"I went out walking, before midnight, out in the moonlight just like I used to do"
That was last evening. There was a very bright half moon. Contrails, lit up by the moonlight, streaked from SW to NE. One of them went right through Orion's belt. Looked like a long sword. Very cool.
Late in the afternoon the day before, Wednesday, I went on a walk,ending right at dusk. I wrote about it that night, to post Thursday, but what I wrote didn't seem to fit with the snow!
More signs of season's change. The alder catkins were longer, and more of them were open, or blooming. I didn't have my camera with me, but if you want to see a picture look here. I saw several Silver Maples in bloom. I doubt the snow and cold killed those blooms but we'll see. Tree buds are swelling. Even the dogwood buds seem larger.
Tea Olives are in bloom. The aroma of Tea Olive is my favorite aroma in the world. I don;t know if it's the soil, the weather, or a different variety of tea olive, but the aroma does not quite seem as strong here as in Columbia, but get close enough and it's there. Ahhh.
A large honeysuckle bush was in full bloom and quite aromatic.
Birds were twittering all around in that way they twitter in the Spring when they are busy nest building and mating and such. It's a different twitter than in the summer or fall. Remember, this is an especially good time to feed the birds, since last year's natural supply of berries and seeds is diminishing, and the bugs and new seeds haven't really come out yet.
A huge flock of Robins covered a yard and trees at Regents Park and Beaconwood. Robins usually aren't as energetic as this crowd. These guys were down right rowdy. I made double sure they were Robins and not Thrushes. I have no idea whether they were coming or going, but it felt like a red breasted version of "The Birds" for a few minutes there.
I love the stand of pines as Bass Chapel crosses over lake Jeanette near the club. Most of them are Short Leaf, with a few Loblollies scattered here and there. Makes me feel like home.
More and more small flowers are blooming, especially on the south facing slopes. These small early spring wildflowers are my favorite.
All for now.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Breaking Trust
Before the United States went into Iraq, a friend and I would often talk about the relative wisdom of what was looking more and more like an invasion. Almost everyone in the world believed that Saddam had WMD's. He had driven the inspectors to hyper frustration. Still, the cold hard data was not there as we considered going in. The decision was made on grounds that seemed somewhat flimsy. I kept saying to my friend, "Bush has to know something we don't. He would not just lead us into a war for no good reason." I don't think that Bush lied, as many do. But he was over eager to see limited data as conclusive, or, those other more nebulous "save the world from evil dictators" ideas ruled the day for him.
At any rate, we found no WMD's, and Bush lost public trust. His leadership has suffered greatly.
President Clinton was a bald faced liar. He lost public trust. His leadership suffered greatly.
Both men's ability to provide effective leadership on a host of issues was compromised.
Government (and government officials) cannot function well without trust. It is crucial. Even the appearance of dishonesty or corruption undermines the people's respect for their government, and the ability of that government to be effective.
But trust is not something you can just lay claim to. It is not automatic. We don't have an entitlement to the trust of others. Trust is one of those things in life that has to be earned. Once trust is betrayed it is extremely difficult to regain it. Ask any man who has said "I am sorry" after having had an affair.
In my view, and in the view of many, the Greensboro City Manger's Office has betrayed trust. It has shown disregard for truth. It has patronized us with his lame and contradictory explanations.It has created the appearance of corruption.
The deal that was apparently struck between the wings of the City Council, in light of the real reasons people are deservedly frustrated with the City manager's office, rings totally hollow to me. I suppose that neither Perkins nor Rakestraw had support for their respective motions, so Barber worked out a deal that the majority could live with. But "lame" as applied to what has been asked of the city manager does an injustice to that word "lame."
In failing to address the actual issues that have caused so much pain and disunity in our community, the City Council has exacerbated the trust issue. It's decision was arrogant in my view because it brushed aside the substantive issues and replaced them with meaningless directives for improvement. It was patronizing and condescending.
I'd like to be able to say, "Those folks spent hours together in a room; they're good people; we can trust them. They must know things we don't know. We have a duty to go along for the ride."
No, we don't. They have further damaged their credibility in a moment it most needed to be upheld.
As I said above trust has to be earned. But there is another aspect to trust. We as human beings are prone in our frailty to many sins. The more open and accountable our lives, the easier we make it for others to trust us. Trust is enhanced by a consistent record of openness, transparency, and acceptance of responsibility. Secrecy kills trust. Again, on this count, the City continues to have a chance to release documents; yet they only own up to even having the documents after somebody else releases them. I simply do not believe that all these documents are bound by some sort of legal mandate to be under wraps "due to an ongoing investigation."
There is no more important role the civil authority provides than protection of its citizens. But because our Police Department is still under the cloud of this scandal, it itself has a trust problem with the public. When we face such an upsurge in gang violence and so many other serious issues, we need a police department that is above reproach. We don't have one because their employers are not above reproach.. Nagging questions remain.
I don't care if the parties running the city or the GPB are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, men, women, black, white, Asian, or Hispanic. I don't care at all. I am not prone to conspiracy theories. This has nothing to do with party politics or power politics. I personally have not the slightest thing personally against Mr. Johnson. I don't care what party he is or what his political leanings are. We're dealing here with fundamental issues of honesty, integrity, and honor.
Yes, Mr. Melvin, we do need to move on, but not by continuing to sweep these matters under the rug. I know you have done wonderful things for our city, but you just don't seem to understand that failing to address these trust issues undermines the very goals you have laid out.
I hope that the people who have allowed us to see so much of what has otherwise been denied us will continue to do so.
Since Mary Rakestraw's motion did not get to a vote, I consider it a card that can still be played, as of course is Mr. Perkins' opposing motion.
I have a funny feeling that Hammer and Holder have a stack of documents ready to be released in due time. I hope the City leaders will be forced into openness and candor, even if they cannot bring themselves to provide it.
At any rate, we found no WMD's, and Bush lost public trust. His leadership has suffered greatly.
President Clinton was a bald faced liar. He lost public trust. His leadership suffered greatly.
Both men's ability to provide effective leadership on a host of issues was compromised.
Government (and government officials) cannot function well without trust. It is crucial. Even the appearance of dishonesty or corruption undermines the people's respect for their government, and the ability of that government to be effective.
But trust is not something you can just lay claim to. It is not automatic. We don't have an entitlement to the trust of others. Trust is one of those things in life that has to be earned. Once trust is betrayed it is extremely difficult to regain it. Ask any man who has said "I am sorry" after having had an affair.
In my view, and in the view of many, the Greensboro City Manger's Office has betrayed trust. It has shown disregard for truth. It has patronized us with his lame and contradictory explanations.It has created the appearance of corruption.
