Sent Home for Wearing the American Flag

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Five high school students were told to either remove shirts and bandanas that they were wearing, or to go home.  The offending clothing was not anything obscene like the young lady who was found in contempt of court for wearing a shirt that said "I have the pussy so I make the rules."  They weren't even wearing gang colors.  Nope, nothing like that.  These young men were told to remove clothing that displayed the American Flag.

The scoundrels.  I supposed that we should not be surprised that this story comes from the People's Republic of California.  The incident occurred on May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) and assistant principal Miguel Rodriguez asked five teenagers to remove their flag clothing or go home because he was concerned it would offend students of Mexican heritage who were celebrating Cinco de Mayo.  The teenagers each said they were not intending to offend anybody but wanted to show their patriotism.  Two of them said they were also of hispanic descent.

Let me state my position boldly and in all capitals; IT IS NEVER INAPPROPRIATE FOR AN AMERICAN CITIZEN TO PROUDLY DISPLAY THE AMERICAN FLAG.  I will probably be labeled insensitive or possibly racist by the liberal elite.  I could care less, I have already been called racist for disagreeing with Obama.  If you are offended by US citizens displaying the US flag in the US, then I say to you TOO FUCKING BAD.

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Alexandria Recycling Bins

Do you remember the Audi "Green Police" Super Bowl commercial?

The city of Alexandria VA has taken a step towards the reality of a "Green Police."  It sounds innocuous enough.  They are going to be sending new, larger recycling bins to the city residents to encourage greater participation in the recycling program.  They say that more people would participate if the bins were larger.  I recycle here in Bowie, MD and my bin is usually 80% full when I put it out on pick up day.

But these are no ordinary recycling bins.  No sirree, Bob.  These recycling bins come equipped with a microchip to allow the city to ascertain who is and is not recycling, or at least using the new bins.  The city claims that their aim is not to target individuals, but to identify neighborhoods within the city that they can "target their educational efforts."  Yeah, right, and if your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle.

As I said, I do recycle, maybe not as fastidiously as I could, but I do recycle.  Being an ornery SOB, I would most likely continue to recycle, but would continued to use the old, smaller, not tracking bin.  Just the way I am.  The new bins just seem a little too Big Brother is watching for my taste.  Oh, and lest I forget, the Alexandria city residents will all be charged $9 for the new bins, whether they want them or not.

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Reconsidering Vegetarianism

I like my meat.  Seriously.  Beef, chicken, pork, then I am on it.  Especially if it is grilled.  To be fair, I do think that we would probably be healthier on a vegetarian diet.  Several years ago, I read the book "Diet for a Small Planet."  It did get me thinking about all the meat I was eating.

I recall shortly after reading that book, that we were at a meeting to launch a new line of steaks that the grocery chain I was working for was getting ready to begin selling.  This new line of beef, was not considered "prime" grade or angus beef, but it was guaranteed to be extremely tender.  As our CEO described the techniques that were used to guarantee the tenderness of the beef, I became sick to my stomach.  They brought out some sort of beef dish for lunch, and I could not eat it.

That marked a time when I actually gave up meat.  I tried the veggie burgers and hot dogs.  I found a line of veggie brats that even gave you that same burping aftertaste as the real stuff.  My wife even tried making a variety of vegetarian meals for me using things like polenta.  The grand experiment ended up lasting about a month.  Now, had there been a restaurant like Casa Diablo featured in the video below, I might have been able to convert.

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DC Soda Tax Proposal

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It is no secret that I am no fan of taxes.  It seems more and more, they find ways to tax us or add fees to things.  More and more states and municipalities are looking at adding taxes on sodas as a way to "fight the growing epidemic of obesity."  In reality, most of the time they are little more than ploys to line the government coffers were more revenue, as if they are spending their existing funds wisely.

The DC City Council is the latest to propose a tax on sodas in order to raise money for a "healthier school lunches program."  Here is an idea, buy healthier food for the school lunches and hire people who can prepare the food so that it is edible, but I digress. Most soda taxes nationally average in the 5-7% on the dollar range.  A bit of an inconvenience, but not overly onerous or punitive.  The DC proposal is to have a penny tax on every ounce of soda. 

