This video speaks for itself. I know of a situation where a student brought a concealed handgun to school. The gun was apparently strapped to the student's leg under this pants. It was several days before school authorities were notified.
Having and consistently enforcing a dress code is more important than ever. How are you doing?
By Mark Kennedy, ACSI, Eastern Canada
To me one of the profound mysteries about the North American Christian community is, “How can so many people in two of the wealthiest nations the world has ever known say they can’t afford Christian schooling for their children?”
Now I know that there are low income families here who can barely afford the necessities of life let along Christian school tuition. But what about everyone else? Well thanks to the research of the Vanier Institute of the Family’s ninth annual report, I am beginning ‘to get it’.
The report entitled, “The Current State of Canadian Family Finance” points out that:
It seems our income level is less of an issue than our level of spending. An increasing percentage of Canadian families are spending more than they earn annually and, for these families adding payments for Christian school tuition on top of everything else is an extremely unattractive prospect. So even if a family’s annual income is $1,000,000 they cannot afford Christian schooling if their yearly expenses are $1,300,000.
In the battle of spending vs. earning, spending is winning and Canadian families are losing. The seductions of rampant materialism has triumphed over balanced and controlled family finances.
And it can’t be all that comfortable for some of our industries either, especially if they have to come up with new or “improved” products that they hope will make perfectly good older things obsolete in order to keep their income levels spiraling upwards.
How much more difficult it must be for the advertising agencies that have to create ‘ex nihilo’ an irrational public appetite for new things that we have managed to live quite happily without up until now—convincing us for example that we really need a big screen TV and VCR, then a flat screen TV and DVD player, and now an HD, LCD screen and a Blue Ray player.
Do ad executives ever wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat from a nightmare in which the North American public says something like:
“We have finally figured out that we don’t need more and more and bigger and better. We are taking back control of our own money and our lives. We have decided to be content with lower standards of living for the sake of our children and for our own peace of mind”?
In addition, if we ever were to take that stand what would happen to our way of life? Would it mean that unbridled North American capitalism would join Russian Communism on “the ash heap of history”?
Maybe. The world’s nations and empires, political and economic systems rise and fall, live and die. And those who put their trust in them tend to share their fate.
But Christian families don’t have to be captives of secular society’s values and priorities. Jesus’ familiar words, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” are the key. In light of this principle, Christian families have some critical financial questions to think through:
With our skyrocketing gasoline prices and with the inevitable increases in almost all other costs, those questions are becoming more and more pointed. And if Christian families don’t bring their spending under greater control and rethink their priorities in light of scripture, the answers will be crippling for their own children, and for the Christian school movement in Canada.
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Generally, weather in the U.S. trends west to east. So do many political, legal, and cultural movements. On the evening of June 15, gay couples were legally able to marry in California. Gay couples from around the world are invited to California to marry.
BEAUTIFUL MARIN COUNTY WELCOMES YOU ... AN INVITATION TO ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND ALL IN STATES OUT SIDE OF CALIFORNIA WHO HAVE BEEN DENIED THE RI GHT TO MARRY IN THEIR OWN STATE OR HOMELAND.
CALIFORNIA WELCOMES YOU - THERE IS NO CALIFORNIA RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT. (http://privatefamilycourt.com/)
A gay couple marries in CA and adopts a child. They move to your state and city (your state recognizes CA marriages) and for inexplicable reasons seek to enroll their adopted child in your school. You deny admission on biblical grounds. You are threatened with a lawsuit from the ACLU. The press is at your office door with satellite equipped vans in the parking lot.
Based on your convictions you decide to fight the lawsuit in court. At great cost the school hires attorneys and goes to court. You lose. You appeal. You lose again. You appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denies your Petition for Writ of Certiorari.
The ACLU and courts argue that you are discriminating in violation of the law because you admit the children of other couples who also violate stated biblical standards (unbiblical divorces, adultery, etc.). The essence of the argument is that your school is inconsistent and is therefore unlawfully discriminating against gay couples.
Our culture is changing. As leaders it is our responsibility to look over the horizon and prepare our schools to meet new challenges and prepare for external threats. Are you preparing?
By Mark Kennedy, ACSI Regional Director, Canada
Not too many years ago Creationism was the overwhelmingly accepted view about origins for evangelicals while evolution held a similar position in secular, liberal and nominally religious communities. That is changing, for us at least. The Intelligent Design movement has opened the door for a variety of evangelical perspectives on origins including a Christian evolutionist point of view (which personally I find difficult to reconcile with scripture). A few months ago I received a letter from a fellow ACSI Director asking for some input on how to deal with the increasingly heated clashes between member schools that hold the Intelligent Design perspective and schools that take the Creationist point of view.
