STAR*BRIAN STAR*BRIAN: 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 *

Talking points on current events

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Sempre Americo

Americo was my father.

a good man. smart. loving.

he loved racing formula vee race cars, and was very good at it!

he loved his children, even when he didn't know how.

business was his toy, and he played with it with such skill.

he always believed in "gritting your teeth" and the better would come.

he was my best friend. and my most trusted advisor.

i will love him always (sempre), Americo.

my dad.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

What War?

There are those who say there is a cultural war on Christmas, and there are those who laugh it off as nothing more than Chicken Little claiming the sky is falling.

Never the less, each year there are more signs to prove that the few voices that find Christmas offensive out weigh the rest who celebrate Christmas openly and proudly.

For example, this year Third graders in Madison, Wisconsin were not allowed to help raise money for the local Salvation Army. Each year the kids would take turns ringing bells and help raise money with those famous little red kettles.

But, ONE parent objected. Citing the over used “separation of church and state.” Because the kids were helping a religiously based organization, and the school had approved, the parent must have concluded that the school was endorsing religion.

When faced with the complaint, school Principal Howard Fried said the school administration quickly stood down.

Hey school admins, how about the rest of the kid’s parent’s who had no complaints and gladly let their kids help out a charity?!

Another example of Christmas complaints going to far have a McDonald’s customer complaining to corporate about a sign the store uses every year.

The McDonalds, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, would put up a sing reading, “Merry Christmas, Jesus is the reason for the season.

Some felt that came on too strong. Amanda Alpert added this, “It offends me because it specifically talks about Jesus, Merry Christmas,"

Well, duh. After all, what is Christmas supposed to be about?!

War? No War? You decide. But one thing is clear, companies and school officials need to realize they do not need to bend over backwards because one or two people find something offensive. As a matter of fact, it’s rather offensive to punish the majority for the comfort of a few nutty people.