Excuses for Baseball Pitcher's Jose Fernandez's Death

Last month Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was killed when his speed boat impacted a jetty in a waterway somewhere in the Miami area. Along with Fernandez, two friends also lost their lives. It was called a tragedy, baseball fans and players alike mourned his death as this young man had just begun to see the potential that lied within him.

Today, we get the autopsy results that showed Fernandez was legally drunk (twice the legal limit!), and had cocaine in his system, as well. So instead of being a mere tragedy, we see that this was a totally preventable incident. However, instead of people addressing the cause of the accident, they are making excuses for Fernandez, summing up his actions as 'youthful indiscretion' and other such ridiculous excuses.

In an article this morning on MSN Sports entitled, "Autopsy Can't Alter Grief in Jose Fernandez Death," the writer of the article, Bob Nightengale from USA Today Sports, asserts with an attitude that can only be described as sensational excuse-making writes,

"Still, no matter what comes out of all of the investigations, one thing will never change: It won’t bring back Fernandez, 24, or his two friends.

   It also should not change our feelings, the excruciating heartbreak, the outpouring of grief we all felt when the moment we found out he was killed.
   Sure, Fernandez and his buddies never should have been on that boat that night, stopping first at a bar, and then getting back into his boat at 2:30 in the morning, speeding along Miami Beach, until hitting that jetty at full speed, instantly killing all three.

  Still, haven’t we all done something stupid in life? Haven’t we all been careless?

  It was no different two years ago when St. Louis Cardinals prized prospect Oscar Taveras was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic during the World Series. We grieved, and several weeks later, the autopsy report revealed that he was drunk when he crashed, killing himself and his girlfriend.
  “People make mistakes,’’ St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said. “But when you’re dead, you’re dead.
   “The worst part about Oscar’s death, is that another person died.’’
...That Fernandez had cocaine and enough alcohol to significantly impair his decision-making shouldn’t take away our pain.
...Sure, we can be mad. We can scream to the heavens, asking why no one bothered to stop these three young men from getting into that boat? We can direct anger towards Fernandez for being so careless, particularly as a soon-to-be father with a girlfriend five months pregnant.

   But, please, don’t let the results of an autopsy alter your grieving process.
   When Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in a one-person car accident on Interstate 64 in St. Louis in 2007, the Cardinals were devastated. When it turned out that his blood-alcohol level was 0.157, nearly twice the legal limit, with 8.55 grams of marijuana found in his SUV, nothing changed.
  “Everybody makes mistakes,’’ said Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa, who was arrested for drunk driving a month before Hancock’s death. “Most times, you don’t pay that kind of price.’’

  Cardinals scouting director Randy Flores, one of Hancock’s closest friends, who spoke at his funeral, called it one of the most difficult, challenging times of his life. When the autopsy report came out, it didn’t change a thing.
  The tears didn’t dry up. The heart didn’t hurt less. The pain remained the same.
   “All you knew was that your friend, who we all loved,’’ Flores says, “was gone.
   “That’s all that mattered.’’

    It’s no different now.
   All that matters is that Fernandez, Macias and Rivero are gone.
   And no amount of autopsy reports, lawsuits, or blame, can ever bring them back.
   That’s the tragedy."

The tragedy here, unlike the assertion that Nightengale makes, is that the death of Fernandez and friends was 100% preventable. Making excuses for bad choices only exacerbates the problem of drugs and alcohol.

I made the following comment on the story:

"Excuses, excuses, excuses.
With this revelation we now know that Fernandez made an obvious series of choices that led to his death, along with two others.
I hope this is a wake up call to people who believe themselves above the consequences of poor decision-making. It may not catch up to them now; but it WILL catch up to them, leaving families to grieve, and/or be impacted financially for decades with hefty medical bills in order to care for a son or daughter, husband or wife left paralyzed and unable to breath on their own, move or speak.
Excuses for Fernandez's behavior will only encourage similar choices in others.
This needs to be talked about frankly, openly, truthfully and in no uncertain terms...directly and bluntly. Maybe, if talks about this happen in that fashion, a few teens/young adults/everyone else will make better choices when it comes to using drugs, alcohol and anything else they use to "have fun."
Let's hope so."

