Mother Nature Swore At Me Today

Mother Nature often swears at me. She often says, "Shit!" to me. This morning she raised her voice over and over, as I was to engrossed in the computer to pay attention. Only when she screamed "SHIT!" at the top of her lungs did I go to the bathroom, just barely in time to avoid following her instructions in my pants....

Details on Des Moines' New Sunday Bus Service

DART, the bus system in Des Moines, Iowa, is instituting Sunday service for the first time in over three decades as of 14 Oct. 2007. Holidays are apparently not included, as their website also indicates no service on Thanksgiving (in many cities, holidays are considered Sundays for bus service purposes). Sunday service will apparently be identical to Saturday service except it will start an hour later and end an hour earlier. That means there will be service early enough in the morning to enable people to go to church.... For details click here http://www.dmmta.com/whatsnew_article.asp?id=178 Thank you.

I Love Israel, But....

Yesterday on Minnesota Public Radio I was listening to a broadcast about the Israel lobby in the United States. The truth is it's quite scary. Now understand, I am both pro-Semitic and pro-Israel, but Jeez Louise, do they really have to treat the Palestinians like dirt. The truth is there are two Israels; there is civil Israel, the nation that took in the Jews from World War II, has a positive culture and nightlife, gays in the military, etc.; and there is criminal Israel, the nation that shoots at Palestinian teenagers for the heinous crime of throwing rocks, ran over an American Jewish girl with a bulldozer for supporting Palestinians' rights to be secure in their homes, occupies land taken by force in 1967, and is giving America a bad name by being its "ally". Both Israels exist in the same geographical plane; the difference is not one of place but one of function -- kind of like Central Park in Manhattan, which in the daytime is a pleasant place to take your kids, go for a bike ride, play chess, or listen to a concert, but after dark is a den of robbers, rapists, and killers. Neither the physical place of Israel or Central Park deserve to be harmed. But the negative functions of each should be abolished in order to expand the positive. I therefore say: God bless Israel, but only conditionally, based on its ceasing its harmful activities against the Palestinians and the restoration of the pre-1967 border. With a wall if necessary. To the SUV driver I saw last week with "I love Israel" stickers in his window: Do you love the Palestinians too? If yes, I support you. If no, that is terrible. I love New York, too; but I'm not thrilled about Central Park at night. For more information go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14566795&ampsourceCode=RSS
Thank you. Urine is a drink. Sickness is Lord.

Chaska, Minnesota's New "Social Host" Law

The city of Chaska, Minnesota (a suburb of the Twin Cities) has recently enacted a "social host" law which makes adults criminally liable for gatherings of three or more minors drinking alcohol if they knew or "should have knew" it was happening. This law is another example of capitalist government going the exact wrong direction to solve problems. As was mentioned by a caller on Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning programme today, much of the problem with teenagers drinking alcohol is more related to American cultural taboos and misguided laws than to the alcohol itself. In most European countries, the drinking age is 16 or 18, and only applies to independent purchases of alcohol -- not to alcohol given by a parent or other adult. (In the United States, it was 18 or 19 in many states before President Reagan coerced all of the states to raise it to 21 in the mid 1980s.) There are less problems caused by teen drinkers in Europe than in America for several reasons: First of all, it isn't uncommon for even small children to drink at home, for example, wine with dinner. (In some of the American states, including Minnesota, there is an exception to the drinking age law for drinking at home with parental consent or supervision. However, the cultural taboo against such is almost as potent as any law.) Children learn about alcohol and its effects at an early age in a safe environment. This also means they learn to respect the power of firewater. Contrast this to American kids, who usually start drinking in an illegal and secretive way, where more is better, and getting wasted is the goal. Which is safer? Shouldn't the answer be obvious? I believe one of the reasons young people act so irresponsibly in this country is there is little to no reward for behaving responsibly. Teenagers don't have basic civil rights, even if they get straight A pluses in school and live a responsible life. This needs to change if we are to ever have a society that works right. As a Communist, I believe in the equality of all human beings unless and until they demonstrate they don't deserve it. Prejudice of every kind is sinful. That includes age prejudice as well as religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, etc. Check out some information on Chaska's ordinance here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/20/midmorning1/ or by clicking on the header of this post.

