Archive for the 'Humanities' Category

Homeschooling unconstitutional in California?

Published
by
Val
on 03.7.08
in Humanities
. 5 Comments

Because of one family, an arrogant panel of three judges in California have decided that it is unconstitutional for parents to homeschool their children. They have attempted to make it illegal, if the parent’s not a certified teacher. That’s for the younger children; for secondary school, a parent must be certified in all subjects.

This is a blatant theft of rights, transacted under the table, it is appalling. It does not take a village, people! It is not the government’s business if parents want to homeschool their kids or not. It is especially not their business concerning why the parents want to homeschool. It is not the governments business what curriculum we do or do not want our kids exposed to. Do not let them get away with this.

There is really so much more information than what I could cover right now. Here are some great sites/articles:

Radio Broadcast (very good)
albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1111
bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=27581
citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000006717.cfm
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/INCHVG0SD.DTL&type=politics
buriedtreasurebooks.com/weblog/?p=2326
Google News

est. 1784

Published
by
Val
on 02.23.08
in Humanities
. 4 Comments

The internet is awesome, I tell you what. Yesterday, someone contacted me via Flickr and boom, within 24 hours I have in my virtual hands photos of the house my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather built in 1784. Yup, you read right, that’s 7 greats. The photos were taken later, the lady assumes sometime around when her great-great-grandfather moved in, 1865. I’m so giddy. Go ahead, make fun of me, I know it’s coming, but dang, I’m excited!

LaBruyere/Bernays House, abt 1865 LaBruyere/Bernays House, abt 1865

Continue reading ‘est. 1784′

American Idol ‘08?

Published
by
Val
on 02.19.08
in Humanities
. 4 Comments

So who’s watching American Idol this year? It’s not nearly as interesting for me as it used to be but we’re still watching, though I’ve also not fretted if I’ve missed a showing either.

But I have one thing to say for tonight:

PLEASE get rid of Danny Noriega! How dare he butcher the Great Elvis’ song like that!! I swear, I almost fainted. Plus, he’s just plain annoying. Can we say “Drama Queen”? :P
Continue reading ‘American Idol ‘08?’

Heath.

Published
by
Val
on 01.23.08
in Humanities
. 3 Comments

Everyone’s talking about him, why shouldn’t I? :P

By now the world (that has access to television, radio, and the internet) knows of Heath Ledger’s passing and I think that most of the people who know are surprised, though I wonder how many actually care.

Was he one of my favorites? Yes. Did I like all his movies? No. Did I see this coming? Yes. Am I surprised, though? Yes. Do I feel like he died too young? Yes. Is there a certain politician I’d love to trade him for? Yes.

The world, she still turns, and life goes on. He had all that money, the fame, and what to show for it? Just a beautiful daughter. He’s still dead. You can’t stop that, can’t buy your way out of that. Did he know that the combination of no sleep, sleeping pills, and (probably) pneumonia would cause him to go to sleep for the last time? Probably not. Was he surprised? I think so.

Just goes to show you, death is not only imminent, it is no respecter of persons. We all will die and unless you’re suicidal, we don’t know when that might be, it could be right around the corner. Make sure you have all your final arrangements in order, and I don’t just mean the funeral. Be prepared for that final exit.

What the –?

Published
by
Val
on 11.27.07
in Humanities
. 7 Comments
KSDK - 19-year-old Gregory Smith Junior pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Smith admitted severely beating of a 7-year-old boy he happened to see near a tunnel along Interstate 44 near Pacific.
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The victim and his then 4-year-old brother were playing there, in May of 2006, when Smith walked up to them and started assaulting the older boy.

The 7-year-old was punched, then kicked repeatedly while laying on the ground. He was beaten so badly that both of his eyes were swollen shut by the time the young boys were able to make it home for help.

Police say Smith previously admitted to the beating, and said he had been drinking and taking prescription drugs before the attack.

It appears the attack was random.

