Oh, Charlie Hebdo!!

The French weekly satirical newspaper is at it again.

Their most recent artwork for their publication suggests a very serious moment in the time of Hurricane Harvey striking the very heart and soul of the state of Texas.

To those readers who do not speak French, it reads: GOD EXISTS! HE DROWNED ALL THE NEO-NAZIS IN TEXAS!

This rather insulting cover goes above and beyond to be mocking those people who have Christian beliefs, but more focused this is against those people who are victims of the recent hurricane. And they want to call it humor.

The only ones laughing are those at Charlie Hebdo. And definitely not a single person is laughing in Texas.

For those who do not remember, Charlie Hebdo suffered two terrorist attacks. The most recent back in January of 2015 because they dared to publish an image that mocked Islam on their cover. (The same as they have done with the victims of Hurricane Harvey today.) Two Islamic extremists who were heavily armed stormed the office of the newspaper and held people hostage, killing several people and the entire attack left twelve dead and eleven injured.

And now more than two and a half years later, one could argue that Charlie Hebdo have not learned anything. They mock the citizens of Texas during a very severe disaster, casting those who were lost in the storm as Neo-Nazis.

Hurricane Harvey may have left the state of Texas, but millions of people are still dealing with the effects of what the storm brought. Nearly HALF of the state’s population was forced to deal with Harvey in one way or another. And these effects will most definitely be long lasting.

Even though Charlie Hebdo is purely satire, it has the rest of the world in an uproar. Many people are finding the recent publication offensive, tasteless, and abhorrent.

The idea that the victims of this hurricane were Neo-Nazis is one of the dumbest, most ignorant things that I have ever heard.

And Charlie Hebdo sits thousands of miles away, hiding away in their offices filled with self-amusement and laughter while Americans ponder the thought about the newspaper suffering yet again the same experiences they had in early 2015 and if they ever think about having to go through that again.

It obviously  isn’t going to happen. I DOUBT that any citizen of the state of Texas is going to waste their time, resources, and money to fly to Paris to seek retribution against the newspaper because they were offended.

Instead the state of Texas and ALL of its people are rolling their eyes at Charlie Hebdo.

Texas doesn’t have time for any of that nonsense!!!

We are too busy taking care of our own to be worried about what some insignificant weak ass publication may or may not think about the people of Texas. There are people who need help. There are people who are hurt. There are people who are dead. And those are the  people that we will focus our attention on, until this disaster is over and the needs of the people are met.

These people will be attended to. No matter if they are white or black, liberal or conservative, members of the KKK or Black Lives Matter. If they are calling out for help, then the state of Texas and its people are going to reach out to do just that!!! Americans are helping Americans.

We don’t have the time to be divided as Charlie Hebdo would like us to be. This horrible storm has done the exact opposite and brought everyone together in Texas AND all across the United States of America! Millions of people across the land are doing what they can either by donating money or giving supplies and other goods while the employees sit back laughing and try to think of who they can piss off next week.

It is not working as well as they had hoped here in Texas. Nobody here cares about what other nations think of them right now.

So to those employees in Paris:

We don’t need you. You can keep your fries and Eiffel Tower. We already have BBQ and The Alamo.

Ask A Question

“No fugging way. That’s how horror movies start. We drop you off, walk into some stranger’s house, and five minutes later some psycho’s lobbing off my nuts with a machete while his schizophrenic wife makes Colin do push-ups on a bed of hot coals.You’re coming with us. ” ~ John Green

So I have returned dear readers. A quick show of hands- who has missed me???? 

Any ways, I come back with a tale that just recently happened and is all true.

Life does sure make for an interesting blog post.

The telephone rang and the person on the other end offered to come pick me up to hang out. But they were not very specific, and so I began to inquire and ask questions. Yet it had seemed as if the more questions that I asked about their fledgling plans for the day, the more and more aggravated that person became.

I also had noted to myself that NONE of my questions were receiving any answers. So essentially, these people had no idea where they were going, and no idea where they were going to end up. The only thing that they knew was that they were inviting me to go with them.

So the moment I realized that this person was off their rocker and getting butthurt and angry about it, I replied with a quote from The Princess Bride.

“Have fun stormin’ the Castle!!”

And that response, obviously was an unfair response to that person because I was banking on two things: Sounding clever. And that the person had never seen the film before and therefore would have NO idea what in the world I was talking about.

Mission accomplished.

These guys probably were going to end up driving around town aimlessly. It would have been all fun and games until they ran out of gas. And yes, that’s how horror films start. 

Umm, no thank you!!!

The only reason why I kept asking so many questions was because I had insufficient information about what they were going to do, so I was unable to make a concise decision on whether or not I wanted to partake. But if you have no plans whatsoever, then perhaps you should have thought it through before asking and inviting me.

At some point in time, the idea of asking questions for the sake of knowledge and obtaining information has unfortunately turned into bad juju. And I am unable to put my finger on exactly when that happened.

It is as if the idea of asking someone else a question is so wrong that it becomes encased in our brains that we will be doing something to HARM another if we ask them a question. Or that we’re probably bothering or pestering them. And we do not wish to bother our fellow mankind.