Gus Hall Action Club gets new blog and e-mail address

The Gus Hall Action Club, made up of Minnesotans who have been dropped from the Communist Party, USA in a dispute over revisionism, has established its own blog and e-mail address. Please visit their blog at http://gushallactionclub.blogspot.com and/or e-mail them at gushallactionclub@yahoo.com -- Thank you. Yes, I am a member of the Club.

The Danger of Islam

For 25 years now, I've been aware of the dangers that Christianity pose to human liberty. I was a teenager with high hormone levels when the "Moral Majority" and its anti-sex rants were making the news every day. As the founder of a non-Christian religion which supports human liberty, especially in the realm of sex, I have always been critical of the Christian right. However, until the national tragedy called 9/11, I never really paid much attention to radical fundamentalist Islam. Sure I knew it was as harmful as fundamentalist Christianity, if not worse, but I saw it as a threat "over there" and not in America. Like my former belief that Ronald Reagan was the worst possible President the United States could have, I was proven wrong. I have no objection to people who believe in Christianity or Islam as long as they don't shove it down other people's throats. My objection is to the Jerry Falwells and Osama bin Ladens of the world who can't respect others' rights to live as they wish. I don't want to live under sharia law any more than I want to see James Dobson get any kind of political power. Amen.

Naomi Klein is at it again

Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, the book that inspired the "Battle of Seattle" (rioting at the World Trade Organization [WTO] conference) almost a decade ago, has just published a new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Well, she's definitely right about one thing: capitalism is a disaster. Unfortunately, she hasn't yet been brought on board as a Communist. Communism is the only true solution to the disaster of capitalism. Protesting against logos and major corporations isn't enough. In fact, one of the corporations her followers love to trash, Starbucks Coffee, is actually quite socially responsible in comparison to some of the other companies that get a free pass. Wishy-washy new age "anarchy lite" isn't going to cut it. Sorry, Naomi. When you have a hammer in one hand and a sickle in the other, then I'll take you seriously.

Atlanta's Proposed Baggy Pants Law

How asinine! The city of Atlanta, Georgia is considering an ordinance that would make it illegal to wear baggy pants that expose your boxer shorts (for men) or thong strap (for women). How ridiculous can you get! Yes, I think the fashion itself is silly, but come on, do we really need a law against it? Besides, even though I don't go in for that fashion, because of my body shape (big belly, no butt), I find it nearly impossible to keep my pants up unless I wear my belt so tight it hurts. I'm sure I'm not the only person in that situation. Jeez! What a world we live in!

Living to 100? Or just 68?

I took a health quiz recently on http://www.livingto100.com and scored a 68. That means that, with my current lifestyle habits, I am likely to live to age 68. Of course, since I'm only 40, there's 28 years for me to work on improving that. Amyway, I recommend this website to anyone who wants concrete, scientific information about how long they are likely to live. Besides being potential incentive to improve your health, it is useful as a planning tool.

I wish to note here that my opposition to health as posted previously on the Daily Windshield is only an opposition to forced health, and I'm mostly talking about cleanliness here. I am by nature a sloppy, messy, and often gross and nasty man (if you're old enough to remember Oscar Madison from The Odd Couple, you've got the general idea); and I easily get mad when people criticise my habits. That doesn't mean I think I'm right and they're wrong; just that it's none of their business. However, even I am inspired to work on some aspects of improving my health; just maybe not all of them -- and that's part of the beauty of sites like this and books like RealAge. Improving your health isn't an "all or nothing" deal. Every little part helps. For example, at least I don't smoke. Smoking takes 8 years off your life but you can get 7 of them back if you quit....

Underground Railroad for pets

I recently read in the National Post about a new "underground railroad" for long-distance pet adoptions. The concept is: some communities have way too many stray cats and dogs, and their humane societies have to execute them. Sometimes, however, there is a demand for the specific animal on Death Row; the problem is it is often far away, sometimes over 1,000 kilometers. This is where services like http://www.petfinder.com (click here or on the header of this post for details) and http://www.dogster.com (click here for details; dogs only) come in. Sometimes a pet is driven by several people, being transferred from car to car in a relay-type system. Anyway, I found the concept interesting.

