Introspection

So I was watching the season finale of South Park the other night and something came to me like a wrecking ball with a former Disney star perched atop it: Playing the victim gives you a pass to be a jerk or shirk responsibility. That was an overall theme for the season, as the one thread that ran through the entire season was Heidi's relationship with Cartman and how they would each play the victim card depending on the episode, with Cartman doing it in the first half and Heidi in the second as she became a female Cartman. However in the final moments she realized what she become, as she let her perceived victimhood turn her into this as she finally called it quits with him.

So how does this apply to me? How am I letting victimhood turn me into a Cartman? Lately my life has been a roller coaster, with every good or decent thing that happens it feels like something bad counteracts it. My uncle died two weeks ago and last week my dog hurt herself playing outside as well as my SO's abusive ex trying to come after us, forcing us to change our numbers to get away from him. I can't bring my uncle back through bitterness, and my dog won't get better by me being a chumpstain to people I don't know.

Which brings me to the reason I decided to write this blog post after months of being stagnant. There was a news story about a young boy named Keaton who made a viral video detailing how he was depressed over being bullied at school and at first he got mountains of empathy and in a similar way to the #MeToo movement, allowed people to come out publicly with their experiences being bullied. However rumors began to spread like a fire consumes a parched Christmas Tree about Keaton's mom being a supporter of the Confederate flag and Keaton himself using the N word to classmates, and with that all the empathy was swiftly taken away and replaced with more bullying. Mind you none of these have been verified as of yet as no evidence beyond conjecture has been brought to the surface, yet the court of public opinion came forward and declared guilty anyway.

What does this have to do with me? At the time the news broke, I was livid and said on a friend's page that all of them need to go to Hell, including the bullies. I had a ton of weight on my shoulders and I had to release it somehow but that's not an excuse. While it's true I didn't know at the time that these allegations weren't confirmed, healthy skepticism is a practice I wish we would use a lot more often, but I can see why people would think this without evidence. Keaton and his mom have a distinct Southern drawl so it would be easy to assume these two are racist hicks who brought the bullying to themselves.

Let's assume that the accusations were true, why does it matter? How does having an unpopular opinion or saying a pejorative word deny someone sympathy? Not to get too philosophical but if you point a finger, you have three pointing back at you, so you best hope that you have a clean record. Never throw stones from glass houses as they say. The truth is that this hatred is only going to make their bitterness worse, assuming again that the accusations have weight to them. It certainly made the bullying and harassment worse. I'm willing to admit I was wrong to judge them prematurely without looking for facts as I was in emotional pain and needed a catharsis. No one needs to go the Hell. I'm not going to let my victimhood be a sword and shield I can brandish at will. I'll happily admit what I did was wrong and I shouldn't let my emotions cloud my rational thoughts. I need to try harder at these things in order to improve myself as a person.

If only more people could do the same thing and look at some introspection and take responsibility when they're wrong, maybe the world would be a much more enjoyable place to live.

A little PSA

Admittedly this is a lesson I should have written about a year ago, maybe sooner, but me being the opportunist that I am and with the release of The Emoji Movie upon us, I feel now is the best time to make this message known. We've known about this movie for a long time, ever since it was first announced, people lost their minds. Animation fans foamed at the mouth when they found out that the long awaited Popeye movie was shelved in lieu of The Emoji Movie thinking it'd be more relevant to kids than a time tested tale of an oddly-proportioned sailor who eats spinach. I really don't need to go into much more detail, and in fact I won't, which leads to the subject of today's blog.

If you don't like something, ignore it and move on. This is especially true for movies and TV shows where the only thing that matters are box office figures or ratings respectively. If you buy a ticket to see The Emoji Movie just to confirm your suspicion that it sucks, Sony doesn't care, they're laughing their way to the bank with the amount of money they made off of the haters and I suppose the families they duped out of a decent movie. Honestly even talking about it is giving it bad publicity, but in the business world, even bad publicity is still publicity, the only sure fire way for something to die into obscurity is if no one remembers it. I could easily say the same thing for another online whipping boy Teen Titans Go, which is Cartoon Network's highest rated show as of this writing, partly because kids are none the wiser admittedly and also there's the ones who hate it and yet still watch just so their opinions are validated, and every animation critic on YouTube keeps whinging on about how bad the show is and how embarrassed everyone involved should be and so on.

