Mom gets probation for sending kids to Greece schools | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

Mom gets probation for sending kids to Greece schools | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

What really annoys me about this article are some of the ignorant comments.

"Here's a thought then for all future moms who want a better education for their kids: move to a better area with better schools."

Ever hear of classism? Racism? Poverty? Duh.

Cayuga's

OK, I have been following this and in a Google search, have not found any top articles that even get a quote from a representative of the tribe.

I know there are long-standing political issues with sovreignity but for the love of pete, can't one of the newspapers present both sides of the issue?

I hate the fact that I have to put a title here, I mean, really...

Well, of course Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett are dead.I have to say that the NYT coverage of both people was pretty negative. I guess honest, however, as much as we can know for sure about public figures.

I am enjoying all the GA posts, and more sad that I can't be there, but am enjoying this link that I didn't know about that details the Berry Street lectures.

I am also SO tired. I can't believe how one day of walking, sun and water took it out of me. I feel like I could sleep for a week.

I am finally feeling an urge to read again (and the attention to do so; I've been held to Reader's Digest and Country Magazine articles for too long now), and am looking for ideas; of course I have my required reading list from the UUA, but just ordered a book of poems by Mary Oliver. I don't even particularly like poetry, but I like hers. I was exposed to her work at Wellspring and fell in love with it. Her words just pour spirit in waves.

And the lawn is still growing into field...off to find a repair place tomorrow. I can't take anymore.

Op-Ed Contributor - A Fast Way to Lose the Arms Race - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributor - A Fast Way to Lose the Arms Race - NYTimes.com


My question for Mr. Bolton is, "Is there a way to WIN the arms race?"

How are we supposed to achieve peace without disarmament?

Which reminds me, has anyone read The Sun this month? I'm still working my way through it, but there are some interesting articles on peace activism and religion.

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Stem Cell Research

Neil Gaiman's Journal: The #StemCellResearch Post and Her Majesty's Armoured Novelists


If you're not a Neil Gaiman fan (and if you're not, you should be), just read the first part of this post, and then go share your opinion.

I think this is an important topic.


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Explorer-Scouts Train in Post-9/11 Law Enforcement Methods - NYTimes.com

Explorer-Scouts Train in Post-9/11 Law Enforcement Methods - NYTimes.com

This article made me lose my appetite.

"The Explorers program, a coeducational affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America that began 60 years ago, is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence — an intense ratcheting up of one of the group’s longtime missions to prepare youths for more traditional jobs as police officers and firefighters.

“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy here in Imperial County, whose life clock, he says, is set around the Explorers events he helps run. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.”

I hope that my kids don't have to learn how to use guns and deal with fake or real blood and militant action in order to be true-blooded Americans. What about those who show their patriotism in other, peaceful ways?

Membership in the Explorers has been overseen since 1998 by an affiliate of the Boy Scouts called Learning for Life, which offers 12 career-related programs, including those focused on aviation, medicine and the sciences.

One more reason to avoid the Boy Scouts, as if their stance on sexual orientation wasn't enough.

The training, which leaders say is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include facing down terrorists and taking out “active shooters,” like those who bring gunfire and death to college campuses.

So we should encourage our kids to act like the police, or carry weapons, and maybe get hurt or killed getting the way of actual professionals who we pay to deal with people who are dangerous? If the training is not intended to be applied, why do it? Sounds like marketing to me.

Cathy Noriego, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns. The group uses compressed-air guns — known as airsoft guns, which fire tiny plastic pellets — in the training exercises, and sometimes they shoot real guns on a closed range.

“I like shooting them,” Cathy said. “I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”

Attracted by the guns eh? What about all that pap about teaching these kids to protect our country? Seems like they need a bit better of a screening program.

And this might be my favorite quote:
In a competition in Arizona that he did not oversee, Deputy Lowenthal said, one role-player wore traditional Arab dress. “If we’re looking at 9/11 and what a Middle Eastern terrorist would be like,” he said, “then maybe your role-player would look like that. I don’t know, would you call that politically incorrect?”

