Obama Peace Prize

Last Friday, President Barack Obama won the nobel peace prize. This came as a shock to most people as he has only been president for a few months. Many Republicans are all asking the same question, "What has he done to deserve this award?" The nobel committee argues that he has created a new political climate and influenced the lives of many diverse people.  Hopefully, in the next few years he can live up to his promises of bringing the troops home and provide universal health care.  
09 Oct 2009
by Henry Long

Abortion: If you can't trust me with a choice,
how can you trust me with a child?

      Abortion is a very touchy subject these days. With Dr.George Tiller (an abortion doctor) recently shot dead when he was ushering for a church service, and President Obama giving a graduation speech at Notre Dame (a catholic university which is religiously bound to be pro life) the subject has come up a lot in the news lately.

      In my opinion, Abortion is a choice that women should be able to have. With so many teenage pregnancies, more and more children are born and abused and not taken proper care of. I personally would never choose abortion, but I think it's a right that should be put in place. "If you can't trust me with a choice how can you trust me with a child?" This bumper sticker puts my thoughts into words. Women that you can't trust with the choice of abortion, you shouldn't trust with a child. I had a friend tell me last year that we could "put the child into an orphanage?" This is not an option, just because a mother has a criminal record doesn't mean you can take away her child and take it to an orphanage.

     The reason many people are pro-life is because they say you shouldn't kill a child. However, when the lifeform is aborted, it is not a human it is an embryo, not showing true signs of human life. Abortion kills the embryo, not the cuddly baby who giggles and spits up.

    While abortion is a very arguable topic, as President Obama said in his Notre Dame graduation speech, we should look for "common ground" and should not let an issue such as abortion split our country apart.
03 Jun 2009
by ewallace

Writer's Block
Imagine: you are writing a book.  You have a burst of inspiration, the ideas are pouring forth on your paper.  The best work you've ever done is about to form.  Then, all of a sudden,  the flow stops.  You wait, and wait and wait and....wait.  Nothing.  This, my fellow people, is called writers' block, a syndrome in which your creative ideas cease to flow.  Many have experienced it.  In books, essays, speeches.  It is the enemy of all authors.  For lack of anything to rant about, we have decided to write about the very thing that was closing off our inspiration.  *Theme Music Plays*

But, of course, first we shall introduce yet another friend who is helping us.  Give a warm welcome, if you please to MEREDITH HEMPHILL!!!!! Now, her introductary speech: Yo, I'm Meredith (duh), and I really hate writer's block!  Which, for me, is a big problem, being that I am a writer.  I have the annoying habit of getting a huge amount of creativity during class (or somewhere else where I can't write), and then not being able to come up with a single dang thing when I'm sitting at the computer ready to write.  So that's me.

You always know writer's block when you get it.  You are either thinking about what you are writing, or starting to write.  All of a sudden, you hit a wall.  A whole world of that wonderful, delicious substance called creativity is just beyond this wall.  The wall may be made of thin glass, or thick bricks, but the problem remains the same: you can't figure out how to get through it.  This, my friend, is stereotypical writer's block.  Sometimes, it only takes a little inspiration to break the wall down, but all too often, there is no way on this planet that you are going to get anywhere anytime soon.

Ask any writer, from a journalist for that newpaper you can't remember the name of, to the world's greatest authors.  They have all suffered writer's block more often than they would wish to tell you.  Do you know how many years it can take people to write one 200-page book?  I've heard of people taking ten to twenty years to complete a single, solitary novel.  And who's fault do you think this is?  You guessed it, writer's block!

Writer's block is different for different types of writing.  For example, if you are writing a five-paragraph argumentative essay for Mr. Markel, and you get writer's block, there are several easy solutions.  One, ask a classmate what they're doing (don't tell Mr. Markel I said that).  Also, just jot something random down.  That works as often as not.  Not all of your reasons have to be excellent, after all.  If you're writing a speech, you have a problem.  You might have to just sit and think, or you could ask for help, but it is still just an idea to rant about that you need to continue.

