I have to go into the office again today. I am a little nervous because Florida is spiking again.
I feel
Like I need to be there some. It isn’t like when we were all working from home. More now than before because I can’t let the Child think she has run me off.
Good morning! The header is great. Something about it reminds me of that statue The Thinker. That would be a cute photo to frame and put in a bathroom in the right setting, like the tax office.😀
The mayor of Atlanta and her husband have tested positive for Covid-19. The number of cases is up to over 97,000. I have had a touch of a cold lately so I am watching to see if anything else happens. I am with you, Kim, in feeling a bit of fear in going out. At least it is near the end of tax season so that will cut down on some of our exposure.
I head back to PT at 4 today. Kind of in a downswing again with this knee. It’s a lot of ups and downs, better for a while, then worse and more painful for a while. And the swelling is still there.
We’re in the middle of a rather serious spike in covid cases as well, though not as bad as Fla or Ariz, I don’t think. But I find myself subconsciously almost limiting the number of store trips — and I actually decided to order groceries last weekend as I needed to stock up on a lot of things and didn’t relish going to a crowded market with this knee & covid both to grapple with.
And here in California, the gov came out a few days ago saying there should be “no singing” or chanting (this may also apply to congregational readings which we have each Sunday as well) in churches. The issue was discussed a bit last Sunday in our SS hour and so we’re recommending “soft singing” as an alternative in our church. The government cannot dictate the elements of worship.
QoD. How do the authorities know you’re singing?
Does each church have a “No Singing” squad.
Suppose I just mouth it, or hum along? Am I a criminal then?
What is the punishment for singing? Does it depend somewhat on the volume?
But most of the songs sung in church now days are hardly worth the trouble.
But “Amazing Grace” would be worth at least a night in jail. And It might be a witnessing when some child molester asks, “Why are YOU here?”
DJ, if you have extra body weight that you can lose, that can give relief, too, from lessening pressure. Art has lost a little weight and is able to walk better now. Has your therapist given you a knee brace to wear? That really helped Art. You may have, said and I don’t remember.
Last night I made buckwheat pancakes with blueberries and banana. I poured honey over them, and they were especially good. Art finished off the spaghetti I”d made with Beyond Meat. My brother had given me a few blueberries from his yard and I figured they needed some pancake batter to make them taste to their ultimate.
If it’s supposed to be into the nineties for two weeks straight and you want to do a long walk, what do you do? I was on the trail before 7:00 this morning (by 6:40, I think), and people who know me know I don’t even like to be up before 7:00. (Eight or even nine is even better.) But I did a four-and-a-half-hour walk, two full trails plus a half-mile home, coming home to a temperature of 87. I could not have left the house at 9:00 and done that!
Janice, yeah, of course, and I have lost a bit of weight.
As for a brace, my physical therapist didn’t want to go that route. The aim instead is to get that joint back into its regular motion again as much as possible. I have to remind myself not to stiffen up that leg when I walk, he says to keep the movement as natural as possible so the knee begins to function again.
California bans singing in worship
by Lynde Langdon
Posted 7/04/20, 01:37 pm
Golden State churches already have to keep their Sunday morning attendance to 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is lower. Now they can’t sing or chant. In new coronavirus guidelines issued last week, the California Department of Public Health noted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that singing can spread germs as widely as coughing or sneezing. The public health order, which applies to indoor worship, also requires churches to make masks available to those who show up without them.
How will the state enforce the ban? The order doesn’t include penalties, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, warned local officials they would risk losing state funding if they didn’t enforce health rules. Many places of worship said they would comply voluntarily. “We recognize that singing is a challenge,” Jason Batt, the chief operating officer of the Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, told The Sacramento Bee. The church already canceled its choir activities. The number of new cases being confirmed each day in the state has increased in the past two weeks.
I guess a church would have to be reported to the authorities but I can’t imagine there would be a likelihood of pursing fines or other penalties for something like that.
I think they’re counting on most churches voluntarily abiding by the ‘order’ in canceling choirs, etc. In our case, we still have a couple people leading songs from up front and I see that hasn’t changed for us; otherwise, all our singing is congregational and there would be no way to truly restrict who sings loudly and who doesn’t. Our church already is likely in violation by not requiring the wearing of masks in the 2nd service on Sunday mornings.
