Today most of our subjects are going to be difficult to read and discuss so we are going to start out with a sign on an Arizona highway that some people might say is to die for:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101115/od_nm/us_arizona_zombies
If you were driving along and saw a sign warning you to look for Zombies what would you do? I'm not sure if I would laugh, turn around and go the opposite direction, or keep on driving with my eyes on the lookout for the living dead.
The next article bothered me greatly. Most of the information is in a court filing so the events are alleged and not verified. The response by the school and the police hasn't been filed yet:
http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2010/11/mom_sues_gresham_police_and_sc.html
If the information in the filing is true what bothers me is that teachers left an eight year-old out of the class room unsupervised. What if he ran away? What if some kidnapped him? I think that was extremely poor judgment. The other thing that bothers me is handcuffing a child that young. Two adult policemen can't control an eight year old? What is your take on the article? Who is at fault her. The teachers? The student? The police? Or a combination of all of them?
Next is another disturbing article. Before you read the article, pick a number and tell me how many people in the United States are starving?
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/report-45-million-americans-went-hungry-in-2009/19720882?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl1%7Csec4_lnk1%7C184698
I was off by about twenty million. Certainly we can do better. How far were you off? Can we do better?
That is it for the day. Your comments are appreciated.
WHO AM I?
I was born in 1915 and died in 2006. I am the only person ever convicted in the United States of performing an abortion in a hospital. I trained at the Mayo clinic. My 50 year career focused on providing reproductive health care to women. In addition to providing medical care to women I was also an advocate for women's rights. I received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and my medical degree from the University of Minnesota . I met my husband when we interned at the same hospital. We both gave time and talent to Project Hope, serving in Tanzania, Peru, Ecuador, Egypt, Grenada, and China. My early research included pregnancy-testing methods and I became a Founding Fellow of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. My advocacy for and contributions to, the field of women's health earned me Federation of America’s Margaret Sanger Award in and the American Medical Women's Association’s National Reproductive Health Award among. Iwas one of the first physicians to be inducted into the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame. If you are not sure who I am by now maybe you should think about THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY GENDER BATTLE and the DIFFICULTIES IN PERCEPTION. That should help you answer the question, Who Am I?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
If I were driving AZ, I'd hope it was daytime when I saw the Zombies sign. {g} At least zombies are pretty slow, so I imagine I could escape, even on foot.
Handcuffing an 8 y/o? Totally inappropriate. Leads one to wonder just how out of control he might have been, though. According to the suit, the school district often locked students with learning and behavioral disabilities out of the classroom and left them to roam the halls. This is also totally inappropriate. The whole story is very strange, and I think I'd wait to opine until it's verified.
It looks as though about the same number of people are "food insecure" as lack health insurance. That should tell us something. I wonder if it's approximately the same population. I would certainly hope we can do better.
If I were driving and I saw that sign I would also hope it was daylight. I had no idea anyone would type on those signs. Which is silly on my part. But it is scary to know, as now I will wonder if that exit is closed or open....:)
I agree that the leaving a child that age unsupervised is uncalled for but I really think that handcuffing him is ridiculous. I agree the whole story sounds strange. I have seen kids nowadays that are unruly, and it seems like kids are raising kids, but age 8 and handcuffed? What next?
Hopefully, I would have caught the misspelling on the sign although, given other gov't signs I've seen... Still, I'd probably have considered it a hoax of some sort.
The report on the eight year old is disturbing, as you say. First, no child of that age should be locked out a classroom and left to roam unattended. Second, the boy had a known problem and recent incidents. Why was he not in a special ed class? Why were his parents not advised to get help with the ADHD problem and other issues. And, as you say, why would a child be handcuffed? OTOH, I am aware that ADHD children (and adults), especially suffering other disorders, can be quite violent and cause threats to themselves and others, but that doesn't answer the question of why there wasn't someone there to step in an diffuse the situation. It would be interesting to hear the whole story and know the child's history.
The numbers on starving or food deprived people don't surprise me, unfortunately. We're very familiar with that in the Upstate, given all the mill closings and the number of people who aren't qualified for the incoming technical jobs available.
Yes, we can do better, one person at a time, which is what it's going to take, in the current economy, with budget cuts at state and federal levels. The local food banks and missions have become my priority charity over the last year or two. My favorite grocery has weekly "buy one, get one free" offerings. I buy one for me, one for the local mission. They also have programs throughout the year where you can buy a "bag" of groceries worth around $25 for a $5 donation. Various retailers (usually smaller businesses) have weekends when they urge you to bring in non-perishables, sometimes having you enter your name in a raffle for a gift card, sometimes just urging you to bring in the foodstuffs. Having researched the administrative costs of various charities, I tend to go with those who have very low admin costs when making a money donation. I know that when I take in actual food items, those are going directly to the local food banks. Then there's the post office drive for food to be left at your mailbox, all of which goes directly to the local food banks. I don't trust gov't agencies to use all monies directly for the poor. I don't deal with agencies who have high admin/advertising/whatever costs. I may be a Pollyanna, but I do think that if each person contributed or got involved in local efforts to help with those who can't afford to eat, we would see a difference. And I also think that contributing "good" foods, rather than junk food, makes a difference, given the comments that so many who are without food are suffering obesity. Junk food is often less expensive than healthy food, quick to fix/eat and fills the empty corners of the stomach, even if only for a short time.
Hi Pat
Not only do I hope it was day time when I saw the sign, I would also hope I hadn't come from a horror movie.
With the disappearance of Kyron Horman leaving any kid unsupervised borders on incredible stupidity. I want to see the schools respons and the police response before making up my mind.
One person starving is to many in a country such as ours, 40 million is unforgivable.
Bill
Hi Dona
People play with signs all the time. We have a place called Sexton Mountain Road. I cannot tell you many times people have taked out the "T" in Sexton.
Evem of the eight year old was out of control they should have been able to wait him out without using handcuffs.
Bill
Hi DR
I might have figured it was a hoax but not until the next day. When I first saw the sigh there would be a moment where I would hesitate and wonder.
Special ED classes are falling by the wayside here due to budget cuts. There was an article a week ago about a school that would allow an assistant dog for a child that had the kind of fits mentioned in the handcuff article. The dog would sense when the boy would go off on a tangent and nudge the boy and if needed the dog would sit on the boy. That would calm the boy down. The school wouldn't allow the dog in school because they didn't have enough personnel to handle the dog.
I like your idea with dealing with starving by one person at a time. We have the Oregon Food Bank here and they will probably we out of food shortly after Thanksgiving due to the additional people needing help. Your bogo shopping it a great idea that I may adopt myself. Buy one and get one for the food bank. I love the idea.
I participated in the post office food drive this year and was the only one in my neighborhood that did. Great ideas to help the starving problem DR!
Bill
Post a Comment