 If you're writing a fiction book, you really have a problem when writer's block comes knocking.  You have to generate plots, and characters, and AGH!  If you get an idea for something, and you can't formulate the rest of the story (happens to me every week), there's no end to the agony.  And most of the time, there's no simple way out.  If you are lucky, something will come to you eventually, but lucky is the operative word there.  There are other solutions.  For one thing, ask your friends!  Many times, if you can't think of anything, all of a sudden, someone around you will pipe up with some FABULOUS idea.  What could go wrong with that?  Especially if there are four or more of you, right?  Well, not exactly.  What will happen if all four of you have writer's block?  Yeah, it happens.  A LOT.  All the time, actually.

Another hurtle of the writing world (still in fiction books) is having an idea for the SECOND book of a series. This has happened to me on the book I'm writing and I just can't get around it!  I mean, you have an absolutely BRILLIANT idea and then, you have to GET there.  You want to start writing right away, but that will just totally confuse you on the first book.  By the time you figure out the first book, write it, and get to the second, the idea is gone.  Or, at least, the ability to continue that idea.  It just disappears into the vast horizon of your mind.

To elaborate on that last train of thought, probably the worst thing that can happen to a writer is... they get an idea for a series, and they know how to began the series, and how to end it.  And they can't figure out the middle!  This happened to me a while ago.  I planned out a twelve-book series (twelve being a very signifigant number, in this case, so it had to be twelve).  I knew what would happen in the first book (for the most part), and the last book or two, but the meat of the series was a blank.  I was fortunate enough to have my support group around to help, but two years later we are still working out the kinks.  (This also happens in novels, the first and last part of the book have painted a very clear, precise picture in your mind of the two ends, but how to link them?  In other words: "The middle beez fuzzy.")

So there's writer's block for you.  I hope you have been thoroughly educated, and will be a bit more appreciative of writers, even those really bad ones.

By: Meredtith and Emma
27 May 2009
by mhemphill

Dodgeball: To Be Or Not To Be
Wham!  The red ball hurls across the gym... to smack straight into the shoulder of a girl.  The girl stares at the ball in surprise, then lets out a shriek of laughter.  What the...?  you wonder as the girl, still laughing, shakes her finger at the the kid who threw the ball and goes to the side-lines.  They're in the middle of an intense dodgeball game.  Since as long as anyone can remember, dodgeball has been a fun activity for kids- and adults- of all ages.  But now, this game is in critical danger.  Many have feelings that are... less than warm for the sport.  They say that dodgeball lowers self-esteem, and creates psychological problems.  So, what's the truth to the matter?  Well, we're about to find out... *Theme music plays*

Before we begin, introductions are needed.  Everybody, say hello to the Guest-Author-of-the-Week: SARAH PITTMAN!  *Sarah skips onstage, waving* Anyways, so Hi. Before you make your decision on this subject, you need to know both sides of the argument. If you were in Mrs. Zinn's 4th period, A-day class on Monday, April 20th, you already know part of it. But we're here to tell you more.

Supporters of the ban seem to think that injuries, both physical and mental, can occur because of a dodgeball game. This could be true if they're using the classic red dodgeballs. Injuries could occur if the dodgeball was thrown hard enough at the face, or they could just bruise.  This arguement is plausible, but then the supporters go on to say that dodgeball can create serious psychological damage.  It separates the unathletic from the more skilled, and can cause low self-esteem in those who might not know how to play the game well. Also, it appears to encourage aggressive behavior since half of the game is throwing things at people, normally the ones who are unlikely to dodge who are stereotypically the "un-skilled" ones.

