What's going on

So, I'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum on all of these, but I felt the need to post them for awareness...

First, the extremely political - the Virginia governor issues a proclamation making April "Confederate History Month" in Virginia...and completely leaves out any mention of slavery or that slavery was the major issue of the war. And then, when questioned later why he left it out, said something to the effect that "that was an oversight, there were several issues that were part of the war, slavery was only one of them". And, when he finally realized the trouble he caused, backpedaled and said "yes, leaving out a mention of slavery was a huge omission, and I will add in a paragraph immediately". OK...I guess I tend to wonder how leaving out any mention of slavery is an "oversight". He did end up fixing it...I'm all for remembering history fairly and accurately, which is one of the ways we keep from repeating it, but slavery might have been THE biggest issue in our country's history. Sigh.

Next, less political but more blatantly cruel...18-year-old Constance McMillen, a senior in Fulton, MS, was told she couldn't come to prom with her girlfriend, the ACLU stepped in, and the school board canceled the prom rather than let Constance attend. They also encouraged parents and students to put on a private party prom so that they could legally not invite Constance. Most of us have heard that story from a couple weeks ago. What follows is, IMHO, a new low for humanity. Seemingly in the face of more ACLU lawsuits, Constance and 7 other students (some with learning disabilities) were invited to what they were told was "prom" at a local country club. Meanwhile, everyone else had the real prom at a secret location. Attendees posted pictures from this prom on Facebook, and created a group called "Constance quit yer cryin". Really. This is happening in 2010. And now they wonder why they're getting such a backlash. One of my favorite quotes from the principal when they originally told her she couldn't attend was that "it would cause a distraction to have her there with another girl". So...national media attention and looking like the most backward, bigoted town in America not a distraction 1000 times worse? Hmmm...

And finally, on a lighter, non-political but extremely geeky note...an article on what the release of the iPad symbolically means for Apple...basically that "the circle is now complete" - Apple was the pioneer of the personal computer, and, they are now signaling the end of the personal computer era, in favor of a suite of smart devices or "information appliances" as the article states.