i was listening to the radio on the way home from work today and they said the title of this post on the air. of course, they were referencing “attacks across iraq today” but it definitely got me to thinking about the peculiarity that is the english language. what other language exists that has so many words that sound alike but have completely different meanings? for that matter, what other language has so many words that are *spelled* the same but have different meanings? i haven’t studied all languages ever in the history of the world, but i have yet to find any which have these problems the same way english does. i’ve heard stories about japanese being similar in this regard but if someone who knows japanese can set me straight on this issue i’d love to know more. still, it’s a wonder that those of us who speak english can understand each other at all considering how these words stack up against each other.

and in other news, i found this story online while waiting for my work email to load. apparently there are a lot of registered sex offenders taking correspondence courses by applying for financial aid which is set aside for those needy students who can’t normally afford a college education. also apparently, there are a lot of lawmakers in this country who think that these ex-criminals don’t deserve to be using this money to actually pay for an education. now, i will completely agree that they should not be spending the leftover money on things that are not related to their education, but this is true for ALL students who receive pell grants and college financial aid.

when i used to get pell grants for college, i sure as hell didn’t spend the leftover on books and school supplies. unless by “books” you mean pizza, and by “school supplies” you mean beer. every college student does this, this is nothing new whatsoever. there are even students who sign up, get their financial aid check, and then drop classes for a full refund of the money. this is also nothing new whatsoever. where the outrage is coming from is the fact that these are sexual predators, registered as such with the various state agencies that deal with such crimes. and in our “tough on crime” society, we have politicians who would rather lock these people up and literally throw away the key than spend one single dime on educating them so that they can one day possibly be released into society again.

we already have laws which decide where these people can live, whether or not they can drive their own vehicle to and from work (assuming they can even *find* a job), how much time they can spend on the internet (if at all), and other limitations on their lives. but now that some of them want to get themselves an education using the law as it is already written, suddenly there is an outrage. yes it’s true that there are some registered sex offenders who have committed truly horrendous crimes against humanity. and some of them definitely deserve to be locked up for most of the rest of their lives. but the ones who are able to finish their sentences and get released back into society should not be held back if they want to better themselves.

as i have always said, it used to be a badge of honor to work yourself up from the bottom and make something of yourself. not only that, but supposedly with a little hard work you *can* make something of yourself in america. but more and more our society is closing its doors to all but the ones who can pay to play. if you don’t already have money, you are not as likely to have a chance to lift yourself up out of your situation. and god help you if you should be convicted of a sex crime, or a drug offense, because that means that you will never be allowed to go to school if you can’t afford to pay for it yourself. but if you were convicted of a sex crime or drug offense, good luck finding a place to hire you that will let you make enough money to afford to pay for college yourself, even a community college or correspondence course….