Yay!

I generally try to refrain from post all about me but this is just too good of news. I got into an Americorp program!!!!! It's a program tutoring kids in Federal Way Washington. It's definitely one of my top choices so there's a big chance I'll be taking this job. Its a little scary, especially since it's all the way on the other side of the country but that's part of the excitement!

Forcing students to recite the pledge is the opposite of patriotic

In late January in Montgomery County MD a student at Roberto Clemente middle school was escorted from a classroom by the police for refusing to say the pledge. This went against the school's policy and was a result of the repressive views of the teacher. It is even in the Montgomery County Schools handbook that students cannot be forced to say the Pledge. This policy is even enforced by Maryland law. The URL for the Washington Post article is at the bottom of this entry.

Luckily for the teacher the student, her family and the ACLU are only requesting an apology to the student and the rest of the class as well as explanation to the class about why her action's were wrong. The school has said that they will support an apology but only if the student and her family give up her right to a lawyer. They sure are asking the student to give up a lot of her rights.

The issue of student rights has been a controversial one since the mid-twentieth century. While minors are not full persons under the law they are still entitled to the rights given to citizens under the Bill of Rights.

In my mind, the teach should be fired. Not only did she break school policy, she broke the law. Furthermore, she made a point to embarrass the student for her beliefs. Those are not the actions of a good teacher, those are the actions of a disrespectful person who should not have control over others, especially impressionable middle school students.

I am not disrespecting the Pledge of Allegiance. I proudly said it every single day of my school life. The problem is that there is nothing more unamerican than forcing your beliefs on someone else and controlling speech.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022303889.html

Katherine Heigl to leave Grey's?

Perez Hilton is reporting the Katherine Heigl is leaving Grey's anatomy. I have to say, that I thought this had already happened. Not only has she only been in 3 episodes, as Perez mentioned, she barely has a story line. They are obviously writing her off.

My problem, though is that it's not a believable way off. Now, I'm not one to look for realism in television shows. That's not really the point in television but the way Alex broke up with Izzy was totally out of character. If this is her last season and she's barely going to be in it anyway than I don't understand why they didn't just kill her off instead of pulling this bullshit.

I know that many other fans have said that the show is going way down hill with the loss of a good chunk of the original characters such as Burke and George and the addition of many new characters. I've stood by the show though. I like the new characters, with the exception of the new heart surgeon who is sort of Blah. I can't stand by stupid story lines though so if Izzy's character is just going to contribute to those then I can't help but want her gone a little bit.

The new McCarthyism.

Generally speaking, I love watching political commentary. Seriously, I am a real dork about it. There is one thing that bothers me on both sides though. I hate it when people are said to be unpatriotic for their political ideas. Two people can love their country and still disagree.

I don't like a lot of conservative politicians out there. I think they're wrong and I think that their wishes and plans could hurt our country but I don't think they're unpatriotic. I don't think people who hate America spend so much time trying to fix it. That doesn't make sense.

Furthermore, attacking someone's patriotism is just a coward's way out of an argument. Attacking someone as unpatriotic just means that you don't have the capacity to attack or disprove their idea. It makes you a weak debater.

It reminds me a lot of McCarthyism. I see calling someone unpatriotic as basically the same thing as when people were singled out as communists with no actual evidence. The worst thing is that, like McCarthyism, it can be effective. The American people get caught up in those labels and people lose their jobs and reputations based not on their ideals and actions but on rumors and lies.

That's why I'm so bothered by many of the attacks made against Obama. People call him a socialist, a communist and a fascist (conflicting ideologies in many ways) but don't back up their point. Attack an idea all you want but there's no need to impeach his character. Admittedly, it very much happens on both sides. Obama is just the example that most bothers me.