Bong Hits 4 Jesus

From the BBC:

The US Supreme Court is considering its first major test of students’ free speech rights in two decades.

At issue is whether a school principal violated a student’s right to free speech by suspending him for displaying a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”.

The principal’s lawyer, a certain Kenneth Star, frames the case as one of drug laws. That is, in order to stop drug use in America’s schools, school administrators need to be able to drill the message into students that drugs are bad without being contradicted by attention-seeking class clowns.

To me, this seems about as bad as using history classes to teach national myths and propaganda.

Says Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick:

The justices appear to loathe each alternative about equally. At some point, Justice Stephen Breyer groans that a ruling for the students would encourage them to be “testing limits all over the place in the high schools,” whereas a ruling for the schools would certainly end up limiting lots of speech.

I doubt there will be serious repercussions if the Court rules in favour of the students. After all, it was hardly the end of the world when schools lost the ability to physically punish students.

Feeling Good

Have to look on the bright side once in a while. Blogging would be terribly depressing if we didn’t.

Keep your pecker up. Life’s a peach – Robert Crampton

Pressing Issues

As if there aren’t more important things in the world to worry about, two US Senators want our government to crack down on (terrorism? drugs?) cinema piracy.

Honestly.

Deep-fry away the pounds

A recent study out of Stanford has found the Atkins diet to be most effective for women. It compared a handful of “fad” diets and one based on the US food pyramid. They were all helpful to varying degrees, but the Atkins diet most of all.

It seems counter-intuitive that eating mostly fats and proteins should help lose loose weight, much less cut your cholesterol and blood pressure. Yet, this is what they found.

Of course, one study isn’t conclusive evidence. This one only looked at overweight women, for starters. Since I am neither overweight or female, I won’t be binging at McDonald’s tonight. Also, I am concerned about the long-term consequences of a diet high in protein. It wouldn’t be very healthy if this weight loss is at the expense of kidney function.

An interesting study, to be sure. But I won’t be changing what I eat anytime soon.

Rubbish

I refuse to enjoy Coldplay.

Even though I said nearly the same thing about Bedouin Soudclash (“…anything used in a Zellers commercial is crap.”) and eventually warmed thawed to them, I am resolute in my hatred of Coldplay. Bedouin Soundclash has redeeming merits, even if they were featured in a Zellers commercial.

Coldplay is dead to me.

Here’s the latest reason to despise their bland, manufactured stylings: Wait ’til you hear our ‘genious’ song – CNN.

Finger off the button

Could it be that the Bush Administration is adjusting its Iran policy to better suit reality? This blogger hopes so.

The problem with sabre-rattling is you have to be prepared to eventually use that sabre, but the US is in no position to open up another “front” in the War on Terror.

Talk is cheap, but that just means you get a better value for your money.

Instability on the Eastern Front

Some disturbing talk out of Russia:

”Since missile defense elements are weakly protected, all types of our aircraft are capable of applying electronic countermeasures against them or physically destroying them,” Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov said Monday, according to the Russian news agencies Interfax and RIA-Novosti.

2008, and the end of President Putin’s term in office, cannot come soon enough. But I don’t hold much hope that his successor will be any more friendly to the West.

It is undeniable that Europe is in a much safer place over a decade after the breakup of the Soviet Union, but the “pax-Europa” of our imaginations is not yet reality.