News: May 2006 Archives
Happy Memorial Day. Take a few minutes to thank God for the men and women who gave their lives for our great country, and to pray for those who are in harm's way today.
I'm generally quite an optimistic person, especially considering my unrelenting cynicism, and one of the only things that ever gets me down is the realization that I'm surrounded by retards like the administrators and parents of the Keller school district. I suppose I should apologize for using the word "retard", since it's totally unfair to the mentally handicapped to be linked with the drooling idiots that run most public school systems.
A Keller school district parent said political correctness has run amok at her daughter's elementary school, where the principal chose to omit the words "In God We Trust" from an oversize coin depicted on the yearbook cover.Janet Travis, principal of Liberty Elementary School in Colleyville, wanted to avoid offending students of different religions, a district spokesman said. Students were given stickers with the words that could be affixed to the book if they so chose. ...
Officials chose an image of an enlarged nickel for the yearbook cover because this is Liberty Elementary's first year and because the nickel has a new design this year.
The nickel design features President Jefferson and the word Liberty in cursive, with the words "In God We Trust" along the right edge.
Keller administrators agreed with the decision, which Travis made in conjunction with a school parents group, district spokesman Jason Meyer said. District policy states, in part: "The District shall take no action respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech."
Principals must strive to remain neutral regarding religion, Meyer said.
"It's not always easy to make everybody happy when we are making decisions," he said. He said Travis was unavailable for comment Friday.
Here's an idea: rather than worrying about making everyone "happy", why not just stick with the truth. Again, my apologies to the mentally handicapped, you shouldn't have to share the planet with these retards either. Naturally, the ACLU is thrilled.
Michael Linz, a Dallas attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the district's move was appropriate, sensitive and constitutional."Sometimes administrators and schools are really caught trying to make appropriate decisions with respect to people's views. Someone is always going to complain," he said. "I think that the school administrators were drawing the appropriate line by trying not to offend others."
Apparently "trying not to offend others" is now the highest American ideal. Dear God, please help me not to offend all the retards that surround me.
(HT: Clayton Cramer.)
It appears that my earlier report about Iran forcing Jews to wear identification badges was incorrect. I feel a little dirty making a correction that benefits the reputation of Iran, however slightly, but the truth is the truth.
(HT: Eugene Volokh.)
I heard on the news this morning that Bill Cosby just gave a graduation address at Spelman College, a black all-woman institution. I'd appreciate it if anyone can find the text of his speech online.
Not that a capitalist like Rupert Murdoch needs political principles to back his business decisions, but it's interesting that he's planning to host a fundraiser for Hillary despite his reputation as a founding member of the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Rupert Murdoch, the conservative media mogul whose New York Post tabloid savaged Hillary Clinton’s initial aspirations to become a US senator for New York, has agreed to host a political fundraiser for her re-election campaign. ...One media lobbyist said: "Murdoch will be for the Republicans but he is also smart enough to know that the Republicans might not win. At some level, whether nationally or in New York, Hillary is the future and what savvy businessman would not want to put a line of interest in someone who will be the future?"
That's the kind of thinking a shareholder wants from a corporate executive, and exactly the opposite of what a voter should want from a politician. The joint fundraiser says more about Hillary's principles than Murdoch's.
Furthermore, this event is a good example of one reason businessmen may not make good politicians. I tend to think that the business world has a lot of good thinking to contribute to politics, but MBA-think can also lead to ideological compromise that might work to make money, but isn't the best way to run a country. Cf. President Bush.
Famed author of the Wheel of Time series Robery Jordan has been diagnosed with a terminal disease that is expected to kill him before he can finish the series.
Now in my case, what I have is primary amyloidosis with cardiomyapathy. That means that some (only about 5% at present) of my bone marrow is producing amyloids which are depositing in the wall of my heart, causing it to thicken and stiffen. Untreated, it would eventually make my heart unable to function any longer and I would have a median life expectancy of one year from diagnosis. Fortunately, I am set up for treatment, which expands my median life expectancy to four years. This does NOT mean I have four years to live. For those who've forgotten their freshman or pre-freshman (high school or junior high) math, a median means half the numbers fall above that value and half fall below. It is NOT an average.In any case, I intend to live considerably longer than that. Everybody knows or has heard of someone who was told they had five years to live, only that was twenty years ago and here they guy is, still around and kicking. I mean to beat him. I sat down and figured out how long it would take me to write all of the books I currently have in mind, without adding anything new and without trying rush anything. The figure I came up with was thirty years. Now, I'm fifty-seven, so anyone my age hoping for another thirty years is asking for a fair bit, but I don't care. That is my minimum goal. I am going to finish those books, all of them, and that is that.
Well good! I wish Mr. Jordan all the best. He also offers a link for making a donation to the Mayo Clinic earmarked for Amyloidosis research.
