Muslims Sue Catholic University

Image via WikipediaWhat would you expect to see if you were to enter a building associated with a particular religion?  As for me, I would expect to see symbols and signs of that religion.  If I were to enter a synagogue, I would expect to see the Star of David.  If I were entering a Christian institution, I would expect to see the cross and images of Jesus.  I would expect those images to be even more prominent in a Catholic institution.

Here in the DC area, a group of Muslim students are suing Catholic University.  They feel that their human rights have been violated because Catholic University has, horror of horrors, Catholic  symbols like the cross and pictures of Jesus through out the campus.  They complain that they have no place on campus in which to pray without being subjected to symbols of Catholicism that they feel is inappropriate.

WHAT THE FUCK!!??  What the hell did these people expect to see when attending a private, Catholic institution?  The school, after all, is called CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY!  I could understand if the school was a secular public university.  Then I could see the need for the school to accommodate all view points.  Do you think that a Muslim institution would accommodate a Christian or Jew with a separate place to put up their symbols and pray?  Oh wait, they wouldn't even get in the door.

The 1st Amendment guarantees that we have freedom of religion.  It does not guarantee that we have freedom from religion. We live in such politically correct times that some people feel that every accommodation should be made in every circumstance so as not to offend anybody.   I certainly do not deny these Muslims the right to practice their religion, but they chose to attend a Catholic institution.  There are times when accommodation is appropriate, however, a Catholic University should still be allowed to be Catholic.

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Music Monday-"Goin' to the CPA (The Tax Song)"

Due to a holiday this past Friday in Washington DC, today is tax day here in the US.  It would be easy to pick The Beatles and "Taxman" for my Music Monday choice today, but I posted it along with Robert Cray's "1040 Blues" last year on tax day.  Instead, I found this nice little parody on YouTube set to Springsteen's "Born in the USA."  

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST 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!

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Small Town Life

Image by incendiarymind via FlickrI have often wondered what it would be like to live in a small town.  Currently, I live in Bowie, MD, a suburb of Washington DC.  While Bowie itself isn't exactly a bustling metropolis, it is near just about anything you could want.  In addition to being near the nation's capitol, we are about the same distance from Baltimore MD and very close to Annapolis MD.

In 2004, I lost a job with a company that I had worked for for over 20 years.  It wasn't anything that I did wrong that caused me to lost my job, but the company decided to centralize a lot of job functions to the corporate office in northern California, and they eliminated my job. 

Over the next several months, I went on a lot of job interviews, mostly local though some were out of state.  One company that I interviewed with was in a town called Sunbury PA.  In reviewing info about the area, we discovered that there was not a lot around the area, at least not of interest to our family. 

My wife did not like the idea of living in a small town very far away from a lot of shopping.  On the other hand, I am pretty much a homebody, and think I would be happy just about anywhere, at least as long as minor league baseball was nearby.

Today was the day that we had to go pick up our son from his school on the eastern shore for a long weekend home.  To be honest, his school is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  On the way out to pick him up, we have to go through a small town called Ridgely MD. 

Today on our way out to pick up my son, I noticed a sign upon entering Ridgely.  The sign was one of your typical "Welcome" signs.  I remember when driving to Myrtle Beach SC, seeing a sign announcing that it was the home of Vanna White.  The Ridgely MD sign honored a life long resident of Ridgely MD who happened to be 100 years old.  I thought the sign was kind of quaint and sweet.

Shortly after entering Ridgely, you come upon a block with a church on one end and a school on the other.  Between the church and school is a line of shops that looks straight out of Mayberry RFD.  I fully expected to see Floyd the Barber standing outside the barber shop talking to Goober. 

Now, Ridgely may be just a bit smaller than I would prefer, but the idea that the town would honor a resident who has lived there 100 years is the type of small town charm you just can't find in the city, nor can you find it in the suburbs of Bowie MD.

