Chinese porn crackdowns, lame tax stories and America's 36 percent idiot quotient

- Many of the volunteers who go into prisons are religious groups who engage in different ministry activities with inmates. The idea is to share things with those inmates that will tend to their spiritual needs and perhaps provide them with a way to change themselves and their lives. That is apparently not the idea of ministry espoused by Rev. Teresa Darden Clapp, a prison chaplain in New City, N.Y. Rev. Clapp is being investigated for distributing anti-Islamic literature to inmates, including booklets with derogatory depictions of the prophet Muhammad. There’s no reason for this kind of action and no need for it, because last I checked, you can share your beliefs and your religious views without denigrating other religions. I can't really find the part of the Bible where Jesus mocks and belittles other religious beliefs. Saying another religion is wrong theologically is one thing, but looking to make fun of that other religion and put it down is another. When the average non-Christian person forms negative stereotypes and opinions about Christianity, these are the kinds of incidents they think about, and Rev. Clapp is really hurting her own religion more than she is hurting Islam with her actions.

- Good luck with your new project, Chinese government. Officials there are looking to crack down on online porn, claiming it has “perverted China’s young minds.” First, let me say that your claim of perversion is probably correct, China. Porn tends to have that kind of effect on people, although often it’s a reflection of how sick and twisted they already are as opposed to a driving force in creating that sickness and twistedness. Still, online porn is responsible for a disturbingly large portion of Internet content, and I seriously doubt you all are going to be able to totally restrict your citizens’ access to it. The Ministry of Public Security will spearhead the campaign and look to target cyber strip shows and sexually explicit images, videos and audio clips. Something tells me that with more than a billion people in your country, you are going to have a very difficult time cutting off everyone’s access to online porn, but it’s a worthy goal and hopefully the Chinese have success accomplishing it.

- No place in America is incompetence rewarded more handsomely than the NBA. Already, New York Knicks coach/GM Isaiah Thomas received a contract extension for coaching his team to a win total in the mid-thirties and missing the playoffs. Now comes speculation that the Boston Celtics are about to give head coach Doc Rivers a contract extension after he has “led” his squad to the worst record in the whole Eastern Conference and the second-worst record in the NBA. The Celtics’ only hope in lieu of their atrocious, underachieving campaign is to land one of the top two picks in June’s NBA draft and select either of the two top phenoms expected to be available, Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Despite the fact that Rivers’ teams have seen their win totals go down from 45 his first year of his current contract to a current total of 23 in this season, the Celts’ brass seems to feel that he’s doing a bang up job and deserves an extension. Following this logic, if he wants another extension when this new deal is up, he’d better get that win total down into single digits and he’ll be good to go.

- Tax day is this coming week, and you know what that means: it’s time for an annual favorite of mine, the TV news reporter stationed outside the post office interviewing tax procrastinators as they rush to have their taxes postmarked by midnight on April 17. These interviews are always verrrrrry insightful and so fresh. You never get tired of some lazy schmuck explaining that he was up all night trying to hammer out form 1040-EZ and get it to the post office in time. I’m still not sure why I’m supposed to care about these people and their quest to turn their taxes in on time, but I guaran-frickin’-tee that almost every local station in America will have a story along these lines on its broadcast.

- Just so you know, 36 percent of America is incredibly stupid. This isn't an arbitrary number, either. I based this statement on the fact that in the most recent poll measuring W.’s approval rating, 36 percent of Americans say they approve of the job this clown is doing. I can think of no better measure of stupidity than whether or not someone is able to realize that we are currently experiencing the worst and most incompetent president in our nation’s history. Giving this bozo a positive approval is like saying you’re a fan of the health benefits of the Ebola virus or that you think a shotgun blast to the head is a great remedy for headaches. The findings of this new poll do offer some consolation, though, because when other issues come up and I find myself wondering how so many people can be so ignorant or clueless on a topic, I can think back and realize that these are probably the same IQ-deprived dipwads who gave a thumbs up to W. and his work in the Oval Office.