Humanity is doomed!

Have you ever looked out of a 22^nd floor window and thought to yourself why?  I found myself doing just that as I was looking out over the city streets full of cars, at a harbor scene of a tug boat pulling in a tanker, and of the minute patches of green peeking out amongst the skyscrapers and various buildings.  I could not help but wonder why we, as a species, allowed ourselves to construct such an industrialized way of living while at the same time choking out the remnants of a green lush environment, all in the name of progress.

Humans pride themselves at being clever.  After all, look at all the achievements we have made over the centuries.  For example, we went from teaching proper cursive and reading books to using computers and smart phones that made those skills obsolete.  We went from riding horses to riding cars of all different shapes, styles and speeds.  We went from riding steam engines to riding jetliners across the skies.  And of course, how can we ever forget that we went from being bound to Mother Earth by gravity to soaring through the atmosphere into the darkness of space, landing on the Moon in 1969 (Why haven’t we ever done it again?) and constructing an international space station in 1998 that is still being used today! There is no denying the ingenuity of humanity.

And along with all the technological achievements, we advanced our own life expectancies.  In 1900, you would be lucky to live to 50!  Today humans’ life expectancy is now around 75 +/- depending on the country you from.  All because we discovered cures and medicines to fight disease (though we still don’t have a cure for the common cold and the longer life expectancy resulted in an over population no one wants to talk about). 

So with all of these wonderful feats of humanity, why am I saying the human race is doomed? 

Well, I remember growing up thinking about the year 2000.  Flying cars and science fiction becoming reality were the main themes of my childhood.  But instead of any of that becoming true, in the past 16 years since the millennium, human beings are faced with growing tensions amongst each other solely because of their skin color, individual monetary worth and religious beliefs.  Every day you read on the internet or hear on the news about all of these horrible conflicts resulting in deaths.  Humans are killing humans for no real good reason! 

Then of course there is the political stages.  With this year being the United States big election year, I find myself throwing up in my mouth at just the thought of someone like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump being in charge of the most powerful (and laughed at) country on the planet.  Both do not deserve the right to lead my country.  And the overall political climate since September 11, 2001 has been a horror show!  All is to blame.  Politicians and civilians alike.  The killings and violent protests combined with biased news makes me long for Big Brother to put an end to it all (1984 reference).

Finally, my passion always weighs heavy on my opinions for the future of humanity.  Animal welfare – or a lack of!

• Canadian Seal Hunt resulting in the (proven) inhuman slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals, most under the age of 3 months.

• The Cove in Taiji Japan resulting in the slaughter of hundreds of dolphins or the dozens sold into captivity.

• Millions of farm animals housed in inhumane conditions, treated with a lack of compassion and not given basic needs, before being slaughtered for food; most of which will be thrown out (the US is the most wasteful country).

• Hundreds of thousands of endangered wild animals facing extinction because of loss of habitat, poaching and trophy hunting.

• People videotaping the murder of innocent dogs and cats for fun, in order to go viral on the internet.

• The eradication of wolves, bears, mountain lions, lynx, bobcats, fox, birds of prey, etc…in the United States because humans want the land to themselves or decide to kill them in ignorance and greed.

• Millions of dogs and cats are euthanized every year in shelters because they are unwanted by greedy, self-absorbed owners, and laws punishing animal cruelty and neglect are lacking.

I could go on.  But these are just a few of the cases that will not be going away anytime soon.  We call ourselves humans, but we are anything but humane.

Unless humans start acting like the name we have given ourselves, we are a doomed species!  There is hope.  People discuss the issues I have mentioned on a daily basis.  Some have even developed grass roots programs to help make a difference.  But is it enough? 

I guess my point of this whole (long) blog post is to stress how important it is for us to STOP!  We as a species must start doing what is right for the future of ourselves and for the environment that we live in.  It is time we stop being so selfish and greedy and help each other and all of our animal friends.  If we don’t start today, the chances of us reaching the year 3000 is highly unlikely.

My Roar is Over (for now). 

A gorilla named Harambe: his death and what it means for the future of gorillas

A gorilla named Harambe: his death and what it means for the future of gorillas

Powerball fever demonstrates social greed in the USA

Later tonight the country will frantically await for the Powerball numbers to be announced and with it the chance to win an astonishing 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS!  For the past week, the news stations have been talking about the Powerball lottery and when no one won the jackpot this past Saturday night, this will be the biggest national lottery prize ever recorded!

