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Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
j.a.m. - Given that your definition of the "state" includes public schools I'm unclear how you can claim to be for "total separation of church and state" while attempting to impose your moral (i.e. religious) values on the rest of us. Particularly on the students in what you amusingly and incorrectly refer to as those evil "government schools".
By the way, you still haven't explained why your statement that, "the state simply has no business intruding into private family matters" does not apply to legislative or judicial attempts to legalize or criminalize abortion.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
@MJN — Rubbish. I am for total separate of school and state. And you will be, too, unless you want to be found guilty of that same charge of which you wrongly accuse me.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
j.a.m....NOW I understand what you're saying ! When that Big Bad State agrees with your personal moral views then your previous statement that it, "simply has no business intruding into private family matters" suddenly no longer applies and its intervention is welcomed. But when that same state introduces measures which offend you, then it suddenly becomes "evil" and needs to hit the road.
A very convenient philosophy...if a tad hypocritical.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
@MJN — P.S. If you maintain that government schools are not state actors, that means we can put God back in the classroom and tell the ACLU to pound sand. Maybe there is hope after all.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
@MJN — Sure, if it did not involve directly, intentionally and avoidably depriving a perfectly innocent human being of her right to life, the defense of which is the first and irreducible duty of a civilized society.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
j.a.m. - Very libertarian of you (although equating a local school district headed by a local administrator and governed by a local board of education made up of your friends and neighbors with an amorphous and anonymous, Big Brother "state" is a bit of a stretch)
That aside, since you believe that the state "simply has no business intruding into private family matters" you must believe that abortion, the ultimate "family matter" should be left exclusively up to the individuals involved without any interference by the state.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
@MJN — The point is that in a free society the state simply has no business intruding into private family matters. A secondary point is that schools are for education, not fornication. This phony sideshow is cynically calculated to distract from the reality that government schools are such disastrous failures.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
j.a.m. - I'm plesesd to see that you do not support arming young children and brainwashing them into thinking that blasting small animals into bloody ribbons is a "sport".
As to your belief that schools passing out condoms somehow violates your moral standards let me ask what is it that you find so "evil" about the practice. The fact that it reduces teenage pregnancies? Or the fact that it reduces the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases?
It can't be that you believe that that condom distribution ignites teenage hormones and sends otherwise chaste young adults off to engage in sensual experimentation? After all, wouldn't that be as logical as claiming that handing a rifle to a teenager will automatically turn him into the next Adam Lanza?
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
@MJN — That's a bit of a non-sequitur, and you have absolutely no way of knowing my attitude toward hunting, but I'll bite. First of all, the basic principle would be the same if a family held a strong conviction about the immorality of hunting, but government personnel, facilities and resources were being used to teach their children to hunt. More importantly, however, there is simply no moral equivalence. The fact is that sexual immorality destroys lives, families, communities, and societies — hunting doesn't.
Re: “RBJ poll heavily favors Richards”
The City of Rochester is so fortunate to have Tom Richards as its Mayor. Tom doesn't need the job. He is a long time city resident who is giving back to his city, in terms of quality leadership and positive direction. His background is business, but his Dad was a minister who taught him well.
The contrast of performance between Tom and former but still want to be Mayor, Bill Johnson is amazing.
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
I always amazed by these insights into the minds of Conservatives. The same individuals who claim that handing a 12 year old a gun and teaching him/her to kill animals is a benefit to society are the ones claiming that handing a condom to a 16 year old is "evil".
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
We condemn these children to a lifetime of ignorance and failure. They can't read, but by the time they drop out they will be well versed in every imaginable form of filth and depravity, and we count that as success.
These government-run schools no longer are merely sick jokes, no longer merely a scandal. They are instruments of evil.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
Clint - And by the way, I wouldn't brag about that letter from the US Olympic Committee as Rochester obviously received it by mistake as we are neither one of the 25 largest cities in America, nor has anyone taken the "credit" for approaching the committee and expressing Rochester's interest in hosting the Olympics.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
Clint - not "virtually impossible", but 100% , guaranteed, carved-in-stone, impossible. And the time and effort (and money) of the local community and government is far better spent on working to fix Rochester's many problems rather than embarking on yet another fool's errand. Remember the Less-Than-Fast Ferry , a totally avoidable ego trip that ended up costing the state and local taxpayers over 80 MILLION DOLLARS ?
