Star-mangled banner: Super mistake forgivable
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 7, 2011Christina Aguilera’s mistakes while singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl made our stomachs sink.
Christina Aguilera’s mistakes while singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl made our stomachs sink.
It would take a forum longer than a letter to the editor to correct the half-truths and mischaracterizations in Zack Smith’s editorial about teacher unions.
Teachers are one of America’s most valuable resources. Unfortunately, many believe this resource has been diluted with impurities and imperfections to such an extent that the profession is often derided as one for the least among us.
State Sen. Nancy Detert should avoid walking past an unemployment office anytime soon.
Gay and bisexual men have routinely been subjected to various forms of condemnation, prejudice, stereotyping, hate and physical brutality.
In response to Wednesday’s “Two to Tango,” I wanted to address your levity in what should be a grave issue: Abortion and prostitution should never be joking matters. First, your semantics are deceptive because after watching Live Action’s 11-minute “conversation, ” it is clear Live Action’s intent is not as “anti-abortion” as it is “pro-life” and pro-law (unlike Planned Parenthood’s foul employee who dropped the f-bomb at least six times). The behavior of this worker is morally reprehensible by both our federal government and the state of New Jersey. Certainly, the ex-employee in the video “went against company policy,” but if you dig a little deeper into Live Action’s work throughout the past three years, you realize that this is not an isolated incident in the company, which the video pointed out received more than $300 million per year in federal funding. It seems that if an organization is unable to monitor employees who are consistently breaking federal and state statutes, perhaps tax dollars should be steered away from supporting potential company hazards. It seems Planned Parenthood has gotten itself in a tight spot, and Lila Rose’s incredible initiative to utilize social media is finally forcing them to reconsider their inability to smooth out what is rightfully the most controversial issue on our nation’s conscience.
In response to Wednesday’s letter, “Second Amendment needs another look,” I feel like re-examining the Second Amendment is old hat. Grundy stated the age-old anti-gun activists argument of the “conditional clause.” Sir, the Second Amendment has had another look. In fact, the Supreme Court has directly ruled “no” on it fewer than five times, plus four indirect rulings. Each word has been broken down and clearly defined. I’m happy to say that the Supreme Court has not taken the same view as you. I think the issue was settled a long time ago.
Conservative thinkers could see this coming before President Obama was even elected.
Our friends up north may be buried in feet of snow, but we’ve got avalanches of a different sort on our hands. February brings with it a cascade of papers, exams and projects designed to clog our rooms with a blizzard of notes and handouts. As we dig ourselves out, we bring you the we’re-shaking-because-of-our-caffeine-dependency-not-the-weather edition of...Darts & Laurels.
Some states and cities are considering allowing the sale of liquor on Sundays for the sake of higher tax revenue.
We have a loyal readership, but our newspaper is one of few thriving in paper form. As sharing information online becomes more popular, journalists continue scratching their heads and wondering how their organizations can survive in a world with free instant information. Some have websites readers subscribe to for a fee, but the results have varied.
In 107 days, the federal government spent as much money on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as it did on education. Granted, a large share of education funding comes from state and local sources, but if the Republicans have their way, even less money will go towards education.
Are you a cat or dog person?
Janoris Jenkins has again been arrested. On this occasion, he is charged with possession of marijuana. During 2009, he was arrested and charged with affray and resisting arrest without violence. Affray, in case you are wondering, translates to fighting and is a charge used by law enforcement officials reserved for UF football players and other celebrities that they don’t want to charge with assault or battery.
As if either side needed to garner any more controversy, Planned Parenthood is getting ready for battle with the anti-abortion group Live Action over sting operations in several clinics across the country.
An Abraham Lincoln researcher attempted to literally rewrite history when he changed a date on a presidential pardon from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865.
I’d like to address the UF Student Body in response to Laura Ellermeyer’s column on fliers yesterday. If you don’t want a flier, don’t take one. Period. As someone who’s passed out fliers before, I can tell you that I will not be offended by a “No, thank you” if you don’t want my flier. In fact, if you’re just going to throw it away, please don’t take one. We don’t want paper wasted any more than you do because it’s costing us money, and we might not have enough for the people who are actually interested.
As Patches O’Houlihan from the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” wisely declared, “You’ve got to learn the five D’s of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.” I never thought these words would assist me at UF.
The recent health care reform may be due to tumble like a row of dominoes.
Zack Smith makes a fundamental mistake in his Jan. 31 column, “Compromise DeLay-ing the Inevitable.” In it, Smith argues that Tom DeLay demonstrated ideological consistency by refusing to compromise with Democrats. Yet partisanship, as Smith writes, is not a “philosophy [that] may have intellectual teeth.” Instead, it is a methodology for attaining one’s political — or ideological — goals.