Punished for Practicing Religion

Noor Abukaram is a junior who runs for Sylvania Northview High School's cross-country team in Sylvania, Ohio. She is a Muslim and wears a hijab when she is running.

Abukaram learned after running a race last Saturday that she had been disqualified for wearing her hijab, which is a violation of the uniform code.

Before the race, it was reported in Yahoo! that a teammate of Abukaram was told to change her shorts because what she was wearing violated the same code. Abukaram later said she was worried she would be told to remove her hijab, which she wears as required of her religion.

The officials concluded their inspection without saying anything to Abukaram. Unbeknownst to her, officials informed her coach she would be disqualified from the race because of her hijab and her time would not be recorded in the official results.

A student was told to change her shorts before the race. Abukaram was inspected at the same time and nothing was said about her hijab. Officials not doing their due diligence in making sure students are eligible to participate in athletic events is the smaller of the problems with this story. Abukaram has a First Amendment Right to practice her religion. Her hijab is required by her religion. If officials had really wanted to make sure the she was in line with the uniform code, why not mention something to her before the race. Why was the hijab out of code? Did the color not match her uniform? I'm sure there was a sporting goods store nearby where she could have gotten one that would have matched the rest of her uniform.

Abukaram's coach, Jerry Flowers, said there was no time to appeal the decision and said, "the official didn't feel he had the authority to do the right thing and not disqualify her." This does not take the onus off of the coach. Where was the Athletic Director? Where was the principal. I'm certain Flowers had a cell phone on him at the time. Why didn't he call his superiors? Why wasn't more done for a teenager whose violation stemmed from practicing her religion? Does Sylvania Northview's handbook trump the Unites States Constitution? Is there a clause that voids Abukaram's Federally-guaranteed right to practice her faith?

Abukaram was disqualified because of the incompetence of the league. Worse than that, school officials and her coach essentially abandoned her when she needed their support, which she got from her teammates. Unfortunately, teenagers' moral support doesn't hold water compared to the ruling and decisions of adults, no matter now ignorant and absurd those decisions may be.

Offended? There's a Law for That

Daniel Hunt, a Massachusetts State House Representative for the 13th District (parts of Boston and Quincy) has introduced legislation that would make it a civil infraction to use the word "bitch" if directed at or used to describe someone.

Boston Magazine reported on the matter, citing an earlier story by the Boston Herald. Hunt, a Liberal. was quoted as saying a constituent approached him regarding the word and its offensive nature in certain contexts and asked if the State representative would do something that could curtail its use.
Hunt's proposed legislation is actually an amendment to an existing law regarding "night walkers... street walkers," and, "disorderly houses".

This looks like another case of not being able to say something without someone getting offended. Once again, the right to express an opinion, albeit derogatory, is ending where one's feelings begin.

Where does this new law end? Is it a crime to call someone a "son of" one? Is there a "second-degree" charge if someone gets caught up in the heat of the moment? What if someone is in traffic and commits the civil infraction? Will others in the same traffic be called to testify if allegations are made? I'm not making a joke. I'm being serious. How will this be enforced?

Aren't the police saddled with enough petty offenses passed by Beacon Hill? It's a crime now to not have your headlights on if you're using your wipers. Don't forget about the other laws that are already on the books the police need to enforce. Some of these laws do actually hurt people bodily; not just their feelings.

There are plenty of issues larger than this one that require lawmakers' attention. You'd think they would focus on that. Then again, this is Massachusetts.

The Improbable Road to Impeachment

There are people calling for Trump's impeachment. How much of this is crimes against the Constitution and how much of this is just people who are upset that Hillary Clinton lost the election?

Not surprisingly, the opinions are divided among party lines. More conservatives are happy with the job President Trump is doing and more liberals feel he should be removed from office.

Let's look at the impeachment process. The first step is underway. The House of Representatives, controlled by the Liberals (54%), have delivered articles of impeachment against the President. An investigation is underway and at the conclusion of that, the Senate will vote on whether to remove the President from office. Let's assume it reaches the Senate before the 2020 election. There are 53 Republicans in the Senate Chamber. You need at least 67 votes in order to remove the president from office.