Unfortunately the damage is done with TTG, because fans of the old show wouldn't shut up about this one, prompting more people to check it out and add more ratings to Cartoon Network, making them think it's a hit. We can change that with The Emoji Movie. If you're curious on seeing it, read a review and move on, read spoilers so you don't waste your money or time watching it and as such Sony doesn't get paid. If you want to speak out against it, speak with your wallet. Part of what made last year's Ghostbusters a crock was the controversy going in which was in my mind a publicity stunt since like I said, bad press is still press, and while the film itself was mediocre and bombed in theaters, the stunt got people talking. The Emoji Movie doesn't have that, so let it fade in obscirity. Don't give anyone a reason to see it, if you really don't think it'll be good, go with that gut feeling and save yourself the money. Spend it on something you know you'll enjoy.

And with that, I promise I'll start making regular updates again as things pop in my head. I just had to get this message out. Take care and have a great day.

Daddy OH FU-

You know this place has laid dormant like an abandoned shopping mall; gathering dust and growing mold on the floor in front of the Ames which used to be one of the anchors holding that mall afloat. It's only until an urban explorer, a Dan Bell by any other name, rediscovers this relic and makes it known to the annals of the world wide web. I am that Dan Bell, because I have no other place I can really say my peace on what's happening here.

Now any of you who know me well know that I think prank channels on YouTube are the worst; if reaction videos are cancer, prank channels are HIV. I originally just avoided them or blocked them with my handy dandy little video blocker extension, but one special channel caught my eye, and apparently caught several sets of peepers in fact, and all of them don't look too happy. If you've been following recent events and read the title of this blog, you pretty much know who I'm talking about, but to those who hate when I tap dance around the bush like Gene Kelley on amphetamines, I'm talking about DaddyOFive.

Where do I begin? No seriously, I have no idea where to start with this trainwreck. First let's address the elephant in the room, and I'm not referring to the mother: The abuse. DOF markets itself as a prank channel, but a prank by definition usually ends with the victim coming out unharmed, if a bit embarrassed or pissed. That's not the case here, the children here are clearly in danger, but the worst of all is Cody. Cody is the Meg Griffin to DOF's Family Guy where he has been verbally abused, physically manhandled, and even emotionally scarred over some Uno cards on an otherwise spotless bedroom floor. Now this is a reality that many children face, but the main difference is their anguish and pain isn't being documented and placed online for the world to see.

Now obviously I'm not the only one to cover this, as I'm only giving my two cents worth, but other big YouTube stars like Philip DeFranco, Boogie, and even Keemstar have covered and even interviewed parents and instigators Mike and Heather Martin. At first they claim the videos are exaggerated and edited in a way to seem real, much like similar but less traumatic channels like KidBehindACamera or SillySuperpop/Grim's Toy Show. Mike later on claimed that the videos were 100% fake once allegations of abuse were starting to surface, blaming DeFranco for sending a lynch mob his way. When more eyes started turning their way, they put every video on private and only had one public video: An apology, complete with alligator tears and putting on their Sunday best for the camera. I haven't seen this much backpeddling since the Fine Bros. were losing subscribers by the millions in the wake of their REACT fiasco.

Someone's happy they're no longer the most hated people on YouTube

So now that you have a pretty vague idea of what's happening, although I do suggest you guys check out Keemstar's interview and Boogie and MisterMetokur's videos on the subject, they'll shed more light than I could (I'll link them in the end), what's my opinion? Well what can I say that hasn't already been said a million times over, it's child abuse masquerading as a prank channel. I myself am a huge advocate against child abuse so of course incidents like this would bring my blood to a rolling boil, but to broadcast it online for the world to witness is a new low, especially with their subscriber count of over 700,000.

