But, I also believe that many, if not the majority of people in our world, simply do not want to change. They fear it… they like the way they are… they want everyone else to change to meet their needs and not the other way around. Change is a two way street in my opinion. More often than not, everyone needs to change and meet somewhere in the middle rather than having a certain group of people change to meet the group on the other side of the valley.

I see people in various states of change… unwanted change forced upon them, disguised change for some to see while others see the unchanged individual, and those willingly engaging in change for the betterment of their own life as well as others. Who do you think has the easiest time going about their daily life from the above categories?

Of course those willing to change are going to have a much happier existence simply because they have chosen to change. Those who are forced to change, do so without buying into the outcome that change is good for them… otherwise they would have elected to change willingly. And those who are choosing to pull the deceptive veils of change over their persona are only hurting themselves worse over time. To put it simply, they are nothing more than liars… to themselves, and to those around them.

To me, these people are also untrustworthy. At least the people unwilling to change have the guts to publicly stand their ground and fight for what they believe to be in their own personal best interests. Those who disguise their true intentions are weasels, snakes, and deserve to be treated as such. They deserve no respect for their actions. Change… or don’t… no need to fake it.

How do you live your life when facing change? Are you one of those who accept change and move forward? Are you one who will always buck change while going down in flames protecting what you know? Or, are you one of those who will fake change to get by and keep your precious status quo in check?

Do you know any of these fake changers in your life? How do they make you feel? I have known a few of these people throughout my life and they irritate and aggravate me… for the simple reason that they are nothing more than fakers! I can’t stand fake people… fake attitudes… fake in general. Be real or get out of my life.

Fake people, acting like they have changed, are also manipulators. It makes sense doesn’t it? If they had bought into the idea of change, they wouldn’t be disguising their actions. If they are disguising their true self, they must be doing it for a reason. That reason is that it serves their selfish reasons for a presumed payoff. They are trying to manipulate the people and situation around them to serve their own needs.

Fakers… manipulators… liars… weasels… the list could go on. People who disguise their true actions with veils of deception cannot be trusted. Choose to accept change or fight it… don’t be one of those who fake it.

No, I’m not only talking about the supervisors or managers of us in our work lives, I am also talking about our own ability to manage ourselves. Our lives, both at work and at home, have simply become overwhelmed by too many multitasking opportunities. We are focused, but unfocused at the same time. We are trying to do too many things at once while accomplishing nothing. We are effectively in a constant state of paralysis. Our attention is being pulled in so many directions, we cannot move forward without pulling something else backwards in our lives.

Our single person isn’t enough to continually push the amount of stuff in our lives forward at once. So, we live a life of unfocused focus. At work, we are responsible for many things because as Americans, we pride ourselves on efficiency and hard work. At home, we over subscribe our time because we have so many irons in the fire. While we focus on one thing, something else is falling behind. We switch our focus to correct that and something else lags. We just cannot catch up. It eventually leads to an overwhelming situation where we feel that no matter what we do, we just cannot keep up, get out, or complete a project.

As we manage ourselves, we must decide what we can do. We must decide how thin to stretch our time, our resources, and our energy. Our managers at work must also do the same. If we are stretched beyond our capabilities, we end up where a lot of us are today… overwhelmed and paralyzed. So, we have meetings to have a meeting in an effort to fix a certain situation. We make a plan to have a plan so that we can push forward something that is dragging behind. We continually have the same conversations over and over again because our focus has been split into a hundred different directions. It seems as if we are reinventing the wheel over and over again.

At some point in time, we should put a stake into the ground and announce that we are pushed as far as we can go. There is a finite amount of energy and time in our everyday lives. We must recognize that as an individual and our supervisors must also realize that. If our lives are allowed to continue down this path, a breaking point will be discovered and over time, everything will come crashing down. Rather than living in a state of paralysis, we will enter a situation of freefalling disaster. The pressures of everything around us that we were capable of holding at bay will crush us and we will not be able to reverse the momentum.

We need to regain our focus and whittle down the amount of things we are undertaking in our lives. We should focus our efforts on returning to a more minimal state of living and recover some of our time at home. Our managers at work must realize that a “Jack of all trades” is not better than an expert… or king of the trade. We can still be efficient and not be responsible for umpteen different tasks at once. Focused worker attention is more efficient and also more productive. Focused home life allows for a more stable household and creates better relationships.

But, this is America… we are the “go go” society. We want to be number one and the price we pay to be number one may just not be worth it. If we sacrifice ourselves and our identity to achieve so-called prosperity aren’t we really the losers?