The War on Religion and the First Amendment is Well Underway

As I stated in an earlier post, the war on religion was the next great activist battlefront once same sex marriage was forced down the throats of Americans of every creed, religion and ethnic upbringing. The following snippets from Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal advocacy group, illustrate just how real this issue has become:

"A lot has changed since many of us were on a college campus. What was once celebrated as a marketplace of ideas has now become a place where only university-approved concepts and speech are tolerated. This does not bode well for our children and grandchildren who are forced to either comply with university demands or put their futures at risk.

That's why we're so thankful for brave young people like Robert Dunn. Robert is a student at Iowa State University. He is also a Christian and the president and founder of the campus' politically conservative student group ISU Young Americans for Freedom.

When the university announced a new mandatory training on the school's "non-discrimination policies and procedures," Robert found that school policies allowed punishment of "First Amendment protected speech activities … depending on the circumstances." And student speech could be deemed "discriminatory harassment" if other students thought it was not a "legitimate topic," "not necessary," or lacks a "constructive purpose."

When Robert asked the school's Office of Equal Opportunity what the consequence would be if he or any other student did not sign a document certifying compliance with the policy, he was told that it would result in a hold on his graduation and subsequent review by the dean of students.  A hold on his graduation? Unbelievable.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit on Robert's behalf earlier this week. No university policy trumps the First Amendment, and students like Robert cannot be silenced just because they hold religious or conservative views.

If we don't stand up to this censorship on campus, an entire generation of students will continue to be infected by this idea that bureaucrats have the power to give and take away freedom of speech on a whim. These same students will then graduate and implement this worldview in their own professional careers. We can't let that happen.

Unfortunately, this is just a snapshot of the intolerance on America's campuses. And Robert is just one student of many who are standing up to their universities and fighting for their freedom."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Discrimination against Christians on campus continues to rise:

• Eastern Michigan University student Julea Ward was expelled from her school’s graduate counseling program because her Christian convictions would not allow her to affirm same-sex relationships.
• Dr. Kenneth Howell was a much-beloved professor at the University of Illinois. But when he presented the Catholic perspective on homosexual behavior as part of a course called "Introduction to Catholicism", a student complained and Dr. Howell was first removed from his position and later officially terminated.
• When a group of students, including Angela Little, tried to host a pro-life event at Eastern Michigan University, they were told that it was too “biased” and too “controversial,” and would not be allowed — even though other events that advocated politically correct or left-leaning viewpoints had been permitted.

And if you think your child or grandchild will escape this kind of oppression by attending a private Christian college or university, you need to think again, because …

The government campaign to legally and financially destroy Christian colleges that remain faithful to biblical teaching has already begun."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The situation has been especially grave in California. Activists there convinced their collaborators in the state legislature to propose a new law that could have dramatically damaged Christian higher education in that state … and led to similar attacks in other states. The proposed law targeted schools that practiced what the state calls “discrimination” based on religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in both student and employee relations.
This is the kind of attack that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas warned about when the U.S. Supreme Court imposed same-sex marriage on the country last year.

The state is essentially saying to Christian colleges and universities, “Abandon what the Bible
teaches, or we will shut you down!”

Worse, if California had succeeded in punishing Christian colleges for upholding Christian moral teaching, the effort could have quickly spread to other states."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who scoff at any supposed "war on religion" I ask that you look no further than the whole "Christmas" issue. President Obama, the man elected to lead our Country (and uphold and defend the Constitution--including the Bill of Rights) last year called the Annual White House Christmas Tree the "National Holiday Tree." His omission of the word Christmas was glaring to everyone.
State Capitals are being sued for allowing any mention of Christmas on their grounds as it is deemed an endorsement of a single religion--which is ludicrous.

