Were the average person to walk into a bank, declare he had no money, prospects, or experience, then ask to be put on the bank's board of directors at $80,000 a year since he was down on his luck, he would be ushered out the door in short order. But when your name is Bush, your granddaddy was senator from Connecticut, your Father is Vice President or president, "somebody," people in the class structure will work to find a soft spot for you. In Bush's case he was rescued from virtual backruptcy and from a slide into lower-class obscurity by being given a series of such positions until the class structure could install him as governor and eventually president on the basis of family name and class group membership. From the standpoint of outside objective reality, there was no basis in experience or qualifications other than the name Bush, and class union membership, to put him into office as anything --either in business or government.As I said it's a long read, but one well worth recommending to others.The Bush case is illustrative of principle, not exhaustive. Close examanation of many high level people in politics/goverment reveals a similar path which has a death grip on the American political/administrative system and which often does not incorporate serious employment or evidence of ability along the line. Al Gore is basically an unemployable ludicrous figure saved by inheritance of the Gore family name and state power structure. The same is true of any Kennedy. The list of such people reveals they have no personal investment in anything other than a diamyo class power system and political power mediated by a vacuous loquaciousness that could be found in any high school debate team along with equivalent high school experience and other qualifications.
While there may be some jostling between class members for specific positions, as long as the contests are primarily restricted to being among class members, the class system dominence is protected and perpetuated.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Bushido in America
Thursday, December 14, 2006
"The 12 Days of Christmas" by the YouTube Community Choir
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Jack Chick and Stan Lee present: GALACTUS IS COMING!
What if Jack Chick worked with Stan Lee on a religious tract?Behold: Galactus Is Coming!
I've a horrible desire now to print up a bunch of these and plant them around our church sanctuary before service on Sunday morning.
Special thanks to Shane Thacker at The Phantom City - a blog that I'm going to be visiting quite a bit from now on - for finding this :-)
Disgusted
Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat from South Dakota, may have suffered a stroke earlier today (although his spokesman is now saying that's not the case). If Johnson can't fulfill his term, it would apparently go to the governor of South Dakota to appoint someone to fill the seat. The governor of South Dakota happens to be a Republican. So one more Republican in the Senate would tilt control of it away from the Democrats.
So more than enough jackals over at Free Republic are now licking their chops over the opportunity they have to "regain" the Senate because of this.
Here's one page of their comments: I'll leave it up to the reader to decide which ones cross the line of good taste. I could also say something about the losers on Democratic Underground: a lot of them have suggested that this is some kind of Bush/Rove plot to take back the Senate. Which I think Karl Rove is one of the most evil, un-Christian men on the political scene (and that's saying something) but I don't know how anyone could seriously entertain such a notion that Johnson's illness is a Republican plot.
But it's the ones at Free Republic - you know, the "conservative" forum, the one that is supposed to take "the high road" - that I find particularly loathsome at this hour.
There really is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats, is it? For both of them it's all about acquiring raw, naked power and then using it to beat others into submission.
If you are a member of either party, or even any party at all, you as an individual are of no use to it. Your unique soul does not matter. Only what you contribute to "the party" for sole sake of "the party" gaining power. You have made yourself an asset to be used at the will of "the party" and it is "the party" - not you or God - that will determine your identity. And when one is completely bereft of any identity of their own, that is when they lose any sense of appreciation for the value and sanctity of other individuals.
The behaviour at both Free Republic and Democratic Underground regarding this matter illustrates that point perfectly.
America will not survive people who are like this.
Fight for the future
According to a story from Media General, Rockingham County schools exceed the state average when it comes to school violence. For the school year 2005-06 there were "64 reports of possession of a controlled substance, 43 reports of possession of a weapon, 20 reports of possession of alcoholic beverages, 13 reports of assault on personnel, three reports of assault resulting in serious injury, three reports of bomb threats, and one report each of possession of a firearm, sexual offense and assault involving use of a weapon."
Meanwhile, the News & Record is reporting that given a typical group of 10 students from Rockingham County, "half have had sex, three have smoked pot and, within the previous two weeks, two have gotten drunk. At least three have beaten another person, two have carried a weapon for protection, two smoked cigarettes, one has considered suicide and one has been a victim of sexual abuse."
