have been reduced to glorified scrimmages where nothing is learned. Once a great place to learn life lessons, the intricacies of a sport and to keep in shape, today's feminized and psycho-babbled sporting endaveors are nearing irrelevancy.

In this league no one is allowed, of course, to keep score. I'm not sure when this trend started but it stinks. I know, you can't encourage, God forbid, competion or instill a sense of wanting to win. That would be horrible. But the real tragedy is this: Sports have an important role in teaching life lessons and as we sissify them in accordance with some psycho-babbling idiots rules we lose that. Kids need to learn how to win. They also need to learn how to lose. Those are important and unavoidable facts of life. You must understand how to win with grace and lose with dignity. You should take satisfaction in giving 100% and falling short. You should respect an opponent that gives their all but doesn't quite get the best of you. You should also know what you did wrong so that you can understand what it takes to get better, to work hard and earn the victory next time out. It's how people improve themselves. But no, now we teach that everyone's a winner so, in conlusion, winning takes no effort. You are, by virtue of setting foot on the field, a winner. Sounds nice doesn't it? Too bad it isn't grounded in realty. Too bad that a player can realize someday much later in life that he never learned the skills he needed to be good at the sport because he never realized he wasn't winning.

This new approach to sports is startling to me. The mother's gather round like a social event and ask me who is bringing snacks next time. Snacks? Do we need snack time during a game now? Why, I wonder, are kids increasingly obese? Well, they aren't allowed to compete, they aren't allowed to experience the thrill of victory, they aren't allowed to experience the sting of defeat so that they can take steps to not experience it again, and they're given snack time during games. Is it any wonder they just meander around the field in a daze not caring? One thing that does not exist in this touchy-feely league is 100% effort.

Here's another great innovation: There are no benches. There are no boundries between parents and players. When I was growing up if you weren't playing you sat on the bench with your team and cheered them on, you stayed involved and invested in the game. In this league when a player isn't in they just wander over to where their parents are sitting and sit in portable lawn chairs eating Cheetos and Teddy Grahams. It's the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen to watch these kids scatter around the field and sit with mom and dad, munching away, rather than sitting together. There is no sense of team.

I was also informed recently that the coaches aren't supposed to coach during the games. What? You can cheer them on, sunbstitute the players, but not correct them. So they aren't supposed to learn anything then? You can't tell them what they did wrong and right? How absurd is this? The feminization of America has stormed onto the soccer fields and reduced them to events where fat kids wander around aimlessly or sit by their parents but they do not compete and they, despite what the mothers think, they do not win. They're just sort of there.

We don't have goalies either. Everyone should score, there needs to be more scoring lest the kid that can't shoot feel badly. God forbid he practices shooting until he's good--clearly that is just asking too much for it might cause hurt feelings. Never mind that some of these kids are interested in being goal keepers and have now had their development stunted by the feminization of soccer. Sorry kid, you can't learn that position, we must preserve peoples feelings first and foremost. If that means that you don't acquire the neccessary skills to succeed at a position that interests you until it's too late, well tough. Go sit with your mom and eat Cheetos like the rest of them.

This approach, this dumbing down of the game, is an abomination and teaches kids that nothing matters. Why practice and get good? Why work hard to improve yourself when everyone scores and everyone wins? What's the point? And what happens when you grow up and discover that yes, sometimes people lose in life. And sometimes they have to improve themselves to see to it that losing doesn't occur often. What of the kids who never have this goal of improvement instilled in them?

This bizarre culture in which everyone is supposed to win has had just the opposite effect. Everyone loses.

People Have Lost It Totally

Just a few minor, noon-movie related gripe this afternoon. Where to start? How about with one of the most insane and silly ideas to come down the pike in years.

Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States, has decided that we should now refer to dogs as "Canine Americans." Also, pet ownership laws should be renamed as Animal Guardianship Laws. You see, animals are equalt to humans and to refer to them as being owned is simply unthinkable. Stories like this seem increasingly common lately. When did idiots like Mr. Pacelle get such a loud voice? Isn't the rest of the village supposed to tune out the idiot? Or at point and laugh at him? Canine Americans? Feline Americans? It seems we are led further and further off the deep end by the wackos with a voice every single day.

Crocodile Tears

The passing of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, was a tragic event and the world has lost an incredible person. Irwin, 44, was passionate about what he did and enormously dedicated to his work. Sure children loved him, but people of all ages could learn a little about what it means to give yourself over to something you care about as Irwin did all of his adult life. Most of us would count our blessings if we found a calling we could be that passionate about—and work we could be that proud of doing.

Irwin had a way about him, his smile was infectious and his zest for the animal world irresistible. People say he took chances, and clearly he did, but those same people should remember that Irwin was raised around dangerous animal; to him it was just a way of life and those animals were just as much a part of his world as people. From a young age he cared for them, rescued them, studied them and interacted with them. Was it dangerous? Sure it was. But it came naturally to Irwin and one had the clear sense that for him to stop interacting with nature would have been unthinkable. He passed his zeal for wildlife on to millions of children and had hoped to hand it down to his own—he tried to teach people to understand animals, to be cautious of them certainly, but to at least study them.

The bottom line is the world could use more people as passionate about something as Irwin was. More people with the kind of determination, fearlessness and dedication exemplified by the Crocodile Hunter. Steve Irwin, you will be sorely missed. Here’s hoping that where ever you are all the fantastic mysteries of the animal kingdom have been revealed to you. Enjoy.