• OPEN DISCUSSION - For the first 30 minutes of the Thursday night forums we will have informal open discussion. This will allow for late arrivals, food & drink ordering, and new attendees to become acclimated.
• ANNOUNCEMENTS - Any events, news, or other items that you feel are of interest to the group can be announced at the start of Free Inquiry Forum.

TOPICS for Thursday (4/21/05) & Monday (4/25/05):

1. The legal drinking age is 21 for every state in the Union, including most US military bases. In Canada, the age is 18. Vermont is considering lowering the state's drinking age to 18  (and raising the smoking age from 18 to 21). One legislator's reasoning: "Philosophically, it's difficult to reconcile the notion that you can enlist in the military, serve your country, go to war, but not go into your local pub and get a draft beer." By doing so, however, Vermont would forfeit millions in federal highway funds. Statistics have been used to prove that the higher age resulted in lowered road fatalities,  but illicit binge drinking might have gone up. Is this a civil-rights/equality issue, or a safety issue? Should states be allowed to set such laws?  Should Washington use financial extortion to force compliance on this and other issues?
2. The Minuteman Project organizes volunteers to patrol the US-Mexican border to intercept immigrants making illegal crossings. Backers accuse the federal government of ignoring the massive influx of illegals who swamp state budgets, raising state social costs such as healthcare, welfare, fire and police protection, etc. In addition, the influx carries security risks to the US. The project has angered Hispanics and Mexican officials alike, created fears in southwestern states about shootings, and prompted Pres. Bush to issue warnings about vigilantism. Is the US adequately protecting our Mexican border? Are vigilantes needed to block illegal crossings and improve national security, or is the Minuteman Project only damaging our relations with Mexico?
3. A ninth-grade boy was suspended from high school for wearing lipstick and eye makeup. James Herndon, 16, said the five-day suspension by the High School is unfair because females can wear cosmetics on campus. "If I can't wear makeup," he said, "then the girls or the staff can't wear makeup." He says his black lipstick and red eye makeup express the Wiccan religious beliefs he shares with his mother, a priestess and neo-pagan, and that he has the right to free expression.  Do school dress codes violate Constitutional freedoms? Should both sexes have equal rights regarding dress and self-expression? Was religious persecution an issue in this case, or only conformity to school standards? 
4. OPEN DISCUSSION.

Quote of the week: "I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong." [Richard Feynman]

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