Knock Out Game

A new wave of stupidity is hitting city streets.  Kids and adults are engaging in a new "game" called "knock out."  In this "game," a person is struck behind his/her head without warning to the point of being knocked out cold.  Already several people have been attacked and one was killed.  New York City is rushing to pass a law to classify such an attack as gang related which can be punishable to up to 25 years in prison.  Minors caught would be tried as adults.

In NYC, Jews have been targeted so far and a 78 year old grandmother was also a victim of the brutal assault.  

See this disturbing video of an attack:




Obviously, the people promoting and carrying out this behavior are mentally ill.  Anti-social behavior is a trait found in those who are mentally ill or psychopathic.  If a person cannot realize that this activity is dangerous and has no shame to do it, then that shows that the person is clearly not in his/her right mind.  Luckily, some arrests have been made and police are patrolling the streets in order to protect the public an catch any attackers in the act. 


  

Source:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/22/knockout-game-arrests/3676649/
 
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/21/21565494-authorities-nationwide-probing-disturbing-trend-of-knockout-attacks-on-unsuspecting-pedestrians?lite

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/district-police-investigating-random-attacks-similar-to-knockout-game/2013/11/21/ca9e26c2-5154-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/knockout-game_n_4310453.html

Grandparents

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord."

 Leviticus 19:32

Grandparents are important in families.  They are a link to the past; a link to where we all come from.  In many cases, grandparents help parents raise children.  It pains me to see the elderly abused and disrespected in today's American society.  Old age is seen as an annoyance or something we must avoid.  The elderly are presented as a burden that we must cast away in nursing homes or even euthanize.  These ideas are evil indeed.

I have always believed that the elderly are libraries of life. We can learn so much from them and their stories. While we may learn history in school and in books; there is nothing better than actually hearing it from someone who lived a particular historical moment.  Grandparents are extremely important in this regard.  It is no wonder why many African tribes and also Native American ones value the elderly so much.  The elderly often were in charge or made decisions for a particular tribe.

I want to dedicate this post to all grandparents and elderly out there as well as those who have passed on.  They deserve our respect, love and reflection as we ourselves become elderly and perhaps even grandparents.

May God bless our grandparents and all elderly - living and deceased.  May he soften the minds and hearts of those who may view them as a 'burden' or annoyance.

    

With Age Comes Wisdom

With Age Comes Wisdom - these words are not new.  They have been said throughout generations and have their origin in Oscar Wilde.   How true are Mr. Wilde's words!

A survey conducted by researchers at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago using data collected by the General Social Survey showed that as we age our belief in God grows stronger.

This makes sense because as we age we settle within ourselves better.  We mature more emotionally and intellectually eventually accepting the life we have and our surroundings as opposed to when were teens and rebelled or were "know it all" college age kids.

Previous studies show that as we age we become more conservative - conservative as in keeping values and beliefs, not in the political sense.  

So why are there atheists?

God is a heavy subject for some.  Atheists run from God for many reasons.  They do not understand and are often stuck in the adult version of object permanence.  If it's not there in front of me, then its not there...  or so they claim.   This shows intellectual immaturity and sloth.  

As young people, we want to explore and push our senses to the limit.  Since the spiritual realm is remote from the senses, this makes it hard for some to accept God.  However, as we age, the dust we kicked up in life begins to settle and we see that God is indeed there - life makes more sense.  We are not just animals responding to stimuli.    

Kudos to all the young people who do believe already and remain firm despite the chic so-called rationalism that is contaminating universities and high schools.  This pseudo-rationalism pushes atheism, agnosticism and skepticism as the norm for an academic.  

"With age comes wisdom" - May Mary pray for all of us and show us God, she who is the Seat of Wisdom!    

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/29/belief-in-god-stronger-older-survey_n_1462766.html?ref=science

Bus Monitor Horror

I saw the video a few times and still cannot believe what I saw.  In the video, a bunch of kids are bullying a 68 year old lady bringing her to tears.

I thank my parents for raising me to respect my elders.  If I were to behave as those kids back in the day when I was younger, my parents would have beaten me into the future...

In case you are not up to date, Karen Klein, a bus monitor was harassed and bullied by students while on a bus.  The kids made fun of her weight, her looks and even touched her arms in an attempt to mock her.  They called her names, used foul language.. it is just disgusting.

The youth are becoming more and more desensitized.  They are becoming more and more callous and immoral.  Respect seems to be something foreign.  The kids who bullied Mrs. Klein must be mentally unstable.  They need to be evaluated by a psychologist.  There is obviously something deeply wrong with them.  Outrage has gone viral on the internet.  The kids have even received death threats.

I feel for Mrs. Klein and applaud her for keeping her cool.  Moreover, she refused to press charges and instead wants the kids to be grounded for the summer so they can think about what they did.

This story despite being so evil has showed good things as well.  A young man named Max Sidorov began a campaign to raise money for Mrs. Klein.  To date, he has raised over $300,000 since this blog was written.
http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein#team
 
Parents please take this story and show it to your kids.  Teach them to respect their elders and their peers.  Teach them to act with civility even when they are upset.

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.  Leviticus 19:32

Source:

http://www.thestate.com/2012/06/22/2326498/online-video-of-ny-bullying-stirs.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/bus-monitor-karen-klein-wants-juveniles-grounded-all-summer-apology