Here is part of my response:
We would have no hesitation in using both (ID and Creationist at our conventions).
The instructions we give to people speaking on the topic of origins is that they are not to mock, ridicule or otherwise treat disrespectfully people or beliefs with which they disagree (including evolutionists and evolution). Nevertheless, they are welcome to state their position and refute other positions as long as they do so respectfully. Francis Schaeffer said that we Christians don’t have the luxury of fighting our battles on just one front. Concerning origins, I think that means applying the policy above. All of us need to be reminded that the folks with whom we disagree hold their beliefs just as sincerely as we do and often, those beliefs take on religious dimensions- and sometimes they may be smarter than we are. If we mock those beliefs we lose credibility in their eyes. Wrong attitudes speak louder than correct arguments. No sensible Christian would witness to a Buddhist or Muslim by telling demeaning jokes about Buddha or Mohamed. The Christian might win the battle of whose beliefs are technically more credible but, because of his insulting words, he/she would lose the war for the person mind and soul. Similarly we need to learn to hold our convictions without rancor towards those with whom we disagree.
As a post middle aged radical I would be tempted to have a debate at convention between Creationists and ID people and evolutionists with the ground rules as per the above. It is a dangerous idea but if it worked some folks might start to think Christianly about the topic instead of just choosing up sides, applying demeaning attitudes towards their opponents and dividing the body of Christ.
The “ don’t touch it” approach to this issue may seem the safest for now but in the long run it fails to deal with the significant problem of one group of believers warring against its allies. Matthew Arnold describes the condition in his poem “Dover Beach”:
“And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggles and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
The 'ignorant armies’ to which he is referring clashed in ancient Greece. The result of their battle in the dark was that each side slaughtered its own troops. We need to fight our battles in the light of both truth and mutual respect.
With gas prices averaging over $4.00/gal. and expected to go higher and remain high, most of us are finding our personal and school budgets stretched. It cost approximately $70 to fill the average sedan and over $100 to fill a truck or SUV.
High gasoline prices have spurred a renewed interest in alternative fuel vehicles, including electric cars. These are not "your father's electric cars!"
To save you some research time, I have collected several videos about electric and hydrogen cars. Below the videos, I have also posted a Business Week article that outlines the current state of electric car development.
UPDATE: 6/23/08: According to the WSJ:
McCain to Propose Prize For New Auto Battery--Associated PressJune 23, 2008
10:38 a.m.PHOENIX -- John McCain hopes to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash. The presumed Republican nominee is proposing a $300 million government prize to whoever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology. The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," Mr. McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in California.
Mr. McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30% of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."
Aside from personal application, consider the following:
Are your teachers intentionally and intelligently engaging your students in these discussions and assessments? If not, why not?
Japanese Genepax
Electric/Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Volt:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=119088
The Tesla
by Matt Vella
Clean, quiet, and relatively profitable to produce, electric vehicles have had a rough start in the U.S.: Five years after General Motors (GM) nixed its innovative EV1 electric car program, just a handful of automakers have committed to making and selling electric vehicles on a mass scale any time soon.
Enter Think Global, a Norwegian upstart plotting a U.S. invasion via pint-size, affordable electric cars. Think has been selling gas-free, Lilliputian city cars in Europe and will start peddling them to fuel-crunched Americans in 2009. The company's newly formed North American division has high hopes for Think's existing models—and even higher ones for the upcoming Th!nk Ox, a concept unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year.
An electrified people's car for the 21st century, the Ox is a preview of Think's next-generation production vehicle, due out in 2011. Roughly the size of a Toyota (TM) Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000.
Although little-known, Think North America is backed by an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley venture capital firms RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which famously invested early in companies such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG). General Electric (GE) made an unrelated $4 million investment in March to support the company's battery research and development operations.
Even more than its well-funded sponsors or cutting-edge technology, the Ox's killer app could be its design. To date, most electric cars available in the U.S.—small, unsafe, and underpowered—have been intended strictly for the earliest early adopters and the most faithful green believers. In contrast, Think's senior vice-president for design, Katinka von der Lippe, says the Ox is a "real car, a big step away from the cuteness of [other] electric vehicles." All that distinguishes the Ox from name-brand, fuel-sipping compact cars, in fact, is its silent hum and zero emissions.
