Lone Star

Nowere did I say that ALL of those school shootings listed were perpetrated by the 'hands off generation', nor did I imply that they're the only murderers out there. I cited the school shootings to prove my point about the 'producut' of the 'hands off parenting approach' that so many tout as the 'only way to raise children'.

Those are just the school shootings that were mostly perpetrated by the product of 'hands off parenting'. That doesn't include things like the homeless people that are being killed by teens out for a 'kick'. Or because they aren't intelligent enough to realize that 'wrasslin' is fake. I could go on and on, but I think my point is proven.

The CAN'T come up with a 'magic number to end the game', because there is no 'mercy rule' in basketball. If one looks at the rules, as long as you can score, you score.... These 'scoreless games' where 'no one goes home a loser' is pure 'feel good' BUNK! It doesn't teach ANYTHING about putting forth any kind of effort or commitment or dedication. Neither does the 'everybody plays' rule. There is no impetus to excel at anything, as whoever tries out, makes the team; and because you're on the team, you get to play. As far as Dr. Benjamin Spock is concerned, he was such the 'expert' at child psychology and the guru of 'how to raise children', his methods were so 'good' that his children completely stopped talking to him, and he raised such 'well adjusted children' that at least one of them committed suicide. Is it any 'coincidence' that with the growing popularity of the 'hands off parenting', there's been a huge spike in children with behavioral problems, problems coping, and thousands that suddenly need antidepressants? Let's also include that juvenile offenders are on the rise, as well as teen pregnancies, drug use and our kids are killing each other at very young ages. (I refer you to the Kayla Rolland shooting in Flint, MI) Kayla Rolland Story Why is it that when the 'spare the rod, spoil the child' crowd was in full swing 'destroying their children' did you NEVER hear of a school shooting like you have since Columbine? October 2007: A teenage gunman reportedly shoots and wounds five people at a high school in Cleveland, Ohio, before killing himself. April 2007: At least 32 people are killed in two shooting incidents in the campus of Virginia Tech university in Virginia. October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least five girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an assistant principal and wounds two other administrators March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a school in Maryland April 2003: Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a Pennsylvania school, then kills himself March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by classmate in Michigan November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a classmate in New Mexico May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in Georgia April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage student at high school in Virginia May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after taking a girl hostage May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4371403.stm Note how many of those listed were committed by our wonderfully adjusted 'time out kids'! Judging from the number of juvenile shooters, it would seem that the 'hands off approach' is actually HARMING our children instead of 'protecting them'!

I'm divorced, but it had nothing to do with EMS, Fire or Law Enforcement.

Now we've stooped to reprinting spam emails? Is this just to boost your 'post count' or is it just to see your name on the sites front page under "Recent 30 Posts"?

I wonder how fast I'd get banned for this one:

Can you say 'goose paté'?

If that were MY kid, he just lost a teddy bear! A prime example of kids not being taught that there are consequences for their actions. Dr. Spock strikes again! :x :x :x :x

Do you think this is why mom always told us to 'look both ways' before crossing the street? :shock:

Don't it just figure? I just got done applying for financial aid so I can go back to school and start working on my Associates degree, and now the world is ending! So much for 'edumacation'!

Why do I 'worry about it'? Well geez Mr. Cleaver, could it be that its because these are the FUTURE of our country? These are the same ones that are growing up and somehow becoming Senators and God forbid, PRESIDENT! If they can't cope with a parent telling them 'no', what are they going to do when an entire COUNTRY disagrees with them, or doesn't do what they're told? Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the entire generation is like that, but theres far more that ARE 'like that' than 'not like that'! If the kids we're raising today can't cope in 'regular everyday life', how in the hell are they going to cope once they're on their own?

