NFL Player says No to Trophies

SOTG 228 - NFL Player says No to Participation Trophies

(Photo Source: James Harrison)

In a move that we must take a moment to applaud, NFL player James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers put his foot down when his kids came home from school with “Participation Trophies.” Tune in to hear specifically what Harrison had to say.

During this week’s SWAT Fuel Fitness Talk Jarrad discusses sugar and how your body uses it. And finally, we have more Anarchy in the UK. The tax slaves have gotten a fright. Caution, when you hear about it you might be shocked too.

SOURCES:

From www.theblaze.com:

“Pittsburgh Steelers star James Harrison came home to discover his two children had received participation trophies — but they don’t get to have them for long.

Harrison, a linebacker for the Steelers, posted a photo of the ”2015 Best of the Batch Next Level Athletics Student-Athlete Awards” on Instagram and announced that they will be given back to Next Level Athletics.

In his lengthy social media post, Harrison said he was proud of his sons, but participation trophies are not in line with the values he is teaching his children.

“I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies! While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy. I’m sorry I’m not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best…cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better…not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy. #harrisonfamilyvalues”

At time of publication, Harrison’s post had more than 1,200 comments from Instagram users and while some decried his decision, most exalted his parenting choices.

“This is great! Thank you for setting a good example and teaching the importance of hard work and actual accomplishment,” Instagram user @steve_g18, Steve Glauser, posted.

“My hat is off to you sir! Only through challenge, hard work, disappointment and perseverance do you grow,” Tom Parker, @twp1533, posted on Harrison’s photo. “One must lose to know what it truly means to win. Something for nothing never made anyone a better person.“

From www.studentofthegun.com:

“

Headline Surfers”; that term has come into vogue during the last decade and it particularly applies to our modern era. We have a rather large portion of the population who never get beyond the headline or they simply read the title of a story and base their thoughts on the those few words alone. What is more incredible, is the fact that many will post comments built only upon their perception of what the title inferred.

Before the metaphorical ink was dry on this page, I knew that the headline surfers would grab a hold of the title and formulate an opinion, not based on what follows, but through their prejudice and ignorance. What fosters this type of behavior? Intellectual laziness or a weakness of the mind.

When considering the day to day news stories, the myriad crises facing those who still care about the fate of the United States of America, it is easy to become frustrated and be overcome by a sense of hopelessness. On the surface, it would seem that the numerous threats and problems that we are confronted with will require countless solutions.

Real Problems

For those who have not yet tuned out completely or surrendered their lives to the will and whim of Big Brother, we are faced with a national debt that has surpassed the unbelievable or unimaginable mark. The Federal government has been writing checks on an empty account for at least a decade but the rate and wanton expansion of the debt has accelerated during the last five years. It is not simply the future of our children that has been mortgaged. We are making, or most aptly putting off, decisions that will affect our great-grandchildren, our posterity (as the founders would have said).

The southern border of the United States is porous or hemorrhaging, if you will. Millions of illegal invaders are sucking the public coffers dry, sending tax-free dollars back to their homeland, and in far too many cases, robbing, raping, and murdering U.S. citizens. Diseases, long since eradicated by responsible treatment and vaccination, have returned to haunt our cities. Measles, mumps, and rubella, once thought to be defeated, are coming back at an alarming rate due to our lackadaisical immigration policies.

Rather than having been destroyed, eradicated, or at very least marginalized to an easily manageable number, Muslim terrorists are on the march worldwide. The shame and folly that we laughingly refer to as a war strategy is in any light a failure. We wasted thousands of lives and billions of dollars on the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns only to announce to the enemy that we are going to quit and leave. The power vacuum created by the botched and sophomoric Iraq pullout set the perfect storm for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Muslim missionaries are running wild and largely unchecked throughout the Middle East, on the continent of Africa, in Europe, and of course, on the shores of the United States. After every Islam-inspired attack and murder of innocent United States citizens, the message from the current administration is to be “tolerant.” We are going to tolerate our own heads off of our shoulders.

In the interest of space, I will not get into the unconstitutionality of myriad Executive Orders, the shameless power grab by faceless and unaccountable bureaucracies created to allow elected representatives plausible deniability, organized lawlessness in major-metropolitan areas, record-breaking unemployment combined with record-setting welfare roles, the rampant devaluation of the U.S. dollar, amoral children and the destruction of the nuclear family, the shocking level of ignorance and under-education of the current “youth” generation. No, I will not mention those things.

