Your life's theme song

Apparently mine is Can't Help Falling in Love by UB40, because it was number one on my 18th birthday.

Number one on my actual birthday was Jive Talkin' by the BeeGees, which is on the Funkle Ester set list. I find that amusing.

What are your songs?

Six Degrees of Obscurity

The other night I was watching the alternative videos show on VH1 Classic, and an old video by a band called X came on. I thought I recognized the lead singer.



Turns out, I did. His stage name is John Doe, and he's also a character actor who has worked in tons of movies and tv shows. I specifically remembered him from Road House. Yes. Road House. Major guilty pleasure of mine.

Back to the six degrees. The female singer in X was his wife at the time. After they divorced she married Viggo Mortenson and had a son. I just think that's kind of interesting. She and Viggo Mortenson have also since divorced.

And I can't think of anything else to write about today.

By the content of their character

Seems that this latest generation of folks - one behind us slackers/gen-x types - are more and more diverse in their relationships - friendships and intimate relationships. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream is becoming a reality.

Ryan Knapick and Josh Baker have been best friends since fifth grade. Colette Gregory entered the picture in high school. She and Josh are dating now. Knapick is white, Gregory is black and Baker is half-Hispanic. To them, race doesn't matter.

"People are finding people with common interests and common perspectives and are putting race aside," says Knapick, 22, a May graduate of Indiana University who works at a machine shop and lives with his parents in Munster, Ind.

For some, though, this is a problem. And you might (or not, depending on your cynicism) be surprised by whom this threatens.

"People think this sort of colorblindness is a kind of progress, but I see it as more pernicious than that," says Tyrone Forman, an associate professor of African-American studies and sociology at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

His research, based on data from the University of Michigan's annual Monitoring the Future survey, suggests a troublesome side to racial colorblindness.

Even though young people report having friends of other races, Forman says, those friendships don't necessarily lead to a reduction in negative attitudes toward a racial group, because people view their own friends as an exception to whatever stereotype may exist.

Such feelings, along with studies that show less concern for racial issues among white high school seniors in 2003 compared with 30 years ago, makes him believe there should be more and not less talk about race, Forman says.

Did you know that often, I think people are stupid? I don't think my own friends are stupid, of course. But in general, people are stupid. Does that make me prejudiced against people? Sure, en masse, but not against individuals when I meet them. We all traffic in stereotypes, and we all exclude ourselves and our own social circles from those stereotypes. This is a human condition, and has nothing to do with race, specifically, but the general tendency to stereotype. It happens to everyone for many reasons besides skin color.

Do you know what other improvement Mr. Forman thinks is bad?
"In 2003, 17% of students said they were 'never concerned' with hunger and poverty, compared with 7% in 1976, he says. And on race, 27% were 'never concerned' three years ago, compared with 13% surveyed in 1976."

Seriously, fewer children have grown up wondering if they're going to eat every night, and this is bad? And I wonder what the racial breakdown is of those who said they were "never concerned" with race? What if there are black people among that 27%? That means this is an even bigger improvement, socially speaking. If someone is black and hasn't been "concerned with race," wouldn't the implication there be that they haven't felt discriminated against because of their race?

Don't worry, though, the author is sure to point out that Mr. Forman is black and is married to a white woman. And another white contributor to the article who is concerned about this "problem" used to be married to, and has a son with, a black man.

So as people become less and less concerned with race, and we all continue "mixing" on a grand scale, what then? Do we still live by the old "one drop rule" of heritage? Used to be that was the way racist people maintained as much power over others as possible. I imagine that in the near future it may be the only tool a whole different set of racist people have to maintain as much power over others as possible - and the only way the people who make a living off of racism will be able to keep their own jobs.

Thanks again, to The Agitator.

Herman Cain

I voted for Mr. Cain in a primary for either the Senate or House in the last election. He didn’t win, but I’m proud to say that I voted for him. He sometimes subs for Neal Boortz, and it’s always a joy to listen to him. He subbed last Friday, and I wanted to blog then, but just haven’t had a chance. Anyway, check out his site if you have a chance. We need more people in this country like him.

