Russia: The Homosexual Minus!

How dare homosexuals be homosexual?!

By now I hope that you have figured out that the title to this post is entirely sarcastic and if not, well you do now. I'm sure you already do know that the Olympics will be held in Russia which is great news if you are heterosexual but what if you were gay?

The leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin has created an out-right witch hunt for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) individuals. However, he claims that this new "law" isn't trying to discriminate against this group of people. He is quoted saying, "I assure you that I work with these people, I sometimes award them with state prizes or decorations for their achievements in various fields," Putin said in an interview with The Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television late Tuesday. "We have absolutely normal relations, and I don't see anything out of the ordinary here." He continued later by saying, "Terrorists are always a threat to someone," he said. "If we'll be scared of them, it means they have won. But that doesn't mean we can have a devil-may-care attitude toward this threat. We must do everything to stop these threats and not give the terrorists a single chance to demonstrate their brutality and hatred of mankind." He actually compares lgbt individuals as TERRORISTS!

As of right now, we are at a stand still with Russia. What if an Olympic athlete does something that is mistakingly percieved as homosexual? Will they be arrested as a terroist? How will our country react to that? I am actually extremely surprised that we are still supportive of the Olympics being held in this backwards country (granted, the States aren't that much better). Even Canada has responded to this craziness by opening up their boarders to Russian immigrants fleeing their country from homosexual intolerance, they will be considered refugees. Yet we just stand idly buy and support this? 

We are treating these laws as we have treated the military in DADT (Don't Ask Don't Tell) Laws. We are ignoring a huge issue simply because it doesn't "involve" our citizens. Well, what if this were us? Wouldn't you want other countries putting pressure on a situation like this? Wouldn't you want some sort of support and assistance in fighting back?

I want to hear your take on this. Please, leave a comment below!
As

Ranting With Color: Syria

Syria, enough said...

Let's talk about what the entire world is currently talking about, Syria. What are the views of "Ranting With Color"? Well, my views aren't fully black and white; I'm currently living in the grey. But let me try and put my thoughts down.

Here are the current "facts" on the subject. (I take everything the media says with a huge grain of salt!):


The issues in Syria started back in March of 2011 (source) with a breakout into a bloody civil war. It was triggered by citizens taking to the streets after 15 school children were arrested and supposedly tortured for doing graffiti with an anti-government sentiments; riots broke out in the city of Deraa. The protesters started out peacefully but the government had a brutal reaction, they sent their armies in and fired into the undefended crowds of citizens (killing four people). The shock eventually spread to other parts of the country.

At first, the protesters just wanted a democracy type government but after the shootings they called for something else, their current ruler/President (Assad) to step down.  But he would not be leaving so easily because Assad still had quite large amount of citizens who still wanted him in power. His version of compromise was to offer to "change somethings around", but the protesters didn't trust him. Do you blame them?

Recent News:

Some how allegations have formed that the Syrian government has obtained chemical weapons that they are supposedly using in war tactics. However, their government denies the use of such weapons. If they were to use these weapons then it would be a clear violation of the U.N. Law (Source). Yet, last month (Aug. 2013) a chemical attack in Syria caused outrage across the entire globe. This attack devastated a class of Syrian citizens, a large portion being children under the age of 10 (source). There has now been talk of this being the last straw but where is the proof that the Syrian government was behind the attacks? Is this simply a matter of domestic terrorism? A quote from the Syrian government denied all allegations that they were apart of this horrific incident, "there is no country in the world that uses a weapon of ultimate destruction against its own people."

Now, both Britain and the U.S. are planning some sort of intervention but nothing has yet been decided. The U.N. seems to be of no help since they can't come to an agreement on how to help the Syrian people. Personally, I feel this should ultimately be left up to the U.N. seeing that this sort of this is in their department. Why aren't they doing their job? Can we really afford to go to war again? Do you really think our economy could handle something like this? In regards as to why the U.N. has yet to do anything is because of the lovely Russia and China, don't even get me started on Russia (that will be in a post by itself in regards to its horrific treatment of homosexuals). Both Chinese and Russian representatives at the U.N. have blocked any attempt of involvement with the Syrian issue. Russia in particular has strong ties with President Assad's Syrian government and have helped them by supplying weapons. Apparently both Britain and France want to send weaponry aide to the Rebels in hopes that it will put pressure on the Syrian government. Bad idea? I'm not quite sure. Either way, this is just another notch in the long history of Syria. I just hope we as a country don't get sucked too far in and not be able to find our way out. 

After a long winded discussion about what is going on in Syria (and some added commentary) I am still at a loss as to my stance on the situation. At some point the Syrian government threatened that they would attack Israel if anyone tried to put armed forces on their land. Now, if that was true I know many friends who feel this indicates a passage in the bible in regards to the "end times". I don't know if that is happening or not (I am not going to get into a faith debate), however, I do know that they could very well fire upon their neighbor [Israel]. I do have a moral issue as well, the poor Syrian people are dying and they need help. If the U.N. won't help then what other choice do we have other than to try and send relief over but does that really constitute armed forces? On another hand, we cannot remotely afford to do all of this if we are wanting to get our sorry butts out of this recession. All in all, I'm at a complete stand still.

Please leave comment below if you have a specific opinion about what's going on.

Sincerely,
-Someone who never wants to be President and be responsible for this kind of crap.