Applause and Other Inappropriate Things

1. I'll finish my "What to Watch" lists later. I know you're super interested. 
2. I wrote this a while ago and just rediscovered it and really like what I wrote. I hope you like it too!

If you're like me - you're already sick of hearing about the 2012 elections. I view it in the same light that I view pregame analysis for sports. It's a great way to get pumped about an impending event - but after a while (or a very short time, if you're me) you're just ready for the game to start already.

With more than a year before we "start the game" we are in the midsts of presidential debates where people from the same team are jockying to gain a spot on next year's roster (I'm really loving my sports analogy - can't you tell?) These debates have been a source of much conversation, analysis and even outrage.

Most of the outrage centers around audiences' responses to gay soliders (booing an overseas solider who came out via video at a debate), death penatly policies (appluading when Rick Perry stated he hasn't lost any sleep over the 235 death sencences carried out while in office) and a general embrace (at least not condemnation) by politicans when such views are expressed. Media outlets and bloggers are calling for canidates to stand up against such vocalization of beliefs and to forge a new path of understanding and tolerance.

Although I'm not supporting these people's reaction or endorsing their belief system - I have to remind myself that we are all equal and we all deserve to believe whatever we want. Further, everyone deserves to be able to find and try to elect a goverment official that represents those beliefs. Is public condemnation of someone's social, political or religious affliation any more acceptable if it comes from the left or the right? Sure the reactions of some groups of people may offend other groups of people - but at what point does your demand for tolerance become an act of intolerance?

I feel as if we're in this murky-grey area where we've abolished (almost) everything that interfers with people's inalieable rights and we're down to the stuff that's more a matter of opinion. Some people will not agree with this becuase it is a matter of opinion. We're between generations and the strain of the shift is starting to show in our goverment. My generation (generation Y -thankyouwikipedia) for the most part is in agreement with policies, cultural and social norms. It's when someone my age and someone 30 years older (the age of most of our politicans) get in the same room do we really see a stark contrast in core beliefs.

Further, social media enables every age group to interact, express opinions or carry on public debates over religious/moral/political issues.  Perhaps we feel a strain more because we're talking more. We can broadcast our opinions instantly and engage in debate at the drop of the hat with people from around the world. I say I value communication and information - but is a constant conversation something I really want?

In the past we were able to stratify our demographics and things felt more....status quo. I'm not saying they were, just that the feeling of it was more easily achievable. Nowadays everyone can interact with anyone else. We're all in conversations all the time.....and it's exhausting. Opinions are expressed, offense is taken, tensions flare and we all feel it.

I don't know. It's an interesting time we live in. Things are changing rapidly. Politics and conversations are shifting -  adapting to new technology, new generations and new sets of values. Yet just because we CAN have these conversations now, SHOULD we engage in them? Should we worry what our friends think about a potential president? Sure it makes for interesting debate - yet if that debate comes at the cost of intolerance, hurt feelings and angry outbursts...what is really being achieved?

In ending - I know that by talking about the expression of opinions, I'm expressing MY opinions on the subject. I know just as much as I have the right, ability and desire to say what I think you have the right to respond, disagree and express your own opinions. But I'm tired feeling on the edge of a fight. I'm tired of listening to media outrage. I'm tired of reading personal outrage on Facebook. And although I won't tell someone to change their beliefs, values or morals...I will tell you I'm tired of hearing them.

Unless, of course, I agree with them.

What to Watch (Part 3)

Formerly Great Shows (that I still watch)
I do not condone you starting to watch these shows. I watch them because at one time or another they were some seriously good TV...now, not so much. 

1. Grey's Anatomy  - ABC
I'll be blunt. At a certain age the "who's sleeping with who" drama becomes less entertaining and more...depressing. And then if they do get married (which some of them did) I never want to watch that drama. You are married! You have children together! STAY TOGETHER FOR THE KIDS. Kidding but seriously - it just isn't fun anymore. Real life isn't funny. I feel like they've tried to supplement the relationship hijinks with crazy events (A bomb! A shooter! A car running in to the ER!!!) but I just keep waiting for the residents there to realize that stupid hospital is cursed and get the heck out of Dodge. 


Then vs. Now - AKA everyone is getting too old to have a group close up/let's dress them up so people forget HOW OLD THEY'RE LOOKING. 

