Mansfield GOP

This is the team blog of the Mansfield (MA) Republican Town Committee. MRTC members can post; anyone can comment. The views expressed by posters and commenters are their own, and do not necessarily represent the position of the MRTC as a whole.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

IT'S BAAAAACK!

The move to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants is back. MIRA press release here.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Government - to protect the people from the people?

Sounds Orwellian, no? So imagine my surprise to open the Sun Chronicle this morning and read that my Senator, James Timilty (D), is pushing legislation to ban metal basketball nets. Why? According to the article, a fifth-grade girl from Walpole hurt her hand - badly - in a metal net. I feel bad for her and her family; I truly do. But what should the response be? More legislation to protect us from ourselves?

There are lots of things we do in our daily lives that could be made safer in one way or another. But that doesn't mean that the legislature should micromanage our lives for us. Remember the ban on Fluff? If enough people feel Walpole should replace the metal nets with nylon nets, they'll speak up and it will get done. In fact, the story continues to say that Walpole removed the metal nets after the incident. That's the way this kind of change should happen; not with legislation.

So how does a state senator look into the eyes of a 5th-grade constituent and say no? It would have taken courage, yes, but it would also have been a great teaching opportunity.

Which came first - the TV moment or reality?

...and does TV drive reality?

Remember waaay back when a girl-girl kiss on TV caused an uproar? Then there was the debut of shows like "Will and Grace" Now there are plenty of homosexual characters on TV. Would we be where we are now in Massachusetts if the table hadn't been set by television?

Those of you who watch "South Park" probably remember the "Night of a Thousand Sh**s" episode, where the people of South Park tune in just to hear TV characters say that word. After hearing it on TV, it becomes "acceptable" in South Park to use the word all the time, in virtually any setting.

Real or make-believe, we probably do have an easier time accepting things we see on TV all the time. So here's what worries me. No less than two TV shows this season have shown us mushroom clouds. It's the whole premise of "Jericho," where the people of a small town in Kansas deal with the obliteration of several major US cities - including Denver, whose mushroom cloud they see on the horizon. Then there's the detonation of a suitcase nuke on "24." Are we at risk of becoming desensitized to this? No, don't call out the legislators to ban what we can see on TV; that's not the point. But would our reaction be somewhat dulled if we've "seen" it happen before - on TV?

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Christmas vs. New Year's

Why is it ok to say "Happy New Year" but not "Merry Christmas?" Well, of course, because not everyone celebrates Christmas, and we have to be sensitive to those who don't right? We wouldn't want to impose our Judeo-Christian beliefs on anyone else.

Our Jewish friends, however, celebrate Hanukkah. But according to this site, January 1, 2007 is the 11th day of Tevet, in the year 5767. So saying "Happy New Year" on January 1st isn't really accurate to someone observing the Hebrew calendar.

I would imagine that most Muslims don't celebrate Christmas, either. They, too, have their own calendar. According to this site, January 1, 2007 is "Monday 11 Thw al-Hijjah 1427 A.H." in the Islamic, or "Hijri," calendar. Again, January 1st isn't the new year on that calendar.

A little research turned up the claim that the People's Republic of China officially adopted the "solar calendar," but that traditional holidays are still celebrated on the Chinese lunar calendar. I'm not going to pretend to understand all the intricacies, but what I did find over at Wikipedia is that the Chinese New Year is coming up - on February 18, 2007.

Ok, so what about all the atheists, agnostics, pagans, wiccans etc. out there - or anyone else that doesn't identify with Christendom and doesn't want to have it imposed upon them? Let's not forget that "our" calendar was adopted by a Pope. It's based on the life of Jesus Christ. How is this any less "offensive" than wishing someone a happy commemoration of His birth?

I've got a great idea. How about we let everybody choose their own calendar? The calendar is whatever YOU want it to be! I like it. I should come up with my own calendar - one where April 15th doesn't roll around again for another 150 years!