Where once it was culturally unacceptable to be involved in a homosexual lifestyle, today it is celebrated in certain circles and viewed as a viable family alternative in others.

Gay Rights is a term we have all heard and read about, but what does it mean?

If it means that those involved in a gay lifestyle are no longer subjected to laws that forbade this lifestyle then the rights have already been extended.

Many would argue that Gay Rights is much more complicated than that.

Some homosexual lobbyists are pursuing and sometimes winning a very specific argument in state governing bodies and in the corporate world. The argument is that gay couples should be extended insurance privileges in the same way traditional marriages receive.

Public schools often have books dealing with alternate lifestyles (including homosexuality) on their library shelves.

Gay Pride parades are featured in cities throughout the world.

It would seem that the rights of homosexuals are being improved with each passing day. In Massachusetts, gay marriage is recognized while a handful of other states recognize civil unions among same sex couples.

There are even a growing number of churches that will perform and recognize same sex civil unions. Some denominations have also accepted gay clergy.

Some African Americans have been vocally opposed to comparing Gay Rights with Civil Rights. The feeling among some is that African Americans were born with their skin color while many consider homosexuality to be a choice.

There has been an argument that there may be a gay gene that makes it almost impossible for a gay or lesbian individual to act different. This runs contrary to reports that indicate there may be a gene that may make an individual more susceptible to becoming homosexual, but the choice remains with the individual unlike a choice of skin tone in African Americans. If there is a choice in one scenario and no choice in the other then some cannot bring themselves to view these two movements in the same light.

Another area of contention is hate crimes bills that are discussed in the courts as well as on the floor of the senate and congress. The idea is to enforce a more severe penalty for crimes that are considered motivated by hatred. While this is not limited to homosexuals it is inclusive of crimes committed against this sector of society.

Proponents indicate this will serve as a deterrent to those who may have considered violence against a gay or lesbian individual. Opponents of hate crimes legislation indicate that this only leads to someone trying to interpret the motives behind an act of violence. They also believe that harsh penalties are already in place to deal with violent crimes without the need for additional penalties that may be viewed as entirely subjective.

Some might further argue that the gay community will not be content to settle for equal rights, they will push for protected or elevated rights. Those who espouse this argument believe that the protected status may actually result in a lessening of rights for heterosexual citizens.

The many layers of this argument are debated both publicly and behind closed doors and the debate is bound to continue as each individual comes to terms with their own belief system and how this issue fits within that point of view.

Discuss the Gay Rights at ControversialForums. Have Debates in our Debate Forums.

How much information does someone really need to know in order to steal your identity? Your full name? Your birth date? Your mailing address? With this information alone, some could access your existing accounts or establish new loans or credit in your name.

Here are some tips you can follow to help protect and secure your personal information and ensure that your identity or your credit have not been compromised.

1. Watch for over your shoulder when entering a PIN number or a credit card whether at work or at the ATM. Make sure that no one is watching.

2. Shred everything. One of the ways that would-be identity thieves acquire information is by digging through trash. If you are throwing out bills and credit card statements, medical statements or even junk-mail solicitations for credit cards, you may giving them all that they need to steal your identity. Invest in a personal shredder and shred all papers with any relevant information on them

3. Destroy digital information. When you get rid of an old computer system, or a hard drive, you need to take extra steps to ensure the data is completely, utterly and irrevocably destroyed. Simply deleting the data or reformatting the hard drive is not near enough. Anyone with a little technical skills can undelete files or recover data from a formatted drive. There are products on the market that destroy this information for good.

4. Always pay your bills at the post office or online. Never leave your paid bills in your mailbox to be sent out. Thieves steal from mailboxes all the time. This gives them access to all sorts of information like your name, address, credit account number, your bank information and a even a copy of your signature from your check for forgery purposes.

5. Analyze your credit report annually. You should review it to make sure the information on it is accurate and also make sure that there aren’t any accounts on there that you aren’t aware of or any other suspicious entries or activity.

6. Sign up for credit protection. New services like LifeLock promise to protect your identity with a million dollar guarantee. They have a proactive program to keep your identity is safe before anyone has the opportunity to use any of your information at all. They promise that if these “dumpster divers” get your information, it will be useless to them. They are so confident in their services that their CEO regularly publishes his real Social Security number and he’s perfectly comfortable with it, because he knows that they have guaranteed his good name. It is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Identity thieves are becoming increasing bold in efforts to steal your identity, but with these tips you will stay one step ahead.

