Thoughts On Hallmark Channel Pulling the Zola Commercial

In 2019, I would hope that love is love is love. It does not matter whom we fall in love with. What matters is that when the time comes to say “I do”, that we are ready, willing and able to make what is hopefully a lifetime commitment.

Zola is a website that is all about weddings. The Hallmark Channel is a channel that airs movies about love and romance. Therefore, it would make sense that a commercial from Zola about two women in love and making a public commitment that is marriage would fit in well with the other commercials.

The organization One Million Moms sees it differently. Through their efforts, this commercial will no longer air on the Hallmark Channel.

I get it, the members of their organization want to protect their kids. That is the job of any good parent. However, there is a difference between protecting your child and teaching them the lesson that diversity is wrong. I haven’t watched many Hallmark movies, but the thing I have noticed about these movies is the serious lack of diversity.

I can’t tell anyone else how to believe or how to raise their children. If I did, that would open a can of worms that would never close. But I believe strongly that the actions of this organization send the wrong message. We live in a world with all kinds of people. My fear is that if these children only grow up with a negative stereotype of the LGBTQ community, that they will only learn hate.

Hate is the last thing we need in our world right now.

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Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators Book Review

When the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in 2017, it did not break out of thin air. Getting the story to the public took time, effort and going against powerful people who would do almost anything to keep the story out of the news.

Ronan Farrow was one of those reporters. In his new book, Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, Farrow walks the reader through the process of reporting the story of the Weinstein scandal and the major barriers that were in his way. Back in 2017, Farrow was working for NBC. What started out as a routine investigation blew up into a news story that revealed a dark side of our culture that few were willing and/or able to expose.

Though this book is non-fiction, it reads like a spy thriller. The scary thing about this book goes well beyond what Weinstein did. The scary thing is that he had accomplishes who actively helped to bury the story. To my eyes, it says that men like Weinstein still hold all of the cards. The women he attacked and intimidated are powerless.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. There are good people in this world, like Ronan Farrow, who despite the challenges, are willing to stand up for what is right.

If only there were more like him.

I absolutely recommend it.

Thoughts On the Anniversary of the Sandy Hook School Shooting

Seven years ago, the students and staff entered Sandy Hook elementary school as they would any school day. By the time the school day ended, 26 people, mostly six and seven-year-old students were dead.

If these children were alive today, these children would either be twelve or thirteen years old. They would be on the brink of teenage-hood and everything that comes with being a teenager. But they will never experience what it is like to be a teenager or anything else for that matter.

If I had a time machine, I would go back in time and try to stop the massacre of innocent life. But time machines do not exist. The only thing we can do is move forward and remember the lives who were taken far too soon.

We can also honor their memory by preventing another massacre of this ilk. Common sense gun laws and assistance for those with mental health issues are not a 100% foolproof to prevent another Sandy Hook. But they can go a long way in helping drastically cut down the number of young people who are killed in school.

May the memories of the 26 people killed that day and hundreds of others who died in mass shootings since them be a blessing. Z”l.