Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told a packed crowd of 500 at Saint Elizabeth Church in Chester Springs, Pa. they better vote Nov. 6, reports Catholic Online.
House Has Hearing On School Bully Law
The State House Education Committee held a hearing last week on legislation aimed at strengthening state law to protect school students from various forms of bullying while in school, at school-sponsored activities or in school vehicles, such as buses, says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
House Bill 2464 would require schools to include prohibitions for harassment, intimidation and cyber bullying, in addition to the current required prohibition against bullying.
In addition, the bill would require schools to enact a policy that must identify by job title the appropriate school staff person to receive reports of incidents of alleged bullying, and the school officials responsible for ensuring the policy is implemented. In formulating the policy, the school would be responsible for including several interested parties in the process, including: students, parents, administrators, school staff, school volunteers, community representatives and local law enforcement agencies.
Something to ponder: why are the well-paid pencil pushers who run our public schools now so completely ineffective in dealing with bullying?
Arlen Specter Dies
Former Sen. Arlen Specter died today, Oct. 14, at his Philadelphia home.
Christmas Kielbasa, Pierogie Sale
Orders are being taken for kielbasa and pierogies — delights that are part of the Slavic Christmas tradition — at Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, 100 S. Penn St., Clifton Heights, Pa.
The kielbasa is $11 per ring or three rings for $30.
The potato-cheese pierogies, which are made fresh by members of the congregation, are being sold for $7 per dozen or three dozen for $20.
To place an order please email at SSPeterandPaul@verizon.net or call Kathy at 610-328-4731.
Pickup will be at noon, Sunday, Nov. 18.
Please place your orders early
Secret Service Impressions Of Presidents
Secret Service Impressions Of Presidents
Dont’ Forget The State Treasurer Race
Diana Irey Vaughan, the GOP candidate for state treasurer, will be having a meet-and-greet at the offices of Fox Rothschild LLP in Blue Bell, Monday evening.
How China Plans To Rule Or Why You Must Vote For Mitt
The nation with the strongest currency is the one that calls the shots says Richard Russell, author of Dow Theory Letters, and that’s what China is seeking to achieve.
Poem For The Day
By Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue
And found this land, land of the Free, Beloved by you, beloved by me.
And in the year sixteen and seven, Good Captain Smith thought he’d reach Heav’n,
And then he founded Jamestown City, Alas, ’tis gone, oh, what a pity.
’Twas in September sixteen nine, WIth ship, Half Moon, a read Dutch sign,
That Henry Hudson found the stream, The Hudson River of our dream.
In sixteen twenty, pilgrims saw Our land that had no unjust law.
Their children live here to this day, Proud citizens of U.S.A.
In sixteen hundred eighty-three, Good William Penn stood ’neath a tree
And swore that unto his life’s end He would be the Indian’s friend.
In seventeen hundred seventy-five, Good Paul Revere was then alive;
He rode like wild throughout the night, And called the Minute Men to fight.
Year seventeen hundred seventy-six, July the fourth, this date please fix
Within your minds, my children dear, For that was Independence Year.
In that same year on a bitter night At Trenton was an awful fight,
But by our brave George Washington The battle was at last well won.
Two other dates in your mind fix—Franklin born in seventeen six,
And Washington first said “Boo-Hoo” In seventeen hundred thirty-two.
In seventeen hundred seventy-nine, Paul Jones, who was a captain fine,
Gained our first naval victory Fighting on the big, wide sea.
And in the year eighteen and four, Lewis and Clark both went before,
And blazed for us the Oregon Trail Where men go now in ease by rail.
In eighteen hundred and thirteen, On great Lake Erie could be seen
Our Perry fight the Union Jack And drive it from our shores far back.
In eighteen hundred and sixty-one, An awful war was then begun
Between the brothers of our land, Who now together firmly stand.
In eighteen hundred sixty-three, Each slave was told that he was free
By Lincoln, with whom few compare In being kind and just and fair.
In eighteen hundred eighty-one, At Panama there was begun
By good De Lesseps, wise and great, The big canal, now our ship’s gate.
At San Juan, eighteen ninety-eight, Our brave Rough Riders lay in wait,
And on the land brought victory, While Dewey won it on the sea.
In nineteen hundred and fifteen, Was shown a panoramic screen
At San Francisco’s wondrous fair; All peoples were invited there.
But cruel war in that same year Kept strangers from our land o’ cheer,
And nineteen seventeen brought here The war that filled our hearts with fear.
Thank God in nineteen eighteen Peace on earth again was seen,
And we are praying that she’ll stay Forever in our U.S.A.
The Silence Of Bob Casey
Bob Guzzardi has passed on this link to “Our Ambassador Died, This Administration Lied” an article by Lori Lowenthal Marcus of JewishPress.Com itemizing the lies and coverups coming from Team Obama regarding events flowing from his Mideast policy.
Tip The Scales Against Obesity? Try Shame
Part 2 of 2
Several years ago, one of the best-loved theme parks in the world shut down a classic ride so it could make some “large” adjustments. Why the need? It was something very “deep-seated” — people had become so obese that the boats in which they rode were scraping the bottom.
How would obese patrons feel if, in front of hundreds, they were required to stand in a different queue — one simply marked “Obese Riders Here.” And that instead of meeting just the height requirement, they were also forced to meet a “width” criteria.