Finally, A Non-Gross, Non-Cruel Dream

Last night, I dreamed about crashing a corporate party and eating things that looked, like Cheetos but were grey and chocolatey rather than bright orange and cheesy. That was sure nicer than some of the other dreams I've reported lately. LOL!

Announcing: the Gus Hall Action Club

Five droppees from the Communist Party, USA today agree on a name for their new organization: the Gus Hall Action Club. Our purpose is to continue bringing the Communist Plus to leftist events and continue the ideological traditions of the CPUSA as it was during the lifetime of Gus Hall. We will be announcing a meeting time as soon as we have a reservation at Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thank you.

More Weird Dreams About Animals

I don't know why, but animals have been in my dreams a lot lately, and usually not in a nice way. Last night I dreamed I was in a boarding school and had two cats, which I beheaded and left on the floor, blaming someone else for the action. Then I dreamed I had a small female dog and it mated with eight male dogs of different breeds, none of which I could identify, except the last one was a Scottish Terrier. The second dream was a lot like an episode from Sex and the City, where a similar thing happened to Charlotte's dog in a New York park.
If anyone has a good interpretation of these dreams or a good idea to help me get rid of them so I can get a good night's sleep for a change, please post a comment. Thank you.

When you can't breathe, nothing else matters!

I woke up at 4:00 this morning, desperate for a fix; not of some illegal, mind-altering drug, but of a generic form of Afrin nasal spray. My nose had become stuffed durring the night and I woke up unable to breathe. According to the Manitoba Lung Association, when you can't breathe, nothing else matters. You don't know how right they are until you've experienced it. Even if my house was on fire, I would have still been looking for the nasal spray. After a few squirts in each nostril, then I'd have run out the door. When you can't breathe, nothing else matters. Visit the Manitoba Lung Association's website by clicking on the header to this post. Thank you.

Kid Nation: Experience, exploitation, or both?

As a Communist, I hate it when I disagree with the labour movement, but there are times one must answer a higher calling. The show Kid Nation is a case in point. While yes, it is an exploitative reality TV show (and what reality show isn't?), it is also an important social experiment. As a youth rights advocate, I see the value in children having the chance to prove they can handle responsibilities, because that's the only way they will ever get their basic human rights. Now, maybe a rustic Wild West ghost town isn't the proper environment to do that in; after all, most adults today don't have to deal with such conditions.... I just hope the concept of Kid Nation isn't scrapped after one season due to complaints from the labour movement. Maybe the concept needs to be modified, like moving the setting to an apartment building or college dorm that's normally unused for the summer. Excercises in democracy and responsibility can take place in a safer, though less dramatic, environment. I believe the results would be just as interesting and CBS would still get its surplus value. Yes, it would still be exploitation, but one must remember that when anyone works for a private, for-profit employer, they are being exploited by definition. My only regret about Kid Nation is that I moved recently from a furnished to an unfurnished apartment and now don't have a TV....

Alan Maki, my friend and comrade

I had a weird and gross dream about my friend Alan Maki last night, and I've decided to post it primarily to get it out of my mind and in the hope of interpretation coming to a reader, who might pass it to me, as I think it's relevant. With the disclaimer that this was only a dream and didn't actually happen, here goes: I was visiting Alan at his home in Northwestern Minnesota and making pancakes in his kitchen, when he suddenly went into a rage at his dog Fred, and tried to cut one of poor Fred's ears off. He only succeeded three-quarters of the way; Fred's left ear was hanging in a bloody mess on his poor head. Then Alan captured Fred, who was by now running away, in the vice grip of a closing basement door around his neck. Alan finished cutting off Fred's left ear and then cut off his right ear, and threw the ears on the kitchen table while letting Fred run down into the basement to bleed to death. I was shocked at such cruelty, and decided to exact justice by cooking the ears into two of the pancakes for Alan to eat. However, I got the pancakes mixed up, and ended up eating one of the "dog-eared" pancakes myself, thinking "Oh, yuuuucccck!" but not saying anything. Alan ate his without apparent emotion or comment. I thought, "How could he do that without any feeling?"
End of dream. Again, I wish to remind the readers of this blog that it was only a dream, and did not actually happen. In fact, having seen Alan's interaction with Fred, I believe he loves his dog very much (No, not that way, you perverts!) and would NEVER do such a thing. However, I do believe this dream is somehow related to the political firestorm going on in the Communist Party, USA here in Minnesota....
You see, Alan is one of the people who was dropped from the Party, three years retroactively. He's been falsely accused of using his casino union organizing to benefit the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). He's been treated like crap by 90 percent of politicians and bureaucrats in the United States and Canada. He probably would like to cut someone's ears off but I bet it's not his trusty dog's. (No, I'm not saying he would hurt anybody, just that I bet he feels like it.)
I have great sympathy for Alan Maki, and would like to invite you to learn more about him and what he's gone through by clicking the header of this post to see his blog. Thank you very much for your time in reading the Daily Windshield. I know these last few days have been trying on my readers.

