Starbucks cups, get over it!

Seriously, it's a freaking cup. It has holiday colors on it, and people are offended there isn't more Christmas plastered all over it? Give me a break!

Let me tell you how to effectively let Starbucks know you aren't happy with their decision. 1. You can write them a letter. Let Starbucks know about your disappointment due to the lack of Christmas on your cup. 2. You can draw on your own cup, really all Starbucks has done is just enabled you to be creative and write what you want on your cup. 3. Don't buy Starbucks during this Holiday Season. Your money speaks louder than words. You can always get your coffee or hot chocolate fix somewhere else. There was coffee made before Starbucks and there will be coffee for a long time after they are gone.

But to all my friends who are so upset about their coffee cups, Christmas was never about coffee cups, toys, or department stores. Christmas was a time to remember the birth of the Savior of the world. It's not so much about how others help you remember Christmas, as it is how you and your family remember Christmas.

Go serve others, go spend time with your family, go caroling, go see a live nativity, spend time with the elderly, surround yourselves in the Christmas spirit by remembering, teaching, and living like the Son of God. I'm pretty sure we have better things to worry about than the design on our coffee cups.

But those are just my opinions. Merry Thanksgiving everyone!

Scouting in the Church.

I am an Eagle Scout, I had great leaders who taught me tons of life skills, the Boy Scout Program has been good too me. But in light of their adjusting moral standards I don't see any need for the Church to remain partnering with them.

Non-Mormons, let me clarify. I am not saying that the Church should no be accepting of everyone, that's not the point. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormons, is a Church of principle. They do as God commands because it is a Church led by Jesus Christ himself. I believe that, and that's not up for debate. But we as a Church are accepting of every person that walks on this earth and we view them as our brothers and sisters. Members of the Church are taught to love one another despite our differences. "Love the sinner, hate the sin." And I try to live my life in accordance to that.

I feel as if the Church has adequate programs, to separate itself from the BSA. The Duty to God program is amazing. It has all the ingredients to transition a boy into a man. From the Aaronic to the Melchizedec. Time to take up the uniform of the Priesthood and retire the uniform of the Scout.

I think one of the coolest things that would happen is that it would put the power of the quorum back into the hand of the youth and their presidencies. We have become so focused on the path of the Eagle that I believe we skip over the spiritual growth of each boy. The Duty to God program should incorporate a lot of the lessons taught in scouting. There should be camp outs and first aid training, hiking, swimming, education. But there should also be more service oriented goals. Give the boys a guideline to work with and let them plan it themselves.

Don't misunderstand me avid scouters, my time as a Boy Scout was great! But I knew many boys who felt differently, who felt pushed, and forced to do a program they weren't even planning on finishing. Think of how many young men were only at Scouts on Tuesday nights because they had to be, and had no desire to be there other than hang out with the boys their age.

All in all, with the Church moving toward a more "Teach by the Spirit" approach when it comes to youth, I feel the scouting program hinders the ability to plan activities that will strengthen the youth according to the needs of the quorum.

At the end of the day, I will stand by whatever the Church decides, because I know it is a Church ran by Christ himself. I have no ill feelings to my friends and family who choose to live a lifestyle different than mine. But these are my opinions, take em' if you want them. The funny thing about opinions is that they are free, and worth about as much too. ;)

Cops: They Have a Tough Road Ahead.

You know what's a rough job? Being a cop.

Not because the price of doughnuts is close to $10 a dozen, which I will gladly rant about in another blog post, but because they are now the number one victim in RCPR's (Random Camera Phone Recordings). If anyone knows how to relate to (inset modern day movie star with paparazzi issues) it's police officers. They constantly have cameras in their face. Can you imagine if you were doing your job with a camera on you all the time? But when we give someone the duty of maintaining law and order, we should hold them accountable. We have all seen way too many YouTube videos of cops over stepping their boundaries.

Reddit.com is pretty good at pointing out both sides of the countries current fascination with police. I for one, am glad more and more officers are getting body cams. I want to keep officers honest but also I want to protect them from accusations that are false or protect them when they are in the right for using force.

Take for example the Arizona Walmart parking lot brawl. I want to make sure those officers safe from any accusations against their choice to use lethal force.(http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/video-shows-walmart-brawl-christian-family-band-cops-article-1.2181445)

In the last couple of weeks there have been some stories come out against officers where the officer was clearly in the wrong. Body cameras would have been nice in these instances, but luckily we had citizens armed with cameras to record the wrong doings.

First is the shooting in South Carolina where Walter Scott was shot at while fleeing. The video clearly shows the officers planting a taser/gun on Walter Scott's body. The full story can be found here.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=0)

The second was a woman who was in some sort of altercation with police when the officer comes over and destroys the phone the woman is using to record the officers. Luckily there was another citizen recording across the street.


 I'm thinking we will start seeing a lot of backlash against cops. People don't take well to stories like the previous two. I predict people will become more cautious around officers. And this is all really sad not only for us but for the officers. Cops deal with a lot of people on a day to day basis. With so much skepticism and animosity towards officers floating in the air we are bound to see the "A" holes come out in full force with their RCPR's. Here are some example of citizen stupidity ...

 Stupid guy thinks he knows his rights

 Stupid girl thinks she knows her rights  

Regardless of how you feel toward the men in uniform, it's going to be tough for officers. People are going to be recording, they are going to get nasty, they are going to be ignorant, and they are looking for them to screw up. I respect anyone who chooses to wear the badge and have to deal with these problems, hopefully they are full of patience and are understanding of peoples current perception of cops in general.

