PAY IT FORWARD

That's right.
Over 70,000 people have perished so far during the recent Tsunami/Earthquake disaster in Southeast Asia. For me, it's time to show that this American can still be great. I may not be able to volunteer, but I have donated monetarily. Think of this on the scale of that this maybe be anywhere from 50 to 100 times the amount of lives lost on September 11th. These countries aren't able to cope with such a tragedy as easily as we would be able to. They simply do not have the resources.
I'm not going to get preachy and telemarketish on all of you, but here are some places where you can donate.

www.redcross.org

www.adra.org

www.americacares.org

www.internationalaid.org

www.unicefusa.org

These are just a few, and there are plenty of other great ones.

Thanks!

Ryan

Godless Commies!

In America today, with conservatism running at an all time high, we've started entering areas of extreme paranoia and fanatism. I'd like to tell a tale of time when the Pledge of Allegiance didn't include the words "under God". Shocking! I know, but remember we have a separation of church and state. In 1892, Francis Bellamy created the pledge as this: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'. Originally, Bellamy wanted to include the phrase "equality" but knew that it would not pass because people did not want equality for minorities and women.
The pledge went through its first change in 1923/1924 changing the words "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America". This change was not condoned by Bellamy, but it stuck nonetheless.
Finally in 1954, that's right it took 62 years for America to adopt the phrase "under God" into our pledge. It was added at this time, due to the fact that America wanted to appear morally superior to our "godless commie" rivals. Bellamy was not around at the time of this adaptation, however his granddaughter felt that he would not have agreed with the changes, since he was frustrated at his own church, when the forced him to leave because he gave socialist sermons. He also had grown frustrated at the racial bigotry in the churches. So there you, for everyone that is screaming about having "under God" in the Pledge, it's actually been out of the pledge for 62 years and in the pledge for only 50. Originally the Pledge had thought out the phrase "separation of church and state", but the religious groups felt the need to push for its inclusion. So when people try to get the Pledge changed, they're only trying to change things to "the way they were".
Goodnight America!

Stay Tuned

I apologize to my one reader of the website. I have been too busy and distracted for now to continue with any discussions. I look forward to posting a relative blog soon enough with a great topic. Keep checking back for periodic updates.

Ryan "Mo Money, Mo Problems" McCauley