The most concerning belief in our country today, to me, is the "America, love it or leave it" or maybe better put "my way or the highway". What concerns me is that this same outlook is what terrorists, today and in history, espouse . . . “al Qaida, love it or leave it (or I will just kill you)” or “the KKK way or the highway (tree limb)”. If people truly believed the message of Glenn Beck last week of “restoring honor through a recommitment to God and the ideals of our Founding Fathers” the idea of God might vary but usually, from a Christian perspective, we were taught forgiveness, love, and to care about all people.
Whether you admit it or not, even the Koran teaches peace and love. Yes, there are people that twist the words in the Torah for Jews, the Bible for Christians, and the Koran for Muslims for their “profit”. They feel that they “profit” from wiping out those that do not follow their beliefs. This has been happening for thousands of years on all sides but basically these groups of people are good people trying to get to everlasting life in a way that they believe. Even Buddhists and Hindus believe in good acts so they will be reincarnated in a better caste. Atheist may not believe in a higher power but most focus on natural law (respect for humanity) or something similar to the “golden rule”. The great majorities of people are good and want to live side by side. It is when we let our insecurities get in the way where we can’t convince the other to believe what we believe that it gets ugly.
Our founding fathers created a place where the multiplicities of people could live side by side and we have been working for over 200 years and have yet to achieve it.
Politicians will come and go and each political party that is not currently in power threatens to “take back America”. I am not sure what that means, but we have America. America is what it is, but until we can “Understand, then be understood” (Blanchard, I think) changing the talking heads at the top won’t change that, “We the People” have to change.
I do not presume to know the filming instructions given to the camera operators by the coaches but, usually in hs football games, there are anywhere from 1-3 cameras. The cameras are usually stopped after each play is concluded. The cameras do not film between plays. In my experience most of the events (fighting, etc) that need to be reviewed by authorities occur between plays not during the play and therefore are not usually on the team's film. To presume that coaches on either side are "hiding film" is not a fair assumption.
However, in today's digital world many parents film games as a keepsake and let the "camera roll". That is apparantly what was given to NCHSAA.
Nice article but it doesn't go far enough. I would hope that someone - from the Pilot or MCS - would be able to explain the AYP / ABC scores. As I view the blogs here and elsewhere it is obvious that good intentioned citizens lack an understanding of these scores and are making assumptions based on their limited understanding. It is not their fault but maybe some accurate info might lead to a more fruitful discussion of our schools success.
My gut feeling is that our schools are doing well but the NCLB assessment process is not the best tool to evaluate their progress. What I have found over the years is that many of us evaluate the educational process based on our experiences in the classroom - elementary, high school, and college. Times change and the educational process has changed . . . some changes have not been effective and others have been very effective. We tend to romanticize our experiences and make recommendations based on those experiences which could very well be outdated.
Bottom line . . . I would like to see a clear description of AYP / ABC scores and then open up the blogs for conversations on how we can improve our schools.
kiki 2 years, 8 months ago
Debate About Islamic Center Brings Out the Worst in Us
The most concerning belief in our country today, to me, is the "America, love it or leave it" or maybe better put "my way or the highway". What concerns me is that this same outlook is what terrorists, today and in history, espouse . . . “al Qaida, love it or leave it (or I will just kill you)” or “the KKK way or the highway (tree limb)”. If people truly believed the message of Glenn Beck last week of “restoring honor through a recommitment to God and the ideals of our Founding Fathers” the idea of God might vary but usually, from a Christian perspective, we were taught forgiveness, love, and to care about all people.
Whether you admit it or not, even the Koran teaches peace and love. Yes, there are people that twist the words in the Torah for Jews, the Bible for Christians, and the Koran for Muslims for their “profit”. They feel that they “profit” from wiping out those that do not follow their beliefs. This has been happening for thousands of years on all sides but basically these groups of people are good people trying to get to everlasting life in a way that they believe. Even Buddhists and Hindus believe in good acts so they will be reincarnated in a better caste. Atheist may not believe in a higher power but most focus on natural law (respect for humanity) or something similar to the “golden rule”. The great majorities of people are good and want to live side by side. It is when we let our insecurities get in the way where we can’t convince the other to believe what we believe that it gets ugly.
Our founding fathers created a place where the multiplicities of people could live side by side and we have been working for over 200 years and have yet to achieve it.
Politicians will come and go and each political party that is not currently in power threatens to “take back America”. I am not sure what that means, but we have America. America is what it is, but until we can “Understand, then be understood” (Blanchard, I think) changing the talking heads at the top won’t change that, “We the People” have to change.
kiki 2 years, 8 months ago
Debate About Islamic Center Brings Out the Worst in Us
Vertrees,
Thank you for your thoughtful article! As you can see from some of the posts we have a long way to go . . .
kiki 2 years, 8 months ago
NCHSAA Has Video of Pinecrest, Union Pines Incident
I do not presume to know the filming instructions given to the camera operators by the coaches but, usually in hs football games, there are anywhere from 1-3 cameras. The cameras are usually stopped after each play is concluded. The cameras do not film between plays. In my experience most of the events (fighting, etc) that need to be reviewed by authorities occur between plays not during the play and therefore are not usually on the team's film. To presume that coaches on either side are "hiding film" is not a fair assumption.
However, in today's digital world many parents film games as a keepsake and let the "camera roll". That is apparantly what was given to NCHSAA.
I do not know for sure but that is my guess.
kiki 2 years, 10 months ago
Results on AYP: Clear as Mud
Nice article but it doesn't go far enough. I would hope that someone - from the Pilot or MCS - would be able to explain the AYP / ABC scores. As I view the blogs here and elsewhere it is obvious that good intentioned citizens lack an understanding of these scores and are making assumptions based on their limited understanding. It is not their fault but maybe some accurate info might lead to a more fruitful discussion of our schools success.
My gut feeling is that our schools are doing well but the NCLB assessment process is not the best tool to evaluate their progress. What I have found over the years is that many of us evaluate the educational process based on our experiences in the classroom - elementary, high school, and college. Times change and the educational process has changed . . . some changes have not been effective and others have been very effective. We tend to romanticize our experiences and make recommendations based on those experiences which could very well be outdated.
Bottom line . . . I would like to see a clear description of AYP / ABC scores and then open up the blogs for conversations on how we can improve our schools.