I appreciate most of the sentiments and observations Nick Ray makes above, but wish to correct one point. Nick argues that the existence of hell and sin take away free will. This is at odds with the traditional Christian theology.

Orthodox Christianity (which at times is very much at odds with evangelical faith) argues that sin and hell make free will possible. If an act cannot have bad consequences, then no moral action has been taken. For example, choosing between broccoli and squash as a meal has no moral meaning. Both are good foods. The choice is strictly a matter of personal taste, nothing more.

The existence of evil means that human decisions have real relevance and meaning. If we can choose to do evil we can also choose to do good. If we cannot choose to do evil, nor can we choose to do good, since good becomes nothing more than the default position.

It seems to me that a faith or worldview that fails to account for sin also fails to account for the reality of error, and the realization that goodness is a choice, not simply a property of human behavior. I am not saying I defend the fundamentalists' view of hell, only that if there is no divine judgment, it means humans do not have the ability to choose between right and wrong. This is at odds with our own human experience.

The thing that kills me about the NCAA is that membership is voluntary. Voluntary. All of these schools submit to the NCAA stupidity because the NCAA runs championship tournaments and nobody wants to be left out.

It would be great if the top ten teams in one sport, preferably football or basketball, got together and decided to stage their own tournament outside NCAA sanctimony, er, sanction. There is nothing the NCAA could do. Then, at the end of the tournament, the coaches could all line up in the middle of the field, and in unison take out their cell phones and call up a recruit. Then, they could all drop their trousers to the NCAA flag.

I'd pay any money to see that. Maybe even help pay off a coach for it.

First off, I am from New Orleans, which is where a lot of coffee is imported into the U.S. I am used to excellent coffee, and people who think Starbucks has it don't know what they are talking about.

Starbucks coffee is okay. Its beans are above Folgers and Maxwell House but definitely below top restaurant quality. Much of their beans are overroasted, and have a burned flavor coffee shouldn't have. In the stores, the staff tends to make huge pots and leave them sitting for hours, which accentuates the burned taste. As used to top quality beans as I am, I taste the burned quality with the first sip.

Starbucks also waters their coffee down too much. I know in many parts of the country that is what people like, but most people grew up tasting cheap beans. A good bean, well roasted, is not bitter, and the strong, black brews of local shops and restaurants here in New Orleans is the way coffee should taste.

Starbucks benefits from the fact that most people are used to bad beans and so drink weak coffee. They are like Michelob or Coors, good but not great products that appeal to people who have never had a first class British ale straight out of the keg.

Once you get used to drinking really good stuff, Starbucks seems second rate. And no, the top stuff does not cost more than Starbucks.

Have you ever looked at a group of school kids? They segregate themselves, boys on one side, girls on the other. This has gone on for all of history. Even when the races mix, as they often do (most schoolkids are too young to have absorbed their parents' prejudices) still, boys run with boys, girls with girls.

I refuse to believe this is taught to them. It is innate behavior.

So why in the world wouldn't we organize schooling around the way children naturally socialize? The implication is that if kids don't see kids of the other sex at school, they will never seen them ever, which is silly. Many kids have a sibling of the opposite sex. Most have cousins, neighbors, friends.

Schooling is about learning, and schools need to focus on that. They need to stop taking responsibility for every aspect of child development, and leave some of that to the parents. If a parent feels a child needs to see more kids of the opposite sex, that can be arranged. This whole problem is overblown.