The headline on USAToday.com said, "Supreme Court blocks Texas confederate flag plate."
I clicked through and read the article and realized the headline is at least misleading. Texas had turned down an application for that special design plate, the Sons of Confederate Veterans sued, and the case made it all the way to the Supremes. They ruled 5-4 that the state is under no legal obligation to accept any and all designs, and the rejection did not constitute a violation of free speech. So, what the Court did was uphold the decision made by the State of Texas.
When I read the headline it left me with the impression the Supreme Court had overturned something the State of Texas had done. While I agree the Confederate flag is offensive and inappropriate for a state-sanctioned display I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to states' rights in close calls. As it turns out, the Court and Texas agree; there was no overturning of anything. USAToday added, IMO, to the impression that Texas is full of crazies who live somewhere out beyond the extreme right, are almost entirely racial bigots, and drink hooch from a Mason jar.
I know someone from Texas and he always uses a real glass.
I got lots of tasks done today. I took a water bottle from the set I have for the bicycle and painted it flat black. Cut off the nozzle at the top, used pipe strapping (also painted black) to attach it to the inner fender wall, stuck the radiator overflow hose in it and...voila'...overflow reservoir!
I pruned the shrubs in front, put a fresh coat of paint on the front door and the two porch pillars, patched and primed a bad spot on the bedroom ceiling (an old water leak and stain), and took care of some important correspondence.
Tomorrow I'll paint the ceiling. That's gonna take some time getting everything covered and doing the cut-in.
The service at Grace Community Fellowship was fine. It's a BIG church with more staff than Pathway had people on some Sundays, and a very nice, very contemporary facility. There's money in that place. The worship service (no S.S., at least during the summer) was: three or four songs, sermon, three or four songs.
I didn't know any of the songs; Pam knew one. A guy playing guitar (very good), another on piano (also very good), and a third on a conga. All of the songs were what I'd describe as coffee house music. Not the standard rhyming verse/chorus set to music, but more like narrative set to...notes. "Singable" isn't a word that fits.
But I suspect they have multiple musical groups and formats, because the pastor referred to their newest staff member as someone whom they'll recognize because she helps lead worship sometimes. He also said his sermon wouldn't be typical. He's preaching through the life of Abraham and took this morning to talk about Islam, which also traces its roots to Abraham. It was more like an intro to Islam, covering the history, sacred books, and basic tenets. He finished with some comments about how Christians should relate and interact with Muslims.
We'll go back. I don't know if it will work for us or not but there wasn't anything clearly problematic so a larger sampling is appropriate.
I wish it weren't 30 minutes away.
We hit 116 today. Gonna do it again tomorrow. Such fun.
If the ads they run during the network evening news are any indication, the only people watching during that half hour are over the age of 50. The women have bladder control issues and the men need a little help in the romance department. Constipation, bad eyesight, arthritis, and vitamin deficiency. Yep, they're a pretty sick group of old people.
Yes, I'm watching network news.
No comments:
Post a Comment