There are certain boundaries that are not meant to be crossed in life.  We all recognize them without giving them a second glance, strictly because our common sense, ethics, morals, and sense of right and wrong alert us to the fact that these acts are just plain wrong.  Many times these boundaries are crossed accidently, such as racist joke or violent threat.  Just as often, these boundaries are crossed on a personal level, affecting very few people.  However, sometimes boundaries are crossed at a level and magnitude that affects our society as a whole.  Not only does an act like this hurt many, but it rocks the very stability of our nation. 

There are few who have the power to cross a boundary that could have such a devastating impact.  Essentially, the act is limited only to the leaders of nations around the world.  Unfortunately, from my perspective, these boundaries are stepped over too often for the world’s own good.  Recently, our president stepped over a boundary that I believe threatens the very foundation of our nation. 

We have all heard of Scooter Libby.  The man lied under oath about the source of the Valerie Plume leak.  He was sentenced to prison after being convicted of perjury.  Due to a pardon that came directly from President Bush, he will never spend a day in a cell.  While a presidential pardon can potentially clear someone who needed to protect a secret that threatened national security, they are generally an abuse of power.  If you think about the entire concept of a persidential pardon, you start to see just how flawed it truly is.  We have a justice system that convicts based upon the judgement of our peers.  These peers represent our society as a whole, albeit figuratively.  This system was laid out under the constitution and is an integral part of our nation as both a social tool and a governmental tool.  However, a presidential pardon circumvents the decision made by our peers.  In other words, a presidential pardon circumvents the decision made by our society.  This pardon allows the president to place himself above the laws of this country, above the justice system laid out in our constitution.  In effect, our president becomes the law.  While Scooter Libby is a trivial matter, it serves to remind us of the power that our leader has, and just how that power might be used.  There are boundaries that should not be overstepped, and President Bush crossed the line when he cleared Libby of a crime he clearly committed.  Sadly, speculation and commonsense tell us that lied to protect the very men who pardoned him.  It’s easy to protect yourself when you face no consequences from the law. 

The sad thing about the Libby incident is the lack of public outrage.  It is almost as if society expected this course of action from Bush, and when it became reality, it was no surprise at all. 

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I just arrived back from my vacation a few hours ago and was shocked to find that someone stole one of blog entries!  A new linkback led me to a site called LifeTechnology.org.  The article in question is one I wrote a while back about I-Doser.  It has since been the most popular entry on my site, and drives the majority of my traffic.  If you follow the link, you will see that they copied the entry word for word, leaving only a link under the title to my site.  If you ask me, that is a blatant case of plagiarism.  They don’t even leave a direct link to the actual entry, and never once asked my permission to use it.  I have written them an email, but somehow I doubt that will solve the problem.  Who would have though that a tiny blog like mine would be the victim of this kind of theft?  I know I have seen things like this on more popular blogs like Fracas, but I never would have expected it to happen to me.  Anyone have any ideas of how to deal with this?

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Vegetarian and Vegan diets are becoming more and more popular by the day.  Some would call this trend positive, while many others would call it negative.  While I tend to believe that human beings are natural omnivores and should maintain that natural diet, I didn’t see any harm in pursuing the vegetarian or vegan diet.  That is until I read this article today in the New York Times.  The article is about the dangers that a vegan diet presents to babies.  Recently, another baby died as the result of a vegan diet that his parents we administering to him.  The baby was six months old and was being fed mainly soy milk and apple juice. 

The article is fairly detailed, and I won’t try and explain the concepts the author elaborates on.  What I will say is that mothers and future mothers must be more responsible with the diet that their children follow.  If you are a vegan, you need to put your beliefs aside in order to raise your child to be healthy.  A vegan diet does not contain enough protein to foster a healthy child, and nothing you can supplement will change this.  If you read the article, make sure to pay close attention to the benefits of changing to a non-vegan diet during your pregnancy.  This is for the good of your child.  If you can’t eat a hamburger or a steak for the sake of your child, perhaps you aren’t fit to be a parent.

