And, now for something completely different

A canadian woman has had her kids taken away because she twice drew a swastika on her daughter's arm. Check out this article.

I truly am as offended by the swastika as anyone and am appalled that any parent would teach such so-called "values" to her children, but to take her kids away?!?! To those who like to bemoan America's loss of personal freedoms, this makes me glad not to live in Canada. (No offense, Shannon and Christina, if you happen to be reading - I was just floored by this article!)

In the interest of fairness, I was also floored by this article about a decision by an American judge not to allow drilling for oil and gas in an area of lower Michigan:

Property ownership /interest issues aside, where do these people suggest that we drill? We are stopped at every turn from offshore drilling, and now China is drilling off the coast of Cuba. Who would you rather have drilling (because with the state of today's oil market, *someone* is going to drill), us with our state-of-the-art technology or China with their outdated technology that is bound to do much more environmental harm than our own processes would?

And, seriously, the drilling in Michigan is going to harm this warbler bird? Here's my question (posed to me by one of my brothers, and I agree with him completely): how does one reconcile an unquestionable belief in evolution and rabid environmentalism at the same time? Does it make any sense to believe that thousands, perhaps millions, of species have literally come and gone from the face of the earth, leaving only those who could adapt and survive, yet somehow those species who happen to exist today are indispensable and to be protected and preserved (by another species, mind you) at any and all costs? I can't quite wrap my mind around that. Anyone? (This question is also implied by what I think is one of the best bumper stickers I've seen: "I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian!") And, no, I am not an evolutionist, but I do have a sense of humor.

We now return to our originally scheduled mindless posts about my kids. ;)