Like the general population, our elders are almost evenly split on how to handle all of this, whether the virus is as much of a threat as is believed.
The option of “soft singing” was offered up at Presbytery by our pastor, realizing that “requiring” that of a congregation would be difficult — but it could be an option for those churches looking for ways not to ban singing altogether. (He’s been to China a few times on ministry trips to work with underground churches there and noted that ‘soft singing’ was something the persecuted church is quite familiar with in those parts of the world.)
Since I am in Portland, I did online church. The first and only announcement was that we would not be singing. Someone played the music and they stood, but no singing. I was so depressed after that, I did not get much out of the service.
The weather here is gorgeous. We can sing outside–as per our county health director, citing the CA state rules.
I don’t know what we’ll do when the weather gets colder, around, maybe December? Maybe God will have mercy and give us lovely weather for the rest of the year?
Honestly, singing together is what I’ve missed the most about church.
I don’t know that we’ll ever have choir again. 😦
Meanwhile, the spotter planes fly and the helicopters, it turns out, are from P, G & E checking the power lines. 😦
We had three spotter planes and a helicopter flying LOW over our house on the fourth of July. Some, I’m sure well-meaning, person decided to mow his weeds at 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a 90+ degree day.
He burned an acre of grass and terrorized the entire neighborhood.
I’m grateful, the fire department was so fast to respond.
I just wish it wasn’t happening. I can hear a plane right now. 😦
Those helicopters were flying low around here a few weeks ago, too, checking on the lines. People figured they were looking for criminals as usual.
I wish our church could meet outdoors, but we have no outdoor space immediately around our leased facility apparently that could work. Our sister church across town owns its own property and is doing that, though, and I think a few of our members have opted to go there for that reason during this period. It would feel safer/healthier being outdoors with regard to the covid concerns.
I have to do a story about systemic racism in a local school district and find I keep tripping over the term ‘systemic.’ I asked the editor if we’re presuming there is systemic racism (some kind of built-in bias within the system) as opposed to asking the question; he said no – but the story idea is very vague, so I’m struggling. He said to start with the data from some of the schools in minority areas; also posing questions such as do school police treat blacks differently? Do campus security measures such as metal detectors affect blacks differently and suggest a penitentiary atmosphere? I just am having a hard time knowing how to really go after this broad and (to me) really vague idea (and I also think “we’re” looking for a specific answer we’ve already identified?).
According to the BLM website, it appears they believe we have systemic racism in the fact that we support families of a mom and a dad and children. They want the moms and children to live together with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. A village of sorts. It does not really set out a plan for the dads other than perhaps to step up as uncles and cousins.
Do I think that is systemic racism? No. I do believe the idea of villages is a form of racism. Keeping the people from achieving. Keeping people from moving to a safer or more family friendly or more job providing or better education area due to the need to maintain the extended support system for lack of dads in the home.
I was doing errands while waiting for Miguel to finish at the racetrack. I lost my power steering when I got into the car at Albertsons. I realized the belt broke when it started to get hot. Currently waiting for him to come put the belt on.
~ Johnson defined systemic racism, also called structural racism or institutional racism, as “systems and structures that have procedures or processes that disadvantages African Americans.”
Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines, defined it as “the complex interaction of culture, policy and institutions that holds in place the outcomes we see in our lives.” ~
______________________
So maybe the gist of this story idea is looking at the possible variations in test scores and other outcomes as tracing back to ?
But to me that could speak to a wide variety of cultural issues, including more single-parent (and thus lower income) households, absent fathers, residential impacts (living in areas where there is more crime, gang activity, etc.).
But also whether black students are treated differently at school — but that’s where it becomes hard to wrap your arms around to be honest — it becomes a story with anecdotal information or maybe studies that have been done …
grr, these nebulous story ideas really are hard to crack.
So systemic racism is only against African Americans?
To me, victimhood of racism is often built into children. Having had a number of children of various backgrounds, all of the darker complected children arrive with the idea their skin tone is bad. How is that even possible? We try to teach them God makes beauty in variety but that is a deeply instilled idea. We saw it in the Okinawans and Guamanians we befriended, the Phillipinos. That Japanese. They all seem to think that darker skin than white white is of lesser quality. It is built into the mindset. Why??
