voterb
Joined: 12/01/2007
Posts: 98

Recent Comments by voterb
Matters of Faith
11/18/2008 06:41:00 PM
VWN, I thought your personal attacks in The Watercooler were a bit harsh, until I saw these guys going at each other.
What makes me mad in Floyd County is...
11/18/2008 06:38:30 PM
Floyd County Schools decided to take some of the news away from Walker Schools. Two high school teachers were removed for sexual misconduct with students. The one was accused of sexual misconduct last year and was transferred to a different school where he is now accused of a new incident. If it turns out that there was a complaint filed last year with the school and the school didn't act on it and pass the complaint on to the GAPSC and law enforcement as they are required there might be bigger repercussions for the school system, especially the superintendent if they were aware of a complaint and didn't take action. If there is any reason to believe that a student was abused, reporting is mandatory to law enforcement. If a teacher is in violation of professional standards reporting is mandatory to the GAPSC.

The great majority of teachers are great teachers, but the few exceptions show why it is important for parents to know the teachers of their kids and be involved in their education. No parent can watch their kids 24/7 but they can demand that the school systems have procedures in place to help insure accountability. The problem with Bart Huskey showed that having a clean record doesn't guarantee that a teacher or coach is safe. Parents can demand that teachers aren't able to spend time alone with students in inappropriate extracurricular activities. Parents can also demand that schools follow the procedures which are in place to help protect students, like mandatory reporting. Parents should also be aware that they can file complaints directly with the GAPSC if the school system doesn't respond properly.

Hopefully it turns out that the accusations are false and there wasn't any misconduct involving students.
The Watercooler
11/15/2008 04:28:50 PM
How have you been suffering for the past 8 years due to Bush's policies?
The lack of new development locally, especially Walker and Chattooga, can't really be blamed on national politics. The slowdown of local factories was already in motion for decades. If anything the economic boom of the last 25 years has kept factories open which would have already closed.

Obama is a smart guy. Hopefully he does good for the nation without trying to destroy what is already good, like freedom and independence. Some of the things that he has proposed will require breaking down the independence of the American people from government intrusion. Not everyone wants the temporary comforts that can be granted at the expense of freedom.
The Watercooler
11/15/2008 01:28:58 PM
VWN, while I agree that there were a few posts that went too far, the community here responded. I was surprised with the few people that have called for censorship as a response. The proper way to respond to lies is with truth, not personal attacks or calling for censorship.
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
11/15/2008 01:08:49 PM
Does GAPOST have their minutes available online like GAPSC? I don't know much about GAPOST. My impression of them from very limited information is that they may be a bit more responsive in professional discipline than the Georgia Bar, but not a whole lot more.
The Watercooler
11/15/2008 01:00:29 PM
VWN, not everyone agrees with the "transformation" of the US into a socialist utopia. Such experiments have failed over and over again. I disagree with changing the foundations of American society into a socialistic system. Gradual changes have been being put in place over the last 75 years. Roosevelt attempted transformation in the 30s and many of his transformations were struck down as being unconstitutional. Other transformations were allowed to continue with restrictions. Maybe Obama is going to be the leader that brings about greater transformation of American society and government.

Slynay is providing a valuable service to this online community. There is a desire here for some light discussion of national politics. While some of Slynay's sources aren't at all balanced, they often present a view that is being neglected by much of the media.

There isn't much serious discussion going on. Just look at the responses to Slynay's posts. If someone wanted to do a serious discussion they wouldn't be throwing around personal attacks but rather responding to the facts presented. Personal attacks on posters do not strengthen a position, but they may be part of trying to browbeat someone into conforming to the image of society the poster desires, but not an honest part of discussion.

toosa, I agree that copy and paste posts should be attributed.
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
11/13/2008 11:01:37 PM
On issues like this there will probably always be people declaring support for the extremes of possible reactions, and some of them will be quite adamant about their positions as being "the truth" of the issue. On one extreme there are those that say the teachers did nothing wrong at all. A less extreme position is that the local school system or state should only respond if there is a criminal conviction. Near the other extreme are those calling for the immediate suspension of the teachers until the issue is totally resolved (months in the future, or maybe longer if the court cases aren't dismissed). At the extreme there are some that would call for the dismissal of the teachers. Past that extreme are people trying to use this to call for changing the people in government and the school board.