Young people need to know what the limits are. They want that, even. They anticipate those of us who are older than they are to show them what is right and what is wrong, what will give them strength and what will destroy them. If we expect the best out of them, they will in turn expect only the best out of themselves. We owe them that much at the very least.
In light of all this, I defy anyone to tell me how having an admitted thief on the school board is going to be a suitable role model for young people to emulate.
Well, Ron Price is on there now. Some of us did our best to convince him that he was going to be doing a lot more harm than good if he insisted on being seated. But there was really nothing we could do to persuade him. And now Ron Price is setting the example to the children of Rockingham County that they can get away with breaking the law and not have to worry about the consequences for what they do.
"Not having to worry about the consequences for what you do..."
This is how the Roman Empire came to fall.
And people like Ron Price are slouching us ever so gradually toward Gomorrah.
The fight ultimately belongs to God. But He has certainly called us to occupy as best we can in the meantime.
I realize that in all likelihood, Ron Price is going to "win" this situation in the eyes of the world...
...but since when did temporal victory ever really matter to those seeking justice in the eyes of God?
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Christmas Tree 2006 and the first presents
I put it together last Wednesday night and Lisa did the decorations over the weekend. Yeah it's an artificial one that we've had for a few years now, which I know that some people swear by getting a real one for the holidays... and let's face it, no fake tree will ever have that wonderful scent that effuses through the living room from a real natural pine. But this one does have the advantage of being a pre-lit tree! And as you can see there are already presents underneath. Those would be from Lisa, 'cuz I always do my wrapping in the last day or so before Christmas. Maybe when the time comes I'll post some pics and you can see the ummm... "beautiful" job that I usually do with wrapping gifts.Speaking of gifts, a package arrived in yesterday's mail. It was from "Weird" Ed and his lovely bride Olivia and their kid Tristan. Inside was a lovely angel Christmas ornament for Lisa, and they sent me this:
Star Wars Trivial Pursuit DVD Game! It's such a beautiful thing that I still haven't taken the shrink-wrap off the box (which is a nifty decorative tin). It was terrific enough to make a blog post about. The tragedy of the thing is that Lisa and I agree that we can't play this game together 'cuz I would be nigh-invulnerable and the obvious runaway winner. Maybe I'll get together a lil' group of fellow Star Wars uber-geeks (like Darth Larry) and we can have a real cutthroat game of this. That might even be something worth videotaping and sticking on YouTube. Anyway, what a great first gift for this holiday season!
Comprehend THIS! Something cool for teachers and students (and anyone else)
First of all, have you ever wondered about just how big our solar system is? Well, here is a scale drawing of the Earth's solar system: the first one that I've ever seen. There are some physical scale models of the solar system around the world that usually portray the Sun as being the size of a basketball and the Earth as not much bigger than a pinhead several football stadiums away. This is the first one I've seen that could (conceivably) be used for an afternoon's class activity without having to go outside. Remember: the graphics are to-scale representations of the Sun and planets, along with the distances in between them. See how many mouse-clicks it takes you just to get to Mercury... to say nothing about Saturn!
But even that one is dwarfed by this scale depiction of a hydrogen atom, which is also the very first scale picture of an atom I've seen anywhere. In chemistry or physics classes we always see a hydrogen atom being one proton with one electron and no neutrons: one big dot with a little dot going around it in circles. Until finding this page I had no idea just how inaccurate those drawings are when it comes to the distance between the proton and electron. This page advertises itself as being "the largest web page on the entire internet" and I can believe it: if your monitor size is 72 pixels to an inch, that makes this page eleven miles in length from one end of the scroll bar to the other.
These pages tell me a few things. One: that gravity is a lot stronger force than we usually realize if the Sun is keeping objects that far away from it still going in their orbits. Two: that the forces between a proton and a neutron are incredibly powerful given the distance between them and how they interact with other atoms. Three: that most of everything we know about the universe is... just empty space.