I don’t see that in the Bible, except perhaps in the Song of Solomon when the woman says she is made fun of for her swarthy complexion, having spent too much time out in the vinyards. Makes no sense.
I think that is a common idea mumsee, clearly a cultural message that has been around for some time so I can see where it can seep into one’s self-image, even subconsciously.
Among whites, I think being darker skinned is desirable, at least in more modern times. ?
But among ethnic groups in the west, having a lighter skin tone seemed to be “better.” I’m no expert on that front, though, just my personal impressions.
When I went to a school board meeting that was addressing the issue of transgenderism in school there was a black person who was offended that the discrimination against the blacks was not being addressed while this other issue was taking center stage. The black children in the Decatur City schools were mostly from the housing projects so they tended to get into trouble more. I had heard about that problem years before when one of Wesley’s friends attended a school in that system. It was a mix of socio-economic classes that was the real problem just as it had been when I was in high school. It may appear systemic to the schools but too much blame is placed on the school, IMHO. I think it goes deeper into housing and real estate and employment of the parents. The culture of housing project students is not their fault or the schools fault, but it creates problems the schools have to address to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
My sense is the results of racial (and class, for that matter) backgrounds and environments and cultural distinctives show up in school settings by way of test scores, graduation rates, etc.
I remember the debates over standardized testing many years ago, how those tests were (not intentionally) included subjects or questions that were more familiar to the majority white populations. The tests have since been reworked?
Anyway, I see that one of the long time board members in the school district I’ve been asked to write about was someone I’d interviewed many years ago, he founded the local NAACP chapter in the community. So I’ll plan to look him up also, he left the board last year but had served several terms.
Ollie, the new dog next door, seems to get in trouble a lot. That is why I know his name. Miss Bosley is surrounded by neighborhood dogs so she definitely needs to remain an indoor cat.
This was reportedly Charlie Daniels’ last tweet before succumbing unexpectedly to a stroke.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." – John 14:27 NIV pic.twitter.com/Mfx07YP0z7
DJ, can you write the article where you basically are quoting other people? To me an article about systemic racism isn’t “news,” it’s opinion. But you can quote someone saying it’s systemic . . . and someone else saying that it isn’t, though finding someone to go on record to say the second might be difficult.
Yeah, and I have to talk to the editor again, he wants me to look at data from minority schools in the district — I suppose this would be test scores, graduation rates — but the problem becomes in saying “why” there’s a lag behind more “white” schools (if that is why that data shows). The whole thing seems pretty murky to me and even the editor isn’t that clear on what he’s thinking.
I also might look to some charter schools and how some of those alternative campuses have approached the issue. I think a number of black families have gone that route when their local public school isn’t so stellar. Those schools can provide a smaller and more focused environment, they provide an alternative if they’re doing things right. But of course there is a lot of opposition to charter schools by public school systems.
But yes, I need some folks to quote which is why I’ll start with the guy I already (sort of) know who served on the school board for so long.
Just filed the latest covid-19 numbers from la county, running sky high still.
OK, off shortly for PT. The knee is feeling better today, thankfully. I’ll be feeling beat up by the time I leave there, I hope he doesn’t do the elbow thing again to attack the swelling …
Skin colour in the Bible: The word Cushite or Ethiopian in Scripture denotes someone of dark complexion (Jeremiah 23:16). The salvation stories of Acts are told deliberately, moving from the Hebrews, to the Greek Jews, to the Samaritans, and then to various groups of Gentiles. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch is a part of that progression, opening up the Gospel to the Africans. As to discrimination against those of darker complexion, one has to appreciate the deliberate irony of God’s punishment of Miriam when she despised her dark complexion sister in-law:
‘Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).
‘They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?”
‘And the Lord heard it. Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.”
‘So the three of them went out. Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam…
‘….The Lord’s anger burned against them, and He left.
As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow.’ (Numbers 12)
Not singing in church: The province has “strongly recommended” that singing in worship services only be done by a soloist or cantor several metres away from the congregation. The city church has just required everyone to wear masks for the service so they can still sing, since the concern is droplet projection.
