The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

The Pew Research Center just released some poll results which were rather troubling, but sadly unsurprising. In this survey, 2,000 people were asked how they felt about different institutions and whether they had a positive or negative effect on the country. Here's how the results turned out: Churches, religious organizations Republicans: 73% positive/14% negative (net +59%) Democrats: 50/36 (+14%) Banks/Financial institutions Republicans: 46/37 (+9%) Democrats: 33/54 (-21%) Labor unions Republicans: 33/46 (-13%) Democrats: 59/22 (+37%) The national news media Republicans: 10/85 (-75%) Democrats: 44/46 (-2%) Colleges and universities Republicans: 36/58 (-22%) Democrats: 72/19 (+53%) The two sets of numbers which stand out the most are with regard to the GOP's views on college and the media. In my opinion, the Democrats' numbers with regard to the media are rather understandable. If someone were to ask me what I felt the effects were of the national new...

While he's appeared to show some hesitation in the past few days regarding his decision, Michael Vick has officially retired from the NFL. While the quarterback's affiliation with dogfighting will forever mar his image to a good number of people, I thought I'd try to temporarily remove that from the equation and look back at Michael Vick the player. Being born in 1981 and watching football since the late-80s, I'd have to say, to this point, the three most exciting players I've had the pleasure of watching are, in descending order, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, and Michael Vick. In 1999, Michael Vick burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Virginia Tech Hokies, leading them to an unblemished regular season, and their first (and only to this point) national title game appearance. While Vick's team might have fallen short in their 46-29 defeat at the hands of a far superior Florida State team, Vick led his Hokies back from a 28-7 deficit to...

While I've preferred Ohio Governor John Kasich over the rest of the GOP field from the start of the primaries, that's like saying I'd prefer a paper cut over a root canal. Kasich recently made this analogy all the more accurate after answering a young woman's question about how to better prevent sexual assault on college campuses by saying, "I'd also give you one bit of advice, don't go to parties where there is a lot of alcohol." Yes, that's all there is to it, ladies; the onus is apparently on you. You must learn to refrain from meeting up with friends at a party over the weekend because you'll run the risk of a drunk man forcing himself on you sexually... I'm sorry, but this comment is ridiculous on multiple fronts. First off, and most importantly, sexual assault victims are the victims, not causes of sex-related crimes. We need to stop treating them like the causes of these unfortunate incidents and providing excuses for the perpetr...

I haven't handed out any douche-of-the-day or douche-of-the-week awards in a while, but Missouri state Representative Rick Brattin's recent actions helped snap that severe drought. Last week in the Missouri House, Republican state Representative Rick Brattin decided to propose a bill which would strip scholarships from any athlete who "calls, incites, supports or participates in any strike." The proposal also mandated colleges and universities to fine any coach who encouraged or enabled student-athletes' protests. While Representative Numnutz, I mean Representative Brattin, wasn't available for comment, co-sponsor Representative Kurt Bahr (tweedledum) was, and went on to say the following: "[The aim is to show that] the response that they've had (the University of Missouri) has not been as strong as the Legislature would like, and that we, the General Assembly, expect the leadership of this state institution to actually lead and now allow the st...

I recently wrote a bit about the new "dad bod" wave and briefly talked about how it seems to set a double-standard as far as men and women are concerned. While, in the eyes of the media, men can often times get away with having a few extra pounds, women are unfairly criticized if they possess this additional weight, even after giving birth to children. After posting that blog yesterday, I decided to do some more research on the matter, and discovered, as often seems to be the case, most people have misconstrued what the initial message was with this so-called "movement." Oddly enough, this new "dad bod" wave was started by Clemson Sophomore Mackenzie Phillips writing a piece for The Odyssey , entitled, "Why Girls Love The Dad Bod." She started her article by writing this: "In case you haven't noticed lately, girls are all about that dad bod. I hadn't heard about this body type until my roommate mentioned it... ...The dad bod is...