2. Desperate Housewives - ABC
Meh, I it has like three episodes left and I want to see if one of them finally goes crazy and bombs Wisteria Lane. 

They went from this....

...to this. Exactly opposite of the progression of every actual housewife. 

3. The Office - NBC
It pains my fingers to place this once-great show under this category. But I must. I MUST STAY TRUE. And the truth is...sigh....it's just not as great as it once was. Sure, there are glimpses of brief hilarity, but overall it is a grim shadow of the sitcom it once was. I blame Jim and Pam. No one wants to watch two people blissfully venture in to domesticated oblivion. We want drama, tension and akward/funny situations that normal people have when things are dramatic and tense.  Plus Andy is no Michael. Andy and Erin are no Jim and Pam. I watch out of loyalty, mostly. The Office was good to me in a time when not many shows delivered...but everyone else has stepped up their game. Your turn, The Office, your turn. 

One good thing about The Office's new direction? This guy, Gabe. He is awkwardness personified. 


4. Glee - FOX 
This show was only good in it's first season. It was so new and dramatic and catchy. MUSIC! On a scripted show! On Primetime! I'm so glad that Glee took the risk and dared to redefine what a primetime drama looked like. Now that we're all done patting the show on the metaphorical back for preaching (PREACHING) tolerance and acceptance and song and dance....the show needs to do better. How many ways can you repackage the "Singing a song about acceptance because I'm a unique little snowflake" idea? 

...the kind that knows "gleek" is a thing you do when you get spit to shoot out of your mouth like a water gun. 


5. The Biggest Loser - NBC
Watching fat people become skinny people by crying out 10 pounds of tears a week will never get old. The end. But seriously. They need to change something else. At 2 hours it's far too long. There are two many shots of the contestants grunting and ugly crying in the gym while working out. IF I WANTED TO SEE THAT I WOULD JUST GO TO THE GYM MYSELF AND BRING A MIRROR.

I miss this woman with all of my heart. She is my spirit animal. 


6. How I Met Your Mother - CBS
Et tu, Barney? HIMYM is one of those shows where you love every character from the first episode. The quirky, relatable couple of Marshall and Lily, the weird/somewhat butch Canadian, the womanizing friend, and the pretentious but insecure lead male. But HIMYM has tried (unsuccessfully I would argue) to grow the characters out of their original stereotypes. Barney's getting married?! No. Just no. Plus it's a harsh truth - but unless your show is about raising kids (Up all Night, Modern Family, Raising Hope) or the viewers never see the kid (Cougar Town) then children have no place on TV. The whole Marshall and Lily are having a baby story line makes me sad because it means either they'll be horrible parents and the show will still be good or they'll be great parents and I couldn't care less. 

Awkward prom photo x's 1000. 

What to Watch (Part 2)

Category 2 - Make Sure to Watch Within Week of Airing
Shows make it in this category either because they're either solid or really buzz-worthy. Confession - I'll watch something I know everyone else watches (within reason) just so I can be in the loop. Some people follow fashion trends - I follow TV trends. 


1. Big Bang Theory - CBS
This show is #1 on my "I don't want to like this but do" list. As my friend Jenny Hubbard pointed out it has a LAUGH TRACK which is the television equivalent of using bumper rails at a bowling alley. Seriously how little faith in the material do your producers have that they feel the need to overtly cue the audience to the funny parts? But snobbery aside - it's funny. Plus most of it is geek humor which let's be honest...is right up my alley (see what I did there? Yes, I'm hilarious.)



I kind of feel badly that the men of this show have to ugly themselves up so much. They're surprisingly handsome. (I'm not talking to you Mayim Bialik )


2. American Idol (So You Think You Can Dance) - FOX
First off - never watch this 2 hour monstrosity live. If you have DVR, wait at least 1.5 hours after it starts...because that's how much filler they manage to shove in. Just watch the performances and play a drinking game where you take a sip every time Steven Tyler hits on a contestant/winks at someone. But regardless of they hype/production of this show - there are some great performances. I lump SYTYCD in this same number because they're pretty much the same show. 

Blue is the color of talent contests.


3. 30 Rock - NBC 
The reason why this isn't on my Never Miss list is because the show's getting a bit tired. I mean how many freaking Emmys can you give Alec Baldwin? It's still really funny, but it's always been really funny. They just took Liz Lemon down this weird path where she got more and more eccentric. Which could be funny but she's pushing 40 and straying away from quirky and hilarious in to weird cat-lady territory.



