Even though I normally loathe stories like the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy story, I can’t help but love this one. It raises so many questions about juveniles in our country. I like the stories about the legal ramifications of this. Her boyfriend was 18 and she is 16 and based on where they actually did it, they could have faced legal charges. Just think, she is from Louisiana and if he was more than 2 years older than her, he can be charge with statutory rape, sent to jail and put on the sex offender list. Seems kind of harsh for having sex with your high school girlfriend?
The truth is that almost every state needs to change their laws because they are out dated and give too much room for interpretation. We’ve all heard the stories about ignorant judges and prosecuting attorneys handing down penalties without the use of common sense. Just let me remind you that the student in Jena, Louisiana was charged with attempted murder, as an adult, at first for the school yard fight that occurred. The kid actually served 18 months in jail for a lesser crime (still too harsh) until common sense finally took over and he was set free. They should go after this kid just as hard for rape. Then again he’s white and it’s Louisiana.
What does tick me off about this Spears story is the fact that nobody has called into question our sex education in this country. This dumb news story has spun off all sorts of other news stories but nothing about our failing sexual education programs in this country. Perhaps this is a link to the White House’s obsession with abstinence only education which is a proven failure. Kids are having sex all over the country and we are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a faulty and irresponsible sexual education program that requires the teaching of only abstinence.
Perhaps if someone could tell these kids to wrap it up, they wouldn’t be in this position and I wouldn’t have to comment on it.
The truth is that almost every state needs to change their laws because they are out dated and give too much room for interpretation. We’ve all heard the stories about ignorant judges and prosecuting attorneys handing down penalties without the use of common sense. Just let me remind you that the student in Jena, Louisiana was charged with attempted murder, as an adult, at first for the school yard fight that occurred. The kid actually served 18 months in jail for a lesser crime (still too harsh) until common sense finally took over and he was set free. They should go after this kid just as hard for rape. Then again he’s white and it’s Louisiana.
What does tick me off about this Spears story is the fact that nobody has called into question our sex education in this country. This dumb news story has spun off all sorts of other news stories but nothing about our failing sexual education programs in this country. Perhaps this is a link to the White House’s obsession with abstinence only education which is a proven failure. Kids are having sex all over the country and we are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a faulty and irresponsible sexual education program that requires the teaching of only abstinence.
Perhaps if someone could tell these kids to wrap it up, they wouldn’t be in this position and I wouldn’t have to comment on it.
On Friday, my entire family and almost everyone in Marine City went down to Ford Field in Detroit to see Marine City win the Division 4 State Football Championship. We had a great time and it was a great game. I think the most excited fan in the stands was my grandmother at age 90 and a Marine City graduate from the class of 1935.
MARINE CITY 21, DETROIT COUNTRY DAY 7
This is me, managing the fall team.
At Sea on the Queen Mary II
It was foggy but that is the Statue of Liberty.
One of the highlights of my trip was that night when we went to see the original Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. We bought our tickets in the morning and although it wasn't cheap, it was well worth it. I'll never experience a better performance or venue than the original musical in the original theatre. It's run non-stop there since the musical opened in 1986. The entire experience was great and the cast was excellent. The special effects and imagery were what you would want from a West End production. This definitely capped off a great trip to the British Isles.
We stayed the night in a nice hotel in Notting Hill and the next morning made our way to the train station. We made a quick stop at Kensington Palace to see where Princess Diana lived and walked through Kensington Park, Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. We walked along the Serpentine (which is a lake in the park) and stopped at the Peter Pan statue to take a picture. After our short excursion we headed to Waterloo Station to catch our train to South Hampton to board the Queen Mary II and head home.
We were able to make it to the Globe Theatre, above when we jumped off the river cruise. It's across the River Thames from the London Tower, below. It's a reproduction of the Globe but on one of the maps I had a few days earlier it said the remains of the original Globe Theatre were nearby. I was determined to find it so my Mom and I walked around for a while and down a street I thought it might be on and finally we found it. It's off the beaten path and not many people were there, maybe 5 counting us. It was great to stand on the site where Shakespeare's plays had originally been performed.
O'Faolain is our gaelic name. This nightclub and bar was attached to our hotel in Kilkenny. I found a card at the front desk while checking in that said the owner was Pius Phelan. When we told the receptionist that was our name she turned and told us to meet Sheila Phelan, who was the owner's wife, standing next to her at the desk. I finally succeeded in meeting a Phelan in Ireland.
The Phelan pub in downtown Kilkenny, where the Phelan name originated.
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