Just how much tragedy must one family suffer?
It was back in February of 1995 but I remember it like yesterday. It was a Saturday and I was in my office on my day off, catching up on my usual late February backlog of work. The head of the school came in and told me he needed me to open up the switchboard. He also needed me to work the switchboard, since no one else was around who knew how. Then he told me. A 9th grade student had died while on an Environmental Outdoor Education (EOE) trip. I felt awful. I knew the parents. I'd helped them with some of their paperwork earlier that year.
As with any death involving a student and a school activity, it would get ugly later. The school did everything we could to support the family, but eventually they sued. They lost. The school was not negligent. Now, 19 years later, the only sibling of that student has died, before turning 40.
No parent should have to bury a child. To have to bury two, decades apart, is more than twice as awful. I lost touch with those parents long ago, once the lawsuit was filed. I don't even know if they are alive. If they are, they are suffering badly at this moment.
Living on a planet whose existence is measured in billions of years while our lives are measured in decades (if we are lucky), the lives of human beings are transitory at best. We try to live our lives as best we can, making a tiny mark on our work. Odds are most of us won't be remembered in the distant future, although we've made giant leaps in preserving our thoughts and histories. Perhaps as we progress as a species, we'll find a way so that no parent will have to bury a child.
* * *
I worked today. It was a day that was scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but I started early to try to catch up on the backlog I have. I left a little after 2, further behind and exhausted. I would have loved to just come home, but I promised my mom I would pick up a few things she needed.
Once again I was tempted to engage in emotional eating because my stress level was nearing a critical level. I finally decided that I'd just eat as planned at home, and worry about cheating on my diet tomorrow.
It's a new strategy. If I push it off a day, and then repeat the process, perhaps I can push it off for an extended period. It's worth a try.
* * *
Yesterday I made mention of a woman who was expelled from her "Christian" college because she had married another woman. Same-sex marriage should be the law of the land. But religious freedoms do exist, and when someone voluntarily enrolls in an educational institution that has a religious structure; and they sign an agreement where they agree to live a certain lifestyle, they have no one else to blame if they choose to abrogate that agreement.
She could have waited until graduation to get married. She could have chosen to leave school, get married and transfer somewhere else. She did neither of those things. That old adage about not doing the crime if you can't do the time can be paraphrased here. Don't sign on the dotted line if you can't live by the terms printed above it.
* * *
Did you read about the United Airlines flight from Hawaii to Guam that was forced to make an emergency landing at Midway? MIDWAY?? That's a movie where the U. S. Navy blows the heck out of the Japanese carrier fleet during World War II. Where Charlton Heston dies heroically trying to land his shot-to-hell plane and crashing.
In fact, the U. S. Navy left Midway in 1997. Budget cuts in 2013 led to the elimination of visitor and volunteer programs. Though the island is home to a National Wildlife Refuge, only 332 visitors travelled there in 2012.
Now these travelers were stuck there for seven hours (mostly in the dark I suspect) and they sat waiting in a gymnasium.
There are at least some people who wish they'd been on that plane, since there's no other way to get to Midway. Well, no way unless you want to take a job with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and hope to be posted there.
* * *
It's great that Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe decided to announce he is gay, but the truth is it is no one's business but his.
The Air Force pilot who won $100,000 on the game show "The Price is Right" plans to take his wife on a big honeymoon. Hope he remembers that he will ultimately be taxed on his winnings.
I was shocked to learn that the FDA still bans gay and bisexual men from donating blood. That needs to change.
Now that I know the pet peeve of Katie Holmes is people who pick their noses in their car, I'm dying to ask her how she feels about people who pick their noses outside of their cars. Then after typing that sentence, I realized I can ask her. I tweeted her that question. But I doubt I'll get a response.
Why shouldn't California regulate pet health insurance?
This is the headline, "Hot English teacher victimizes two 18 year old males by banging them and giving them beer." I bet they don't feel victimized.
The Oakland Raiders giving their cheerleaders contracts where they will get paid $9 per hour for all hours worked isn't a huge victory, but it is a step in the right direction.
* * *
July 12th in History:
927 – Æthelstan, King of England, secures a pledge from Constantine II of Scotland that the latter will not ally with Viking kings, beginning the process of unifying Great Britain. This is considered the closest thing that England has to a foundation date.
1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea.
1493 – Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.
1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê Dynasty and starting the Mạc Dynasty.
1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
1561 – Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is consecrated.
1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.
1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.