Cell Phone Bans

Image by Mike "Dakinewavamon" Kline via FlickrIn October, the state of Maryland became one of nine states along with Washington DC to have a complete ban on hand held cell phone use while buying.  Currently, the offense is considered a secondary offense in Maryland meaning that you can only be charged if you are charged with another moving violation.  I have made known my opposition to these types of laws here and here.

Since the new law went into effect, I purchased hands free devices for both my wife and I.  I am not crazy about the devices.  One reason is that I have not found one that I felt fit comfortably for me.  The other is that frequently, I feel like I have to hold the device in my ear when talking so that I can hear the what the other person is saying.  It kind of defeats the purpose of having the device.  The device I have now is more of an earbud type device that is wired and plugs into my phone.  This way I can leave it in my car and not worry about forgetting to take it with me.

I had a bluetooth device, but the problem I had with it is that it was losing its charge fairly quickly.  It would work for my morning commute, but not the evening commute.  Frequently, I would forget to take it with me.  I also find those that wear bluetooth devices outside of their cars obnoxious, especially when I was working retail.  I can't tell you how many times I thought a customer was talking to me only to discover they were carrying on a phone conversation.

The reason I bring this subject up again is because of an incident this morning that underscores perfectly my opposition to these laws.  I was on the DC Beltway on the way to work this morning.  A car in the lane next to me was passing me.  When I looked over, the lady in the car was applying makeup to her face.  I suppose I could say something snide like it wasn't doing her any good, but I digress.

My point is this, the woman applying makeup has to look in the rearview mirror to apply makeup to her face, thus taking her eyes off of the road.  Her activity is just as dangerous, if not more so, than the person who is conversing on their cell phone.  However, under Maryland law, if she has an accident and is at fault, she would be charged with reckless driving. The person talking on the cell phone having an accident would be charged with both reckless driving and a cell phone violation.  Therein lies my opposition to the law.  Both activities are stupid, but only one draws an additional fine.

The other thing that I started to think about in regards to these cell phone bans is it got me curious as to the political makeup of the jurisdictions that have banned cell phone use.  In addition Washington DC and Maryland, the other states that have banned cell phone use are California, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.  It should be noted that with the exception of Utah, all of these are heavily blue or Democrat jurisdictions.  I guess that should not surprise us since these are the same type of people who want to ban toys in McDonald's Happy Meals.

Maryland Earthquake

Image via Wikipedia

An earthquake that registered 3.6 on the Richter scale struck in Gaithersburg, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC around 5:00 am this morning.  While 3.6 is considered a rather small quake, it is pretty significant for us.  In fact, it is the highest confirmed magnitude for a quake to hit the state. I personally did not feel the quake here in Bowie, but according to Bowie Mike of the Bowie Living blog, he could feel it at his home. 

While I did not feel this particular quake, I did experience one about 18 years ago.  My wife and I were heading to Hawaii for a vacation with her family.  We went out a week after the rest of her family, and we had an overnight layover near LAX airport.  Early in the morning, I was shaken from my slumber when I felt the bed vibrating.  I knew I hadn't put any quarters in any slots near the bed, so I was suspicious.  It sounded as though there was a storm outside, as it sounded like wind blowing through the trees outside our room.

I jumped out of bed to take a look out the window.  When my feet hit the floor, I had the sensation as if I was standing on a boat being tossed on waves.  I looked out the window and could see waves in the swimming pool below our room.  As the tremors died down, I got back into bed and turned on CNN to discover that we were feeling the results of a 7.3 magnitude quake that struck in Landers, CA.

Later that morning we had breakfast at the hotel before taking the courtesy van over to LAX.  The van stopped to let one other couple out at their terminal, when I heard the broadcasters on the radio commenting that another aftershock was coming through.  Then the van started rocking.  I looked out the windows and the light posts around the airport were swaying like trees in a strong breeze.  I was starting to wonder if we would ever make it to Hawaii.

Eventually we were able to take off and enjoy a week in Hawaii.  My first, and so far only experience with earthquakes was disturbing to say the least.  So the fact that I did not feel today's quake, no matter how small it was, doesn't break my heart any.

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