It's been awhile...

So my dear friends, it's been quite awhile since I've posted so here goes. A few things that are worth a brief mention and included in my Top 10:

1) Be careful speeders, cops are now giving out radar guns to citizens to catch you speeding, they then turn over the results to the cops and the cops send you a warning letter...it's here in Illinois too- Naperville to be more specific

2) Global warming apparently causes wildfires, at least according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “One reason why we have the fires in California is global warming,” he told reporters Tuesday, stressing the need to pass the Democrats’ comprehensive energy package." Are you kidding me? What a joke!

3) Mayor Daley wants cameras installed on street cleaners to crack down on the whole parking ticket issue. I'm sure that's all they want the cameras for. The city of Philadelphia is getting 250 new cameras at a cost of $10 million. All the major cities are getting more and more cameras. Big brother anyone?

4) California Representative Pete Stark over a week ago came out in disgust with President Bush saying "You don't have money to fund the war or children," accusing Republicans. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." I'm not a fan of Bush, but I don't think anyone gets off on our soldiers getting killed. Believe it or not, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi actually rebuked Stark. Holy cow. I'm surprised, but hey, I guess some things are off limits for even the liberals.

5) Photos of troops overseas are gone from Paso post office, inspiring outrage. That's right, one person complained that these pictures were pro-war and the post office took them down. Come on people, we HAVE to support our troops! They're out there for us.

6) The amount of sexual misconduct in public schools across the nation is absolutely horrific and unacceptable. What are we to do with our children if we can't safely send them to school? School is supposed to be a sanctuary for students, not a place of abuse. How disgusting a place this world has turned into. As a side note, what on earth are we thinking contemplating giving birth control pills to middle school children? They're not even legally allowed to have sex, so why should schools be providing birth control to them? And to add insult to injury, parental notification would not be necessary! I'm so disgusted.

7) Naked chocolate Jesus is up again in New York. "A life-size chocolate sculpture of a naked Jesus will finally be displayed in New York starting in late October." It was originally taken down seven months ago in protest, but has now been given the green light. It's anatomically correct and is shown for all to see, but this time it not in public view. It has now been put in an art gallery. Still, how disgusting a person Cosimo Cavallaro must be to do this.

8) "Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent. A paltry 11 percent gave Congress a positive grade, tying last month's record low." Haha. So it's NOT just Bush. Congress has an even lower approval rating. They're all awful. They're all a bunch of crooks.

9) "In the Zenger Room, named for German immigrant John Peter Zenger, who helped establish free speech law, Californians for Population Stabilization released a study claiming there are 20 million to 38 million illegal immigrants in America, not the 12 million the federal government says." Is anyone really surprised by this information? I know I'm not. We're always lied to, so what's new?

10) "US Budget Deficit Falls to $162.8 Billion in 2007, Lowest Level in 5 Years". Okay, so we know Bush is an idiot, but at least he knows economics. We have to give him that. With all of this warring, we are still decreasing our budget deficit.

More of regular blogging soon to come. Hope you all enjoy!

Oak Lawn Travesty

So it's recently been brought to my attention that the school district in Oak Lawn has done away with celebrating holidays at school. I find this perplexing if not disturbing. While it is true that schools have an "all or nothing" policy meaning that they have to represent all faiths or none at all, there is more to this story than meets the eye. Here is some food for thought:

You can view the U.S. in two different paradigms:

1) Muslims consider the U.S. a horribly flawed Christian nation. Notice I said they think we are a Christian nation. If this is the case, then there should be no issue with religion because Christianity is the religion of the U.S.

2) The more likely rationale- We are a constitutional republic, following, in part, democratic themes. We are NOT theocratic and therefore freely accept all religions. That does not mean, however, that we cave in to any and all religious threats…at least we shouldn’t. Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and we have made laws and regulations accordingly.

Let’s play out paradigm #2 here. Our laws are based on our general Judeo-Christian beliefs. If our roots came from Islam, perhaps polygamy would be commonplace. Perhaps women might be forced to wear the hijab? Wait a tick… we DON’T force religious ideals on people. We have something called freedom. Freedom to choose the religion we want to follow, freedom to say what we want (within reason), freedom to dress how we want, etc. Anyone ever wonder what Muslim schools in the U.S. teach? Well the Washington Post informs us that:

“Islamic schools in Virginia, for example, have maps of the Middle East in their classrooms that are missing Israel. On one map, Israel was blackened out and replaced with "Palestine." An 11th grade textbook teaches that one sign of the Day of Judgment will be that Muslims will fight and kill Jews, who will hide behind trees that say, "Oh Muslim, Oh servant of God, here is a Jew hiding behind me. Come here and kill him”.

It’s not just the Jews they’re after, but keep in mind, their “Students are taught, for example that the Day of Judgment won't come until Jesus Christ returns to Earth, breaks the cross, and converts everyone to Islam. The private schools are legally allowed to teach whatever they want as long as they meet state requirements.”

Granted these are private schools and have different rules governing them. Still, HOW can they get away with this? How many more laws must be modified until our own laws (that are already being used against us) push us out of our country?

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Elizabeth Zahdan, the initial protester to school functions claims that "I only wanted them modified to represent everyone.” What we must understand is quite simple. It is two-fold, but not complicated in the least. First, the parties in the classroom are an American tradition, NOT religious holiday celebrations. Second, Halloween is NOT a religious holiday at all. If anything, Halloween is an anti-religious holiday. I personally disagree with Halloween and all it stands for, but I recall sitting through many years of Halloween parties and never once felt uncomfortable or unfairly treated. I dealt with it because it’s what American schools do. Our Christmas parties, do they represent one denomination of Christianity specifically? Of course not. Our concept of Christmas is so skewed, and our schools definitely do not teach about Christmas. Should we get rid of our Thanksgiving parties too? Maybe they promote too much Christianity for others to swallow? GET REAL!

In fact, I find it religiously offensive with the new names given to the parties- “fall festival” and “winter festival”. Those are too closely related to pagan holidays and we shouldn’t spread our religious views now should we?

I BET YOU DIDN’T READ THIS:

Last month, school administrators agreed to change the lunch menu to exclude items containing pork in order to accommodate Muslim students. Why do Muslim students get special treatment? When I fast for 48 days for Easter, I am not to consume meat or dairy. Shouldn’t the school refrain from serving any foods with meat or dairy while I’m fasting? I mean, come on, it’s only fair.

Another thought, too, while I’m at it. Muslim students are given time during lunch to say their prayers. Funny, I don’t remember getting that time to say my prayers.

So, what should you do? Pass this along to as many people as you can. Maybe, just maybe, someone within the Ridgeland School District can read this and use it as information to give to an administrator or someone else in authority.