What in the freaking heck!?!?

wise guys

Published
by
Val
on 08.5.07
in Humanities
. 2 Comments

Last night, at 11, Sarah and I went and rented The Messengers. Two minutes in to that, we decided it was too scary for her and put on The Nativity Story instead. I bought it the other day, but had not seen it yet. In fact, I hadn’t seen any previews for this movie and very few commercials, yet I said to Sarah, “Just watch, the wise men. I’m calling it now. There will be three of them and two will be white, one black. One of the white ones will be short.” She just kinda looked at me and laughed but once they appeared she was rolling on the floor. Can I call it, or can I call it? She just kept laughing that one was short… and bald.

It really makes me laugh though, that our culture assumes all that about those wise guys. :P

Reality Check

Published
by
Val
on 07.21.07
in Humanities
. 7 Comments

Yesterday I was looking for someone in the Missouri State Archives online, the death records, and I wasn’t able to find her by name. So I pulled up the whole year for the county, still couldn’t find her, but in scanning for deaths in the month of January, I found this:

Look at those dates, they’re all within days of each other. January 10… 11… 13… 14… Look at the certificate numbers, they were four consecutive people to die in the county. And look at the names, all people by the last name of LaSater. Of course, that got my curiosity flowing and so I took a look at each of their causes of death, though I knew I already knew the answer. Every one of them said the same thing:

Yes, everyone of them died of influenza with pneumonia contributing. It took me all of five seconds to notice, too, that Grace, Lilian, and Violet were all daughters of John Mark. Grace was 12 years old, Violet 2 years, and Lilian 1 year old. John was 33 years old and married to a woman named Sylvia (Miller).

The person I’m looking for died that January 23rd, she would be my great-grandmother’s sister, and she also died from the flu. As of yet, though, I have not found her death certificate.

So, Sylvia, I took a look in the 1920 census for LaSater and found her remarried to a man named William Knight. I only found her because she still had children living with her with the last name of LaSater, four to be exact: three sons and a daughter, ages 15, 11, 10, and 7.

But wow - put yourself in her shoes. In less than a weeks’ time, you lose your three daughters and your husband to the flu. Sure, you’ve got four other kids, but you’ve lost four precious people in just that short of a time. I wonder if any of the others “just barely” made it or if they even got sick.

Now… Your day doesn’t look so bad anymore, does it?

Silence is not the answer

Published
by
Val
on 04.17.07
in Humanities
. 8 Comments

Yesterday, 33 people were killed at Virginia Tech when a very disturbed man with a gun went on a shooting rampage. What happened yesterday was very horrible, the worst nightmare of some come to life; the biggest school shooting so far, I’m told. I mourn for those who have lost loved ones.

But that same day, a domain was registered: onedayblogsilence.com. This website now wants to encourage all bloggers to be quiet on April 30th out of respect for the victims.

I want to know: Why? Why April 30th? Why does anyone think this will help the victims or their families? (And why is this showing up in my WordPress dashboard? It has nothing to do with WordPress. Of course, that’s a whole different issue.) April 30th is a Monday, why do people think that partying all weekend long then saying nothing on Monday will make any kind of statement? It’s very easy to hold off posting to a blog for one day while not taking anything to heart about what one claims to be standing in silence of and letting “real” life go on without a second thought to the issues.

Why don’t people understand that by being quiet about issues like these, we essentially encourage them? Why push it under the rug? We live in a day and age where we can quickly exchange information. Why should we be silent about anything? To be silent is to say it is not worth discussing. To be silent is to offer our endorsement. To be silent is to be ignorant. To be silent is to let it happen again.

If this person who set up this onedayblogsilence website cares so much, he or she should be advocating reform instead of silence, even helping to gather donations or letters of support for the victims’ families. Silence does not help. No, I tend to think there are personal reasons underfoot here. Maybe the plan is to get a lot of backlinks regarding this April 30th, have the silence day, then sell adspace on a quickly established website. Of course, I’m not accusing anyone, but that’s the thought hanging in my mind.

No, if you want to be silent, be silent in your heart with your thoughts. Think about what you can do to change things, to stop this from happening again.

I, for one, will not be silent on April 30th.