patriotism and god, the poor, and my night

i am sure many of you have heard, but the athiest dad was back in court after the supremes booted him out because didnt have standing last time around. i am torn with this guy...while i feel like he may be doing good work, i question his motives...and i question how much of his daughter's "beliefs" are really just his fanatical shit...still, he is doing some good, so no matter what the motive behind it, i'll support him.

anyways, he won again in district court, the school can't make the pledge a mandatory thing since it has "under god" in it. last time around i though this was ridiculous and wondered who really gave a fuck. i have since changed my mind. if for no other reason, this should be done away with for the sake of the children. kids are cruel and horribly mean...and the outcasts that are often just trying to fit in dont need more shit to deal with. just saying they dont have to say it, or they can remain seated (or whatever the hell other really bad ideas you can come up with) wont cut it. these kids are ridiculed and harrassed because they arent saying the pledge. stuff like that can have very detrimental effects on a young child...so for that alone (never mind the serious, serious constitutional concerns with state schools requiring the pledge be recited...its pretty orwellian) we should do away with atleast that little bit of the pledge. do it for the kids.

is anybody else curious about the reaction to hurrican katrina in that it seems like there are people all over that are just figuring out that poor people exist in this country...and that urban areas like New Orleans have a high concentration of poor black folks? kind of heartbreakig that it took such a horrible event followed by a pathetic response at the local and federal level for the country to wake up to the problem of poverty in this country.

gw had some decent thoughts on dealing with the displaced poor in new orleans and avoiding a return to the old paradigm of very poor neighborhoods separated from the rest of the city. in theory they sound great...in practice, we will see. for one thing, i guarantee that we cannot help the poor folks without raising taxes...and for a president already in his second term, i cant see why that is such a problem...especially since we all know his vp wont be running. second off, the key is education, always was, always will be. of course we fund education in piss poor ways, and make it insanely difficult for parents to be involved if they arent affluent. third...what about all the concentrated poverty outside of the gulf coast? do they not get helped until a natural disaster wipes out their towns either? just curious.

i had a good night...went to the park and dumped a lot of random stuff in my head...here are some things i was reminiscing about...accepting things...or failing to, where to put cats, counseling, the moon's slow ascent over the canopy, how beautiful a woman can be when she appears before you pure and real and honest, breezes that bring tears to your eyes, things lost, new starts, apologies for wrongs i've done, that almost perfect night by the ocean alone for hours, dancing with old ladies and listening to old war stories at the old folks dance, hippy shit invading my pysche, starting over (completely), wanting to help some people realize how great they are and how much they have to offer, my wants and needs, and some things that may qualify as obscenity in a god-fearing state.

my bed feels larger than when i was small.