The Ox also embodies the characteristic simplicity of Scandinavian design, featuring uncomplicated lines and clean, uncluttered surfaces. A band of unpainted metal stretches from the front of the vehicle to its rear, revealing the Ox's interior architecture, an aluminum frame. An unassuming grille is tucked between sophisticated sloping headlamps. "The Ox is a leap forward for the design of electric cars," says von der Lippe, "and, we think, the product of a mature company."
Still, the American market for electric vehicles "is virtually nonexistent," says John O'Dell, a senior editor specializing in green vehicles for car-buying site Edmunds.com. Even well-established gas-electric hybrids such as the Prius and Honda's (HMC) Civic account for barely 3% of U.S. auto sales. "Until you've got a compelling product, you won't have a market," adds O'Dell. Aside from the sleek Tesla Motors Roadster, which carries a price tag of nearly $100,000, there are almost no fully functional electric vehicles that meet average drivers' requirements. The Ox could fill that gap.
"It'll take a lot of time," Wilber James, RockPort's managing general partner and acting president of Think North America, says of the challenge of selling electric vehicles to American drivers, who still overwhelmingly prefer trucks to thriftier small cars. "We're going to focus at first on niche markets—cities, universities, and fleets."
The company's business model, says James, is similar to that of PC maker Dell (DELL), which fueled its rise by ruthlessly optimizing its manufacturing and supply chain. Think's ultralean manufacturing system lets it build production facilities for about $10 million, compared with the billions invested in new plants by old-line manufacturers. That means more factories closer to customers, further cutting costs.
In addition, factories "could also be the retailers," says James, which would add a unique element to Think's branding. The company, he says, will be profitable if it can sell 10,000 vehicles a year. At 20,000 to 30,000 units in annual sales, Think can cut its component costs in half.
That focus on innovative manufacturing, in addition to the high-tech Ox itself, may ultimately set the company apart from previous attempts—and, Think is betting, finally help jump-start the U.S. market for electric cars.
In two prior posts I have mentioned Jott. This is an incredibly useful tool. I also use two other free cell phone services: Goog 411 and Cha Cha. All three of these services were recently reviewed by the NY Times.
Summer may be a good time for you to try these programs out for yourself. You have nothing to lose, they are FREE!
You can also view a great video on these programs on the NY times web site at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
June 5, 2008: State of the Art
By DAVID POGUE
You hear it all the time: “These cellphones are too complicated, by cracky! I don’t want to play music or surf the Internet. I just want to make phone calls!”
It may turn out, though, that these complaints are misdirected. Maybe the real problem isn’t new features — it’s the complexity added to the phones’ designs.
But what if there were a way to add features without changing the phone itself?
There is. Several super-simple cellular services are so sweet and satisfying, you can’t believe they’re free. They work by recognizing your voice, so you don’t have to master anything new on the phone itself — all of the complexity is hidden from you.
Certain voice-driven freebies, in particular, have earned a permanent place on my phone’s speed-dial keys. All work alike: you dial an 800 number, speak your request and get the results in seconds, usually in the form of a text message on your phone.
(Yes, the sort of person who uses the phrase “by cracky” may be unfamiliar with the glories of text messaging, and may bristle at having to pay 10 cents a text message, or $5 a month for hundreds. But remember: the services described here don’t require you to master sending such messages — only receiving them, which requires no skill at all.)
800-GOOG-411. Cellphone carriers have plenty to be ashamed of. Case in point: when you dial 411 to look up a phone number, you’ll be billed $1.50 or $2.
If it’s a business or store you’re looking up, for heaven’s sake, dial 800-GOOG-411 instead. It’s a voice-activated, national phone directory run by Google. It’s fast and efficient, and there are no ads or charges.
A typical transcript goes like this. “GOOG411. What city and state?”
You: “New York, New York.”
Google: “New York, New York. What business name or category?”
You: “Empire State Building.”
Google: “Empire State Building! Searching. Top listing: Empire State Building on Fifth Avenue. I’ll connect you.”
And your call is connected, just as though you’d dialed yourself. Or you can interrupt by saying “details” (meaning, “read me the phone number and address”) or “text message” (meaning, “send that info to my cellphone, so I’ll have it in writing”).