Some excerpts:

They Think You’re Stupid
A wakeup call... Work on the right problems to achieve the right results for issues that are vital to America's future. Both political parties are failing the citizens of this country. There is a solution. We must innovate and not just renovate in order to sustain the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In addition, the dynamics of wealth building and individual achievement have changed dramatically in just the last 20 years. Upward mobility from generation to generation is the norm. Today's white collar workers and small business owners are the sons and daughters of yesterday's blue collar union members. Women now make up a significant percentage of the workplace. Racial minorities are more upwardly mobile and represented in every aspect of society. Over half of the U.S. workforce owns financial investments such as stocks and bonds. More young people have college educations and advanced degrees than ever before. The marketplace for goods and services, ideas and innovations is global in scale. Perhaps most important, history has shown us the inefficiencies of centralized government programs and command economies. Yet, due to political pressures and a lack of leadership in most corners of state and federal government, we continue to place band-aids on an infrastructure that requires major reconstructive surgery.

What I learned yesterday

What I learned today
Did you know that "perk" is derived from the word perquisite? I didn’t. Some context from here. It wasn't until the end of the second paragraph until I realized what they were talking about. They are talking about perks.

Perquisite problems

Another benefit that companies might shift away from as a result of the proposal is offering perquisites. Many executives and experts argue that the SEC is going too far by lowering the threshold of perquisites that need to be disclosed from $50,000 to $10,000. "When you look at the total scope of executive pay, $10,000 is nothing," says Robbi Fox, a consultant at Hewitt Associates.

Experts expect that many companies will protest this requirement because it is too time-consuming to catalog. Further, only a few companies offer such extravagant perquisites.

Of course, about five words later, they said perks. I'm just glad I figured it out before then.

Of Memories and Music

On my way home tonight, I was listening to the music on my new toy (paid for by our overpayment to the US and GA governments). I like the album shuffle feature, because, well, I like albums. The play all songs is fun sometimes, but I really like to get into the groove that is an album. (Kindof ironic that this toy may spell the end of albums. whatever.) So the American Graffiti soundtrack came on. Something I find interesting about where this took me is that this is the music of my parents’ childhoods originally, not mine. But they’re straight baby boomers (OK, Dad was a few weeks early), and in the mid-eighties, with The Big Chill and the boomers getting all nostalgic, this became some of the music of my childhood, too. So I was instantly transported to the parking lot of what I think was Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell. I’m in my dad’s Alpha Romeo Spider with the top down, listening to oldies while my parents are playing in their Alta matches. It must have been 1986 or 1987. I remember so much detail.

And it made me wonder about when we get all nostalgic for the 80s. We already have, but I wonder if there will be a Big Chill type movie with our stories when we’re hitting our early forties. I’m sure we’ll listen to eighties music all the time, then, like we do now. Will our kids remember that as music of their childhoods, too?

For the love of Jake Ryan and Lloyd Dobler (an internal conflict)

SO, thanks to The Agitator, I found this article about the undying love for Lloyd Dobler that so many women our age have. In the opening, the writer mentions an article two years ago about Jake Ryan. I have to admit that Jake Ryan was my first movie love, so there's a special place in my heart for him. But I also love Lloyd, and certainly Say Anything.

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed. You know, as a career -- I don't want to do that."

And don't forget that Eric Stoltz and Jeremy Piven are in it, too.

There's not much I can say about the article that isn't already said better than I could, so I'll just leave this with some quotes. But I do have to argue with the comment about being in love with Lloyd Dobler, not John Cusack. I'm also in love with Martin Blank. Probably more than with Lloyd.

Two Valentine's Days ago, in the Style section, it was discussed at great length why women still think about Jake Ryan -- the cool-mannered, Porsche-driving, completely fictional hunk from the 1984 teen flick "Sixteen Candles." Then came the e-mail. Women (and some men) wrote in for months, mostly affirming this fantasy. One dreamer in Dallas talked about the lady down the street with toddler sons named Jake and Ryan. There was much linking and blogging. Even now, once in a while, Google will lead the Jakelorn our way. A New York documentary filmmaker came by last summer and set up lights and rearranged furniture and interviewed me -- she was making an entire movie about Jake Ryan.
"But what about," she finally asked, "Lloyd Dobler?"

