Are You Happy?

Should The Boy Scouts Lift Ban On Gays?

In 2000 The Boy Scouts won a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the organization to ban gays. Over the last few years there has been an increase of activists supporting the lifting of the ban. Should the Boy Scouts lift their ban on gays? In my opinion yes. Absolutely. I mean what was the mentality when banning these children in the first place? "Let's not have gays around our normal non gay kids so that the non gays kids don't become infected with gayness?" I mean really what exactly would be a valid reason for banning them in the first place? They are children not terrorists.

Aside from how terribly exclusive The Boy Scouts have been to gays and how that has affected millions of gay youth I think we can all agree that we do not want to send our children the message that it's okay to exclude someone based on their sexual preference. Their sexual preference does not make them any less human. Their sexual preference has no bearing on whether or not they are capable of saving lives. They are human beings that have a sexual preference not animals. There are kids out there who are gay and who want to be in the boy scouts to learn and experience exactly what their non gay friends get to experience.The Boys Scouts has the ability to teach all children valuable things.  The knowledge these kids can take from this can save the life of someone else or themselves one day. Why would we not allow gay children to join and learn. Do we want to discourage learning? Is that the message we want to send out. "Gay children you are not worthy to learn"  Let's encourage learning to all our young youth. The Boy Scouts should be thinking the same way. They should want to expand the minds of all children. I guarantee if a man saved your life one day from something he learned in The Boy Scouts you would be grateful to him and The Boy Scouts and once you learned he was Gay you would be grateful you supported the lifting of such a ridiculous ban.

Come on Boy Scouts do the right thing here. What do you think The Boy Scouts should do?

Feels Like There Is More To Manti Te'o's Story

If you've been following the details of this Manti Te'o story you would know that he supposedly met a girl online whom he developed a relationship with and fell in love. This girl apparently was sick with cancer and passed away. At the same time of his girlfriends passing his Grandmother also passed away. This was a very trying time in his life. This past December he received a call from his Girlfriend who passed away. Apparently she is not dead or didn't exist at all. I think everyone is unclear still on the exact truth. There are NFL players who claim to have met this girl that we don't know for sure exists. Now this is being called a hoax. She didn't really exist. It's extremely difficult to understand or get correct facts in this odd story because it is all over the place. One thing for sure is it's not really about sports.

I am sure we are all really struggling to understand the truth or what really happened but I want to know why this is on ESPN? Why is this sports news? If she called in December why are we talking about this now in the latter part of January? Why is ND holding press conferences about a players personal drama? I can understand if he did something wrong himself and the Coaches would need to address his personal behavior and actions but this wasn't about anything he did at all. I am not sold on this being completely contrite. Obviously this now has given him instant national fame and exposure. If he was embarrassed like he so says why say anything at all? How does him saying anything to ND change a thing or help him? I really do want to understand the story and what really happened. I believe there is some truth to some of the story but I question the motives for saying anything.  People make choices. I am sure he thought about his options before saying anything. What would make you lean towards saying something to your team?

What do you think? Is he genuine and telling the complete truth or is there more to the story??

Could Double O.T Have Been Avoided In The Broncos vs. Ravens Game?

So the Playoff games this weekend so far have been great! The most entertaining ones coming down to the wire. I want to talk specifically about the Broncos vs the Ravens What a great football game. Very entertaining. Who doesn't love to see a game go into double o.t in the Playoffs. With all that said should it have even went into o.t?

Let's discuss. Let's take it back to when the Ravens tied the game and there was 31 seconds left on the clock and Denver had 2 timeouts remaining. To win this game the Broncos didn't need a Touchdown they only needed 3 points. This only required them to get into field goal range. So I ask this, Peyton Manning is your QB you have 31 seconds left on the clock with 2 timeouts why would you not attempt to to win the game then? 31 seconds with 2 timeouts is an eternity to a QB like Peyton Manning. Was there not faith in their QB to get them 40-ish yards or attempt it to win the game. At the very least he could have taken some valid shots all while having the safety net of o.t.

We all know how this game ended. The Ravens won this game in double o.t by a field goal.  I've been watching Peyton Manning for years and I have faith in his abilities. I fully believe this was a bad coaching call.   You play(and coach) to win the game and they did not play to win the game. I already can hear some people saying "you have to play it safe" yea I get it but if you're a playoff team you should have faith enough in your players abilities to win the game. No risk no gain. There are times when playing it safe is the good coaching call but this in my opinion was not one of them.  What do you think? Should they have attempted to get into field goal rage to win the game? Either way Congrats to the Ravens who took advantage of o.t!

The Lottery and Your Dreams

Today while doing some research I happened to stumble upon a website about playing the lottery. The author of the article went into great detail about how it’s a complete waste of money, thoughts, and resources. He goes on to state some numbers and how you end up wasting so much money in the long run and getting nothing in return. This guy pretty much tells you in the article to be realistic and to not dream about winning and his best advice was not to play.

Although I can certainly understand where his thoughts are coming from since they are based on statistical facts I still disagree with him. I am absolutely not telling you to go gamble away your savings to try to win big, however I do think that you can take a reasonable 5 bucks give or take a little less or a little more depending on your income and buy some tickets that give you the opportunity to change your life.  It’s ok and very healthy for you to dream. You have infinitely more chances to win than those who don’t play. Period. If you don’t play/try you can’t win. It’s that simple.

For me the real issue here isn’t about the lottery and statistics it’s how easy and quickly people will be to shoot down someone else’s dreams or their own.  In regards to the lottery someone has to win right? Why can’t that someone be you?  Most people I know play the lottery not necessarily because they are definitely going to win but because it fills them with hope! Hope for luck, hope for a better future, hope to fulfill their dreams etc. 

