travis' brain dump

horrified or appalled, maybe a bit of both…

So I discovered today through a link (http://music.msn.com/music/blockwatch?GT1=7702) passed to me by Artificial that the New Kids on the Block are reuniting for new album work and a tour… c`mon guys, you’re what… almost 40 now? That’s a little old to be reviving the “boy band image” don’t you think? I mean seriously guys, you should have teenagers of your own that are out making music or something.

Sorry folks, I think about as highly of NKOTB now as I did when I was 11. I didn’t like their music then, and I’m certainly bothered that somehow exposure will happen again.

On a funny note… I’m humored by one of the promotional photos. It reminds me of a police lineup. hehe

 

 

Ok, this is ridiculous. Evidently these kids plotted to attack their teacher and restrain this individual, possibly more, because one of them was scolded for standing on a chair? Excuse me?! What?!

See, this is another example of why I’m a firm believer that this whole complete passive child raising thing is a load of crap and you need to throw down the law sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a fine line between abuse and discipline but let’s be real here folks, these kids honestly need some serious discipline.

If a group of third graders are capable of setting up such an elaborate plot as adults would, throw em in a juvenile detention center immediately while you figure out what to do with them. This is bull.

I personally probably would make my child wish him/her had been thrown in jail by the time I was through with them, but then again I can pretty much guarantee with 100% certainty none of my kids would EVER be involved in something like this. They would be too afraid of the consequences of their actions.

(more comments below the article)

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WAYCROSS, Georgia (AP) — A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.

The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

“We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely,” Tanner said. “We feel like if they weren’t interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don’t know.”

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school, Tanner said.

Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher, Tanner said.

Nine children have been given discipline up to and including long-term suspension, said Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system. She would not be more specific but said none of the children had been back to school since the case came to light.

The purported target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child’s job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

“We’re not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher,” Tanner said.

The parents of the students have cooperated with investigators, who aren’t allowed to question the children without their parents’ or guardians’ consent, he said. Authorities have withheld the children’s names.

Police expected to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors, Tanner said.

Children in Georgia can’t be charged with a crime unless they are at least 13, District Attorney Rick Currie said.

Martin told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla., that administrators would follow school system policy and state law in disciplining the students.

“From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids,” Martin said. “But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that’s what we did.”

Four mothers of other third-grade students at Center Elementary called for the immediate expulsion of the suspected plotters.

Stacy Carter and Deana Hiott both cited school system policy stating that any student who brings “anything reasonably considered to be a weapon” is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.

“We don’t want our children around them,” Carter told the Times-Union. “The one with the knife could have stabbed my child or someone else’s child at lunch or out on the playground.”

“This is an isolated incident, an aberration. … We have good kids,” Center Principal Angie Coleman told the newspaper.
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I don’t get it. I’ve seen quite a few kids that have the highest potential to turn out like this and they come from these “passive parenting” families that don’t believe in spankings or other “emotionally aggressive” punishments. Their kids are freakin terror children. I’m not saying or implying in any way to beat your kids but geez people, get a grip on your children, have some control and be a parent! They’re horrible!

My daughter has always been and still is *ALWAYS* referred as “so polite and well mannered” and “easy and wonderful to watch”. I don’t beat her nor do I force harsh punishments on her. She’s recieved her fair share of some spankings (1 maybe 2 pops on the rear-end) and sat in time-out a bunch of times but you know when she goes to other houses she knows she will be punished for ransacking the place or being a brat. You can leave her with confidence at a sitter.

I’ve personally seen kids come into my house before that have to just have their hands on everything and rummage through everything…. They don’t listen when told to stop or they give you a look like you’re not telling them what to do… Those kids promptly get sent outside or sent home, sometimes by force. I REFUSE to tolerate that in my house or allow my children to do such things.

A great phrase my mom once told me ‘ you don’t child proof your house, you house proof your child ‘ and I’ve lived by that in many aspects. You don’t shield your kids, you teach them to be resonsible for their own actions and lived with the consequences if they do something wrong. The same thing applies when these kids get older… otherwise they graduate from rummaging someones DVD collection or knocking an XBOX off the shelves from horseplay to taking knives, duct tape and handcuffs to school to attack and restrain their teacher with no thought of what the consequences of their actions may be…

GRRR….

Hopefully no one should notice from the outside world but those of you logging in to post comments, etc will for sure. I’ve upgraded WordPress to the latest version. It’s a little odd, but I’m getting used to it. Now I have to upgrade 2 more, lol.

** Also just realized that the subscription plugin has been offline since the upgrade to 2.3.3. Oops! 🙂 Should be fixed now.

Geez…. I think this is a serious lapse in posting on my part. I just noticed it’s been 21 days since I last posted. Between daylights savings and the rush that’s been going on here at work piled with everything going on at home I guess it makes sense. Well… hi… I’m still alive! 🙂

Let’s see, what’s been going on…

Work, work and well more work. There have been so many changes going on here it’s been ridiculous… I literally increased the workload by almost double this month I think. It’s good though, they are fun projects, just time consuming. I’m really enjoying it, with the exception of the all nighter I had to pull last week. I don’t even remember the last time I have been up for over 24 hours but this time was definitely *NOT* fun. OH wait… I do remember. It was when I drove from Denver to Phoenix and then to Mexico back in May. LOL That was definitely more fun than this was.

The home life is buzzing for sure. I’ve gotten almost everything figured out for materials on finishing the basement off so it’s time to start making the budget and planning. I can’t wait to rip that freakin place apart and get all that finished up. If the first room we did is any indication then it’s going to look so nice when it’s done. We’ve already started getting some of the planning started for the kitchen/living room run which should kick off in the spring of next year. Yes, the planning for the downstairs was started last year so we’re right on track for another one. 

We’re making some more progress on Andy’s truck too this week. The lift is going in! 🙂 It’s a modest lift, but none the less it should change the look of the truck especially with the new wheels/tires going on. You know pictures will be posted. 🙂

The blogsite will probably have some quirks with it over the next couple of days, I’m installing the new version of WP that just came out. It’s supposedly a complete overhaul so this should be fun. ^^

Well, that does it. There will be more to update shortly I’m sure. 🙂