Once again, Governor Vilsack and a few state legislators in a special “governance committee” are threatening Iowa’s greatest assets, her rural schools. If they want to encourage us to cooperate and share resources, why don’t they just ask? Why do they have to threaten us with forced consolidation or elimination?
Iowa's 367 districts are already under extreme pressure to increase academic standards. I appreciate that Vilsack and “Tommy’s Dozen” want the state to take over more of the cost of public schools from local property taxpayers.
According to a Monday, March 21 story in the Des Moines Register*, Vilsack and the legislators concocted a school plan last week while talking about efficiency of state and local government. It’s all fine and good for county and local governments to share services, and I’m even in favor of neighboring schools cooperating and pooling resources, but why does the “governance committee” have any business meddling in the future of Iowa public schools?
Part of it has to do with the fact that schools have traditionally been supported by property taxes, but Vilsak and the governance committee want to cut those taxes for commercial and industrial property owners. I suppose that they don’t think that farmers and homeowners bear enough of the burden.
Tommy’s Dozen want to have a commission “study the issue,” and recommend a minimum size for school districts to the 2007 Legislature.
Could you imagine students living within two miles of Dunlap having to drive to Castana to their county high school? Could you imagine students living within two miles of Ute having to drive in to Denison? Kids in Dunlap would have to drive to Mondaiman.
Charter Oak-Ute wouldn’t have an opportunity to win another state basketball title, there won’t be a Charter Oak-Ute. I know one COU graduate who became a university dean, another is the student body president of one of the states universities. You can’t tell me that small schools don’t offer opportunities and challenge their students in ways that even large schools can’t.
According to the Register Vilsack thinks that high schools with under 200 students should reorganize. If they did, he thinks that the new super-districts could pay teachers more, buy more computers and offer more of advanced math and science classes.
Get real. By having fewer schools, they’d cut expenses. What they’d really do is; layoff teachers and increase student-teacher ratios, cannibalize the obsolete computers of the axed districts for the new bigger-districts, and complain that not enough students qualify to take more advanced math and science classes.
More than a third of Iowa's 365 high schools have less than 200 students. Iowa’s proud tradition of educational excellence was forged in the one-room school house. Small schools are our foundation.
We’ve gone through this before. It seems like every few years, somebody wants to snuff out small schools.
There’s nothing wrong with pooling resources, and establishing regional academies so that students can take advanced placement classes that otherwise wouldn’t be offered at their school. But why are schools even considered an easy way to cut costs. Shouldn’t our children be where we want to focus the lion’s share of our resources?
They want to threaten that if small schools don’t show enough progress at sharing resources, they’ll be forced into regional districts. Sharing teachers, superintendents, transportation, food service and maintenance operations aren’t bad ideas, but why do I suspect that there are those who are just looking for an excuse to cut out the small schools?
I’ve admired the valiant efforts that so many legislators (led by our own) are engaging in to encourage business development in Iowa with things like the Iowa values Fund. It’s time that we apply the same kind of creativity, enthusiasm and tenacity to protecting and promoting our state’s greatest resource- small schools.
*Panel urges schools to share
The legislative committee supports a minimum size for school districts. March 22, 2005
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Terri Schiavo
"The case is full of great ironies. A large part of Terri's hospice costs are paid by Medicaid, a program that the administration and conservatives in Congress would sharply reduce. Some of her other expenses have been covered by the million-dollar proceeds of a malpractice suit - the kind of suit that President Bush has fought to scale back."
-NPR commentator Daniel Schorr. Congress met on Palm Sunday to pass a law, signed by Bush, to allow a federal judge to override the decisions of Florida courts to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. The federal judge appointed to the case declined to intervene, though appeals by her parents' lawyers are forthcoming.
-NPR commentator Daniel Schorr. Congress met on Palm Sunday to pass a law, signed by Bush, to allow a federal judge to override the decisions of Florida courts to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. The federal judge appointed to the case declined to intervene, though appeals by her parents' lawyers are forthcoming.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Say that again? Don’t mumble
Sometimes the things little kids say can really make laugh. Like when Ellie, our three year old takes over a room and says, “Alwight you guys, listen up! No talking, no singing, no jumping.”
Other things they say really make you stop and think. Like when Ellie came home from Sunday School excited to sing us a new song: “Jeswus wuvs the wittle childwen.” You probably thought that you know this song, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight…
But are you familiar with the second verse? “Jeswus died from all the childwen…”
Did you catch that? From not for. Although, if you want to get deep into the theological doctrines of original sin, it might just be that He died FROM our sins, not merely FOR them.
And of course, it’s just plain cute to listen to how two and three year olds speak, “PINK, itz mah favowite colowr!”
But imagine if you still couldn’t speak any better than a two year old now. It would be pretty difficult, wouldn’t it? You might even feel trapped. You probably wouldn’t be taken very seriously. People would assume that you weren’t as intelligent as you are just because you aren’t as intelligible as they are.
That’s how life is for Ellie’s older sister Grace. Once an older kid even asked if she was “retarded.” All the tests and assessments that she took in preschool and kindergarten report that she is right on grade level in terms of thinking, knowledge, understanding, intelligence and problem solving.