And Four: that thinking too much about stuff like this is enough to drive you completely and utterly bonkers :-)
Monday, December 11, 2006
AFTER-ACTION REPORT: School board members sworn in, new chair elected... and Chris makes a lil' speech
So I got to the Rockingham County Schools office about 5:30 this evening. Here's what the school board meeting room looks like after three weeks of renovation to accommodate five additional members:
About 6 o'clock a lot more people started showing up. Here's incoming school board member Reida Drum, looking resplendent in high attire as usual:
And here is Steve Smith, another new school board member, with his daughter:
After a brief reception, 7 o'clock hit and the meeting convened. One of the first items on the agenda was swearing in the new members. Here are Reida Drum, Lori McKinney and Dr. James Austin taking the oath:
Another shot of Dr. Austin and here's Steve Smith getting sworn in:
Ahhh yes, there he is: Ron Price. The man who broke the law by stealing campaign signs then said everything was cool because "I was elected". Here he is, swearing an oath to uphold the policies of the Rockingham County School System, the laws of the state of North Carolina and the Constitution of the United States of America:
Quite a few people noted that of all the candidates, Price is the only one who did not have a family member holding the Bible as he was sworn in. At least one person commented that his wife is perhaps too ashamed of Price for what he's done to show up in public alongside him. Who knows what the deal was - that's school board attorney Jill Wilson holding the Bible that Price is using - but it was certainly a conspicuous absence of support for Ron Price.
I think one of three things is going to happen to Price: he's going to be forced out at some point because of the board being legally obligated to vacate his seat (provided he is found guilty and state law is adhered to). Or this whole mess has emasculated him from being anywhere near an effective school board member, if he winds up staying. Or... nah, I'm not going to say aloud what the third one is. Possibility #3 would be the fun one to watch happen. I don't want to stifle that from probably occurring.
The meeting continued. This was the end of Wayne Kirkman's and Tim Scales' terms as board chair and vice-chair, respectively. Nominations were taken for those two positions and when all was said and done, Elaine McCollum was elected new board chair and Amanda Bell as vice-chair:
There were no new reports to hear from, so the meeting then went into public comments. And here is where Yours Truly took part in tonight's drama, ladies and gentlemen. I was the first one to sign up to speak during this portion of the meeting. So I went to the podium and read aloud the following:
One day in Germany, Martin Luther came across a group of villagers who were raiding the town's storehouse. Luther asked them what they were doing."We're taking food!" they said to him.
Luther told them that they should stop.
"Why should we?" said one of the villagers, "God wants us to eat!"
"No," Martin Luther replied. "I don't know that God wants you to eat. But I do know that God wants you to be honest."
And that's everything that I said. I made sure to wink at Ron Price after I delivered this lil' history lesson. Did he "get" it? Probably not. But that wasn't going to stop me from driving home the point - in my own way - that there are more important things in this world than winning elections... like the simple matter of doing what is right.
Following my speech, Richard Moore got to the podium and essentially read out the police report from the night Price was found with the stolen signs. Board member Celeste DePriest attempted to stop him, citing that it was a "personnel matter". Moore deferred the matter to the school board attorney and Jill Wilson said that legally school board members are not school system personnel. Moore continued with his remarks.
One way or another, I don't believe Ron Price's term is going to be anywhere near smooth sailing.
The meeting continued with a few other agenda items, reports from the superintendent, etc. Then the public portion of the meeting ended and the board went into closed session. While we were leaving quite a few people told me that they "understood" the point I was making with my brief remarks. One person told me it was one of the more powerful speeches they'd heard in one of these board meetings.
And that was it. And who knows: maybe in two years that'll be me getting sworn in as a member of the school board. I'm definitely considering another run, in light of how good I did and how many people have told me in the past month that I need to run again. But that's still a ways off: Lord only knows what's going to happen between now and then.
In the meantime, the long twilight struggle goes on...
I hate TV Christmas specials
But if they outright must be part of the season, we might as well have the greatest Christmas special of all time, celebrating its 41st anniversary on the air this year...
A Charlie Brown Christmas will never get old. Between the quirky animation and the classic "Linus and Lucy" tune and funky dance scene and Linus's heart-touching "that's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown" scene, it's no wonder this was a classic from the very first time it aired in 1965.