I say to everyone dream whatever dreams make you feel happy no matter how big whether it’s winning the lottery or becoming a famous actress.  There are going to be those people who will tell you that you’re wasting your time etc. That’s the kind of person you need to immediately disassociate yourself from.  Stay around those who believe in the beauty of your dreams and who will uplift you. 

I can already hear the naysayers saying things like I’m spreading false hope I say to them I’d rather have hope for the possibilities than have no hope and be a prisoner captive by own mind. 

Ann Curry Leaving The Today Show Has Changed The Show

So anyone who knows me knows I love Ann Curry and I also at one point loved the Today Show. I had a morning routine. I would get up, go for a walk, have a cup of coffee, and watch the Today Show before I went to work. I always enjoyed the stories and the people reporting the stories. Ann Curry was my favorite because I felt she was the most genuine. You could really feel the compassion from Ann when she was reporting.  She is passionate about what she does and you can see that she cares in her eyes. When I caught wind of her leaving the Today Show right away I thought it was a TERRIBLE move. There is NO ONE on that show who can bring to the table what she brings by her just being who she naturally is.

Of course the rumors I had read were true and she was leaving The Today Show I remember her last day and the tears in her eyes. You could tell she was heart broken to have to stop doing what she loves.  More importantly I remember Matt Lauer and his overall demeanor towards her. I lost pretty much all respect for Matt Lauer that day. I had read rumors about why Ann Curry was being fired and a lot of the rumors said it was pretty much Matt Lauer's doing. It was his demeanor towards her and her genuine sadness that leads me to believe those rumors are true.  Then The Today Show has the audacity to replace the amazing Ann with Savannah Guthrie and no disrespect to her as she was good at her prior role and I know she is trying but she is NO Ann Curry and the show absolutely has not been the same since.  I know I am not the only one who feels this way. NBC I am sure has seen the drop in viewership since that debacle.  Has anyone felt the same sense of compassion on stories since Ann has left that show?

Fast forward to today and the only segment on the show I want to see is Kathie Lee and Hoda. Sad when I used to enjoy hours of the show. I recently read that Matt Lauer gets picked on and called names and he doesn't like it. While I am not condoning that type of  behavior from people towards him I don't think he realized how his actions affected other people. If I was a part of a news team I would want to have the best news team. I would want the best people possible around me so that we collectively as a whole could be the best. For whatever reasons he didn't really care about that or how his actions affected  a wonderful person like Ann.  Even still I say let's follow Ann's lead and be compassionate. Let's not call him names or pick on him. Trust me NBC has already had massive backlash from these shenanigans and they know they messed up.

The bottom line is Ann Curry leaving the Today Show has changed the show completely. It is not the same show  and doesn't have the same feel. I hope NBC has better judgment going forward. If Ann went to a different network I would be watching that network.

Should Teachers Be Allowed to Carry Guns?

Obviously with the horrific event at Sandy Hook the question of gun control and/or other solutions has been a topic of choice for a lot of people. I've heard both sides of the argument and I understand the concerns for both sides. While I understand both sides my opinion leans heavily  towards allowing Teachers to be able to carry weapons concealed (with a permit obviously).

I know some of you already are thinking "that's a terrible idea" probably because the fear of a Teacher going off the deep end, the fear a student accessing that gun and using it themselves, or students feeling uncomfortable.  I understand these fears and I am definitely not dismissive of them.  My thinking is as such if a teacher is going to go crazy they are going to go crazy regardless of their ability to carry a weapon to school legally. Have you ever seen on the news a mass shooting at a school that was done by one of the teachers? Yea.. Me either.  My suggestion is that the weapons be allowed to be carried but concealed therefore students wouldn't see the gun and be unaware of where any guns may be.  I was speaking to someone on Twitter about this and he said regarding their comfort that students shouldn't have to wake up and feel like they are going to prison and I understand this completely my response is students also shouldn't have to worry about someone coming into their school and shooting up an entire classroom with no one to PROTECT them. Which is the lesser of the two evils? The only person who can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!

I've spoken to my friends with kids and asked how their children would feel about teachers carrying guns. What I've found is the families that own guns and who have taught their kids about guns and gun safety these students are fine and fully support the idea. The parents who do not own guns those children do not have that same comfort level therefore they are hesitant. My suggestion is gun education in schools.Get police officers or vets in their to properly educate them. We CAN NOT ignore guns so we might as well educate them on guns!  Gun education should be no different than sex education.  I had a lady say "my son would be uncomfortable around a teacher with a gun" I asked if he is also uncomfortable around armed police officers. We must educate that NOT every person with a gun is a bad guy and in fact they are necessary to protect good people and the country. People kill people. Guns are controlled by people.

When it comes to automatic weapons I do think there needs to be tougher laws on who can obtain one. I mean realistically you do not need an automatic weapon to protect your home. A shot gun will do just fine. The right shot gun will take 2 or 3 people down at one time and you only need to aim in the general vicinity of that person. Anyone who knows me knows I love my guns. My husband and I collectively have several guns. Our guns are for protection. While an automatic weapon might be cool just for collecting purposes I know it would not be necessary to protect myself or my home. I am not expecting war in my house.  My only issue with tougher laws is that criminals don't care about laws. That's why they are criminals. They are going to get those guns regardless.

I also offer different solutions why not have armed guards in the schools or 2 to 3 assigned police officers to patrol the school grounds outside and inside. I work in a busy shopping mall and in addition to mall security they have several police officers contracted to work and patrol the mall. Why would schools not be equally as important or more important?  While I do have my opinions I am always open and want to hear the opinions of others. I always want to see things from different perspectives so that I can continue to form my opinion based on valid points. What do you think? Should teachers be allowed to carry guns? What is your solution for preventing as many horrific crimes as we can?