Liz Lemon has some serious mom hair. 


4. Cougartown - ABC
It's a shame what they've done to this great show. They put it on this super long hiatus and then switched nights basically ensuring no one's going to watch it and it will get canceled this season. MARK MY WORDS. But seriously you should be watching this show. Courtney Cox's character is allllmost annoyingly neurotic - and I keep waiting every episode for one of her friends to just slap her...which may actually happen because the show is that funny. It's the supporting cast that really makes this show great - the country guy, the mean lady, the young, slutty friend, the boyfriend and the weird neighbor.

Almost every scene in this show has someone holding a wine glass. I hope they fill it with real wine during shooting. 


5. Suburgatory - ABC
This show is about a girl that moves from NYC to the 'burbs. It's funny but not hilarious. I like the adult story lines more than the teenage ones. It does have Ana Gasteyer - who is hilarious...but she isn't a central character and couldn't carry the whole show even if she was. I guess it says something that I can't think of anything else to comment about on this show. It just kind of blends in..not hilarious but not horrible. Which, when I think of it, is a lot better than half of the stuff on TV.  



This is the look of complete despair. AKA the same face I make when I try on clothes. 


Ok that's it. I've decided my other categories will be as follows:
- Formerly Great Shows (that I still watch)
- Shows You SHOULD Watch But I Don't
- Non-Network Shows
-Don't Judge Me Shows

What to Watch (Part 1)

Network TV 
(aka those channels everyone gets even if you just have a cardboard box, microwave motor and a clothes hanger)
Yes I'm snotty enough to make this distinction. TV is an art, people.

Category 1 - Never Miss. Ever. EV. ERRRR 
1. Parks and Recreation - NBC
Hands-down the funniest 30 minutes of your week. Every single person in this cast is hilarious on their own, and together they make for a funny, relate-able cast that rarely disappoints. Plus, a show where the lead character is a career driven woman with a soft heart and a sweet tooth? My feminist heart swoons.


I make this face/strike this pose daily.

2. Community - NBC
Seriously good TV. I think a reason why it hasn't taken off so much is because it's a bit too intelligent for normal TV. Not like Big Bang Theory is "intelligent" making jokes that fool the audience in to thinking they're laughing at a joke that only a few, highly intelligent people could make/get (which is not true, Big Bang Theory, not true) but intelligent in the way that half of the jokes don't even register until you watch the show a second/third time through. And a large-scale pop culture knowledge is needed to understand most of the references.


Starburns! Just another reference you're missing out on if you don't watch Community. 


3. Revenge - ABC
Nighttime soap at its best. Seeing corrupt, rich people get their come-uppings feels so very good and so very bad at the same time. They've done a great job at making every character sympathetic, something I consider a must-have for any drama worth its weight. No one is all bad, but no one is all good either..so everyone must burn!! Side note - I don't think guys would particularly like this show.


Since this show is about rich people the actors have perfected what I call "The Old Money Pout"


4. Modern Family - ABC
This show is so feel-good it's almost insufferable. I actually kind of hate it for that reason. But then I actually watch an episode and love every moment. Every week there's an uplifting message which like I said - is annoying but so well done it's easily overlooked.


I can't help but think they choose that pose because that baby was really crying and they couldn't get it to stop. Maybe that's why that switched actresses for Lily....CUTTHROAT.


5. Happy Endings - ABC
This is a very age-specific show. I honestly don't know how people who aren't in their 20's or 30's understand the humor...but it gets solid ratings. I've heard it described as the Friends for our generation - which I agree with mostly. I personally think it's funnier...blasphemy, I know.


That's a lot of people to shove on one couch.


6. New Girl - FOX
This is another show I want to hate but don't. Also another show I think is very age-specific in what makes it funny. The idea of Zoey DeChenille (seriously, let's just change her name to this spelling so we can all start pronouncing it right) is annoying. But she pulls it off as Jess in this sitcom. Plus - the supporting cast (SCHMIDT!) is hilarious. They've toned down the "adorkable" (I cringe even having to type that word) feel in the past few episodes and it's really starting to work.


So many snarky comments about these promo posters...so little time. 



So I just finished this part and realized this list is going to be long. Embarrassingly long. So I'm breaking this list up in to segments. Oh and I'm lazy.