The deal that was apparently struck between the wings of the City Council, in light of the real reasons people are deservedly frustrated with the City manager's office, rings totally hollow to me. I suppose that neither Perkins nor Rakestraw had support for their respective motions, so Barber worked out a deal that the majority could live with. But "lame" as applied to what has been asked of the city manager does an injustice to that word "lame."
In failing to address the actual issues that have caused so much pain and disunity in our community, the City Council has exacerbated the trust issue. It's decision was arrogant in my view because it brushed aside the substantive issues and replaced them with meaningless directives for improvement. It was patronizing and condescending.
I'd like to be able to say, "Those folks spent hours together in a room; they're good people; we can trust them. They must know things we don't know. We have a duty to go along for the ride."
No, we don't. They have further damaged their credibility in a moment it most needed to be upheld.
As I said above trust has to be earned. But there is another aspect to trust. We as human beings are prone in our frailty to many sins. The more open and accountable our lives, the easier we make it for others to trust us. Trust is enhanced by a consistent record of openness, transparency, and acceptance of responsibility. Secrecy kills trust. Again, on this count, the City continues to have a chance to release documents; yet they only own up to even having the documents after somebody else releases them. I simply do not believe that all these documents are bound by some sort of legal mandate to be under wraps "due to an ongoing investigation."
There is no more important role the civil authority provides than protection of its citizens. But because our Police Department is still under the cloud of this scandal, it itself has a trust problem with the public. When we face such an upsurge in gang violence and so many other serious issues, we need a police department that is above reproach. We don't have one because their employers are not above reproach.. Nagging questions remain.
I don't care if the parties running the city or the GPB are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, men, women, black, white, Asian, or Hispanic. I don't care at all. I am not prone to conspiracy theories. This has nothing to do with party politics or power politics. I personally have not the slightest thing personally against Mr. Johnson. I don't care what party he is or what his political leanings are. We're dealing here with fundamental issues of honesty, integrity, and honor.
Yes, Mr. Melvin, we do need to move on, but not by continuing to sweep these matters under the rug. I know you have done wonderful things for our city, but you just don't seem to understand that failing to address these trust issues undermines the very goals you have laid out.
I hope that the people who have allowed us to see so much of what has otherwise been denied us will continue to do so.
Since Mary Rakestraw's motion did not get to a vote, I consider it a card that can still be played, as of course is Mr. Perkins' opposing motion.
I have a funny feeling that Hammer and Holder have a stack of documents ready to be released in due time. I hope the City leaders will be forced into openness and candor, even if they cannot bring themselves to provide it.
Hey, I Don't Feel Like Jumping Out the Window
I've been listening to Coldplay all day for some odd reason - seems to help me concentrate - and I don't feel a bit suicidal. I don't get it. They always had that effect before.
And would anonymous please quit ragging on Bob Dylan. Say another bad thing about him and I may show up at your doorstep singing Highway 61 Revisited over and over in my very worse Bob Dylan imitation voice. It will drive you crazy.
Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
Over and over and over and over and over and over....
I'll even bring that little "whooooeeeee" sounding thing. Hah!
And would anonymous please quit ragging on Bob Dylan. Say another bad thing about him and I may show up at your doorstep singing Highway 61 Revisited over and over in my very worse Bob Dylan imitation voice. It will drive you crazy.
Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
Over and over and over and over and over and over....
I'll even bring that little "whooooeeeee" sounding thing. Hah!
Dear Mary Rakestraw
Dear Mary,
I don't know you. We've never met. But I am glad you're on the City Council.
I have a request to make of you. Don't make that motion tonight that the city fire Mitch Johnson, well, unless you know for certain that you have the votes.
If you do, and if the motion fails to pass, it would be perceived by too many people as poor form to keep bringing that matter up. So just wait.
I don't think the other side has the votes for a motion in Johnson's support. Yes, in this case it is better to to let the issue fester a little while longer.
Reading the News and Record editorial this morning, it looks like the Old Greensboro crowd is pulling together against rabble rousing "outside forces" such as yourself. From reading that editorial it would seem that you and Trudy Wade are country bumpkins, not worthy of the dignified and serene City Council.
You see, before you and Trudy Wade were elected, the City Council operated with strict decorum and mutual respect. There was hardly ever any controversy. It was a love fest. We all remember that, don't we?
But now the floodgates have been opened and the hillbilly's from the county commissioners are flooding in.
Mary, I wish I knew what Margaret Banks thought about the editorial. Have they pulled the plug on her? Just seems strange to me.
Anyway, back to point, don't make the motion. If you do, and if it fails, then it will slow the momentum of those seeking openness and accountability, and will hand a victory to the Old Guard.
Let a few more things come out first.
Sincerely,
Joel
I don't know you. We've never met. But I am glad you're on the City Council.
I have a request to make of you. Don't make that motion tonight that the city fire Mitch Johnson, well, unless you know for certain that you have the votes.
If you do, and if the motion fails to pass, it would be perceived by too many people as poor form to keep bringing that matter up. So just wait.
I don't think the other side has the votes for a motion in Johnson's support. Yes, in this case it is better to to let the issue fester a little while longer.
Reading the News and Record editorial this morning, it looks like the Old Greensboro crowd is pulling together against rabble rousing "outside forces" such as yourself. From reading that editorial it would seem that you and Trudy Wade are country bumpkins, not worthy of the dignified and serene City Council.
You see, before you and Trudy Wade were elected, the City Council operated with strict decorum and mutual respect. There was hardly ever any controversy. It was a love fest. We all remember that, don't we?
But now the floodgates have been opened and the hillbilly's from the county commissioners are flooding in.
Mary, I wish I knew what Margaret Banks thought about the editorial. Have they pulled the plug on her? Just seems strange to me.
Anyway, back to point, don't make the motion. If you do, and if it fails, then it will slow the momentum of those seeking openness and accountability, and will hand a victory to the Old Guard.
Let a few more things come out first.
Sincerely,
Joel
Playing in the Snow
My daughter Heather took this over the holidays at Appalachian Ski Mountain near Boone. she and her friend Becca Angle were in the chair just behind the one pictured. She took this with her little Canon point and shoot. I think it's a super photo. And appropriate to the day today!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Ten Favorite Albums of the Nineties
I was out walking Wednesday in a Cranberries kind of mood (I have a weakness for Irish Bands), which brought my mind a blog chain a few months back on favorite bands of the 90's, so I thought I would add my own list - looks like what one would expect from a fifty year old guy!
In no particular order...
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991)
Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind (1997)
Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites (1996)
Soundtrack City of Angels - (1998)
Tom Petty - Into the Great Wide Open (1991)
The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the House (1997)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
Iris Dement - My Life (1994)
Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience (1992)
Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams (1992)
In no particular order...