For residential listings, you can dial 800-FREE411 (not a Google service), although you have to listen to a 20-second ad. And don’t miss Google’s free SMS service, which offers business phone numbers, weather, sports, flight info, and more (details at tinyurl.com/ymeupk). But neither of those services compares with the spectacular speed, convenience and reliability of GOOG411.
ChaCha. Here’s another voice-activated service (800-2CHACHA) — but this time, you can ask any question at all. “What’s that German word that means, ‘pleasure from other people’s pain’?” Or “Who ran against Abraham Lincoln for president?” Or “What’s on the front page of today’s New York Times?” Or “How do you jump the battery in a Prius?” Or “Where’s the cheapest gas in southeast Connecticut right now?” Or “What’s the last flight to New York out of O’Hare Airport?” Just about anything, in fact, you could find on the Web.
After 30 seconds, you get a text message confirming that ChaCha is working on your question. A minute or two later, you get the answer, typed out in friendly English (“Thanks for asking!”), as though there were a real person on the other end.
That’s because there is a real person. ChaCha employs thousands of amateur researchers across the United States to field your questions, find the answers online and shoot them back, with a link to the Web page where they found the information.
They’re paid $5 to $10 an hour, which may explain the occasional unhelpful replies. (Q: “Why do British and American cars drive on opposite sides of the road?” A: “Because the British have their steering wheels on the other side.” Gee, thanks.)
Even so, ChaCha does a tantalizingly good impersonation of a personal concierge who caters to your whims, and saves the day with amazing frequency. Best of all, there’s no fee, no software, no signup or registration; you can dial it right this instant.
Jott. What do you do when you get an idea you want to remember? A brainstorm, a to-do item, a reminder you want to set for yourself? Writing it down is the only solution — so most of the time, you don’t, because you’re driving, or you have no pen, or you’re away from your computer.
Meet Jott, your personal transcription service. You sign up at Jott.com by providing your cell number and e-mail address.
If you’re a Verizon customer, you must also request that your carrier’s “premium text-message block” be removed from your account. That safeguard is meant to protect people from racking up bills using premium texting services (which Jott is not). Votes to “American Idol” by text, for example, cost $1 a vote. (I found that out by asking ChaCha.)
From now on, Jott is your personal transcription service. Speed-dial 866-JOTT123, and the conversation goes like this:
Jott: “Who do you want to Jott?”
You: “Myself.”
Jott: “Jott yourself.”
You: “Great idea for Act 2! Doing the laundry, Minna finds lipstick on her husband’s collar and sues the detergent company.”
Five minutes later, the transcribed, typed message appears in your e-mail in-box, complete with an audio attachment of the recording — and, if you like, also on your phone as a text message.
You can also fill your Jott.com address book with other people’s names, or even add them to groups. That way, you can text your spouse by saying, “Hi, honeybones — can you turn off the oven at 6:30?,” or alert everyone on your team that you will be late for a meeting by placing a single phone call.
More advanced features: after you speak, the Jott lady says, “Do you want a reminder?” If you say yes, then you can speak the date and time when you want the transcript sent to your phone — a brilliant, free way to set a wake-up call, remind yourself to file quarterly taxes, buy a gift for your anniversary, whatever.
Reqall. Reqall is the same idea as Jott, but it’s primarily a reminder system — it even recognizes words like “buy” and “meeting” and stores transcripts as separate lists on the Web.
You can dictate reminders by calling 888-9REQALL, or send them by instant message, e-mail, text message or Web browser plug-in. Later, Reqall tries to remind you of things at the right time, using e-mail, text message or instant message (your choice).
Alas, the accuracy of the speech recognition (which, as with Jott, is done by a combination of humans and software) leaves something to be desired.
All of these services are so good, so efficient and so free, you have a right to be suspicious. How will they make money?
GOOG411 is technically still in testing, but even once it’s fully baked, Google has no intention of charging for it.
ChaCha is trying to sell its services to cell carriers and syndicate its system to other information providers, and one day intends to attach relevant ads to its text-message answers. (The company insists it will not spam or repurpose your phone number.)
As for Jott and Reqall: technically, they, too, are in beta testing. When they go live, the companies plan to charge for the advanced features, but they will always offer a free basic service.
The bottom line: There’s a new Internet bubble blowing, folks, and at least in the short term, it means freebies for all. All of these companies, and more, are beginning to party like it’s 1999.
So yes, it’s conceivable that the free ride may end someday. But in the meantime, enjoy it while it lasts. There’s no reason not to start using these life-changing freebies this very day.
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