Monday, May 19, 2008
LAKES TO PINES TRIATHLONThe results are in: I am trying very hard not to be too bummed about this one, but I feel like I left a lot more out there than I would have liked. My swim and bike times were solid, but the run was disgusting. I mean, I stunk out loud.
Here's the good news: Last year I was 6:30 minutes off my next competitors time (in my age category) at the start of the season. This year, it is just under 3:00 minutes. Had I ran how I think I can, and how I did at the end of last year, I would have beat him. That's encouraging.
My swim time is considerably better than last year. So there's that. And, it was the first race, a full two months sooner than last year.
here are a couple pics:
that's me in the first transition: If I look winded it is because I was swimming, and it is not easy, or natural, to me.
That's just a good shot of my awesome bike. Need new pedals, though, or I will always look like that when I first get on.
Friday, May 09, 2008
PATRIOTISM3 Students In Western Minn. Suspended Over Pledge
DILWORTH, Minn. (AP) ― Fourteen-year-old Bishop Edens was suspended from school Friday because he wouldn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, but he was quickly invited back once his principal learned that rule might be unconstitutional.
The back-and-forth came on the second day of controversy at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Junior High over the school's policy of requiring students to stand -- but not necessarily recite -- during the pledge.
Edens saw three of his classmates get disciplined by Principal Colleen Houglum on Thursday, so he decided to break the rule on Friday in protest. "I feel I should speak my mind about this whole thing," Edens said.
Edens was suspended Friday and went home, but his family told The Forum of Fargo that Houglum invited the teen back to school that afternoon.
Attorney Roger Aronson, who represents 1,700 secondary school principals in Minnesota, said he advised Houglum on Friday that requiring students to stand could violate their right to freedom of expression.
Houglum confirmed in a written statement to The Associated Press that three students were suspended Thursday for violating the DGF Student Handbook.
She said the handbook says "all students will stand" during the pledge but also says students aren't required to recite it.
But Houglum also said school officials were reevaluating the policy.
"It is our understanding that the phrase, 'all students will stand' may need to be modified to address the protection of the individual's form of expression," she said.
The principal told the students during the class Thursday that it was disrespectful to sit during the pledge, especially with U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, Edens said. A boy and two girls spent the day in in-school suspension.
"(Houglum) was talking about how people are fighting in the war for freedom, but she took away their freedom," he said of his classmates.
Shaun Anderson, whose daughter was suspended, said his daughter was talking to a friend about an assignment and didn't hear the pledge on the intercom. She usually stands for the pledge, Anderson said.
"I totally, 100 percent agree with her," Anderson, a member of the military, said of the principal's original decision. "I think any American should believe that."
But Kim Dahl, whose 13-year-old son Brandt was one of those suspended, called the disciplinary action "ridiculous." Her son said his homeroom teacher had never told students about the policy.
"I thought it was kind of dumb because I didn't do anything wrong," Dahl said. "It should be the people's choice."
--Bishop Edens is my nephew. And I could not be more proud of him, or his actions. What he did was a pure act of patriotism. He saw an injustice, and decided to take action against it. It is this very idea that is engrained in the flag, and the pledge that (was, at least) is directed at it, and reflects the ideals our country is founded on. The idea that we must FORCE our children into patriotism is nothing short of facsist, and is in horrid opposition to anything and everything we stand for as a country. It does me well to see the next generation picking up on these ideas, and having the courage of conviction to do what is neccesary and right to make sure they do not die.