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991)
Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind (1997)
Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites (1996)
Soundtrack City of Angels - (1998)
Tom Petty - Into the Great Wide Open (1991)
The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the House (1997)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
Iris Dement - My Life (1994)
Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience (1992)
Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams (1992)
No Free Environmental Lunch
Bubba over at Noteworthy wrote yesterday about the recent studies, discussed in the Wall Street Journal, that are making it clear that from a greenhouse gases standpoint the switch to ethanol is not what is often hoped for claimed. The Wall Street Journal article is based on two recent studies released in Science Magazine. NPR, MSNBC, and Forecast Earth have all run with the story as well.
Unfortunately this "revelation" comes after Congress's most recent energy bill. The fact is, people have been talking about this for a long time. It's not rocket science conceptually, just hard to model mathematically.
The prophet Amos wrote: "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him."
We think that we have finally fled Big Oil, only to Find Big Agriculture is there to get us, and just we escape him, we run into Big Environment. The more politicized these important issues are, and the more driven by the hype of climate change doom, the more impacted by moneyed interests, the more likely we are to go from one bad idea to another.
Greenhouse emissions aren't the only concern of course. We also have a national security interest to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol can help with the latter, a little, eventually.
But do we really want to say goodbye to millions of acres of forest land, with the biodiversity contained therein (as well as the effective carbon storage) and say hello to millions of acres of finely manicured heavily fertilized biological deserts of corn (or even switch cane) fields. I don't.
It is right to be thinking all along about emissions and pollutants on the one hand, and lowering our dependence on non domestic energy on the other. We need to find solutions that serve both ends.
Ethanol gives us a false security that as demand rises supply will rise with it. But perhaps it is better to start thinking about reducing demand through greater efficiency and through sustainable energy sources that don't increase greenhouse gases as much. We have barely begun to invest what we need to invest in solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal energies. We have hardly gotten off the starting gate with regard to approving higher mileage standards for cars and trucks (Oh, did I mention Big Detroit).
And, in my view, we have not gotten serious enough about new nuclear plants. Nuclear is a safer and better option environmentally. Just do a search on "new generation nuclear power" and you will see what I am talking about. Plants are not only much safer, they use different cooling systems, and require less land and water resources. No, we can't run our cars on nuclear energy, but we can replace much domestic oil and coal use by nuclear and thus free up more oil for automobiles and other industries where oil is a key energy source.
But even better still would be fund a vast research and development effort ti find clean sustainable energy sources - like a Marshall Plan for energy. We can do this! Ethanol is not the answer.
And we need to get serious about higher efficiencies for cars, houses, appliances and many other day to day things that need energy. It's hard to change habits. We need incentives to do so.
Joel
Unfortunately this "revelation" comes after Congress's most recent energy bill. The fact is, people have been talking about this for a long time. It's not rocket science conceptually, just hard to model mathematically.
The prophet Amos wrote: "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him."
We think that we have finally fled Big Oil, only to Find Big Agriculture is there to get us, and just we escape him, we run into Big Environment. The more politicized these important issues are, and the more driven by the hype of climate change doom, the more impacted by moneyed interests, the more likely we are to go from one bad idea to another.
Greenhouse emissions aren't the only concern of course. We also have a national security interest to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol can help with the latter, a little, eventually.
But do we really want to say goodbye to millions of acres of forest land, with the biodiversity contained therein (as well as the effective carbon storage) and say hello to millions of acres of finely manicured heavily fertilized biological deserts of corn (or even switch cane) fields. I don't.
It is right to be thinking all along about emissions and pollutants on the one hand, and lowering our dependence on non domestic energy on the other. We need to find solutions that serve both ends.
Ethanol gives us a false security that as demand rises supply will rise with it. But perhaps it is better to start thinking about reducing demand through greater efficiency and through sustainable energy sources that don't increase greenhouse gases as much. We have barely begun to invest what we need to invest in solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal energies. We have hardly gotten off the starting gate with regard to approving higher mileage standards for cars and trucks (Oh, did I mention Big Detroit).
And, in my view, we have not gotten serious enough about new nuclear plants. Nuclear is a safer and better option environmentally. Just do a search on "new generation nuclear power" and you will see what I am talking about. Plants are not only much safer, they use different cooling systems, and require less land and water resources. No, we can't run our cars on nuclear energy, but we can replace much domestic oil and coal use by nuclear and thus free up more oil for automobiles and other industries where oil is a key energy source.
But even better still would be fund a vast research and development effort ti find clean sustainable energy sources - like a Marshall Plan for energy. We can do this! Ethanol is not the answer.
And we need to get serious about higher efficiencies for cars, houses, appliances and many other day to day things that need energy. It's hard to change habits. We need incentives to do so.
Joel
Can You Help Me Name Our Buildings?
I've taken a few pictures of downtown buildings over the last few months, and would like to name them accurately, but I don't know the names of many of them. Nor do I know much about architecture, so I can't really name the "type" (genre?) of building it is. I also don't know much about the history of when these buildings were built, which would be nice to add.
Really, anything you can think of would be great. Also, some of the buildings are reflected off others. There are a few "jumbled" reflections. If you can name those structures you get bonus points.
If any of you would like to help you can go right to my Flickr site and see that most of the recent pictures are of buildings north of Market. Scroll down a page or two ands there are many buildings south of Market. You can add comments right below each picture, or, you can add comments here on this page.
Go to the set Guilford County and all the building pictures I have so far are there.
I'd love the help as I try to present Greensboro and Guilford County to the world!
Joel
Really, anything you can think of would be great. Also, some of the buildings are reflected off others. There are a few "jumbled" reflections. If you can name those structures you get bonus points.
If any of you would like to help you can go right to my Flickr site and see that most of the recent pictures are of buildings north of Market. Scroll down a page or two ands there are many buildings south of Market. You can add comments right below each picture, or, you can add comments here on this page.
Go to the set Guilford County and all the building pictures I have so far are there.
I'd love the help as I try to present Greensboro and Guilford County to the world!
Joel
Jumbled Reflection Downtown Greensboro
Seems this picture serves as a metaphor for our city government at the moment!Can metaphors be visual? Not sure of the right word here. Art and English majors, help!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Unassisted Triple Play
Something in the paper this morning got me thinking about baseball. Then my daughter wrote to me about a poem she was writing in a poetry class at UNC. She was asking for ideas about a topic. It had to be about a special event. Baseball being on the mind, I reminded her of her unassisted triple play. We reminisced. I think she may write about that.