My wife and I were having a conversation today and I had sort of an epiphany about myself. In my late teens and early 20’s, I realized that all I cared about was my own self. I wanted to be the smartest. I wanted to be the best. I wanted everyone to know and to see that. I actively searched for situations where I could grow my pride and my associated ego. I succeeded at my search and I felt pretty good about myself. My self-serving needs were being met and my pride and ego were about as massive as I can ever remember. I was insanely proud of myself.

However, sometime in my mid to late 20’s, I realized that my selfish needs were simple and short lived. I realized that life is better served by caring for other people and putting their needs ahead of mine. At this point in my life, I began to actively search for someone I could spend the rest of my life with. I was ready for commitment. I was ready to grow up. After serving myself for so many years, I now understood that to truly fill your being with an unending supply of personal nutrients for growth, you needed to focus upon those you care about in your life rather than your own existence.

I was lucky enough to find my wonderful wife around this time in my life… my selfish mentality had changed and I was ready for her to enter my life. The 9+ years since have been continually getting better.

As I look back, I know that if I had continued down the path of pursuing my individual needs of pride and ego, I would have missed my opportunity to meet my wife. I would have solely focused upon myself and missed the path in my journey that led to true happiness. We are all given a chance in our lives to make the choice between pride and ego or caring for others. Where are you at in your life? In all honesty, are you pursuing your own selfish desires or are you pursuing what will truly make a lasting difference in your life? Relationships and family are the lasting differences in our lives.

Being that we live in America, we are all taught that we can do and be anything. We are at the center of our known universe. Serving and satisfying our own needs has been taught to us as our primary goal from the beginning of human consciousness in our generation. We can make anything happen if we truly want it. I’ve even seen books tell me that if I truly believe in something that is going to happen, the good vibes in the universe will provide me my wish. You may have heard of a bestselling book touting this idea, “The Secret.” I hate to tell you, but that’s simply not true.

These days, I still have the urge for the prideful event and I always feel the twinge of my ego wanting to grow, but I do my best to keep these chains of desire out of my life. I have found that my life is much happier serving the needs of my family than serving the needs of myself. I’m sure many of you know exactly what I’m talking about and I’m sure there are those of you out there that are still in the self serving mode. In the end, we all have to live through our own trials and errors and if you can be honest with yourself, you will realize that pride and ego are actually some of the chains that will continually hold you down and feed depression and unhappiness.

Serving pride and ego are some of the worst things we succumb to doing as human beings. Break the chains and realize that serving the needs of others is where true happiness is found.

Yes, we are/were in an age of excess, you cannot deny it. While your particular purchasing habits may not have been of epic proportions, society as a whole focused upon possession and more of everything. After so many years of living beyond our means (I’m at fault here myself), we are all paying the price of our past mistakes. We were all blindly led to believe that the future offered everything that would satisfy our monetary needs because our equity continued to build as we bought more and more stuff. We kept expanding and living upon the faith that a dollar spent today would turn into more than a dollar in the future. However, that future was expected to be the VERY NEAR future.

In between the buildup and that seemingly promised future, we have experienced a major issue, our economy buckled under the constant pressure of excess living. No longer do we have that “guarantee” of future monetary reward for our past greed. I say greed because what other term can you logically apply to how we were living? We were ALL at fault for living greedily. Blame who you like, but we are all responsible for our own decisions in the end.

Now that we are experiencing the cyclical nature of the free markets and the dire consequences of our actions, we are left with a very important decision to make. Are we going to try and persevere through these “tough” times and continue our previous way of life or are we going to change how we live and change our purchasing habits? I for one am going to enter what I call an Age Of Minimalism. My purchasing habits will be directed by a set of strict guidelines that focus upon need and not greed.

Do I actually need what I currently own? Of course I need a house and a vehicle, but do I need a huge house and an SUV to satisfy those requirements? Outside of food, shelter, and other life necessities, what do we truly need? Do we need multiple televisions? Do we need a library of books and DVDs? Do we need new furniture and all the knick knacks that make our home cluttered? You get the idea. Sure, there are some things that we do need, but there is a very clear line between things we truly need and those which we don’t. There is also a clear line between satisfying your need and EXCESSIVELY satisfying your need.

We have been inundated with the big box stores promoting greater savings by buying larger packages of stuff. Do you need a gallon of ketchup? Do you need 36 cans of Spaghettios? Do you need 48 rolls of toilet paper? If we are buying these things, we have to have a place to put them right? So, we need more of everything… more stuff that we “need” and more space to store this “stuff.”

