By Douglas V. Gibbs
Pushing the envelope is a term used figuratively to mean "stretching the boundaries." Once a group begins pushing the envelope, it becomes a never ending need for more and more. The standards and morals of society are tossed aside, and collapse looms on the horizon.
Be it sexual behavior, or governmental intrusion in the lives of the citizens, the only way to stop the stretching of boundaries is to purposely stop the downhill slide down the slippery slope.
What is sad is most of these devastating assaults on our liberty and stability of our culture are either in the name of the common good, or claiming to be a "constitutional right," when they are nothing of the sort.
Let's take a look at some of the signs of the never-ending traveling envelope:
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Diabetes doctors: NYC big-soda ban is just a startDoctors treating the casualties of the global obesity epidemic say an unpopular proposal to limit soda portions in New York City should be just the beginning of stricter regulation of unhealthy foods.
Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans oppose New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to limit single servings of sugary drinks to 16 ounces (0.45 kilograms) at restaurants and other public venues.
Many view the measure as unwelcome government intervention in their daily diets.
But exasperated diabetes specialists say people need even greater protections from a food industry that keeps enticing them with ever-bigger portions, as more than two-thirds of the country's adults are now overweight or obese. Excess weight contributes to health problems from diabetes to hypertension.
"We're spending billions of dollars for drugs to cure the problem after the problem happens, instead of preventing the problem," said Dr. Bryce Palchick, a general practitioner in Pittsburgh.
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White House rebukes guests who flipped bird at Reagan portraitWhite House guests Zoe Strauss, right, and Matty Hart, left, are seen flipping off a portrait of Ronald Reagan on June 15, 2012. Philadelphia publisher Mark Segal, center, is shown giving a thumbs-up. (Philadelphia Magazine)
The White House on Friday rebuked two visitors who were photographed last week at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue flipping the middle finger below a portrait of the late President Ronald Reagan.
The guests had been invited to a reception last Friday marking gay pride month. The images of them -- with both middle fingers raised, pointing up toward Reagan -- were first published by Philadelphia Magazine.
The White House did not approve.
"While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Most all do," Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said. "These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House."
Photographer Zoe Strauss and Matty Hart, national director for public engagement at the group Solutions for Progress, had posted the images of themselves to Facebook.
Hart, under his, wrote simply: "F--- Reagan."
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You can pray... just not to JesusThere is a crack down going on in one North Carolina police department. Have patrols been stepped up? No. Are gangs being disbanded? No. Are the cops getting tough on crime? No. However, what is changing is that volunteer chaplains in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) will no longer be able to invoke the name "Jesus" when they pray, and it has some people up in arms.
As reported by
WSOC TV 9, "chaplains have been told that they cannot invoke the name of Jesus in prayers at public events."
"When I heard this I was sad," said Pastor Terry Sartain, who has been a chaplain with CMPD for seven years.
Sartain said he learned of the policy when he got a phone call before a recent promotion ceremony saying he could not use Jesus' name in his invocation.
"I asked if I could withdraw, because Jesus is the only thing I have to bless people with," Sartain said.
Of course, one person interviewed for the news story, an ACLU member named Jim Gronquist, said the policy was long overdue.
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Secret Services Confiscates Cutlery at Obama Event
Apparently, the Obama administration who says they are the party of understanding and racial tolerance can't trust Hispanics with pointy objects if King Obama is in the room.
Does a fork or dinner knife pose an unacceptable danger to President Barack Obama?
One wouldn’t think so, given the hundreds of lunches and dinners he’s attended ranging from state dinners to political fundraisers to run-of-the-mill stops on the rubber-chicken circuit.
However, at one such lunch Friday afternoon, guests heard an unusual announcement that they needed to hand over their silverware for security reasons.
“It’s very important that you use your utensils as soon as possible,” National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials board member Raquel Regalado told about 1000 delegates at the group’s annual conference.
Regalado hurried the diners to finish up their salads and pre-cut chicken breasts, saying that the Secret Service required that there be no knives at the tables and that the forks be rounded up before Obama entered the room.
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Eye for an eye, hair for hair? Judge orders Price woman to cut off daughter's ponytail in courtThe mother of a 13-year-old girl says she has filed a formal complaint against a juvenile court judge who told her he'd cut her daughter's sentence if she cut off the girl's ponytail in his courtroom.
"She definitely needed to be punished for what had happened," Valerie Bruno told the Deseret News. "But I never dreamt it would be that much of a punishment."
Bruno's daughter, Kaytlen Lopan, was referred to 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen's court in March for an allegation of assault. Lopan and a friend endeared themselves to a 3-year-old girl at McDonald's in Price and then used scissors to cut several inches of hair from the little girl's head, according to Price police.
"It was beautiful, it was long, it had natural curl, and now it's cut up to here," said the victim's mother, Mindy Moss, gesturing to her jawline.
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Supreme Court throws out FCC fines for cursing, nudity
The Supreme Court unanimously threw out fines and sanctions Thursday against broadcasters who violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast television.
and we saved the worst for last:
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San Diego students watch gay porn, masturbate in classThis is what public government schools have devolved into.
As a class exercise, students in a 7th-grade class at Bell Middle School in Paradise Hills — a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the city of San Diego, California — watched porn videos, with some students openly masturbating.
Ashley McGlone reports for the San Diego Union-Tribune, June 15, 2012, that the incident, which took place in May, began as a “sexual orientation test” created by students in an English class.
According to written testimonials from 22 students in the all-boys class, the “test” had students wear gym shorts while watching “particular” (gay) porn videos on their cell phones. Whoever became aroused was labeled gay. Some boys masturbated openly in class, but the teacher Ed Johnson didn’t do anything, even when other students complained.