In all my years of playing, coaching, or watching baseball and softball I have had the privilege of seeing only two unassisted triple plays. Both of them were by my daughters, and if I may be so bold as to say, not by my daughters most gifted in the game.
The first happened with my third daughter Laurel on her 10 and under softball team. She played out of Summerfield, but the "league" was the "NW League" and included teams from Oak Ridge, Brown Summit, Huntsville, Bethany, Colfax, etc. It was mid June, and tournament time. Every year a double elimination tournament ended the season and decided the champion.
Laurel's team had had an OK season. Middle of the pack. Seems Merle Norman was their sponsor. They had lost their first tournament game and were thus playing in the loser's bracket. They were playing Brown Summit, a better team, with a coach pretty much nobody liked because he always argued calls and coddled his players. Laurel's team wasn't supposed to win the game against Brown Summit. My second daughter Heather also played on the team.
I was a merely a parent volunteer who often coached third base.
For some reason Laurel was playing shortstop. I think she mostly played catcher but not in that game. Maybe someone was hurt or on vacation. The game was in Brown Summit. It was a hot summer evening.
In the top of the first inning, BS loaded the bases with their first three batters. So, bases loaded and no outs.
Their clean-up batter hit a rope, a low liner right at Laurel at short. Laurel was playing in, pretty close to the base path.
Laurel had a good eye and good reflexes and caught the ball. Good thing. It would have killed her if she hadn't! One out. As so often happens, runners tend to take off on hard hit liners. That happens even in the big leagues. So the runner from second took off and more or less ran into Laurel just as Laurel caught the ball. Laurel tagged her more by reflex than anything. Two outs.
The runner from third had taken off for home. Before the play was over she would cross the plate, and then run almost all the way back to third.
I was in the stands. I immediately started screaming at the top of my lungs "tag third" "tag third." I'm still hoarse, ten years later!
The other coach saw what was going on and he started yelling for his runner to go back to third. There was a moment's confusion on their side because the girl didn't know she had to re-tag home on the way back. So, the runner is heading back to third. Everybody in the stands on both sides is screaming at this point. Laurel is confused. I don't think she really had a clue at first! But then it was like she awoke, and off to third base she went. The third basemen had no idea what was going on so Laurel had to tag the bag. Laurel got to the bag just before the runner did. She tagged it. Out three. Unassisted triple play. Amazing.
Her team went on to win the game due in no small part to that first inning and a later home run hit by my second daughter Heather. After that the team went on to win the loser's bracket and played for the championship. They lost but it was way way fun.
More briefly, the other unassisted triple play I ever saw "live" was by my second daughter Heather. She was at this time playing in an older age bracket in a game up at Bethany. Heather was also playing short. There was a runner on first and second. The batter hit the ball hard high into the air. At first it seemed to everyone, runner's included, that the ball was long gone. But it got hung up in the wind. Heather drifted over toward second base. She was standing on the bag when she caught the ball and the runner from first ran right into her. Three outs within maybe half a second.
Laurel had done a search for unassisted triple plays on Google. There is an interesting Wikipedia article about them. They are very very rare and usually result from good fortune than great skill. I've seen two, the two described above.
Amazing.
I love baseball (and softball)!
In all my years of playing, coaching, or watching baseball and softball I have had the privilege of seeing only two unassisted triple plays. Both of them were by my daughters, and if I may be so bold as to say, not by my daughters most gifted in the game.
The first happened with my third daughter Laurel on her 10 and under softball team. She played out of Summerfield, but the "league" was the "NW League" and included teams from Oak Ridge, Brown Summit, Huntsville, Bethany, Colfax, etc. It was mid June, and tournament time. Every year a double elimination tournament ended the season and decided the champion.
Laurel's team had had an OK season. Middle of the pack. Seems Merle Norman was their sponsor. They had lost their first tournament game and were thus playing in the loser's bracket. They were playing Brown Summit, a better team, with a coach pretty much nobody liked because he always argued calls and coddled his players. Laurel's team wasn't supposed to win the game against Brown Summit. My second daughter Heather also played on the team.
I was a merely a parent volunteer who often coached third base.
For some reason Laurel was playing shortstop. I think she mostly played catcher but not in that game. Maybe someone was hurt or on vacation. The game was in Brown Summit. It was a hot summer evening.
In the top of the first inning, BS loaded the bases with their first three batters. So, bases loaded and no outs.
Their clean-up batter hit a rope, a low liner right at Laurel at short. Laurel was playing in, pretty close to the base path.
Laurel had a good eye and good reflexes and caught the ball. Good thing. It would have killed her if she hadn't! One out. As so often happens, runners tend to take off on hard hit liners. That happens even in the big leagues. So the runner from second took off and more or less ran into Laurel just as Laurel caught the ball. Laurel tagged her more by reflex than anything. Two outs.
The runner from third had taken off for home. Before the play was over she would cross the plate, and then run almost all the way back to third.
I was in the stands. I immediately started screaming at the top of my lungs "tag third" "tag third." I'm still hoarse, ten years later!
The other coach saw what was going on and he started yelling for his runner to go back to third. There was a moment's confusion on their side because the girl didn't know she had to re-tag home on the way back. So, the runner is heading back to third. Everybody in the stands on both sides is screaming at this point. Laurel is confused. I don't think she really had a clue at first! But then it was like she awoke, and off to third base she went. The third basemen had no idea what was going on so Laurel had to tag the bag. Laurel got to the bag just before the runner did. She tagged it. Out three. Unassisted triple play. Amazing.
Her team went on to win the game due in no small part to that first inning and a later home run hit by my second daughter Heather. After that the team went on to win the loser's bracket and played for the championship. They lost but it was way way fun.
More briefly, the other unassisted triple play I ever saw "live" was by my second daughter Heather. She was at this time playing in an older age bracket in a game up at Bethany. Heather was also playing short. There was a runner on first and second. The batter hit the ball hard high into the air. At first it seemed to everyone, runner's included, that the ball was long gone. But it got hung up in the wind. Heather drifted over toward second base. She was standing on the bag when she caught the ball and the runner from first ran right into her. Three outs within maybe half a second.
Laurel had done a search for unassisted triple plays on Google. There is an interesting Wikipedia article about them. They are very very rare and usually result from good fortune than great skill. I've seen two, the two described above.
Amazing.
I love baseball (and softball)!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Hovering Heron!
I have always believed that life's richest blessing come to us in unexpected moments. I had three of those moments Sunday. Here's one:
I went out for a walk. On pretty days I prefer to workout outside. Sometimes I run, sometimes I walk, other times I walk/run. I have a four mile route, a five, and a seven.