For years we’ve taken Grace (who’s almost six) to various doctors, experts, speech therapists, and even a chairopractor to find out what was wrong with her. She has a speech impediment, delayed motor skills, and trouble with bathroom control. A number of people suggested to us that she may have “Dysarthria,” sort of a delayed development of her muscles and nerves.
Two weeks ago she was screened and accepted into a speech therapy program at the Monroe Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in
As a theologically conservative Lutheran, I've always had my qualms about Free Masonry and any other quasai-Arab, fraternal organizations. The biggest qualm is just that they’re secret societies. There are questions of works-righteousness, there are suspicions of deism. And of course there are the funny hats.
You know what? I thank God for these people and their charitable work, otherwise, we'd never be able to afford to get her the best help that she needs. God uses all kind of people to accomplish good things. What does it matter why they do what they do or who they’re associated with? Jesus said that you can judge a tree by it’s fruit. So God bless you Shriners and Scottish Rite-wingers and you funny hats too. Thank you for what you do for children.
The specialist at Monroe Meyer said that from his examination, he thinks that it is more likely that our daughter suffers from Apraxia.
Apraxia is caused by “damage to the corpus callosum, frontal lobe, or parietal lobe of the human brain produces a category of deficits called apraxia. Literally, the term means ‘without action,’ but apraxia differs from paralysis or weakness that occurs when motor structures such as the precentral gyrus, basal ganglia, brain stem, or spinal cord are damaged. Apraxia is the "inability to properly execute a learned skilled movement" Neuropsychological studies of the apraxias have provided information about the way skilled behaviors are organized and initiated.”
“There are four major types of apraxia… Limb apraxia refers to problems with movements of the arms, hands, and fingers. Oral apraxia refers to problems with movements of the muscles used in speech.” (http://www.apraxia-kids.org/)
It would make sense to me if Grace has both of these. A pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital thought that Grace might merely have developmental delay or what they called dis-coordination. All I know is that Grace and Ellie basically learned how to climb a ladder and mastered pedaling a bike at about the same time. Dance class has helped a her a lot with coordination, but she still can’t quite skip and the tumbling and gymnastics that they do is a major challenge.
My best guess is still that this was caused by having her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck during her birth. Part of me is bitter that the HMO didn't have their doctors taker her by C-Section much sooner than they did, but I know that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord (Romans
I'm told that Apraxia is sort of a cousin to Dislexia. That makes sense. Grace usually writes most of her letters fine, but instead of saying "Macaroni and Cheese," she says "Ronimac and Cheese." Sometimes it looks like she’s writing her letters in a mirror, but most kids do that sort of thing up until fourth grade or so. In fact, she’s really bright. She loves reading and has started tackling Dr. Suess on her own, without any prompting.
What Grace has taught me that I’d like to pass on to you, is that you can’t judge a radio by its announcer. Or a book by its cover. People may be far deeper, smarter, and more complicated than their vocabulary would ever make you think.
She is incredibly sensitive, kind, patient, creative and fun. People who meet her almost always describe her as friendly, bubbly, effervescent, exuberant and easy going. Of course, don’t ask her to pronounce any of those words.
New Art
Fear no art
Click here:Ted's Pics & Picks to see some of the latest artworks and photos that I've created. I think that some of these are really fun.
Click here:Ted's Pics & Picks to see some of the latest artworks and photos that I've created. I think that some of these are really fun.
Faces of the Fallen
Faces of the Fallen
It doesn't matter if you're opposed to the war or all for it. We should all support our troops and we should all be praying for their families. This is an incredible website- it is an online gallery of the incredible art installation featuring portraits of those service men and women who have died in Iraq over the past two years. I believe that it is destined to become our most personal and powerful war memorial.
Click here
It doesn't matter if you're opposed to the war or all for it. We should all support our troops and we should all be praying for their families. This is an incredible website- it is an online gallery of the incredible art installation featuring portraits of those service men and women who have died in Iraq over the past two years. I believe that it is destined to become our most personal and powerful war memorial.
Click here
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Erin go Braugh
There’s an old saying that goes: On Saint Patrick’s Day there are two kinds of people in this world; those who are Irish, and those who wish they were.”
Middle class, White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), kids growing up in the suburbs often feel like they lack a sense of identity. They want to feel like they belong to something. School spirit does a good job of fulfilling this need for some high school kids. Others end up in gangs or race/hate groups.
I was fortunate enough to wind up thinking that “Lutheran” was my ethnic group. A lot of that was due to Minnesota author Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion Show. But for a long time I was convinced that I was as Irish as they came. Loved green, listened to the Irish rock band U.2., drank Irish Coffee.
Since I was a History major, I researched our family’s background as much as I could. Much to my dismay, “Mallory” wasn’t such an Irish name after all. In the first place, there have been Mallorys over here since the 1600’s and like most WASPs, we’re pretty watered down- a little Dutch, a little English, some German, and so on.
In fact, Mallory is Scotch-Irish. These were Presbyterian Scotts that the Episcopal English resettled in Ireland to help control the Catholics. This made sense, the Mallory coat of arms is a red rampant lion on a yellow field, just like the Scottish flag. No tartan though, no clan, the lion wears a white or silver collar. That symbol meant that they served the English crown.
