August's Randomnimity

I had a couple of small post ideas which will be consolidated into a randomnimity post. Hopefully these will not be too cynical for general and non-compulsive consumption.

More on the Michael Vick Extravaganza
According to this opinion piece on FoxNews.com, Michael Vick said something along the lines of "Dogfighting is a terrible thing and I reject it ... I found Jesus and turned my life over to God. I think that's the right thing to do as of right now." If this is actually true, and Michael Vick actually has turned to God, wonderful! Hopefully we will see a good lack of controversies from him in the future.
But that last sentence vexes me. "The right thing to do as of right now?" Sir, turning to God is not the right thing to do "as of right now." It has always been the right thing to do. To me, this invokes images of shadowy meetings with P.R. reps calculatingly telling him to say such things. Hopefully he will not go back to his old ways when it's convenient "as of (then) right now." But of course, this is just one person's opinion: mine. I really do hope there is sincere repentance, but I also think it is very disrespectful to throw around God's name for good P.R. (*if* that is what's going on here)

Value of Dog Life vs. Human Life
Nowadays, it's the cool thing now to talk about how inhumane dogfighting is. But wouldn't you know, in God's eyes, humans are more valuable, because they are made in the image of God. Don't get me wrong, dogs are my favorite pet animals. But I don't believe a dog can bring honor to God and worship Him. A dog cannot willingly turn to God. A dog does not have the sentience necessary for such acts. You can bring a dog to church every Sunday from now until they put the nails on your coffin, but that won't do a thing to change a dog's behavior (actually, the same applies to people too). A dog cannot wake up each day and choose to honor God. Why don't highly publicized cases of first degree murder (committed upon an innocent child, for example) have people lamenting about the value of human life? Perhaps it's because dogs largely become what they are molded to become, having little to no say in the matter. Perhaps because most people associate dogs with a certain innocence. Certain subsets of homo sapien have total innocence too...

Public Criminal Records...
...can be a source of minor amusement if you grew up mostly living in one area. It can also be a source of pity when you see someone you grew up with who has gotten into a lot of trouble. You can go to your county's website and look up criminal records online. There seems to be a slight positive correlation with athletic ability and number of entries in the database. The most athletic guys that I went to elementary school with are the ones that have more alcohol and drug charges on their records. I pity them; they have thrown away much potential for their lives.
Why is it that, overall, the most athletic kids seem to be the most popular ones? Is it a result of our culture and athletic media coverage? I suppose evolutionary psychology would say that it's because the most athletic boys are most likely to be the best bringers-home of the proverbial mammoth.