NFL Teams Paid to Thank Troops at Games

NFL Teams Paid to Thank Troops at Games

If you are much of a football fan, you probably have noticed on numerous occasions the support and honor bestowed upon military personnel during halftime or between quarters. What you may have not known however is how much it costed just to get our NFL teams to respect the military.

A detailed report out of New Jersey showed that over the past four years, whenever the Jets would pause to salute and honor those members of the NJ National Guard, it was not just out of respect for the troops, but because the Department of Defense paid the Jets $377,000 for the salutes and other advertising.

Superbowl Champ Marshawn Lynch with military veterans

Overall, over 5.4 million dollars has been paid out to 14 different NFL teams over the course of 2011 to 2014.

This comes as a bit of a blow to American Pride. When you watch an NFL game and you see America's best athletes respecting and saluting our military, it is a moral booster for every American in my opinion. To find out that almost none of this would happen without big heaps of cash thrown at the NFL is majorly disappointing.

Football teams should not require payment in order to respect and salute our military veterans. They already make millions annually for simply playing a game while our military puts their lives on the line every single day just to better out freedom in America. The injustice present in the NFL today is rampant and must be ended.

Ben Carson 4 Prez

Ben Carson: US should rethink Supreme Court review of laws

Famed neurosurgeon turned republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has stated that he believes that the United States should revisit it's decision from the 1803 case Marbury v. Madison. 

Carson claims that the executive branch is required to carry out laws passed by congress, but not the "judicial laws" which emanate from the courts. 

He believes that the landmark case that created the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States needs in itself to be reviewed. 

The brain surgeon stated that the system of judicial review has drifted away from it's original intent and that the power given to the Supreme Court nowadays greatly outweighs that of the executive or legislative branches and throws off the system of "checks and balances."

Texas Earthquakes - Stop Fracking

Texas Earthquakes

Since the beginning of 2015, almost 40 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher have been recorded in the Dallas area of Texas.

Over the past seven years, Northern Texas has experienced over 130 earthquakes, as opposed to only ONE in the 58 years prior to 2008. These conditions lean heavily towards the idea of induced quakes. The earthquakes have been induced by humans using a technique to harvest natural gas called hydraulic fracturing.

Commonly known as "fracking," hydraulic fracturing is the process of directly injecting fluid into the crust of Earth's surface in order to force natural gases out of the Earth for human use.

The actual fracking doesn't seem to be the issue, according to scientists, but the disposal of the wastewater from fracking. The wastewater is composed of a lot of dangerous chemicals, and the most common method of disposal is to drill a hole deep into the Earth's surface and just dump it all in there. This can cause buildups of natural gas that eventually bubble up and force themselves out, presumably causing the spike in seismic activity.

Obviously this cannot continue if we wish to not destroy Texas and save Tony Romo. End Fracking 2015.

Celebrities Don't Care About the Environment

Selfish celebrities ignore California’s drought to keep lawns green

Experts predict that California reservoirs have less than a year's worth of drinking water yet. The drought that has been plaguing California for many months does not show signs of ending. 

Many emergency laws have been passed in the last week, and the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District that supplies water to much of Los Angeles has only four weeks to cut water usage by a whopping 36%. 

Even with all of this, celebrities lawns are still as green as ever. The included picture is of the estate of celebrity power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Even with one of the worst droughts in Californian history, many celebrities find it more important to keep their lawns green than to conserve water for those in need.

An estimated 70% of the water reserves are going to the lawns of about 100 rich estates, which is downright ridiculous. 

We need the government to take a stand against celebrities who believe they are above the law. It is much more important to preserve and save lives than it is to have a pretty garden. 

Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen

U.N. rep accuses Saudis of violating international law

Over the course of 2 days, Friday and Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition rained missiles from above onto the country of Yemen. A U.N. official has declared that this attack is a direct breach of international humanitarian law.

The Saudis have admitted to executing 130 airstrikes over the course of a 24 hour period. Of course in this, schools and hospitals have been targeted.

On the Saudi's defense, the hospitals and schools being targeted are claimed to be secret weapons storage for the Houthi leaders. Also targeted in these strikes are presumed Houthi leader headquarters. The Saudi Arabian government has warned civilians to evacuate particular cities and the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi officials claim that Houthi rebels have prevented the fleeing of many Saudi civilians which is the main cause of the thousands of reported civilian casualties. 

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, claims that "The indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, with or without prior warning, is in contravention of international humanitarian law."

As of now, over 1400 lives have been claimed and over 6000 reported injuries in a Saudi push to restore the government of Yemen.

No Murders in NYC for 11 Days

Breaking a Record, 11 Days Pass in New York City With No Killings

New York City set a new personal record in February when 11 days passed with no homicides. This is the longest streak since a 10 day murder-less period occurred in 2013.

Many people believe that this could be a sign of a safer New York now. William J. Bratton, the Police Commissioner stated, "You figure, in 1990, when I first came here, they were doing six murders a day."

Many criminologists say to be weary of the stoppage though. They say that crime occurs in waves with the least amount of crimes occurring in the winter months.

It is true that there has been a significant crime drop across America within the past two decades. Going from six murders a day to spans of no murders for a week and a half, evident progress has been made to clean up the NYC streets, which is great for society.

Ted Cruz - President?

Ted Cruz, 2016 Hopeful

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has officially announced his running in the 2016 Presidential campaign. He is the first high-profile Republican to enter the race and he is in a hurry.

Cruz is quickly trying to scale the political ladder. He has only been in the Senate since 2012, and he is ready to face the biggest challenge of all, the presidential election.

One of Cruz's most recent schemes is to get rid of Obamacare. What he's doing to stop it is a very different approach though. Cruz has signed his family up for Obamacare, so he can experience first hand how problematic it can be, so he says. If Ted Cruz is elected, he vowed to get rid of Obamacare and reform national health care along with many other thinsgs.

It must be noted that Ted Cruz's Senate success comes mostly from him riding the tea party wave right into the Senate seat. He is viewed as one of the "crazies" by some fellow Senators, including John McCain. Cruz is a candidate who definitely plays to the beat of his own drum. He is one of those candidates who want to reform all of congress as he views it as corrupt. While he may not be wrong, he sure has a big fight ahead of him.