REUNION FEVER DEPT:So I am perusing through on-line versions of the old hometown papers yesterday and I see, much to my astonishment, that two brothers in Pleasanton, CA were busted for running a full-blown meth lab on the premesis of their family home where both were residing with their mother. Certainly not the normal occurrance in the beautiful, quiet, mostly upscale East Bay community. Then comes the shocker...one of the brothers was an old classmate, Rob Magoon, the other his 40 year old brother, Matthew. Now I support my alma mater and those who have walked its hallowed halls, but if the reports ring true (and it looks like they will) and the brothers are convicted, here is hoping we don't see ol' Rob at a reunion for several decades. I'm all for rehabilitation and making ammends and all that, but when I see once decent people from a life of relative privelage making this particular choice, it makes me want to reopen Alcatraz...
THE TRICK NOT even David Blaine could pull off. It is my guess the forms being sent home to parents of IF Dist. 91 students right after this coming week's Spring Break ought to stir up quite a controversy, and understandably so. It seems the US Government, in yet another case of its infinite stupidity have decided that Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of our nation's population, are no longer considered a race. Nor is Latino, both now being placed under the category of culture rather than race. So now, those citizens with Spanish or Mexican heritage whill have to claim themselves as one of the following: Caucasian, Black, Asian, or Native American. Any chance the motivation might be that, if Hispanics no longer carry the race card, they can also no longer play the minority card, cutting a rather large swath in the entitlement budget. Hmmm...I wonder if we can arrange the same disappearing act for Stupid Old Elected White Guys?...
DISSENTION AT THE TOP?: Though such is noit stated anywhere within the Constitution, the conservative majority of SCOTUS recently ruled that corporations, and other groups were granted the same First Amendment freedom of speech rights as individuals. So much for the "by the letter of the law" mantra of the strict constructionists. I guess that only applies when they're trying to keep people from having rights. But that's not the big item here. Arguably the most conservative of the Justices, Clarence Thomas, spoke yesterday before a group of law students at Georgetown Univ. and when asked about quotas stated: "I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights." Now we'll hold the question of Thomas being admitted to both Holy Cross and Yale Law by way of the very quotas he rallies against for another time. My question now is how does the conservative wing of the bench justify ignoring the group rights of unions, gays, students and others while handing Big Biz an invisible seat in the 1st Amendment? No politics on the Court? Pshaw!...
PRODUCTION INTERRUPTUS: My apologies to those of you who popped in yesterday and failed to find the Thursday edition of The Lounge. EGD (Emergency Grandpa Duty) popped up and well, sometimes (ok, everytime) I just gotta say yes! Fortunately, about the only item of interest yesterday would have been Republican candidate for California Governor Meg Whitman's bungled taping for her 30-minute campaign infomercial. Slated to run throughout the Spring and summer at a cost of more than 100 million dollars, the leak of its existence has the state Dem's frothing at the mouth. It seems they are preparing to run an ad of their own, either immediately preceeding or following each airing of the former eBay CEO's ads that among other things, will highlight Whitman's appearances on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and several Faux News programs, denouncing a similar one-time run nationally telecast ad by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama the week before the '08 presidential election. I am beginning to think that Bush isn't the only member of the GOP with pointy-hat credentials...
REUNION DEPT, PART DEUX: Oh Happy Days, kudos and thanks to fellow AVHS (Class of '79) Alum Carolyn Hill for her fantabulous Boomerang Project, a company that works with educators and students to create positive school climates and productive work environments. One of the amazing offhsoots of Boomerang are BoomBoom Cards ( http://www.boomboomcards.com/ ), a part of the rapidly swelling Boom!Boom! Revolution, an army of ordinary, everyday people looking to spread good will through "intentional acts of kindness". Whether you are single or married, an empty nester or have a housefull, if you are tired of the same old dreary news, focus and outlook on the world many of us feel compelled to participate in, I urge you (with a smile!), to bop on over to Boom Boom Cards and check it out. This magic little idea of Carolyn and her friends will help you to brighten any rainy day...
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All of the racial 'profiling' counts should be eliminated anyway. How many are 100% today? My son was in formed by the school that since he looks more Filipino, than white he must register as Filipino. No he can not mark two boxes. Besides I was informed he should "take advantage" of the opportunities available as a minority offered by the US and other governmental agencies.
ReplyDeleteNext question, how many generations does one have to be in a country to be "from there"?? I am at level 6 US born, that is right the last immigrant in my family tree came over in 1791 (and his father was born in Virginia but returned to England with his parents). He is my only predecessor who was not born in the US since 1762.