I agree that learning to raise children is a 'trial and error' exercise at best, but if the 'spare the rod and spoil the child' method didn't work, why can't you see that moving to the complete opposite end of the spectrum isn't working as well? Just because you don’t like the message, is no excuse to beat the messenger! ________________________________________________________________________________ ____ Mateo, I apologize if you drew the conclusion that I'm bashing the entire generation that you're in. While that isn't my intention, even you have to admit that 'your generation' DOES show more than a few signs of being out of control! I'm not claiming to be an expert, but any blind person can see that the current trend of 'hands off parenting' isn't turning out some of the future 'pillars of society'! I’ll be one of the first to admit that I’ve met some very bright young minds, but I’ve also seen more that couldn’t give a damn about authority, morals, ethics or just plain ‘good citizenship’! In my opinion, what makes this even worse is we don’t press these young people to actually put much effort forth, and reward them for barely exerting minimal effort. No, I don’t have all the answers, never claimed to have them. All I do is bring up for DISCUSSION what I perceive to be how MY generation is failing the next in line! Just because I refuse to blindly accept what some ‘expert’ thinks is the ‘best approach’, doesn’t make me ‘ignorant’ or a ‘redneck’ or any other derogatory term that has been used in this thread to refer to me and my way of thinking. It simply means that I refuse to be a ‘sheep’ and blindly follow without thinking for myself! I was raised in a strict household, where not even a fraction of what kids today are pulling would have been accepted. If I didn’t maintain at least a “B” average in my studies, I wasn’t allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, because those ‘activities’ were obviously interfering with my school work. If I EVER called my mother a ‘bitch’ because she didn’t by my favorite snack while at the grocery store would have resulted in swift punishment, and not some ‘time out’ bull excrement. If I wasn’t home by the preset time (set by the parent that gave me permission to go in the first place), it usually meant that I’d lost the privilege to go anywhere for a while. No, my parents didn’t believe in the ‘beat ‘em enough and they’ll turn out ok’ mentality, BUT there were consequences for my actions that violated the rules set forth by my parents! From what I see these days, the parents are trying too hard to be the child’s ‘bestest friend’, and it’s not working! I was at the local grocery store the other day and watched an 8 year old throw a temper tantrum because mom wouldn’t buy him all the junk food he had put into the buggy. When he was told ‘no’, the child began throwing a temper tantrum right in the middle of the aisle, complete down to swinging fists at his mother. Explain to me how Dr. Spock’s method of ‘hands off parenting’ does ANYTHING to discourage this type of behavior!

[align=center:621830cbca]Texas girls hoops team seeks forfeit of 100-0 win[/align:621830cbca] DALLAS (AP) - A high school girls basketball team that beat an opponent 100-0 has a case of blowout remorse. The winning school now says it wants to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," the head of the school said Thursday on The Covenant School's Web site. He added that Covenant has made "a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss." Covenant, a private Christian school in Dallas, defeated Dallas Academy 100-0 last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime. A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points. "I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the 3-point shots," said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. "At some point, they should have backed off." Dallas Academy coach Jeremy Civello told The Dallas Morning News that the game turned into a "layup drill," with the opposing team's guards waiting to steal the ball and drive to the basket. Covenant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and "finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left," he said. Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia. There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become lopsided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school sports in Texas. "On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds," Burleson said. "They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome." Covenant coach Micah Grimes and head of school Kyle Queal did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press on Thursday. In the statement on the Covenant Web site, Queal said the game "does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community." Queal said school officials met with Dallas Academy officials to apologize and praised the Dallas Academy players for "strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner." Peloza said the coach and other parents praised the Dallas Academy girls for limiting Covenant to 12 points in the fourth quarter. She added that neither her daughter nor her teammates seemed to dwell on the loss. "Somewhere during that game they got caught up in the moment," Peloza said, referring to the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story." Original Story Here Can someone PLEASE tell me why the girls on the winning team need to feel bad for doing a fantastic job? IF anyone deserves getting beat up on, it's the coach of the 'not winning team' (gotta stay with the 'feel good words'), for letting this mismatched turkey shoot to happen in the first place! If you don't have enough players to make up a 'proper team', then it's your responsibility as a coach to bow out of the games due to lack of interest/participation. There is no need to make the girls that have dedicated themselves to being the best that they can be in their chosen activity feel bad for being the best they can. There is NO reason that the winning team has to feel bad because they went out and got the 'job done'! Yeah, sure...the girls on the other team got their asses handed to them, but that's a chance you take ANY time you step into a contest of any nature! At this rate, the Olympic Games will be held for 'funsies' and nobody gets medals! :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Goose crap, hell! I'm thinking in this case, it was the whole goose that had to be cleaned up! :shock:

The taligeese have issued a fatwah and declared fowl jihad against all infidel commercial airliners....story at 6, film at 11.......

You MUST be joking! ****WARNING: OFFENSIVE MATERIAL FOLLOWS! IF THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU PERSONALLY; DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY! For many years, women have fought to 'become equal'. The latest 'trend' is for women to walk around acting like they're SUPERIOR to men. Your whole 'philosophy' only condones this action! If we men keep perpetrating the idea that the women are 'always right', we will continue getting walked on by them. If we keep rolling over and giving in to their whimsical demands, we will be forever doomed to have to bend over backwards all the time to try to keep them happy. It's been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. By taking this stance that women are always right, we are doing nothing but condemning ourselves to be no more than pawns to be played with. Ladies, how many times have you been given flowers for 'no reason at all', and the first thing that crossed your mind was, "Ok, what has he done this time?" This is because of the mindset that men like crotchity has created. Before you ask if I'm married; the answer is 'no, I'm not'. It's not because I'm some chauvenistic jerk, but because I used to think the same thing that crotchity posted. As a reward, I found out the hard way that she was alot like Will Rogers..... never met a man she didn't like. The biggest problem was that she 'liked them' more when I was at work! We view marriages where the woman was taught to be subservient to her husband as 'wrong', but yet think nothing of emasculating the male in the relationship! I hate to be the one to break the news here, but you can't have it both ways ladies! For years and years I've heard that old adage that 'woman was not made from the foot of man to be walked on by him, nor from the head of man to be superior to him, but taken from the side of man to walk beside him'. If it's good enough to use that to gain 'equality', then it's good enough to remember the next time you try to 'set rules' for the 'husband/boyfriend/significant other'!