(7:10) That’s where probably the ‘soft singing’ (with a mask) would work OK.
Well, more fun with the PT who now has a young 1st year intern shadowing him and probing my knee.
I hate to say it, but I may wind up having to go to an orthopedic dr/surgeon anyway, PT seems to think this is awfully stubborn and I can tell is inching more toward recommending that to me (he thinks at some point it “might be prudent”). I think he’s waiting for me to come to some acceptance of it.
OK, I’ve just sent a msg to my veterinarian to ask what he knows about meniscus injuries in people. 🙂 My former boyfriend said he had the same kind of injury and it was his vet that gave him the best advice.
A thought on name changes: “A rose by any other name…” comes to mind. A college can change the name of a building, a city can change the name of a park, the US can change the names of military bases. But until people’s attitudes change, it won’t matter.
frustrations of travel: trying to check in for tomorrows flight, the computer goes dead and needs to reboot and be charged, nothing works for retreiving flight info or checking in. Good thing was that the wait was very quick and she said the number one in my confirmation number was actually an I. Then she wanted to text me my confirmation. Well I don’t know my phone number as I never use it since in California there was no reception.
Also the back door here won’t open, my son will have to fix it.
Wandering Views 
Good morning everyone.
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Good morning! Here at the track waiting for the ponies. We brought trey with us today, so I have a running commentary.
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I have to go into the office again today. I am a little nervous because Florida is spiking again.
I feel
Like I need to be there some. It isn’t like when we were all working from home. More now than before because I can’t let the Child think she has run me off.
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Good morning! The header is great. Something about it reminds me of that statue The Thinker. That would be a cute photo to frame and put in a bathroom in the right setting, like the tax office.😀
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The mayor of Atlanta and her husband have tested positive for Covid-19. The number of cases is up to over 97,000. I have had a touch of a cold lately so I am watching to see if anything else happens. I am with you, Kim, in feeling a bit of fear in going out. At least it is near the end of tax season so that will cut down on some of our exposure.
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Morning! Beautiful little birdie up there Janice 😊
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Good morning.
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Happy Tuesday everyone.
I head back to PT at 4 today. Kind of in a downswing again with this knee. It’s a lot of ups and downs, better for a while, then worse and more painful for a while. And the swelling is still there.
We’re in the middle of a rather serious spike in covid cases as well, though not as bad as Fla or Ariz, I don’t think. But I find myself subconsciously almost limiting the number of store trips — and I actually decided to order groceries last weekend as I needed to stock up on a lot of things and didn’t relish going to a crowded market with this knee & covid both to grapple with.
And here in California, the gov came out a few days ago saying there should be “no singing” or chanting (this may also apply to congregational readings which we have each Sunday as well) in churches. The issue was discussed a bit last Sunday in our SS hour and so we’re recommending “soft singing” as an alternative in our church. The government cannot dictate the elements of worship.
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QoD. How do the authorities know you’re singing?
Does each church have a “No Singing” squad.
Suppose I just mouth it, or hum along? Am I a criminal then?
What is the punishment for singing? Does it depend somewhat on the volume?
But most of the songs sung in church now days are hardly worth the trouble.
But “Amazing Grace” would be worth at least a night in jail. And It might be a witnessing when some child molester asks, “Why are YOU here?”
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So sad to hear that about singing in church, DJ.
DJ, if you have extra body weight that you can lose, that can give relief, too, from lessening pressure. Art has lost a little weight and is able to walk better now. Has your therapist given you a knee brace to wear? That really helped Art. You may have, said and I don’t remember.
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Daughter says the Boise hospitals are filling up again. We may be headed back to stage 2.
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Last night I made buckwheat pancakes with blueberries and banana. I poured honey over them, and they were especially good. Art finished off the spaghetti I”d made with Beyond Meat. My brother had given me a few blueberries from his yard and I figured they needed some pancake batter to make them taste to their ultimate.
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If it’s supposed to be into the nineties for two weeks straight and you want to do a long walk, what do you do? I was on the trail before 7:00 this morning (by 6:40, I think), and people who know me know I don’t even like to be up before 7:00. (Eight or even nine is even better.) But I did a four-and-a-half-hour walk, two full trails plus a half-mile home, coming home to a temperature of 87. I could not have left the house at 9:00 and done that!
