Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Watchful Eyes

Thanks for the guest post by Donn Schroeder


One of the best things about living in a neighborhood is that you have neighbors to keep an eye on things while you’re away. This is one of the fundamental benefits of purchasing a home in a neighborhood. Unfortunately, we do not live in a friendly neighborhood. We have lived here for over a year and a half, and not one of our neighbors has offered anything by way of greeting other than a very unenthusiastic wave as we drive by. Therefore, I have little faith in their willingness to watch our house while we’re gone. It’s a sad reality. As with any sad reality, I choose to ignore it. Instead, I enlist the help of ADT LICK CREEK. I pay a paltry amount every month for the peace of mind that having an alarm provides me, in my opinion. I know that if we’re away from the house for work or if we choose to take a last minute weekend trip, our house is protected. If there is a fire, flood, or burglary, my alarm monitoring company notifies me immediately and then alerts the proper authorities. While having an alarm can’t prevent something bad from happening, it certainly makes handling an undesirable situation much easier. It’s worth every penny.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Suffer the Children.

Hav i ng spent my career in education, I have seen it all. Kids beaten, raped, sold, bought, and murdered. Not to say it was education's fault nor the lack of standards and expectations. The majority of kids are are still in the home with some sort of relative. Either biological parents, grandparents or aunts / uncles. Some are abused willfully, others by beingf wrong place at the wrong time. Butthey come to school everyday, unless they are forced to stay home or physically locked down. School is a sanctuary. It is not a treatment facility. A place to fix all the world's ills. But is is a place of respite.

Now we have taken that away. We have refused to see the kid as an individual. We are being forced to see all kids as the same. We are placing every kid into the same round hole, no matter what shape they really are. The singer is forced into college math, the writer into chemistry. The musician has to diagram sentences. Is it any wonder we are losing kids in such large numbers?

We need to raise our children to achieve. We need to teach our children to achieve their personal potential.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

When the snark is on

There is always something to snark about. It isn't a matter of having material; it is usually a matter of what is snark-worthy. Those of us, who do snark, do so not to humiliate (seriously) but rather to educate and persuade others of the hidden reality. Sometimes we snark too long on the dead elephant or donkey as the case may be.
I am thinking it might be time to do a few more snarks on those religious zealots. Those self-proclaimed family value folks who never seem to have time to practice what they preach.
This idea is always ruminating in the brain. Not at the forefront, but within the thought process nonetheless. Occasionally people like Steven Colbert will bring it to the forefront. Last week I found his WWJD quote.


"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it."

Now most zealots will point to this and scream heresy on the part of Colbert. In an attempt to wag the tail and avoid any condemnation of themselves, they start pointing and chanting about anti-Jesus rhetoric. Blaming the "liberal" front and the Democrats while upholding the conservative and Republican platform.
And all that is good and holy in the opposing parties will run and hide out of fear they will get caught up in an apologetics argument. One we feel unworthy of winning because we have accepted the fact that we are ungodly. They have convinced us that their right is right and we are wrong.
Those of us on the opposition have surrendered our right to be right. We have let go of God and have tried to fight for our community based on reason, logic and common sense. All the while the conservatives have used irrational, illogic, and the inexplicable acceptance of a god to rally the masses to do stupid things. The god of the conservatives is an old white guy long since DEAD who encourages wealth and status by any means necessary--but not for EVERYONE...