Other categories: Non-Network TV(aka tons of women's breast and gratuitous violence), Watch Sometime Within Week of Airing, Forget About and then Watch 5 Episodes, and Watch When There's Nothing Else On. And don't tempt me or I'll make a list of "If you watch this I seriously doubt your taste" (I'm looking at you 2 and a Half Men).

The Boob Tube

Well, I've officially taken a "write whatever the heck I want" approach to this blog.

I tried the self-discovery theme. I tried the current events theme. I've seriously considered a healthy-living or entertainment theme. And I've come to the grand conclusion that I"m going to write whatever I want. 

So chomp on that. 

To start this new trend of self empowerment/lack of commitment/get off my back I'm going to do what I want attitude...I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things ever. 

TV. 

I'm tired of hiding it. When you tell people "I really love watching TV" I feel like they automatically envision you in your undies/sweats, with a bag of half-eaten Cheetos and a liter of cola in a house of squalor. So I just never really tell people. I say I'm in to movies (because that's way more high-brow), or say I really enjoy following entertainment news (code for celebrity gossip) and hope that I've met a kindred spirit that I can eventually reveal my dirty little secret to. But no more. I will no longer hide my passion for hour long dramas, 30 minute sitcoms or  two-hour long talent searches. I'M HERE. I'M QUEER(ly addicted to TV). GET OVER IT. 

You think I'm this guy and I resent that. 

So keep your judgy judgments to yourself and let me explain to you the greatness that is television. 

I'm a sucker for a good story. I love reading books that entrance(see! I'm not totally uncivilized) and hook you in to a world, a story, a character. I love watching movies that accurately portray life and highlight the nuances and details that make the world amazingly beautiful. This is going to be/sound silly but I just really love life and people and really love when there are things that allow us to take a closer look at both of those things. 

TV does just that. Forget that 99.9% of the things that happen on TV would never ever happen in real-life, and think about how it gives us character development, relational growth and situational responses we would never come in contact with otherwise. Our horizons and scope of experience are broadened through the images and stories that come through television. 

Plus, the stories are just GOOD. They have to be to garnish millions of viewers every night. You grow to care for these fictional people, to identify with them - to let them in to your life. If that's not a feat of artistic ability, I don't know what is. 

So forget you and your event/craft/cleaning-filled evenings. You keep all that hard work you do and I'll keep the laughter, funny quotes and inside jokes I get from watching the best (and not-so-best, let's be honest) that the art of television has to offer. I'm done with trying to hide my light under a bushel (BIBLE REFERENCE 100000 PTS). 

Scenes from next week: TV shows I watch and why you should too.....

Fire, Family and Faith

My mother and father recently lost their home to a fire. As the fantastic journalist she is, my mother wrote a first-hand account of the events, emotions and details that surrounded such a life altering night.... 

The Fisher House Post Fire

For the past several weeks, I’ve been cleaning out drawers, closets, cubbies and corners – de-cluttering our house of extra underwear, seldom-used kitchen gadgets and gear and other the things that get stuck to you as you move through life.

I’ve been looking at items in my home asking myself ‘"why haven’t I worn that in two years? "will I ever really use this?" "where did this come from and why did I keep it?" "will I regret it if I don’t have the knowledge that this is safely tucked away under my bed or stored in a tote in my attic?"

After last week, I’ve found that process to be both a source of emotional distress and extreme comfort.

About 5:50 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, I was leaving the newspaper with plans to drop by Sonic for a Route 44 Diet Coke with lime and then spend the evening hanging new curtains in my bedroom. (My husband, Karl, had been working in Doha, Qatar, for three weeks and plans were for him to stay five more. What an opportunity to redo our bedroom and finish up cleaning and sorting projects!)

When my cellphone rang with a call from my friend and C&S Media colleague Judy Truesdell, I figured she had some last bit of work week wisdom or gossip to give me. But without any pleasantries, Judy said "Donnita, I think your house is on fire."

There have been many times when I’ve seen smoke coming from the general direction of my home or the home of a loved one and said "I hope that’s not my or (insert friend or family member’s name here) house." I thought that’s what Judy was doing.

View from the Front Door

"OK, Judy," I said to humor her.

"Donnita, there are fire trucks in your driveway."

After a bit of bantering back and forth with Judy getting more and more specific about the number of fire personnel and pillars of smoke and my repeated lack of concern. Judy started to cry and said something like "DONNITA, I am telling you that I am at your house and your house is on fire."

