Houghton-Mifflin has put together a book of 100 words every high school graduate, and their parents, should know. Looking down the list I can see their point, but come on is kowtow that important, or quotidian, and who the hell cares about a ziggurat (apologies to all you history and architecture majors out there)?
Nothing gets on my nerves more than when religious fanatics attempt to get books banned from schools. Sometimes the protests can be so stupid and this is an example of that stupidity. A mother attempted to get the Harry Potter novels banned from a group of Georgia public schools because reading about a boy wizard will indoctrinate children into witchcraft! This is something I’ve never understood about some religious fantastics: why do they fear knowledge? Is it because with knowledge comes questions and questions are not wanted? I think so, but that’s me. The stupidity of this women’s case becomes quite clear when on one hand she attempts to get the books banned because witchcraft is a religion and so the books violate the separation of church and state, and then other hand hopes that God will be “welcomed” back into schools. What hypocrisy! What crap! These are children’s adventure stories; people need to get over themselves and move on.
Earlier this week I got my first call from an election campaign and it happened to be from the Obama campaign. Normally, I don’t donate to campaign until I’ve made the final choice for who I plan to support. At this point I haven’t really made up my mind, but Obama has certainly caught my attention. I guess the caller caught me on a good day because I gave in and made a donation. In hindsight I think I made a good choice. After Senators Obama and Clinton voted against the recent Iraq war funding bill, candidates Romney and McCain made predictable and pathetic attacks against their patriotism. You know the old saw: their against the troops, they aren’t securing the country, blah, blah, blah, bullshit.
Well, to Senator Obama’s credit he didn’t take their attacks sitting down and pretty much skewers them both; especially Senator McCain and his recent market trip in Baghdad. This is what we need from our candidates. We don’t need them to cower from these untrue attacks that do nothing but distract us from the most important issues. I also have to give credit to John Edwards who’s also been very strong in his criticism of Bush and his war.
When it was announced that Rupert Murdoch was making a bid for the Dow Jones Company a lot of people “in the know,” or at least claim to be, said Murdoch buying Dow Jones shouldn’t be reason for alarm. They said that while it’s certainly true that Murdoch is politically Conservative he does not interfere with his newspapers; that profits are what he’s interested in. Well, I had to called bullshit on that. The man has run The Weekly Standard at a loss for years just in order to push a political agenda. His Fox News Channel is little more than a mouthpiece for the Republican Party. Now, it’s come to light that Murdoch has personally pulled stories that would not be in the best interests of his company. Letting Rupert Murdoch have control of one of the world’s premiere financial newspaper would be a mistake and I hope the Bancroft family realizes that.
You’d think losing both houses of Congress last year would have led Republican to re-think some of their support for President Bush’s failed policies, most specifically the war in Iraq. With their recent obstruction of Democrat efforts to set timetables and tie continued funding of the war in Iraq to a possible pullout it seems Republicans haven’t learned. Unfortuntely, with nearly three-fourths of the nation unhappy with the direction of the country they may be slitting their throats. I am not someone who believes a president should make decisions based on what polls are saying; sometimes a leader has to make decisions subordinates don’t like. However, there comes a time when you have to open your ears and listen to what the people are saying; and the people are saying that it’s time to think about getting out of Iraq. They are also getting a little sick and tired of Bush, and if Republicans want to keep some semblance of power in 2008 they need to distance themselves from what history will surely show as one of the worst presidencies of the early 21st century.
After weeks of attempting to negotiate with President Bush, a concession by Democrats to strip out billions of dollars in domestic spending opposed by president was rebuffed. When will the Democrats learn the president and his advisors have utterly no interest in dealing fairly with them. The Dems should just stick to their guns, put forth the bill they want, and let the president veto money for the troops. The American people are behind the Democrats on this measure, so they need to stop cowering and fight.
Drury University is smack into the middle of Roy Blunt, conservative Republican land, so you would not expect such a well-known university — at least well know in the state of Missouri — to extend health insurance benefits and other services to same-sex couples. Hell, Missouri State University’s teachers couldn’t even get the university’s president to extend their non-discrimination policy to cover sexual preference. Something like this is unheard of in this area and I have no doubt people will protest the decision and threaten to keep their kids out of the school because, of course, the fact the university will now cover same-sex couples would mean they’re trying to push a homosexual agenda on poor, defenseless, impressionable students.
This article, disucussing how some are calling on Congress to do something about high gas prices, is intresting in that there seems to be this feeling in Washington that consumers will consume less gas as prices continue to rise. I don’t know what it’s like for the rest of the country, but gas is $3.25/gallon in my neck of the woods, and that’s the highest we’ve ever seen it in our part of the world. The thing is, what choice do you have? As motorists in the article state, they have to drive to work each day; they have to get around for personal reasons. Granted, I think motorists can do more to reduce our need for gasoline such as purchasing vehicles that get high gas milegage, making the switch to hybrid cars when it’s possible (unfortunately, not an option I can afford right now), cutting down on unnecessary trips, car pooling, etc.
I also think Congress should do more to investigate the enormous profits currently enjoyed by oil companies. Why does gas have to be so high when these oil conglomerates are making billions of dollars in net income? Something is wrong there. I’m not a big fan of price controls, but I do believe there is somethign fishy with the enormous amounts of money oil companies are making off the backs of hard-working Americans.
I was not a huge fan of Jerry Falwell. I disliked the way he politicized religion and I have grown to dislike the movement begun with his Moral Majority. However, I never once doubted Jerry Falwell’s strong faith; moreover, of all the ring-wing religious leaders who grew out of the movement he started he was the most, for lack of a better word, palatable. Later in life he was more willing to hear a side different from his own without sinking to the fire-and-brimstone of his compatriots. Say what you will about the man, the movement started by Jerry Falwell lost one its most powerful voices.