Episode 9: Diary of a 20 Something Year Old Know-It-All

Sometimes, People Fall Out of Love.

Haha April Fools, we are still madly in love with each other! Have a great day!

Speak Your Mind!

This is Robert Downy Jr.

You wanna know what I like about RDJ? He's Tony Stark! I'm pretty sure he will always be Tony Stark. If ever there is another Iron Man, they will not fill the roll as well as RDJ.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, one thing I like about Tony Stark, is that he speaks his mind. There isn't much you don't know about him as a character. His opinions are right on his sleeves, and those opinions are usually blunt, honest, and to the point. I like that!

I was reading a comment thread the other day on Facebook. The topic of this thread was the BBC dropping Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear. Now, that's not important, to me at least. The part that struck me was that the OP of the thread had a dilemma. Short sweet and to the point, he felt one way about the firing of Jeremy Clarkson and his friends felt another way. He was almost disgusted that his friends could feel so passionately about an opinion that was contrary to his. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

My advice to my children will to be always speak your mind. Some might disagree with me on that, with the assumption that peoples feelings might get hurt, or that speaking your mind may affect you negatively sometimes, but hear me out on this one before jumping to conclusions. In my relationship with the people of this world I have found more likely than not, that when I have a problem with someone, it's because of a lack of communication. Thoughts weren't properly expressed leaving me and the other party to fill in the gap with our own assumptions. This is why I always try to express my opinion, I don't want people guessing which side I am on.

So what should you do when others have opinions different from yours? Accept them. Opinions make us who we are. We are all comprised of different opinions, that were constructed through different experiences, trials, joys, and other things we have lived through. They are formed by what we watch, who we associate with, where we live. Think about it, not one person in this world is exactly the same as you. Difference in opinion should be celebrated, not frowned upon. Expressing what is in your mind is like sharing a part of who you are. We should never be against sharing opinions. 

Now, going back to where you may disagree with me. It's all about presentation. There are times to share your opinions and there are times to hold you tongue. But you should never leave a situation thinking "I should have said" or "I wish I would have". You shouldn't push your opinions on others, and you should be accepting of opinions that differ from yours. That is how in fact we makes our opinions stronger.

A person cannot grow if he or she constantly places themselves is "safe" situations. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I cannot shun myself away from those with different beliefs. One, that isn't what God would want, two, how would I grow if I only surround myself with things that were comfortable to me. 

Your opinions need to be challenged, they need to be expressed, and you yourself sometimes need to hear your own voice solidifying what you believe. So share you mind. It's what makes you, you. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Should I Own a Gun?

 This is a pretty cool video. When I went through my CCW (Concealed carry or carrying a concealed weapon) class the first time, my instructor taught us the responsibilities of owning and carrying a firearm. He taught us how we are held to a higher standard of safety, and that we would be responsible for not only our lives but those who live around us. Not just by protecting them with a gun, but by protecting them from the gun.

I didn't get my CCW my first time around. I chose not to. It was a lot of weight on my shoulders, all of that responsibility. But as time went on and I heard more stories of people being killed by those with guns, I realized that I would be defenseless if I ever ended up in any of those situations. I went back, took the course again, and got my CCW.

I don't think all people are meant to have gun. Just like, not all people should drive. Not all people should own a credit card. You see all of these things require something, RESPONSIBILITY. You have to be responsible if you are going to own a gun. You have to educate yourself, take the proper precautions, teach your children the do's and don'ts of gun ownershipe, and if you can't do that, you shouldn't own a gun.

The people in this video were caught off guard. The were shown all of the horrible things that guns can do but weren't given the option of being positively persuaded to know that guns also save lives. The news doesn't report on the situations where a registered CCW holder saves the lives of those around them. Google "CCW saves lives" you will find plenty of cases where someone saves their own or others lives. Of course no one wants to own a gun who has killed someone. Even as a gun owner, I would feel really weird owning a gun that has taken innocent lives. People using guns kill people. The gun doesn't shoot itself.

These are all thoughts and ideas that have been said before, I don't claim to be revolutionary to them. But my thoughts on the subject of guns are this. If you want to own a gun, you need to feel ready to own a gun. Guns should always scare you, they are dangerous if not handled with care. So that is the question, are you ready to handle to responsibility of gun ownership? We you make sure you gun is safe at all times? Will you teach those around you about gun safety? If you feel responsible enough to own a gun, I would recommend it, not just for your safety but for the safety of others as well. If you don't then my advice to you is this, do not buy a gun. Take your time and wait until you can handle the responsibility of owning a gun.

New Job, technically the same, but new...

So I got a job. It's the same company, just a different position. I guess that's called a promotion. Either way, it's new and it's not what I was doing before! Here's the scoop. I moved into the office of Alias the Bugman. Alias the Bugman is my parents company, they've been around for about 27 years as a small family owned and operated company. Blah blah blah, advertisement blah blah blah. Regardless my job is to market Alias the Bugman. Me ... a marketer. HA! I also have to learn how to create websites and update the current one we have. It's pretty ancient. When you open it up dust literally comes out of your monitor. With said new position I have had to learn how to use Photoshop to help create the website and advertisements. I wanted to post a few of the pictures I have been working on. I also have a Spikeball club that I run here in Vegas. I've been creating stuff for it too, so it's included.