Spectre’s Sayings

I’ve been saying that for a long time now. And now that 100 university presidents have floated the idea, people are finally talking about it.

David Harsanyi, of the Denver Post, has a good opinion piece called Let’s Chuck the Drinking Age.

An excerpt:

What happens when presidents from more than 100 of the nation’s best-known colleges call on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18? Well, a brigade of hyperbolic mommies start screaming at them, that’s what.

In the Amethyst Initiative, college presidents have offered a rational, if counterintuitive, plan. Let’s stop treating young adults like wards of the state. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (naturally) replied: No debate allowed.

There is plenty of empirical evidence suggesting that the drinking age of 21 is counterproductive. To begin with, it bars parents from educating their own children about alcohol and, like all prohibitions, it fosters criminality.

Read the whole thing. He makes very good points.

For the record, I believe that it is inappropriate, and disrespectful of other people, to wear flip-flops in the following situations:

• the workplace
• Church
• restaurants
• when visiting the White House

Today is my mother’s birthday. To celebrate, we went out to dinner last night. The restaurant she requested we go to was The Olive Garden. I hadn’t been to one of these restaurants since 2001 or 2002 (on a rather disappointing blind date), and didn’t remember being particularly impressed with the food. Last night, however, changed my impressions of the chain of Italian restaurants.

The staff was competent and seemed to have friendlier dispositions than other restaurants. The decor was nice - I didn’t feel like I was crowded in with a bunch of strangers. I ordered the Mixed Grill - steak and chicken skewered with vegetables, and served with roasted potatoes and a brown sauce. It was excellent. Both meats were very tender and tasty, and the brown sauce had good flavor, albeit a bit salty. Our meals came with all-you-can-eat bread sticks and salads, both of which were very good.

The Olive Garden puts a lot of emphasis on wines. Had money been no object, I might have tried a Reisling with my dinner, but I had already ordered a beer at the bar while we were waiting to be seated. In my opinion, the chain could be improved if they took advantage of the microbrew revolution, and put some emphasis on beer. There were only 6 beers available on draft - 4 typical mega-swills, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams Summer Ale. Needless to say, I had the Summer Ale, although if I had had my druthers, I would definitely have paired some other beer with my supper. An Irish Red to complement the flavor of the steak, or a Märzen to act as a contrast, perhaps.

The Scratching Post asks: Was the Russian Invasion of Georgia a Colossal Blunder? An interesting case is made. Time will tell.

The Worst Congress Ever voted to go on vacation instead of tackling the problem of high energy costs.

Catholic World News is reporting that the Vatican has approved new English translations of texts for the Mass. The project of correcting the translation of the entire Roman Missal is expected to last until 2010.

It appears to me that this project is simply trying to get the translation closer to what it says in the original Latin, thereby losing any inculturation. If being closer to the Latin is such a big deal, why not skip English altogether and use the Latin? Otherwise, I fail to see the point in this exercise.

Why can’t real debates be this entertaining?

Man first landed on the moon. That was a great accomplishment.

But the fact we haven’t been back in 36 years is simply a travesty.

Brendan Loy has a good blog post about the Tennessee man arrested for “unlawful photography” after photographing cop on public highway.

I hope Mr. Conover has a really good lawyer. The unnamed sheriff’s deputy, and the Johnson County sheriff’s office, need to be held accountable for their crimes.

Levant to Congress: put Canada on the watch list of human rights abusers.

An excerpt:

In other words, Canadian human rights commissions — secular government organizations — are prosecuting religious fatwas. It’s a soft jihad against any criticism of radical Islam. It’s called “lawfare”, and it’s a greater danger to our western values of freedom, religious pluralism and the separation of church and state than the hard jihad of terrorism is. Even if targets like Maclean’s eventually “win”, they lose; the process is the punishment – and the chill affects everyone else.

Canadian human rights commissions, however, are not respectful of the sensitivities of all religions. Less politically correct faiths are regularly prosecuted by them. This May, an Alberta pastor named Stephen Boissoin was given a lifetime gag order, never to say anything critical of homosexuality – not in a church sermon, not even in private e-mails. As well, in what can only be called a Maoist verdict, he has been ordered to renounce his religious beliefs, and to publish a self-denunciation in the local newspaper.

This is Canada we’re talking about. Not Iran, not China, not Cuba.

It’s a good column. Read the whole thing.

Check out this blog post.

It seems like the Democrat-controlled Congress, led by Nancy Pelosi, now has record low approval ratings. Next to Congress, President Bush is Mr. Popularity.

But Nancy’s not worried, folks. After all, what’s important isn’t what the American people want. Nosiree! It’s what the interests of her caucus are. That’s what’s important.

Update: This website will tell you the most popular word in Congress on any given day. Neat.

Deborah Gyapong: CHRC dismisses complaint against Catholic Insight.

Well, that’s good, I suppose. But why doesn’t the Canadian Parliament do away with the CHRC altogether?