Shawna Shepherd, 28, an associate TV producer, agrees. "I am always on the hunt for the Lloyd Dobler type. Unfortunately the ones I've dated so far pale in comparison to the Hollywood character," she says. "Sure they were quirky, and the mix tapes award-winning -- I still listen to them -- but a shower and a treat to dinner every now and then would have been nice, too. And let's face it, if a guy stood outside with a boombox playing music outside my window, I'd be unimpressed and slightly freaked out."

Chuck Klosterman, a complicatedly dorky New York rock critic who has ascended to omniscient pop-culture sageness (more powerful in his observations than even the combined forces of all those loudmouths on nostalgic VH1 shows), makes quick work of Lloyd Dobler in the very first pages of his 2003 book "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs":

"Fake love is a very powerful thing," Klosterman observes. "I once loved a girl who almost loved me, but not as much as she loved John Cusack. . . . It appears that countless women born between the years of 1965 and 1978 are in love with John Cusack. . . . But here's what none of these upwardly mobile women seem to realize: They don't love John Cusack. They love Lloyd Dobler. When they see Mr. Cusack, they are still seeing the optimistic, charmingly loquacious teenager he played in 'Say Anything.' . . .

Chuck Norris bandwagon

The guys at Best Damn Sports Show booked Chuck Norris, and had him read some off the list. He's clearly embarassed by it at some points, but he's a great sport. YOu'll have to find the link on the website, cause I couldn't find a direct one. Sorry.

Scrubs

OK, I watched Scrubs in its first season, but was turned off by one episode in particular and stopped watching. Then a few people at work commanded me to watch Scrubs again, and The Office. And you know me, I just go along with the herd. That, and the fact that Arrested Development is no longer on (after tonight's season/series finale - yeah, seriously on a Friday night at 8pm!) and I need a random comedy fix, brought be back to Scrubs. (I'm enjoying The Office, too, but that's not what this post is about.)

So anyway, today I'm asking for help. Can someone out there please help me find a clip of Turk's Air Band audition to Bel Biv Devoe's Poison (you can hear a sample at this Amazon.com link, too - just scroll down a little ways) online, so that I can link to it. First of all, it's hilarious. "Why is it hilarious?" you might ask. First of all, the song selection is priceless. The lip-synching was perfect. But what really put it over the top is Donald Faison's amazing dancing. Seriously, this guy is incredible. I've probably watched it five times already. And it will stay on the DVR for some time to come.

To aid in the search, the episode title is "My Half Acre."

Doing what you love or loving what you do

We’ve all heard it said that if you do what you love, it won’t seem like work.

You know what’s funny, I’ve had a couple of experiences and found out that with me, when I do what I love for work, it just makes what I love seem like work, and ruins both the thing I love and my work. So that stinks.

I guess that means that I didn’t love writing or photography enough. But if that’s the case, then I don’t love anything enough to want to make a career of it.

So what is one to do?

What if there is nothing that you see yourself dedicating everything to, besides your spouse and family? What if there is nothing you’re willing to make such sacrifices of time (and money) for. What if you love something so much, but the talent just isn’t there to make a living at it? Or you aren’t smart enough to think of a way to turn whatever it is into a career?

So I guess the key is to find something you love that you do well (two steps, not just one). But what if you don’t even know what you love enough to do all day every day? I do envy those people, like my friend Jenni who’s known since she was 12 what she wanted to do, and she’s doing it. And this guy.

Of course, knowing what you love and going for it all can be a huge risk. But if you love it so much that you’re willing to take that risk, then you’re half-way there.

So that leaves me, at this stage, with loving what I do. Well, I don’t love it in the sense of that described above. But I do like it enough to enjoy myself at work and enjoy the people I work with every day, and yeah, I’m pretty good at it (even though I think I just fake it really well). This is a huge blessing that many people don’t have in their lives. I recognize that, and I’m thankful for it every day. So maybe I’m one-third of the way there.