Communist Party USA - Internal Dispute

The emergency which kept me from posting news yesterday was that the day before, I and three of my friends received notices that we were dropped from the Communist Party, USA for "factional activities". I am still a Communist ideologically, just not an official Party member anymore. The four of us, and probably one other droppee and possible sympathizers are starting an organization called the Gus Hall Action Committee, after the former leader of the CPUSA who would never have tolerated the stuff that goes on in the Party's name now that he is dead and gone.

The conflict in the Party is one of revisionism; that is, the watering down of Communist doctrine. If you're not a Communist, the best way to understand revisionism is to imagine a Catholic priest saying sex outside of marriage is OK as long as you use birth control....

The People's Weekly World, the CPUSA's newspaper, is so watered down it is often mistaken for a mainstream liberal or labour paper. The "C" word is barely mentioned, compared with the 1980s, when the Daily World, its predecessor, was blatantly and obviously Communist (at a time when Communism was in much more disfavour in this country, I may add).

The leaders, nationally and particularly in Minnesota, seem to want a Party that does nothing but show up at a monthly meeting with a $5 bill in hand for the Treasurer, and sit down quietly to listen to a 90-minute sermon on how capitalism in China is really Communism. Wal*Mart is the bearer of revolutionary socialism... on what planet, people????

The Party, at least in Minnesota, doesn't seem to appreciate independent individual work on behalf of the Party, objecting to actions like writing letters to mainstream newspaper editors or running for mayor of a town without the Party's explicit approval. Unfortunately, many hot-button issues don't wait till the day of the Party monthly meeting. Such delays mean lost opportunities. This is more annoying than the leaders' revisionist attitudes. The dues-sucking chairwarmers who run the Communist Party, USA will never seize power the way they do things. In fact, even if State power was handed to them on a silver platter, they would probably give it away to the nearest Democrat, or worse, Republican....

Sorry, today's Daily Windshield cancelled or late

Due to emergency demands on my computer time today, the Daily Windshield will either not be published today or will come out after 18:00 CDT. My apologies for the situation. Please look for the Daily Windshield tonight or tomorrow. Thank you.

Hamburger Stand and White Castle

I wish there was a Hamburger Stand in the Twin Cities and a White Castle in Denver. Please click the link heading this post for more information on the infamous White Castle.

Ice cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! What's your favourite lavour? Mine is butter pecan, my second is chocolate.

Health is Stupid and Dumb

I support and defend sickness in every possible form. Well, not really. Just those kinds of sickness which are caused by germs. You see, I hate cleanliness, and I hate people who think it's so almighty important. I don't think there should be a ban on soap or anything; I just think society should recognize that it should be a free choice. If people wish to waste their precious time taking baths and stuff like that, fine. But they shouldn't be able to force their ways on others who actually have lives. Pee is a good drink. Well, not really. But it is a good drink for protesting this evil world which believes in health. Sickness is a good thing. All hail sickness! I wish everyone in this world, including myself, would catch a terrible disease, not out of hate, but just to get back at health.

World Without People

There is a new book out about what the world would be like if homo sapiens suddenly disappeared. Of course, if it was everyone except me that disappeared, I would call that heaven! However, realisitically, would cats or dogs survive longer? The author's bet is on cats. How long would it take the various hallmarks of our "civilization" to vanish? Would space aliens visiting 1,000 years from now even know we ever existed? These questions are quite interesting.

Sunday Bus Service Coming To Des Moines, Iowa!