Add in the legal attacks against small business owners who politely decline to participate in same sex marriage ceremonies, and who then have their livelihoods destroyed. Why not just go to another business? Why do people have to act vengefully when service is refused? The answer is simple...

There is a double standard when it comes to the War on Religion. Those who are offended are allowed to vehemently attack the so-called offenders, and to destroy businesses simply because of a refusal of service, even though they were kindly given the names and phone numbers of competing stores, which the offended could --and should--have easily patroned.
In this day and age of political correctness--a movement which has been destroying Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion--anyone who disagrees with the prevailing line of thinking will have their businesses destroyed, have threats of retribution thrown at them, receive death threats and numerous harassing phone calls to their place of employment, among other horrible things. How is THAT garbage allowed? How does the government turn a blind eye to these efforts of those behind the LGBT and PC movements, while blithely punishing people who stand up for their own Freedoms, as guaranteed by the Constitution?
A double standard indeed.

As I alluded to in earlier posts, this War on Religion is real, and spreading every day. The Courts in this country are demanding various religions accommodate the PC crowd on a variety of issues under duress of losing funding or Tax Exempt status from the Federal Government.
What was not so long ago a hallowed Right of the vast majority of Americans is now under legal siege by a vast minority who obviously believe that their opinions should hold sway over everyone else in the Country. This sounds a lot like why our children no longer recite The Pledge of Allegiance in our schools, why displays of the Ten Commandments have been removed from the public sphere, why children are no longer allowed to pray over lunch at school... I could go on and on.
The fact is, Freedom of Religion, so important to our Founding Fathers that they created an "inalienable right" for all citizens to cherish by including it in the First Amendment, is indeed under attack. The worst part is that the attack on the basic Right of every American--if they choose religion--is just beginning. From here, the attacks will only get worse and the Government, those who are sworn to protect the Constitution, are standing idly by while lawyers use the legal system, including the Supreme Court, to twist and nullify the First Amendment into something it was never intended to be.

Our First President, George Washington, stated, "Laws made by common consent must not be trampled upon by individuals."

If this issue concerns you as much as it does me, PLEASE, Call, Write or Email you elected Senators or Representatives on bothy the State and National levels. Demand that they protect our First Amendment Rights! This Country was founded on the ideas of personal freedoms. Activists today would have that mean 'freedoms as they see fit, and NOT as it is intended to be.'

Please, do something, or sit back and watch your personal freedoms continue to erode in favor of politically correct thinking and living, as those behind all of this twisting of the Bill of Rights into nothing it should be resemble so that a vast minority of citizens can feel comfortable in their everyday lives, continues unabated.

It's YOUR choice. Speak up, or go like a lamb to the slaughter and watch our once great country fall under the sway of the self-serving, 'I'm more important than you' thinking that is destroying the freedoms our Founding Fathers set down in paper as inalienable rights that all men should live by.

Donald Trump Remarks

The recently released taped conversation involving by Donald Trump--from 2005--are unfortunate, at best. The language is foul, and is in no uncertain terms plain and simply wrong.
That being said, I in no way support such language, nor in the objectifying of women. However, this wholly private conversation is being used as a political tool to degrade the Trump campaign in the final weeks prior to the US Presidential Election. Accusations are flying, endorsements are being pulled, and the Clinton campaign is just sitting back, watching the whole thing explode...with glad hearts, no doubt.

Why? Because this obviously pre-planned release had the effect they were hoping for in order to sweep Hillary Clinton's numerous scandals under the proverbial rug; at least for a while. The public gaze moves off of Clinton, lessening the heat she is rightfully feeling, giving her whole campaign a much needed boost in these final weeks. The recording tears a HUGE hole in the momentum of Trumps move towards the White House. It is yet to be seen if the damage is irreversible.