Eden Paul is a CPA and small business owner who strongly suggests using resources like LifeLock to protect you and your family. For more information, visit http://www.safeidentityreview.com

Let’s first look at handbags. Treated well, a leather handbag can last forever. Most higher-end leather bags are not treated. This allows the bags to age gracefully with the character expected from an expensive bag, making them distinct and unique. So, here are a few tips to help you care for your special handbag.

1.Look after your bag and store it in its dust bag cover or use a natural fiber soft pillow cover.
Never use a plastic bag.

2. Stuff your seasonal bags with your soft-knit scarves or gloves, but make sure to not overstuff the bag.

3. If the weather is really bad and raining, consider using a less special handbag.

4. Keep your cosmetic products and pens in pouches inside the bag to avoid any staining.

5. Handle your bag with clean hands.

6. Avoid handling the designer bag after applying beauty products, face foundations or hand creams.

7. Apply a good quality leather protector spray to clean dry leather. This can keep the leather from drying out and cracking over time. It will also reduce the tendency of the leather to stain.

8. Clean your bag if it gets dirty by simply wiping it with a soft, damp cloth.

9. Avoid using a leather cleaner that contains oils to clean natural leather (leather that is dyed rather that painted), as cleaning oils can trap moisture and dirt, and stain the leather. Ink marks, grease and oil stains are unfortunately not removable and should be left alone.

10. If the bag is stained, take it to a professional leather cleaner who will have the expertise to remove the stain.

Now on to fashion jewelry. Fine quality fashion jewelry pieces can remain with you for a long time. Jewelry of all kind, fine or fashion, should be treated gently and stored properly. Especially pearl or glass jewelry items should be stored separately to avoid scratches to its surface.

I also recommend that you protect your fashion jewelry pieces from contact with hairspray, make-up and household cleaning products. Substances in these products attack the surface of your fashion jewelry. I always accessorize with fashion jewelry after applying make-up, perfume or hairspray. Also, always remember to remove your jewelry before taking a shower/bath, swimming, exercising or sleeping.

With the frequent wear of your fashion jewelry and contact with your skin, your jewelry’s surface will change over time. I recommend that you carefully rub your pieces with a soft cloth to remove any build-up. Please do not use any cleansers.

Copyright (c) 2007 MMC Lifestyles, LLC, dba MMC Style

MMC Style ( href="http://www.mmcstyle.com/">http://www.mmcstyle.com ) is an Internet store for fashion accessories sourced from unique and highly-talented small design shops in Europe. Our online store offers high-quality European fashion jewelry and leather handbags to those women who want to be unique. You won’t find MMC Style ( href="http://www.mmcstyle.com/">http://www.mmcstyle.com ) fashion accessories in your department or chain stores. Is your uniqueness reflected in your personal style?

Calcite, the main cause of scale, is the most common form of calcium carbonate and occurs naturally as a natural ingredient of chalk, limestone and marble. Water passing over and permeating through such rocks dissolves calcite when this water subsequently flows through a water system the calcite precipitates out to form a very hard scale on surfaces.When hard water is heated, or evaporation takes place, the problems are exacerbated. Calcite forms ever growing layers of rock-like deposits until eventually pipes, jets and equipment become totally blocked. The problem increases as the water gets hotter. Water containing 145 ppm of calcite, flowing at 3.5 litres per minute, produces in one year 4.8 kilograms of scale at 60ºC. At 80ºC this rises dramatically to a massive 29.9 kilograms! Scale wastes both energy and financial resources just one eighth of an inch of scale reduces heating efficiency by 25%. It is also very expensive to remove, de-scaling pipes and boilers alone costs British Industry over £800M each year.

Hard water substantially increases energy consumption, necessitates equipment downtime for cleaning and results in the early renewal of capital equipment. Executives involved in running a business, local government department or institution are under increasing pressure to cut costs and become more efficient. However this must be carried out with due regard to increasing environmental legislation.

Scalewatcher is a unique, efficient, energy-saving device better than the water softener or a magnet. It is designed to eliminate the problems of hard water, whilst retaining the natural benefits. This is achieved by changing the size of the particles of precipitated compounds, by aiding the ability of crystals to form their shape, and by altering the solubility of compounds within liquid. Scalewatcher takes the process of induced ionisation to its ultimate stage. The principles of Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) are applied by passing scalewatcher’s patented signal through a coil wrapped around the pipe to be treated. The signal consists of a frequency modulated (FM) wave form within the audio frequency (AF) bandwidth. This inaudible sonic frequency signal sets up a dynamic field around and through the coil, pipe and water, and modifies the calcium carbonate crystal nuclei. The nuclei upon which the crystals start growing are minute in size and have charged surfaces in their natural condition within the water. When they pass through the field, these naturally charged nuclei encounter considerable forces as the field interacts with them. The field acts at the surfaces of the nuclei and modifies the nature of the electrical charges and this ionisation effect thus alters the growth rate and pattern of the crystals in general and on specific planes.