DART, the Des Moines, Iowa transit service, will start providing bus service on Sundays next month. This is a major improvement. As little as ten years ago, there was no evening service on weekdays, then they started running to 11:30 PM. Ridership turned out to not quite justify that last hour so it was cut back to 10:30 PM, still not bad. Unfortunately, the approximately 7 PM cutoff still applies to Saturdays. We'll see if the people of Des Moines turn out to use Sunday bus service enough to keep it going.... Please click the link heading this post for more information (not much is available yet so keep checking back).

Bus Service Improvements in Fargo, ND

Next month, there will be several positive changes in bus service on Fargo's Metropolitan Atrea Transit (MAT). Service every half hour instead of once an hour on the North Broadway, South University, and 13th Ave. S. to West Acres routes, weekdays and Saturdays. In addition, evening service will be extended one hour, weekdays and Saturdays, in the West Fargo area. Click the link heading this post for more details.

Lincoln, Nebraska Transit Improvements

There are several changes planned for StarTran, the city transit system of Lincoln, Nebraska, in June 2008. The most significant of these changes are: making the downtown shuttle service free, and operating a downtown shuttle route Thursday through Saturday nights until midnight. Check the link in the title of this post for more details.

Bathrooms: Private or Public?

The case of Senator Larry Craig gives me food for thought. Since when is a bathroom a "public" place? It seems to me that the purpose of a bathroom, especially a stall, is privacy, therefore the concept that it is a "public" place is negated.

I agree there are certain activities, like having sex or going to the bathroom, which shouldn't be done in public, and for which it is legitimate to have laws prohibiting doing them in public.

Notice the inconsistency here. Most people agree that one shouldn't go to the bathroom in public, yet they consider a bathroom a "public" place. Let's get real here. One very needed legal reform is a more sensible definition of "public". I think that "where unsuspecting passersby are likely to see you without consenting to doing so" is fair. The only way to see what is going on inside a toilet stall is to deliberately look inside. Therefore, a stall is not "public" under this standard, even if it's in a public building.

And those who like their sex al fresco should be allowed to do so, as long as they pick a location where unsuspecting, nonconsenting individuals are unlikely to suffer having to see it. Doing it in the woods is different from doing it on the open grass of a highly trafficked city park or on a public sidewalk.

And what about urination and defecation? I see nothing wrong with making a run for the bushes or going behind a dumpster in an isolated alley. Again, I'm not proposing that doing it right out in the open should be legalised. Common sense is the issue here.

Animal-Human Hybrid Stem Cell Research in Britain

The British government has recently decided to legalise stem cell research that involves transplanting human genetic material into the eggs of other species. Some people oppose any human stem cell research on the grounds that it sacrafices a human life for the benfit of science. Others note that the embryos involved would likely have been destroyed anyway, and that using them for science at least gets some use out of them... but this is something different entirely. According to a report on the Canadian radio programme As it Happens last night, the people who are OK with human stem cell research are OK with this hybridization, on the grounds that if they don't feel that human embryos need "protection" then neither should something that's "less than" human, if even by 0.1%. I am suprised that no one, other than those who were totally against human stem cell research, brought up the idea that mixing animal and human genetic material is creepy, and that is a seperate issue from whether all human life has a right to be protected from destruction. I personally think the idea is fascinating, but then I am a weird-o.

The Twin Cities: Suburbs of Rochester (Minnesota)?

For about the last 25 years, Rochester City Lines, in addition to providing local bus service within the city limits of Rochester, has provided commuter service from the "suburbs", which were really the small towns of Southeastern Minnesota. This isn't so unusual, but the recent development of commuter service from a "suburb" which is about 25 times the size of the so-called "central city" is. RCL now provides commuter buses from the Twin Cities metropolitan area (about 2.5 million people) to Rochester (about 100,000 population). One would think the situation would be the other way around, running buses to the Twin Cities in the morning and back to Rochester in the evening. What Rochester employer is responsible for drawing commuters from a bigger city 75 miles away? The famous Mayo Clinic, of course... Mayo is becoming quite a capitalist powerhouse in Southestern Minnesota....

Duluth Transit Authority travesties

The Duluth (Minnesota) Transit Authority is at it again, tampering with tradition by moving the route up and down the hill on the east side of downtown from 2nd Ave. E. to 3rd Ave. E.