Following the debacles that were the previous couple of elections for Republicans with regard to women voters and issues, one would think they'd have learned by now, but apparently that's not the case. Remember these lovely comments? Todd Akin: "It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child." Richard Mourdock: "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that's something God intended to happen." Well, at a get-out-the-vote rally in Sarasota, Florida on Tuesday, conservative radio show host Dennis Prager felt the need to continue the trend by sharing his thoughts on the wave of sexual assault and rape reports on college camp...

Conservative commentator James Taranto has come under fire for a op-ed he recently posted in The Wall Street Journal , entitled, "Drunkenness and Double Standards - A balanced look at college sex offenses." Taranto spends a decent amount of his time cherry-picking cases where men were wrongly accused of rape, before appearing to insinuate that intoxicated female rape victims are just as much to blame for the event as the male rapists. The common denominator for him is alcohol, which he believes is the main reason for this alleged double standard with regard to sexual assault in our country. In the article, Taranto writes the following: "Winerip notes that between 2005 and 2010, 'more than 60 percent of claims involving sexual violence handled by United Educators'--an insurance company owned by member schools--"involved young women who were so drunk they had no clear memory of the assault.' We know from Sgt. Cournoyer that the accused men typically ...

While I love statistics about as much as anyone this side of Nate Silver, there are some stats at which I have to roll my eyes, like this next one. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted USC quarterback Matt Barkley in the 4th round of the NFL Draft. Barkley will join the likes of Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Dennis Dixon at the quarterback position. Thanks to "ESPN Stats and Information," the following stat was just released: "NFL - Vick and Foles Fumble, Barkley Doesn't Only 2 quarterbacks in the NFL had more fumbles than games played in 2012: Michael Vick (11 fum, 10 games) and Nick Foles (8 fum, 7 games). Matt Barkley had 10 fumbles in 47 games at USC -- that's the fewest fumbles by any FBS QB who played 47+ games from 2009-12." First off, both Vick and Foles played behind a battered offensive line all year, which didn't help their cause. Also, while Vick has been pretty notorious for fumbling the football throughout his NFL career, Foles was just a ...

Republican Oklahoma state Representative Mike Reynolds said the following to lawmakers the other day with regard to making sure students have access to a college education: "It is not our job to see that anyone gets an education. It is not the responsibility of me, you, or any constituent in my district to pay for his or any other persons [sic] education. Their GPA, ACT, AS[V]AB, determination have nothing to do with who is responsible. Their potential to benefit society is irrelevant." Judging by his statement, I'd think Mr. Reynolds would be first in line to support legislation which made certain that students have access to a college education. It's quite something for a politician to make a typo when decrying the need for educating students, as Mr. Reynolds did when writing the following statement - "...It is not the responsibility of me, you, or any constituent in my district to pay for his or any other persons education..." In Mr. Reynolds' min...

So, the University of Colorado-Boulder will allow students to carry guns to class. In March, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of this - allowing students to bring guns into classes and labs. A professor at Boulder - Jerry Peterson - said in response to this ruling - "My own personal policy in my classes is if I am aware that there is a firearm in the class -- registered or unregistered, concealed or unconcealed -- the class session is immediately canceled. I want my students to feel unconstrained in their discussions." Chancellor Phillip P. DiStefano responded to Peterson with the following: "I have the utmost respect for Professor Peterson, who is an old friend and valued colleague, but I want to make clear that if a student carrying the weapon has a concealed-carry permit, the position implied by Professor Peterson's comments directly violates Colorado law and the operating principles of the campus." That makes sense. I'm sure students, teac...

I've heard it many times and the more I read in independent and alternative news, the more I read about teachers being labeled as too "liberal." Right as the war in Iraq began, an elementary school teacher spoke to a class about alternatives to war. A student asked if she was for or against protests and she stated that she favored all alternatives to war, until it was truly the last resort. So, a student tattled on her and not long after, she was let go by the school. Not too long after that, a college professor made comparisons between George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler. Toward the end of his speech, he noted that all he was trying to do was provoke thought and just because he said what he did, didn't make him right. He was just attempting to get the students to open their minds and look at things in a different light. A student ratted on him and the teacher got suspended from teaching until the investigation comes to a close. These are only two of the many storie...