It could be because my own personal life is as such that if I do not ask people for something, that I’m never going to be able to succeed. The fact of the matter is that I will from time to time, need help. But that is a different kind of example.

I just do not see the big problem to ask someone a question for the sake of obtaining knowledge and information. How else are we supposed to survive in this big scary world of ours? Ignorance is does not have to be inherent. I mean, we grow up with ignorance, but if we choose to remain so… then that choice comes with consequences that I don’t even want to think about.

If people didn’t ask me questions about my disability… how else would I expect them NOT to be afraid of me??

So I shake my head at the person who called. But more so at their actions which were to be quick to anger. And I stand firm in the belief that we ALL need to ask questions every once in a while.

 

 

 

No Grammar, No Go

“You know, in the 1970’s, when I was in high school, I belonged to a band called the Happy Funk Band. Until an unfortunate typo caused us to be expelled from school.”~ Colin Mochrie

Today, I was unfortunate to be an eyewitness to something that to me, is very unattractive. Obvious grammar errors.

I think that we all fall down and have made mistakes in typing something whether its in an e-mail or in a text message. But that’s not what I am talking about. I am talking about the blatant misspelling of words that are so elementary and used in every day speech.

I know that I have made typos before in the past. But nothing so outrageous that it made the other person look at what I had written with such confusion to what I was trying to say. So, I am not what they call a Grammar Nazi by any stretch of the imagination.

What kills me is the fact that these grammar mistakes were made by women that I personally find physically attractive in one way or another. And it got me to think about how in the world they’ve got this far in their life, IF they honestly do not know how to spell?

It could be that they didn’t finish their education. Or they just didn’t care much to pay attention. Whatever the case is, it is very annoying for me to even try to read.

Two totally different beautiful women with two separate and obvious spelling errors. It just makes my feelings cry, which makes about as much sense as their grammar.

There are reasons why they came out with something called spell check. Or even a dictionary which growing up, didn’t make sense to me because if you didn’t know how to spell the word… how did you know you were finding the correct word to begin with? But yet still, there are tools to help you with spelling.

Y U NO SPELL GOOD?

Nonetheless, today’s ridiculous episode made me realize that there are some people getting by with just looks. And its just sad. Beauty and good looks won’t last forever. Life will eventually catch up with you. And then what are you going to do? If you cannot spell words that are so simple, then once your looks and beauty fade, you’re screwed.

On YouTube, there is a person who goes out of his way to find the worst grammar in YouTube video comments and he brings them to light and pulls out the full attention to just HOW BAD people’s grammar is. Some of them you can tell were simple and easy typo mistakes. Others just make you want to put your face through a wall and wonder how in the world they are even allowed to be on the Internet. I believe the username is JACKSFILMS and the YouTube video series is “YGS” which stands for “Your Grammar Sucks!” and boy, does it really when he gets a hold of your mistake!

For me though, to find something so obviously wrong is a very big turn off. I usually look pass the simple errors and don’t say anything about it, IF I can figure out what the person is saying. In fact, I’ve NEVER brought it to people’s attention if they’ve had a typo.

However after today, I am very tempted to be “that guy” who is willing to start bringing it up. And yes, its definitely going to piss off a lot of people.

My heart ached today because I found these extremely attractive women that I kind of been fond of, only to find that they cannot spell with a pip. And it causes a drop in the attraction factor for me.

INTELLIGENCE IS SEXY.

Beauty is only temporary. Ignorance is forever… but it doesn’t HAVE to be!

Poisonous Thinking

“Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.”~ Samuel Goldwyn

This t-shirt image was given to me last night by a great friend of mine. This t-shirt is on eBay for sale.

 

I love it! I think its wild and I think its funny!! But this image would eventually bring out the worst in me, due to a small collective group of people who are totally and completely ignorant.

 

The image is obviously of a two people making love while one of them is sitting in a wheelchair. Gender cannot be determined. But gender isn’t the point. The point is the funny visual of making love while sitting in a wheelchair.

 

I was delighted to see it, so I shared it across the Internet. A lot of people enjoyed it, thinking it was funny as well. But there were that small group of people that just took the image and discussed it at length to the point where they were absolutely out of line and their comments were uncalled for.

 

These ignorant morons literally to this image to the extreme and came up with the general idea that this could never happen in reality. Furthermore, their opinions went as far as to say that ALL people who need the use of the wheelchair cannot make love, because they are in a wheelchair.

 

If there ever was a time for my mouth to let fly a series of F-bombs, this would be one of those times.

 

I could not believe the stones that they had, to say something like that. To me, to others, and actually believe that what they were saying, was totally true and right. And of course, they were closed-minded to any debate. In their minds: HANDICAPPED PEOPLE OR PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES CANNOT HAVE INTIMATE RELATIONS.

 

I asked them all, if they had sex. Then I asked if any of them who have had sex before ever done so other than the bedroom. Whether it be the couch, a chair, the backseat of a car, whatever. Some still said yes. But they still were not grasping the concept that they were in the exact same position as the people in the image when they were engaging in sexual relations with a partner.