I took off at about 5;15 for the four mile walk up to the "circle" at Lake Jeanette and Elm Street Extension and back home.
Last evening it was very windy as you know - and a bit nippy. I was on the footbridge across Lake Jeanette, the one further out from town. Now, to set the stage I was walking a I suppose south southeast. The sun was setting south-of-west to my right. The wind was from my right as well, out of the west, or west southwest. I was about 2/3s across the bridge when a great blue heron crossed over the footbridge maybe 30 feet ahead or me and 20 feet high, flying roughly eastward with the wind at his back. I stopped to watch him. I was surprised as he made a long leisurely loop across the larger open water to my left. Gradually he completed his 180 degree turn until he was flying west, right toward me, toward the sun, and against the wind. When he got to where I was standing on the boardwalk, maybe 20 feet above me, his forward motion stopped. He was flapping his very big wings but only just enough to stay stationary relative to me. He just "hovered" there for about thirty seconds, or so it seemed. It was like I was watching "Bird in Flight" at an IMAX movie. His head turned slowly to the right and to the left scanning the water ahead. He completely ignored me. Then he stopped flapping, tucked his wings a little, and glided in a slow downward angle against the wind and off to my right, disappearing beyond the road bridge.
I am guessing that with the sun descending in the west that there was some way in which the light from the descending sun (which he was now facing) gave him an ability to see fish in the water without them seeing him, and he was hovering for that reason - to look for fish. He seemed pretty "purposeful," and I am thinking that this might be a familiar strategy - he gets a fish, he takes off, does another long loop, hovers, and gets another fish, etc. But I don't really know.
It was pure childlike happiness for me. It brought tears to my eyes. I consider it such a privilege whenever I get such a view of such a creature. This heron was beautiful. His legs seems perfectly relaxed. His wing span must have been four to four and a half feet.
Nothing in this world gives me more joy than such unpredicted sightings. I feel so at home outside. The trees, the clouds, the wind, the birds, the wildflowers, the spiders and bugs - these are my friends.
And the animal creatures - the animals are so "other" - there is such a profound mystery in their existence. Of course I believe that we were all made by the same creative mind.
Amidst such turmoil and ugliness of life, good and beauty shines forth still.
I went out for a walk. On pretty days I prefer to workout outside. Sometimes I run, sometimes I walk, other times I walk/run. I have a four mile route, a five, and a seven.
I took off at about 5;15 for the four mile walk up to the "circle" at Lake Jeanette and Elm Street Extension and back home.
Last evening it was very windy as you know - and a bit nippy. I was on the footbridge across Lake Jeanette, the one further out from town. Now, to set the stage I was walking a I suppose south southeast. The sun was setting south-of-west to my right. The wind was from my right as well, out of the west, or west southwest. I was about 2/3s across the bridge when a great blue heron crossed over the footbridge maybe 30 feet ahead or me and 20 feet high, flying roughly eastward with the wind at his back. I stopped to watch him. I was surprised as he made a long leisurely loop across the larger open water to my left. Gradually he completed his 180 degree turn until he was flying west, right toward me, toward the sun, and against the wind. When he got to where I was standing on the boardwalk, maybe 20 feet above me, his forward motion stopped. He was flapping his very big wings but only just enough to stay stationary relative to me. He just "hovered" there for about thirty seconds, or so it seemed. It was like I was watching "Bird in Flight" at an IMAX movie. His head turned slowly to the right and to the left scanning the water ahead. He completely ignored me. Then he stopped flapping, tucked his wings a little, and glided in a slow downward angle against the wind and off to my right, disappearing beyond the road bridge.
I am guessing that with the sun descending in the west that there was some way in which the light from the descending sun (which he was now facing) gave him an ability to see fish in the water without them seeing him, and he was hovering for that reason - to look for fish. He seemed pretty "purposeful," and I am thinking that this might be a familiar strategy - he gets a fish, he takes off, does another long loop, hovers, and gets another fish, etc. But I don't really know.
It was pure childlike happiness for me. It brought tears to my eyes. I consider it such a privilege whenever I get such a view of such a creature. This heron was beautiful. His legs seems perfectly relaxed. His wing span must have been four to four and a half feet.
Nothing in this world gives me more joy than such unpredicted sightings. I feel so at home outside. The trees, the clouds, the wind, the birds, the wildflowers, the spiders and bugs - these are my friends.
And the animal creatures - the animals are so "other" - there is such a profound mystery in their existence. Of course I believe that we were all made by the same creative mind.
Amidst such turmoil and ugliness of life, good and beauty shines forth still.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
N&R, David Wray, SE High
Well, after feeling dirty just getting involved with such a mess as the N&R handling of the SE High MRSA (non)affair, and feeling rather repentant for my denunciations, and even saying I was with the N&R on the "memo" issue, I have managed on a slow Saturday to read the Troublemaker's newest revelations on his site. WOW! You've got to read it if you haven't. What a week! I appreciate all those whose doggedness has helped bring so much important information to light this week. The secrecy is the most troubling, as Roch said somewhere. I hope an avalanche of information now starts to tumble into the public eye, and if people get buried, so be it. The pattern of jumping to conclusions and bringing dreadful harm to the reputation of decent people has to end. Someone has said that the reporting on the David Wary matter is better now. I am glad for that. But whether it is a HUGE issue such as the Homestead/PD/David Wray matter, or a small localized issue as with SE High, there also seem to be deep patterns. Yet still, on the Greensboro Police issue, in all the dark clouds I see a very bright silver lining here - a chance to get a pretty fresh start. Let justice roll down like waters...
And, as my personal poet laureate GM Hopkins has said, despite all the mess we make...
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward springs--
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
And, as my personal poet laureate GM Hopkins has said, despite all the mess we make...
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward springs--
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Spring Is Coming!
Spring
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Nothing is so beautiful as Spring --
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy pear tree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs have too far fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden – have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Nothing is so beautiful as Spring --
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy pear tree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs have too far fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden – have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.
Hopkins or Woodward - Reflection on a Week of Controversy
It's a beautiful day outside, and I can't wait to go out for a long walk and see what new signs of Spring have erupted all around me. I was very happy the other day to see catkins on the the alder bushes down by Lake Jeanette growing longer and opening up. And then I got to stop and watch two bluebirds working on a nest.
I confess I have an activist and fiery journalist lurking down inside me, but I am more Gerard Manley Hopkins than Bob Woodward. I think I would have been a good lawyer, but I decided when I was twenty that I did not want to spend my life arguing
Sometimes I get riled up, and the journalistic/activistic juices flow. I know when that happens that I am inclined toward hyperbole, and I may end up doing unto someone in the same way he or she has, in my view, unjustly done unto another. There are, to me, real justice issues at stake here, very small town/local as this matter may seem, and I wish to stand on the side of those whose character I believe has been unjustly besmirched. I just can't do my own besmirching in the process.