Yes, because all terrorists are from the Middle East and wear traditional Arab dress. Profiling is such a great skill for adolescents to have during their formative years when they're already struggling with inclusiveness, tolerance and making good choices.

I'm glad I wasn't the journalist assigned to cover this story.

Why the Bush torture architects must be prosecuted: A counter-terror expert speaks out

Why the Bush torture architects must be prosecuted: A counter-terror expert speaks out


Although I have to say that this quote:
"Have no doubt: As a counterterrorism practitioner, should I find bin Laden I will cut his heart out with a plastic spoon. That would be about justice and revenge, not interrogation. But that job - finding him and bringing him to justice - has been made incalculably more difficult for our soldiers and intelligence officers around the world by these documents and what they mean."

makes me wonder if he's the best spokesperson against torture, or for justice.

Moral dilemmas

I was doing some research and came across this recent article on Israel and Gaza.

It says much of what I have been feeling about the issue, and also about feeling tongue-tied about speaking up about this particular violence. How do religious leaders speak out about violence, even religious violence, and still respect the global religious plurality that is growing?

The author says:
The choice for progressive Christian leaders today is not between guilt-ridden silence and full-throated denunciation of Israeli policy and Israeli aggression. It is certainly not a choice between keeping silent and presuming to lecture Jews on Judaic ethics. Rather, the choice lies between the kind of craven irresponsibility that continued silence represents and a public moral stance that accords well with Obamian aspiration: What kind of country do we want to be?

I think we need to broaden this question beyond our national borders and this particular issue. What kind of humans do we want to be? Supporting through silence, violence of any kind, is a kind of action in and of itself, is it not? Omission can be a sin.

Local seminarians in the news

From the D&C:
(links to entire article):


But 13-year Rochester police veteran Lt. Mark Dibelka grew up without religion in his life until he was in high school and started going to sing at area churches in his California hometown as part of his high school's acapella group. Dibelka was a member of the Lutheran Church for several years in his early adulthood but decided it was not a good fit for him. He eventually settled into the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Dibelka, 38, was ordained in January 2008 and is an independent nondenominational minister and an assistant pastor of Our Fellowship and Joining Hands Ministry. He said his experience as a police officer has helped him in his ministry.

"You spend most of your time caring for needs of others and helping them with their problems," Dibelka said, adding that his problem-solving skills come from more than a decade of police work.

Dibelka, who is currently working toward his master of divinity degree at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, recently applied for a chaplain position with the New York Army National Guard.

"I feel the need to provide a guiding light," Dibelka said about helping those who are returning from combat and have suffered different levels of spiritual crisis. "I can help them deal with their needs before they become psychiatric needs."

However, Dibelka said he does not plan on leaving the Police Department anytime in the next several years.

About UUs

Our local paper ran a story on UUism today. There were some things I took issue with, but overall, I liked it.

China

What is up with the NYT this week? Have the Olympics totally made their reporters forget the problems that China is dealing with?

I mean, I understand this an architecture review and not a political story, but puleeze.

"Nonetheless, amid the endless debate over the ethics of building in China, Herzog and de Meuron’s achievement is undeniable. Rather than offering us a reflection of China’s contemporary zeitgeist, they set out to create a sphere of resistance, and to gently redirect society’s course.

The National Stadium reaffirms architecture’s civilizing role in a nation that, despite its outward confidence, is struggling to forge a new identity out of a maelstrom of inner conflict."

I have read more pro-China pieces in the last week than I can stomach. Just because the Olympics is there, we should not be lauding their government for things it's not really doing. Forging a new identity indeed.

Right/Left Wing

Interesting article (and comments, some actually intelligent) on hate-mongering, "news," etc.

I would like to read more from "conservative" UUs as well. We keep getting attacked as a "liberal" religion, but my faith is one that welcomes anyone, regardless of politics. I think that some churches are more politicized than others, but there is room at the table for those who don't believe in liberal politics, but believe in the faith.