Arbitrary Ages

Since there is a bit of a debate going on right now about what the legal drinking age should be, I figured I'd put my thoughts on it out there. Scary, I know.

A number of university presidents are informally petitioning to have laws changed so that states could make the drinking age whatever they wanted without any penalties from the Federal government. Right now, the states are free to change it, but at a cost in Federal highway dollars.

18. You can drive, you can vote, you can join the army to get sent off ot war, you can get married, you can do many things, but you can't buy alcohol. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. However, I do think the univeristy presidents have a point. People under the age of 21 are drinking, lots, and its pretty much an issue that isn't dealt with because its "illegal."

I think this is a valid point. How can you teach someone to be responsible with something that is illegal? Sort of self-defeating there. A couple of the ideas put forth were interesting. A "drinking license" much like a driver's license is one that intrigues me. A person would have to pass an alcohol awareness course to get their license to drink.

An idea I've been kicking around is to not let anyone under 21 buy packaged liquor. This doesn't solve all issues, but it does keep high school seniors from stocking up on beer for the next kegger. Not that they won't find other ways to do it, but at least it looks like their are restraints in place.

I suppose what it comes down to for me is this: people under 21 are going to drink. I would be most had their first drink either at home sneaking a drink of their parents booze, or at a friend's house sneaking their parents booze. While I think any changes in the drinking age should be carefully thought through, if we can send an 18 year old kid to die in some foreign country, shouldn't we at least be able to buy him a beer when he gets back? I don't know. Young people are going to be irresponsible with alcohol whether or not its legal. Why not make it legal so it can be supervised more easily?

School time..

Well, its official. My wife, Katrina, has started nursing school. Yup, she's gonna be a nurse. And she's got 22 months of school to get through to do it. (With a month or two here and there off.) Oh, did I mention she works full time too? Yeah. She's amazing.

I'm continually amazed by my wonderful wife and her myraid talents. She is simply one of the hardest working people I know. I love her for that. I love her for many reasons, but her sheer will is amazing and its great, because even for all of it, she still needs me.

What? Yes. She needs me to be not just a good husband, but a great husband for her so she doesn't go insane. That's sorta scary to me. I'm really good at being mediocre. Great at it actually. But mediocre isn't gonna cut it.

In a way, this should set me up to be a WONDERFUL husband down the road, but its gonna take work to get there. I love her so much, and she does so much for me and others, I gotta do this for her. I love you Katrina.

It's Ok, You don't have to like the Olympics.

Ahh, its that season again. The Olympics are in full swing and the lovers and the haters are out in full force. I don't get it. I really don't.

If you don't like the Olympics, that's fine. Lots of the "sports" in the Olympics aren't really interesting at all. Or so blindly subjective that to say you have a "winner" is a bit of a stretch. (Come on. Artistic? What the heck?)

If you do like the Olympics, that's fine too. I enjoy many of the sports because I never get to watch them any other time. Track cycling, track and field, swimming, lots of those are fun to get to watch, but again, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THEM THAT IS OK!!!

There are some people out there who for 2 weeks every 2 years go Olympic insane and believe if you don't follow the Olympics you hate freedom, Jesus, and kittens. I don't get them. I don't really care if you like them or not, I do. Likes and dislikes vary lots. That's life.

Then there are the backlash people. The "Why is everyone making me feel bad I don't like the Olympics?" people. I don't know why. And is it really everyone? Or is it just 1 or 2 of the people I mentioned above.

I was reading a column by one of The Sporting News writers where he was venting his dislike of the Olympics because it didn't have football. (Not just lacking football, but any sport an American might find interesting.) Well, seeing as how only a tiny percentage of the world's population plays or follows American Football, I can see why its not at the Olympics.

Baseball is though. But, apparently that didn't count for this writer. I don't care about Olympic baseball because I follow MLB so I get my fix that way.

I guess I'm just venting. You can like the Olympics. You can dislike the Olympics. You can hate NBC's coverage of the Olympics (though it is a bit better this time around). But please people, stop trying to convince each other why the Olympics are amazing or why they suck. Really. Its like trying to convince anyone except my DM that Spiderman 3 was a good movie. No one will budge on their opinion, so why not just leave it at that.

Politics, Politics, too confusing...

Well, the political season is (still) in full swing, and I just started reading God's Politics so, well, you'll probably be reading all that I see wrong with the world and politics and fait a lot here.

I'm only about 10 pages into the book and I think I've highlighted 2 pages worth of goodies. One of the biggest statements Wallis so far (among many) is we MUST get over mixing nationalism with our faith. There is nothing inherently wrong with being patriotic (whatever that means anymore.) But when we start mixing our patriotism with our faith too much, then we get problems. We get the belief America is special because that's how God wants it. We ask God to "bless" America. (Read the Old Testament...are we ready for what usually happens for God's blessings to come?)

I love my country even though it frequently saddens me. But I don't think we're special because of our faith. There are many nations around the world that have Christians in them. Yet I cannot think of a single "Christian" nation out there as nations (like people) cannot begin to hold to what is required to be "Christian." But nations don't fall under the "saved by grace" part either.

Also, Bush scolding China about human rights. I agree, China needs more freedom of religion, the press, and to stop illegally imprisoning people. So do we though. So do we.