Texsox

1. Do you sleep with your socks on? Yes, I put them on my ears. 2. Do you stare at your naked self in the mirror and flex? No, it isn't polite to stare. 3. Do you masturbate at least twice a week? Only for the past 30 years and only if I'm in the mood, remember no means no. Of course I will sometime try and get myself drunk. Last night my hand fell asleep. I've even tried a nice dinner. 4. Could Optimus Prime beat up all four G.I. Joe? Who? 5. Have you ever just cooked up a pound of bacon and eaten it? Alone? No. I have wrapped my self in bacon and sat on the beach. Is that wrong?

I hope they enjoy their life in prison. I've always heard these guys are treated extra special. :fyou

Actually I think they raised her premium when they discovered she was a NASCAR fan [/ducking and running]

Inflation. When Sam down at the body shop gets a raise and Murray at the sheet metal plant gets a raise, the cost of repairs goes up. When energy prices go up, the cost of manufacturing goes up the cost to the insurance company goes up, and they pass it on to you. Now if the sheet metal plant decides to build their new plant in Mexico and can hold their pricing, then your insurance still goes up because they all just want to make more money. BTW, if you really want to see a price increase, move near the border. Steal a car here and get to Mexico with it and there is .003% chance of getting caught. So my auto policy went up 46% when I moved to south Texas.

That kid needs to be out until a child health care professional, and preferably two, say he is safe. I have no idea, and either does the school board, when he is safe. It may very well be tomorrow, it may be in two years, I just do not want to take the chance. I also feel it is unfair that the kid sit out two years, if he is safe now, just because someone a couple years ago came up with that number. Many of the zero tolerance laws came about because of Columbine and the need to do something, anything, to protect our kids. School board candidats ran on platforms of "getting tougher" and getting these kids out of the schools. Problem is they didn't give themselves any flexibility when a kid makes an honest mistake and some of the punishments are way out of scale. They also have allowed the professionals to duck behind the policies and not be accountable and not be allowed to do what they are trained and schooled to do.

Guily pleasure. I adopted Houston as my #2 team and have watched as that made the same horrible turn that the Sox season did, then this streak is making it interesting. They are kind of the "hometown" team here. Although the Rangers have a lot of fans also.It is just so hard to pull for a team to catch the Cubs and knock them out of the playoffs.

Don't give up a thing. Don't make any changes except open yourself up to listen to the word of God from the Bible. Don't think you have to act or think or behave any differently. Given time, God will let you know what you should do. Don't force it. One of my favorite sermons I ever heard was by a guy I met through the Christian Motorcycle Association. We had just witnessed a fellow rider and his wife being hauled off in an ambulance after an accident. I won't go into details but in his words came a message for me to start doing a couple things I had been negleting. And BTW, you are sounding very intelligent.

National Lampoons European Vacation

everal times in posts it was stated that zero tolerance policies are working. I believe they are not working and in fact have been harmful. This isn't the first hijacked thread. I am sorry there is a perception of, or even more sadly if true, the fact you have racists in your town that cannot fairly make decisions and need some "one size fits all" punishment. I think that is ducking responsibility and passing the buck. I also think ducking responsibility is our newest national sport. No one can make a decision. No one will take a stand and defend it. Good kids get screwed, bad kids get off too easy because of one size fits all. Advil and crack cocain treated the same. One size fits all. Butter knife falls in the back of a pickup truck, gang banger brings a switch blade. Same thing. One size fits all. And they have to do this because the elected officials decided they could not hire competent people who can make decision on a case by case basis. So now you can hire any idiot of the street and have them run the school. Just hand them the book the school board writes and life is fine. I do not have faith in the length of time a dangerous student should stay away that was pre-determined during a campaign speech. And I guess my subconcious was working, my car is in the shop. But I really like my mechanic, he's too smart to run for the school board. I've been asked by teachers to run. I am not bilingual. That is the kiss of death around here.

Evil you are arguing the kid should be back in school in two years, I'm arguing he may never be ready to come back to school. Who is being more responsible? You are trusting the auto mechanic on the school board that decided that gang bangers and honor roll students are both rehabbed in exactly 2 years. You are saying you do not want him in a classroom with your kids, then arguing that he should be allowed back into the classroom in exactly two years as decided by the elected school board members. By not reading my posts, you are missing the point. These zero tolerance laws are handcuffing trained adults from making decisions. I am saying the best approach is allowing this kid back in the classroom when he isn't a threat, not a minute before. You are arguing he'll be ready in exactly two years. I'm arguing it may be 1 year 6 months, it may be never. You don't want this kid in your kid's classroom, but you keep arguing that just staying away exactly two years will keep your kid safe. I do not want this kid around my kid until he is evaluated and proves he is safe. Now whose head up up his ass? Pull your head out of your ass in two years when this kid is allowed back without any evaluation and thank the idiots on the school board who knew years ago this kid could be rehabbed in exactly two years without even meeting him. Not 1 year 11 months or three years, but exactly 2 years. Justice Zero Tolerance style Gang banger who has failed every class brings 45 auto to school? Two Years. Honor Student brings pellet gun? Two years Can't people in your town think? Can they not make decisions based on the unique circumstances? Nope they are idiots and need zero tolerance guidelines to tell them what to do. And just in case you still do not understand I AM NOT ARGUING THIS KID SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN NOW. I AM ARGUING THE KID SHOULD BE EVALUATED BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO RETURN, NOT A f***ING MINUTE SOONER. TWO YEARS IS NOT A MAGIC NUMBER THAT WILL KEEP ANYONE SAFE. I DO NOT TRUST A DECISION THE SCHOOL BOARD MADE WITHOUT HAVING ANY INFORMATION ON THIS KID OR WHAT HE DID THAT STATES IN TWO YEARS HE IS SAFE TO BE AROUND MY KIDS. HOW THE f*** DID THE SCHOOL BOARD KNOW THAT THIS KID COULD BE REHABBED IN EXACTLY TWO YEARS? ARE THEY PSYCHICS? Why do you put more faith in this magical two years as determined by an elected school board than the opinion of child health workers?