People against the ban, however, disagree. They argue that an easy solution for the physical injuries is, obviously, softer dodgeballs. Many schools, including our own, already have these soft, "gator-skin" balls that are highly unlikely to hurt anyone. As for the mental thing, they say, it is pure nonsense. Many kids play dodgeball, skilled and unskilled alike. The object of the game is to have fun, it doesn't matter whether you are that accurate or not. So why should 'unskilled' kids feel bad about themselves? About the 'encourageing agressive behavior', what about other sports? And video games. On many arcade games in malls, movie theaters and such places, you have to shoot people, shoot zombies, bomb people, etc. How does dodgeball induce more violence than that?! Also, so many other sports are much worse than this. If you ban dodgeball, you'd have to ban football as well. For example, a kid named Matthew was killed in football. There are also many more injuries in it than dodgeball. And if seeing a ball flying toward you creates 'psychological' problems, how about a group of huge guys running full-speed toward you about to tackle you in a pile? While you're at it, you might as well ban soccer (you can get kicked, my dad got a knee injury as well in soccer), hocky (big sticks, puck hits people in head), tennis (it takes a lot of skill to hit the ball, thus crossing out 'unskilled' people), or basketball (it is REALLY hard to shoot a perfect hoop for most people, and it has a really hard ball), among other things. So why not even ban tests, too. They create multiple 'mental' problems and are very stressful.

Basically, we feel that the arguments in dodgeball's defense are way more convincing than the arguments for banning it.  And, as I'm sure the girl we met at the beginning of this rant thinks, dodgeball is worth keeping. It's been around for years, so why decide to get rid of it now?
By: Emma, Brooke and SARAH PITTMAN!!! :)
06 May 2009
by bbond

Weekly Rant: When Animals Attack... *DUN, DUN, DUN!*
Focus on Animals

    One week in February, a shocking story stunned all of America.  In an urgent call to 911, Sandra Herold pleaded for help, saying that her pet chimpanzee was mauling her friend.  The police responded quickly, and the friend, Charla Nash, was saved.  For weeks after that gruesome report, old fears of animals were re-awakened through-out the nation.  What if I was attacked by an animal?  Are they sure that squirrel isn't rabid?  What was that outside?  Questions like these, as well as many others, continue to haunt the minds of many, including our very own Mr. Marckel ;).  But really, shouldn't the animals have a say? *Theme music plays*

    Whenever an animal attacks, injures, or kills a human, the press is all over it. After all, animals are so savage and people need to be warned, right? When a tiger attacks his trainer, a chimp mauls a friend, or a rabid fox bites someone, people are horrified. It is such a big deal because animals are supposed to give humans room and let them do whatever they want, it's not their place to harm us in anyway. If a dog is a 'problem' animal (biting or attacking someone), the owner is fined, and/or the dog killed. Pit bulls and rottweilers are always cruel, attacking for no reason. Why should humans have to suffer because those beasts' stupidity. Sound familiar?

Makes you think twice about taking your seemingly cute and adorable dog out for a walk, doesn't it?

    Sure it is a horrible accident when a human is hurt by an animal. Why wouldn't it be? The problem is that people get that to their minds too much, scared to even go near animals, thinking them monsters.  Some people even go as far to say that they don't deserve to live on this planet. One great (horrible incident, good example for what we're saying) example of this would be when Steve Irwin (the 'Crocodile Hunter') was killed. He was filming a movie about underwater wildlife when he was killed in a freak accident by a ray. He was right above it and it got scared, firing it's tail barb into his heart. After this incident, thousands of rays were killed in revenge by his grief-stricken so-called 'fans', which goes against all he worked for to help animals in his life. It was not the ray's fault. It was an accident! It got scared and tried to defend itself. Many more incidents such as this have occurred, putting animals in the spotlight as 'evil killers'.


Is this really how we should be thinking?

    Now. Let's look at this the animal way.  Thousands of animals are killed a day.  Of those thousands, many of the animals are killed for stylish clothing, wall-trophies, and leather for our seats.  Do we need all that?  Sure, everyone wants to look good.  But why do we need fur from leopards to do that?  I only wear false fur coats, and it wouldn't hurt for Britney Spears to do the same.  As for wall-trophies, wouldn't golden cups do better than animal heads?  HUH?  And there is another material to use for car seats.  Why, then, is it so important that all these animals die?

