Blue Skies - Part Two (Photos)

[Photos: polifemus, *sean, ishrona]

Blue Skies - Part One (Photos)

[Photos: SpiralZ, m o d e, lukasd2009]

The Fight over Censorship and for Freedom of Speech

The Supreme Court rules in favor of the school over the boy, in the highly publicized "Bong hits 4 Jesus" case. Essentially, the court is saying schools are allowed to restrict speech when it promotes illegal drug use.

Hello, people! Children have constitutional rights, too! Why does everyone believe it's ok to take rights away from people because of their age? If we give them the responsibility when they are young, maybe they'll be better apt at dealing with those responsibilities as adults, due to their prior exposure as children. In my opinion, it is a big shock going from 17 to 18 (in the sense of responsibility). In a matter of a year, you amass tremendous responsibilities. Actually, it changes in a day. There is a huge difference in what you can do when you are 17 years and 364 days old from when you are 18 years old. In the course of a day, you went from barely anything to almost everything (still have to wait to be 21 for alcohol). What justifies this one day difference? I highly doubt that a kid is going to gain any sense of responsibility in a day. Maybe if we started treating children like they were mature and responsible, then they would act like it. The problem starts with the adults and ends with kids. The change needs to start with the adults, too! Then, maybe it will end with the kids.

On another take, the government once again strips more constitutional rights from its citizens. I tend to be more conservative than liberal, but I definitely don't support the Bush administration. The Bush administration keeps getting more ridiculous by the day. Even disregarding the war in Iraq, I still disapprove of our President. His administration is far too secretive and, worse yet, they are continuously stripping us of our constitutional rights. The best example of that would be the Patriot Act. Are we allowed any privacy or freedom of speech anymore?

Link Mania - A compilation of interesting websites and articles

Web 2.0
Twitter is a new way for you and your friends to keep in touch. From the FAQs on Twitter's help page:

What is it?
Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives. Friends near or far can use Twitter to remain somewhat close while far away. Curious people can make friends. Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Developers can use the API to make Twitter tools of their own. Possibilities are endless!

Self Improvement
Tips on how to not ruin your life.

How to sleep more effectively.

The Fight over Censorship and for Freedom of Speech
Court rules against F.C.C. in case over indecency fines.

Mac Tips
How to set up Gmail with Mac OS X Mail.

Permanently delete files on your Mac.

Quote for the Day

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

- John Wooden

Black and White

[Photo: cmndrfoggy]

A little busy lately...

I've been a little busy lately catching up on things (I got really behind at the end of the school year with loads of graduation stuff). Heck, today I was still going to graduation open houses and I even have one more next week. The main thing withholding me was the repainting of my room. When I was painting, I took my computer down for a majority of the time. But, now I'm done painting. So, everything should return back to normal tomorrow.

Quotes for the Day

"Bad is never good until worse happens."
-Danish Proverb

"I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders."
-Jewish Proverb

Y Combinator...

Over at MSNBC there is a great write up on Y Combinator. Y Combinator is dubbed the boot camp for Silicon Valley. It is where all the geeks in America meet up and show off their start up ideas to potential investors. A lucky few are chosen for a chance of their dreams...

Check out the article.

Financial Relief In Sight for College Students

From the money section over at CNN:

House panel cuts student lender subsidies

...Finally, the bill would cap student loan repayments at 15 percent of a student's post-graduation income, with students eligible to have debt forgiven under some circumstances.

Savings realized from the proposed cuts and others would be channeled into boosting college financial aid for students by $18.25 billion over the next five years.

Under the bill, the maximum value of federal Pell grants given to students would go up by $500 per grant. Also, interest rates on federally guaranteed student loans would be reduced by half over five years, a measure already passed by the House.

Read the full article here.