 

For them to say into my face that it was impossible, was more than just an insult. It was absolutely discriminating. My final words to them were, “When you find yourself in a wheelchair for something stupid that you did, which caused you to be in a wheelchair, you tell me whether or not if YOU can have relations with another person. Don’t sit there and tell me what I can and cannot do, because you do not even know who I am. You’ve never met me, you do not know what my own limitations are. And neither do any of you know of the relationships I have had in the past with women, and what I have or have not done with them. Open your mind because there is no way that you can say for sure what I (or others who are also in wheelchairs) can or cannot do. Why? Because you don’t have the lives that we do and will never know what we have to endure to get by every day. So either think before you speak, or shut the fuck up!”.

 

I was infuriated and very pissed off. It didn’t calm the debate down by a long shot, but I got out what I needed and wanted to say.

 

I realize that a lot of people don’t fully understand what I have to go through in life. I also realize that when I tell them, that it might be difficult for them to visualize. And that’s because they don’t have to go through it themselves. Doesn’t make them stupid, it makes them without knowledge and unaware.

 

The same thing happens when I tell people that I play sledge hockey. Automatically, their minds have this visual of people in wheelchairs on ice. But that’s not what the sport is about. And I have to walk them through it and explain it to them so that they have a better understanding.

 

I do not know what it is like to drive, jump rope, or go rock climbing. Doesn’t mean I should bash on those who do. And that’s exactly what these people were doing! Their assumptions that physically handicapped people and their limitations go so far. And in their minds, it wasn’t far at all.

 

Everyone has their own opinion. But at some point, there comes a time where sometimes that opinion should be quietly withheld. And that statement is MY OPINION.

 

If this group of people would have either just agreed or disagreed that the t-shirt image was funny and dropped it, this explosion of anger wouldn’t have happened. I was not the only ones involved in the conversation that were angry either. But for those who were, I couldn’t really get a word in, except for the above stated quote.

 

As far as the t-shirt goes, I’m glad that it was brought to my attention. And most likely I WILL purchase it from eBay. Why? Because to me- its funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Oughta Be In Pictures

Everyone’s life is full of joy, love, good times, bad times, heartache, agony, and everything in between. I constantly hear some body say, “Your life would make a great movie or book.” That may be, however I think that everyone’s life has moments where it would be wonderful to share with the rest of the world.

So let me share this story with you. A story of what I consider to be a bit of comedy and a bit of human ignorance.

Fact: I have calluses on my hands. They come from years and years and years of using a wheelchair for mobility. That’s just the way it is.

So I took off on an adventure this afternoon in the warm, humid weather of the day. I would guess that going back and forth, was probably about a mile and a half. When I got home (or at least on the property to where I live), I noticed and brand new callous on my right thumb.

Right now, it kinda hurts. Its new and eventually it will harden like the rest of them on my hands. But its fresh right at the moment and so … yes, I’m a bit annoyed about it because it’s a bit inconvenient.

I ran into someone on the street, asking if I needed help pushing myself to where I was going. With me having difficulty moving with this new development on my thumb, I was not moving as fast as I was when I first started out today. I suppose that this person was only being considerate and trying to be helpful.

I respectfully declined their assistance and thanked them. I told them that the only reason why I was not moving as fast as I could was because my thumb was hurting. I showed them the source of inconvenience and then they suddenly had a list of questions to try to solve the mystery of my newly developed “injury”.

They were curious as to where I was going and where I have been. I told them that I gone up the hill, down the street and back. I DO have weight lifting gloves that I wear whenever I leave the house, but the fingertips are not covered by the gloves and therefore the thumb ended up getting it.

But what I had actually SAID, was “I walked up the street, over the hill and walked back.”

They dared to correct my story. Saying that I did NOT “walk” at all.

I was therefore baffled. Who is this person trying to correct and edit a story that did not happen to them personally, but only to me? What in the world came over them to insist upon that I did not “walk”? OF COURSE I DIDN’T!!

These kinds of things just really are amazing to me. What university did this person go to, that hands out degrees to allow them to correct other people? Now if I had said something totally in error grammatically, I would have understood that.

People with disabilities who commonly have the use of a wheelchair, just commonly use the same pattern of speech as anyone else. Yes, we do say “I walked to there.” We don’t need anyone to tell us that we actually didn’t! Its something we already know!!

Moron!

I believe that this is a very good example of someone who does not have a mouth filter and doesn’t realize what they are saying could actually be offensive. To some people with disabilities- its almost insulting.

To be fair though it could be that I am a bit over-sensitive about it. And should really just blow them off. It gets exhausting though to roll my eyes at these things because it happens so frequently. My eyeballs start to hurt! If it happens enough times, I will probably have my eyes stuck in the back of my head. Then I’ll have to go get that corrected and then I will be able to post a blog about what the back of the inside of the skull really looks like to the “human eye”.

So maybe this particular event is not really “film worthy”. I would personally tend to believe that my post, “Man vs. boy” would rather be more fitting to that description for some wild laughs and humor. Drama is not my best or favorite forté.

Think before you speak!