Weakness: Mind and Body

Vagination Award: the trophy you don’t want to win.
Vagination Award: the trophy you don’t want to win.
If you are still reading this and not turned away in complete and utter frustration, I first applaud your dedication. Secondly, every problem and threat to the United States of America has one root cause: weakness.

When I use the term “weakness” I am discussing both the mind and body. No, I do not include those with physical disabilities and frailty brought on by disease and deformity. The weakness of which I speak is the conscious and deliberate softness, a comfortable laziness, and the complete selfishness of placing personal comfort above all else in the world.

The malady of which I speak should hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has been awake and paying attention for the last thirty years. How can you expect anything other than a nation of weaklings when the first thing you do to your children is tell them that keeping score is not “fair” and that everyone who shows up is a “winner” and gets a trophy.

Our first generation of No Score Soccer / Participation Trophy kids have grown up, gone to school and are now in their mid to late twenties. And they are angry and frustrated that they do not make $100,000 straight out of college.

The self-esteem above all else mentality has resulted in an entire generation of people that have no concept of dealing with and overcoming rejection and disappointment. Their weak minds never learned to deal with failure and, most importantly, to overcome it. To them, any failure on their part is “unfairness” and someone else must step in to correct the situation. That someone has morphed from their over-indulgent parents to a big government nanny.

Use Your Words Johnny

Weakness is bred and fostered in our “Zero-Tolerance” schools. Any child that defends themselves or fights back against aggression or bullying is punished equally with the bully. Think about that. That would be like you stopping someone from stealing your car and being locked up in jail with them.

When I was a kid every school I went to had fist-fights. Boys fought on the playground and after school in the parking lot. It was unheard of for any of these fights to result in more than a busted lip or bloody nose. When the gym coach or male teacher broke up the fight, he made the parties shake hands even if they didn’t mean it, and that was it. Everyone moved on with their lives.

Never once can I recall a shooting or stabbing at any school I attended or even hearing of one, and I grew up in Detroit, Michigan!

Today we have Zero-Tolerance policies. Fist-fights result in suspension, expulsion, or the police being called for Pete’s sakes. Our schools are now little prisons with brightly painted walls. Shootings are sickeningly prevalent. Do I need to address the psychotic over-medication of our youth?

The Friendly D.I.

The United States Military has been neutered by the Federal Government. We push political correctness down their throats and use the military like some grand and twisted social experiment. Troops spend as much time learning about sexual harassment awareness, gender sensitivity training, tolerance classes et al. as they do training for their jobs.

“Mothers of America” was the term used to describe activist mommies who were endangering the effectiveness of Marine Corps Basic Training. When I went through Basic in 1987, our Drill Instructors explained to us that some of the training was less-severe due to the Mothers of America calling their congressmen because little Johnny got his feelings hurt.

D.I.’s were not allowed to use actual cuss words around us, at least not in the presence of numerous witnesses. This did not really hinder them from getting their point across. However, they saw it coming, a deliberate attempt to weaken American fighting men.

Having been a Military Contractor and Instructor at the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Combat Skills school, I was disgusted to find the level of weakness and slothfulness that had crept into that service. Troops attending the school are coddled like children. When the mercury rose, they were allowed to conduct combat training without helmet and body-armor so they would not get “too hot.” There was a zero-fail policy, even if the student failed to complete the assigned tasks and standards. (Yes, everyone who participates gets a trophy).

The instructors at the ECS school were counseled not to use “harsh language” or refer to the enemies of the United State of America in “derogatory terms”. No, we would not want to offend the monsters who are cutting off the heads of servicemen and other prisoners.

What is worse, is that there is an ongoing campaign to turn veterans into victims. Despite the fact that casualty rates for the current conflict are far below that of WWII or the Vietnam War, a record number of veterans are filing PTSD claims and being put on disability. The media is all too happy to portray military veterans as the newest victim class in America.

“Komfort Uber Alles” is the accepted mantra for the vast majority of American citizens. Their comfort, both physical and psychological outweighs all other concerns. Civic Duty or Citizenship are antiquated terms that only held value before the current welfare and entitlement state took a hold. No longer do the creatures populating the fifty states see citizenship as a call to duty and liberty as a state that must be defended.

Why is there a Marxist Community Organizer holding the highest office in the United States? Weakness and fear of being thought a “racist.”