By the way, according to the guys at X-Entertainment, you can now buy a replica of Charlie Brown's pathetic Christmas tree from UrbanOutfitters.com:
For $24 it can be yours. I might get one of these for next year, just to see how many presents we can fit under it.
Last year I posted the Top Ten Worst Christmas Songs Ever (which appropriately enough was post #666 for this blog). I'm currently working on a feature called "The Worst Christmas Specials Ever". I'll try to have it posted in the next several days.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Grace Hopper was born 100 years ago today
Today is the 100th birthday of Grace Hopper: Rear Admiral of the United States Navy and computer science pioneer. Hopper was the first person to come up with a compiled computer program (as opposed to a program that's executed line by line). She was also instrumental in creating the COBOL programming language (which is still used in a lot of business applications today) and perhaps most famous of all, it was Grace Hopper who made the terms "computer bug" and "debugging" a regular part of computer jargon. One day an insect flew into a relay on the Mark II computer that she was one of the top researchers on. The bug caused the machine to start making mistakes. Hopper found the insect, taped it into a notebook and recorded it as the first "bug" found in a computer. Her work with computers would later make her the focus of a story on 60 Minutes and landed her appearances on The Tonight Show and David Letterman, who she wowed with her famous "nanoseconds" visual aid (a foot-long piece of wire that was the length that a signal would travel in one billionth of a second).
The above photo was taken in 1984. Admiral Hopper passed away in 1992... but the legacy she has left us through her work with computers will no doubt be with us for many generations yet to come.
So in honor of her memory: Happy Birthday Grace Hopper!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Before it goes down the Memory Hole (Ron Price again ZZZZzzz...)
Yes ladies and gentlemen, it's time yet again for another examination in that wonderful case study of solipsism, Ron Price: admitted thief and future member of the Rockingham County Board of Education who believes that it's okay to break the law because "I was elected".
This will probably get zapped into oblivion before too long, like when he admitted to the crime on his blog then "scrubbed" it out. So because I've wound up playing a small part in this sordid drama and for that reason I'm led to make an accurate chronicle of all this, I'm going to document what Ron Price has put on his blog this time, before it does a Keyser Soze and "just like that... it's gone."
Here's the link to his latest post. But before we look at that, take a gander at what he's put in the header of his blog...
The swearing-in of new members isn't until 7 p.m. this coming Monday night... but Ron Price is already telling people that he's a school board member! Which maybe that's a nitpick. But for at least 24 hours now Price has been claiming something that legally isn't his at all, at least not yet. He should be calling himself a "school board member-elect" if anything.
And why does he capitalize it to be "AT LARGE MEMBER"? In my experience, people only holler like that if (a) the building's on fire (b) someone got shot (c) has a pathological need for attention. I wasn't the only one who took notice of that, either.
Anyway, here's his latest... thing:
Thursday, December 07, 2006WHY isn't he giving us the "complete and factual account" right now?! Is this so hard to do? The man has had an entire month to tell us what "really" happened. Why hasn't he done so already? This seemed so obvious that I may or may not have done the right thing in doing this, but I was compelled to post a comment on Price's post. There are four of them as of this writing. I'm going to copy and paste them exactly as they appear:Look for the complete and factual account of the sign incident on this web page in the near future.
posted by Ron Price | 7:30 AM
4 Comments:Eric H. Smith said...
It's about time. I hope it is not only complete and factual but you share with the voters why you did it and why it was right.9:21 PM
Christopher said...It's not that hard to tell the truth about something. It's the simplest thing in the world actually.
If there's a "true and factual account" of what happened that night, why haven't you shared it with us yet?
Could it be that you can't share "the truth" with us until it passes muster with your attorney?
By the way Ron, you aren't an "AT-LARGE MEMBER" of the school board yet. There's more than 84 hours still before you get sworn in. So it's a complete innacuracy to tell people that you are on the board now.
12:01 AM
Drew said...You campaign as a Christian and a conservative but you are really a thief who doesn't give a damn about doing what's right by the people of this county. You are just another crook and swindler. And you use too much hair coloring too. You are a joke now and you will be a joke when you join the board. But that doesn't matter to a bastard without conscience like you I bet.