Our nation is facing a turning point and I believe that either by choice or by economic force, our citizens are going to each have to make the choice and choose to live in an Age Of Minimalism. Our President Elect Barack Obama rode the winds of change to the White House based upon his promises for a better economy. However, his latest speeches have been ENTIRELY focused upon the need to temper our expectations about what can be done. He says things will likely get worse before they get better. He says it will take time to fix what years (a generation) have broken. Really… and here I thought his election was a magic pill for our economy and people would somehow wake up with thousands of dollars in their bank account so they could go about their business and merrily spend their money…

The choice we face could determine the long term existence of our country. If we fail to change our lives of excess, our economy could disintegrate and we would no longer be a relevant nation in the global economy. We must change from being greedy to being focused upon our needs. If we satisfy our needs and save our money, we will return our nation to economic prosperity and our lives will in turn become more satisfying. We are worried about our economy because we chose to live excessively. We are now paying that price and that price may destroy our nation’s long term economic success if we fail to recognize our ignorance. Change from greed to need and happiness will return, along with economic stability.

In the last article, I mentioned the 16 pages of bickering that resulted from the original topic writer’s opinion piece. What I didn’t mention was the fact that nearly all of the “debaters” considered themselves of the same faith. How can there be such disparate viewpoints on an issue so black and white such as abortion? Without religion, sure, there can be many shades of gray, but within the religious community, there is one simple and resounding fact, abortion is not to be accepted.

Let’s just throw this issue out and focus on the bickering and the resulting ramifications, because in reality, the issue isn’t the problem. The issue is that there are too many differing factions amongst the religious community. Each denomination can be separated by many different sub-categories and have their own set of acceptable rules and regulations you should abide by. Orthodox and unorthodox, strict versus non-strict, and the list goes on. But, as part of the Christian faith, all teaching should be directly rooted within the Bible’s passages and messages.

When the public sees Christians fighting amongst themselves over such core issues, what are they left to think? Are they going to think Christians are following their own standards and spiritual guides or are they going to think much differently? Christians, while debating such issues, must watch what they say and must think about their personal spiritual relationship before regurgitating some “official” Church stance on the subject.

Personally, I am a Christian, but I do not consider myself a member of a specific denomination. I don’t believe you have to be Catholic or Protestant. I believe you are simply a Christian if your faith is in Jesus Christ. However, when I debate religion, I am slow to argue and quick to listen. Debating is much different than arguing. Debating will attempt to answer questions and offer informational arguments concerning the issue at hand. Arguing only leads to a winner and loser mentality no matter what the fallout.

Christians, who argue in front of their fellow man, believer and non-believer alike, do nothing but harm their faith and leave those who can hear, see, and read with distaste for all involved. How can people of the SAME faith, be at each other’s throats over issues which are so clear amongst the Christian community? Some people feel the need to be, or feel, right no matter what the costs are. Some people will destroy everything for their own personal satisfaction. This is what I equate religious infighting to… some people are so worried about winning, they are actually losing and they are hurting more people than they can ever imagine.

You can take this ideology to any issue in your life. If you are too worried about winning, then you are likely arguing. If you are worried about the other person’s point of view and listen, then you are more than likely debating. Debating is healthy and we all learn from it, even on spiritual issues. Arguing is always a lose/lose situation. In the case of religious infighting, it’s even worse than just a lose/lose situation, you are potentially harming everyone around you and your entire faith. Be quick to listen, be slow to speak. The old adage “Think before you speak” can be applied everywhere.

After Obama’s clear win to become our next President and the Democratic Party’s steamrolling of Republican opposition in the Senate and House elections, the Democrats are in a position of distinct power. How they utilize this newfound power remains to be seen. However, the media has been throwing the term “mandate” around… Has the Democratic Party been given a national mandate which provides a political superhighway without roadblocks allowing the liberal agenda to be stamped into our public policy for all to abide by?

I’ve read that Obama’s win effectively “crushed” the Republican Party and thus the desire of the nation is equal to that of the Democratic Party’s agenda. I say that the media is overreacting to the final Electoral College vote and making sweeping generalizations of just how “crushing” of a win this actually was. In 2004, George W. Bush garnered more than 62 million votes while Kerry received 59 million votes. As of right now, with a few votes still to be counted, Obama has received 64 million votes and McCain nearing 57 million. Not quite the “crushing” knockout blow the media has been trying to shove down our collective throats. Looking into the numbers, that 7 million vote difference is largely made up of two states of voters, California and New York. Those two states voted for Obama by more than 4 million votes combined. That means the other 48 states accounted for less than 3 million votes for an Obama win, or just about an average of 60,000 people per state.