As of right now, this is not a likely scenario. If the process were to continue beyond the 2020 Election (a more likely possibility), the Liberals would need to win 20 seats in the Senate. I personally do not see this as likely to happen.

Let's say it does happen. What then? Who becomes President? Mike Pence. Do you think Trump's policies will end the day he becomes removed from office. Hardly. Pence has done what any other vice president would do: speak with the same voice at the rest of the administration. What do the Liberals in Congress expect? Do they think there will be a shift in ideology and policy? Maybe, but it won't be one that will move much in the direction they campaign for.

Donald Trump is not a perfect human being. No one is. In my opinion, the attempt to impeach the President is motivated by the same reasons that motivated calls for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton: One party lost the election and people can't live with that. When it's your candidate that lost the election, you can look for ways to remove the victor from office or you can live with the results. Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Liberals have chosen to look for ways to remove the victor.

Would Less Taxes be More?

I have a property tax that is due in a few weeks. No one likes taxes unless you work in the assessor's office, right? I'm kidding. I'm sure the paperwork and workload can be a hassle sometimes.

There's a lot of talk about the municipal taxes, especially about property taxes. People are concerned about the home values rising and senior citizens not being able to afford the property taxes on their homes. Capping values for senior citizens has been a way of keeping the tax to an affordable amount.

Cities and towns need money. We all do. Municipal employees need to be paid: teachers, police, DPW, town officials. There has to be a way of bringing money in to meet those bills. we have property taxes, vehicle excise taxes, water bill, sewer. Some towns charge extra for trash pickup and other towns go so far as making you buy trash bags from the town itself and if you don't use those bags, your trash won't be collected. True story.

There are an awful lot of taxes and fees today. I'm not using this forum to bash City Hall for nickel and diming people. I understand there are bills to pay. We all have them. What if your city (town) tries something different?

• Take your "Taxable Income" line from your 1040 when you file your taxes.
• Take a percentage of that number (anywhere from 2.5% to 5%).
• Divide the number into quarterly installments.
• Give a 5% discount to employees of local business and business based in that city (excluding town/city employees)

Would this bring in more money? I don't know. I don't know how much you make and I don't know how much money your local government brings in. There's been a lot of talk about people, "paying their fair share," so here's a chance to do that. You can stop worrying about your home being assessed. No more squabbling between neighbors over why one house is valued this way but the other house is valued that way. Pay what you earn. The more you earn, the more you pay, and the more you can contribute to improving where you live. Hopefully, this could be a way to further improve cities and towns. Less Bills would be sent out meaning less paper. That's better for the environment. Maybe enough would be brought in to eliminate user fees for school sports. Ease the burden for all and people wouldn't worry about having their properties assessed and feeling penalized for taking care of what they own.

It's Haunted!

There was some talk last weekend about haunted places on Indie617, an internet radio station I enjoy listening to for my fix of alternative music. The talk was about finding haunted places and ghosts and if anyone had visited them and if they had seen or heard anything while they were there.

Before I go on, I want to remind you that some of these places are private properties and trespassing is forbidden. Please make sure it is alright to go on these properties and be sure to respect the wishes of property owners and the orders of law enforcement.

I have visited some places that are reputed to be haunted but have not witnessed or experienced anything. I hope you have better luck than me. One of my favorite websites to visit to find out about haunted places is theshadowlands.net. This site has an extensive list of places around the world that are said to be haunted. If you have anything to verify or refute this, please let me know. Also, if you know of other websites that can lead people to haunted places, I would like to know about those to. It's a great thing to check out with Halloween coming up.

Redskins need just a simple fix

The Washington Redskins are 0-4 and this week they will host the 4-0 New England Patriots. There are a number of storylines surrounding the Redskins and they all seem to stem from the same issue: the front office or, to be more specific, Owner Daniel Snyder.

To me, Snyder comes across as the spoiled little boy who has a big pile of money and spends it anything he wants. That's fine. That's his right. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to use what he buys and no matter who tries to show him the proper way to use it or at least tries to prevent it to be broken, they are wrong and little Danny is right.

The owner of the team is the top of the heap. It is they who is able to call the shots and pull rank on the employees when it comes to all decisions in the company. Running the business is one thing. Having people who know the intricacies of handling player selection, talent evaluation and hiring coaches is another. Let's go back to the Patriots.