12:38 PM
Penny Owens said...Oh for Pete's sake, just spare us all...You admitted it on your blog, you admitted it personally to me on November 9th... as well as other people at various times...You cannot explain it away, you cannot justify it, you cannot change the facts and the witnesses accounts of what they SAW YOU DOING, and you cannot be an effective School Board Member. You cannot hold the students and employees of the Rockingham County School System accountable and expect responsibility and integrity from them when you lack these qualities yourself.
3:47 PM
Ouch! Come one Drew, don't hold back: tell us how you really feel!
As I said, the swearing-in of new members is during the December meeting of the Rockingham County Board of Education: at 7 p.m. this coming Monday night. I plan on being there plenty early because I want to see the four candidates who did not break the law get sworn in and show them that they have my complete support: I believe that Dr. Austin, Lori McKinney, Steve Smith and Reida Drum are going to serve us well.
But I'd be lying if I said that I also wouldn't be there to chronicle what might happen regarding the Price fiasco. There's little doubt that at least one deputy sheriff will be on scene for the express purpose of keeping the situation under control. Word on the street is that Political Soup host and former candidate Richard Moore is planning to attend every forthcoming meeting with a "Brad Miller for Congress" sign kept where Price can always see it. Although I will not be referencing this situation in any manner during the school board meetings (this is only going to matter during open session if/when the state board refers the matter to them if Price is found guilty in court... well supposed to anyway) my digital camera will be armed and ready for whatever happens.
"Ain't we lucky we got 'em... GOOD TIMES!"
DON'T watch tonight's DOCTOR WHO on Sci-Fi
Other than that, "Love & Monsters" is an unholy mess of an hour that you'll never get back and will probably not even be able to admit to anyone for as long as you lived that you actually watched this thing (here's my original review of the episode from June).
This is the absolute worst episode of Doctor Who of all time. And probably for all time. Yes folks, even if Doctor Who goes on for another forty-odd years, I doubt any future episode will plunge to the depths that "Love & Monsters" reaches. It actually makes the whole "Trial of a Time Lord" fiasco from Colin Baker's era seem downright brilliant... and that's saying something! And that's not just me believing this either: a LOT of fans agree that "Love & Monsters" is the ultimate low point of the entire series.
It's an episode so bad, that to this day it's the only episode of the revived run of Doctor Who that I not only banished from my hard drive (I downloaded this after it first ran on British TV months ago) but also damn well refused to burn it to CD-ROM. I wiped it out as soon as I finished watching it. You think I'm gonna DVR this tonight? Feh!
To its credit, the episode has a pretty neat premise: a few people who've witnessed various activities of the Doctor come together to pool their info. They wind up forming something of a Scooby-Doo gang that investigates stuff, but mostly become a tight-knit social group that cooks together and starts a band. Then they get infiltrated by this nasty guy who makes them become all business and no pleasure. It's obviously meant to be a metaphor about how there are some fans of the show (or anything else) who enjoy it and others who take it too seriously...
...but whatever redeeming qualities there are to "Love & Monsters", it all gets flushed straight down the crapper in the final ten minutes of the show.
But, there's nothing I can actually do to force you not to watch this particular episode of Doctor Who. It's all left up to you. Just ask yourself this: if you knew beforehand that an hour of television featured something that looks like this...
...and also had a character who talked about getting oral sex from a slab of concrete...
...would you really be desperate to watch it?
The "Love & Monsters" episode of Doctor Who broadcasts tonight at 8 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Hey FIREFLY fans: Wanna be a Browncoat?
I don't play MMORPGs anymore, but if they'll let you be a Reaver I might have to check this out :-)
(Or, if a player is a Christian, the game should let him/her play as a Shepherd so they can walk around the game spouting spiritual stuff to other players. That might be even more fun than running harvesters in Star Wars Galaxies :-P)
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Was my approach to education appreciated by the Flanneled One?!
Edutopia, it turns out, is the website of The George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Here's what the site has to say...
