To qualify for the ability to sue on his proginy's behalf, the good doctor from the communist republic would have to have guardian ad litem status. This legal term refers to the stewardship of representing a child's best interests in court. But the wonder boys from the Ninth Circuit apparently thought it was for the greater good of the cause against the pledge to ignore the fact that the doctor didn't have this status when he filed the suit. Rules and laws are in place for a reason and when we bend them or break them even for the noblest reasons we lose the power the law has in our society. In another blatant disregard for the law, the Ninth Circuit refused to honor the wishes of the true parent to the child involved in the pledge case. The mother wanted the child's name pulled from the case, but in the world of lawyers this would make the case moot, so the Ninth Circuit denied her request. No wonder the vote was 8-0 (scalia recused himself) it was just a bad example of appellate jurists disregarding their duties to try and write social policy onto the rest of America. That is what conservatives refer to as judical activism and it should not be tolerated. The logistics of the case were dead set against the atheist doctor, but if you want to talk morals and American values that's fine too. The phrase "under God" does not specifically denote any particular any religious sect in its wordage so it's not entanglement with any specific religion

I gotta say the supreme court sure ducked out of that one. Ok, so they can argue against the guy having solid grounds. All they're doing is pushing back the issue so they don't have to issue a ruling. But be assured it will come again and they will not be able to just get out of it so easily next time. For gods sake the line under God was not even in the original pledge. It was added afterwords in the 50's because frightened people wanted to separate themselves from the godless communists!

you know that's why your for it right Drew. Your still afraid of the Godless communistS!

Em, that food sounds delicious. I am only consoled by farmer's markets and our co-op grocery store. This summer I have been introduced to the wonder that is TVP. yum!

Drew, the guy arguing the pledge case has partial custody of his daughter (10 days a month-quite a bit in my mind) and is currently fighting for equal custody. I'd hardly say that he "sired but didn't raise" her. If they say that he doesn't have enough custody to qualify as her legal rep, fine. But that doesn't disqualify him as a father, and hell, he'd like to be spending more time with her. Not to mention the fact that this case has nothing to do with striking down patriotism. Patriotism can stand tall without a blatantly supportive statement of Judeo-Christian beliefs within the pledge.

so my train of consciousness went something like this as i was catching up on the last three posts:
"woohoo, Zach's back!! too bad i probably won't see him for another 6 months or so... yeah, seriously. the basement of Seymour is wicked addictive. i love that place. oh yeah, i remember learning about the Zealots in middle school religion class. oh man, Adam, little kids spouting Bible verses on command is frightening. impressive, but also disturbing. more's the pity. oh, a TV. hmm, Pete will probably have something opinionated to say about that. Drew goes on rant about the history of terrorism, cue skimming and noting noble-ized speech, conclude reassured that Drew's views will remain rock solid and EAF is in no danger of losing its conservative."

today Jacqui and i went forth from Rockpile Farm to Worcester (pronounced "wuster--the "u" is like in "put"), where i lost $80 and got impotent typhoid bits shot into my left arm and impotent hep A bits shot into my right. also we both got toothbrushes that can be recycled. and this weekend, i'm going to Vermont! camping with my ex, David, and his current girlfriend, Jenni. isn't there some rule about hanging out with ex and current...? although perhaps that's simply an old wives' tale, huh, Christina? we'll see how it goes ;-)

also, here's what we had for dessert last night. read & drool longingly: freshly picked, juicy, organic strawberries (i picked 'em, i mulched 'em). shortcake hot from the oven (the eggs i gather). freshly beaten cream from that morning (my milking). *falls over* so help me gods, i must find a way to eat this well for the rest of my life.