    Even worse, if possible, is sport hunting.  If you are reading this, and hunt for sport, please answer my question.  What's the appeal?  How is it remotely fun to end the lives of innocent creatures by you own accord, for nothing at all?  *Sigh.*  I guess I'll just wait for the answer to come prancing in, so I can SHOOT IT DOWN, DUDE!  That should answer my question well enough, don't ya' think?  Maybe it'll even become a new sport: Answer Shooting! ;)

Anyways...

    .As you can see, the extreme worry conjured by the Chimpanzee attack was, basically, one-sided.  Not that there's anything wrong with fearing animal attacks.  I myself find it hard to fall asleep at night from a chronic fear of spiders.  Still, don't animals deserve a fair thought?  After all, they aren't the ones who constantly destroy our beautiful Earth.


By Brooke and Emma (again) :)
25 Mar 2009
by esullivan

The Republicans Seriously Need a "New Party"

    This past November 4th taught our country many things. One was that race has nothing to do with politics, or at least it shouldn't. Another thing is that the democratic party is appealing to most young voters, hispanic voters, and African American voters. This certainly helped their large margin of victory. The republicans, in an understandable funk over their huge loss, learned something too, they need some plastic surgery.

    Sarah Palin, John McCain's ditzy running mate in the 2008 election helped draw a lot of voters to McCain's side. Most of them though, were "red neck holy rollers." Palin also disgusted a few of the party's oldest and truest members who believed that the Republican party should have the face of Ronald Reagan type politicians, not fundamental, dressed-up hillbillies. Unfortunately, the Republican party hits a dilema with this. Half of their party wants a young, new, fresh off of being the mayor of a small town type who is anti-environment and who takes the bible quite litereally. The other half is more moderately for an older, not necessesarily wiser, but the type who is somewhat moderate on religion and the environment, but is also for the hard core, old fashion, Republican basis, of protecting the rich and not worrying about the poor. If the party appeals to one side and not the other, they only get half the votes and loose the appeal to young voters who are sometimes more drawn to what is popular.

    The Democrats were able to find a good balance between extreme left wing and moderately liberal, and this is most definately why they won the popular vote by a whopping total. In order to win the country back again, conservatives need to strike a happy medium, but this task is much harder than it sounds.

   

25 Mar 2009
by ewallace

Rebels?
This is more of an article to show how amusing the subject is rather than a rant. However, it's still a rant. Anyway, back to the topic. It's really quite annoying/hilarious how people think they are rebels just because they don't obey the tiniest thing. For example, we recently had spirit week and it was rather boring compared to last year's. They took out Decades Day along with all the other days with no dress code except Team Day. Many people were upset about it. So, what do they do? On Friday (Purple and Gold Day), a lot of people decided they were going to wear all black instead of wearing purple or gold. Apparently this was to "rebel" against them taking out the other no-dress code days. Somehow it seemed very rebellious to wear black, a school uniform color, instead of purple and gold, other school uniform colors. In other words, people were supposedly being extremely defiant by still obeying school rules but just choosing not to wear certain colors allowed in said rules. I find it hard to believe that this helped at all or if administration even noticed. What was the point in wearing all black? Quite a few friends of mine and teachers (Mr. Marckel) agreed that if we want administration to listen to us, we need to show them we can handle it. Being immature by boycotting against something we have to do every other day anyway isn't going to want them to give us more no SMOD days. It's very childish and pointless. I find it really annoying that people are getting so bent out of shape over all of this. This isn't the only incidence. There have been many where people try to secede the teachers and others and it hasn't ever ended well.

