Pledge Allegiance To The Swag

Over the past couple of days I have learned a lot more about the Pledge of Allegiance and the differences of importance that it serves around the country. It seems as if different rules are enforced around the United States and these rules have caused some disagreements with my opinions of this daily  pledge. In my experience with the pledge I believe that the only thing that should be enforced is having respect for the country. During homeroom everyday I try to make sure that I stay quiet during the pledge, and I feel comfortable as I am not forced to recite the words. My disagreement with this controversy comes in play when I read this article and discovered that students in different states had severe consequences for not reciting these words. For example, in West Virginia if students refused to recite the pledge it says, "The students could be expelled for insubordination, while their parents could face $50 fine and a 30-day jail term." This completely goes against my views on the pledge because no one should ever face a consequence for not reciting the pledge. We are giving the freedom of speech, which also gives us Americans the choice to not speak so if people are being to say the pledge then they are essentially taken away our rights. If I were to change anything about these laws, I would change it so that people are not forced to serve consequences if they do not recite the pledge because it should be our decision to decide our ways to respect the country. It should be our choice to create our own peace during the pledge which can be accomplished in our own swag.  

Steroids still playing a role

On August 22, 2012 Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon was suspended 50 games for testing positive for violating the drug policy. The former Cy Young award winner has been having one of his best seasons since 2005 when he won the award, and is posting an era of 3.43 this season. As the Athletics are looking to make a playoff push and try and get one of those Wild Card spots in the American League, it will only make it harder for their low budget team to succeed in their goals to make the playoffs as they will be losing one of their best pitchers in Colon. This 50 game suspension for Colon came just a few weeks after Outfielder Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants was also suspended 50 games for violating the MLB drug policy when he tested positive for testosterone as well. Cabrera the NL All-Star game MVP will also be very much missed from his team as he was leading the league in hits and trying to help the Giants with their division. Steroids are still playing a big role in the careers of several players throughout the league, and this just leads to more speculation around the league because no one knows when we will hear about another player being suspended for steroids. Hopefully these players can find a way to stay away from these performance-enhancing drugs because it is creating a bad image for the league the unfair advantages completely change the outcome of several situations.