Or when boarding an airplane, fat people would be called separately so they could sit in extra-wide seats, for which they pay double?
And what if stadiums had a section of reinforced double-wide seats where obese folks were required to sit?
Unfortunately, our country doesn’t binge on such options, which is truly a shame.
Literally.
And that’s precisely the problem. There is no shame.
In genuflecting to political correctness, America shuns shame. It has become a nation so afraid to offend that it turns a blind to its biggest problems, such as obesity. And that problem is burgeoning. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and a staggering percentage of our children — our future — are growing up (and out) with little regard for how this epidemic will impact them. In this regard, some medical experts have predicted that our children may be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. For many, they are the product of their environment, where parents (many obese themselves) and society as a whole have sent the message that being fat is no “big” deal. The stigma once rightly associated with obesity is disappearing as quickly as fat is accumulating.
So how do we get to the bottom of this problem? For starters, shame. Because no matter what else is attempted, if shame is not the cornerstone of the solution, the situation will never improve.
*****
Two fantastic and courageous examples of how shame is being effectively utilized are occurring in Georgia and Minnesota. In Atlanta, an extensive advertising campaign “Stop Sugarcoating It,” sponsored by Children’s Healthcare, targets childhood obesity. Taglines under obese children include “Warning…It’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not”; “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid”; and “Big Bones Didn’t Make Me This Way…Big Meals Did.” There was also a YouTube ad with a sad girl saying, “I don’t like going to school, because all the other kids pick on me. It hurts my feelings.”
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Minnesota has launched a similar campaign, targeting overweight parents whose behavior is often mimicked by their children. One ad shows two chubby boys arguing about whose dad can eat more — a discussion overheard by a father as he approaches their table with a heaping tray of fast food. Another shows an obese woman filling her shopping cart with junk food, only to notice that her obese daughter is doing the exact same thing with a smaller cart.
Both campaigns use shame correctly. Without being mean-spirited or over-the-top, they prod people to acknowledge, and change, their unhealthy behavior. Not surprisingly, though, both have something else in common: significant criticism from the waistline-challenged community. Their biggest beef? It’s not education, but shaming, which, of course is “bullying.”
They simply don’t get it.
Shaming isn’t the total panacea, but it must be an integral part of the solution. And there is no better example than how it changed the perception of smoking, once considered cool but now viewed with utter disdain. Sure, cigarettes are expensive, but that’s not why smoking is down. It’s because society made a conscious effort to shame smokers. Try lighting up in a bar with co-workers, and you receive dagger-like stares. Do it outside, and people immediately move away, because smoking is regarded as disgusting, and therefore, the smoker must be, too.
Smoking kills, and we have no problem pointing out that as a deterrent. But so does obesity, yet we hesitate to mention it. Just as non-smokers are picking up the tab for the massive medical costs related to smoking, non-overweight people are subsidizing the obese since it is “discriminatory” to charge differently for health care (though a section of the Affordable Care Act would change that).
But unlike the “good old days,” shaming is now taboo. No one is ever at fault or accountable for his actions. Consider:
–It used to be, when a student received a detention, they weren’t just shamed in front of their classmates. They knew they had to tell their parents, which would invariably trigger another punishment.
Contrast that to the reaction this week of a New Jersey principal’s letter to parents about pictures of their underage children on Facebook holding alcohol bottles. Instead of thanking the principal for bringing that situation to their attention, a number of parents ripped him.
–Airlines have attempted to charge double for obese passengers whose girth extends beyond the armrests. While this is clearly commonsense, since not doing so penalizes paying passengers of normal weight, such policies are met with scorn and even lawsuits by those lobbying for obesity-without-consequence.
–And since it would be considered “discriminatory” to have an obese-only section in stadiums, seats are being made wider to accommodate overly plump posteriors. And when seats are wider, there are fewer of them. Who pays? You do. The same way that the non-obese eat the cost of new toilets that must be installed with ground supports, as the standard wall-mounted commodes can no longer bear the weight of America’s fat brigade.
We have coddled ourselves so much that we have shamed using shame. As a result, people have become clueless to their appearance. Sure, what’s under the skin matters, and no one should feel that obese people are bad, but what’s on the outside counts, too. Or at least it should. But go to any beach, and count how many linebacker-sized women are showcasing themselves in bikinis. Ditto for men whose guts reach the next block. Since they all have mirrors, one can only assume that shame is simply not a part of their lives.
Should we have scarlet letters for the obese? Of course not, since there is no problem identifying them. But we should employ shame to shed light on an issue that affects us all, in the same way that some judges order drunk drivers to place “Convicted DUI” bumper stickers on their cars.
And speaking of cars, how shameful is it that overweight people are not just guzzling food, but fuel? A recent report calculated that 1 billion gallons of gasoline are wasted every year (one percent of the nation’s total) just to haul Americans’ extra pounds. And given that the average American weighs 24 more pounds than in 1960, airlines are using roughly 175 million more gallons of jet fuel per year just to accommodate the overweight. That’s downright shameful.
And if not shame, then what? Do we tax fast food? Soda? Candy? Do we regulate portion size? No to all. Not only are such ideas preposterous and unenforceable, but they are tactics, not strategy. It’s time to tip the scales against obesity and solve the problem.
Otherwise, we will soon find out that the “elephant in the room” isn’t a pachyderm at all.
It’s an average American.