I have written much this week about the MRSA case at SE High School and how it was reported. When I originally e-mailed John Robinson at the News and Record, he had the reporter give me a call. That call really dismayed me. I believe that journalists need to set a higher bar of "due diligence" when people's good names and reputations are at stake. I feel very passionately about that, and I do strongly believe that in this case there was not proper care taken for the reputation and integrity of some very fine people. I also believe that there was a very very important back story that should have been investigated before claims of such terrible and woeful negligence were made. I know the folks at the N&R think that amounts to letting a story die. I think it just means slowing down the process until one is sure.
I really can't say any more on the subject, which kind of stinks, but in time, the full story will come out and will be available to everyone, and then they can make a judgment. I would ask those who read the N&R articles to withhold judgment until that happens, and it may take a while. Do not let these claims buried in your mind and memory cause you to distrust a highly respected school principal, a 35 year veteran of teaching and long standing coach held in high esteem. A man's reputation can be destroyed by reckless words and personal claims which cannot be refuted due to privacy issues.
As for myself, I want to go back to being GM Hopkins instead of Bob Woodward. That is where my heart lies.
Whereas I do believe that our paper erred, and erred in a way that put a cloud over the names of good and decent people, in my own passion to address the issue I spoke in the way that, well, I can speak when I am juiced up. As I said before, I think the Scriptures call me to guard and protect my neighbor's reputation. And that includes the reputation of John Robinson and Ryan Seals and the others who have worked on or commented on this story. I don't believe that this matter reflects their best work, but I can say that about every third or fourth sermon I deliver.
I am sorry for the hyperbolic language that I used for the reporter, the paper, and for Mr. Robinson. I don't know the reporter, and I don't really know Mr. Robinson, but in my interactions with him to date he has always acted with patience and kindness toward me. I don't like the firebrand version of me.
I really do believe that deeper reflection is needed in journalism as to how better to safeguard the reputation of our neighbors. This bothers me in politics, in radio talk show, on the nightly news - pretty much across the board.
Since I cannot go any further than I have gone anyway with this story due to privacy issues and legal counsel, I will let it rest for now. Residual comments I will deal with as seems best at the time.
I don't want the fact that I have little stomach for public controversy to keep me from writing, so I hope to go back to trying to build up rather than tear down. Well, except I will continue to defend historic orthodox Christianity from ignorant accusations and misinformation, just to keep the playing field level, so to speak.
I say that, and then the memo comes into my mind, and I get fired up again....No, others can handle that matter better than I can, and in that mater I stand with the News and Record over against the city.
In fact, this is where hard driving journalism has its most significant role, in keeping the government honest, or trying to anyway.
All for now.
I confess I have an activist and fiery journalist lurking down inside me, but I am more Gerard Manley Hopkins than Bob Woodward. I think I would have been a good lawyer, but I decided when I was twenty that I did not want to spend my life arguing
Sometimes I get riled up, and the journalistic/activistic juices flow. I know when that happens that I am inclined toward hyperbole, and I may end up doing unto someone in the same way he or she has, in my view, unjustly done unto another. There are, to me, real justice issues at stake here, very small town/local as this matter may seem, and I wish to stand on the side of those whose character I believe has been unjustly besmirched. I just can't do my own besmirching in the process.
I have written much this week about the MRSA case at SE High School and how it was reported. When I originally e-mailed John Robinson at the News and Record, he had the reporter give me a call. That call really dismayed me. I believe that journalists need to set a higher bar of "due diligence" when people's good names and reputations are at stake. I feel very passionately about that, and I do strongly believe that in this case there was not proper care taken for the reputation and integrity of some very fine people. I also believe that there was a very very important back story that should have been investigated before claims of such terrible and woeful negligence were made. I know the folks at the N&R think that amounts to letting a story die. I think it just means slowing down the process until one is sure.
I really can't say any more on the subject, which kind of stinks, but in time, the full story will come out and will be available to everyone, and then they can make a judgment. I would ask those who read the N&R articles to withhold judgment until that happens, and it may take a while. Do not let these claims buried in your mind and memory cause you to distrust a highly respected school principal, a 35 year veteran of teaching and long standing coach held in high esteem. A man's reputation can be destroyed by reckless words and personal claims which cannot be refuted due to privacy issues.
As for myself, I want to go back to being GM Hopkins instead of Bob Woodward. That is where my heart lies.
Whereas I do believe that our paper erred, and erred in a way that put a cloud over the names of good and decent people, in my own passion to address the issue I spoke in the way that, well, I can speak when I am juiced up. As I said before, I think the Scriptures call me to guard and protect my neighbor's reputation. And that includes the reputation of John Robinson and Ryan Seals and the others who have worked on or commented on this story. I don't believe that this matter reflects their best work, but I can say that about every third or fourth sermon I deliver.
I am sorry for the hyperbolic language that I used for the reporter, the paper, and for Mr. Robinson. I don't know the reporter, and I don't really know Mr. Robinson, but in my interactions with him to date he has always acted with patience and kindness toward me. I don't like the firebrand version of me.
I really do believe that deeper reflection is needed in journalism as to how better to safeguard the reputation of our neighbors. This bothers me in politics, in radio talk show, on the nightly news - pretty much across the board.
Since I cannot go any further than I have gone anyway with this story due to privacy issues and legal counsel, I will let it rest for now. Residual comments I will deal with as seems best at the time.
I don't want the fact that I have little stomach for public controversy to keep me from writing, so I hope to go back to trying to build up rather than tear down. Well, except I will continue to defend historic orthodox Christianity from ignorant accusations and misinformation, just to keep the playing field level, so to speak.
I say that, and then the memo comes into my mind, and I get fired up again....No, others can handle that matter better than I can, and in that mater I stand with the News and Record over against the city.
In fact, this is where hard driving journalism has its most significant role, in keeping the government honest, or trying to anyway.
All for now.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Joel Gillespie for President - Presenting My Cabinet
Along with many others I have come to the basic conclusion that the skills needed to win the presidency are very different than those needed to be the president. I wish we had better way of doing this whole election thing.
OK, another thing I believe. I believe that of the people I know, I could spend a few minutes and easily pick five or ten people who would make perfectly good presidents, people who have common sense, wisdom, an ability to work with others, integrity, humility, and a good solid work ethic.
Oops, I may have just ruled myself out. But I'd still like to be President anyway. Well, really, I'd like to organize a nationwide "nobody" vote campaign. Now that would get the politicians attention if nobody voted!