Why do our elected representatives continued to mortgage our nation’s future all the while padding their retirement accounts? Weakness and mental laziness.

Why does the judicial branch of government continuously legislate from the bench and rule against the will of the people and in favor of the state? Weakness and apathy.

Why do the American people allow themselves to be subjected to unlawful search and seizure in order to board an airplane? Weakness and fear.

Solutions?

You may be saying to yourself, “Okay, smart guy, you pointed out the problem, what is the solution?” And, I am glad you asked.

Step number one, read the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. If you went to public school in the last 20 years it might be the first time you have ever read either. Now that you have read them, read the principles behind those documents, The Political Thought of the American Revolution, Dynamic Freedoms, The Federalist Papers, John Locke’s The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. Read the Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers.

When I say read, I do not mean Cliff Notes, books on tape, or a YouTube video, I mean put some dead tree in your hands and move your eyes over the pages. A lack of physical reading and the short-form text/tweet communication of our modern era makes our minds soft and weak.

Get more physical exercise. Yes, I even want you to sweat. No, most of you will never be physical athletes. But that is not the point, a health body supports a healthy and strong mind. You brain is a part of the machine. If the body is weak, lethargic, and soft the mind becomes lazy and weak. I don’t care what you do, get out and do something physical.

There is much more I could suggest, but the last idea I will leave you with is one of the most difficult to achieve in the modern era; Reject Victimization. Everywhere you turn someone is offering an excuse for why you are not happy, wealthy, more comfortable, successful, etc. People allows themselves to fall into the convenient victim status because is offers comfort and shelter from actual responsibility. Reject victimization and everyone that promotes it every single day and with every breath of you body.

The other option is to simply embrace weakness, become more self-involved and marginalized as a victim. Poke up your head occasionally and ask “How did this world get so messed up?“

From www.dailyrecord.co.uk:

“LAST year Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said armed officers would only be deployed when “firearms offences are taking place or where there is a threat to life.“

From www.msn.com:

“The night before Khadiza Sultana left for Syria she was dancing in her teenage bedroom. It was a Monday during the February school vacation. Her niece and close friend, at 13 only three years younger than Khadiza, had come for a sleepover. The two girls wore matching pajamas and giggled as they gyrated in unison to the beat.
Khadiza offered her niece her room that night and shared a bed with her mother. She was a devoted daughter, particularly since her father had died.

The scene in her bedroom, saved on the niece’s cellphone on Feb. 16 and replayed dozens of times by Khadiza’s relatives since, shows the girl they thought they knew: joyful, sociable, funny and kind.

As it turned out, it was also the carefully choreographed goodbye of a determined and exceptionally bright teenager who had spent months methodically planning to leave her childhood home in Bethnal Green, East London, with two schoolmates and follow the path of another friend who had already traveled to the territory controlled by the Islamic State.

On Tuesday morning, Khadiza got up early and put on the Lacoste perfume both she and her niece liked. She told her mother that she was going to school to pick up some workbooks and spend the day in the library. She grabbed a small day pack and promised to return by 4:30 p.m.

It was only that night that the family realized something was wrong. When Khadiza had not come back by 5:30, her mother asked her oldest sister, Halima Khanom, to message her, but there was no reply. Ms. Khanom drove to the library to look for her sister, but she was not there. She went to the school, but the staff said no student had come in that day.“

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About the Host

Paul Markel: Host of Student of the Gun Radio

Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a United States Marine, police officer, professional bodyguard, and small arms and tactics instructor. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly 20 years, and has hundreds of articles in print. A regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows, Markel is a subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students, young and old, for decades and has also worked actively with 4H Shooting Sports programs. Markel holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines; nonetheless, he is, and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

About the Co-Host

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Not just another pretty face, Jarrad Markel has experience and training beyond his years. Jarrad has been training to be a fighter since elementary school when he first learned the art of collegiate wrestling. Now skilled in Jujitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, Sambo, the Way of the Fighting Pistol and Fighting Rifle, Jarrad is a well-rounded, tactical athlete with several professional MMA fights under his belt. More than a brute, Jarrad has brains as well. He is the lead editor and videographer for Student of the Gun and works directly for Think On! Productions creating a wide variety of video material. In addition, Markel is a skilled web & blog designer, building material for the Internet side of the house.

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Professor Paul Markel

Founder & CEO at Student of the Gun

Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.