To his credit, Trump has apologized for this "locker room banter," and his apology seemed to be sincere. His body language and use of verbiage also backs that up. To me, he truly seems to be a man humbled by this past misdeed, with no intent to mislead voters.

My issue with this tape is manifold.

First, the timing. The Clinton campaign has likely had this recording in their possession for some time. The release of the tape is purely strategic. It was timed to do significant damage to the Trump campaign, which it has. In these final weeks ahead of the election, this tape will indeed sway many voters away from Trump and into the Clinton camp. The release of this tape is mudslinging politics at its worst.

Second, this private conversation was had eleven years ago. Who remains the same over the course of eleven years? Trump was unmarried at the time, blowing off steam in a true locker room bit of male ego bonding. While that is not an excuse for such language, I must ask every person who is jumping on the hate wagon, 'How many times have YOUR private conversations gone to places, talked about people and subjects that you later found to be an embarrassment?' 

The Biblical phrase, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" is aptly applied. Yes, this even refers to women who often get caught up in mean-spirited gossip, or who talk about people and events with catty disregard and contempt.

In eleven years, no one stays the same! We all change attitudes and outlooks as life teaches us, shapes us and leads us to being better people in many aspects of our lives.

Third, by releasing this tape, at this time, the Clinton campaign managers are, as I've already stated, diverted public attention away from the many scandals embroiling Hillary, which only favors her chances in November.

   -Her husband, former US President Bill Clinton has been revealed to be a sexual predator. How can he possibly command any public trust anymore?

   -In the years since the Clinton White House, many opponents and whistle blowers of anything Clinton have turned up dead under always suspicious circumstances.

   -Judicial Watch, a DC watchdog group, has proven through Freedom Of Information releases that then Secretary Clinton used her State Department role to garner millions of dollars of pledges for The Clinton Foundation in exchange for access to State Dept favors for private individuals around the globe, as well as special appointments to various Departments in the Federal Government. This so-called "Pay for Play" scheme not only violated Federal Laws, but also raises serious questions about Integrity, as well as Special White House Access by people who would carry significant influence over policy should Clinton be elected.

   -The latest WikiLeaks release has unilaterally proved that Hillary Clinton, as Sec of State, intentionally sold weapons to the Islamist jihadi group ISIS--a serious violation of the law. Yet, it too is being swept under the rug.

   -Clinton, rather than comply with a Federal Court Order, destroyed laptops, phones and servers she used in her time as the Head of the State Dept. Plus, she intentionally destroyed public emails that implicate her in various scandals--again, another illegal move that was intentional. Clinton's claims that she didn't know the designator of "Classified" on Dept emails is ludicrous, and a flat out bold-faced lie.  This raises monstrous concerns of her handling the biggest secrets in America. How can she possibly be trusted?

   -Lastly--though certainly not the last in a VERY long list--is Hillary's health. She is obviously hiding something. Everyone sees it, yet she blithely excuses issues as a cold, or pneumonia, or fatigue or whatever her handlers come up with. Her hands tell me that she has advancing Parkinson's Disease. She cannot control what her hands do, and often places them against her chest in order to keep them still.

Then there are the times she seems to lose conscious thought, seeming lost and unable to talk or respond. She often seems dazed and involuntarily and inappropriately laughs out loud, her face distorted in what would normally be highly uncomfortable positions. Her handlers will jump in, soothing her, talking quietly. Bill, if there, will talk quietly in her ear, guiding her with is hand on her back. Something isn't right with her, and her campaign is definitely withholding that from the publics' right to know.

These are only the tip of the iceberg! Hillary Clinton has too many questions and issues to be our President, and the release of this Trump conversation has done its job in diverting the attention of the voters away from her many scandals and squarely onto the shoulders of a recalcitrant Trump. Meanwhile, Hillary has now begun to scream how unfit Trump is for the Presidency. She attacks, attacks, attacks.