But somebody's got to do it, and I think I would like being President. Having a chief of staff who can just tell me everyday what I need to do, and who would also watch my back, and wake me up for key appointments - that would be way cool. Having people to write speeches would be the bomb. I'm tired of writing speeches (there is an elderly man in our congregation who likes to tell me after a sermon, "good speech!" And getting to meet all those officials from other countries, well, I think I'd be good at that. But I don't have a ranch to take them to, or an island. Hmm. I'd need to figure that out. It would be super to have a cabinet, all these smart people around me to help me figure out what to do. I'd like that.
OK, starting with Chief of Staff, that would have to be my good friend Forrest Tilley. He is well organized, protective, able to manage lots of difficult people, and would keep the office tidy. He is the man.
For the EPA I think I'd go with Jeffrey Sykes - a good writer, passionate environmentalist, and nice guy.
For HHS, or whatever they call it now, Cara Michele maybe. But she might not like all the office work.
For Surgeon General I'd go with Joe Guarino. Actually Joe would be a much better President than me. I could ask him to be the VP in title, and I could just say first day, here Joe, you have the reins, wake me up when you need me. So, if Joe is VP, Maybe Hogg for surgeon general; he has passion about health care issues and understands what it is like for ordinary folks (not that he is merely ordinary) to get health care. He would kick some butt.
For National Security Adviser I'd go with my good friend Sam Gaines. He knows everything about everything. Really, he does. He's amazing.
For Defense Secretary, hmm, maybe Fec Stench. But then, I was thinking it would really spice things up to have a curmudgeon for a Press Secretary. I mean, if I really wanted someone who could talk for half an hour and say nothing I'd just choose myself. Instead, I'm thinking Fec Stench. But he would also be a good Secretary of Defense.
if Fec were Secretary of Defense I think I'd go with Sarah Beth Jones as Press Secretary. She's funny and smart. I would like to hide in the audience in disguise and ask her questions. But if she didn't want that job she could be Secretary of Education.
For CIA director I think I'd go with the Troublemaker. Give that guy the tools down at the CIA building and the sky is the limit as to what he could find out about our enemies, oops, and maybe me....
For FBI Director I am thinking maybe Ed Cone. It's hard to figure out just where to put Ed. But I'd like a guy in a briefing who can just say something like "John Jones has a great take on illegal weapons here." I mean, short, sweet, and to the point. I don't like long meetings.
Poet Laureate? Well, that would have to be Billy Jones for sure.
Secretary of State? I'm thinking my friend Kyle Suggs. He gets along with everybody. Or if he didn't want to do it maybe I could go with Steadman Harrison. He has been almost everywhere in the world already.
Attorney General. Hmmm. I don't know that many lawyers. I need help on that one.
Department of Homeland Security? I'm thinking Mary Rakestraw for some reason.
I think Dr. Johnetta Cole would also be a good Secretary of State or Education Secretary , so maybe I need to go back and start over.
Or not. Being President is hard. I'm tired. Time for a nap.
Joel
OK, another thing I believe. I believe that of the people I know, I could spend a few minutes and easily pick five or ten people who would make perfectly good presidents, people who have common sense, wisdom, an ability to work with others, integrity, humility, and a good solid work ethic.
Oops, I may have just ruled myself out. But I'd still like to be President anyway. Well, really, I'd like to organize a nationwide "nobody" vote campaign. Now that would get the politicians attention if nobody voted!
But somebody's got to do it, and I think I would like being President. Having a chief of staff who can just tell me everyday what I need to do, and who would also watch my back, and wake me up for key appointments - that would be way cool. Having people to write speeches would be the bomb. I'm tired of writing speeches (there is an elderly man in our congregation who likes to tell me after a sermon, "good speech!" And getting to meet all those officials from other countries, well, I think I'd be good at that. But I don't have a ranch to take them to, or an island. Hmm. I'd need to figure that out. It would be super to have a cabinet, all these smart people around me to help me figure out what to do. I'd like that.
OK, starting with Chief of Staff, that would have to be my good friend Forrest Tilley. He is well organized, protective, able to manage lots of difficult people, and would keep the office tidy. He is the man.
For the EPA I think I'd go with Jeffrey Sykes - a good writer, passionate environmentalist, and nice guy.
For HHS, or whatever they call it now, Cara Michele maybe. But she might not like all the office work.
For Surgeon General I'd go with Joe Guarino. Actually Joe would be a much better President than me. I could ask him to be the VP in title, and I could just say first day, here Joe, you have the reins, wake me up when you need me. So, if Joe is VP, Maybe Hogg for surgeon general; he has passion about health care issues and understands what it is like for ordinary folks (not that he is merely ordinary) to get health care. He would kick some butt.
For National Security Adviser I'd go with my good friend Sam Gaines. He knows everything about everything. Really, he does. He's amazing.
For Defense Secretary, hmm, maybe Fec Stench. But then, I was thinking it would really spice things up to have a curmudgeon for a Press Secretary. I mean, if I really wanted someone who could talk for half an hour and say nothing I'd just choose myself. Instead, I'm thinking Fec Stench. But he would also be a good Secretary of Defense.
if Fec were Secretary of Defense I think I'd go with Sarah Beth Jones as Press Secretary. She's funny and smart. I would like to hide in the audience in disguise and ask her questions. But if she didn't want that job she could be Secretary of Education.
For CIA director I think I'd go with the Troublemaker. Give that guy the tools down at the CIA building and the sky is the limit as to what he could find out about our enemies, oops, and maybe me....
For FBI Director I am thinking maybe Ed Cone. It's hard to figure out just where to put Ed. But I'd like a guy in a briefing who can just say something like "John Jones has a great take on illegal weapons here." I mean, short, sweet, and to the point. I don't like long meetings.
Poet Laureate? Well, that would have to be Billy Jones for sure.
Secretary of State? I'm thinking my friend Kyle Suggs. He gets along with everybody. Or if he didn't want to do it maybe I could go with Steadman Harrison. He has been almost everywhere in the world already.
Attorney General. Hmmm. I don't know that many lawyers. I need help on that one.
Department of Homeland Security? I'm thinking Mary Rakestraw for some reason.
I think Dr. Johnetta Cole would also be a good Secretary of State or Education Secretary , so maybe I need to go back and start over.
Or not. Being President is hard. I'm tired. Time for a nap.
Joel
A Question for Greensboro Bloggers
OK, I admit it, I have been pretty much lost as to the David Wray/Black Book issue since it began. I'd like to read A good "David Wray for Dummies" book. I can just see the bright yellow cover.
I have a question for bloggers who have written on this subject before. If you had known about the just released memo two years ago how do you think that would have impacted your take on the whole subject? Maybe your answers would help me understand the whole issue better.