The principle of magnetic water treatment is not new. The first patent was granted around 1900. Scalewatcher takes this knowledge into the 21st century. The electronic device treats the water by inducing magnetic AND electric fields with a continuous changing frequency. This forces the dissolved minerals such as Calcium and Magnesium to crystallize in the water before the ions settle (hard scale) at walls of piping, bathroom or heating elements of dishwasher and washing machine. This action stops any further build up of hard scale by preventing the settlement of dissolved mineral ions on whatever surface.

Advances in micro-electronics have enabled scalewatcher to produce a system which
is so compact that it can be installed in small or normally inexcessable spaces. It is ideal
for commercial applications such as laundries, hotels, garages, dentists, correctional
centers, restaurants and bakeries. Easily fitted and requiring no plumbing, chemicals or maintenance. Scalewatcher benefits include : increased life for capital equipment, lower energy bills, short term payback, reduced mechanical damage and failure environmentally friendly and hazard free.

The capability of the water to dissolve minerals will also be increased and this is the reason why hard scale layers will be softened, will slowly enter into the water stream, and will disappear down the drain.

Idalia Luczak

Scalewatcher is a unique, efficient, energy-saving device better than the water softener or a magnet.

Many folks decry the New World Order, yet really it seems that they do not fully understand what they are talking about. As the coordinator for the Online Think Tank many people wish to warn us about the New World Order and ask if we know anything about this so-called conspiracy. What conspiracy? Actually yes I have heard of all this stuff.

My thoughts are that there are indeed too many people on the planet, yes, well I concur with that and unless, better infrastructure systems are built in order to handle these issues then we will continue to see problems and they will become bigger and bigger. Whether man-made or nature’s equilibrium does not matter too much. Too many people on the planet is an issue and the World Population Clock ticketh. This problem must be addressed, we simply cannot sweep it under the carpet any longer.

The “New World Order” in concept is potentially better than the continued “resonance and heightened dissident fiery incited debate” leading to chaos and controversy, perhaps anarchy and collapse of human civilizations. It seems that the ideal population for Earth is probably 100 to 300 million or less per continent with proper modern infrastructures, which will be needed to be in place, prior to any increase. But, with regards to some continents the 100 - 300 million would be better set at a far reduced multiple.

We have too many people and they are over producing more people, like rats. Something needs to be done, the solutions are unthinkable indeed. You see, I am not against a “One World, one currency, one direction” plan or time table for this human occupied planet, with regional variations and a sense of freedom. There are too many people on the planet that would be hard to deny really. It’s not very pretty.

Sure, living in the US seems doable but look at the infrastructure it takes to support it. Putting a Billion people in the Middle East, China or 2 billion in Africa is outrageous and the growth population rates are scary. We are doomed if we do not fix it you know? So, make less people, solve the real problems, rather than the band-aids. Today we can barely feed them, what about tomorrow when there are twice as many mouths to feed? What are you thoughts on that harsh reality?

Why are you against a one planet system? It might even be nice to take the best we have developed in the US and use that model, deleting the stuff that does not work. One World plan might actually be quite nice, so what’s the problem? Spell it out, let’s here the objections and rational behind that debate? Well, come on now, time is wasting and the population clock ticket.

L. Winslow is a Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

Bad things happen everyday but catastrophes/massacres such as this are very infrequent. Children do not know this and when they come to know of something like this happening, there is a tendency for these children to worry, get scared, and even have nightmares. As a parent, it is your obligation to make sure that they understand that this is not very common.

So here is how we recommend parents of young children to bring this up to your children. Explain that they are safe and well protected by people that love them. You need to give them reassurance that they in an environment full of peace. Then you explain how bad things happen sometimes. Whether it is a car accident or not but that does not mean it affects anybody.

Then you explain the circumstances that led to the event. Make it clear to your child that what has happened is extremely rare because of what had happened in Virginia. The shooter was a loner and a very disturbed individual.