I have yet to hear from her about ANY policy she will be trying to achieve, if elected. All we hear from her is how unfit Donald Trump is to run the Country. If THAT is her stand, why would anyone vote for a candidate with zero plans to improve this the US?

Oh, wait...

The voters chose to elect Barack Obama, an empty-suited orator with no clear policy reform or other plans. Well, other than tearing down the American way of life, place the "rights" of illegal immigrants over those of American citizens, enacting the horrible Obama Care, erode the Bill of Rights, destroy the trust of countries around the world of the United States, act like a weakling in political negotiations, embarrassingly support the violent Black Lives Matter movement, ignore serious domestic issues--or open his mouth when he shouldn't, undermining local and national law enforcement, take highly expensive and extravagant vacations, make constant end around movements in order to make laws without Congress, and...you get the point.

We've had eight years of a worthless bozo that is Barack Obama supposedly leading this Country. Hillary would do nothing more but push us further and further away from where we should be, continuously working to destroy our Rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. And that would be on top of unforeseen political scandals, corruption and who knows what other awful things her Administration would do.

The Trump tape release has done its job. I can only hope the American people can look past their complacency and see Hillary Clinton for what she truly is..a dishonest, corrupt, conniving, hateful woman who will use any method, any tactic to destroy her opponent, or to protect herself with redundant "I don't remember" statements, yet claim to be fit to lead the United States.

I am NOT saying that Donald Trump would be any better. He has many serious character questions that he would have to disprove. However, between the two, I cannot clearly vote for either one. For the first time, I may have to do a "Write-In" vote. At least I could vote my conscience and not merely settle for who is the best of the worst we have seen in a long, long time.

NCAA, North Carolina and LGBT Rights

An article on the AP wire entitled, "NCAA Relocates Seven Events Pulled from NC Due to LGBT Laws" goes on the tell everyone that North Carolina is basically being punished for its stand on the LGBT "Rights" issue when the State Legislature passed a law stating Birth Gender to determine which restroom to use in public facilities. This article is nothing more than a propaganda piece meant to sway readers to a place of sympathy towards LGBT people.
This law, passed and signed by Representatives of The People, clearly favors the Rights of the vast majority who see the very possible use of the law for sexual predators to use restrooms for their own licentious purposes, and that the privacy and moral rights of the majority outweigh the desires of a relatively few citizens to use the restroom of their chosen identity. This is the way laws are made in this country, and circumventing the process does nothing but trampling on the Rights of everyone else.
Below is my response:

"So the rights of a few outweigh the rights of the majority? Passing laws that give power to a few is one of the reasons this country is in a downward spiral as lawyers have twisted the Bill of Rights into something that was never meant to be. Now, every person with a gripe can get laws changed to make them feel "comfortable," while everyone else has to change their views to accommodate one--or a few. The LGBT groups are so vocal that they are drowning out the bigger picture and instilling judicial fear in everyone who opposes them.
Litigation through coercion is not equal rights. Unfortunately, the NCAA and others fail to see that these groups are trampling on the "Rights" of the vast majority so that these relatively few people can feel 'comfortable.'
President George Washington said, "Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals." In this case, the North Carolina Legislature--the voice of the people--created a law. Now, the LGBT folks want to trample on that law in favor of a few people. How is their position right? Why should local businesses suffer from lost revenue (by the NCAA's actions) because a small minority wants to trample on the rights of the vast majority?
Unfortunately, these groups only see their "Rights" instead of the bigger picture. Rather than wait for the slow, inevitable changes that occur over time, they seek to force everyone into a position of acquiescence through litigation, and literally making the voice of the people moot just so they can 'feel' comfortable. How completely ridiculous.
The NCAA is wrong to punish the small businesses in the areas that surround the lost events. The people spoke, a law was passed and a few don't like it so they whine and complain like an impertinent child and scream so loud that people begin to pay attention rather than seeing them for what they are. THAT is why the position of the LBGT backers are wrong. Rather than working within the system they claim to support, they run screaming and crying to the courts and overturn the will of the people. Can anyone else see that this approach is wrong? Or do they just run and cower because the child is throwing a temper tantrum?
I am not say the LGBT folks don't have rights. I am only stating that they should be doing things the right way, and to stop coercing everyone through the litigatory process. How is that a bad thing?"

