Hunters Cheat

"Hey, fellas!  It's an all-you-can-eat!"

I'm not a hunter.  I tried it as a youth, but it was never my thing.  I'd go out into the woods and fields with my father, uncle and brother to hunt "wascally wabbits."  I don't eat rabbit, so a food source wasn't my motivation.  I'm simply went to spend quality time with the men of the family.

My father and uncle taught me what to look for to find the rabbit and how to essentially stalk them.  I will admit that there was a thrill to it when you did eveything correctly and got an opportunity to bag one.  Those things are hard to spot and even more difficult to shoot.

Fast forward to today.  Hunting is just as popular as ever, if not more.  But, things are done a lot differently these days.  Now, I'm going to upset some hunters, but like the youngsters say," it is what it is."

Hunters cheat.  At least, the ones that I know do.  What used to be a complicated "man vs. animal" event has turned into "cheater vs. animal."  My father hunted from pretty much the age of 8 up until he was around 55 years old and he can tell you how many deer that he's killed on one hand.  Why is that?

Because back then, they never used bait, high-powered rifles and / or deer stands.

I have some friends who hunt and they kill three or four deer per season.  Per season!  Are they more skilled hunters than my father and his brothers were?  Absolutely not!

Modern day hunters usually have a favorite hunting spot in the woods where every other weekend during the off-season, they'll leave food for the deer.  This will get the deer familiar with the area and will have them come there on a regular basis to look for food.  During hunting season, the "hunters" will sit in their deer stand and train their high-powered scopes on the place where the deer come to feed.

LOL!  It's cheating! Would you brag about being "a great mouse slayer" because they took the cheese and got caught in a mouse trap?  You didn't "hunt" the mouse.  You lured it.

So, for those who brag about the huge buck that they bagged, I will listen, but I won't be impressed.  If you used any modern tactics in order to kill an animal that's not nearly as smart as humans, then I won't prop you up for that.

Does a person who uses bait, a stand and a high-powered rifle really deserve credit for killing a deer?

"Psst!!!!  Say, doe?  I know you hear me talking to you!  Trifling doe."

A @REALStaceyDash of Controversy

I was 16 years old the first time that I saw Stacey Dash and I developed a silver screen crush on her.  The name of the movie was "Moving."  It starred Richard Pryor and Randy Quaid.  I've been a fan of her looks ever since and now I must come to her defense for her mind.

My man, TrueSpeech, kind of stole my thunder, but I wanted to comment on this "controversy" as well. 

Actress, Stacey Dash, is in the center of a whirlwind full of hate for a tweet mentioning her support for Mitt Romney for President.  First of all, as fine as Stacey Dash is, she can vote for "Honey Boo Boo" and I wouldn't care.

But, seriously, let's just analyze what has happened over the past week: this photo went viral along with her mentioning that she supports Romney.  Since that time, fans, fellow actors, etc. have expressed publicly that she's wrong for doing so.  Wrong for picking a candidate she likes?  Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people hating on her are even registered to vote.

She's even received death threats behind her choice of candidate.

(shaking my head)

Let's get real here: the reason black people are upset over Dash supporting Romney is because so many of them think that all people of color should default to Obama.  "Minorities aren't allowed to vote Republican."  I'm sure that's written in the "Guide to Being A Minority" handbook.  Because Dash chose to go the other direction, they think that she's a sellout.  Yet, you don't see people of color get upset when white people support Obama.  Why aren't white people sellouts when they don't support their own in Romney?

If Dash were white, then I seriously doubt many people would have raised an eyebrow to this.  I'm a black guy who has voted in every election (not just Presidential) for as long as I can remember.  Do I support "Mittens?"  Heck, no.  I can't get with someone who contradicts himself constantly.  Ask any black man that has ever had a nightmare about "The Man" and I bet they would describe him as looking like Mitt Romney.

Would I publicly blast someone for supporting him?  Absolutely not.  Why should I come down on a Romney supporter just because their opinion is different than mine?  Sure, I'll disagree with them, but to insult them or threaten their life because they think differently?  Is that why a Jacksonville Jaguars fan killed a Chicago Bears fan last weekend?