It's about time...

It seems that plans are in the works to build a Victims of Communism Memorial in Washtington DC. Unfortunately, it won't have as prominant a location as many of the other memorials, but at least there will be something.

This column in the Wall Street Journal Opinion section details several other sites around the world, as well. I think the most interesting tidbit is the mention of how quickly many in Eastern Europe switched from Fascist to Communist at the end of WWII. Those two may seem rivals in ideology, but are certainly not so in practice. They simply seek to control people using different propaganda. But the goal was always the same - domination through oppression and fear.

Quick poll: If you haven't hit the link, do you know how many deaths have been attributed to Communism?

The Communists clearly out-classed the Fascists in death-toll category, partially due to the longer term of widespread "success."

But of course, let's not forget that Communism is all about equality, even if as George Orwell so astutely pointed out in Animal Farm "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Many will tell you that Communism's 100 million death toll only "happened" because it hasn't been done right, yet. It really is a good and wonderful theory (in the non-scientific definition of the word). Never mind that it's antithetical to human nature, and any such system can only be implemented through - guess what - oppression and fear.

Pure Poppy Goodness

VH1 Classic has quickly become my favorite channel, since getting digital cable. As a matter of fact, I have the DVR set up to record Pop Show every time it comes on, and I watch these episodes in the morning while I'm having breakfast and getting ready. And whenever there's nothing on TV, I go to the DVR for relief. And there are my five or six episodes of Pop Show (and Edge of Country from GAC). Oh, and just let me mention that next week on CMT, Lyle and Bonnie Raitt will be playing on CrossRoads. I haven't seen an episode this season, but I know Radney Foster used to do the interviews. I don't know what I'm going to do if Radney and Lyle are on the screen together. I can't wait. But that is SOOO off topic.

I started this post because of the pure poppy goodness that was the January 28th episode of Pop Show. Almost pop perfection in its ability to take me back to so many great times. These are the videos in order of appearance:

"One More Night" Phil Collins, 1985
When I was in the forth and fifth grades, I thought this was one of the saddest songs I'd ever heard. I mean, I was 9, and I knew it was depressing. I was right. It still is. Actually, looking through his singles list on Billboard, I'm realizing that Mr. Collins sung a lot of damn depressing songs.

"Tell It To My Heart" Taylor Dayne, 1987
You have to be kidding me! This song? Look at that hair. The extensions don't even match the rest, and the bangs are crimped - CRIMPED. Did anyone wax their eyebrows in the 80's? She's in a black dress with what looks like a plastic chastity belt of some sort. But I can't help but be taken back to 1988 and want to dance at some horrible middle school dance in the cafeteria. Yep, that's right, not the gym, but the Cafeteria.

"La Isla Bonita" Madonna, 1987
It's never going to stop. They're dragging me through my childhood here with infinitely danceable tunes. True Blue was one of my first albums. I still have it.

"She Don't Use Jelly" Flaming Lips, 1995
Whoa, slow down here! You just hit the skip button and jumped right into college. Seriously, we just went from early Madonna to The Flaming Lips? This is great. I haven't fast forwarded through a song yet.

"Ironic" Alanis Morissette, 1996
Yeah, yeah, we all know it isn't ironic, after all, but I still can't bring myself to fast forward through this one, either. All four years at Georgia were so incredible, and this is one of those songs that takes me right back there in two seconds. I'm walking back to Myers from Park Hall, weaving my way through bus stop traffic in front of Tate with the headphones in and whatever mix tape turned up so loud that there is nothing else but the music, the sidewalk, and hundreds of feet in my periphery.

