Curious G's blog

What’s so offensive about a high school senior carrying a banner with the message: "Bong Hits For Jesus?" Is our society really so conservative that we can’t see the humor behind the message?

In a huge victory for free speech advocates, a federal district court in San Francisco ruled recently that 18-year old Joseph Fredrick, who was a high school senior when he unfurled his banner during a televised torch relay at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Juneau Alaska, should not have been suspended from school for displaying the colorful banner.

Dear Fellow Bloggers:

Here at Progressive U, we take for granted the fact that we can freely express our views and that students from across the country can access our blogs almost as quickly as they can access the stop stories on msn.com.

But our Internet freedom is at stake!

Internet providers are pushing for a law that would allow the nation’s largest telephone and cable companies (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, TimeWarner) to basically be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which web sites go fast or slow and which won’t load at all (based on what sites pay them the most!). Their plan is to tax content providers to guarantee speedy deliver of their data, so that free and open access to Internet content will be a thing of the past. The average blogger will now have to "pay to play."

Well, if you're thinking about getting the morning after pill, you're in for a wait... 

"Plan B" (also known as the "morning after pill") normally prevents pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex - although it’s most effective when taken within 24 hours. But as of now, American women cannot obtain the emergency pill without a prescription (by which time the optimal 24 hour window has often passed).

Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary Cheney, has been labeled as a "sinner" by many right-wing republicans who don’t agree with her lesbian lifestyle. Despite this, Mary has continued to be a member of the republican party and was an active participant in the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign for office.

But is Mary Cheney a hypocrite? The Republican party says homosexuality is incompatible with military service. Most Republicans are against gay marriage and gay adoptions. Yet Mary Cheney continues to be a card carrying member!

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about the case of the "Spanked Worker," the 53 year old woman from Frezno who won a $1. 7 million verdict against her employer after co-workers spanked her during a silly work game.

I’m all for every person having their day in court...but I have to admit, this verdict sounded a little excessive to me. First of all, apparently, the woman was participating in a "voluntary" activity with her co-workers. Nobody forced her to do it. Also, I read that this woman had a history of suing her employer for sexual harassment.

In a recent decision by a California court, the court ruled that Darlene Jespersen, who worked for neraly 20 years as a bartender at Harrah’s casino in Reno, could not sue her employer for implementing grooming and appearance standards which required all female beverage service personnel to wear makeup (face powder, blush and mascara). Harrah’s also required women bartenders to wear their hair down at all times (no exceptions) and to have it teased, curled or styled. By comparison, male servers were prohibited from wearing makeup and colored nailpolish and were required to trim and clean their fingernails. Because Jesperson was unwilling to wear makeup (because it made her uncomfortable) and did not qualify for any other casino positions with comparable pay, she was effectively terminated. She then sued Harrah’s for sex discrimination. According to the court’s ruling, Harrah’s policy was not sex discrimination because grooming guidelines were implemented for both sexes..

I’ve noticed several bloggers submitting the same post multiple times. This should not count toward their total point score! I know that sometimes people post multiple times by mistake..but this is happening way too often. The rules don’t address this problem and I think they should. I hope that the contest judges will siphon through the blogs to make sure people aren’t submitting "copycat postings."

Can you imagine a future where police surveillance cameras are on every street corner, spying on us 24 hours a day?

That vision of the future may not be far from reality. All over the U.S., police surveillance cameras are being installed on street corners, in public bathrooms, residential neighborhoods, and even in parks and forests. They are often purchased with homeland security funds, meant for use against terrorism as well as street crime. But there is disagreement about just how useful these cameras really are. Some law enforcement officials argue the cameras are impossible to monitor continuously. Others argue that just putting up a camera in plain sight can deter crime.