Manhunt Door to Door Rights

Notwithstanding the importance that Boston is under a very important manhunt, I wanted to make note of an observation.

What you see in both these pics are police/military searching for an alleged terrorist bomber by doing a door to door search.  I am not saying homeowners should not help, nor am I saying they should hinder in this, but I am saying that these citizens are apparently all voluntarily allowing this.

If Homeland Security ever wanted to have an actual practice case of how to keep people in their homes, be able to search at will, then this is the case to study.

I am not sure I would allow them in.  I would be respectful and say no one they were looking for was in my home, and request a search warrant if they wanted entry.

If there are any knowledgeable attorneys reading this, what is a homeowner's right in this type of situation?

Stop Yelling at Me You Troll

Social media is just the front page of all the disagreements between political parties, religious beliefs, sexual rights, etc. It appears we all love to argue and all too often it devolves into a yelling match with horrible things being said to and about each other.

People commenting on posts do this.  They comment "bomb" posts and no matter how soft spoken and respectful and calm the post is, their anger escalates because their opinions are not capitulated to and agreed with.

Trying to find some point in common, like our freedom to have our own opinion, is "shot" down as an opinion being stupid, or meaningless, or being brainwashed.  Each cannot be a co-citizen in the disagreement; they just become opponents yelling and name calling each other.

Any counter-arguments presented annoys them.  Good will means nothing and continued comments make it hard to be respectful or humble and patient.  Resorting to name calling shows you cannot defend your opinions and views on the matter being discussed.

Any attempt at logic also results in some sort of weird interpretation of a diversion from the dialog at hand.  All attempts to return to the subject at hand is ignored.  Pointing this out just exacerbates the situation.  Questioning facts or asking for "proof" is a complete waste of time and both sides can produce this.  Each side finds these "proofs" to be an attempt at trickery.

Any silence while one participant rants and raves is derided as well, as if that somehow elevates their opinion and makes the other's invalid.  Requests for civility are ignored and even made fun of.

Each parties truth becomes annoying and the debate becomes a no win for each. The realization that opponents will not be graceful or even agree to disagree is a loss for the opinions of each.

On social media sites you have choices when this point is reached.  You can uncircle, mute, and block.  And for those of you that recognize yourselves in this blog post, you now know what has happened.

Sweating Bullets and Fear

There was a lot of "bullet" sweating this past week concerning the gun control bills up for vote, or at least some worrisome drops from social media conservatives  and liberals wondering if the Democrats could muster the votes required to "shoot down" this legislation.  

Yes, Obama got the vote on gun control that he had guaranteed so many people.  But he didn't get the results he wanted and immediately took to the main stream media with his trusty side kick, Joe Biden, (ever notice how much he resembles Walter the Grumpy Old Man puppet that belongs to Jeff Dunham?) and the ever dependable supporters thereto, and pronounced his shock and awe.

                     

He couldn't wait to blame the NRA for the entire thing and this of course is probably what he wanted all along; a platform for which the voters could use to go after the Republicans in the next election.   It will be the David v Goliath if that is his strategy.  The NRA v the liberal voters.

In this corner, weighing in at 4.5 million members the NRA.  In the opposite corner, the registered voters of America, coming in at 150 million.  These two have met before on many occasions, and the last fight was won by the NRA in a not so surprising bout that scored  54 to 46 in the Senate arena. 

              

Those 4.5 million NRA members have an estimated 270 million guns in circulation and they do not seem to be wavering in their opposition to the liberals trying to restrict or control them.  So from Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" to the Gifford's "I Will Not Rest" it appears the next fight will be in the 2014 and 2016 elections. 

The argument -- what exactly does the 2nd Amendment mean, what did the Founding Fathers intend, what does the Supreme Court interpret -- is obviously not going away anytime soon.  Meanwhile we all hold our breath, knowing there will be another gun incident.  It doesn't matter what laws are passed, someone will kill someone with a gun.  Unless and until guns are outlawed and confiscated it will continue to happen.  

The first being the fear of the NRA, and the latter being the fear of the gun-control advocates.   Fear distances you from the reality.  Fear makes you believe in an outcome that is imaginary and your fears succumb to lies; lies told to you, lies you tell yourself.  Fear makes you defensive and skeptical.  It makes you arrogant and think you can control the outcome. 

The above paragraph describes both groups.