The logic behind that is stupid!  Social networks have given idiots a false sense of power and anonymity they've long craved.  This venue allows them to come off as socially conscious or to appear as some sort of an expert critic.  It allows them to be able to actually affect the lives of the public figures that were once only accessible on the television screen.

Look, I'm not saying that a person can't publicly disagree with someone's viewpoints.  I do so all of the time on this blog.  That's what America is all about.  But, isn't taking one person's vote and turning it into national stories and death threats a bit much?  Does everything have to be an outrage?  If Ms. Dash isn't allowed to express herself and vote as she chooses, then what's the point of even having an election?  And how would you feel if someone did the same thing to you?

Here's what I'll leave for you all to think about: social networks spark emotions.  Emotions spark bad decisions.  The days of hearing or reading something that upsets you and waiting to have someone to talk to about it are over.  At any time of the day or night, you can go online and find an audience.  A lot of people do just that and the time that we once had to rationally think things out has been replaced with an instant emotion dictated in 140 characters or less.

The end-result is a person bullying a celebrity for having the exact same right as they have.  "How dare you promote Mitt Romney!  #OBAMA2012"

Really?

Have social networks created a "lynch mob" mentality (for lack of a better phrase) when it comes to opinions?

I Love Kids, But I Hate Parents

(Source)

Although I don't have kids, I do like them.  A lot of people have a misconception and think that The Mrs. and I don't care for children.  That's not the case at all.  I love kids, but I hate parents.  My god kids are wonderful kids.  They didn't do that on their own.  Their parents are the reason that's the case.

It's not like that with all children.  You see, when kids (under 10 especially) act up, it's not completely their fault.  I blame their parents.  Case in point: on my trip to San Diego this week, I sat across from a kid who may have been three years old.  He was very loud and disruptive for the entire flight.  Not once did I get upset with him waking me from my nap at 38,000 feet.  But, I got really pissed at his parents who simply ignored his outbursts.  The kid was wearing headphones and playing with an iPad while using his "playground voice."  Every blue moon, his mom or dad would "shush" him, but it was rarely with any type of authority.  It almost seemed insincere as they rarely even looked at him when doing so.  This irks me.  

Kids are disruptive away from home because they're disruptive at home.  I'm a firm believer of that.  This kid is three years old and already has the freedom to do as he pleases.  His parents have basically given him the power to have his way and that will grow over time.

Aside from the noise this kid created, he also held up the line when everyone was trying to exit the plane.  While his parents were begging him to get out of his seat, he chose to play with his toys instead.  Instead of getting out of our way, they simply sat there and negotiated with a three year old.  This upset not just me, but everyone else on the plane since we were on the fourth or fifth row from the front with 100+ people behind us.  Yet, the clueless parents looked at us as if we needed to understand, "he's just a child."

Whatever.  My parents would have never had that problem with me or my brother.  Any time we were disruptive, we were scolded sternly.  If we continued to act a donkey, then other measures were taken.  I know that a lot of people frown on spankings these days, but they did the trick for me and my big bro.

Once you start a peek-a-boo game on a plane, you can never stop. (Source)

I think that some parents have it hard. I saw a single mom on the plane with a child that looked less than a year old. Sometimes you just have to take your kid on a flight. Surprisingly enough, her child was a lot more quieter than the three year old. No crying. No fussing. Yet a parenting team could not control a three year old from having an entire section wishing they were sitting on the wing instead of beside them.

I read where some airlines are putting travelers with kids in sections together on the plane in the back.  This has been dubbed as being placed in a "baby ghetto."  Kind of an extreme name, but the idea is to move all crying babies as far as possible from those without.  I'm not sure if that's fair or not, but obviously, the airlines are recognizing that there's a problem.  There have also been talks of charging parents more money for kids of a certain age to fly.  That's absolutely ridiculous to punish someone for having a child, good or disruptive.

My solution would be to ban the parents who appear to not try.  If people around them are complaining, then prevent them from future flights.  I know that sounds harsh, but if you're letting your little hellion raise the stress level of people who don't have the option of walking out, then maybe you should consider the train.

Maybe not to this extreme... (Source)

Have you ever dealt with a disruptive child as a parent or "victim" in public?