I have always tried to have a diverse group of friends. I enjoy input from others as it helps me to think and grow as a person. Because of the diversity of friends, however, it is not unusual to have a conflict between two or more that I regard as friends. This isn't a problem until one expects me to choose sides. It's that way in real life, it's that way online. Essentially, my exile from one person's thread exists because I won't denounce another that person has issues with. Well, se...

I have a proposal for an airline that would be safe from Muslim terrorists. The entire interior of the airplanes would be covered in pigskin. To further secure the airline, the security gate would be made of pig products, and all seats in the waiting area would similarly be covered in pigskin. Pigskin gloves could be given to security guards to further deter Muslim militants. Of course, this would deter Jews and PETA people as well, but the PETA folks that would be lost in future terror attac...

In the wake of the recent announcement of proposed base closings, we see one of the biggest obstacles to federal cost cutting. That is, almost everyone's in favor of cost cutting...until it hits a program or service that affects them directly. Every base on the list could argue reasons for staying open. All of those reasons would be compelling. And while I personally sympathize with these people and the lost jobs that will result from base closings, we have to see the best interests of ALL Am...

I remember the appearance of one of our liberal bloggers on this site. He came onto one of my threads and flamed me and was subsequently blacklisted. "FREE SPEECH!" He shouted, on his own blog and the blog of any who would listen. "Gid's censoring me on his blog and stifling my free speech". He then proceeded to plead his case to all of his buddies, who harassed me on my threads with pleas to lift the blacklist. Eventually, the blogger earned my respect. But I came to realize the respect w...

Authorities in Massachusetts decided to "put the child first" and take seven-year-old Michelle Walton away from her parents. They made a "child focused" decision. They "erred on the side of the child." Three years later, the body of Michelle Walton was found in the dirty hallway of her foster home, under 380 pounds of Sheetrock. Her foster mother says it was an accident. But a judge found that it was murder. And he found that Michelle was chronically sexually abused during her time in...

A recent news opinion almost made me spew my coffee across the room. Here was a state senator pushing for a sales tax on fast food, and the mandatory liberal rebuttal "but it hurts the poor" was spouted by his opponents. Hmmm. Let's think about this, shall we? Are our constitutional rights to be construed as including a daily meal at McDonald's? The USDA doesn't seem to think so, as such purchases are not allowable with food stamps. But here we have the liberals, who demand more and more serv...

Is the Confederate flag a symbol of hate? This is a longtime debate, and it's a topic du jour on JU. So I wanted to add my thoughts. A symbol of hate is an interpretation by the viewer. The confederate flag is, to some a symbol of hate, yes. I won't deny that. But does their interpretation mean that the flag itself should be seen as on par with the nazi swastika, as it often is by ultralib revisionists? My answer is, no. For you see, the Civil War was not primarily about slavery. That w...

So, I decided to at least tune into the opening credits of SNL Saturday. I was glad I did. Will Ferrell was the guest host. So, for a night, at least, it was tolerable and even sometimes funny. But the piece de resistance came when the band, Queens of the Stone Age, took the stage. I hadn't really heard much of their music, but decided not to depart to the kitchen for a late night snack. I was glad I stayed, as I saw a familiar face and there, on the stage, larger than life, was the world'...

So, I watched this season's Survivor finale last night. Hey, I only have four channels to choose from here, so it was the pick of the night. Anyway, what was surprising about this finale was, it was not surprising at all. The same man, Tom, who has essentially run the show from the beginning, won it all. Because EVERYONE else that ended up in the final five or six had been playing for second place. That bugged me. You don't play a game for second place, you play to win. But apparently nobo...

So Wendy's is offering free frosties to anyone who asks this weekend. Sure, it's probably planned to counter negative publicity generated who tried to hit Wendy's up with accusations of "extra meaty" chili, but that is really not the point here. The point is, there is no Wendy's near us. Not even remotely. I think I would have to drive 75 miles to Amarillo for this tasty confection, and then it really wouldn't be worth the gas money, would it? I think I'll sue. What the heck, it can't hurt...

I get the majority of my news from the internet. I have heard from a lot of people who consider this unwise because most of the news is "spin" and has to be fact checked. While this is true, these people operate under the misconception that "mainstream" media is any different. But because mainstream media is edited by people, it will ALWAYS suffer the bias of the interpreter. Internet media is no different in this regard. But UNLIKE mainstream media, with the internet, I have the ABILITY t...

When child protective services took four-year-old Jamie Mayne from his father, they never bothered to tell his mother, Marie Panos, who was not living with the man.   The mother was never accused of abusing or neglecting the boy.   But after she found out about the removal two days later and offered to care for him, authorities in California refused. They decided to make a “child focused” decision, to “put the child first,” to “err on the side of the child” by placing Jamie with a ...

OK, this article is going to circle around a bit before I get to my point. So bear with me here. First, I have to concede a key point on the realID legislation to bakerstreet. The realID legislation is not actually unconstitutional, as I study it closer and get past the spin. I still have privacy concerns, but will put that in the "agree to disagree" category here, as it is not key to THIS argument. I only wanted this disclaimer to explain that I'm not backtracking, I just looked closer at th...

When writing a previous blog about provisions in the NCLB mandating schools to turn over information to recruiters, I realized something: This issue would be a nonissue if the school districts simply refused federal money. Then I got to thinking about the state of New Hampshire which has no highway seatbelt law because (guess what?) they refused the federal highway funds that were conditional on such a law. While I am a staunch Libertarian and hate intrusions by the federal government...

I pulled the following information off of another website. I'll let you read it, then I'll make my comments. Buried deep within the No Child Left Behind Act is a provision that requires public high schools to hand over private student information to military recruiters. The purpose of this invasion of family privacy is to allow minor students to be recruited at home by telephone calls, mail and personal visits. If a school does not comply, it risks losing vital federal education fund...