1690 – Battle of the Boyne (Gregorian calendar) – The armies of William III defeat those of the former James II.
1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar) – The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.
1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.
1789 – French revolutionary and radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gave a speech in response to the dismissal of Jacques Necker France's finance minister the day before. The speech calls the citizens to arms and leads to the Storming of the Bastille two days later.
1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.
1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).
1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: British Royal Navy ships inflict heavy damage against Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.
1804 – Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies a day after being shot in a duel.
1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.
1806 – Liechtenstein is given full sovereignty after its accession to the Confederation of the Rhine.
1812 – War of 1812: The United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario.
1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
1879 – The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is founded.
1913 – Second Balkan War: Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.
1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed. Soviet Russia recognizes independent Lithuania.
1932 – Hedley Verity takes a cricket world record ten wickets for ten runs in a county match for Yorkshire.
1943 – World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest tank engagements of all time.
1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
1960 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
1961 – Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death toll exceeds 2,000.
1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at the Marquee Club in London, England, United Kingdom.
1963 – Pauline Reade, who was 16-years-old, disappears on her way to a dance at the British Railways Club in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.
1967 – The Newark riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.
1970 – A fire consumes the wooden home of Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt and irretrievably destroys about 90 percent of his output.
1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom.
2006 – Hezbollah initiates Operation True Promise.
2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters perform airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.
2012 – The Turaymisah massacre kills 250 people during a Syrian military operation in a village within the Hama Governorate.
Famous Folk Born on July 12th:
Julius Caesar
Ashikaga Yoshinori, Shogun
Josiah Wedgwood
Henry David Thoreau
Louis II of Monaco
Louis B. Mayer
Jean Hersholt
Buckminster Fuller
Oscar Hammerstein, II
Pablo Neruda
Milton Berle
(I bowled in tournaments at Hollywood Legion Lanes, where the above clip was shot)
Herbert Zim
Andrew Wyeth
Van Cliburn
Bill Cosby
Robert McFarlane
Ron Fairly
Christine McVie
Delia Ephron
Denise Nicholas
Walter Egan
Jay Thomas
Brian Grazer
Cheryl Ladd
Jamey Sheridan
Mel Harris (wow, she was married five times)
Colonel Rick Husband
Tonya Lee Roberts
Julio Cesar Chavez
Lisa Nicole Carson
Loni Love
Brock Lesnar
Topher Grace
As with any death involving a student and a school activity, it would get ugly later. The school did everything we could to support the family, but eventually they sued. They lost. The school was not negligent. Now, 19 years later, the only sibling of that student has died, before turning 40.
No parent should have to bury a child. To have to bury two, decades apart, is more than twice as awful. I lost touch with those parents long ago, once the lawsuit was filed. I don't even know if they are alive. If they are, they are suffering badly at this moment.
Living on a planet whose existence is measured in billions of years while our lives are measured in decades (if we are lucky), the lives of human beings are transitory at best. We try to live our lives as best we can, making a tiny mark on our work. Odds are most of us won't be remembered in the distant future, although we've made giant leaps in preserving our thoughts and histories. Perhaps as we progress as a species, we'll find a way so that no parent will have to bury a child.
* * *
I worked today. It was a day that was scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but I started early to try to catch up on the backlog I have. I left a little after 2, further behind and exhausted. I would have loved to just come home, but I promised my mom I would pick up a few things she needed.
Once again I was tempted to engage in emotional eating because my stress level was nearing a critical level. I finally decided that I'd just eat as planned at home, and worry about cheating on my diet tomorrow.
It's a new strategy. If I push it off a day, and then repeat the process, perhaps I can push it off for an extended period. It's worth a try.
* * *
Yesterday I made mention of a woman who was expelled from her "Christian" college because she had married another woman. Same-sex marriage should be the law of the land. But religious freedoms do exist, and when someone voluntarily enrolls in an educational institution that has a religious structure; and they sign an agreement where they agree to live a certain lifestyle, they have no one else to blame if they choose to abrogate that agreement.
She could have waited until graduation to get married. She could have chosen to leave school, get married and transfer somewhere else. She did neither of those things. That old adage about not doing the crime if you can't do the time can be paraphrased here. Don't sign on the dotted line if you can't live by the terms printed above it.
* * *
Did you read about the United Airlines flight from Hawaii to Guam that was forced to make an emergency landing at Midway? MIDWAY?? That's a movie where the U. S. Navy blows the heck out of the Japanese carrier fleet during World War II. Where Charlton Heston dies heroically trying to land his shot-to-hell plane and crashing.