More zero tolerance working

Here's Zero Tolerance Working

Are you seriously saying the school board elected professionals (car salesman, home makers, secretaries, etc. ) know enough to determine years in advance, when a kid who brings a gun is safe to have return? I am not saving he shouldn't be removed. I am saying that some car salesman school board member is not the one to determine what is safe for my kids. You trust the two years that the elected school board politicians decided was enough. I'll trust child health care professionals who evaluate each kid. I think that each case should be evaluated individually. Some kids may never be safe and should never be allowed back in school, others may be safe before 2 years. Most of these zero tolerance laws were enacted because local school boards felt they knew better than trained child professionals when a kid would be safe in society. Do you really prefer the school board vs. child mental health professionals to decide these matters? Remember we also had a 1st grader expelled for sexual harrasement for trying to kiss another 1st grader. I do not believe a one size fits all policy is in our best interest. I want each kid evaluated to make certain he is safe to be in a school with my kids. I don't want some car salesman on the school board to tell me some kid is safe to be around my kid because the was punished for two years. You can trust in the two year punishment that the politicians on the school year decided was enough for bringing a gun too school. I do not place that much faith in elected officials. I would rather each kid get evaluated by professionals.

In some cases that is exactly what should happen. But these one size fits all policies do not allow for that. Perhaps this kid should never be allowed back in, instead it was decided years ago he should have two years out. I'm stating that someone should decide when THIS KID should be allowed back in. I don't care if they say 2 months or never. As long as it applies to this kid. It scares me they will just automatically allow him back in two years from now.

And the girl with the butter knife is cast in the same net. Not allowed back in her school. Can you not see the insanity in these rules? Why are people better equiped to make a one size fits all policy years in advance but not equiped to make a case by case based on the facts of that particular situation? Steff, so you also agree the girl with Midol and the girl with the butter knife should also have been expelled? They knew the policy, the signed it. Is society better off?

You are correct there isn't a fair comparison except one: The comparison is all three got expelled, without appeals, without any options for the educators. The girl with the butter knife was a honor roll student with perfect behavior but the school's hands were tied because of a zero tolerance policy.

If someone can explain to me why two years is a magical number I could be convinced it is better than allowing people to decide. Why he isn't ready in 1 year 11 months but he is at 2 years. Why everyone needs two years, why some kids don't need three or four and some only one. Why some kids shouldn't be permanately expelled and some should only be given a warning. Months or years before this situation happened someone decided that this kid, in this situation, with that pellet gun, for those reasons, should sit out exactly two years. I find it amazing that they knew exactly what was best for everyone involved before it happened.

But something may resonate in his being while attending a Buddist Temple that doesn't when he visits a Mormon Church or Mosque.

Because in some post Columbine, post 9/11 society we went to extremes and tied the hands of people to use some common sense in handling these issues. We can turn back the clock and put some reason back into these policies. Zero Tolernance has gotten: A 13 year old girl expelled for bring Midol to school, she didn't want to bother the school nurse and was a bit embarrased about having her period. Violated the no drugs ban. A 11 year old girl expelled for bring a plastic butter knife to school to cut the chicken in her lunch box. Violated the no weapons policy. We need to allow people to make decisions based on the circumstances at hand and not based on some unflexing policy. I am in favor of people close to the situation making the decision, not some one size fits all punishment. Look at the flip side, what about the kid who hasn't changed, should he be allowed back in 2-years because that's the punishment? He must be cured because he's been gone two years.

Arizona

Too bad ChiSoxxy hasn't been around much lately, she probably has the most varied background in the world's religions. If I can offer a suggestion, and since we seem to be discussing Christian religions, I will limited my ideas there. Take time to visit a few Churches of different denominations to find one you are comfortable in. Visit with the Pastor or perhaps some of the lay ministers or other followers. A big factor in what you gain from Church is how welcome you feel. Drop into a decent Christian bookstore and look at books about the Bible. Ask for help in finding one that is more mainstream. There are some over the top doomsday stuff that IMHO is just weird. Pick up a Bible translation that you like. There are literally dozens of translations, some easier to read and comprehend than others. There are several Bible reading plans that will have you "cover to cover" in a year, but not by going Genesis to Revelation. Wading through the Old Testament first can be a bit challenging. One I recommend is the Life Application Study Bible with features the New Living Translation. At the end of your walk there are a couple outcomes. You may emerge with a greater understanding of yourself and God's plan for you. Or you may emerge as a non believer. Either way it will be an informed decision.

It is a bad thing. Shall we just lock the kid away until he's 18? When can he be allowed back into society? When shall he be allowed to play with other kids, go to a movies, walk the streets, go to the library, return to school? 3 months? 6 months? 2 years? 25 years? Do you want to punish the kid foreveer for what may be a single instance of a kid trying to defend himself from bullies after teachers did nothing?

Little Big Man