However, despite the frenzy of imagining yourself as a new Billionaire, I cannot help but think about how foolish and greedy the Powerball is making us as a nation look.

For the past eight years, most political debates centered around the haves vs the have nots and the rich vs the poor.  How many times did you have to listen to some commentator talk about taking from the wealthier citizens and “redistribute” to the poorer neighborhoods.  Or another commentator talk about how we, the United States, have become another Welfare State; contributing to people’s sense of entitlements, handouts, and lack of personal responsibility.

These are all serious social issues that cannot be solved overnight.  And the lack of funding for very important social programs that can help people better their lives are disheartening.

But…there is always the Lottery.

Since Sunday, people have been waiting in lines to purchase a $2 piece of paper – and tonight on my way home I will be no different.  But as a result, I couldn’t help but wonder WHAT IF EVERY CITIZEN IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS DONATED $2 A WEEK?!

·          We could help feed the hungry.  In a report published in 2013, 1 in 7 children were undernourished or underfeed in the USA.

·          We could expand programs for the elderly such as assisting them with high prescription drug costs

·          We could provide housing to the homeless by fixing up abandoned homes and create more shelters

·          We could create a funding program so that everyone gets an education

·          We could create more animal shelters so that the term “high kill shelter” becomes a thing of the past

·          We could create local infrastructure programs to help build better sidewalks, parks, etc…

These are just some of the things that can be accomplished.  And there would be no bashing of Republicans vs Liberals or Wealthy vs Poor.  Because we, as citizens, will be helping ourselves in our own communities for just a price of $2 a week.  

Or we can just keep playing lotto.

#greed 

#lotto

#powerball

#society

How the Zimmerman acquittal may kill self defense

I am sure many of you were surprised to wake up this morning to learn that George Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges on killing Trayvon Martin.  I really thought the 6 women jury was going to convict Zimmerman on manslaughter.  However, that was not meant to be and he is now considered innocent and a free man.

What upsets me though is the potential ramifications on how the justification of "self defense" may be affected in the years to come.

When I took karate years ago, my instructor told me that as I learned more about the martial arts, I also had to understand the meaning of self defense.  What I've learned is this:

When a person takes a punch at me, I can defend myself by blocking the attack and responding with an equal reaction.  In this case, I can attempt to punch that person back.  However, I could not break the attacker's neck, or rip his throat out, or break his/her back, etc...  In other words, my reaction must be equal.  Now, if the attacker had a knife or gun, then all bets are off and I can defend myself with deadly force because it is reasonable for me to believe that my life is in danger.    This is what I've learned in regard to self defense and as far as I know, it really has not changed.

But here comes the Zimmerman vs Martin case.  From what I've gathered over the weeks of TV coverage, Zimmerman followed Martin because he suspected, based upon his appearance, that Martin was up to no good.  Unfortunately, no one can really say for sure what happened because Martin is no longer on this world.  He was killed from a gunshot wound inflicted by Zimmerman.

Basically, because of Zimmerman following Martin, a street fight broke out resulting in Zimmerman suffering abrasions to the back of the head.  But Martin was not armed with a deadly weapon.  As soon as Zimmerman got attacked, if that is what happened first, he could have yelled for help, he could have walked/ran away.  But that is not what he did.  He took out his gun and shot Martin.

Based upon my knowledge of marital arts, Zimmerman acted beyond the scope of an equal reaction.  However, the current legal system we have still labeled it self defense.  So my problem is this...

Because of this case, there is now a precedent on the books that any dumb-ass throwing a punch at someone can now be potentially shot and killed???

I hope this thought is wrong, for all of our sakes.  Let me know what you think.

It's been a while

Hi anyone reading...

It's been a very long time since I've written on My Roar.  In fact, the last post was nearly 3 years ago.  Since then I've been doing a lot of different things such as writing on Examiner and working on my Animal Advocacy Network site on Facebook.  Not to mention getting seriously obsessed with Doctor Who, Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.

Anyway, I've decided to revamp My Roar and will be posting my opinions and rants soon.  The reason for this decision is the Zimmerman acquittal.  Later on I will be posting my thoughts on that and plan to post some rants daily.  We'll just have to see where this takes me next.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to comment or leave suggests for topics you want me to roar about.