Proper flag etiquette

Like any other town in the United States, State College is patriotic. Drive around town and you're sure to find flags being mutilated as they are torn apart by the wind on the back of a Harley, cars with red,white, and blue ribbon magnets with messages that admonish us to remember P.O.W.s/M.I.A.s and "Support Our Troops" -- those magnets are probably made in China.

If you're lucky enough, you might even find a house with a flag proudly displayed that is frayed with holes in it, bleached by the elements, no lighting on it at all, or dragging on the ground. But if you're really lucky, you might find that there are a few of us who actually know a thing or two about proper flag etiquette.

Last night at the Central Pennsylvana 4th Fest, there were a few things that got on my nerves. Fast.

First, as the National Anthem was being sung and the order was given for all to rise, there were a few around me who bitched and moaned about having to get off their rear end. Second, as the Star-Spangled Banner was being sung, I noticed that the most patriotic of those in attendance (you know, the ones wearing red, white, and blue and wearing t-shirts with some patriotic commentary), did not place their right hand over their heart. Rather, they opted to put their hands in their pockets or fold their arms.

While these two things irritated me, I wasn't ready for the douchebag with Old Glory draped over his shoulders and a flag bandana wrapped around his head, running around like he's some sort of neo Captain America. For those of you who know me, you know that while I tend to bitch a lot, I rarely get heated enough to say anything about things that upset me; I tend to keep my mouth shut. But this time, I had to say something. I simply yelled to this malcontent that it wasn't a cape. He turned, looked around quizically, then summarily blew me off.

I got to thinking about this, and then I realized that it might not entirely be his fault. Maybe nobody took the time to tell him that doing such a thing was a grave disrepect to the flag, veterans, prisoners of war, those killed in action, or active duty members of the military. With that in mind, if you'd like to become more savvy about the flag, I direct your attention to United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1 - The Flag.

First Amendment under attack - Christian style!

The First Amendment is under attack again, and as usual, it is the usual suspects who are doing the attacking; the Texas Board of Education. When are the troglodytes in this braindead organization going to go away?

It's not enough that they hate science for the sake of dogma and want to change history. Now they want to alter the way religion is covered in social studies text books throughout Texas. Apparently, textbooks talk way too much about Islam, and not enough about Christianity. They've even gone so far as to threaten textbook publishers with the following warning:

"State Board of Education will look to reject future prejudicial social studies submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and by demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others."

In other words, write only page after page of rosy material about Christianity, but damn you to hell if you write even one word Islam that is anything but negative. The most telling aspect of this whole thing is that no one on the board has been able to offer any kind of evidence that Islam receives preferential treatment over Christianity in any textbook.

Perhaps what goons like Don McLeroy are truly frightened of are the Founders who identified themselves as anything but Christian. Perhaps the Treaty of Tripoli, signed by John Adams, states it best that: "The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Also, I think McLeroy and his clones should be reminded that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." That includes members of the public school boards, Mr. McLeroy.

Pennsylvania gets an "A" in science!

Being from a small town trapped between Pittsburgh and the dogmatic Allegheny Plateau, I never thought Pennsylvania was so hot at science. Sure, we got some pretty great schools, such as Penn State, Pitt, Bucknell, Penn, and Carnegie Mellon, but what about the high schools? My high school was far from the ideal setting in which to learn about the sciences. But much to my surprise, Pennsylvania fairs better than most states in the Union. According to a recent study released by the NCSE, Pennsylvania does pretty well in the science department.

Back in January I posted a review of the most and least academic states in the Union and their inverse relationships with religion. Vermont is the least religious in the nation, while Mississippi is the most. In nearly every aspect of everyday living, Vermont came out on top. Not only is the quality of education and IQ higher there, but the overall quality of life is better. Meanwhile, Mississippi predictably lags behind. I also drew comparisons between the Northeast and the Bible Belt. Any ideas which region came out on top?

As predicted, the Northeast leads the Southeast in terms of science education. Not surprisingly, Texas has taken a sharp nose-dive thanks to anti-science goons like Don McLeroy. Meanwhile, the West dominates the trend toward quality scientific education.

But back here at home, things are okay. Maybe things aren't as bad in Pennsylvania as I once thought.