"End of the Road" Boyz II Men, 1992
Alright, slight rewind here, to the end of high school. Yeah, this is a break-up song, but we all know that songs relate to where we are in our lives. We were at the end of high school. I think this was actually Spring 1992 (is that right, Stacy?), and this was a senior song everywhere (we were juniors). I don't know that our senior class used it as theirs, but I do know it was in the yearbook slide show for the Seniors section. I think there were even some pictures of couples that had broken up. Or something like that. I may be making that up. It was in the slide show, though. That was a great slide show. Anyway, some of our friends were leaving for college, and we were about to be seniors. What a great time. That summer between junior and senior years is one of the best times of my life.

"I Wish I Was Your Lover" Sophie B. Hawkins, 1992
Wow, right about the same time. Again with the bushy eyebrows. You know, she's not an unattractive woman, but she's all butched up for this video. Of course, they were the days of flannel. This was a scream-along-with-the-radio-in-the-car song. Should I be ashamed of that?

Halfway through, and still haven't fastforwarded yet. This is the longest streak yet.

"I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" Hall & Oates, 1981
We're way back on this one. I'm in Dad's station wagon (olive green with wood paneling). I think it was a Plymouth Volare. And we're driving at night in the rain. "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt puts me in the same place.

"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" Leo Sayer, 1976
Yup, there had to be one that made me fastforward. This is it. That horrible falsetto and white man's afro. Good grief.

"Don't Leave Me This Way" Thelma Houston, 1976
Yeah, yeah, it was released in the disco days, and I don't remember it from my childhood, but well, it's all about Funkle Ester here. If I wasn't typing, I'd be dancing. I absolutely can't help but dance to this song. I was once in NY and had to wake up at 5:30 AM. This was the song on the radio when the alarm came on, and I had no problem waking up that day. Where's my shaker?! Damnit, Funkle Ester better play soon.

"Kiss" Prince and The Revolution, 1986
He's such a tiny little person. What are those heels, 4 inches? And his waste, 24? But just damn. Great song, great delivery. He's just fantastic.

"Young Turks" Rod Stewart, 1981
Video replete with terrible 80's choreography trying desperately for a West Side Story vibe. "But there ain't no point in talkin' when there ain't nobody listnin'" Wow, 1981 really does sum it up nicely.

"Cruel to Be Kind" Nick Lowe, 1979
This was somewhat alternative for my parents' taste when I was a kid, so I didn't discover this song until much later. Probably after college, actually. But it's just a great song, and Nick Lowe has aged really really well. Also, this actually had a narrative video. In 1979, where did these air?

Oh, we're at the end. That was the best hours of music videos I've seen in ages. Thank you VH1 Classic.

Being lazy and quoting others today

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.
-- Robert Anthony

Bad Radio Bits, Superman, and Jack Bauer

Morning radio is awful. I wish they would just play music, do traffic, news and gossip, then play more music. This is all I want from morning radio. No games. No silly bits. No fake advertisements.

This morning wasn't much different. A radio station did a horrible bit this morning about Jack Bauer's "personnel file." I hated all except this one...

"Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas."

the.best.24.EVER

You read my file, the first thing I'm going to do is take out your right eye ...

After tonight, it's a toss-up.

Aaron

Jack

Aaron

Jack

Aaron's quiet, unflinching obedience to his duty, and willingness to sacrifice his job in order to do the right thing may have won out for me this time.

But then there's Jack's violent, unflinching obedience to his duty, and willingness to sacrifice his freedom in order to do the right thing.

See why I'm conflicted?

I'm it

i've been tagged...

4 Jobs I've had
1. Waitress
2. Video Store Clerk
3. Events Photographer
4. "strategic alliances manager" - sounds cool, huh?

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Sixteen Candles
2. Casablanca
3. Lost Boys
4. Gladiator

Four places I've lived (in chronological order):
1. Alpharetta, GA
2. Dunwoody, GA
3. Athens, GA
4. Roswell, GA

Four TV shows I love:
1. 24 aka The Jack Bauer Power Hour
2. House
3. Arrested Development
4. Mad About You

Ten highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
1. My Name is Earl
2. Carnivale
3. Entourage
4. The West Wing
5. Boston Legal
6. The Shield
7. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
8. The L Word
9. Prison Break
10. Commander-In-Chief

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. Hilton Head Island
4. Key West

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. pasta
2. fresh grilled fish
3. fried catfish from Riverbend in Thomaston, GA
4. sushi

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Blogs
2. Bank Account
3. my company's intranet
4. News

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Maloolooba Beach
2. Charleston
3. Any beach that's warm and sunny
4. On a boat

Four bloggers I am tagging:
1. Dave
2. I think everyone else has been tagged

Unbridled anger resulting in tears

So I'm a girl. When frustrated, I cry.