I've given my opinion that the local school system should have responded quickly while recognizing the ongoing law enforcement and GAPSC actions.

Here in this forum, I've been told that I'm far from truth by juga who holds another set of beliefs regarding accountability in the school system, but I think I have a pretty balanced opinion in the matter. I recognize that I am an imperfect person and my views are not perfect especially compared to absolute truth (which can only truly be revealed by God, but we can share what we know to be true not just about things of religious and moral matters but also matters regarding society, etc.). If I'm far from the truth I want to know what is true in the matter so I can change and be in the truth. That is what every person should desire.
The Watercooler
11/12/2008 10:31:32 PM
Obama added to Mount Rushmore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6DwN-zt-24

Murals and statues of Obama to be placed throughout all American cities.

Obama holiday to be April 1st.

Obama to be on three dollar bill.


blog article about being turned away from mcdonald's with links to lots of other political blogs:
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/11/11/obama-holiday-rallies-turned-away-by-topeka-mcdonalds/
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
11/12/2008 10:06:33 PM
juga, are you still trying to argue that the teachers don't need to abide by their professional standards since you say that they "have been punished"? Should we cheapen the teaching profession to test scores? Do you think the educator ethics board will evaluate the situation based on test scores?

The GAPSC is likely going to issue minimal sanctions considering that they weren't possessing alcohol and there probably won't be any criminal convictions. Drawing things out over a period of months is something that shouldn't be happening. It happened, the school administration should have acted, the coaches apologized, and life goes on with the GAPSC likely endorsing the decision of the school administration in a couple of months. That didn't happen and, cck36 you are right, there isn't going to be resolution any time soon.

juga, you may be right about people having an agenda trying to draw things out. Teachers need community support. Concealing things and cheapening the teaching profession are not the way to support our teachers. The school board and school administrators aren't perfect, but they need the support of the community so they don't feel unable to take a stand and lead when faced with situations they would rather not face. In these tough economic times they will be facing hard choices and they need to be able to make the necessary changes with out being under constant attack.

cck36, I think you are right about the cemetery and to question the city granting a monopoly bringing the mayor's company business.

flip and frankrichards29, are you implying that there is sexual misconduct involved in the teachers cases? I haven't seen anything indicating teachers dating students or one of the teachers being a pastor in this case. I think care should be taken so not to even suggest something that could lead to rumors.
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
11/11/2008 11:46:03 PM
The recent article and Womble's letter was more about the issue of order in council meetings. Womble supports his position of citizens being able to take up as much time as they want at city council meetings by quoting a former constitution and Blackstone on parliamentary law. I agree with the quote of Blackstone and the teachers will be facing the consequences of being accused of criminal acts. If what was reported by the Messenger was accurate, then the consequences will probably be the charges being dropped since they weren't in possession of alcoholic beverages on school property. The quote from the former constitution is a good quote, but it isn't in the current constitution. Georgia has rewritten it's constitution a few times through the years.

Does every citizen have the right to take up as much time as he wants to try to advance his own agenda at council meetings?

I say no. There should be a mechanism in place at the meetings for citizens to speak, but an individual should not have the right to derail a meeting in an attempt to introduce his own agenda. I'm not saying I disagree with what James Mashburn said. I think there is a need for greater openess in the local governments. There should be articles in the news about each meeting and each decision the cities, schools, and county make so that each citizen can be kept up to date about what is happening. We are in a republic and we have elected officials that are elected to make decisions. They should be open about everything they do and listen to the counsel of all the voters they represent. If they fail to represent the voters, the voters have the right to recall those that have been elected to represent them.

Should council members resign for breaking the law? It depends on what laws were broken. If every government official resigned for breaking a law, there wouldn't be very many government officials. In the case of the teachers, there might not be any broken laws.

Should council members resign for breaking school rules? If it would keep them from carry out their duties they probably should. I doubt that this incident makes Mr. Hodge unable to carry out his duties to the city.

Is there somewhere online that shows where the lines are between the different districts in Lafayette?
I would think that Mr. Hodge and Mr. Mashburn are in the same council district. So if Mr. Hodge were to be run out of the council Mr. Mashburn could run to take his place.

The incident made it to one of the blogs on teacher misconduct:
http://teachertrash.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html