As a matter of fact, the name Mallory wasn’t even English originally. They came over in the Norman invasion with William the Conqueror. That means that their origins were French. In fact, “Mal~Lorie” originally meant something like “son of unlucky.”
Desperate to somehow identify with the poor, downtrodden, noble and voraciously independent people of the emerald isle, I turned to my mother’s side of the family. Sure enough, the Rielly’s were my ticket to an Irish pedigree.
There was even a legend about my grandfather inheriting a castle in the motherland, but not being able to afford to pay the back taxes on it. Grandpa drove trucks in Detroit, his father had been a captain on the great lakes. And wouldn’t you know it? When my great-grandfather came to America from Canada, he changed his name to Rielly from the more Irish, “O’Rielly,” like the auto parts store. He did it because he wanted to be an American, not just another Irishman.
I let that set in. As I got older, I appreciated that sentiment much more. Why try to be something you’re not? And, why not be happy to be part of this new, unique, even if it is homogenized nationality, this melting pot, America? Bill Murray (note Irish surname) said it well in the movie “Stripes,” when he said “We’re mutts, our people were kicked out of every decent country in the world.”
So, I’m not so Irish, and I’m not Irish-Catholic. As a matter of fact, I don’t even like the taste of Guinness Stout. But today, like everybody else I’ll still wear green, and if I can talk my wife into it I’ll even try to make some corned beef and cabbage.
So, in that spirit, here’s a few of my favorite Irish jokes, presented for your holiday merriment;
The Irish say that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland, what they don't tell you is that he was the only one who saw any snakes!
"Why do you Irish always answer a question with a question?" asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt. "Do we now?" came New York Mayor Al Smith's reply.
One of the best lines in Mel Gibson’s movie ‘Braveheart’ was this one- "In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God." The other one I can’t print here.
Q. What is Irish diplomacy?
A. It's the ability to tell a man to go to hell. So that he will look forward to making the trip
Pat and Mike were coming home drunk, they stumbled up the country road in the dark.
"Faith, Mike” Pat said, “we've stumbled into the graveyard and here's the stone of a man lived to the age of 103!"
"Glory be, Patrick” said Mike, “and was it anybody we knew?"
"No,” answered Pat, “'twas someone named 'Miles from Dublin'!"
An Irish priest and a Rabbi were a car accident. They both got out of their cars and stumbled over to the side of the road.
"Oy vey! What a wreck!" said the rabbi.
"Are you all right, Rabbi?" asked the priest.
"Just a little shaken." said the rabbi. The priest pulled a flask of whiskey out of his jacket and offered it to the rabbi.
"Here, drink some of this. It will calm your nerves." He said.
The Rabbi took the flask and drank it down and said, "Well, what are we going to tell the police?"
"Well," the priest said, "I don't know what your aft' to be tellin' them. But I'll be tellin' them I wasn't the one drinkin'."
And of course, there’s the old stand by: How do we know that Christ was Irish?
Because he was 33 still lived at home and didn't have a job. He hung out with 12 buddies he went fishing with. And He thought his mother was a virgin and she thought He was the son of God.
There are those who wish they were Irish, and those who know better.
Middle class, White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), kids growing up in the suburbs often feel like they lack a sense of identity. They want to feel like they belong to something. School spirit does a good job of fulfilling this need for some high school kids. Others end up in gangs or race/hate groups.
I was fortunate enough to wind up thinking that “Lutheran” was my ethnic group. A lot of that was due to Minnesota author Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion Show. But for a long time I was convinced that I was as Irish as they came. Loved green, listened to the Irish rock band U.2., drank Irish Coffee.
Since I was a History major, I researched our family’s background as much as I could. Much to my dismay, “Mallory” wasn’t such an Irish name after all. In the first place, there have been Mallorys over here since the 1600’s and like most WASPs, we’re pretty watered down- a little Dutch, a little English, some German, and so on.
In fact, Mallory is Scotch-Irish. These were Presbyterian Scotts that the Episcopal English resettled in Ireland to help control the Catholics. This made sense, the Mallory coat of arms is a red rampant lion on a yellow field, just like the Scottish flag. No tartan though, no clan, the lion wears a white or silver collar. That symbol meant that they served the English crown.
As a matter of fact, the name Mallory wasn’t even English originally. They came over in the Norman invasion with William the Conqueror. That means that their origins were French. In fact, “Mal~Lorie” originally meant something like “son of unlucky.”
Desperate to somehow identify with the poor, downtrodden, noble and voraciously independent people of the emerald isle, I turned to my mother’s side of the family. Sure enough, the Rielly’s were my ticket to an Irish pedigree.
There was even a legend about my grandfather inheriting a castle in the motherland, but not being able to afford to pay the back taxes on it. Grandpa drove trucks in Detroit, his father had been a captain on the great lakes. And wouldn’t you know it? When my great-grandfather came to America from Canada, he changed his name to Rielly from the more Irish, “O’Rielly,” like the auto parts store. He did it because he wanted to be an American, not just another Irishman.