I don’t think I answered her because by this time I was at the intersection of Hwy. 78 and Brown Street and I could see the billowing gray smoke (and any newspaper reporter knows gray smoke means the fire fighting has begun – smoke is white before the firemen get there.) Still, there are a lot of houses in Wylie.

As I turned down Bennett Road, the scene was controlled chaos: a policeman motioned me through and asked if I was Donnita Fisher. I am. "Park in that driveway ... don’t run over the fire hose."

I did and got out of the car. There were fire trucks in my driveway, on my front yard, blocking the street. There were firemen pulling hoses from the hydrant at Wylie East. There were people gathered around the edges of my yard all looking toward my house.

As I walked across my neighbor’s yard, I saw Wylie Police Officer Donna Valdepeena. "I am so sorry."

OK ... Thank you. I kept walking.

"Donnita, is this your house?" Fire Chief Randy Corbin, in his battle gear, was in front of me asking.

Yes, sir. How bad is it?

"It’s not good. We’re going to do our best. I want you to stay here. You really don’t need to see this."

Odd but OK ...

View from the Back Door

My dog Rowdy’s in his kennel in the backroom on the west side. Can you have someone bring him to me? And has anyone see our cat, Skitters?

"I’ll check but right now we’re pretty busy with the fire," Chief Corbin said.

Then I saw Sachse Fire Chief Doug Kendrick and it began to sink in. My house was on fire!

I saw Judy standing in the other side neighbor’s yard and decided to go see her. I walked to the road and started to cross in front of the house.

Someone called my name and I looked over my shoulder back toward the house. Orange and yellow flames climbed from the rafters and the front porch roof fell, a flaming horizon spilling offspring that settled on the drooping hydrangea and in the hanging basket that contained the wax plant that had been my great grandmother’s. My stomach began to get queasy but I kept walking, this time still looking at the house.

Then I saw the fire in the window of the room that used to be my son Caleb’s room and that’s when my knees went weak. My wonderful next door neighbor, Cindy Johnson, brought a chair to me and I sat in it right in the middle of the road by the fire truck. I never made it the rest of the way and I didn’t look away again.

I saw the fire eat the eastern side of the house where our bedrooms were and begin to take bites of our living room, dining room and kitchen. I could see the firemen working and see the hoses spraying water but the flame didn’t retreat easily. In the effort to claim its meal, the fire raced toward the western edge of the house (our family room) and potholes began to appear in the roof as it found another soft bite.

I think that’s when I threw up.

Word spread quickly and as family, friends and total strangers began to arrive, I don’t think I was overly emotional but this could be hopeful thinking on my part.

My Brother's Room

My cousin Evelyn climbed through the bushes that separate Bennett Road from the back Wylie East High School parking lot as I was sitting in my roadway chair. She looked so frightened and then relieved to see me. I think whatever composure I did have fell apart then. Evelyn grabbed me and I grabbed her.

Evie, I don’t know what to do.

"Just sit here," she said.

My sister called and asked how bad it was.

It’s this bad ... I don’t have any clothes, the house is still on fire and they haven’t found Rowdy or Skitters.

I don’t know what time it was.

I don’t know what time I called Karl and told him our house was just a shell of brick.

Parent's Room- Looking through Three Walls

I don’t know what time Caleb arrived and I saw him – perhaps for the first time – not as my rambunctious, dare devil little boy but as a grown man providing unwavering support to his mother in an awful situation.

I don’t know when Chief Corbin told me Rowdy and Skitters died of smoke inhalation or asked me about my important papers.

I don’t know what time I found solace in the arms of Melanie Kennedy – a fellow First Baptist Church Wylie member. I did not know Melanie before, but she was not a stranger to me Friday night and I am grateful for her concern that turned into action.

I don’t know why I filed old documents in the file cabinet (unharmed by the fire) and our current papers were in my desk that was totally consumed by the fire.

I don’t know when Collin County Fire Marshal Mike Smith told me the fire started in the wall in our bedroom caused by an electrical short and probably smoldered for a while before igniting, running up inside the wall and spreading to the attic.

But I do know a few things.

1 – Wylie Fire-Rescue, Sachse Fire-Rescue, Parker Volunteer Fire and Lucas Volunteer Fire do an incredible job. Thank you all for battling so fervently for my possessions and when that goal could not be accomplished, rallying to keep my neighbors’ homes safe.

