Flavor du Jour

PETA has gotten a bug up their ass about fishing. Claiming that "fishing hurts," they want to see all fishing banned. Since fish have a central nervous system they can feel pain. PETA argues that fishing is cruel because it causes fish to suffer pain from hooks piercing through their flesh, and because fish suffer pain when they are out of the water since they can't breathe.

Well, not eating a healthy diet hurts too. There's a reason human's have always included meat as a staple in their diets. Without protein humans can suffer debilitating, and even painful effects. Some (though not all) effects of too low or no protein diets can include hair loss, muscle loss (causing frailty and susceptibility to other ailments), diabetes (particularly when coupled with a high carb diet), malnutrition (such as PEM or kwashiorkor), and delay or hinderance of repair to of body tissue. Certainly protein is not the only nutrient important to our health, but it is one of the key factors. By banning our ability to get and eat meat, PETA is potentially contributing to the poor health of millions of people.

It's one thing to fight cruel and uneccessary treatment of animals (like the kind of abuse we've recently seen Al Qeada imposing on dogs). It's another to deny humans the ability to eat. We're animals too. Isn't depriving us of a healthy diet cruelty to the human animal? PETA needs to pick their battles a little more wisely. Eventually people are going to stop taking them seriously (many already have). There are some things they push for that make sense, but lately they've begun to push it too far.

And on another note, if it's wrong to kill fish (or any animal) because they have central nervous systems and can feel pain, then is it also wrong to kill a fetus? A fetus does, after all, have a central nervous system, and can presumably feel pain. Oh, but a PETA member would quickly change the topic to avoid that snag in their argument.

One can only wonder what idiotic stunt PETA will pull out of their sleeves next time. I hear they're going to start lobbying the animal kingdom to stop its cruelty towards other animals. After all, animals do eat meat, and if you've ever watched a nature show, you know how brutal their killing methods can be.

A San Leandro school teacher, Karl Debro, won a $1,087,500 lawsuit against the San Leandro school district for alleged discrimination because he was gay. He claimed that the school district discriminated aginst him by imposing a "vague gag order" on him by not allowing him to discuss his homosexuality.

This settlement will have to be paid out from the general funds of the San Leandro School district, taking vital dollars away from the schools, and the children's educational needs. The right thing to do would be for Debro to return his settlement back to the schools in the form of a donation to benefit the education of the students. How can a teacher, whose primary concern is supposed to be the education of children, take more than a million dollars away from those same children? That money could, and should, be used to pay for books, supplies, computers, or any other necessary educational materials to help the communities children have the chance to have a bright and prosperous future. And not only will the settlement money be taken from the children, but money will also have to paid out by the school district for legal and other fees incurred by the selfishness of Debro.

Secondly, I have no problems with gays. I personally know a number of gay people who I admire and respect greatly. But they don't cram their sexuality down my throat. Sexuality does not belong in the schools unless it is a part of the specific class (i.e. in a "health" course). And unless it is a necessary part of the material being studied (i.e. homosexuality as an issue in a book in an English class, sexuality discussions from a scientific standpoint in a science class, a history lesson that specifically involves homosexuals, etc.) it should not be discussed in other classes such as English, Math, Science, PE, etc. Straight teachers don't spend valuable learning time that should be spent teaching kids how to read, write, and do arithmetic talking about their sexuality. It's not appropriate for straight teachers, just as much for gay teachers.

My Honors English teacher in my Junior year of high school was gay. We all knew it, but he never talked about it. He was secure in his sexuality, and didn't feel he needed to shout it from the roof tops. It wasn't discussed in class, and it was never an issue. He was there to teach us advanced English, not about his homosexuality. This teacher happened to be one of the best teachers I had in high school. I had the utmost respect and admiration for him. He was a wonderful human being, and a brilliant English teacher. And I would have thought so regardless of whether or not he was gay, or whether or not I knew. He understood that. He knew that his sexual life had no, and should have no bearing on our relationship as teacher and student. We avoided awkward, out of place discussions, unnecessary time away from studying, and inappropriate knowledge of the others personal life. School is, and should be a professional environment, not a personal one. Developing relationships outside of that is one thing. I am friends with many of my former teachers. But while I was in the classroom learning from them, they were my teacher, not my friend.