I let that set in. As I got older, I appreciated that sentiment much more. Why try to be something you’re not? And, why not be happy to be part of this new, unique, even if it is homogenized nationality, this melting pot, America? Bill Murray (note Irish surname) said it well in the movie “Stripes,” when he said “We’re mutts, our people were kicked out of every decent country in the world.”
So, I’m not so Irish, and I’m not Irish-Catholic. As a matter of fact, I don’t even like the taste of Guinness Stout. But today, like everybody else I’ll still wear green, and if I can talk my wife into it I’ll even try to make some corned beef and cabbage.
So, in that spirit, here’s a few of my favorite Irish jokes, presented for your holiday merriment;
The Irish say that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland, what they don't tell you is that he was the only one who saw any snakes!
"Why do you Irish always answer a question with a question?" asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt. "Do we now?" came New York Mayor Al Smith's reply.
One of the best lines in Mel Gibson’s movie ‘Braveheart’ was this one- "In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God." The other one I can’t print here.
Q. What is Irish diplomacy?
A. It's the ability to tell a man to go to hell. So that he will look forward to making the trip
Pat and Mike were coming home drunk, they stumbled up the country road in the dark.
"Faith, Mike” Pat said, “we've stumbled into the graveyard and here's the stone of a man lived to the age of 103!"
"Glory be, Patrick” said Mike, “and was it anybody we knew?"
"No,” answered Pat, “'twas someone named 'Miles from Dublin'!"
An Irish priest and a Rabbi were a car accident. They both got out of their cars and stumbled over to the side of the road.
"Oy vey! What a wreck!" said the rabbi.
"Are you all right, Rabbi?" asked the priest.
"Just a little shaken." said the rabbi. The priest pulled a flask of whiskey out of his jacket and offered it to the rabbi.
"Here, drink some of this. It will calm your nerves." He said.
The Rabbi took the flask and drank it down and said, "Well, what are we going to tell the police?"
"Well," the priest said, "I don't know what your aft' to be tellin' them. But I'll be tellin' them I wasn't the one drinkin'."
And of course, there’s the old stand by: How do we know that Christ was Irish?
Because he was 33 still lived at home and didn't have a job. He hung out with 12 buddies he went fishing with. And He thought his mother was a virgin and she thought He was the son of God.
There are those who wish they were Irish, and those who know better.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Kelli, tempera on paper. Obviously it needs a lot of help- nose, chin, ear...okay it doesn't look a THING like her. AUUGH!!!
sigh, that's may be why artists take photos like this, so that they don't have to have the model keep sitting there while you paint something that doesn't look like them.
Well, "back to the drawing board," literally.
Mallory
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Loud and proud
March 7-13, 2005 is National Cheerleading Week. According to USA Today. There are about 3 million cheerleaders in the US today. Varsity Spirit, largest of about 50 cheerleading companies, made almost $150 million last year. American Cheerleader magazine debuted in 1994 and now has a circulation over 200,000.
Tommy Lee Jones recently stared in “Man of the House,” a movie where he plays a Texas Ranger charged with protecting members of the University of Texas cheer squad who had witnessed a murder. Its cheesy, contrived and predictable, but still cute. Of course, I may appreciate it more than most. I’ve been coaching Cheer since 1993. I know what its like to be trapped in a van with six giggling teenage girls for hours at a time.
The first organized cheers were chanted at Princeton football games in the 1880’s. The first official Yell squad was at the University of Minnesota in the 1990’s. In the roaring 20’s squads started adding pyramids and tumbling. Cheerleading was a predominantly male sport until all the men went off to war in the 1940’s.
Cheerleading is purely American. Think about it. Baseball evolved from Cricket, Football evolved from Rugby. Only Basketball and Cheerleading are purely American originals.
In High School, cheerleading is about school spirit. College cheerleading is all about stunts and athletics. Unfortunately, the cheerleaders for professional football and basketball seem to be more about glamour and swimsuit calendars. Kind of like how respectable high school and college wrestling are as sports, but Pro-Wrestling is pretty much a corny, violent soap opera.
Club squads, which are not affiliated with schools have become very popular recently. Performing and competing against other cheer squads has become more important to these “all-star” squads as a sport in their own right then raising the spirit at football or basketball games.
The National Federation of State High School Spirit Associations’ official rules book states the first duty of Cheerleading is to “boost school spirit, promote good sportsmanship, and develop good positive crowd involvement Cheerleaders are in a position of great influence, therefore” …"high standards of conduct are essential. Cheerleaders can become the schools most effective student leaders.”
As a coach, I tend to agree with this philosophy. I take it even further. Cheerleading can be a tremendous opportunity to develop important qualities in yourself, your squad-mates and your classmates that will help you throughout your life and in every aspect of your life. The most obvious one might be fitness and fitness habits. I personally think that the most important ones are service, confidence, and positivity.
Service is vital to Cheer and to leadership. You would be amazed as a football or basketball player at the difference that a good cheer squad and crowd noise can make. We are there for them. Cheerleaders shouldn’t be self-focused, we should be focused on others. The ball-team athletes will tell you, there’s something powerful about playing with a lot of noise. Cheerleaders can make a lot of noise, but their job is to get the crowd to make noise, to lead them in cheers.
