'Westside, boyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz'

Um, just wondering, who thought it would be a brilliant move to have a white, middle age, rich librarian leading the fight against freaking gang violence? Or is there something about librarians I don't know?
Somehow, I don't think that that Laura Bush is going to be heading over to South Central to lead some gangbangers to God anytime soon.

Superbowl!!!

God, it's great to be a New Englander these days (except for the whole Kerry losing thing and the recent snow, but hell, the Sox are World Champs and the Pats are gonna win again (I hope!) ).
Anyway, Bill Belichick talks about his team and the attitude of the Pats heading into the game on Sunday here. Check it out. The Globe has some of the best sports coverage around.

'But what about the children??'

Ya know, I play video games. In fact, I am addicted to video games. I love RPG's, and I love some first person shooters. But the most relaxing game I ever played was Grand Theft Auto III. You know why? Because it is FANTASY!!! I got to go home after a long day and take out frustrations on pixelated people by smashing them to bits with a baseball bat. It was, it IS, fun, and better I do it that way than by beating the cats, no?
And listen, I teach, so I KNOW how teenagers are. And it sure as hell is not the damn video games that sometimes cause them to act out. Let's address the freaking home issues and parental issues before we start punishing video game manufacturers and game stores. The Washington Post has a disturbing (to me) article on a push to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. The money quote:
"Last year, Virginia legislators considered a bill that would have made the sale, rental, loan or commercial display of a video or computer game to a juvenile a misdemeanor if the game depicted violence against a law enforcement officer."

So, if I play GTAIII or Halo II or even Deus Ex with my 10 year old nephew, do I go to jail? What a load of crap. How about we don't blame the freaking games? How about we realize that blaming the games are just a prop, a cop out, to avoid the real issue of social decay and a weakened ability to provide alternatives for our youth?
Damn, I'm pissed. I'm not sure I made sense in this post. Sorry. I think I need to be like Mudd and play with an alumnium baseball bat. Jesse of Pandagon has a great post on the subject here.

'Through the Looking Glass'

Hey, the Puritans did NOT steal Indian land! And did you know that the 14th Amendment is illegal, and discrimination is perfectly okay? Were you aware that the Civil War was not really a civil war, but a horrible act of Northern aggression? Were you ever told that the Marshall Plan was a huge failure? And oh my God, Bill Clinton waged aggressive and illegal wars!
No????
Then you need to pick up the true history of the United States, told without all that politically correct nonsense. Leading historian and leader of the pro-American League of the South Thomas Woods Politically Incorrect Guide to American History is a book that must be read to be believed. It shall open your eyes to the bias that plagues those revisionist texts, and as Eric Muller says on his website,
"No small task, eh? And Dr. Woods does it in just 246 pages. With wide margins, no less!"

Such praise for what I am sure is a brilliant piece of American literary CRAP. I looking forward to reading it. I do need to critique a Social Studies text, and hey, I can always use bathroom reading. But I prejudge, and that is wrong. Bad progressive, bad!
Thanks to Eric Muller for the heads up.