Is that a national mandate? I think not. America is not calling for the liberal Democratic agenda to be our nation’s policy. America voted Obama as our next President, but we did not provide him a clean slate to rewrite governmental policy into some sort of Liberal or Socialist state. Nancy Pelosi, the farthest left wing liberal known even knows this simple fact that the national media has seemingly missed. She states, “The country must be governed from the middle. You have to bring people together to reach consensus on solutions that are sustainable and acceptable to the American people.”

Wait a second while I pick myself up off the floor by this knockout blow to my jaw. Let me reprint that, Pelosi said “the country must be governed from the middle.” Words from HER mouth… In this day and age with the Democratic Party’s chest filled with pride and determination, the one voice of moderation is their Party’s MOST LIBERAL? Have I gone insane? Am I dreaming? Can this be true?

As I sit here flabbergasted at her publicly stated opinion AFTER her party dominated the election races in terms of wins, I will be honest, I expected her to be the first in line trying to push the liberal agenda forward at a breakneck pace. But the more I think about it, the more I understand her position and realize that she may not in fact, be a bumbling idiot like she appears to be the majority of the time. She has a job, power, and ego to protect. She knows that if she allows her party to go overboard on forcing their liberal agenda through the governmental pipe that is now under their unabashed control, they face a potential voter backlash for their actions.

Even though Obama won and the Democrats are in power, there are still nearly 60 million people who didn’t vote for their party. The Independents that helped vote the Democratic Party into power are not subscribed to their liberal agenda. If Pelosi allows her Party to rush forward and push their personal agendas forward, she knows that in the end, they will pay a price by being voted from office. We have seen this happen before… remember the Clinton and Gingrich days? Pelosi has at least learned from past mistakes made and hopefully she will stay true to her statement and direct her party as Speaker of the House to govern from the “middle” and “compromise.” It’s all talk and grandstanding until actual laws are created, debated about, and voted upon. Let’s hope she keeps her word because America doesn’t want the liberal agenda, what we want is stability and our country returned to us, not taken from us by a socialist state.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

Have I become apathetic because I’m accepting the fact that we are going to be a nation led by the most liberal President ever in our history? Am I apathetic because the only other valid choice is an aged war veteran who has been manicured by Washington D.C. over 30 years of political “service?” Am I apathetic because our likely next President has issued statements over the last year indicating that his “faith in the American people was vindicated” only AFTER he won the Iowa caucus vote in the Primary race? Is it because our likely next First Lady issues a statement nearly nine months ago that “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” and that she is no longer “feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment…?”

The Obama family has consistently made statements such as these. Sure, every citizen at some point has become disenfranchised, disappointed, and angry with the state of our government, but when has our citizenship ever been called into question as a country? Obama feels that his “faith in the American people” was “vindicated.” Why did it need vindication? The citizens are not the problem with this country… it’s the politicians and the government who we have elected who were SUPPOSED to be working on our behalf that is the problem. Why has Michelle Obama only now become proud of her country because her husband has been placed on the political pedestal he currently sits upon? I have my issues with this country, but the fact is, I’m proud of it and always have been… even when we faced the international shame Bill Clinton brought upon us with his lewd behavior while in office.

The Obama family believes in change and supposedly offers the American society something different. What exactly are they offering different that hasn’t been promised to us for decades? People seem to disregard the Obama’s attending of a church led by a radical Black Liberation enthusiast for 20 years. Why do you think Barack needs the society to be “vindicated” and why do you think Michelle has felt “alone” and “frustrated and disappointed?” Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. has repeatedly utilized his pulpit to disparage America and brainwash his congregation with his liberation “theology.” After 20 years of supposed attendance, the Obama family should well in fact be frustrated and disappointed in the American citizenship and require its vindication because they have been TAUGHT this position.

I agree, we need change in our government but does anyone really think ONE person can effectively change the landscape which has been created over 200+ years? Does anyone think ONE person can fix our ailing economy? Does anyone think ONE person can fix all of America’s ills? This is what the Obama campaign has been selling. They SAY Barack is the one to bring about change and have utilized mass media brainwashing techniques in an effort to sway the public. In the end, it appears that the millions of campaign dollars will have just done that. After about a BILLION dollars spent, Obama appears likely to become our next President.

