WIth the end of the week (this one seeming a tad more SPRINGLIKE), it's time for another installment of those tidbits of news that AREN'T always in 72 point type, or aren't usually found on the FRONT page...but should be.
Metro Squad...On Hold For Now.
Sheriff Ken Fries withdrew his request for federal grant money (Project Safe Neighborhoods) before the County council, stating that the FWPD would not sign off on the MOU (memo of understanding). Chief Rusty York did not sign off on the MOU because the proposal (as written) did not meet all of the grant criteria (Gee, Rusty, maybe YOU shoulda sat DOWN with Sheriff Ken and skulled this out?). To be eligible for the grant, the county and city must work with the prosecutor's office as well as the BATF. The program must also target GANG ACTIVITY, as well as gun crimes (where there's illegal GUNS...there usually are GANGS...makes good sense to me).
County Councilwoman Maye Johnson said that residents want to feel safe (I, for one would LOVE to feel safe...again...OUTSIDE my house...then I wouldn't have to strap on the "gat" every time I mow my lawn). She did add a "but" to this: "Collaboration between police and neighborhood associations and relationship-building has had a POSITIVE effect in southeast Fort Wayne". (Would that be "positive" as in I'm POSITIVE we have plenty of CRIME down here, and that I'm POSITIVE this place is fast becoming the newest ghetto in the midwest...or just that I'm POSITIVE most decent people have already, or are planning to move as far from here as possible to evade the human vermin left infesting the area?)
York says that programs like Metro Squad "are more effective when the community understands what the plice are doing and trying to accomplish (like telegraphing a left hook in a prizefight?) and that ramping up those efforts is needed so nobody is surprised and everyone knows what's going to happen" (so the perps can get the "411" in advance and go to ground?).
Stay tuned for more exciting action in this "Tale Of Interest".
Kroger - Scotts Merger / Buyout...
Kroger announced it was buying ALL the Scotts grocery stores yesterday. That sucks. I always shop Scotts...less hassle in the parking lot...I KNOW the car will STILL be there when we return and that it won't be broken into (like what occurs at Southgate's Kroger all the damn time).
The Kroger CEO cited that it would be "more competitive" this way....(Hold on a damn moment. How the f$ck can it be COMPETITIVE when you buy OUT the damn COMPETITION?). Wal-Mart as well as Meihers has shown an increase in the grocery market shares for the past 4 years (Oh, I get it...you're worried about WallyWorld stealing some of the old thunder....gotcha). The Scotts name will remain (for now anyway) on THOSE stores, but will carry Kroger-brand items...and at least 54 people will be laid off (so much for JOB GROWTH...and they better not have that stupid-ass "discount card" crap...that's the reason I stopped shopping CVS...it's a privacy thing to me. The more people that have your address, the more crap you get).
Miami Drug Bust nets 29...
Miami International Airport is looking for a few good men (or women)...to replace all those arrested in the latest cocaine & heroin muggling ring. Seems that 12 cargo workers (for international airlines, but not employees OF those airlines) were caught with about 500 pounds of cocaine and 81 pounds of heroin. This had occurred over the past five years. Other conspirators brought the total to almost 30 people, with the federal attorney noting that "there was definitely inside help".
Funny thing...two of the "cargo carriers" (Centurion and Arrow) that have been flying into Ft. Wayne in these huge honking DC-10s for the past year, are based in Florida (with ties to Central America)....imagine that. I wonder what all is coming into OUR town, hmm?
Collegiate Mental Illnesses On Rise...
The title says it all....is it any surprise? Do you NOW wonder if your son or daughter has a psychopath for a dorm mate? Reasons for the surge in mental problems include the Americans with Disabilities Act, which gives mentally ill students the RIGHT to be in college (like we NEED smarter psychos???), and increasingly sophisticated meds which enable them to function better than in the past (and they have to TAKE those meds, right? And what about SIDE-EFFECTS like...lemme see...psychotic episodes? Guess we can't see THAT one coming, eh?). Wasn't it better to institutionalize them like in the past, instead of all this "main-streaming"? After all, it IS this main-streaming of the SPEC-ED kids that is keeping state test scores DOWN....Better to get all these people together and have special schools that address those needs. One thing that needs to be done is remove the doc/patient privacy crap whenever there is documented evidence that a patient is a danger (potential or otherwise) to themselves or others. That will go a long way to stop things like Columbine...or VT...or the next incident, because we know it will come sooner or later.
There you go...just some items to get the brain cells stirred about as the coffee goes down. Don't forget to buckle up, put the ciggie out, leave the gun at home (unless you have a CC permit), let the dog in, turn the car radio down, look BOTH ways before crossing, and that at a 4-way stop sign, the driver on your LEFT gets the right-of way (unless he has a driver on HIS left...then everyone sits and stares at one another)...!
And remember:
In the Mountains of Truth...You NEVER climb in vain. ~ Nietzsche
4 comments:
I have to disagree about your comment on special ed students. They aren't just thrown in regular classrooms at the drop of a hat. They have to meet certain criteria (such as being able to work on their own, or at least be able to function with their own personal teacher assistant) to be able to study along with other students. They shouldn't be discriminated against for something they have no control over.
Yes, I am biased when it comes to this. I was once a special ed major and learned all about the special criteria and what not when it comes to intergration of special ed students into regular classrooms.
I'm also biased because for years students with seizures were grouped as special ed and treated like they were mentally retarded. Sadly, it still happens today.
Educators and the public need to be informed about these kinds of things. I know in Canada they air several commercials about epileptics. For example, one has a guy who walks into a diner when he starts having an abscence seizure. Immediately, everyone thinks he is a drunkard and start demanding that he leave. Another is of a student having an abscence seizure in class and the teacher yelling and screaming at him, thinking he is being insolent.
But, I do agree with the privacy of medical info on students (and everyone else for that matter) to at least be available to student counselors and those like them in colleges and the work place.
But, I do agree with certain things, well sorta. Lots of kids are thrown into special ed because they have been misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD. They're drugged all day long and it's a wonder that they are able to pass classes at all. I've a strong feeling that they do shitty on state tastes because they're too drugged to be able to pay attention. I've heard of circumstances where parents AND teachers tell their children/students that they need to go to the nurse and take an extra pill because of them being "hyper" and disrupting others.
If the SPEC-ED comment sounded "off-base", I was referring to the fact that we have too many that are "classified" as SPEC ED when in fact they are NOT.
The higher-functioning ones should be included in regular classes. and (imho) shouldn't even be called SPEC-ED in the fitst place. I think many use that "dodge" to receive preferential treatment...or are just la-zy.
Epileptics should not be thought of as SPEC-ED OR retarded...that just makes no sense to me.
The ones who are lower-functioning need to be in their OWN environment (and even their own schools) where SPECIALIZED educators (who know what to look for and can be more "situationally-aware" as well as devote more attention (and time) to them and THEIR individual needs.
That's how you get no child being left behind. You just can't lump everyone into one huge educational system and make it work...because it simply will not.
Sorry for any misconceptions, J.
B.G.
No worries B.
:)
It might've been me who misunderstood. Ya never know.
I have remembered one thing, though. Some families actually tell their children to ACT like they are mentally retarded or in need of special education so that they get the extra stipend/money from either the state dept of ed or SSI. It's more common than one would think.
After seeing what children are like around HERE...I can whole-heartedly believe THAT!
The sad fact is that it winds up taking away from those who truly NEED it.
Just another "sign of OUR times"...
B.G.
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