School Security

Are there ever any easy answers. The horror that we have seen in our schools recently is appalling. A school should be a safe haven for our children to learn, not a war zone, not a scene of carnage.

How do we make our schools safer. I don't pretend even for a second that I have the cure, the answer to the problem, but perhaps if we all of us gave our collective input we might solve this and many other issues which face us in our modern age.

One person suggested arming our teachers, the school custodian etc, is that really the way to approach the problem. I was watching The Fox News Channel the other day and it was said that with all that occurred last week there were newsman who entered various schools and no one, no one approached them and asked them who they were, or what there purpose was, now this was after the three school tragedies, does that tell us something.

We must be very serious with security, how about checking each student as they enter the school, verify that they belong there, and yes have a metal detector, do a check like is being done at our airports. If it saves a child or a teachers life then it is worth the effort.

Have someone in authority at each entrance where students and staff come in. Once school is in session no one gets in unless they are checked at an entrance, verified as to why they are there. Perhaps if we start doing things of this nature we may save lives. As I said I don't pretend to have the answers but we must take action to save our children.

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Pope Benedict Being Criticised For Condemning Violence

How strange that a man of peace such as Pope Benedict is being criticised for quoting from a book recounting the conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam. The pope and rightly so was stating that religion should not be spread by violence, what moral, sane person can dispute that. We are fighting a war with religious extremists who are doing that very thing. Osma Bin-Laden for one feels that we and our Western Society are evil and his answer is to destroy us and our way of life unless we convert to the Islam religion.

Most Muslims are peaceful good people and not the extremist type who preach violence, who solve there issues with the sword, and though my knowledge of Islam is limited I understand that Allah is a God of peace just as Jesus Christ is a God of peace. Allah does not approve of murder, does not approve of suicide missions, does not approve of torture as is being seen in Baghdad, the terrorists who are waging the war against freedom are perverting there religion, they do not represent the majority of Muslims who are good descent men and women.

Pope Benedict spoke against violence and who can fault him for that, religion should be spread through thought, teaching and love, not violence and terror.

Good will triumph over evil and hopefully another lesson will be learned and peace will once again be upheld, but the saddest part is that many people will die to accomplish this.

I'm Proud To Be An American

It has been five years since that awful day, that tragic day when so many innocent people perished, people who harmed no one. To the terrorists it was another battle they were waging against the United States, there goal to strike terror in the hearts of man, to destroy our way of life.

They in fact made us even stronger, more united than ever, they can never defeat us for we have a strength and a pride that they can not extinguish, a pride and a love for our nation that will only grow stronger. No weapon, no strategy, no matter how strong will ever defeat us.

I am proud to say I am an American, we are so lucky to be citizens of this great land, let us continue to stand strong against our enemies, pray to God for world peace and do what we can to never let another strike occur in our great land.

Tailgating

Not to many things bother me but one that does is tailgating. Why do people tailgate. Do they really want to meet me in an angry state, because if I have to stop quickly for an emergency and they can't stop quickly enough and strike my vehicle from behind, they will meet me and if I'm still able to talk to them, if I'm still conscious and breathing , I can assure you I will not be very friendly with them.
I think that all drivers can relate to this, even the ones who do tailgate themselves. One incident that comes to mind was a man on a motorcycle who was so close to my rear bumper I could see if he cut himself shaving. Can you imagine if I had to stop quickly, he would, mind you on a motorcycle strike me from behind. Would he have gone through my rear window and hit me inside the vehicle.
Another incident still vivid in my mind was on an expressway, a man was on my bumper, I looked at him from my side view mirror and smiled, thinking look at this idiot, well as soon as I had a clearance I changed lanes giving him a chance to go by me, mind you I am not a slow driver normally 10 mph over the limit, and as he came along side me he swerved at me like you see in the movies like he was going to strike me. This of course angered me so I told him what I thought of him with my middle finger.
When I arrived home I phoned the local police and after giving the plate number the officer investigated. About 20 minutes later the police officer called me back and told me the man in question thought I was laughing at him and trying to keep him from passing me, which I was not trying to do. The good part is that no one was injured.
I did not press charges, the police officer told the man in question that he was lucky that I wasn't pressing charges, and the best part is that his father took the phone and also spoke the policeman and started to holler at his son, the same male who swerved at me, because he did this maneuver with his new truck.
Justice served.

Oil Prices

According to the news oil prices should have reached a high for the year and will not rise further and will start to lower as fall arrives unless something happens to cause a shortage in oil supplies, like another Katrina, oil spills etc. which can cause prices to fluctuate. Isn't it amazing we could have been energy independent by now. For those of you old enough to remember during the alleged oil crises in the 1970's I seem to remember a coal gasification program where we would make our own oil from coal and rid ourselves of the dependence on foreign oil.There are so many alternatives today, one more energy efficient vehicles, and why not vehicles that run entirely on alcohol, we can use synthetic oil to lubricate the parts, if we start to manufacture and use alcohol in mass quantities the price should drop making it cheaper to use.What are your opinions and ideas in this area, ideas on what we can do till hydrogen technology takes over, and we have vehicles running on hydrogen, a renewable energy which burns with as I understand no pollution