The New England Patriots were the tackling dummy and laughingstock of the NFL in the late 1980's and early 1990's. They were bought and sold multiple times during that period until Bob Kraft stepped in and bought the team in 1994. Kraft was a fan who wanted to keep the Patriots in New England. Any fan younger than 30 may not remember the Patriots being so bad you couldn't get the game on TV. A waiting list for season tickets? You couldn't give the tickets away.

Everything was going well for the Patriots until a slight misunderstanding between Kraft and Head Coach Bill Parcells at the 1996 NFL Draft. Kraft was enamored with Terry Glenn, a wide receiver from Ohio State. Parcells wanted to spend the number one draft pick on a defensive player. As owner of the team, Kraft overruled Parcells and Glenn was drafted by the Patriots. The move led to Parcells saying, "If they want you to cook dinner, they should at least let you shop for the groceries." The quote has embedded itself in New England sports lore.

Glenn's time with the Patriots was unpredictable and filled with controversy on the field and off.. He played with the Patriots until the 2000 season. By that time, Parcells had left the Patriots and Kraft was starting to realize he didn't know as much about football as he thought he did.

Sadder and wiser, Kraft hired Bill Belichick, ironically, after speaking to Parcells and trading draft picks to the New York Jets. The result has been an era of success not seen in any of the four major sports.

It all happened because Kraft finally realized he wasn't as knowledgeable as he believed he was. His ego took a hit but allowing himself to take a step back has resulted in six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances. Snyder still doesn't get it. He thinks he know it all. He thinks being the owner is an automatic degree in the science of football. It's not. In the time the Patriots have tallied a 6-3 record in football's ultimate game, The Redskins have managed to make the playoffs four times and win one game.

What does this mean for fans of the Redskins. It means nothing. It means nothing is going to change. Snyder continues to drive the Redskins into the ground. The arena is half-empty and fans are waiting to see what will happen first: Will Head Coach Jay Gruden quit or will he be fired? Whatever the outcome, Gruden will not be back for the 2020 season. It's like the house in the neighborhood where the parents are always arguing and everyone sees it but the problematic spouse. They are going to be alone unless they change their ways. Even after they are left alone, they will not be able to see what happened or why the atmosphere is toxic.

What happens? My opinion is this: Things will get so bad Snyder will move the team to a city that will build him a stadium and people, excited about getting an NFL franchise will pack it in. This will continue until Snyder continues his destructive management style, the team continues to lose, and the stadium looks half-empty. Think that won't happen? Go ask fans of the Baltimore Colts or the original Cleveland Browns if a historic team relocating is unfathomable.

The Washington Redskins fortunes will not change until Dan Snyder learns he needs to get out of his own way and let football people make football decisions. When he does that, the Redskins will return to the success and lore that made them one of the most storied franchises of professional sports. Unfortunately, the problem person in a situation is always the last to know they are the problem... If they realize it at all.

Rodney Lynn was wrong

Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations last week in another attempt to call the world's attention to global warming and climate change. I didn't agree with Thunberg's statements or the tactics used by whatever sponsors that brought her to the United States to give the speech. My opposition to Thunberg herself, however, starts and ends with that.

My opposition doesn't go as far as Rodney Lynn, a principal of an Australian private school principal who called Thunberg "a little girl with self-declared... problems." In an earlier post, I called on environmental protestors to refrain from demonstrating and vociferously spreading messages about the environment with megaphones and chanting. The environment would be better served if people just acted and did their part to make sure Earth remains a livable habitat.

That doesn't mean a child, or anyone for that matter should be slandered. How bad have things gotten that a school official needs to publicly insult a teenager? Someone whose duty it is to guide and educate other children has used that position to refer to opinions about the Environment as "Doomsday waffle talk," in a letter sent out to parents last week. Lynn went on to say the World's fate would be up to God and God alone.

Lynn's ignorance is dangerous. Professing belief in God and saying the world's fate is up to him is one thing but to insult someone, adult or child, is something completely different. Again, I don't believe in the context of Thurnberg's statements or in the tactics leading up to her speech but I certainly don't agree with mud-slinging either. At the very least, Lynn owes Thunberg an apology and it should be just as public as the verbal attack.