We are going to have a President who has never been an executive at any level of importance. We are going to have a Vice President with his only notoriety being that he is prone to make “public gaffes.” We are going to have a First Lady who has a lingering distaste for the public she will serve. We will have a Presidential family who has been spiritually taught and mentored for 20 years that they were oppressed by the American society which they will become in charge of.

So, I sit here apathetic, resigned to the fact that our country is being misled by someone we truly don’t know anything about. Sure, Obama promises us a better economy, more jobs, and lower taxes, but where does he stand on the real issues? Do we trust his moral and ethical values? Do we trust in him? Do you trust his family? Do you trust his past? Even though Obama has been on the campaign trail for two years, we still don’t really know anything outside of the same old promises that have been made by every politician I’ve ever seen.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

Personally, a sense of appreciation from those I interact with is priceless. I freely give away time and effort if there is a sense of appreciation from those involved. However, if I feel like I am being taken for granted or even artificially used, resentment supersedes any positive emotion I may derive from my time and efforts. I am willing to bet that most of us out there act and respond in similar fashion.

There is a big difference between being appreciated and expecting to be pampered. Appreciation can be as simple as a smile, a handshake, or even a spoken and meaningful thank you. Pampering is an extreme form of appreciation in the fact that every need or whim is satisfied at its beck and call. Pampering is reserved for special treats or moments in life, not an everyday or every minute occurrence.

Some people expect appreciation to be in the form of pampering. I recently ran across an article involving a sports figure which drudged up imagery of a pampered life. Lance Armstrong, one of the greatest cyclists ever, is attempting to come back after retiring a few years ago. He won seven straight Tour De France championships among his vast athletic accomplishments. On a personal level, he has overcome cancer and continued to excel at his sport. He is an amazing athlete and has done many things to promote cancer awareness among his work with charities and health organizations.

Even though he has done all of these great “human” things, I can’t help but think about how pampered he must be, given the following sentiments regarding his attempt to return to professional cycling. “Lance Armstrong could still race in the 2009 Tour de France, as long as race organizers make him feel welcome… For the moment, we are going to determine his program based on where he is really welcome and invited … and we will see about the rest… So the main thing is that he is definitely not excluding riding in the Tour, but it would have to be in an atmosphere that is serene and respectful.”

I understand his point of view, he doesn’t want to go where he’s not wanted or appreciated, neither would I. But Lance himself has said that his goal is to “draw more attention to his global campaign to fight cancer.” Appreciation on a personal level is a priority, but not the highest priority if your goal is publicly stated as helping other people. Helping other people involves sacrifices and in this case, appreciation is likely to be his sacrifice.

Why is the Tour de France not welcoming Armstrong back with open arms and being supremely grateful for his return? Well, through the years, he has been tied to various blood doping and performance enhancing drug cases but has never been specifically charged or failed any tests. There is a mountain of coincidental evidence involving his name, team, and trainers through the years however. While there is no smoking gun, there is a deep sense of suspicion. On top of that, the team he has chosen to join and represent in his comeback has been cited and suspended for violations. He didn’t do himself any favors with that choice.

He is right in wanting to be appreciated, but the statements above leave me feeling like he wants to be pampered. He wants to be welcomed back with some sort of lavish return ceremony in an attempt to reclaim his crown as the world’s greatest professional cyclist. If your goals are to raise awareness about cancer and fight the impact it has on our lives, he should sacrifice a bit of his needs for appreciation for the overall good his celebrity brings back to the event. Lance Armstrong returns to the Tour de France in an attempt to regain his crown… all of this while he has battled and beaten cancer. Imagine the headlines and news attention that would be paid to him and his cause. Sacrifice… we all do it, even the superstars in our world.

Citation: http://www.espn.com/

Premise of the situation is as follows. Man facing dire economic conditions has a choice: pay his house mortgage or pay for his lawn to be replaced. Now, I’m fairly certain any rational homeowner would make the sane choice in this manner and pay his house mortgage. The man of course paid his mortgage and allowed his lawn to deteriorate into a brownish display of dead grass. Wouldn’t we all? Well, his brown grass created such an outrage in his community that he was served a notice requiring his appearance in court to settle the damage created by his “criminal action.”

Like any good citizen not bullied into following the rules and regulations of those who wield power as if it’s a magic wand, he didn’t appear in court. The local judge, “enraged” by the citizen’s use of free will, decided that it was appropriate to arrest and jailed the man for 2 days. Contempt of court, show up or be jailed. Seriously… arrested, finger printed, photographed, entered into the criminal database and jailed for 2 days over a brown lawn? Yes, it actually happened.