No matter how safe you tell your kids they will be, they will still worry. They will still have the impressions that it could still happen to them. There is nothing you can do to take that fear away from them. It is human nature to feel it. You just have to be there to support them.

Parents are far too often sheltering their kids from the World’s events and we feel that is the wrong thing. Because if children do not know problems exist in the world, they will have difficulty coping with them. Every child is different and keep an open mind and ask them what questions they have about the massacre. You need to be there for them to answer all that they ask.

An online historical archive of the Virginia Tech Shooting Spree Massacre has been created and will be updated frequently as more information about the Va Tech deceased and the shooter is uncovered.

There seems to still be lingering 911 Conspiracy Theorists out there and so our Online Think Tank has reviewed all the material from the 911 Conspiracy Theorists. And yes we are aware and have heard the recent Rosie O’Donnell comments. Indeed we have listened to George Noory and the interviews of the Colorado Professors (at length) and in all this it is quite clear that all the conspiracy theorists out there have an axe to grind, big time.

We do not believe that it is healthy for the United States of America to go any further on the questioning of these events unless absolute proof is available. I have watched specials on the Discovery Channel and all the towers looked like demolish to me, but that is merely an observer of third hand video, I was not there.

Since, I have no information and I refuse to speculate, so too should the conspiracy theorists. In fact, I went thru all the data from a gentleman I met in Flagstaff, AZ who wrote an eBook on this, I went thru every single chapter and came up with plausible deniability on every single point of contention, yes, every single topic, without exception.

The selective use of news, false reports, non-mainstream media, etc. is alarming, the folks purporting these conspiracy theories have financial gains, ambition and books to sell or websites to promote; they are not with us.

In fact, one cannot tell us that the “news media” was in on it and then use the news media reports during all the chaos and selective quotes to prove their points of contention. Indeed, on the Think Tank our bulletin board went thru each point by point and found errors in each item of the conspiracy crowd. These comments are against our nation are very detrimental and damaging, they serve no purpose whatsoever and only weaken us. Thus I will defend against the conspiracy theorists.

L. Winslow is a Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

I was in a mental ward when the Australian Port Arthur massacre happened. On the first night of my stay I could not get to sleep due to sleep deprivation. I could not get to sleep and in the three hours that I tried to get to sleep I had twice gone out and told staff that I needed help. On both occasions they told me to go back to my room and they would be in shortly. The third time I went out my head was in much agony and it felt like it was being pulled in a thousand different ways by individual unseen wires.

I had watched on shows on TV when patients had become violent that doctors and nurses would pin them down and give them a needle and in desperation and anger for the staffs blatant disregard of me and my situation I went out to see them the third time. This time I said, “If you are not in my room with enough medication to get me to sleep in the next half an hour I am going to come back and get very violent with as many of you that I have to until you knock me out.”

I was rocking back in forth in agony looking for a way to find a weapon and trying not to go stark raving mad with the pressure in my head when a nurse took about six times calling my name to get my attention. She told me she had two pills for me and they would allow me to get to sleep and I took them and she was right, they knocked me out.

While I stayed at the hospital the TV played the Port Arthur massacre and they could not get enough of it. The coverage went on day after day and every time they aired it they said the most dangerous words any hurting twisted guy could hear. “This is a world record.”

Can I tell you from the perspective of a guy who suffers a mental illness and has been though a lot of personal emotional pain in his life, that one of the most dangerous things you can put in the mind of a person that is angry with the world is “world record.”

I cannot fathom why the media are allowed to use those words and set every potential killers minds on the thought of training up and beating the world record before shooting themselves. I might have a mental illness but I am not stupid and the press coverage of this latest incident saying this is the worst university massacre that the United States has seen and the worst single massacre the United States has seen has simply been stupidity and asking for a bigger and better massacre, one that would now beat the current record.

Already there are hundred of people in the world chewing over how they would do a bigger job then this one and it is plainly obvious to me that this current killer had knocked so many people to the ground with his bullets that he clearly thought he had set the new world record before shooting himself.

With all of what is within me, I know for a fact, that this man would not have shot himself until he thought he had beaten Port Arthur and if hell gets any reports from this side of the grave he will be a little upset down there that his mission had failed in this one vital respect.

The death of innocent people does effect me, don’t get me wrong, but I find that the people with the power and the authority in this world have got all those 33 peoples innocent blood on their hands.

The media should never say world record and the good people of the world should revolt and say this kind of reporting in not accepted.The current massacre is not the biggest massacre your country will witness nor is it the last one that will happen. The media of the world and the governments of the world that allow them to broadcast such stupid comments as United states biggest massacre are going to be held in account by God himself for the future carnage.