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Since the house and senate shifted to the left with the last election, it seems as though bipartisanship is dead in our country.  The two most important elements in our government never see eye to eye.  With congress fighting the White House on every issue under the sun, we see that a government that does not cooperate cannot succeed.  The most bothersome thing about the whole situation is that it reveals how flawed our government is.  While most people proclaim our government to be the best in the world (and i tend to agree), the recent lack of progress by our government has to make you question that philosophy.  The inefficiency in our government as it stands now is incredible and appalling at the same time.  Congress can’t do anything because the President always opposes, and the President can’t do anything because Congress always opposes.  It’s like a game of tug of war that never ends.  Neither side will make concessions, and it is hurting our country more by the day. 

The other day, the Senate agreed to the pass the War Funding Bill without a time table.  I applaud the senate’s decision.  I also favor the time table.  I realize this is conflicting, but at this point, I don’t care what passes through both Congress and the White House.  All I want to see is cooperation.  All I want to see is the willingness to make concessions in order to recieve concessions from the other side.  Having Congress and the President locked in a month-long battle takes time away from other important issues and problems afflicting our nation.  Whether those compromises work out is yet to be seen, but at least our government is finally trying to put our best interests ahead of their selfish political goals. 

Is it just me, or do you ever start to wonder why the people we elect to represent us always care more about their own careers as politicians?  I keep hoping, wishing, praying, and crossing my fingers that maybe one good man will make headway into the political game and cause a stir.  Just one senator, representative, advisor, or anyone that cares more about the state of our nation than the interests of their party.  Just one person who will speak his mind about everything, instead of trying to balance on his thin party lines.  You can call me cynical, but that man will never exist.  There is no honest, intelligent man that can make it in politics because our own voters would reject him.  The party system is too deeply rooted, and people are too quick to take offense.  It’s a sad thing to truly realize how far we have departed from true and honest politics.

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We all know who Barbaro is.  I attribute this to the insane media attention pointed at the race horse after it was hurt during its race.  While Barbaro had an excellent shot at winning the Triple Crown before his injury, he is just a horse.  If you pay attention to trivial stories in the news, it was Barbaro’s birthday a few weeks back.  Of course, loyal Barbaro lovers from across the globe met and threw a birthday party for the dead horse.  I’m sure the horse was thrilled.

I just don’t understand what the obsession with Barbaro was all about.  I am an animal lover myself, but I never felt the strange connection that thousands of people around the globe felt for this race horse (and still feel…).  What was so special about the horse that people celebrate his birthday after he is dead?  I think people are always searching for a hero, and sadly they found it in a farm animal.  They were captured by the story that is Barbaro’s fall from grace, battle with an infection, and eventual peaceful euthanization.  They act as though the horse was brave fighting to hold on to life.  In actuality, the owners are horrible people for not putting the horse to sleep earlier.  He was in pain, but his owners wanted to try and salvage him so that they could use him as a stud and make money.  What people have to realize is that this is a simple racing animal.  You shouldn’t become attached to an animal that you have never seen outside of news broadcasts, one that you have no real bond with.  The funny thing is that most of Barbaro’s followers (cult?) have never seen an actual horse race. 

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I was reading through the Huffington Post today and I came across an article that I thought Mark and the other guys from Knoxville might be interested in.  I’m not sure where Murfreesboro is in relation to Knoxville, but I know you guys are fairly close to Tennesse.  Recently, the elementary school was on a week long field trip to one of the state parks.  During this field trip, teachers told the students that there was a gunman on the loose.  The kids were locked in a cabin and told to lay on the floor.  The poor kids were even told that this wasn’t a drill.  To make the whole situation even worse, a teacher in a hooded sweatshirt pulled at the door like he was trying to get in.  All of this to simulate an attack in order to prepare students.

First of all, how sadistic is this?  Normally I would laugh about the stupidity of something like this, but these are little elementary school kids.  Most probably weren’t over the age of ten or eleven.  How do you even begin to justify locking close to 70 kids in a dark cabin and telling them their lives are in danger.  One of the students said that at least half of the kids were in tears.  The understatement of the year award goes to Principal Catherine Stevens who said that the situation “involved poor judgement”.  Did the situation involve ANY judgement?  What did these teachers think they were accomplishing?  Even if you are going to pretend like this whole thing is not a drill, at least have the decency to calm the kids down, and not scare them half to death with the notion that a gunman is clawing on the door to their pitch black cabin.

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