So some of you I hear out there asking "Where's Child Protective Services? This can't be legal!" It takes a lot for CPS to step in, as in unless the parents were smoking reefer and leaving the kids to fend for themselves for food, there's little that can be done, and even if CPS was to step in, they're pretty gutted as they're overloaded and underfunded, the procedure to take a child out of a home is a monumental task as in it's time consuming, and if in fact the kid is taken into foster care or adoption, until he/she gets adopted there's potential for worse abuse. What's more is that Heather isn't even Cody's biological mother, as the court system screwed his original mom for custody.

Now again, the parents and even the kids insist that no funny business is going on, but the proof's in the pudding. Abuse isn't limited to physical scars but mental scars, but the fact is kids don't know that, so when they say "We're not being abused" they're basically repeating what they've been told. These kids are going to grow up thinking that being yelled at when they cry or constantly told there's something wrong with them is normal behavior, and just so mommy and daddy can turn a profit, and then pass the buck to people like Boogie and Philip DeFranco who are doing the right thing exposing these bastards for what they are. And they have the nerve to only put their videos on private instead of taking them down outright and then make a half-assed apology video which has acting so bad, I take back every bad thing I've said about Tommy Wiseau. The good news is everyone is catching wise to their bull and calling them out in the comments.

There is simply no excuse to abuse your children and showcase it to the world wide web. Honestly child abuse is a despicable, evil, act of cowardice on its own but it's cranked up to 11 in a case like this. As much as I'm disgusted by Mr. and Mrs. Martin's attacks, I have a feeling they're mentally unhinged and it's taking a toll on their ability to raise their kids. Of course this is just me putting my psychologist hat on but it's not outside the realm of possibility. It doesn't excuse any of their actions thus far but if that's the case, at least we have a reason.

It felt amazing to let all of that out. Hopefully I'll be updating this page more often rather than every few months, so stay tuned!

Links:

Philip DeFranco's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpzCsXGxQg

MisterMetokur's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9jye0q2ZQ

Boogie2988's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tS3jxKvqBs

Keemstar's interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwkjOhSFpfI

Mommy, I need my SAFE SPACE!!

You guessed it folks, it's time for another Soapbox Session. This one I feel I'll either gain a ton of support or make a lot of enemies regardless how I handle it, but someone has to say something about this: This generation is too soft. You've seen it on the news, read it online on other blogs or YouTube videos, heard about it through Facebook by way of that always politically conscious acquaintance who you never really talk to, and now I'm squawking about it. But how could I begin a rant like this? I am a visual person, so I think the best way to start this thing is with a visual aide. Take a look at this and tell me our generation is full of crybabies:

As you can see in the video, this isn't some ultra liberal community college full of armchair activists, this is YALE, an IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL. To set up the stage for this clip because what's a clip without proper context, the dean of the school, fully aware of the nationwide case of diaper rash among today's collegiate students, made a statement saying that it's Halloween and to feel free to dress up however you like and to have a good time. Channeling their energy in jumping the gun, this group of overgrown toddlers waled on the dean, some even demanding for him to step down because of lack of a safe space. I wish I had more to say about this, but frankly, my blood pressure cannot take much more of this video.




Now mind you, I'm not talking about every college age student out there. Hell, I'm in the same demographic as these yutzes, pardon my Yiddish, and yes I do suffer from anxiety and the like, but I'm not fragile enough to be offended by everything. What these kids (And yes, that's what they are) want is for their college, again, an ivy league school that many students try and fail to get into, to turn into an ivy league preschool. When did everyone become Tina from Dilbert? Remember, she was the chick who managed to twist everything said to her into an offensive diatribe against her gender or profession. See for yourself:

Credit goes to Scott Adams for perfectly summing up modern society two decades before

Tell me that doesn't sound like a situation that could unfold today. Now mind you, I am an extremely tolerant person, I know when things are truly offensive or if people have glass bones and paper skin. Comedy, by and large, isn't meant to hurt anyone, for instance. If I made a joke about, say, Caitlyn Jenner, I'm not having a go at transgenders or even claiming it's wrong, I'm trying to turn something that's seen as odd to the normal person and making it funny, thus any potential fear goes away. Not the best example, but there you go. The point is that there's a difference between someone deliberately being offensive and someone like me taking the piss. We shouldn't have to walk on eggshells because we were too busy coddling this generation with the "Everyone gets a prize" mindset and telling everyone they're the best and thus making their self esteem dependent on this constant reassurance. That, I think, is what caused this problem; the culture we created where participation prizes exist and no one is left out. In life there are winners and losers, and if you win, awesome! If you lose, suck it up and try harder next time instead of shriveling in a hole and dying.