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Janice, yeah, of course, and I have lost a bit of weight.
As for a brace, my physical therapist didn’t want to go that route. The aim instead is to get that joint back into its regular motion again as much as possible. I have to remind myself not to stiffen up that leg when I walk, he says to keep the movement as natural as possible so the knee begins to function again.
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From World Magazine:
_______________________
California bans singing in worship
by Lynde Langdon
Posted 7/04/20, 01:37 pm
Golden State churches already have to keep their Sunday morning attendance to 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is lower. Now they can’t sing or chant. In new coronavirus guidelines issued last week, the California Department of Public Health noted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that singing can spread germs as widely as coughing or sneezing. The public health order, which applies to indoor worship, also requires churches to make masks available to those who show up without them.
How will the state enforce the ban? The order doesn’t include penalties, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, warned local officials they would risk losing state funding if they didn’t enforce health rules. Many places of worship said they would comply voluntarily. “We recognize that singing is a challenge,” Jason Batt, the chief operating officer of the Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, told The Sacramento Bee. The church already canceled its choir activities. The number of new cases being confirmed each day in the state has increased in the past two weeks.
https://world.wng.org/content/california_bans_singing_in_worship
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I guess a church would have to be reported to the authorities but I can’t imagine there would be a likelihood of pursing fines or other penalties for something like that.
I think they’re counting on most churches voluntarily abiding by the ‘order’ in canceling choirs, etc. In our case, we still have a couple people leading songs from up front and I see that hasn’t changed for us; otherwise, all our singing is congregational and there would be no way to truly restrict who sings loudly and who doesn’t. Our church already is likely in violation by not requiring the wearing of masks in the 2nd service on Sunday mornings.
Like the general population, our elders are almost evenly split on how to handle all of this, whether the virus is as much of a threat as is believed.
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This is all so disturbing. I have worked in those state office buildings and at the Ga. Dept. Of Public Safety headquarters. I can’t imagine what the workers are feeling like there these days.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/gov-sign-executive-order-authorizing-1000-national-guard-troops-atlanta/CXEFKU4ZONEWVN4DWLNB52F644/
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The Public Safety headquarters was originally located away from capitol hill area because of this very thing that is happening now.
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The option of “soft singing” was offered up at Presbytery by our pastor, realizing that “requiring” that of a congregation would be difficult — but it could be an option for those churches looking for ways not to ban singing altogether. (He’s been to China a few times on ministry trips to work with underground churches there and noted that ‘soft singing’ was something the persecuted church is quite familiar with in those parts of the world.)
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I think the new thing in some churches will be hum-a-longs. It will still be a sweet sound and we will think the words as we hum.
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Since I am in Portland, I did online church. The first and only announcement was that we would not be singing. Someone played the music and they stood, but no singing. I was so depressed after that, I did not get much out of the service.
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The weather here is gorgeous. We can sing outside–as per our county health director, citing the CA state rules.
I don’t know what we’ll do when the weather gets colder, around, maybe December? Maybe God will have mercy and give us lovely weather for the rest of the year?
Honestly, singing together is what I’ve missed the most about church.
I don’t know that we’ll ever have choir again. 😦
Meanwhile, the spotter planes fly and the helicopters, it turns out, are from P, G & E checking the power lines. 😦
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Another interesting view on statues and names:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/baylor-is-considering-removing-the-statue-of-its-namesake-but-i-have-a-better-idea/
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We had three spotter planes and a helicopter flying LOW over our house on the fourth of July. Some, I’m sure well-meaning, person decided to mow his weeds at 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a 90+ degree day.
He burned an acre of grass and terrorized the entire neighborhood.
I’m grateful, the fire department was so fast to respond.
I just wish it wasn’t happening. I can hear a plane right now. 😦
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QOD: Why can’t I get anything done?
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Last comment before I go back to work. My husband started reading my manuscript last night.
“I can see you’ve made a great start. It should be terrific after you rewrite the foreword and the first few chapters a couple more times.”
He meant well.
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Those helicopters were flying low around here a few weeks ago, too, checking on the lines. People figured they were looking for criminals as usual.