Actually, they would do better to keep the uphill routes on 2nd Ave. E. and move the lakeside routes off the hill altogether, running them straight up and down E. Superior St. Of course this means people from Lakeside (Lester Park and Crosley Neighbourhood) would have to transfer to reach the Hospitals, but this is a small price to pay for the time savings afforded by this efficiency.

If the DTA wants to change something, I have a few suggestions:

1. Night service on Saturdays and Sundays.

2. Consider holiday service on New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labour Day. The malls and other retail are generally open those days and employees need to get to work, as well as shoppers needing to get to the shops. Remember, bus riders are typically poor (isn't everyone in Duluth poor?) and often work odd hours and so many hours they have difficulty finding time for errands. Getting a holiday off may mean "Now I have time to buy some groceries", but there's no buses in Duluth then.... Oddly, buses do run on Easter in Duluth, great for church-goers, but there's little traffic after about noon because stores are closed.

3. Night service in Superior, Wisconsin.

4. A direct route from Lakeside to the Mall, not via downtown. (The old #20.)

5. A route on London Road to serve the retail there. Walking up and down the hill from East Superior is quite strenuous and even potentially hazardous in icy weather.

6. Night service on the Piedmont line.

7. Instead of charging double at rush hour, have the same fare all day but charge double for rides between Duluth and Superior.

8. Eliminate the stupid "zero tolerance for profanity" policy, replacing it with a policy against loud and boisterous behaviour. Freedom of speech is important. So is preventing disturbances, but I think most people would agree with me that the real issue that disturbs people is excessive volume and horseplay, not specific words. Here in the Twin Cities, there is no specific rule against profanity on buses, in fact you hear it all the time. It doesn't cause any problems....

I love, I love my...

I love, I love, I love my diet Coke plus! No calories or carbs, like other diet colas, but with the plus of B vitamins and vitamin E....

Don't Forget Your Vitamin C

School season is here, and that means colds and flu. While the jury's out on whether Vitamin C really helps prevent colds, it sure can't hurt. As to zinc, which is alleged to shorten the duration of a cold, be careful. Some people who've used zinc inhalers have claimed they lost their sense of smell. Of course, if you're around me, you might want another whiff of that zinc!!!!

Kids' Birthdays Don't Have to Be Irritating

The key to calm birthday parties is to relax. There is no need to spend thousands of dollars on a toddler's or a preschooler's birthday party and give out expensive knicknacks. It's not a freeping wedding, people! Jeez! We're talking about babies, not bridesmaids!!!!

Nabisco = Christie

How many of you know that Nabisco products are called Christie in Canada?

Dogs get cell phones now

The PetsCell attaches to the dog's collar and allows you to call him. It works like a speakerphone. Woof! Woof!

Wells Fargo immigrating to Canada?

Page 10 of Canadian Business contains an ad for Wells Fargo Foothill Canda, which is apparently a branch of Wells Fargo Foothill, which provides "senior secured financing solutions to middle-market companies across the United States". The Canadian version will be providing "secured credit facilities from C$10 million to C$1 billion and more". Is Wells Fargo trying using this as a foothold to eventually bring its retail banking to Canada? Only time will tell.

White Earth Reservation now has transit

Starting 4 Sept. 2007, the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota will have public transit within the reservation and to and from the city of Detroit Lakes. This is a good thing. Rural public transit is the wave of the future....

Faith-based school controversy in Ontario

The provincial elections coming up 10 Oct. in Ontario will have a major issue: Faith-based school funding. Canada's school system is different from that in the United States: traditionally, provincial governments fund both public (secular) and "separate" (Catholic in most provinces, Protestant in Quebec where the majority is Catholic). To Americans used to the seperation of church and state, this seems odd, especially in a country so similar to the United States in most ways. However, the current controversy is over whether provincial funding should be provided to other faith-based schools in addition to the Catholic schools.

Reading about this in the National Post has given me food for thought. Is the American system of government funding only for secualr schools truly neutral towards religion as intended by the concept of seperation of church and state? Or is it discriminatory against students who choose to go to religious schools? It is interesting that at the college level, student loans in the United States can be used to attend a religious college. Should not education funding be directed at the student rather than the school at lower levels as well?

As a practical matter, of course funding religous schools in the United States would give more power to right-wing nutball religious leaders who would use that power to oppress people. So I am torn between a principle of fairness and the potential monster it would create....