Now onto the meat of this Soapbox Session, the "safe space" or an area free of the offensiveness of reality. A dreamland where unicorns dance on clouds of cotton candy and rainbows made of sunshine dust and everybody is nice and no one gives any criticism, even if it's constructive, A Valhalla of variation, Nirvana for the neurotic, paradise for the paranoid. I may have exaggerated a bit, but I feel that's not too far from the truth. Think for a second: When South Park decides to dedicate an entire season on taking the piss on SJWs and this Faberge egg culture, and your entire state of being is seen as a laughing stock, you have a problem.

Again, I have no issue with people with mental issues and anxiety. I suffer from it myself, I have depression, but do you see me being triggered by something like hand clapping? I'm not that fragile to the point where I have to be handled with kid gloves, and I honestly think this entire movement, if you want to call it that, is attention whoring BS. Again, I'm not denying that there are people with genuine problems, but the world shouldn't have to bend over to your will because "I'm offended!" So what, get over it. There's billions of people alive today, and you're going to let one person get under your skin? One person you don't even know? GET OVER IT!

True mental illness is not something that should be taken lightly, and it pisses me off when I see someone trying to act like they have one just for sympathy and attention, and that's precisely what these crybabies are doing. Folks, life is not easy. If you go into the real world outside of college, outside of your parents house, outside of your delusional safe space or whatever platitude you want to use, you'll be eaten alive if you try pulling this shit on them. You simply cannot live life expecting the world to revolve around you and throwing a tantrum screaming "Check your privilege" or "I'm triggered/offended!" when you don't get your way. There's true oppression out there, and what are you doing to stop it? Oh wait, you're too busy being triggered by applause.

Appeal to worse problems fallacy aside, this generation needs to firm up and grow some balls, end of story. As long as you're not an asshole, I don't care who/what your are or identify as, you're cool. And that's all I have to say about that.

Soapbox Session: Intense Peppermints: The Starbucks Red Cup Debacle

                It’s amazing what gets people riled up in today’s world. If you say one wrong word, you’re called an –ist of some kind. Make one false move and you’re strung up by your balls and forced to apologize lest your livelyhood go down in flames and you’re effectively blacklisted from society. However there’s one thing I never thought I’d have to write an open letter about: Starbucks. Granted, I’m not a frequent customer to the Walmart of coffee houses, but I am aware that they have a few annual traditions, one of them being the red cups they offer every Holiday season once the last bit of pumpkin spice has been snorted by one of the baristas and the halls can officially be decked. However, this year the franchise decided to take a more simple approach to their Yuletide tradition, by having a plain red cup minus any Wintery graphics.

            Personally I find this to be a welcome change, since the color red is still very much associated with the Holidays, but it seems everything is not without its controversy these days, as many die-hard Christians are outraged with the lack of semi-transparent snowflakes and snowmen on their cups, using it as more ammo in their now annual “War on Christmas” debate. There’s so many things wrong with this argument that I don’t know where to begin. First and foremost, shut up about this “War on Christmas” BS. There’s no war on Christmas, and there never was one. You need to recognize that there are other holidays around the time of Christmas, hence why it’s the “Holidays” as opposed to making an amalgamation of every celebration from Christmas to the Winter Solstice. Saying that only Christmas matters is selfish and pretty bigoted to say the least. And don’t get me started on the X-mas bull either, because the X literally means Christ because of its resemblance to the cross and is as old as Christianity itself, but that’s another topic. Starbucks themselves stated that their intent wasn’t to demean Christmas or give it the jolly boot of doom, but to have a minimalist cup which appeals to everyone. Like I said, I still get that warm, fuzzy holiday feeling when I look at the ads without any Santas to inject Holiday Cheer directly in my bloodstream.