I wish our church could meet outdoors, but we have no outdoor space immediately around our leased facility apparently that could work. Our sister church across town owns its own property and is doing that, though, and I think a few of our members have opted to go there for that reason during this period. It would feel safer/healthier being outdoors with regard to the covid concerns.
I have to do a story about systemic racism in a local school district and find I keep tripping over the term ‘systemic.’ I asked the editor if we’re presuming there is systemic racism (some kind of built-in bias within the system) as opposed to asking the question; he said no – but the story idea is very vague, so I’m struggling. He said to start with the data from some of the schools in minority areas; also posing questions such as do school police treat blacks differently? Do campus security measures such as metal detectors affect blacks differently and suggest a penitentiary atmosphere? I just am having a hard time knowing how to really go after this broad and (to me) really vague idea (and I also think “we’re” looking for a specific answer we’ve already identified?).
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I’ve always appreciated good advice.
No matter how it got here.
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According to the BLM website, it appears they believe we have systemic racism in the fact that we support families of a mom and a dad and children. They want the moms and children to live together with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. A village of sorts. It does not really set out a plan for the dads other than perhaps to step up as uncles and cousins.
Do I think that is systemic racism? No. I do believe the idea of villages is a form of racism. Keeping the people from achieving. Keeping people from moving to a safer or more family friendly or more job providing or better education area due to the need to maintain the extended support system for lack of dads in the home.
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I was doing errands while waiting for Miguel to finish at the racetrack. I lost my power steering when I got into the car at Albertsons. I realized the belt broke when it started to get hot. Currently waiting for him to come put the belt on.
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~ Johnson defined systemic racism, also called structural racism or institutional racism, as “systems and structures that have procedures or processes that disadvantages African Americans.”
Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines, defined it as “the complex interaction of culture, policy and institutions that holds in place the outcomes we see in our lives.” ~
______________________
So maybe the gist of this story idea is looking at the possible variations in test scores and other outcomes as tracing back to ?
But to me that could speak to a wide variety of cultural issues, including more single-parent (and thus lower income) households, absent fathers, residential impacts (living in areas where there is more crime, gang activity, etc.).
But also whether black students are treated differently at school — but that’s where it becomes hard to wrap your arms around to be honest — it becomes a story with anecdotal information or maybe studies that have been done …
grr, these nebulous story ideas really are hard to crack.
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Calling Miguel. How awesome rkessler.
I’d be on the phone w/AAA trying to find where i could tow it to get it fixed for many hundreds of dollars!
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So systemic racism is only against African Americans?
To me, victimhood of racism is often built into children. Having had a number of children of various backgrounds, all of the darker complected children arrive with the idea their skin tone is bad. How is that even possible? We try to teach them God makes beauty in variety but that is a deeply instilled idea. We saw it in the Okinawans and Guamanians we befriended, the Phillipinos. That Japanese. They all seem to think that darker skin than white white is of lesser quality. It is built into the mindset. Why??
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I don’t see that in the Bible, except perhaps in the Song of Solomon when the woman says she is made fun of for her swarthy complexion, having spent too much time out in the vinyards. Makes no sense.
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And then there is tall, dark and handsome?
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I think that is a common idea mumsee, clearly a cultural message that has been around for some time so I can see where it can seep into one’s self-image, even subconsciously.
Among whites, I think being darker skinned is desirable, at least in more modern times. ?
But among ethnic groups in the west, having a lighter skin tone seemed to be “better.” I’m no expert on that front, though, just my personal impressions.
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When I went to a school board meeting that was addressing the issue of transgenderism in school there was a black person who was offended that the discrimination against the blacks was not being addressed while this other issue was taking center stage. The black children in the Decatur City schools were mostly from the housing projects so they tended to get into trouble more. I had heard about that problem years before when one of Wesley’s friends attended a school in that system. It was a mix of socio-economic classes that was the real problem just as it had been when I was in high school. It may appear systemic to the schools but too much blame is placed on the school, IMHO. I think it goes deeper into housing and real estate and employment of the parents. The culture of housing project students is not their fault or the schools fault, but it creates problems the schools have to address to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
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My sense is the results of racial (and class, for that matter) backgrounds and environments and cultural distinctives show up in school settings by way of test scores, graduation rates, etc.
