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Two Things I Don’t Discuss Here

Religion and abortion.  I hesitate to even bring either of them up.  There’s not much anyone can say to change anyone else’s mind about either, and I’d rather just avoid those topics altogether.

Knowing that I’m not trying to persuade anyone to believe anything, please enjoy this excerpt based purely on its cleverness.  You can argue with LissaKay at her place if you’d like, or you can argue in the comments here, but I won’t be piping in with an opinion:

I then went on to propose that if women wanted to have abortion as a birth control option, then men should too. If a couple gets pregnant unexpectedly, if the man doesn’t want the burden or inconvenience of raising a child, or even just being financially responsible for it for 18 years or more, then he should be able to force the woman to have an abortion. Equal rights and all, you know. Her reply to that was so very predictable … if a man doesn’t want to be making babies, he shouldn’t be sleeping around. 

Right. Exactly. Neither should a woman. With equal rights comes equal responsibility, and it goes both ways. 

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Irony–Labor Day Nixed By a Union

The blogosphere is abuzz about Tyson Chicken’s new contract with its labor union that eliminates Labor Day as a paid holiday and replaces it with a Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr for the plant in Shelbyville, TN.

How ironic that a union eliminated a union holiday!  On one hand, I have to cheer the fact that an employer will not be giving their people the day off in celebration of the labor movement.  On the other hand, I’m disheartened by the fact that they were pushed into this situation by a union.  I guess they could have negotiated this issue if they’d wanted, but then again, a day is a day to the bottom line…why should they care which day the plant is shut down.

As for the people that are outraged by this change in policy, Blue Collar Muse makes a great point:

Every business in America was forced by the government to spend money to comply with the ADA a few years back. The government is implementing “No Smoking” practices against the will of many businesses around the country. These are great examples of behavior we should be outraged with.

As for me, I’m far from a Muslim, and even further from a socialist, so I’ll be working on both Eid al-Fitr and Labor Day.

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Homeschooling Ruled Illegal in California–Seriously

Last month I posted about a proposal in Nebraska that would mandate testing to homeschooling families.  Today, thanks to Reason, I read an article in the LA Times stating that homeschooling has been ruled illegal by a California appellate court.

“Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court.

Hold on.  WHAT?!  Excuse me?  Did I read that correctly?  They don’t have the constitutional right?  Pause for a second to digest that.

You know who loves this ruling, right?

Teachers union officials will also be closely monitoring the appeal. A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said he agrees with the ruling.

“What’s best for a child is to be taught by a credentialed teacher,” he said.

Credentialed by the State, right?  No conflict of interest there.  Relax Teachers Union people.  Good teachers have been in demand since ancient times, way before unions.  They’ll always be in demand and are in no danger of ever being out of work.

Notice something I’m not discussing here is religion, which the Times article mentions frequently.  It’s almost as if they’re trying to make this a religious issue, which it obviously isn’t.  It just so happens that many people homeschool their children for religious reasons, but that’s not the only reason.

This will surely be overturned, but is it something the State would be willing to take to the limit.  Are they willing to line up tanks outside of someone’s home and threaten them with bullets for refusing to send their kids to gov’ment indoctrination camps schools?

California, if you’re still wondering why the rest of the country unfairly labels you a bunch of crazies…

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Sooner Or Later They Catch On

A little over two weeks ago, Ron Paul made a morning appearance on Fox and Friends and made a slightly controversial statement that was talked about (a little bit) in the blogosphere well into the next evening.  Pretty sticky story, huh?

Now, as far as newspapers go, our local New Sentinel is pretty forward thinking and aware when it comes to blogs and online media.  I’d wager to say they are ahead of the curve.  So why did they wait until January 3 to publish an editorial on Dr. Paul’s comments?  Did it take that long to pen an opinion?  I mean, it may be better than I could do, but it isn’t that well written.  Countless people wrote about this within a couple of hours.

I realize Mr. Korda doesn’t have editorials posted very often, which actually makes this column even more disappointing.  If you’re going to have me sit on the edge of my seat for two weeks waiting on an editorial, at least give me something timely.

I’m a little embarrassed for all of the Ron Paul supporters who bothered writing responses defending him over a story this ancient.  The fact that the entire column is based on a comment taken out of context is nothing when you consider that George Korda must have spent most of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays carving it into a slab of stone with hammer and chisel.

If you’re wondering why the newspaper industry is having problems…

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America’s Next Top Televangelist

Why doesn’t this reality show exist?

It would be perfect for CBS Sunday nights, right after 60 Minutes. Of course, you’d have to wait until football season is over.

Let the competitors give both prepared and spontaneous sermons on a variety of subjects. Instead of competing for dollars, they could compete for souls.

Seriously, why wouldn’t this work?

I’ve got dibs on the idea. (as far as I know)

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You Mighta Heard By Now, We’re Doin’ a Little Survey

There were some pretty interesting results from my last poll–at least I thought they were interesting. I asked readers to choose (one) between free markets, free religion, free speech, and free beer.

With 50% of the vote, speech won pretty handily. I’d assume that the 29% who voted for beer were being funny. It’s easy when the punchline is provided, no? 14% chose free markets, and 7% chose free religion.

Why is this interesting? Mostly because free speech won so easily–much more easily than I would have predicted. I think I know why.

Scott HallIf you give me free speech, I can use it to get the rest of them. Okay, to get free beer it helps to be as handsome as ten movie stars, but you get the point.

There’s a reason why freedom of speech is the first right guaranteed in the Constitution. If we ever lose it, all is lost.

*** Bonus points to the people who know why wrestling great Scott Hall is pictured in this post.

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What is America Really Full Of?

Q. What do you get when you mix illegal immigration, the Tom Tancredo cheerleading squad, and a really disturbing description of a little girl’s funeral as overseen by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

A. One of the funniest, and in some ways scariest, posts I’ve read in a long time.

It seems that America, much like heaven, is believed to be full by some people. Becky C., however takes issue with this assertion:

I’m not sure it is actually full.

But, there are way too many assholes.

Read it all.

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Why We Fight Wars, At Least Why I Would

I was talking to some guys at work this morning about the reasons for war. There are several answers I’ve heard throughout the years–land, money, religion, etc. One guy actually stumbled onto what I believe is the true answer when he said that animals don’t have war because all they do is eat, poop, and breed. My question was if he thinks we are really all that much different from animals. The males fight for dominance and the right to breed with the female of their choosing, right?

From what I can tell, all conflict between men is rooted in the desire to mate. The desire to get money, power, win a competition, on and on and on. It’s all rooted in the desire to get some. The guy with a bomb strapped to his chest may THINK he’s doing it for Allah, but he’s really just helping some other guy get an extra wife.

My friend correctly took the argument to the next logical stage, “Would war be eliminated if women were in charge?”

To answer simply, no. They’d just fight over shoes.

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Education and Money Produce Terrorists

At least it produces more successful ones.

There is enough moral, psychological and sometimes financial payoff from the act of killing many people to offset the economic loss of their death. Therefore, the terrorist manager assigns the most deadly tasks to the highest-caliber people; otherwise, they will not bother. In an awful way, it makes sense, and it seems to be true. Caught and failed suicide bombers are conspicuously less educated than those who carry out their tasks.

The point of the article is that poverty doesn’t drive terrorism.  I’d have to agree with that, but I think it is pretty accurate to say that terrorism is driven by money.  I’m sure that most of the people who do the killing and dying are not motivated by money, but the people at the top almost assuredly are.  Religion is an easy sell to the masses to motivate them to do their bidding.