This Agitator post caused spontaneous tears. After everything I just posted, I don't know why I went there. It always angers and frustrates me. I was asking for it.

This is what did it:

This isn't the first time this has happened in Virginia. A few years ago, the Virginia Beach police department sent a SWAT team to break up a suspected gambling operation at a country club. The sting ended with the death of a security guard, who by all indications thought the place was being robbed (it had been robbed just a few months earlier). The SWAT team knocked on the window to the car where he was stationed, then shot him when they thought he was reaching for a gun. His last words were, "I was reading a book. Why did you shoot me?"

Are any of you angry, yet?

Where to go ...

If we leave the US in disgust, are we abandoning the fight? Yeah, I guess we are. And, looking at this Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom, there are countries above the US, but those all limit social and personal freedoms on a greater scale that we do - today. And except for Hong Kong and Singapore, they're all damn cold places to live.

I think I'll write a letter to my congressman - like it will help. Maybe I'll have a conversation with Jack tonight.

Congress shall make no law ...

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

From Websters online dictionary...
Main Entry: abridge
Pronunciation: &-'brij
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): abridged; abridg·ing
Etymology: Middle English abregen, from Middle French abregier, from Late Latin abbreviare, from Latin ad- + brevis short -- more at BRIEF
1 a archaic : DEPRIVE b : to reduce in scope : DIMINISH (attempts to abridge the right of free speech)
2 : to shorten in duration or extent (modern transportation that abridges distance)
3 : to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense

Do you see that? Websters uses the First Amendment as a reference point for the definition of "abridge." Doesn't that say something about how plain this should be, especially those who are tasked with supporting, upholding, and protecting the Constitution?

I have rarely read anything that has made me so angry as this editorial today on the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal online.

George Will has been banging this drum from day one of McCain-Feingold. And while I understood what he was saying, it never quite hit me like this piece did today.

The piece by Brian C. Anderson (author of South Park Conservatives) is long, but well worth the read. It's information that everyone needs to know and understand.

Most of the column is about the push McCain-Feingold gets from the left. While that is infuriating to me, I understand it. They can't win elections lately with their ideas, so they want to stifle the information going to voters. Fine, dirty play, but that's politics. I think the worst part of all this is that George Bush didn't veto this damn bill when he had the chance. Apparently he expected the Supreme Court to overturn it and wanted to avoid a fight with John McCain. Are you freakin' serious? I go back to the FIRST Amendment. First First First! They didn't say "here are the amendments to the Constitution, in no particular order." They put it first for a reason. Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech... I'm sorry, do I not understand what the McCain-Feingold Bill is. Isn't it a law made by Congress, and doesn't it abridge the freedom of speech? And, when the founding fathers wrote this, they were talking specifically about political speech, which is exactly what this bill outlaws. That is worth fighting for, even if there are supporters in your own damn political party. And not only did our president sign it after admitting it is unconstitutional (no really, he did), but then the Supreme Court - defenders of the Constitution in the face of assaults by Congress - upheld it, too.

Clarence Thomas and the three other justices who voted along with him in the first challenge to McCain-Feingold had it right.