When the stands are packed and chanting in unison, its electric. It really can help the players, it literally can help determine the outcome of the game. If you’ve been to any of the Lady Bobcat basketball tournaments, you know its true.
Cheerleaders would also be amazed at how much young children watch them, imitate them, and want to be like them. Service could be small thing like picking up trash in the stands after a game, being quiet in the team bus, letting players get on and off the bus before you, or big things, like donating lots of time or money to some charity, church or community activities.
Either way, you can have a lot more influence by helping others than by ordering people around. If you take the focus off yourself and focus on helping others. You’ll be surprised and how good you feel, and how important you become. Perhaps, most importantly, you’ll have a lot less conflict with others if you’re not always trying to get your own way.
Standing in front of hundreds of people, jumping, shouting, and chanting aren’t things that come easy. Leading a pep-rally, speaking your opinion, standing up for what’s right, making new friends, engaging a stranger in conversation, holding up under peer-pressure, saying no, knowing that you have strengths and abilities to handle any situation- these are all things that you can develop by being a cheerleader. Trust in others and trust in yourself. What could Cheering offer that is more valuable than confidence?
Positivity is the next thing that Cheer offers. Think about that old saying “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” People who look for the good in any situation and any individual can usually find it. Once found, it can be used to make things better for everybody. Too often, too many of us tend to be critical of one another and ourselves. That kind of negativity is unproductive.
Optimism is more effective, progressive and productive. Certainly life isn’t always easy, cheerleaders don’t have to be in denial about real life, but if you’re going to encourage others, you can’t focus on what’s discouraging.
Like the old saying says; “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Knowing that no matter how bad it gets, you can still get through it, move on, and learn, even gain from the pain- how awesome is that?
Some people think that they could never be cheerleaders, they’re not “perky” enough. Don’t think of it as being saccharine or Pollyanna, think of it as being positive. That’s part of the American character, that’s looking forward instead of feeling sorry for your self or criticizing and blaming the people around you. That’s leadership.
Tommy Lee Jones recently stared in “Man of the House,” a movie where he plays a Texas Ranger charged with protecting members of the University of Texas cheer squad who had witnessed a murder. Its cheesy, contrived and predictable, but still cute. Of course, I may appreciate it more than most. I’ve been coaching Cheer since 1993. I know what its like to be trapped in a van with six giggling teenage girls for hours at a time.
The first organized cheers were chanted at Princeton football games in the 1880’s. The first official Yell squad was at the University of Minnesota in the 1990’s. In the roaring 20’s squads started adding pyramids and tumbling. Cheerleading was a predominantly male sport until all the men went off to war in the 1940’s.
Cheerleading is purely American. Think about it. Baseball evolved from Cricket, Football evolved from Rugby. Only Basketball and Cheerleading are purely American originals.
In High School, cheerleading is about school spirit. College cheerleading is all about stunts and athletics. Unfortunately, the cheerleaders for professional football and basketball seem to be more about glamour and swimsuit calendars. Kind of like how respectable high school and college wrestling are as sports, but Pro-Wrestling is pretty much a corny, violent soap opera.
Club squads, which are not affiliated with schools have become very popular recently. Performing and competing against other cheer squads has become more important to these “all-star” squads as a sport in their own right then raising the spirit at football or basketball games.
The National Federation of State High School Spirit Associations’ official rules book states the first duty of Cheerleading is to “boost school spirit, promote good sportsmanship, and develop good positive crowd involvement Cheerleaders are in a position of great influence, therefore” …"high standards of conduct are essential. Cheerleaders can become the schools most effective student leaders.”
As a coach, I tend to agree with this philosophy. I take it even further. Cheerleading can be a tremendous opportunity to develop important qualities in yourself, your squad-mates and your classmates that will help you throughout your life and in every aspect of your life. The most obvious one might be fitness and fitness habits. I personally think that the most important ones are service, confidence, and positivity.
Service is vital to Cheer and to leadership. You would be amazed as a football or basketball player at the difference that a good cheer squad and crowd noise can make. We are there for them. Cheerleaders shouldn’t be self-focused, we should be focused on others. The ball-team athletes will tell you, there’s something powerful about playing with a lot of noise. Cheerleaders can make a lot of noise, but their job is to get the crowd to make noise, to lead them in cheers.
When the stands are packed and chanting in unison, its electric. It really can help the players, it literally can help determine the outcome of the game. If you’ve been to any of the Lady Bobcat basketball tournaments, you know its true.
Cheerleaders would also be amazed at how much young children watch them, imitate them, and want to be like them. Service could be small thing like picking up trash in the stands after a game, being quiet in the team bus, letting players get on and off the bus before you, or big things, like donating lots of time or money to some charity, church or community activities.
Either way, you can have a lot more influence by helping others than by ordering people around. If you take the focus off yourself and focus on helping others. You’ll be surprised and how good you feel, and how important you become. Perhaps, most importantly, you’ll have a lot less conflict with others if you’re not always trying to get your own way.