To put a penny per ounce into perspective, I normally buy a 12 pack of 12 ounce cans.  (I should add that I usually only buy diet sodas, which I believe would not be part of the tax)  The most I will pay for a 12 pack of soda, is around $4.  A penny an ounce tax would amount to $1.44 per 12 pack or a tax of 36%.  Now we are talking a highly punitive, not to mention, highly regressive tax.

I am a big believer in personal responsibility.  I believe in education and making an informed decision, whether it be drinking sugared soft drinks, alcohol, or smoking cigarettes.  If after all of that, you choose to part take in an activity that can shorten your lifespan whether through getting fat or cancer, then you have reaped what you have sown.  It is not the place of the government to make those decisions for me.

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Music Monday-Chris Young "The Man I Want to Be"

I love young country artists that can sing in a traditional country style. Chris Young is one of those guys. This particular song is about a man in search of forgiveness and redemption from his woman, and his God.

Chris Young (Country)   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.


PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Electron Boy

By day, Erik Martin of the Seattle area is your typical 13 year old boy living with liver cancer.  OK, there is nothing typical about a kid with cancer.  But Erik also has an alter-ego;  Electron Boy, a Superhero who fights the powers of evil with light.

Last Thursday, he was preparing for just another day at school, when his morning was interrupted by a phone call from fellow Superhero Spider-man.  Spider-man needed help from Electron Boy to save the day from the evil doings of Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy.

I won't recap all of his exploits here, but let you read about them here at the Seattle Times article.  I dare you to read it and not at least wipe one tear from your eye. Through the local chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation, Electron Boy participated in not one, but two daring rescues before taking down Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy.  A full day for any Superhero, much less one suffering from liver cancer.

This is typical of the type of efforts the good, no great, folks at Make a Wish Foundation perform across our country.  Their goal is to grant a life changing wish to kids with life threatening medical conditions.  I know  the importance of their work because I had a nephew who was a Make a Wish recipient.  It was a special moment in his life.  But don't take my word for it, but take the work of  Electron Boy who called his experience, "This is the best day of my life."

Well done, Electron Boy.

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Will the World End in 2012?

You probably would have to be living under rock not to have heard the predictions of planetary destruction that the planet faces in 2012.  For years, I have been fascinated with Biblical prophecies of the end times, starting with Hal Lindsay's "Late Great Planet Earth" and others.  So I was very excited when I saw that I could have the opportunity to review Raymond C. Hundley's newest book "Will the World End in 2012" for BookSneeze.com.

Dr. Hundley is a former pastor and seminary professor, so his treatise of the subject matter is from an evangelical Christian viewpoint.  He tackles ten possible scenarios for the end of the world in the year 2012.  Among these are the predictions of the Mayan calendar, possible solar storms, the eruption of a super volcano, the predictions of Nostradamus, and prophecies of the end of the world from a number of different religions.

Given Hundley's background, not surprisingly, the longest chapter in the book is the chapter on the religious predictions of the end of the earth.  The Old and New Testament prophesies get the most ink.  However, Hundley does an adequate job of including prophesies from the Muslim faith, the I Ching, the Hindu faith, and the Hopi Indian tribe.  In the chapter on the Mayan calendar, he does a great job of quoting multiple sources, several of which conclude that 12/21/12 is an end of the world event, and several that quote it as a "changing point" in the world order.

Hundley also addresses some of the predictions of world doom from scientific possibilities.  In these areas, I felt a little shortchanged as a reader.  It would be the one complaint I would have against the book.  For instance, the chapter on possible solar storms in 2012, a subject I am very interested in, contained a mere 3 pages.  Other chapters that harbor potential peril for the fate of the planet  based on scientific fact are not quite as short as the solar storms, but are among the shorter chapters in the book.

All in all though, I enjoyed reading "Will the World End in 2012?"  The subtitle to the book is "A Christian Guide to the Question Everyone's Asking," and as such has the expected evangelical call to acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior.  The epilogue calls for Christians that have read the book to live their lives as if the world would end in 2012 or tomorrow and live a life in honor of Christ.  Even if you are not a religious person, or interested in Christianity, this book does have a lot of information about the possible "end of the world" in 2012.  The author reaches his conclusion.  It could, but you will have to read the book for the details.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com's book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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