Oh great! It's not bad enough that humans are hazardous to my health, but now I gotta worry about the bugs! I guess I'll just eat grass...no wait...more bugs......I'm doomed!

Thats it! With all the death and destruction and opportunities to get maimed ....I'm just going to crawl into my plastic protective bubble. Please do not visit me, as I don't want the responsibility of accidently rolling over you as I move throughout my house! I'm now afraid to eat, drink or breathe! I now only eat things I grow in an organically approved/environmentally friendly garden, my air is filtered and purified, and my water has gone through so much osmosis and filtering that it's not even wet! My car has so many airbags, that if I hit a bump...it will fly away! I have elbow pads, shin guards, knee pads, thigh pads and my D.O.T. approved helmet (full face of course!) (said with the same level of sarcasm as the original post)

"Actually ossifer, I'm not so much under the inkafluence of alcopol as thinkle peep I am! :occasion5: :drunken: :puke: =P~ brushteeth :sleepy2: :sad4:

Happy Birthday, J! I hope you have a great day! Don't party too 'hearty'....

Bo, When the deck is stacked against you like that, it doesn't matter what you do, how well you did it, or how long you did it...it's going to end the same way. As far as talking to a professional, that might be a good idea. I suggest that you stay away from the alcohol and what ever other 'pain killers' you may consider, because they never work. The 'problem' will still be there when you sober up...... You need to stop 'second guessing' yourself! You've critiqued your actions, now move away from it! 90% of this job deals with 'unpleasant things', and the higher you go in the heirarchy, the more you'll deal with. If you need to talk, we're here. We may not have been through exactly this situation, but I'm sure that there's alot of us that have been through the 'rough stuff' as well.

Fear of terrorism isnt going to be a single 'generational problem', but one that is going to be faced by anyone that was alive and old enough to realize what happened, and the motivation behind it. I have to admit that when I first heard the news about the plane going down only moments after takeoff, I immediately thought it might have been an act of terrorism...whether international or domesstic. I breathed a big sigh of relief to find out that it was because of a bird strike, (multiple?). After seeing what the cockpit crew and the flight crew accomplished, one must really appreciate that there are protocols and rules in situations like this. When I found out that there were no fatalities on the plane, I was absolutely 'gape jawed'! Kudos to the entire cockpit/flight crew! The passengers must also be commended for not breaking down into utter chaos as well! As far as the cockpit/flight crew, I hope that because of their level headed responses, and their ability to work together to avert tragedy, that there is some sort of public show of appreciation for the great job they did!

Let's be honest here....you can trust your kids all you want to, but trusting someone you've only interviewed for 3-5 minutes in a 'speed dating style interview' seems rather nonsensical. Look at all the videos we see released that were taken with the 'nanny cams'.... some of these people were employed by a reputable service.... I'm not saying that EVRERY nanny, babysitter, caregiver is going to turn out to be like what we see on these videos, but aren't we increasing the odds by the 'speed dating approach' to interviewing potential guardians of our children? Add to that that the so called 'background checks' aren't run in all 50 states, and even then, that doesn't give an accurate representation of the type of people that are trying to get the opportunity to take care of your children. Hindsight may be 20/20, but it's still too late to do anything about it!

While thumbing through the evening newspaper, I came across an article that, frankly, has me worried... We're all pretty clear on the 'speed dating' concept... Would you trust a babysitter with your children that you met using the same concept? It seems that a group calling themselves Sitter Socials has taken the 'speed dating' concept and adapted it to a way to 'interview' your nex potential babysitter. Sitter Socials claims to do 'background checks', but the service that they use only checks for verifying identity, and criminal backgrounds. The only 'catch' is that the 'criminal background checks' are only done in 37 states, and the District of Columbia. The states that they can check are: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DC ,FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NC, NY, OH, OK, OR, RI ,SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI If the potential babysitter comes from a state not listed, you're REALLY gambling with your childs safety and possibly their lives. Is it just me, or does anyone else see a 'problem' with this? http://www.sittersocials.com/faq.php#4

Congratulations on the 'mini mobey-lizer'!