YOUTUBE PICK: BEST CAMPAIGN AD EVER!This made my day!! It's probably the closest I'll ever get to making an officially-approved Star Wars movie! Okay, kidding aside, it is an honor to get mentioned by this, an organization that I've long had a lot of respect and admiration for. When George Lucas did The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (wow... going on fifteen years ago!) I thought that show was an amazing means of teaching history to young people. I'll admit it: I applied for a few jobs with Lucasfilm over the years (what self-respecting Star Wars geek hasn't?). But even more than the chance to work on a Star Wars movie, I wanted to be part of the effort to use these stories as vehicles for innovative learning. THAT is going to be the long-lasting legacy of these stories. And although I never did it in an official capacity, I've absolutely played to the hilt any opportunity to use Star Wars and Indiana Jones to impart knowledge and values to my students. That's what I tried to do with this first commercial too. But I never thought it would wind up referenced on George Lucas's education website. That's just... wow!
It didn't win him a seat on Rockingham County, NC's school board, but Christopher Knight's Star Wars-themed video spot won him loads of giggling fans (1:01).
So to the good folks at The George Lucas Educational Foundation: thanks!! :-)
Wii are in danger
Sixty-Five years ago today...
Today will mark the final time that the survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack will ever reunite. Their numbers are now fast dwindling.
The memorial floats directly above the sunken battleship:
a tomb for the more than eleven-hundred sailors
who perished aboard the Arizona
during the attack.
"To remember."
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Yeah, another update on the Ron Price fiasco
I reported last week about Price appearing in court. I didn't know at the time but Price pleaded "not guilty" to the criminal charges of endangering advertisements, which carries the same penalties as does being in possession of marijuana. It's worth noting that there's been a petition to be sent to the state board of education calling for Price's fitness to serve on the board be investigated by the county board: if the county board agrees that he broke the law, they would have to vacate his seat.
If Price had pled guilty that would have been substantial grounds for his removal from the board (provided the board does abide by state law in this matter). If he's found guilty in court that's going to look even worse for him. At least one person with knowledge of such matters has told me that in all likelihood, Price's goose is cooked because there's a high probability he'll be found guilty... assuming, of course, that the board adheres to the law if he is.
Meanwhile, more candidates from the school board race have weighed in and said that Price has no place on the school board. On his Reidsville Free Press website last week Jeff Sykes called for Price to step aside. And now former candidate Penny Owens has published an e-mail she recently sent to Price:
Realizing you may not have had a chance to review the school board policies with regard to what we expect from our students, I have taken the liberty of forwarding this portion of Policy 4300 to you. I am interested in your comments, although I am sure you will not respond. How ironic that you do not exhibit these qualities yourself, but our students are expected to and you will have a position of authority over our students as a member of the school board.This is the heartmeat of the matter right here: the example that Ron Price, as a member of the school board, would be setting for the students of Rockingham County. How is it going to look to the children when they have someone who broke the law - and even admitted that he did it but brazenly refuses to be held accountable - who is running the schools they're in?G. Integrity and CivilityAll students are expected to demonstrate integrity, civility, responsibility and self control. This expectation is directly related to the board’s educational objectives for students to learn to be responsible for and accept the consequences of their behavior and for students to respect cultural diversity and ideological differences. Integrity, civility, responsibility and self control also are critical for establishing and maintaining a safe, orderly and inviting environment.
No doubt Price isn't going to do the right thing, and he's going to be sworn in on December 11th. But I have serious doubts that he'll be there for long. And even if he does manage to hold out, he's going to be a really lame member of the board in the minds of plenty enough people.
More as it develops...
EDIT 3:16 AM EST 12-8-2006: Price has changed his blog again. This time he's telling us to "Look for the complete and factual account of the sign incident on this web page in the near future." He's also already calling himself an "AT LARGE Member Rockingham County Board of Education. Dedicated to serving the students and citizens of Rockingham County"... nevermind the fact that there's still three and a half days before he's actually sworn in.
If the "complete and factual account" of the sign incident is still to come, why hasn't he shared it with us already? I mean, telling the truth shouldn't be the hardest thing to do in the world, especially for a Christian.
My take on this? We won't hear "complete and factual" from Price until it passes muster with his attorney.