As president of the Human Relations Committee in my Senior year of high school, and one of the founders of the club, I knew there were numerous other avenues on campus for discussing homosexuality. There were plenty of other venues for building levels of awareness and understanding. I recognize that children should be given the opportunity to learn about groups and cultures different from there own, but it should not replace time learning the fundamentals. There are plenty of opportunities outside of school time for discussing these topics, and the valuable but limited time teachers have to teach students the critical skills they need to be successful in our society should not be gobbled up by such matters.

Little things never fail to make me happy. Like showing up at the BART station at 8:15 in the morning to find an up front parking spot waiting for you. At that time in the morning, the only thing that's usually left is at the far end of the lot.

I learned from a source at the county Sherrif's department that a home invasion robbery took place in San Leandro early this evening. From her report, the would-be robbers entered the house through an open window, with knives and screwdrivers in hand. The family was home while this was happening, and one family member reportedly shot one of the intruders as he came through the window. I don't know if the intruder was killed (though I hope the scum-bastard was), but I do know that this case shows how powerful and necessary the second amendment is to our safety. The family member was able to save his entire family, and catch the people trying to victimize them, before they became victims. A big thumbs up for that guy for defending himself.

The media is demanding a press release, and at this time the Sherrif's department doesn't have one ready, so they've stated "no comment." But I can't wait to see what kind of anti self-defense spin the media tries to put on this story. I'm sure they'll find some way of making the family member out to be some horrible monster who *gasp* used a gun to hurt/kill someone else (all while ignoring that it was self defense). They always do. Even though guns are only evil in the hands of criminals.

Private Airport Screening companies are charging more now that the government has taken over control of airport security, and that taxpayers are footing the bill. It's another instance of how allowing the government to control and run things leads to inefficiency and waste. One private screening company has almost doubled its rates since the government took over, and many others have been billing the government for employees who actually didn't work.

These companies claim they are raising the costs because the workers need raises. But it's more like they are raising the rates to line their pockets, and because they know the government is so grossly inefficient that they'll likely get away with it. I was opposed to the governments taking over airport security in the first place, and this is just another nail in that coffin.

As a sign that airport security is as horrible as ever, I have now had two experiences where airport screeners failed to find something that should not be allowed. The first instance was from my flight to Vegas last November. The screener was convinced that there were "big scissors" in my carry-on, and began searching through my bag. In an effort to help I started trying to think of everything in there, and what it could be. I realized that it may be something inside my makeup bag. Opening it up, I dug around to the bottom and pulled out a small pair of fold up scissors. Without either looking closely at them, or unfolding them, you may not know what they were. However, when unfolded they are long enough to do considerable damage. When I pulled them out and asked the screener if that was what he was looking for, he asked me what they were. When I told him, he quickly snatched them out of my hand. Had I not pulled them out and told him what they were, I would have gotten onto the plane with those.

The second case happened on my trip to New York last weekend (which I'll talk about a little later). After we had arrived in New York from a six hour non-stop flight, we headed to the hotel. I was switching a few items from my main purse to a different purse when I realized I had accidentally forgotten to remove my pepper spray from my purse before going to the airport. My purse passed through screening machines at the Oakland airport, and the screener did not catch it. I was careful to package it in a plastic bag and store it in my checked luggage on the way back, but the fact that I was able to get that onto the plane on the way to New York was scary. I easily could have sprayed the flight attendants, passengers, or the pilots. Plus, just releasing some of that into the cabin of the airplane woould cause it to enter the ventilation system and effect everyone on the plane.

These instances scare me, and make me wonder what other items have been actually smuggled onto a plane, or what items may me smuggled on in the future. The government controlling airport screening isn't going to make any of this any better, because there really is no accountability there. If it all goes to hell the publc will complain, politicians will pretend to be outraged and "attempt" to do something about it, but in the end, it will just continue to get worse.