Sweet sweet Holiday Cheer....

            Secondly, why does it even matter? I mean, I can understand if some depraved soul decided to start a collection of Starbucks Red Cups and displays them over his mantle piece like trophies, but most people are going to throw them away after taking 50 Instagram pictures of their peppermint-infused diabetic coma in a cup. The drink itself hasn’t changed, so why does a little foam cup matter so much? Maybe it’s my ignorance of coffee culture as a whole and people may indeed treat coffee like it’s a religion in its own right, but I do not see the significance of what will turn into a piece of trash in a matter of minutes. Are we this sensitive as a society where we get our tacky holiday sweaters in a twist when a company changes graphics on a CUP?

            Lastly, I know this goes against the “Appeal to worse problems” fallacy, but surely there are bigger issues in the Christian world than a coffee chain. What about true persecution in foreign countries where missionaries are imprisoned or killed? What about Christian-run charities which could use that $20 you spent on a Vente machiato with all the trimmings to help combat homelessness or hunger? This is clearly a case of picking your battles, and like I said, my argument may be fallacious, but then again, so are people who get uptight about something they’re going to throw in the garbage anyway.  It’s a cup, not a declaration of war. Get over yourselves.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I thought this generation would have more sense than to start nothing short of a riot over a Styrofoam cup. I genuinely thought we were better than this, but now I see why people see Christianity as a joke. Speaking as a devout Christian myself, we need to cut out the BS and focus on things which truly matter, not first-world problems as insignificant as this. 

Robin Williams: A Tribute and a Lesson Learned

Yesterday the world lost one of the funniest men who ever lived, one Robin Williams, better known as Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams, the Genie from Aladdin, and Mork from Mork and Mindy. He was also an unsurpassed impressionist, great with improv, and a great comedian both on the silver screen and on our TV sets. He was 63 years old when he passed. I don't usually cry for celebrity deaths, but this is the first time I felt genuine sadness for a dying celebrity. The man was a big part of my childhood, and Mrs. Doubtfire still remains one of my top 5 favorite comedies of all time.

The comedy world is weeping over its loss, but what did him in? Reports have said that he supposedly committed suicide after losing a battle with severe depression, despite being put on medication for it as well as seeking mental help. However it wasn't enough, or else he'd be alive and breathing today and I wouldn't have to write this.That said, the death of a legend isn't the only thing that prompted me to write this, as I feel a lesson can be learned from this about depression and mental illness in general.

What exactly do I mean? Just because someone isn't showing obvious signs doesn't mean they're not depressed or on the brink. In fact studies show that most suicides have no prior warning or if there was one, it wasn't taken seriously. Think about it, anyone who didn't know Williams personally thought that he had it all, but were shocked to hear he did himself in. Now what about if one of your best friends committed suicide and you had no prior knowledge. Same feeling, you'd assume he/she was perfectly happy or at least content, but never saw the internal suffering, the mental anguish, the emotional pain that becomes too much to bear.

I myself suffer from depression, anxiety (Both general and social), and hypochondria, so I see the world through a different set of eyes than other people, just as everyone has a differing perspective on things. Just because someone isn't constantly crying doesn't mean they're not depressed. Just because someone looks healthy doesn't mean they think they are. You can never judge a book by its cover and assume that a person is A'OK just based on appearances. Focusing on depression alone, people handle it differently. Some people express anger with their depression, some use humor and a false smile to conceal their pain, much like Williams. Then there are some who use drugs to cope, from alcohol to hard drugs, in some cases mixing the two. There are antidepressant drugs out there which work in some cases, but other treatments are there in case medicine doesn't help.