The Coming Election and Poor Voter Choices

With the coming 2016 Presidential election only a few brief weeks away, it is vital that every voter take a hard look at the candidates and decide for themselves who the best choice would be.
Donald Trump, businessman and Republican Nominee, has many good points, has good plans, but is divisive in his attacking rhetoric on several issues.
Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, NY Senator and Secretary of State, has no clear agenda for the White House and Democratic Nominee, is embroiled in numerous scandals that  revolve around a "Pay for Play" scheme in seeking "donations" for the Clinton Foundation in exchange for personal meetings and favors from Sec. Clinton. There is also the Benghazi fallout and Ms. Clinton's constant denial of events. In many ways, she is not fit to lead this country.
There is also Third Party Nominee Gary Johnson, a Libertarian who advocates a Constitutionalist approach to governing. In other words, that we get back to the original intent of our Founding Fathers and have a smaller Federal Govt., bigger State's Rights and less governmental interference in the lives of Americans everywhere.
There are no clear, good choices in this election. In a response to an article about the divisiveness between the two main candidates, I addressed the simple question of who is actually the best candidate in this years' election.

"Does anyone else notice that only Trump is actually addressing issues facing this country? Hillary, as far as I know, has not. She only attacks Trump, telling everyone why he would be a bad choice. Meanwhile, she remains silent on the numerous scandals enveloping her campaign. She also conveniently has coughing fits when she actually "speaks" to reporters.

If people thought Bush and Obama were empty suits, how can they look at Hillary and not reach the same conclusion?

Now, I am in no way saying Trump is the better person for the job; he has many drawbacks that are concerning. However, he has plans, ideas and a desire to help this nation get back on track and away from the disastrous eight years of King Obama.

Let us also remember the Libertarian candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, a Constitutionalist who advocates smaller government, more State's Rights and getting back to actual Constitutional governing rather than the warped rendition we see today. His positions definitely have a great appeal.

Which choice is better? That's up to each voter to decide. And this years' election will carry either great hope or great dread in the coming Presidential term. But whatever you do, please vote on election day!"

President Obama's Continued Mismanagement of the United States

An article in the NY Times highlighted the current Asian Rim trip President Obama is on during which his staff and himself have committed numerous international relations faux pas, in pretty much every country he has visited. In my response (below), I got a bit off topic, but the course it steers is right on, and hard to dispute. Please read...

"Obama and his cabinet and staff are a bunch of damned idiots. They can't even get through one foreign diplomacy trip without looking like a gaggle of inept morons. Collectively, they have set this country back probably sixty plus years in every political, economic, social, militarily and world leadership ways that can be measured.

The United States is weaker, less cohesive, untrustworthy; our leadership is filled with corruption and a disdain for our Constitution, our educational system is a wreck, our personal freedoms are nearly gone, religion is under siege like never before, our President would take away the 2nd Amendment if he could; social experiments that ultimately degrade this country are thrust upon us by a President more interested in equalization of everyone, than in helping us all grow and be better citizens; and Obama ignores Congress almost constantly, instead acting like a Monarch on his Royal throne.

Meanwhile, Congress does nothing to reign in the Presidents' recklessness regarding his responsibilities, and voter confidence in Congress is pretty much gone as our elected leaders constantly distance themselves from everyday Americans by giving themselves big yearly raises while insulating their incomes from taxes, and most are in corporate pockets so deep that legislation benefiting the populace is impossible, instead favoring corporate interests at every turn.

It is really no wonder that the majority of Americans feel that the Government can no longer be trusted, that Special Interests are more important than the people, that the Constitution is teetering on the brink of collapse.