First some points of business. I have recently acquired a TV for the P-house next year. My parents bought a flat screen and they are letting me use the twenty five inch box they are replacing. I know not everyone wants or likes TV, but it's good to have one for movie nights and what not. So we have a TV for next year. Secondly could someone tell me my room number for the P-house again, I forgot it. Now to pleasure. Zach, Zach, Zach can you not remember the great Constantine? This great general needed the wide spreading, mostly non-violent but still persecuted, Christians to consolidate his power in the struggle to overcome his rivals for the imperial throne. So he claimed to have seen crosses in his dreams and ordered his troops to paint the Christian symbols on their shields before a decisive battle was to be fought. The resulting battle made Constantine Emperor and Christianity the imperial religion. What old Constantine shows us is that the battles for consolidation between Christianity and Rome do not remotely resemble America's struggle with Iraq. The first instance was a soldier-statesmen using power politics to rein in more supporters. Our battle involves the forces of the free world fighting a bunch of fanatics who cut people's heads off because the refuse to believe the word of anyone else accept that of old bigots who warp religious teachings for their own greed and lust for power.
Adam, those people you interview are America Adam, get used to it. In other news the Supreme Court slapped down the atheist doctor from California who attack the Pledge of Alliegance. Thank God for that. Sorry, but I couldn't resist that one. The man's case was pathetic because he didn't have custody over the child who he sired but didn't raise. Then he comes in and says he is a father who is concerned about his child being discriminated against in school. The Ninth Circuit, in its infinite anti-American wisdom, concurred with him and struck down a valuable teaching tool of patriotism on the most flimsy grounds imaginable. The man lacked custody of the child and he was never married to her mother in the first place, so basically this case should have been over before it started. He lacked standing to sue on his daugther's behalf, and the Supreme Court has rightfully affirmed this fact. So ta-ta for now ACLU, you'll have to find another way to rip at patriotism only next time make sure you make a some what rational argument next time. (Incidentally, a good number of the Justices while refusing to rule further on the constitutional issue of whether or not the pledge was legal said they would uphold it so there you have it. THE PLEDGE STAYS YAHOO!

boy Zach, reading that made me realize how much I missed your concise and perceptive deconstructions of the madness of today. Amen bro and high fives. Speaking of high fives, I went to the bible quiz competition today, and these kids are friggin INSANE! They don't really jump off their chair, they kinda flex their butt muscles and then they stalk around the stage wracking their brains for the appropriate bible verse. This one girl was spouting Jesus speak so fast it was overloading my neurons and I almost seized. I'm pretty sure I just stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed the whole time. Honestly, I was strangely impressed, but very weirded out.
Peace,
Adam

I'll make a hair band out of yet Adam Prairi
So, I'm back on Campus with my priorities as follows: 1)to keep Stan from catching summer fever 2)Figure out exactly what my honors project is going to be 3) find a way to re-integrate at least on some level with America as seen through the eyes of Galesburg Illinois.

So far I've suceeded somewhat towards my first goal but find myself well behind on the second two.

In other news I got lost in the Seymour library basement with all the cool old books and couldn't leave without taking 3 or 4 even though they have nothing really to do with my work. The first one I'm reading is taking a socio-cultural psychological perspective to understand the development of CHristianity and so far it seems that the Zeolots of Israel, who were the first Christians were basically terrorists who fought without hope against against an oppressive Roman rule. The more the unstoppable Roman armies tried to root out and "irradicate the problem" the greater the oppression grew and the greater the violence against the State grew. That hate once directed at the Romans soon turned to their own people as those Jews in the higher eschlons of society who were given more rights pleaded for peace with the Romans. The lower class turned on them with the same vengeful eye as towards the Romans themselves The more the Romans used their force to wipe out the zeolots the greater the econmically and socially hopeless Christians pressed on with a belief that the apocolypse would soon come when the Messiah would return and they would all go to heaven and their oppressors will all go to hell and the justice which was absent for the present world would all be fulfilled in the world to come. They never stopped because the Romans never learned.
Basically, our use of empirial muscule can never erradicate those who, in the gutter of society, have both a hatred and a hope that they will die for. Our foolhardy cry to end terrorism is inevitably counterproductive at the barrel of a gun.