Anyone remember the lanes? Or what about when people try to make petitions against certain things/people? It normally doesn't end so well. With the lanes, many people started making bumper stickers and such. Now, a lot of people did this for fun but others were serious. We even had stickers about it. Now, I'll admit, I took their back. Go up to them and TALK ABOUT IT. If you aren't going to speak up about it then what's the point in bellyaching about it? Not everything is going to end up fine and dandy and it's about time some of us started learning that. Rebellion isn't the answer. The only time I know of where rebellion has really worked was in Star Wars and that was because they had Luke on their side. Even then, not all was fine in the galaxy. They still had problems but it was only the major problems (the Empire) that they chose to take action towards. If a man in a black suit with a breathing machine, a lightsaber and the voice of James Earl Jones comes to the school and takes over with his master, then I'm all for Rebellion. But since that's highly unlikely to happen (though not impossible) I think we just need to keep our mouths shut. If you have a problem, speak to the person privately first. That normally works. If this doesn't work, however, then talk to someone who can help with the matter instead of gathering up a band of followers to do something that probably won't end up working. You can think whatever you want, but I find the "rebellion" at this school......... not so rebellious.
10 Mar 2009
by cserber

Little Brothers
    On  the surface, little brothers seem cute, sweet even lovable, especially to friends and parents.  Then, once everyone else is gone and you're stuck at home with them, they show their true side as little devils.  They pull your hair and bite, go into your room and mess everything up, hit, kick, and worst of all, scream.  Then when your parents get home, they ask before they use your stuff, never do anything bad (or when they do they do not admit it) and you, the big sibling, are somehow ALWAYS hurting them, even when you're not on the same floor. 

    Our little brothers often charm everyone else, but we see past this little charade.  The more you're around them, the worse it is.  This basically means that the siblings are affected the most.  Sometimes the only way to get rid of them is to lock them in their room until your parents get home.  That is, unless you are willing to injure them, which is often the only option, (at which point their role is often exaggerated horribly) then you are in trouble.  Often, little brothers are gluttons.  For example, this past weekend, one of the little brothers of the authors ate half of a box of ice cream, and then blamed it on said author when the author's parents got home.  Then, the author got in trouble. The other author's brother put all kinds of weird, immature toys in her pockets, and then people thought she was weird because she carried them around.  (She didn't really.)

    As you can see, little brothers are not the angels the appear to be.  They're just pains.  Their goal in life is to annoy you.  If you were to spend a day with them, you would not think they were half as cute as you do before you know them well.

By: Laurie Stanek and Emily Atkins
21 Jan 2009
by lstanek

Misunderstandings Can Ruin Everything!

    Whether it's an email where a friend uses sarcasim but you didn't realize it, your mother asking you to do something and you thinking she's joking, or you hearing your cousin ask for a "brush" but you think he's rudely telling you to "hush," misunderstandings can ruin almost anything.

    When I was in third grade my best friend emailed me something about how she was annoyed about me getting silent lunch in Art class. She sarcastically commented, "Yeah, since you were the only one talking you definitely should be punished!" I took this the wrong way being the touchy third grader that I was. For the next month my friend in I were in a snit, all because of this silly misunderstanding!

    Once, last year my sister was asked by my parents to make sure and study as much as she thought was nessescary. Apparently she really didn't think she should study but a few hours on Sunday, the day before her final exam. The third time she left the house to go have fun with friends my mom had had it. The whole next week was spent in yelling, preeching, and tears at my house all because of this misunderstanding and wrong use of words!

    When you first meet someone, it's hard to tell how "tough" or "touchy" they are. When my cousin first met her Odessey of the Mind coach, the coach didn't know that my cousin is a bit sensitive. My cousin got through the first three practices with this coach who obviously hadn't spent much time around teenage girls. When my cousin was assigned a job (buying a glue gun and some spray paint at A.C. Moore) and she bought purple spray paint, her coach began to bless her out. As the coach yelled that she had specifically said to get silver or gold paint, my cousin was in tears. The next day she quit the team and whenever she saw the coach in the halls she turned her head so as not to show her shamed face. It turns out the coach in actuality needed the purple spray paint to paint part of a rainbow on the set. To this day whenever someone mentions her coach, my cousin's optimistic attitude falls and she has to leave the room.