In fact, the U. S. Navy left Midway in 1997. Budget cuts in 2013 led to the elimination of visitor and volunteer programs. Though the island is home to a National Wildlife Refuge, only 332 visitors travelled there in 2012.
Now these travelers were stuck there for seven hours (mostly in the dark I suspect) and they sat waiting in a gymnasium.
There are at least some people who wish they'd been on that plane, since there's no other way to get to Midway. Well, no way unless you want to take a job with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and hope to be posted there.
* * *
It's great that Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe decided to announce he is gay, but the truth is it is no one's business but his.
The Air Force pilot who won $100,000 on the game show "The Price is Right" plans to take his wife on a big honeymoon. Hope he remembers that he will ultimately be taxed on his winnings.
I was shocked to learn that the FDA still bans gay and bisexual men from donating blood. That needs to change.
Now that I know the pet peeve of Katie Holmes is people who pick their noses in their car, I'm dying to ask her how she feels about people who pick their noses outside of their cars. Then after typing that sentence, I realized I can ask her. I tweeted her that question. But I doubt I'll get a response.
Why shouldn't California regulate pet health insurance?
This is the headline, "Hot English teacher victimizes two 18 year old males by banging them and giving them beer." I bet they don't feel victimized.
The Oakland Raiders giving their cheerleaders contracts where they will get paid $9 per hour for all hours worked isn't a huge victory, but it is a step in the right direction.
* * *
July 12th in History:
927 – Æthelstan, King of England, secures a pledge from Constantine II of Scotland that the latter will not ally with Viking kings, beginning the process of unifying Great Britain. This is considered the closest thing that England has to a foundation date.
1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.
1470 – The Ottomans capture Euboea.
1493 – Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.
1527 – Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê Dynasty and starting the Mạc Dynasty.
1543 – King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.
1561 – Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is consecrated.
1562 – Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.
1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.
1690 – Battle of the Boyne (Gregorian calendar) – The armies of William III defeat those of the former James II.
1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar) – The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.
1776 – Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.
1789 – French revolutionary and radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gave a speech in response to the dismissal of Jacques Necker France's finance minister the day before. The speech calls the citizens to arms and leads to the Storming of the Bastille two days later.
1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.
1799 – Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).
1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: British Royal Navy ships inflict heavy damage against Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.
1804 – Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies a day after being shot in a duel.
1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.
1806 – Liechtenstein is given full sovereignty after its accession to the Confederation of the Rhine.
1812 – War of 1812: The United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario.
1862 – The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
1879 – The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is founded.
1913 – Second Balkan War: Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.
1917 – The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.
1918 – The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.
1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed. Soviet Russia recognizes independent Lithuania.
1932 – Hedley Verity takes a cricket world record ten wickets for ten runs in a county match for Yorkshire.
1943 – World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – German and Soviet forces engage in one of the largest tank engagements of all time.
1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.
1960 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
1961 – Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death toll exceeds 2,000.
1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at the Marquee Club in London, England, United Kingdom.
1963 – Pauline Reade, who was 16-years-old, disappears on her way to a dance at the British Railways Club in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.
1967 – The Newark riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.
1970 – A fire consumes the wooden home of Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt and irretrievably destroys about 90 percent of his output.
1971 – The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.
1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.
1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom.
2006 – Hezbollah initiates Operation True Promise.
2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters perform airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.
2012 – The Turaymisah massacre kills 250 people during a Syrian military operation in a village within the Hama Governorate.
Famous Folk Born on July 12th:
Julius Caesar
Ashikaga Yoshinori, Shogun
Josiah Wedgwood
Henry David Thoreau
Louis II of Monaco
Louis B. Mayer
Jean Hersholt
Buckminster Fuller
Oscar Hammerstein, II
Pablo Neruda
Milton Berle
(I bowled in tournaments at Hollywood Legion Lanes, where the above clip was shot)
Herbert Zim
Andrew Wyeth
Van Cliburn
Bill Cosby
Robert McFarlane
Ron Fairly
Christine McVie
Delia Ephron
Denise Nicholas
Walter Egan
Jay Thomas
Brian Grazer
Cheryl Ladd
Jamey Sheridan
Mel Harris (wow, she was married five times)
Colonel Rick Husband
Tonya Lee Roberts
Julio Cesar Chavez
Lisa Nicole Carson
Loni Love
Brock Lesnar
Topher Grace
posted by me at 9:01 PM
<< Home