Over 700,000 innocent Iraq citizens have died in this stupid war on terror that Bush has started with the descendants of Abrahams first born son, and God is quite happy that 33 peoples deaths has struck fear into the American people. My God is both a God of justice and a God of mercy and the American government is still one that practices the death sentence and the God of Abraham is still a God that will in many ways judge the innocent in the United States of America for their ungodly war with Iraq and occupation.

I have to laugh at the President of the United States, with all his wisdom and advisers and as big as his army is, he is still out of control.

God rules this earth, and it is appointed once for every man to die and after death come their judgement. Yesterday 33 people had an appointment with God and went on to either heaven or hell to spend eternity. We can cry over this or we can make a loud noise to governments to put a ban on the media using such provoking words in their news broadcasts.

If you want to read about a real horror and two big killers that are going to strike the earth with killer plagues like Moses did in Egypt to set the Jews free, make sure you read my article “The most comprehensive look at the last day’s church you will ever see.” At http://www.ezinearticles.com

God looks at the hearts of every man and ways up the motives behind every good and bad thing he does and for the people that are evil yet thinking they are good their will come a day of reckoning. George W Bush is going to have his time before the courts of heaven and God is his judge, and on that day I am afraid he will have great fear as he is led off to a place where suffering cannot be a strong enough word.

Make a protest, This foolish reporting must stop.

Matthew is one of two people that operate a site at http://www.escapeministries.net Escape ministries is a place where people can be ministered to over the internet, by reading articles, watching videos and receiving personal prophetic words. James and Matthew invite you to visit today to look at some of the articles they have collected and watch some of the video teachings they are setting about to produce for you. You are encouraged to sign up for our monthly newsletter or simply email James or Matthew with any of your comments. We hope that you might bookmark it and come back to visit often as we pursue our mission statement that is found on our home page.

You can visit and view their video’s live at youtube by going direct to http://www.youtube.com/EscapeMinistries

Cho Seung-Hui was the 23 year-old Virginia Tech student who killed 32 students and took his own life afterward on the morning of April 16, 2007.

What clues can we see throughout Cho Seung-Hui’s time at Virginia Tech (VT) that would signal and lead up to the making of a murderer?

1. He was an isolated recluse and silent loner.
Cho, a South Korean native, was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va. Cho was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall. Yet his roommates say he was very quiet and kept to himself. The extent of his social revolved around instant messenger and time spent on face book.

2. Strange behavior alienating him socially.
Cho was said to often take pictures of people without permission. Perhaps Cho was collecting pictures to send to friends back in South Korea to project the social life he never had. Though many fellow students at Virginia Tech were disturbed by Cho’s picture takings, they were seemingly tolerant to a degree of his eccentric and weird behavior. Nevertheless Cho’s odd behavior served to ostracize and distance him socially from his peers. Many who crossed paths with Cho at VT thought of him as the strangest, spookiest person they’d ever encountered.

3. He was jealous and envious.
Cho left an angry note in his dorm room, which a law enforcement source described as a typed, eight-page rant against “rich kids” and women. “You caused me to do this,” the official quoted the note as saying.

Cho was jealous and envious of the rich kids money and guys who had the girls he dreamed of having. The Bible says, “Jealousy is the rage of a man” (Proverbs 6:34). That is to say jealousy precedes anger and rage. As for envy, it is “rottenness of the bones” (14:30).

4. Socially and sexually frustrated.
Leaving home to live at the University can be a real test for one’s manhood as Cho discovered. He was thrust into a new living environment, where he had to adapt and make friends. Not being the social type, the insecure Cho withdrew and isolated himself.

With the click of the internet, Cho was readily able to access all the pictures of the girls he inwardly fantasized about. This further intensified his own personal and sexual frustration as a man. What futile attempts he did make to befriend the opposite sex, Cho was seemingly rejected as there apparently was not a mutual interest.

Cho’s last hours apparently began with the killings of freshman veterinary student Emily Hilscher, 19, and senior Ryan “Stack” Clark, a resident advisor, at about 7:15 a.m. in the West Ambler Johnston residence hall.

Hilscher’s connection to Cho is not clear. The police who responded to 911 calls described the incident as a “domestic dispute,” implying that she and the gunman had some sort of relationship.

Another twist to this puzzling young man is his darkly comic one-act play “Richard McBeef,” which mentions a father’s pedophilia.