    As everyone has experienced, misunderstandings can ruin everything. Even if you go through life with a good and open minded attitude you can still have many things ruined from a misunderstanding.
28 Jan 2009
by ewallace

Infomercials... Informational?
    Whether you're surfing the channels when the kid you babysit has gone to bed, or just watching your favorite T.V. show, everyone has experienced the annoying waste of time called infomercials. I find commercials bad enough, studies have shown the negative effect they have on this generation of children. Childhood diabetes and obesity has steadily increased because of the wonderful looking foods that are sugary and bad for a growing child's body that are shown in commercials. Combining this obnoxious phenomenon with a cheaply produced 5 minute sinker, is the last thing anyone wants to watch on television.
    "Snuggies, the blanket with sleeves!!" is a 2.5 minute informercial telling of a sweater with out a back. Most have seen this informercial several times and can quote it! Billy Mays likes to yell at us about useless gunk, that only gullible nitwits would purchase with the insane shipping and handling fees. "FUN Slides Carpet Skates", is another infomercial  I've never understood.  What kind of self respecting person would fall for  shoes that strap on and "slide" small distances (I've never heard of these actually working!)
    Most of us have experienced the pain of infomercials and most of us wish that the companies that don't have enough money to make a full blown commercial (such as "Dair-i-o's", "Carolina KIA" "Big City Sliders", "Oxyclean", "Bend-a-roos",etc.) would just stop advertising.
21 Jan 2009
by ewallace

Chuck Norris
It's very annoying when people say "Oh, well Chuck Norris..." and think that makes things any better or supports what they think. Chuck Norris isn't any different than anyone else.

There are a lot of celebrities and average people out there who are just as great or better than Chuck Norris. What's even more annoying is that a lot of people don't even know who Chuck Norris is and still say things like "When Chuck Norris does push-ups he doesn't push up, he pushes the world down." Also, there are many jokes about Chuck Norris being equal to God and that insults some people's faith. To me, that's not right and Chuck Norris shouldn't be held to any greater standard than any other celebrity.

Chuck Norris is still a regular person just like every other celebrity is. People need to stop acting like he's the best thing since sliced bread. It is very incorrect and makes practically no sense at all.
10 Dec 2008
by cserber

Science Writing... an Oxymoron

    When the State Department of Education eliminated a writing test from the seventh grade curiculum the entire sixth grade class was ecstatic. Mr. Marckel would be beating us over the head now if our writing wasn't up to par! That's when the bomb was dropped. Getting rid of the writing test seemed like we would get off easy, but in reality the board of education was making it a whole lot harder for the new seventh grade class.


    When Mr. Marckel told our class that we would be required to submit a writing portfolio to the state most of us figured we would throw together the poem we wrote in second grade, an essay on our favorite restaurant we had stuffed in our binders from sixth grade and a picture of us diligently writing chicken scratch. Mr. C's news came down on me like a bombshell. We have to have writing samples from science, math, and social studies along with essays from Launguage arts class.

    Writing in Math could definitely present a challenge. You can write a cute little children's book and add adorable illustrations, but that's not what the state is looking for. Writing an essay about your emotions toward the relationship of the Fibbanacci sequence and the millionth digit of pi is what the board will want.

    Writing in Social Studies seems a bit easier, but with no research could be impossible. Telling about Caesar's Gaelic Wars is not my idea of a good essay topic!

    Finally, writing in Science is a completely crazy concept! Of course, we can all recite the formula for Chlorofluorcarbons thanks to Mr.C, but writing an argumentative essay on it... I'm not so sure. Science is fascinating, but there's not much material for writing a good essay about it. In fact, I'm sure I could manage to write an essay in any topic arguing my case with a little research, except for possibly science for one simple reason, there is SO much information you can't possibly have time or space to write about!!

    So, next time when something seemingly good comes along at school- be very suspicious!
07 Jan 2009
by ewallace

Our Politically Correct World
During this holiday season, many will be celebrating Christmas. But with the growing "politically correctness" of society it's hard to enjoy anything about Christmas that used to be. Hopefully you will enjoy this. I couldn't figure out whether to put it on Rants and Raves or Jokes, because it's simply to entertain.