As a people, it is OUR responsibility to demand change, and to hold our leaders accountable for their poor governing. Email, write or call our Senators and Representatives and demand that they do better! Ask that they set aside political differences and do what is best for our country, and NOT for special interests. Demand that they hold our President accountable for his actions. Most importantly, VOTE!  Sitting by and assuming there is nothing you can do is the absolutely worst possible thing you can do. If the current state of the US concerns you, get up, speak out and demand change! As a US citizen, that is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

If we fail to do this, nothing will change and our country will continue to devolve into something that no longer resembles the representative democracy we have enjoyed for the last 240 years.

It's your choice. Do something, or do nothing."

Stupid Is As Stupid Does: The Dangers that Stupid Humans Pose to Wildlife

The following story appeared on the AP (Associated Press) wire regarding ill-advised human interaction with wildlife in our National Parks.
My comment follows the article.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.

"They're going to give me a heart attack," said Gleason's mother-in-law, Barbara Henry, as the group came within about a dozen yards of the massive animal.

The elk's ears then pricked up, and it eyed the children and Washington state man before leaping up a hillside. Other tourists — likewise ignoring rules to keep 25 yards from wildlife — picked up the pursuit, snapping pictures as they pressed forward and forced the animal into headlong retreat.

Record visitor numbers at the nation's first national park have transformed its annual summer rush into a sometimes dangerous frenzy, with selfie-taking tourists routinely breaking park rules and getting too close to Yellowstone's storied elk herds, grizzly bears, wolves and bison.

Law enforcement records obtained by The Associated Press suggest such problems are on the rise at the park, offering a stark illustration of the pressures facing some of America's most treasured lands as the National Park Service marks its 100th anniversary.

From Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, major parks are grappling with illegal camping, vandalism, theft of resources, wildlife harassment and other visitor misbehavior, according to the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

In July alone, law enforcement rangers handled more than 11,000 incidents at the 10 most visited national parks.

In Yellowstone, rangers are recording more wildlife violations, more people treading on sensitive thermal areas and more camping in off-limit areas. The rule-breaking puts visitors in harm's way and can damage resources and displace wildlife, officials said.

Often the incidents go unaddressed, such as when Gleason and the children approached the bull elk with no park personnel around. Gleason said he was "maybe" too close but felt comfortable in the situation as an experienced hunter who's spent lots of time outdoors.

These transgressions add to rangers' growing workload that includes traffic violations, searches for missing hikers and pets running off-leash in parks.

"It's more like going to a carnival. If you look at the cumulative impacts, the trends are not good," said Susan Clark, a Yale University professor of wildlife ecology who has been conducting research in the Yellowstone area for 48 years. "The basic question is, 'What is the appropriate relationship with humans and nature?' We as a society have not been clear about what that ought to be, and so it's really, really messy and nasty."

Recent events at Yellowstone grabbed national headlines:

— A Canadian tourist who put a bison calf in his SUV hoping to save it, ending with wildlife workers euthanizing the animal when they could not reunite it with its herd.

— Three visitors from Asia cited on separate occasions for illegally collecting water from the park's thermal features.

— A Washington state man killed after leaving a designated boardwalk and falling into a near-boiling hot spring.

The flouting of park rules stems from disbelief among visitors that they will get hurt, said Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk. "I can't tell you how many times I have to talk to people and say, 'Step back. There's a dangerous animal,' and they look at me like I have three heads," he said.

Inconsistent record keeping, including a recent switch to a new criminal offenses reporting system, makes it difficult to identify trends that apply uniformly across the major parks.

But the records reviewed by the AP reveal the scope of visitor misbehavior is huge. In Yellowstone, administrators and outside observers including Clark say the park's problems have become more acute. That threatens its mission to manage its lands and wildlife "unimpaired" for future generations.