I have a question for bloggers who have written on this subject before. If you had known about the just released memo two years ago how do you think that would have impacted your take on the whole subject? Maybe your answers would help me understand the whole issue better.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Sometimes I Just Expect Better
Over at E. C. Huey for Guilford School Board there is an interesting piece about MRSA-gate, and by that I mean the N&R's cover up of their own pathetic reporting practices. Well, that is not Huey's angle, that's mine. You should read Huey's story, which includes John Robinson's story.
In his piece Huey references and quotes John Robinson, whose own piece is really full of bologna. Robinson says one thing that sends chills down my spine, "I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. When a reporter calls with questions, tell what you know even if you don’t want to. If you stonewall, you put yourself at the mercy of those who WILL talk to the reporter."
Wow, such power. They must really get off on that. Hey, it may be true. That may be how this world works, but I'm thinking, did I just get transported to China or Iran? Weird.
Contrary to what is claimed by Mr. Robinson, and further commented upon over at Huey's, the school administration does in fact know the appropriate steps to be taken, and they were taken. As to Robinson’s take on the urgency of the story, well, there were two stories, one which should have been released immediately, one which should not have been. That a student at a school has MRSA is a matter of public health and people need to know that. But the question as to whether people at the school had been encouraging the student to wrestle anyway knowing he has a staph infection is a whole different matter. That really needs to be checked out. The original reporter told me that leaving messages late on a Friday amounted to doing “everything” to fact check his story. So, he e-mails or leaves a voice mail late on a Friday and does not hear back by the deadline, and he considers that doing everything? All that needed to be said was that a case of MRSA had been reported. The rest could have waited. The reporter also said to me that he was under pressure to print the story. That interests me.
The wrestler in question wrestles not only at SE but also in a wrestling club in Jamestown. Has anyone looked into that? The same wrestler had been diagnosed with staph a month before and had not been wrestling with SE since then. Had he been wrestling at the other place? I wonder? But anyway, what was the big public health issue on Friday?
Robinson’s comments that doing a better job getting the story amounts to killing the story is ridiculous. You’re talking about ruining a man’s reputation. Give me a break.
And, by the way, the Cox’s have no record of having been contacted by the reporter. Maybe he called them, maybe he didn’t. What number did he call - the school number? Was Coach Cox around? A cell number? A home number? Did he leave a voice mail?
How many voice mails do you get which you do not access or even know about for an hour or two. I get a lot. The Cox’s know of no call. They are truthful people.
By the time Tuesday came around, after the original story, particularly given what had been released Saturday, you bet that folks aren’t going to talk to the reporter. I wouldn't. Besides, the information that school officials potentially have which would vindicate them they can’t release. It’s not only HIPAA laws it’s valid local GCS regulations about releasing information about students. But by Tuesday it was too late for that.
This story on Saturday had nothing whatsoever - not even the slightest little thing - to do with keeping this from turning into some nightmare. The kid hadn’t wrestled for the school for a month. What nightmare was avoided? The school would not let a kid who had not wrestled for a month wrestle? So, where is the big news in that?
Is anybody other than me curious that the same kid was back in school Tuesday? It’s a sidebar, but I am curious.
In other words, there was nothing happening or going to happen that was kept from happening by the Saturday story. A boy who was not wrestling anyway continued not to be able to wrestle. Wow. That’s big news.
The public has a right to know the real story, and that is the motive behind the parent’s anger at the coaches. This story is the same old story - a parent mad at a coach because his little boy isn’t playing enough or whatever. Been there. Done that. It will all come out, in time.
In his piece Huey references and quotes John Robinson, whose own piece is really full of bologna. Robinson says one thing that sends chills down my spine, "I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. When a reporter calls with questions, tell what you know even if you don’t want to. If you stonewall, you put yourself at the mercy of those who WILL talk to the reporter."
Wow, such power. They must really get off on that. Hey, it may be true. That may be how this world works, but I'm thinking, did I just get transported to China or Iran? Weird.
Contrary to what is claimed by Mr. Robinson, and further commented upon over at Huey's, the school administration does in fact know the appropriate steps to be taken, and they were taken. As to Robinson’s take on the urgency of the story, well, there were two stories, one which should have been released immediately, one which should not have been. That a student at a school has MRSA is a matter of public health and people need to know that. But the question as to whether people at the school had been encouraging the student to wrestle anyway knowing he has a staph infection is a whole different matter. That really needs to be checked out. The original reporter told me that leaving messages late on a Friday amounted to doing “everything” to fact check his story. So, he e-mails or leaves a voice mail late on a Friday and does not hear back by the deadline, and he considers that doing everything? All that needed to be said was that a case of MRSA had been reported. The rest could have waited. The reporter also said to me that he was under pressure to print the story. That interests me.
The wrestler in question wrestles not only at SE but also in a wrestling club in Jamestown. Has anyone looked into that? The same wrestler had been diagnosed with staph a month before and had not been wrestling with SE since then. Had he been wrestling at the other place? I wonder? But anyway, what was the big public health issue on Friday?
Robinson’s comments that doing a better job getting the story amounts to killing the story is ridiculous. You’re talking about ruining a man’s reputation. Give me a break.
And, by the way, the Cox’s have no record of having been contacted by the reporter. Maybe he called them, maybe he didn’t. What number did he call - the school number? Was Coach Cox around? A cell number? A home number? Did he leave a voice mail?
How many voice mails do you get which you do not access or even know about for an hour or two. I get a lot. The Cox’s know of no call. They are truthful people.
By the time Tuesday came around, after the original story, particularly given what had been released Saturday, you bet that folks aren’t going to talk to the reporter. I wouldn't. Besides, the information that school officials potentially have which would vindicate them they can’t release. It’s not only HIPAA laws it’s valid local GCS regulations about releasing information about students. But by Tuesday it was too late for that.
This story on Saturday had nothing whatsoever - not even the slightest little thing - to do with keeping this from turning into some nightmare. The kid hadn’t wrestled for the school for a month. What nightmare was avoided? The school would not let a kid who had not wrestled for a month wrestle? So, where is the big news in that?
Is anybody other than me curious that the same kid was back in school Tuesday? It’s a sidebar, but I am curious.
In other words, there was nothing happening or going to happen that was kept from happening by the Saturday story. A boy who was not wrestling anyway continued not to be able to wrestle. Wow. That’s big news.
The public has a right to know the real story, and that is the motive behind the parent’s anger at the coaches. This story is the same old story - a parent mad at a coach because his little boy isn’t playing enough or whatever. Been there. Done that. It will all come out, in time.
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