A POLITICALLY CORRECT HOLIDAY

Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves",
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the North Pole,
were alleged by the union, to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety,
released to the wilds, by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear,
that Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his beautiful sleigh,
because the ruts were deemed dangerous by the EPA,
And millions of people were calling the Cops,
when they heard sled noises upon their roof tops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe, had his workers quite frightened,
and his fur trimmed red suit was called "unenlightened".

To show you the strangeness of today's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose.
He went to Geraldo, in front of the Nation,
demanding millions in over-due workers compensation.

So...half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife
who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life,
joined a self help group, packed and left in a whiz,
demanding from now on that her title was Ms.

And as for gifts...why, he'd never had the notion
that making a choice could cause such commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur...
Which meant nothing for him or nothing for her.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot,
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls and nothing for just boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific,
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.

No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish upon the truth.
And fairy tales...while not yet forbidden,
were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden,
for they raised the hackles of those psychological,
who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football...someone might get hurt,
besides - playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passe.
and Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.

So Santa just stood there, disheveled and perplexed,
he just couldn't figure out what to do next?
He tried to be merry he tried to be gay,
but you must have to admit he was having a very bad day.
His sack was quite empty, it was flat on the ground,
nothing fully acceptable was anywhere to be found.

Something special was needed, a gift that he might,
give to us all, without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy - with no indecision,
each group of people in every religion.
Every race, every hue,
everyone, everywhere...even you!
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...

"MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, ENJOY PEACE ON EARTH"
10 Dec 2008
by robrien

Clean Coal - Is It Really Clean?
Coal --around 50% of America's energy comes from this one substance alone. However, it's one of the main pollutants that causes global warming.  Burning fossil fuels (coal) emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where it traps heat, reflecting infrared radiation.

Clean coal is a term that coal industries use for methods that try to reduce the environmental impact of using it, such as removing impurities from the coal and gasification. However, the factories do not dispose safely of carbon pollution, and there are no commercial "clean coal" plants so far. Approximately 600 coal plants aren't stopping their global warming pollution from entering into the atmosphere.

So, is there such a thing as clean coal?
You decide.

Sources:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/clean-coal.htm
http://action.thisisreality.org/details
10 Dec 2008
by mhinton

The President-Elect
president-elect     Whether you would have voted FOR or AGAINST Obama in the recent presidential election, there is something that most students have missed -- the fact that in our democracy losing candidates support the winner and concede the election graciously. Perhaps you may not have noticed that John McCain has STOPPED the negative campaigning. It's over. He understands this. Some of you do not.

     John McCain gave a very gracious speech accepting Obama as the winner of the presidential election. This speech enhanced his stature among the American people and showed that he could let go of the rancor of the campaign in an honorable way.

     It is petty and immature for students AND adults in our democracy to snipe at a president-elect during the transition. Obama has not taken office yet and deserves, at the very least, a relatively quiet transition period to put together his cabinet and team in order to try to govern the country. The time for judging a president-elect is NOT during the transition. You will just have to wait and see what happens.

     To honor this transition period NO put-downs of Republican or Democratic platforms or position statements will be accepted as comments for this article -- or future articles on politics. This moratorium will last for a minimum of 100 days after the inauguration. If those of you whose candidate did not win continue whining in print about the lost election and how you are convinced the country is going down a very deep hole -- be advised that I will DELETE your comments. Simply put... I'm tired of it. This blog is NOT an extension of FOX news.

     After viewing the comment logs for numerous political articles posted so far this year I am serving a warning to those of you whom I am beginning to regard as having a bad case of political rabies -- clean up your postings or be banned from the blog. I've been patient up to now, but as I said above, I'm tired of the overblown emotionalism, sloppy logic, grand-standing and demagoguery. Most of you sound too much like Joseph McCarthy, U.S. senator from Wisconsin (1947–57). Don't know anything about him? Do a Google search and learn about the dark side of American history.
18 Nov 2008
by MrC