5. Uncommunicative, Cho was an emotional time bomb eroding from within.
David Schott, who graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., with Cho in 2003, told the Boston Herald in an e-mail that Cho “never spoke a word.” Bottling up all of his pain and feelings within, Cho never confided in anyone as to what he was struggling with.

Unlike women who validate and easily articulate their feelings to one another, Cho (like many men) probably lived in denial for some time and just kept pushing his pain down.

6. Cho was likely the source of classmate jokes.
Kids can be cruel. It begins in elementary school and goes on through college. Kids don’t hold back any punches. The joke about unresponsive Cho was he was “The question mark kid.”

Cho sat in the back of the classroom, wearing a hat and seldom participating. In a small department, Cho distinguished himself for being anonymous.

A photo from the 2002 yearbook, when Cho was a junior, shows an unsmiling, bespectacled boy wearing a plaid flannel shirt over a light-colored T-shirt. He did not have a yearbook photo his senior year.

7. Cho played violent video games which desensitized him to violence.
Dr. Phil went so far according to Fox News as to have entirely blamed the video games. I wouldn’t go that far, but I will say that making sport of violence does tremendously desensitize people to acting in such a way. This was definitely another small component that compounded and contributed to the making of a murderer.

8. Full of shame and self-hatred.
It was said that Cho never made eye contact with anyone in high-school, this being a sure sign of low self-esteem and shame. Enduring such self-defeating tendencies for years enabled Cho to develop a strong sense of self-hatred.

Students said Cho was known for little more than his silent demeanor. They said he refused to introduce himself to his creative writing class last year. As classmates went around the room saying their names, he remained silent. On the sign-in sheet where everyone else had written their names, Cho had written a question mark. “Is your name, ‘Question mark?’ ” classmate Julie Poole recalled the professor asking. The young man offered little response.

Cho’s two roommates told CNN in an exclusive interview that he had mentioned committing suicide to them after a disheartening incident when he had pursued a “friend” (no doubt a young lady) and the results were not favorable to his liking.

9. Cho expressed anger in his writings.
Cho’s deep sense of self-hatred manifested in his creative writing, which he as an English major wrote. It was said by his English teacher that Cho’s angry writings were a huge reason for concern. She urged him to get psychological counseling and even reported his problem to the University.

MacFarlane, a former play writing classmate of Cho’s, now an employee of AOL, wrote on a news blog that “When we read Cho’s plays, it was like something out of a nightmare.”

One play, titled “Richard McBeef,” depicts an angry adolescent who believes his stepfather murdered his biological father. It is laced with references to sexual abuse. In it, a chain saw-wielding mom has a temper that flairs on a whim.

Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” This is hard to do if you don’t first love yourself. The reverse is true in that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Since Cho inwardly hated and loathed himself, it wasn’t long before he would feel the same way about the professors and students around him.

10. Cho was using anti-depressants.
It was said that Cho was using anti-depressant medication to help him through the emotional lows he was experiencing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, said the minimal and short-lived stimulation one would get from anti-depressants might be just enough to enable them to act on their anger.

As a minister I know well that medicating a person never deals with the underlying issue deeper within at the root of the problem. Despite using medication, Cho was becoming increasingly violent and erratic.

11. Cho gave people a bad vibe instinctively.
“We always joked we were just waiting for him to do something, waiting to hear about something he did,” said another classmate, Stephanie Derry. “But when I got the call it was Cho who had done this, I started crying, bawling.”

There certainly is something to be said about a woman’s intuition. Many seemed to have a sick gut feeling and premonition about Cho long before the blood bath broke out. Ian MacFarlane’s first thought when he heard of the massacre at his alma mater was for his friends’ safety. His second was, “I bet it was Seung Cho.”

There were some troubling signs with Cho: students in his writing classes say he often wrote violent scenes they describe as “twisted.” He wrote two screenplays dealing with death and revenge – two things that seem to have played out Monday on the Virginia Tech campus.

12. Family and outside pressure may have played a role.
I hate to generalize and stereotype. However as one who has traveled to over 50 countries of the world, I’ve got a pretty good sense of other cultures and their work ethic. This is merely speculative, but it may have some validity.

The shooting spree took place at Norris Hall, which houses the bulk of Virginia Tech’s famed engineering courses. Cho killed a few reputable professors from the engineering department, 30 people total at the engineering building though he was an English major.

