Thou Shalt Not Kill

TSA body Scans and Pat Downs

The incident that happened to John Tyner at SanDiego International Airport most likely will have little impact on the way i travel. I have selected for additional security scans on several occassions and although it was an inconvenience, it had no impact on my trip. The larger question will be decided after Mr. Tyner's court date on the legality of the TSA's disposal of the recorded pictures of those seclected for body scans.

The general public as a whole most likely will not receive the imposed body scans and pat downs well. There are people that do not like being physically touched. There are small children that run the same risk of selection by the TSA. And there is the larger issue of pictures being made public. Here too, the courts may decide not only the fate of Mr. Tyner's $10,000 fine, but also the rights of the TSA to indiscrimenently select certain people for additional security measures. If there are larger numbers selected, the time constraints for boarding would narrow and the airports would become overcrowded as more people would arrive even earlier due to the potential of heightened security.

Since the alert status is always Orange, there is no way for the average passenger to prepare for the possibility of increased security including body scans and pat downs. If it were a heightened security, the choice of clothing would drastiacally change for most passengers.

Blog #7 College Cost Subsidizing

"At universities, introductory courses are generally taught by young, inexperienced teaching assistants, while Lone Star instructors are older and much more experienced. Students at Lone Star are getting excellent teachers at costs too cheap. I told my own students that they are being over subsidized. Not one disagreed, though they did not want to hear it."

While introductory courses, at SOME universities, are occasionally taught by young teaching assistants, the blanket statement of "At universities" implies all universities, and "are generally taught by teaching assistants" implies this is the rule, lacks any fact based evidence. In the same sentence, "Loan Star teachers are older" also lacks evidence. The average instructor, of my five classes this semester at Loan Star, is in his/her early 40's and I am older than ALL of them. The phrase "more experienced" compares the instructors at Loan Star to instructors at universities. There are more professors with PhD degrees and longer tenure at universities than there are at Lone Star. While comparing instructors, "excellent" instructors at Lone Star might better be termed "competent" or "capable" or even "qualified"."Costs too cheap" is relative to costs of universities solely. However, Lone Star is still a community college that does not command a larger price tag as it does not offer the degrees offered by universities. Very little honest feedback can be expected from students when they are "told" that they are over subsidized by their professor. I suspect the students hear little if lectures are painted with such a broad brush as outlined in this letter. A large number of these students are here to learn, get an Associates degree, and move on to a university to complete their education. Don't get me wrong, I plan on teaching at a community college in the near future. However the object is to educate students; not preclude their ability to attend by taking away the subsidizing.

blog #6

Bombs bursting in air (par 2)
A brain tumor (par 3)
Surgery (par3)
Girl not living with mother and step father anymore (par 9)
Girl threw up and disappeared from school (par 9)
Friendly custodian fired (par 9)
Teacher's husband had heart attack and died (par 9)
Arrested for selling drugs (par 10)
Shot himself in the woods (par 10)
Car full of boys crashed killing them (par 10)
Went to sleep and never woke up (par 11)
Professor lost two children (par 12)
Father grew ill (par 12)
Bitter divorce (par 12)
poor grades
grouchy teachers
exclusion from social group
Dateless weekend


Entropy
Laundry Saturday; dirty again Friday
Water flows till same level; then it can work no more
Wasting youth
Marriage partners too preoccupied to patch things up
State of our country
Relationship between nations
Took up the flute again
Randomness of international events
Lack of common purpose
Friendship, family, and economics fall apart
Children's rooms get messy
Wood rots
Metal rusts
People wrinkle
Mountains wear down
Flowers wither
Nuclei of atoms decay
Rundown subways
Worn out sidewalks
Torn down buildings
Cars break down
Refrigerators conk out
Need for root canal
Windows leak
Babysitters fail to show
Hair turns gray
Typewriters wear out
Houses need paint
Need for glasses
Sneakers develop holes

Family Values

Growing up without a father, in a nucleus of only a mother and a sister, I had no role model for good family values for a man. My father's brother, Wayne, stepped into my life and filled that role. He shared his time with my by taking me to University of Evansville basketball games, as this was his alma mater and his children were too young to be taken to events like this. I now do this with my own wife and children.
Over the years, I watched him interact with his wife and growing children. He welcomed me into his family nucleus even though I didn't live with him. There was genuine love, respect and a sense of a real family. I share that love and respect with my own family today.
When business travel was necessary, Wayne would take his wife and children, whenever possible, to spend time with his family during business travels. His philosophy was the family always came first. I have incorporated that belief in my own family with my wife and children. Although I am a good husband and father, i continue to use Wayne's relationship with his wife of over 55 years and his 3 grown children as my role model for my own family.

The Men In My Life

Family Values: Wayne, grant
Work Ethics: Wayne, John
People Skills: Wally, John
Service: Ed, David

How grass grows

Roots of the grass, at its base, grow down to collect water and nutrients from the soil and to hold the grass in place. Grass stems grow up from the base. Some stems, like stolons, grow along the ground. Rhizomes grow below the ground. Stolons and Rhizomes establish new grass. From these stems, Culms, the sheath and collar grow. This leads to the growth of blades of grass.

The photosynthesis process collects energy from the sunlight. The Photosynthesizing chlorophyll gives the grass its green color.

The combination of the water, nutrients in the soil, sunlight, and the components of the grass plant ultimately leads to the growth of the grass.

How to properly mow your lawn

Prior to physically using the mower, there are preparatory steps necessary requiring hedge trimming, edging, and trimming. This process, along with the actual mowing, will be followed by blowing and sweeping. Wearing eye protection, Long pants, gloves, and hard shoes is recommended.

First, using the hedge trimmer, shape the bushes to your liking. Let the clippings fall to the ground as these will be later mulched during the mow or collected during the blow process.

The trimmer/edger can be used flatly and upright as a trimmer or tilted sideways to be used as an edger to serve its dual role. Use the edger function along all driveways, sidewalks, and stone paths or borders to create a crisp appearance. Then use the trimmer function to shorten the length of the grass around areas that the mower will not reach, such as trees and bushes or along the base of your house.

You are now ready to mow. Start from the front of your property and mow in a straight line towards the back of the area to be mower. Turn the mower and mow from back to front. Repeat this process until the desired area is mowed. Empty the grass bag as needed and dispose of them as you like.

Starting in the rear, blow all clipping towards the front of the house. Blow the sidewalks and driveway towards the front also. When collected, sweep them and dispose of them in the same manner you chose for your grass bag clippings.

Clean all of your equipment and return to their storage area. Then admire the job you have done.

My 2 dogs and my dog wannabe

Flat Tax

A flat tax for individual and joint filings, if structured correctly, will generate more tax revenues than the revenues currently received thru existing tax methods. By eliminating certain credits, it would be impossible for a tax payer to receive a refund greater than taxes with held. Other deductions and exclusions currently decrease adjusted gross incomes to lower taxes paid. Some taxpayers are penalized by the alternative tax method, which eliminates their deductions.

The current tax method is complicated and allows for other  federally approved deductions, further reducing the gross income and taxes paid. Adjusted gross income is the basis for the tax bracket method currently being used to assess taxes payable or refundable.

The economy has been weakened during the past few years and the current tax assessment method does not generate enough income in tax receipts to support the government.  A flat tax, with a flat percentage with held, would be evenly paid by all tax payers. The tax revenues generated would not only support the goverments current needs, but also assist in reducing the enormous federal deficit.