Bong hits 4 Jesus

This is just an odd story and one that I wish would never happened. You might remember the "rebel" high school students who played this prank in 2002. From the Reuters article:

"In the school case, student Joseph Frederick said the banner's language was meant to be nonsensical and funny, a prank to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by the school in January 2002 in Juneau, Alaska."

I think the kid that did this to get attention obviously, but wow, can't get much more tasteless than that. The kid obviously has no class. That's just my opinion, but I'm sure you and those like you feel the same way.

With all of that said...while I agree with the Supreme Court in this one, I am torn because I feel very deeply in personal freedoms. This belief however is tempered by the fact that there is a need for order in society. While I don't believe that this prank was a threat to the order of society I do believe that it was an inappropriate way for a child to behave in public. So I could go on forever because after I read this article my head was exploding with all of the possible implications of the decision to block the case.

Here are some:

• the Supreme Court has way too much power
• I cannot stand that people whine about the court being a political entity (even if it is)
• there are drug implications involved here and I think drugs are a serious problem for today's kids
• public schools are supposed to be run consistently across the nation and that is not the case
• this is all about a 10 day suspension...GET OVER IT

Okay, off the soapbox, there is so much more to say, but it would be overkill.

Time Magazine and Mitt

I just ran across this article about how Mitt Romney is not going to raise as much money as he did last quarter (a blistering $21 million). And I got thinking...I've been reading Time Magazine recently and in every issue I have read there is a negative article or opinion piece on Romney. I wonder what Time has against Romney. Now, I'm not calling him a saint by any means, I don't really trust the guy, but it is curious. Maybe you and those like you might know something about Time Mag's distaste for Mitt?

Faith based charity

President Bush was very gung-ho on starting his faith-based initiatives when he came into office. The Supreme Court just blocked a case from a group that wanted to challenge the constitutionality of giving federal money to faith-based organizations. This is an example of the government doing something for the greater good of the people and not giving in to political correctness. There is no doubt that faith-based charities like churches and religious community groups give a ton of support to those in need here in the USA.

I agree that giving federal money to faith-based organizations is a good thing, but I still don't believe that the government should really be doling out money to charities. You might think that is insensitive of me, but you would be wrong. America is the most charitable country in the entire world (see Arthur Brooks', Who Really Cares) and we don't really need the government giving out money. Americans want to give. You and those like you enjoy giving of our time and our money. It is inherent in our nature. That is what is truly great about this country. We are able to work for what we earn and when we earn it, we remember where we came from and give back to those that are less fortunate. It's the sort of stuff that gives me goosebumps. Americans at their very best.

Illegals, undocumented, unknown

I don't really want to delve into the whole immigration debate, because if you are at all connected to the news cycle you have already been inundated by the coverage of this whole fiasco. But, I wanted to expound on what exactly is going on in government right now.

People in the USA are upset. Liberals, conservatives, republicans, democrats and I'm sure the closet Commies and Green party activists. They're all upset and it is not just about the immigration bill, it's about how our government is behaving. They are behaving like men and women on a "power high". These are men and women we elected to office because we have a trust in the system (checks and balances, federal system, blah, blah, blah, the stuff that our young people aren't learning in school anymore. Civics class anyone?) I do not remember a time when our government has been so unresponsive to the will of the people. You and those like you want the current laws to be enforced (they are not currently enforced). Legislators want new laws on the books (that will not be enforced).

You see right now politicians are so hung up on election politics that they couldn't care less about what we want. You might think that is a contradiction, but it's not. They don't care what you think because most of us Americans don't pay attention to the minutia of what is going on. They are hoping that people will see that something was done about illegal immigration and that that is good enough. For you and those like you, it certainly is not. We shall see if all of the calls and emails and letters to our esteemed congressmen are enough to get this bill defeated and help to get our current laws obeyed by the government who created them.

Unfair and seriously inbalanced

Iran is apparently starting its own 24-hour news channel. Not like we needed another one anyway, but definitely not one from Iran. You and those like you have to be wondering if the channel is going to spew the same propaganda their leader does. My guess is...yes.

Pro baseball in the Holy Land

Israel just had it's first ever professional baseball game...take a look, you and those like you are bound to enjoy this story.