Perhaps Cho’s father wanted him to study engineering at University, as many Asian fathers encourage their sons in such a line of employment. It was not said whether or not Cho was possibly denied admittance into the engineering program when he initially applied at attend VT. Cho’s English major certainly didn’t afford him a lot of interaction with other Asians at the University, who might have been more successful relating to him.

13. Cho sought to buy a gun.
Cho, a loner in life, apparently wanted to be anonymous in death. Sources say he carried no identification on him during his killing spree. And the serial numbers on his two handguns had been erased.

He was carrying a 9-millimeter Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol, which he had legally bought five weeks earlier at a gun shop in nearby Roanoke, as well as a 22-caliber Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol and several clips of ammunition.

The gun store owner told his story on TV and was very grieved for selling the gun to what he thought to be a “clean-cut,” respectable young man.

14. Cho lacked solid values and struggled making sense of his faith.
Unlike many who feel powerless and turn to God, Cho seems to have been troubled about religion and American values he witnessed on campus.

A rambling note left in Cho’s dorm room reportedly railed for several pages against “rich kids” and “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on campus. He seemed to identify with Jesus Christ to whom he likened his actions. Apparently Cho never learned that Jesus is a life-giver not a life-taker. Jesus forgave those who nailed Him to the cross and spit in His face saying, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Cho had no such forgiveness for those he slaughtered.

Sadly Cho never connected to his great Christian heritage in South Korea, where some of the largest and most dynamic churches flourish.

15. Demonic influences contributed to this mass murder.

It sounded like a demon spirit was speaking through Cho on his videos as he said, “my children, my brothers and sisters” which had no factual basis as Cho was an unmarried man without kids. It was like Satan himself was talking to through Cho, a child of the devil (Acts 13:10).

The strange inscription on one of Cho’s arms — the words “ISMAIL AX” in red ink reference the Biblical sacrifice of Abraham, in which God commands the patriarch to sacrifice his own son. Abraham begins to comply, but God intervenes at the last moment to save the boy.

Another obscure interpretation may be to a passage in the Koran referring to Abraham’s destruction of pagan idols. No matter how you look at it, “the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). As Satan filled the heart of Judas who was a murderer from the beginning, Cho equally was misdirected by the father of lies. Spiritually, Cho was born of his father the devil and his works of destruction he carried out to his own demise (John 8:44).

My deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to Cho’s beloved family in Virginia. I hurt and grieve with you over the loss of your son.

Truly hurting people, hurt people.

I pray our loving and most merciful heavenly Father will comfort you through this difficult time. As millions of South Koreans know, Christ Jesus can save to the uttermost. Once we have humbled our hearts and repented, we can immediately find forgiveness and refuge beneath His cleansing blood. Once you are beneath the blood of Jesus, you can live above the shame.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). Lift up your eyes to heaven where your help comes from. God is a very present help in our time of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Paul Davis is a worldwide minister, NLP master practitioner, life purpose coach, and interrogator who studies people extensively and examines what motivates their actions.

Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Adultery 101; Are You Ready for True Love; Stop Lusting; Waves of God; Supernatural Fire; Poems that Propel the Planet; and God vs. Religion.

Paul’s compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has served in many war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His Dream-Maker Inc. is building dreams, breaking limitations & reviving nations.

Paul’s Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching:

RevivingNations@yahoo.com
407-284-1705
http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com
http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV

Don Imus is out of a job for making an unwise joke about the Rutgers lady basketball team. MSNBC and CBS have completely cancelled his program. Leaving aside the fact that these two corporations canned his program despite the fact that Imus was joking and apologized ad nauseam, far bigger issues remain. One primary issue concerns whether this kind of censorship (particularly after profuse apologies) is wise and justifiable. Another issue is the level of hypocrisy surrounding this censorship issue.

Here we have a man who has told questionable jokes for decades. He has either fired staff members when they crossed the line or apologized as in this latest case. In other cases, he has not done so because he apparently felt there was no need to apologize for an obvious joke. Now, after all these years, they bring down the entire hammer all at once after giving Imus virtually full reign to showcase his brand of humor for years. At any rate, he is gone now, so there’s no point in belaboring this particular firing. On the other hand, what happens next may shape the future of free speech in this country that supposedly values open dialogue and expression and second chances.

I am personally a PC hater. It is a kind of censorship that will creep up out of the dark and bite you the moment you have a slip of the tongue or be so human as to occasionally speak without thinking. But it is not so much PC that is the problem. It is the actions of PC thugs like Al Sharpton that create the problem. Sharpton has made mistakes and is still alive and well on the radio. Jesse Jackson is still alive and well despite making some of these same mistakes. Yet they are front and center calling for people like Imus to be fired for an unfortunate joke without so much as a line of dialogue with Imus to try and fix the problem.