Standing in front of hundreds of people, jumping, shouting, and chanting aren’t things that come easy. Leading a pep-rally, speaking your opinion, standing up for what’s right, making new friends, engaging a stranger in conversation, holding up under peer-pressure, saying no, knowing that you have strengths and abilities to handle any situation- these are all things that you can develop by being a cheerleader. Trust in others and trust in yourself. What could Cheering offer that is more valuable than confidence?
Positivity is the next thing that Cheer offers. Think about that old saying “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” People who look for the good in any situation and any individual can usually find it. Once found, it can be used to make things better for everybody. Too often, too many of us tend to be critical of one another and ourselves. That kind of negativity is unproductive.
Optimism is more effective, progressive and productive. Certainly life isn’t always easy, cheerleaders don’t have to be in denial about real life, but if you’re going to encourage others, you can’t focus on what’s discouraging.
Like the old saying says; “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Knowing that no matter how bad it gets, you can still get through it, move on, and learn, even gain from the pain- how awesome is that?
Some people think that they could never be cheerleaders, they’re not “perky” enough. Don’t think of it as being saccharine or Pollyanna, think of it as being positive. That’s part of the American character, that’s looking forward instead of feeling sorry for your self or criticizing and blaming the people around you. That’s leadership.
Republican Dictionary
For my fellow non-Republicans, the Nation magazine is compiling an English-Republican translation dictionary. For my Republican friends, (and by the way I mean that, you really are my friends, I don't hate you) these may not be nearly as funny to you, but please just THINK about them, because these are a progressive perception of conservative misperceptions. Ask yourself why we feel that way and what your leaders REALLY believe.
Here are a few of their entries so-far:
One of the biggest differences between Republican talk and Democrat talk is that the GOP loves sound bites, news nuggets, explanations that take 10 words or less. Dems tend to be more articulate and more detailed, unfortunately for us that also means we're less concise, sometimes even boring.
The definition of PRA's in this dictionary makes sense if you click here and read maybe three or four short paragraphs of the Nation's article.
Here are a few of their entries so-far:
ACCOUNTABILITY, n. Buck? What buck?
BIPARTISANSHIP, adj. When Democrats compromise.
CHECKS & BALANCES, pl. n. An antiquated concept of the Founding Fathers that impedes autocratic efficiency; see also REFORM.
FOX NEWS, n. Faux news.
GOD, n. Senior presidential advisor.
NONPARTISAN JUDICIAL NOMINEE, n. An active member of the Federalist Society.
OWNERSHIP SOCIETY, n. 1) A society where you're on your own. (John Read, Ownings Mills, MD); 2) A society where one-half of society owns the other half. (Anne Galvan Klousia, Corvallis, OR); 3) The euphemism used by robber barons and their political lackeys to promote or justify the extreme concentration of wealth into the hands of a powerful few. Synonyms: PLUTOCRACY, CORPORATE FEUDALISM.
SOCIAL SECURITY, n. Broker security.
SPREADING PEACE, v. Preemptive war.
STAY THE COURSE, v. To relentlessly pursue a disastrous policy regardless of how far conditions deteriorate. Antonym: "To cut and run."
TORTURER, n. 1) White House Counsel. 2) Attorney General.
They've got another one that is pretty confusing...
PERSONAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, n. Chinese Communist Party loans.
One of the biggest differences between Republican talk and Democrat talk is that the GOP loves sound bites, news nuggets, explanations that take 10 words or less. Dems tend to be more articulate and more detailed, unfortunately for us that also means we're less concise, sometimes even boring.
The definition of PRA's in this dictionary makes sense if you click here and read maybe three or four short paragraphs of the Nation's article.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Apraxia
For years we took oldest our daughter to various doctors, experts, speech therapists, and even a chiropractor to find out what was wrong with her. She has a speech impediment, delayed motor skills, and trouble with bathroom control. A number of people suggested to us that she may have Dysarthria, sort of a delayed development of her muscles and nerves.
Yesterday she was screened and accepted into a speech therapy program at the Monroe Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Our insurance company had refused to cover speech therapy unless there was evidence that her need was caused by some kind of trauma after birth. Imagine a 4 or 5 year old having to undergo MRI tests to rule out spine and brain damage. Finally, she is being sponsored by a family friend who's a member of the Scottish Rite, it's sort of like the Shriner's.
As a theologically conservative Lutheran, I've certainly always had my qualms about Free Masonry and any other secretive, quasai arab, quasai occult fraternal organizations. Be that as it may, I thank God for these people and their charitable work, otherwise, we'd never be able to afford to get her the help she need.
The specialist at Monroe Meyer said that from his examination, he thinks that it is more likely that our daughter suffers from Apraxia.
Damage to the corpus callosum, frontal lobe, or parietal lobe of the human brain produces a category of deficits called apraxia. Literally, the term means "without action," but apraxia differs from paralysis or weakness that occurs when motor structures such as the precentral gyrus, basal ganglia, brain stem, or spinal cord are damaged. Apraxia is the "inability to properly execute a learned skilled movement" Neuropsychological studies of the apraxias have provided information about the way skilled behaviors are organized and initiated.There are four major types of apraxia two of which will be discussed in this chapter. Limb apraxia refers to problems with movements of the arms, hands, and fingers. Oral apraxia refers to problems with movements of the muscles used in speech.