Beyond incidents that lead to citations are many more that result in warnings. More than 52,000 warnings were issued in 2015, up almost 20 percent from the year before.

Washington state resident Lisa Morrow's son was among the children Gleason led toward the elk. Despite safety advisories — and numerous examples of visitors getting gored by bison, mauled by bears and chased by elk — Morrow declared herself unafraid of the park's wildlife. She said she was eager to see a grizzly up close.

"I want to see one right there," Morrow said, pointing to a spot just feet away. "I'd throw it a cookie."

The top 10 parks by visitation collectively hosted almost 44 million people last year, according to National Park Service figures. That's a 26 percent increase from a decade earlier, or more than 9.1 million new visitors combined at Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the other national parks on the list.

Yellowstone boasts the most large, dangerous carnivores among those parks, but each has its risks. In Rocky Mountain National Park, it's elk that become more aggressive during mating season. In Yosemite, it's towering waterfalls where visitors insist on swimming near the edge. In the Grand Canyon it's squirrels habituated to humans and sometimes quick to bite an outstretched hand.

Wenk said the rise in popularity of social media complicates keeping visitors safe.

"You take a picture of yourself standing 10 feet in front of a bison, and all of a sudden a few hundred people see it, and it's reposted — at the same time we're telling everybody wildlife is dangerous," Wenk said. "They get incongruous messages and then it happens. They get too close, and the bison charges."

(Response)
These idiots--and that is a nice name--endanger not just themselves, but the animals as well. In defending themselves, their offspring or their territory, repeated aggression against humans will result in the animal being killed for fear of more attacks that result from human stupidity.
I'm sure most of these rules violators would think the killing justified, while at the same time ignoring the safety rules to get that perfect selfie that could end up in another animal death.
You just can't fix stupid, and the push for social media stardom only enhances the stupid and cancels out even the smallest inclination of safety. Oh what a moronic generation technology has created.

Early History of the US Navy

From The Wall Builders comes a bit of real US History. please read...

United States Navy

The U. S. Navy dates its origins back to 1775. It began with an August 26, 1775 instruction from Rhode Island to their representatives in the Continental Congress to call for the establishment of a navy, explaining that "every principle, Divine and human, require us to obey that great and fundamental Law of Nature -- self preservation -- until peace shall be restored upon constitutional principles."
The Continental Congress, not in session at that time, took up the issue when it returned and on October 13, 1775, the Continental Navy was created. By the end of the War for Independence, the Navy peaked at 31 ships and was disbanded when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.

This action, however, left American commercial ships in the Mediterranean unprotected. So in 1784, five Muslim nations began attacking American ships and killing and enslaving sailors. With no Navy to deter these terrorists, the United States government's only recourse was to make huge extortion payments to the terrorists in exchange for their promise to limit future attacks. President George Washington, infuriated by this policy, requested that Congress rebuild the Navy. Congress agreed and President John Adams executed that plan. President Thomas Jefferson then used the Navy to launch America's first war on Muslim terrorists, defeating them and ending their attacks against American citizens and interests.

Following this, the Navy slowly shrank in size until it numbered only 40 ships by the beginning of the Civil War (the Confederates had none). The War resulted in a naval build up on both sides, with several major naval battles. (Pictured on the right, is the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first encounter between ironclad armored ships.)

After the War, the Navy once again shrank, but during WWII, it was rebuilt. By the end of 1945, the U. S. Navy consisted of over 1,300 major combat ships (such as battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines), 90,000 mine laying ships and landing craft, with over 3.3 million naval personnel.
Military cutbacks over the last six years have once again dramatically reduced the size of the Navy, which currently numbers only 275 ships and 330,000 active duty naval personnel, with 100,000 reserves.

The pattern is clear: when we dramatically cut the military, we invite outside attacks.
So today, while remembering the origins of the U. S. Navy, let's pray for all those that serve in that branch -- and indeed, for those who serve in all branches of our Armed Forces to keep Americans safe around the world!