Even after Imus offered to go on Sharpton’s show (which he did) and apologized for hours, Sharpton and his PC thug wannabees never let up the pressure until Imus got the boot. And this is the behavior of a reverend? Shocking but true.

Now, let’s get to the good part. We all know of the foul language in rap music these days. Sharpton and his two faces have been asked time and again about rap music. He conveniently concedes it’s an issue to discuss while refusing to call out a single rapper by name.

Let’s look at this more closely. Imus makes a three-second joke that was clearly unwise and, taken out of the context of his brand of humor, can certainly be seen as racist and sexist. Although that was most likely not his intent (he apparently spoke without even thinking about it), the response is understandable. Like I said, though, it is not so much the outrage after the comment. It is the herd mentality that takes over to shut people down and the hypocrisy. Calls for Imus’ firing came immediately without serious discussion. Here we have a white guy who tells a three-second joke and should be fired immediately according to the PC thugs. Yet the same PC thugs give feeble lip service to rap lyrics with a highly generic statement and a refusal to call out a single rapper.

If someone doesn’t see the double standard here, it’s really scary. Why does Sharpton merely have a conference on rap lyrics to see if there is a problem but immediately call for the firing of someone like Imus? Well, let’s speculate a little since I can’t read his mind. Let’s posit that Sharpton and goons like him are afraid that the black community will not agree with him. This in turn threatens to destroy his little empire. With no black community to follow him, Sharpton is pretty much out of business. As always, it appears that Sharpton will give a little lip service to things like rap music so as not to seem too biased and hypocritical but won’t cross the line to where he thinks he might alienate his target audience. In other words, he simply can’t be trusted to push the issue against black offenders. Only the whites are called out by name and led to slaughter. Again, I can only speculate here because I can’t read his mind, but the hypocrisy is clear. The fact that he won’t call out a single rapper or label speaks volumes.

This brings us to the other dirty political players in this game - the corporations. Why they would bow this far to legal blackmail artists like Sharpton and Jackson is beyond me. They didn’t let the market decide. Instead, they pulled the plug on Imus before he even had a chance to change his format. The ultimate aim of PC thugs like this is to control the media. If they don’t like it, they will go after you. It is oddly much like the Religious Right. While the Religious Right seeks to force non-believers into faith-driven situations like school prayer or forced births, these lefties seek to control speech. It is quite ironic if you think about it. Both sides are attacking different parts of the First Amendment, but both are destructive in their own right.

Personally, my opinion is that the shock jocks and the rappers and everyone else should say what they want to say. If the market supports it, let them say it. My vision of America is a country where both intelligent and stupid people say what they want to say while others respond to either support or oppose those comments. But what we see here is not mere opposition. We see a kind of legal blackmail. Get rid of the people we don’t like or we will boycott and harm your company. But the problem is the corporations are not on the same page. Imus goes, and the rappers thrive. And Rosie stays for jokes about Asians. For that, she saw fit to apologize for the insensitivity, and that dealt with the problem. Don’t get me started on Rosie’s other comments. That would take volumes.

Therefore, there is no need to have these silly arguments that you hear about rap. Rappers claim they are different because they portray real life. But Imus told a joke. In actuality, neither appears to be malicious. There is no real distinction here. We can argue over semantics or forget it and let the market make these decisions. Further, we can leave the hypocrisy and scattershot firings behind. Bring the era of open discussion back if the corporations can’t police uniformly and fairly. This uneven and unpredictable treatment most likely breeds more resentment than could ever be caused by crude rap lyrics and badly worded jokes.

So here is the bottom line - most of these media corporations are only interested in money. They will not respond to any pressure unless they fear financial harm. And since people like Sharpton have shown a complete inability to treat all “offenders” the same, the best solution would seem to be to let the market decide.

If rap music like this sells, let people buy it. If Imus continues to have good ratings, let people watch or listen. If the sales or ratings go down, then the corporations can replace them. Besides, I thought that was what America was about, anyway. Please give us our freedom back, Big Business. As it stands now, two groups are being created. The ones who say what they want with virtual impunity and the ones who get accused of racism and sexism and get fired. This is certainly not the America that our forefathers envisioned.

Jimmy Boyd

Jimmy Boyd provides unique analysis of daily news items at http://wackyanalyst.blogspot.com. Come and share your views.