The Old Blog

The box of bones said to contain the remnants of Jesus’ brother James has been deemed a fake by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Michigan man Terrance Shurn died Monday night following a police chase when his motorcycle crashed into an empty building. He had been clocked at 100 miles per hour. The people of Benton Harbor, Shurn’s hometown of 12,000, have responded with two days of rioting. It is important to note that Shurn (and most of the rioters) are black, while the cops were white. And, according to people from Benton Harbor, black residents there are more likely to be pulled over than members of the surrounding wealthier (and whiter) suburbs.

This is probably all true. However, if someone is going 100 miles an hour and doesn’t pull over when police put on their sirens, I don’t think the police are the only people who should be blamed when that person loses control of their vehicle. The police didn’t make Shurn ride at twice the speed limit. And they didn’t force him to try to outrun them when they tried to pull him over. Somehow, those two facts have been glossed over by the people of Benton Harbor.

Nicholas Sidelnik, whom I interviewed last week, spent his weekend a little differently than most people–he swam around Manhattan. And not only that, but he tied for first with a time of 7 hours and 20 minutes. Congratulations, Nick!

Hume Cronyn died Sunday, completing the triumverate started by Gregory Peck and David Brinkley. Bob Hope and Strom Thurmond can rest easy tonight.

Students are uncomfortable looking at their teachers naked. No word on how the parents feel.

Newsweek has an apologist piece on Ms. Whiny McTired, claiming that other students hate her because she “appeared to like helping inner-city kids more than partying with her classmates.” Right. Her classmates hate her for a few reasons:

1) She sued not to be named valedictorian, but so she wouldn’t have to share it
2) Her disability gives her more time to study, get tutoring, and to take more classes than other students are allowed, thus raising her GPA. In addition, Hornstine is exempt from gym, a class required for other valedictorian hopefuls that is not weighted as much as other classes. Basically, she gets to pack her schedule with heavily-weighted classes and get 1-on-1 tutoring for it, while other students can’t take as many advanced classes, and are required to take some that are weighted lower. If the system isn’t fair to anyone, it’s the kids who are in school all day.
3) According to reports from kids who attend the same school (read the comments here), if Blair isn’t doing well in a class, she drops it and then takes it at home with a tutor. From what I have read, this is both common behavior and common knowledge.
4) Blair’s home classes do not include the same tests and classwork as those of her peers–in fact, her “teachers” at school sometimes don’t see any work–just the final grade that her tutor (who is ostensibly being paid by her family) gives her.
5) Blair logs scores of hours of community service per year, was an Olympic torch-bearer, and attended the class trip to Florida, yet claims to be too “tired” to sit through a full day of school.
6) Despite getting A plusses in various AP courses (graded by her tutors, of course), Hornstine took no AP exams, which would have backed up those grades.
7) According to students from the school, Hornstine’s family has pulled this kind of stuff before, “gaming” the system, if you will, to their advantage.
Even if she’s not a “Daddy’s Little Girl/Jewish-American Princess,” her actions and the actions of her family make her come off as one
9) Did I mention she sued so she wouldn’t have to share the title of valedictorian?

Nobody hates Blair because she’s smart or talented. They hate her because she’s screwing the system, giving her town terrible publicity, and undermining the disabilites of those who couldn’t jet off to Florida despite their “chronic fatigue syndrome.” Hell, I was tired all the time in high school (and college), too–because I went to class and participated in school activities.

Or was it Twain who said “nobody ever went broke underestimating the American public”? Regardless, here are some disturbing stats, brought to you by the Philadelphia Inquirer:

33% of Americans think we have already found WMDs in Iraq
22% think Iraq used chemical or biological weapons in the recent war
50% thought (according to a poll a few months ago) that Iraqis were among the hijackers on 9/11
Back in January, only 17% of people correctly answered that none of the 9/11 hijackers was Iraqi

The more I think about the idea of making people take a current events/politics test before they vote, the more I like it.

Do people who believe that “if you’re meant to be together, you’ll end up together” just go out and see hookers (and exes with “open-door policies”) after a break-up? After all, “if you’re meant to be together, you’ll end up together,” right?

If people believe that we die “when it’s our time,” why do they go to hospitals for life-saving surgery? If it’s “their time,” wouldn’t that surgery be useless? And if it’s not “their time,” wouldn’t that life-saving surgery be unnecessary?

If God “only gives each of us as much as we can handle,” why do people die?