Just Another Random Monday
April 28, 2008 by mrschili
Here, in no particular order, is a sampling of the randomness that is my life at the present moment:
* I received my first rejection letter of this job search cycle this morning via email. Whatever.
* Beanie goes in for her re-evaluation at the endocrinologists’ office this evening. We’ll find out tonight whether she’s making progress in her growth that her doctor deems adequate or if we’ll have to go upstate for a more comprehensive test. I will, of course, keep you posted.
* I’m a little sick of using Imus for my unit on the First Amendment and free speech in my public speaking classes, so I’ve decided, instead, to investigate the Tiger Woods-Kelly Tilghman-Golf Week lynching/noose fiasco. I’ll start the lesson today by tossing the First Amendment up on the board to see who knows what it is, and we’ll go from there. I’m going to have the students write an essay on free speech as it relates to ethical speech by having them research the Phelps’ campaigns against gays and, lately, the military.
* It’s back to being chilly again, and it’s going to rain for most of the week. The girls were all excited about doing the winter-summer clothes switch this week, but I think I may go with my original idea and wait until the middle of May, at least. 56 degrees doesn’t mesh well with shorts and tank tops.
* I just finished reading Enchantment by Orson Scott Card for the Dark and Stormy Book Club. I HIGHLY recommend it - it was a fun, well-written, satisfying read. Tune in to the podcast on May 10th to hear more of what I thought of the book, and what my smart, funny, and articulate club-mates thought, too.
* I’m down to two more Yoga National Guard sessions, and then I’m done. I’m looking forward to completing the program, though I will admit that I’ll miss some of the people in the group and I hope to be able to stay in touch with at least a few of them. If I learned nothing else in this experience, it’s that there are literally as many ways to practice yoga as there are people who practice it, and that it’s up to the individual practitioner to find out what works best for them. I’ve got a post in the works about the idea of finding a guru vs. BEING your own guru - watch for that later in the week.
* I’m trying very hard to eat well. My work schedule has cut significantly into my fitness routine, and I’m finding that to have a negative impact on the amount of gravity I’m currently being subject to. I’m still admiring Kizz for starting - and sticking with - Weight Watchers, but I’m not sure that I’m quite to the point where I’ve got the intention to be that deliberate.
That’s all I’ve got for you today, My Friends. I hope you’re all well, and that Monday is being kind to you so far.
That Phelps jerk tried to picket an Auburn student’s funeral recently. She was 18 and murdered by some random guy who pulled her out of her car to try to rape her. The other students vowed to form a human circle around the service to block the parents’ view so they could mourn in peace.
Phelps’ reasoning? College students are whores, fornicators and drug abusers who accept gays. Of course, where does freedom of speech end and illegal harassment begin? I wonder. It’s sticky.
I like the Tiger Woods story choice. It is recent, but not as well known as the Imus flack.
It’s always easy to support speech you like. It’s when you’re faced with speech you find objectionable that you have to do some soul searching.
I have no idea about the Tiger story, I’ll go look now.
I put my heavy sweaters away and pulled out my shorts. The snow brush is still out just in case…
Seester, I’m looking for them to get to the idea that PROTECTED speech isn’t necessarily ETHICAL speech. I’m not sure many of them will get there, but there’s always hope.
Dudley, I actually made mention of this idea. About 20 or so years ago, a KKK activist set up shop in the little town where I went to high school. There was a bunch of noise about not letting him speak, but my thinking is that if I don’t want to listen to a particular kind of speech, then I have that choice. Voltaire said “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. ” If we silence one, what’s to keep us from silencing all. It’s a slippery slope I don’t want to find myself traveling.
Auntie, according to Woods (and, actually, according to a lot of people) it wasn’t a big deal. It got blown out of proportion by a few key players (not least among them Al Sharpton, but that’s no surprise) Go here for the story, then go here for a really fine commentary on the issue.
The Imus story really intrigues me. I mean there is no doubt that what he said was wrong, but then again, I look at some of the things that Rev. Wright has said and I have to question that as well. I mean yeah, there is the whole “sound-bite” argument and all, but if you use that argument, then you have to look at all the good things Imus did too–the ranch for sick kids, etc.
That Voltaire quote is exactly right.
I think people forget, too, that they have the choice not to listen or respond to opinions they don’t agree with or that they find to be objectionable. And in the process of furor over what a radio announcer says on a program that most people don’t even listen to, our president exercises his right to free speech by lying to the whole country about tiny little things like WMDs.
Hmm, where should we focus our attention?
Good luck with the healthy eating. I’m heading down that path right now, also.
I like your approach to First Amendment.
Hope Beanie ate her veggies and some extra calcium.
Al Sharpton is a racist in every worse sense of the word. The man just can’t think beyond color. He makes a living off of being a racist bigot. Him and Fred Phillips, peas in a pod (on different attention spans).