I remember the debates over standardized testing many years ago, how those tests were (not intentionally) included subjects or questions that were more familiar to the majority white populations. The tests have since been reworked?
Anyway, I see that one of the long time board members in the school district I’ve been asked to write about was someone I’d interviewed many years ago, he founded the local NAACP chapter in the community. So I’ll plan to look him up also, he left the board last year but had served several terms.
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Ollie, the new dog next door, seems to get in trouble a lot. That is why I know his name. Miss Bosley is surrounded by neighborhood dogs so she definitely needs to remain an indoor cat.
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This was reportedly Charlie Daniels’ last tweet before succumbing unexpectedly to a stroke.
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DJ, can you write the article where you basically are quoting other people? To me an article about systemic racism isn’t “news,” it’s opinion. But you can quote someone saying it’s systemic . . . and someone else saying that it isn’t, though finding someone to go on record to say the second might be difficult.
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Yeah, and I have to talk to the editor again, he wants me to look at data from minority schools in the district — I suppose this would be test scores, graduation rates — but the problem becomes in saying “why” there’s a lag behind more “white” schools (if that is why that data shows). The whole thing seems pretty murky to me and even the editor isn’t that clear on what he’s thinking.
I also might look to some charter schools and how some of those alternative campuses have approached the issue. I think a number of black families have gone that route when their local public school isn’t so stellar. Those schools can provide a smaller and more focused environment, they provide an alternative if they’re doing things right. But of course there is a lot of opposition to charter schools by public school systems.
But yes, I need some folks to quote which is why I’ll start with the guy I already (sort of) know who served on the school board for so long.
Just filed the latest covid-19 numbers from la county, running sky high still.
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*what the data shows
OK, off shortly for PT. The knee is feeling better today, thankfully. I’ll be feeling beat up by the time I leave there, I hope he doesn’t do the elbow thing again to attack the swelling …
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Skin colour in the Bible: The word Cushite or Ethiopian in Scripture denotes someone of dark complexion (Jeremiah 23:16). The salvation stories of Acts are told deliberately, moving from the Hebrews, to the Greek Jews, to the Samaritans, and then to various groups of Gentiles. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch is a part of that progression, opening up the Gospel to the Africans. As to discrimination against those of darker complexion, one has to appreciate the deliberate irony of God’s punishment of Miriam when she despised her dark complexion sister in-law:
‘Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).
‘They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?”
‘And the Lord heard it. Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.”
‘So the three of them went out. Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam…
‘….The Lord’s anger burned against them, and He left.
As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow.’ (Numbers 12)
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Not singing in church: The province has “strongly recommended” that singing in worship services only be done by a soloist or cantor several metres away from the congregation. The city church has just required everyone to wear masks for the service so they can still sing, since the concern is droplet projection.
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(7:10) That’s where probably the ‘soft singing’ (with a mask) would work OK.
Well, more fun with the PT who now has a young 1st year intern shadowing him and probing my knee.
I hate to say it, but I may wind up having to go to an orthopedic dr/surgeon anyway, PT seems to think this is awfully stubborn and I can tell is inching more toward recommending that to me (he thinks at some point it “might be prudent”). I think he’s waiting for me to come to some acceptance of it.
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OK, I’ve just sent a msg to my veterinarian to ask what he knows about meniscus injuries in people. 🙂 My former boyfriend said he had the same kind of injury and it was his vet that gave him the best advice.
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This feels like my physical therapy sessions with exercise after exercise, twisting after traction:
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A thought on name changes: “A rose by any other name…” comes to mind. A college can change the name of a building, a city can change the name of a park, the US can change the names of military bases. But until people’s attitudes change, it won’t matter.
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frustrations of travel: trying to check in for tomorrows flight, the computer goes dead and needs to reboot and be charged, nothing works for retreiving flight info or checking in. Good thing was that the wait was very quick and she said the number one in my confirmation number was actually an I. Then she wanted to text me my confirmation. Well I don’t know my phone number as I never use it since in California there was no reception.
Also the back door here won’t open, my son will have to fix it.
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