GOOD LORD! Can my job get any more lame? Tomorrow I have to cover and write an article about a FRIGGIN BIBLE QUIZZING CONTEST! No shit. It's the national finals apparently, and the high schoolers basically memorize the bible and win thousands of dollars if they rock at remembering. Friggin Nazarene's need to get a whiffle ball or something. One quote I have aleady and this is verbatim, "A lot of people think you can't have a sport, if you will, about the Bible, but we do." What the hell am I gonna do there? Should I bring my big foam hand that says Jesus is #1 and chant We Will Rock You? How am I gonna write this article without laughing? In other news, my band the Hoot-Hoots is playing at the Bourbonnais Friendship Festival at the Battle of the Bands, and we're playing a couple of hits by some one hit wonders, The Knack's My Sharona and Golden Earring's Radar Love, as well as The Who's My Generation, and it actually sounds pretty good so far, given the material. The songs are kinda fun anyway, I must admit. I never thought I would play a song by a band named Golden Earring. I feel like I should be wearing tight stretch pants that show off my package with shirts that reveal my bird-like chest. Has anybodys seen Spinal Tap? yeah good movie. Well, so long, time to stop wasting more corporate time.
Oh and by the way, my knobs go to 12, not 11.
Adam

DREW: "Iraq along with Afghanistan is are the first battles which must be won in the war for the very soul of the Middle East."

This is the key weakpoint in your argument Drew. It is a statement that Bush agrees with, not only on tv, in front of the nation, but i believe deeply in his heart. But the absurdity of this statement underscores why the Iraq war is not only immoral, but also makes no sense. You can NEVER win the soul of a people--a culture--a region by defeating them in war. You know this is true. It is so obviously true it sounds almost silly to say... but our whole foreign policy right now is predicated on it being false... and that is a dangerous situation to be in.

Drew, if you try to kill every terrorist you are going to end up being the only person left.

I almost walked out of the theatre during the rape scene in Monster, but I'm glad I didn't. Very disturbing, but very good.

On another note, I just saw Charlieze Theron in the movie Monster, and boy was it scary. She definately earned that academy award. I would suggest you all watch the movie. Theron plays this real life prostitute who turned out to be the world's first female serial killer. She killed over thrity people before the cops caught her. She was executed in 2002. It's real hard for such a pretty lady to act and look so ugly but Theron does it such a talented way. If you watch it, be sure the lights are on because boy is it scary. Happy Father's Day to everyone's pap. Take care and good night

I am not blood thirsty. Maybe I am paranoid, but I do not wish the deaths of innocents under any circumstances. I merely point out that we are engaged in a real war against terror and it is inevitable that civilians are killed in war. America should know 3,000 of our citizens were killed by a bunch of barbarous scum that are blood thirsty for anyone who stands for progress and freedom. For those of you who say Iraq has nothing to do with the 11th you are wrong. Iraq along with Afghanistan is are the first battles which must be won in the war for the very soul of the Middle East. The people there must be shown a way to progress and and human freedom denied to them by the fanatical leaders there who warp the faith of Islam for their own purposes. I do regret the innocent lives lost in this war, but I ask you all to remember that our innocents have been killed over there too. Just ask that poor fellow who's head was cut off in Saudia Arabia. Rachel, you ask us to withdraw our forces from the Middle East and to give money to poor in order to change their lives for the better. I say the "few fanatics" will not allow this as they blow up car after car, kill person after person, in order to satisfy their maniacal master's dictum to the will of God. The only alternative is to go in to eliminate the terrorists from the face of the earth. Kill the tyrants as well as the terrorists they support and things will get better with a lot of work and aide to the rational Muslims who truely pray for a better world in which their children can live in peac

Drew, you are paranoid and blood-thirsty, and it honestly makes me ill. We are killing innocent people while attempting to root out these terrorists, and it only makes people more upset. It isn't like there are plenty of "monsters" in the United States just as sick as the people we are targeting in the Middle East. You make it such a game of "us" versus "them", with us as the justified, honorable country going in to save the world. It isn't such a black and white issue.