How can something so simple be allowed to reach this level of absurdity? How hard would it have been for the Civic Association to work with the man in an effort to settle this issue without it going to court? Knowing that he is a retired individual living on limited resources, they should have understood the situation and worked on a human level to help correct the issue. However, their “rules are rules” approach led to this man being treated like a second rate individual.

A testament to the fact that humanity and rational thinking still exists, a man and several volunteers helped the man replace his lawn and make it a nice shade of compliant “green.” Who was this kind gentleman? He was a former resident and former Marine who felt the man was treated unfairly. Thank goodness for some basic common sense in our uncommon sense world.

How much time was wasted because of this lunacy? How much money did it cost taxpayers by having the courts and law enforcement involved in this “incident?” Why did this man have to be demeaned in front of his neighbors, his family, and country because of his lawn? Sometimes I just cannot fathom what our judicial system is used for when there are actual criminals roaming the streets because they don’t have the time to charge and prosecute them or place to keep them jailed.

Can’t these matters be taken care of without laws, rule books, and police involvement? Can’t we act as rational adults and work these things out without someone with a gun enforcing the “law?” Weren’t we taught in school, and even as toddlers, the ideas of compromise and helping others? Since when did we become accustomed to a third party being necessary to mediate all disagreements or arguments? I’m pretty sure people are generally smart enough to work things out in an agreeable manner without help from an “objective” third party.

We need common sense to return. Without it, we are nothing bunch a bunch of crying babies asking for mommy and daddy to come solve our problems because we didn’t get what we wanted. Next thing I know, I’ll be reading about a grandma being arrested because she left her laundry on the line for 2 days when it clearly states in the bylaws of the subdivision that all laundry must be removed 30 minutes prior to dusk. Oh, you think that won’t happen? Did you think someone would go to jail because their grass was dead before you read this?

Citation: http://www.nypost.com/

Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I remember long ago while in school, this particular action occurred on a routine basis. People generally invade other people’s space and even though it may not be the best course of action, pushing someone away from you is a fairly standard response. Should we criminally charge and prosecute our youngsters for such dastardly acts of lawlessness? This entire situation is a result of someone’s feelings being hurt and it’s a “get back” issue. Oh, did I mention that person “A” was a star football player and person “B” was a female and the incident occurred at a nightclub?

What a heinous crime. The football player should be locked up and the key thrown away or melted down. He should never see the light of day again. I mean, how could he do such a thing? I’ll turn the sarcasm off now. Even the crime report calls this a “simple-assault” charge. Why are we so intent on litigating every single action human beings can engage in? Next thing I know, I’ll be reading about a lawsuit or criminal charge brought against someone for butting into the line at Subway or for going through the quick checkout line with too many items.

Our society has routinely tried to make sure that every aspect of our life is protected. But, we don’t seem to mind that murderers are continually freed from prison. We don’t mind that rapists are set free every day. We don’t mind that sex offenders are allowed early release for “good behavior.” We don’t mind. Why don’t we mind about such truly heinous criminal behavior but we seem to care about such trivial aspects of life?

I have no idea and thus the reason for my utter and complete state of awe regarding this particular crime. I suppose we are all criminals because I can guarantee that at some point in your life, you have pushed someone who was in your space. Did you hurt their feelings? I’m sure you did. Did you deserve to be charged and prosecuted while facing a potential 6 month term in jail? Of course not. Female person “B” in this case was likely rebuffed in her attempts to gain the attention of the star football player and his reaction to the situation was to push her away. He pushed her away with an open hand against the side of the head. Was there criminal malice or intent to injure? I think not.

She had her feelings hurt and thus she decided to make him “pay” for his lack of interest. I’m sure she also knew his history with previous domestic run-ins and that made this a clear cut case for her to “win.” What does she get out of this? More than likely, she will receive nothing monetarily since she was not injured or “damaged” psychologically. However, she will prove her point (whatever that may be) and win. She will have proven that he should not have rebuffed her advances.

Is that what our legal and justice system is about? Proving points? I surely hope not. These types of cases and laws on the books only bloat the judicial system. They cost our country both in time lost and in money spent. We should be worrying about prosecuting the real criminals and correcting our punishments attributed to certain crimes. I say this but I know things will not change so I wait… I wait for another jaw dropping story to turn up (which I can guarantee will happen) and I faithfully promise to write about it.

Citation: http://www.ksdk.com/