And you'd lose your bet on Lake Placid. They were selected in 1932 because they already had the facilities needed for the Winter Olympics in place. And only 17 countries and 252 athletes participated. Crowds were nil given that America was in the depths of the Depression. They won the 1980 Winter Olympics because they were the only city that bid for them. Critics decried poorly planned transportation which left spectators waiting for hours in freezing weather, and athletes complained about lousy accommodations at the Olympic village, (where the dorms would later be turned into a prison). Attendence was well down from previous years given a lack of spectator interest and the difficulty in even getting to the venues and in finding accommodations. Guess that would make Lake Placid a ftting role model for a Rochester Olympics.
So once again, well done Mayor Richards . Thanks for putting common sense and fiscal prudence ahead of mindless boosterism. No sense making us look any more foolish then the ferry, RenSquare and the Midtown debacle with Paetec have already done.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
Here is breaking news...as I said in the first post, I get that getting the Olympics would be virtually impossible. That is not what I am saying at all. What I am saying is that making the cut to even be considered to get the letter is good for the psyche of our community! In addition, dreaming makes things happen, even if you do not realize your dream as you envisioned it.
New Orleans, Toronto, Las Vegas, and even Indianapolis (which became the amateur sports capital of the US) started their journey by trying to get things they would never get. I bet when Lake Placid got the winter olympics, there was no logical reason for it to do so, except, state and federal support.
I am a criticizing Tom Richards for so swiftly taking the issue off the table. I know for sure that if you do not try to do something, you will accomplish doing nothing!
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
Let's see, the Olympic Committee's letter states that to be considered as the US candidate site for the 2024 Olympics a city must be able to provide .
1) 45,000 hotel rooms
2) an Olympic Village that houses 16,500
3) a 5,000 seat dining hall
4) media facilities for 15,000 reporters
5) an international airport
6) public transportation between the venues
While we mght be able to lie about Item #5 and claim that the Monroe County Aiport, I mean the "Rochester International Airport" actually IS an international airport (hey, you can ocassionally fly to/from Canada) I think we might have a small problem getting past those other 5 conditions, studies or no studies.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
The Winter Olympics are frequently a regional competition. Vancouver had the hockey, etc., while Whistler (1.5 hours away) had the skiing. Same will happen in Sochi for the next Winter Olympics. That said, having the Olympics here is a terrible, money-pit of an idea and will never happen.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
Clint - Are you seriously proposing a "regional" Olympics with no centralized location and with events scattered across a geographic area stretching over 150 MILES? With all due respect, such a plan would generate nothing except aucous laughter from the USOC and make Rochester look like a gaggle of rubes.
And study time does in fact cost money. As do fool's errands.
But if you must initiate a study then start with answering the question of which group of taxpayers you intend to stick with the multi-billion dollar loses that Olmpics generate.
Re: “Rochester's Olympic surprise”
MJN,
The proposal should have been regional as is the case with most Olympics. Combine the resources of Syracuse (Carrier Dome), Buffalo (stadiums) , college campus hotel rooms, Onondaga Lake for rowing events (they hosted the national rowing regatta for years), etc.
Study time does not cost money...hip shooting does! It was worth some time instead of a silly quote.."we have the special olympics this weekend, and that is fine with us" as more of the dismissive comment again!
Re: “Condoms available in city schools”
"Rubbish" is a fine characterization of the right-wing drivel that j.a.m. regularly dispenses at this site: the smearing of the late George McGovern, on his death in October; the characterization of our President's inauguration as "totalitarian"; the pretending that public good is somehow evil; or some bogus headline two weeks ago that j.a.m. couldn't answer. This just in, j.a.m.: America has rejected your decrepit ideology. And 1851 just called, and they want their outdated beliefs back (like the worthiness of public education, just like the rest of the civilized world).