JFK Assassination: the Death of Simplicity - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Until the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of 1963, my life was simple, pleasant, and full of prospect.
Mr. Metzgar, our next door neighbor in the summer of 1963, used to pay me half a buck to cut his 1/3 acre lawn and I was glad to get it. Our small town in Northeastern Pennsylvania was not exactly a hub of world economic activity but there were plenty of factories where a blue-collar high school graduate could get a job that paid enough to feed a family of four.
My dad worked in a Ronson cigarette lighter factory where he operated a metal stamping machine which, at one point, cut off his thumb. The job foreman did a good job of gathering the missing digit and packing it on ice. The factory did a good job of getting my dad to the hospital. The docs did a fair job of sewing it back on. It was misshapen, useless, and nerve-dead but we marveled at the medical miracle.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Pointless Murder Claims a Young Teacher’s Life: Fourteen Year Old Arrested - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Pointless Murder Claims a Young Teacher’s Life: Fourteen Year Old Arrested - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
A fourteen year old was charged today with the murder of 2nd year math teacher Colleen Ritzer. Ritzer's body was found in the woods near the Danvers High School in Danvers, Massachusetts, and police quickly ruled the death an obvious homicide.
Both the accused and the victim were reported missing on the same day. Fourteen year old Philip Chism was later found walking alone along a main highway in a nearby town, taken into custody, and charged with murder.
Police had begun their investigation on the basis of information found at the school, including blood stains near one of the school's second floor bathrooms and on surveillance footage taken from the school's video system.
A fourteen year old was charged today with the murder of 2nd year math teacher Colleen Ritzer. Ritzer's body was found in the woods near the Danvers High School in Danvers, Massachusetts, and police quickly ruled the death an obvious homicide.
Both the accused and the victim were reported missing on the same day. Fourteen year old Philip Chism was later found walking alone along a main highway in a nearby town, taken into custody, and charged with murder.
Police had begun their investigation on the basis of information found at the school, including blood stains near one of the school's second floor bathrooms and on surveillance footage taken from the school's video system.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Stand Up for Your Boys, Ladies and Gentlemen - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Stand Up for Your Boys, Ladies and Gentlemen - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
"Boys will be boys" has no meaning any more, even when it has a strong basis in physiology, biology, and adolescent development. You'd have to be blind not to notice the behavioral and developmental differences between adolescent boys and girls, especially in a school setting where pressures and expectations of boy children often exceed the capacity of their development to meet them.
That's another way of saying that society these days often seems obsessed with taking the boy out of the boy. Meanwhile, the entire purpose of school sports is to recognize and develop natural physical and emotional traits with the intention of turning out life "winners" rather than life "losers."
"Boys will be boys" has no meaning any more, even when it has a strong basis in physiology, biology, and adolescent development. You'd have to be blind not to notice the behavioral and developmental differences between adolescent boys and girls, especially in a school setting where pressures and expectations of boy children often exceed the capacity of their development to meet them.
That's another way of saying that society these days often seems obsessed with taking the boy out of the boy. Meanwhile, the entire purpose of school sports is to recognize and develop natural physical and emotional traits with the intention of turning out life "winners" rather than life "losers."
Monday, October 21, 2013
Improve Your Life: See the Film "Gravity." - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Improve Your Life: See the Film "Gravity." - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
I'm used to ducking punches in my boxing classes but it was quite electrifying to react to 3-D onslaughts of flying bolts, metal tools, debris and what-not bouncing around in directionless space. It's rather a nice feeling to know that "up" is not always "up" and "down" is not always "down" and you feel that viscerally in "Gravity."
To put it politely, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are not my favorite actors but I loved them both throughout the hour and 23 minute movie, and even on the way home. Clooney's cheerfulness in the death dealing void of space paralleled the knowledge all creatures have of their own mortality, and was somehow uplifting.
Bullock had gotten herself into fine physical shape and being with her in length, width, and depth, both emotionally and physically, well, it was an experience I'm still analyzing.
I'm used to ducking punches in my boxing classes but it was quite electrifying to react to 3-D onslaughts of flying bolts, metal tools, debris and what-not bouncing around in directionless space. It's rather a nice feeling to know that "up" is not always "up" and "down" is not always "down" and you feel that viscerally in "Gravity."
To put it politely, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are not my favorite actors but I loved them both throughout the hour and 23 minute movie, and even on the way home. Clooney's cheerfulness in the death dealing void of space paralleled the knowledge all creatures have of their own mortality, and was somehow uplifting.
Bullock had gotten herself into fine physical shape and being with her in length, width, and depth, both emotionally and physically, well, it was an experience I'm still analyzing.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Media Irresponsibility Blurs Accounts of D.C. Mom Killing - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Media Irresponsibility Blurs Accounts of D.C. Mom Killing - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Of course, everyone recognizes it was a mistake to shoot to death an unarmed emotionally disturbed mom with a one-year-old in the back seat. Therefore, we must offer some well-known justifications for it:
We are at war with terrorism. The president and the public were in mortal danger. Everything looks clear in hindsight but most of us never have to choose between shooting or not! The car may have been filled with explosives. The dead woman had injured police officer(s) in her mad flight (although we don't have details). A car is a lethal weapon (at least that one is accurate). Yada-yada-yada.
Of course, everyone recognizes it was a mistake to shoot to death an unarmed emotionally disturbed mom with a one-year-old in the back seat. Therefore, we must offer some well-known justifications for it:
We are at war with terrorism. The president and the public were in mortal danger. Everything looks clear in hindsight but most of us never have to choose between shooting or not! The car may have been filled with explosives. The dead woman had injured police officer(s) in her mad flight (although we don't have details). A car is a lethal weapon (at least that one is accurate). Yada-yada-yada.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Federal Employees and the Government Shutdown Game - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Federal Employees and the Government Shutdown Game - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Right now, a sycophantic media is singing the swan song of government shutdown, but nobody loses their job in a shutdown, and everyone receives back pay so it's really a little bit like banking the money and getting a free vacation for non-essential federal workers. Essential federal workers stay on the job.
Right now, a sycophantic media is singing the swan song of government shutdown, but nobody loses their job in a shutdown, and everyone receives back pay so it's really a little bit like banking the money and getting a free vacation for non-essential federal workers. Essential federal workers stay on the job.
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