My best guess is still that this was caused by having her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck during her birth. Part of me is bitter that the HMO didn't have their doctors taker her by C-Section much sooner than they did, but I know that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28) and that God has a plan to use this to His advantage to bless my daughter, and others through her.
I'm told that Apraxia is sort of a cousin to Dislexia. That makes sense. Grace writes most of her letters fine, but instead of saying "Macaroni and Cheese," she says "Ronimac and Cheese."
If you're a family member or a friend, this is the latest information that we have. We hope that it helps you understand some of what she's going through and why she is the way she is. Our prayer is that the new, aggressive speech therapy will not only help her verbally, but socially, emotionally and academically as well. Thank you for your continued prayer and support.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Lady Bobcats move on to State semifinals
Just thought I'd let you know, if you didn't know already...
Will it be IKM vs. COU on Friday?
Class 1A
Monday's first-round games
Treynor 63, Rockwell-Swaledale 48
IKM 71, Bellevue Marquette 48
Charter Oak Ute 54, Highland 52
George-Little Rock 55, Colo-NESCO 40
Wednesday's semifinal games
6:30 p.m. Treynor (22-4) vs. IKM (25-1)
8 p.m. Charter Oak-Ute (24-2) vs. George-Little Rock (22-4)
Friday's championship
6 p.m. Semifinal winners
Will it be IKM vs. COU on Friday?
Class 1A
Monday's first-round games
Treynor 63, Rockwell-Swaledale 48
IKM 71, Bellevue Marquette 48
Charter Oak Ute 54, Highland 52
George-Little Rock 55, Colo-NESCO 40
Wednesday's semifinal games
6:30 p.m. Treynor (22-4) vs. IKM (25-1)
8 p.m. Charter Oak-Ute (24-2) vs. George-Little Rock (22-4)
Friday's championship
6 p.m. Semifinal winners
Monday, March 07, 2005
Cheer Tryouts
Boyer Valley cheer tryouts are this week
You can follow them on-
http://cheercoach.blogspot.com/
Treat it like 'American Idol' or 'Survivor' or something. See who makes it and who doesn't
You can follow them on-
http://cheercoach.blogspot.com/
Treat it like 'American Idol' or 'Survivor' or something. See who makes it and who doesn't
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Social Insecurity
Social Insecurity
by Ted Mallory Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Thurs. March 3, 2005
As a History Major, I believe that we can learn a lot from our predecessors. I believe that we can learn a lot from “the Greatest Generation” which can help us with today’s problems. Please consider what President Franklin Roosevelt State of the Union Address from January 6, 1941- a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew us into WWII:
“For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and
strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and
economic systems are simple.
They are:
● Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
● Jobs for those who can work.
● Security for those who need it.
● The ending of special privilege for the few.
● The preservation of civil liberties for all.
● The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and
constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.
Many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement. As examples:We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.
We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.
We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it.
I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call.
A part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. In my Budget Message I shall recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying today. No person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation.
If the Congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting patriotism ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause.”
FDR believed in the old Midwestern, common sense axiom, “We’re all in this together,” but in George Bush’s “ownership society” it’s every man for himself. He got himself elected by telling us that we deserved a tax cut, he said that the budget surplus was our money so the government should give it back. Of course, 80% of the cut went to the riches 2% of Americans. That certainly wasn’t in line with FDR’s “principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay.”
In his last State of the Union, former President Clinton proposed that any budget surplus be reserved until Social Security is strengthened. You’d have thought that Bush would’ve rethought, even retracted his massive tax cuts immediately after 9/11 especially after considering how it affected the economy.
Now Bush wants to “privatize” Social Security. He makes it sound good by candy coating it with the notion that you will own your own Social Security in a personal “savings account.
First of all, Social Security isn’t in as much trouble as Bush wants to scare us into thinking it is. Even if we do nothing, Social Security will be safe until at least 2042. After that it will still be able to pay 75% of benefits. Thanks to a commission set up in 1983 by President Reagan and Alan Greenspan, Social Security has a reserve fund of nearly $ 1.6 Trillion. Those are in U.S. Treasury bonds, quite literally, the safest investment in the world.
Some Republicans have suggested one approach that hasn’t occurred to Bush- raising the ceiling on income subject to payroll taxes, which is now about $90,000 a year. Barely 6% of Americans earn more than $90,000 a year. Why should those of us in the middle and working classes have to pay for Social Security, but the wealthy don’t? That’s not fair. That’s morally wrong.
Imposing Social Security taxes on incomes of up to $200,000 would go a LONG way toward shoring up whatever weaknesses Social Security has. That would certainly be more in line with FDR’s “principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay.”
What Bush isn’t telling us is that it would cost as much as $3 Trillion to change Social Security from what we have now to what he proposes. What he also fails to tell us is that optional private accounts will siphon money out of Social Security. When you take your money out of the group insurance plan at work, the costs go up for everybody else in the plan. When you take money from a public school so that parents can use a voucher at a private school, the public school has less money- how can it be expected to improve itself? The people who know how to invest wisely and feel comfortable doing it are people who already have plenty of money. The people who depend on Social Security the most will have less funds to count on.