My Parent's Room - Where the Fire Started

2 – Everyone needs a fire safe box and needs to keep their current important papers in it.

3 – Some things can’t be anticipated, planned for or prevented and no one is to blame.

4 – If I had known my house was going to burn down, I would have worn different clothes and shoes to work that day.

5 – No matter how non-materialistic you think you are, you only think that because you have things. When your things are suddenly taken from you forever, you realize how important you thought they were.

6 – I will never report about a house fire in quite the same way.

As my house faded to gray, I thought my heart might lose its color too. But with the arrival of each person to my address – my parents, my sisters and brothers-in-law, my cousins, dear friends, coworkers, pastors and neighbors – I found myself getting back something much more precious than the items lost in the fire.

My house was full of things. Thanks to that cleaning out process, I have recent memories of what was there. And although those things are gone, my life is full of love. That I have in abundance.

Thank you for your prayers, care and concern.

Donnita Nesbit Fisher

I think everyone in my family echos the thanks and love we have for the countless people who have offered their prayers, concern and help to us during this difficult time. I have been constantly amazed at the kindness of others within this past week. Thankfully my parents have insurance and although their house and items in it will have to be completely demolished, they are already on the path to rebuilding their home and lives. Also, we were able to salvage a few boxes of old family photos, my wedding album and a handful of random items that have tremendous personal value. Your prayers and concern have been more than enough blessing to us during this difficult time. However, if you would like to contribute in some way, my mother's work The Wylie News has set up a bank account that you can send your donations to and is allowing their location in Wylie, Tx to become a donation zone for items or cards you may have. For out of state family/friends, we have the website ZashPay that allows cash donations to be sent via the internet. We once again stress that your prayers and concern are more than enough, but realize that people are fantastically generous and kind - a fact that has been repeatedly proven during the past week. Thank you all. - Leah

Fighting for Your Rights

With so many issues and events dominating headlines these days, I found myself challenged on choosing just one topic to discuss this week. National debt, a racially motivated killing in Mississippi, bombings in Norway, famine in Somalia...so many things are happening that demand our attention and captivate our hearts that I just didn't know where to begin.

Until the riots in London. For three days now (mainly) the youth of London have been mounting a full-out assault on their countrymen and neighbors. Shocking videos, pictures and eye-witness accounts have filled the internet with scenes straight out of the movies. From what I gather the riots began in response to a questionable police shooting of a suspected gang member in London. Since then, riots have broken out all over England and no longer can be attributed as a response to just one incident.

Though I don't condone the actions of the rioters in London on any level - I can understand the climate and general atmosphere that has pushed so many in to action against their own country. We, as Americans, are facing similar wide-spread frustration, distrust and discord. So many issues are dividing our country (budget stance, marriage policies) and producing extremist on both sides of the fence. It seems as if everybody is mad at someone else and everyone's mad at the government. Were we always so angry?

Perhaps it's due to my recent exit from the safety of youth and finally getting my feet wet in the real world. Perhaps it is my increased consumption of news from the internet and TV these recent months. Whatever the reason, I can't help but feel as if we're experiencing a subtle shift in the temperature of our nation, and even our world. We're angry. We're fed-up. We're tired of the status quo and taking more and more drastic actions to speak out against it. We're rallying. We're protesting. We all want change and it seems as if the masses are willing to take more and more drastic measures to get it.

But really, who are we fighting against? Our neighbor may not hold the same set of values as we do - but does that give one the right to place them in the "against me" category and write them off? What values or beliefs are deal breakers in our love and acceptance of others?  Though it may be easy to villainize  people or entities that seem to violate our beliefs and set of values - doing so limits our ability to engage in compassionate, influential relationships.

I would challenge everyone to take the same line of reasoning with our government - at what point does something become an enemy instead of an institution in great need of reform?  At what point do we abandon hopeful support for outraged opposition? It is easy to forget our government is simply a group of people - doing their best at creating the best system they as they see fit. Their ideas may not line up with what you or I think is right, but does that difference in beliefs or values warrant an all-out riot?

In short - sometimes we have to fight for our rights (and what we believe in). But before that we should all take a good, hard look at who what we're really fighting for, who we're actually fighting to get it - and if fighting is really the best way to achieve the change we all so desperately seek.