In his powerful McConnell dissent, Justice Thomas spelled out "the chilling endpoint" of the court's reasoning: "outright regulation of the press"--exactly what the campaign-reform theorists ultimately seek. "Media companies can run pro-candidate editorials as easily as nonmedia corporations can pay for advertisements," Justice Thomas explained. "Media corporations are influential. There is little doubt that the editorials and commentary they run can affect elections." The Supreme Court has found little to distinguish media and nonmedia corporations. Asked Justice Thomas: "What is to stop a future Congress from determining that the press is 'too influential,' and that the 'appearance of corruption' is significant when media organizations endorse candidates or run 'slanted' or 'biased' news stories in favor of candidates or parties?" Answer: Nothing. "Although today's opinion does not expressly strip the press of First Amendment protection," Justice Thomas warned, "there is no principle of law or logic that would prevent the application of the Court's reasoning in that setting. The press now operates at the whim of Congress."

But there were only four of them. There should have been nine. And so far, there's no telling how the new court will look upon this. I'm not holding out hope, based on what I've heard so far.

Just like I don't want to hear that the Republicans are the party of small government until they actually act like it, I do not ever again want to hear that Democrats are the party of freedom. That's just absolute BS. They are for freedom to express their own ideas, but not those of anyone with whom they disagree. Simply look at the speech codes on any college campus. Simply try to say that you do not approve of someone's choices (not that they don't have a right to make those choices, but only that you disagree), and you are engaged in hate speech - which is a punishable offense.

But, this is all about avoiding corruption in politics, not free speech? Well, if avoiding corruption (perceived corruption, mind you) means voiding the very first amendment to our Constitution, then the method they've chosen to use to avoid corruption is unconstitutional. But that doesn't matter, really, since they don't agree with the speech, and someone may have more influence than another by virtue of their ability to communicate their ideas. In their eyes are all equal and should have absolutely equal influence on the political process. Nevermind that it's an impossibility, we'll do everything we can to make it happen. It's their Utopia. That already didn't work, but they'll keep trying.

To eradicate "corruption," leading theorists of campaign-finance reform, such as Ohio State University law professor (and former Ohio state solicitor) Edward Foley, Loyola law prof Richard Hasen, and radical redistributionist philosopher Ronald Dworkin, want to replace privately financed campaigns with a system in which government would guarantee "equal dollars per voter," as Foley puts it, perhaps by giving all Americans the same number of political "coupons," which they could then redeem on the political activities of their choice. This superpowerful government would ban all other political expenditures and require all political groups to get operating licenses from it, with stiff criminal penalties for violators. The experts have even started calling for draconian media restrictions to achieve their egalitarian aims. In Foley's view, the chilling of speech is "the necessary price we must pay in order to have an electoral system that guarantees equal opportunity for all." But when these experts pen law-review articles with titles like "Campaign Finance Laws and the Rupert Murdoch Problem," you know it isn't the New York Times or CBS News that they have in mind.

Again, please read Amendment I.

Now they want to include the internet as an avenue of political speech to be regulated by the Federal Election Commission (bloggers beware).

Liberal reform groups like Democracy 21 say no. "We do not believe anyone described as a 'blogger' is by definition entitled to the benefit of the press exemption," they collectively sniffed in a brief to the FEC. "While some bloggers may provide a function very similar to more classical media activities, and thus could reasonably be said to fall within the exemption, others surely do not." The key test, the groups claimed, should be whether the blogger is performing a "legitimate press function." But who decides what is legitimate? And what in the Constitution gives him the authority to do so?

Political radio is also a target. As usual, not able to win with their ideas, they'll just change the rules of the game like a seven year-old brat at recess.

What's scary about this is there seems to be no stopping it. Not only will the president sign an unconstitutional law and the Supreme Court uphold it, these rules they have imposed, and seek to expand, make it more and more difficult for political upstarts to get their ideas out and, therefore, get elected. This ensures that the sleazy politicians who voted for these regulations will stay in office. They are gerrymandering the Constitution.

Zero Tolerance

Zero tolerance policies have invaded our schools with the purpose of eliminating administrators' need to actually think and reason when determining punishment, or even whether to punish at all.

Now it seems that zero tolerance policies have invaded the college sports world, as well. To summarize: basketball coaches cannot enter the court for ANY reason whatsoever. If they do, they will receive a technical foul. They will even receive said technical foul if they collapse from a heart condition and are carried off the court on a stretcher. Seriously.

At least these refs have been reprimanded.