Anyone can suffer from depression, despite studies suggesting that women are more likely than men to do so. Rich or poor, young or old, black or white, male or female, nobody's safe. However, just because you or someone you know are diagnosed doesn't mean there's nothing you can do. Depression is a treatable disease, with some cases even showing a full recovery, but those are few and far between. One thing you can do is open up or encourage someone to let you in so you can communicate and not suffer in silence. Sometimes the support of a friend is the best antidepressant you have. Better than drugs at any rate.

So what exactly is the lesson I can end this on? Looks can be deceiving. That's the big issue I want to stick in your heads as you read this. Don't assume someone's not suffering or faking because they don't have external signs. Talk to someone, let them know they're loved instead of just another faceless acquaintance on a social network.

I've taken the liberty of providing a couple of links that can explain this better than I can:

 http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-facts-everyone-gets-wrong-about-depression/

http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/9-myths-depression

http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/03/24/10-common-myths-about-depression-debunking-the-misconceptions/

Soapbox Session: Terrorist? Really?

A little fact about myself: I rarely get into potential politics. I find that both sides of the political spectrum are psychotic in their own individual ways and I personally wouldn't want any extremist or group of extremists on either side to run this country alone. When asked what is my political affiliation, I choose libertarian because that's the most level-headed political party out there and they stand for what America should stand for: Liberty.

Now why do I have to make that point clear? Because there's a news story that makes me rather cross. There's a story about a middle school who called a group of students who, in an act of civil disobedience, broke dress code "terrorists." I wish I was kidding. I really was hoping that was a troll article or a piece from The Onion or a similar satire site, but I'm afraid this is all too real. Now what was the punishments for these alleged homegrown followers of the Taliban? Two weeks suspension and an essay on why civil disobedience is a "crime."

Don't you think that if you were serious about the terrorist label you'd go all the way and have them expelled or possibly deported instead of a mere suspension and essay? You can't have it both ways, calling an organized dress code protest the same act as a suicide bombing and giving them a slap on the wrist should this have been a true terroristic threat.

Forgive me if I'm wrong and feel free to correct me here, but isn't the definition of terrorism supposed to mean inciting fear or terror for political means? How is civil disobedience an incitement of fear or terror for a political goal, unless untucked shirts and baggy jeans are en vogue for Al-Qaeda operatives this season? Answer: It isn't. In fact this country has had a history of civil disobedience when unfairness or oppression struck. Look at events like the Boston Tea Party or the American revolution, the latter of which we celebrated just a few days ago. What about the Civil Rights movement? Had nothing happened, black people would still be sitting in the backs of buses and generally treated like dirt. Had we not declared our independence, we'd still be under British rule. Women and minorities wouldn't have the right to vote, need I go on?

By the principal's logic, all of the great men and women who disobeyed unjust laws would be labeled terrorists. People like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence would be put under the same label as Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. You want to know who the real terrorist is, by the true definition? The principal, whose name I won't mention for privacy reasons. Rest assured, she is getting many emails flooding her inbox about this ordeal, and some of them suggest that she get fired. Once again, terrorism is defined as using fear to bring forth political goals. Ergo, her misuse of the term and thus weakening it is, to me, true terrorism.

Think about it; terms like terrorist, if overused for every thing you don't like, will lose its potency and if something were to really happen, no one would take the threat seriously and everyone is doomed. If anything, this is a case of history repeating itself, as throughout not just America's history but world history words have been diluted and weakened by being used willy-nilly for ad hominid attacks. Heretic was used in times where the church ruled alongside government, witch was thrown around aimlessly in Salem in the 1600s and perhaps earlier in medieval times, and communist was the insult du jour for both Red Scares; all of these bringing forth harsh penalties for those accused, from burning at the stake to being stoned to death or merely blacklisted from society. Disobeying a dress code is no reason to be labeled a terrorist, even if it was for a political reason, as is the case of Tinker V. Des Moines back in the 60s.

My point is that unless there was going to be violence or fear mongering involved with this civil protest against what may or may not be an unjust dress code, it's not terrorism, but rather people who throw the term around like candy on Halloween are more so terroristic in that regard. It's not clear exactly what rules in the dress code made this group decide to take action, but I support them all the way, as part of my civic duties as an American citizen who believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.