I propose that Millionaires waive their right to collect Social Security. That would be the fastest and easiest way to save it. So what if there are fewer workers paying in once the Baby Boomers retire? If none of the Millionaire Boomers are collecting, because they’ve got plenty of personal investments already, then those people who really need it won’t have to worry about losing it.
Just when you thought that the negative campaign ads ended with the election, last week, Bush supporters went so far as to accuse the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) of opposing troops in Iraq and supporting gay marriage. It’s a smear campaign led by a conservative lobbying group called “USA Next” who plan to spend $10 million on commercials attacking the AARP because it opposes privatization.
In his first inaugural address in March 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, FDR told us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. He also made it clear that we all have to help each other, because we’re all in this together:
“…We now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.”
Social Security was established because we felt a sense of social responsibility. Bush believes only in personal responsibility, in individual ownership, competition, and survival of the fittest (richest), the law of the jungle. So did the three Republican Presidents who preceded FDR-Harding, Coolidge and Hoover and it led to the Great Depression. That’s why I don’t think it’s a good idea to invest Social Security in the stock market.
by Ted Mallory Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Thurs. March 3, 2005
As a History Major, I believe that we can learn a lot from our predecessors. I believe that we can learn a lot from “the Greatest Generation” which can help us with today’s problems. Please consider what President Franklin Roosevelt State of the Union Address from January 6, 1941- a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew us into WWII:
“For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and
strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and
economic systems are simple.
They are:
● Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
● Jobs for those who can work.
● Security for those who need it.
● The ending of special privilege for the few.
● The preservation of civil liberties for all.
● The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and
constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.
Many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement. As examples:We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.
We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.
We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it.
I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call.
A part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. In my Budget Message I shall recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying today. No person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation.
If the Congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting patriotism ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause.”
FDR believed in the old Midwestern, common sense axiom, “We’re all in this together,” but in George Bush’s “ownership society” it’s every man for himself. He got himself elected by telling us that we deserved a tax cut, he said that the budget surplus was our money so the government should give it back. Of course, 80% of the cut went to the riches 2% of Americans. That certainly wasn’t in line with FDR’s “principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay.”
In his last State of the Union, former President Clinton proposed that any budget surplus be reserved until Social Security is strengthened. You’d have thought that Bush would’ve rethought, even retracted his massive tax cuts immediately after 9/11 especially after considering how it affected the economy.
Now Bush wants to “privatize” Social Security. He makes it sound good by candy coating it with the notion that you will own your own Social Security in a personal “savings account.
First of all, Social Security isn’t in as much trouble as Bush wants to scare us into thinking it is. Even if we do nothing, Social Security will be safe until at least 2042. After that it will still be able to pay 75% of benefits. Thanks to a commission set up in 1983 by President Reagan and Alan Greenspan, Social Security has a reserve fund of nearly $ 1.6 Trillion. Those are in U.S. Treasury bonds, quite literally, the safest investment in the world.
Some Republicans have suggested one approach that hasn’t occurred to Bush- raising the ceiling on income subject to payroll taxes, which is now about $90,000 a year. Barely 6% of Americans earn more than $90,000 a year. Why should those of us in the middle and working classes have to pay for Social Security, but the wealthy don’t? That’s not fair. That’s morally wrong.
Imposing Social Security taxes on incomes of up to $200,000 would go a LONG way toward shoring up whatever weaknesses Social Security has. That would certainly be more in line with FDR’s “principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay.”
What Bush isn’t telling us is that it would cost as much as $3 Trillion to change Social Security from what we have now to what he proposes. What he also fails to tell us is that optional private accounts will siphon money out of Social Security. When you take your money out of the group insurance plan at work, the costs go up for everybody else in the plan. When you take money from a public school so that parents can use a voucher at a private school, the public school has less money- how can it be expected to improve itself? The people who know how to invest wisely and feel comfortable doing it are people who already have plenty of money. The people who depend on Social Security the most will have less funds to count on.
I propose that Millionaires waive their right to collect Social Security. That would be the fastest and easiest way to save it. So what if there are fewer workers paying in once the Baby Boomers retire? If none of the Millionaire Boomers are collecting, because they’ve got plenty of personal investments already, then those people who really need it won’t have to worry about losing it.
Just when you thought that the negative campaign ads ended with the election, last week, Bush supporters went so far as to accuse the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) of opposing troops in Iraq and supporting gay marriage. It’s a smear campaign led by a conservative lobbying group called “USA Next” who plan to spend $10 million on commercials attacking the AARP because it opposes privatization.
In his first inaugural address in March 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, FDR told us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. He also made it clear that we all have to help each other, because we’re all in this together:
“…We now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.”
Social Security was established because we felt a sense of social responsibility. Bush believes only in personal responsibility, in individual ownership, competition, and survival of the fittest (richest), the law of the jungle. So did the three Republican Presidents who preceded FDR-Harding, Coolidge and Hoover and it led to the Great Depression. That’s why I don’t think it’s a good idea to invest Social Security in the stock market.
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