Sunday, May 13, 2012
Re-thinking what it means to have good health after the tragic, self-imposed deaths of both parents.
He doused himself with gasoline and emptied the rest of the can on the floor around him. Then, set himself on fire. He died several hours later but not until his youngest son saw him rolling on the carport floor in agony. Five years later, she died of liver failure caused by chronic alcohol abuse. Five years apart. Both 43 years of age. How tragic were these two lives. How tragic, too, that three children had to watch these two destroy themselves. It’s been nearly 40 years since my dad killed himself and almost 35 since my mom died of cirrhosis. Over that time, I’ve given lots of thought to what could have caused such calamity. How can it be that two people can be so disconnected from reality that they would choose to live and die like …
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Casa Montessori School is an East Cobb gem, as a daughter's graduation looms and change beckons.
Our little Rose Bud is wrapping up 10 years at Casa Dei Bambini Montessori School this month. Along with five of her fellow “sixth years” she will be leaving the safest, most nurturing place they’ll ever know. She fell asleep, exhausted, leaning against her mom’s car outside our front door after her first day as a ‘morning child’ shortly before she turned three. In the years since she’s learned everything from fine motor skills to microbiology basics. She was among the first Jewish girls to play the Pope on Italy Day, and she helped her school win the state championship in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. She’s 12 now, headed off to public middle school this fall, her fellow graduate classmates scattering to different public and private …
33.948116
-84.505041
Casa Montessori School
150 Powers Ferry Rd SE, Marietta, GA
/articles/fly-little-birds-fly
1767644
/locations/6942818
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The East Cobb school board member responds to recommendations that include drastic cuts in teacher and staff positions.
By David Banks, Cobb County School Board Post 5 Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, through his CFO Mike Addison, presented recommendations for the Fiscal 2013 School District Budget at an April 11 school board work session. The recommendations contained some drastic cuts in teacher and staff positions, along with reductions in instructional time by imposing five furlough days and, increasing “average” class sizes by two students. Additionally, the budget proposal included utilizing approximately $21.1 million from the existing “$100 million Reserve Funds." My question to Mr. Addison was, with $100 million in “reserve funds” sitting in the bank, from a monetary standpoint is there any reason to make the above proposed budget cuts? Mr. …
There's no reason why what works here can work in the rest of the county.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Obviously taken from America's Declaration of Independence, this statement embodies the spirit of East Cobb. "Hokie" you say? "Not at all" say I. I grew up in South Cobb and moved to East Cobb on returning from military service. The East Cobb phenomenon had just begun. Indian Hills and Parkaire Mall were brand new. We even had an ice skating rink! A short time later, the original Mechant's Walk was developed and we were off to the races! And until recently, I don't remember a time when we ever slowed down significantly. In the …
Sunday, April 15, 2012
We're back in a period of warm weather and drought. You can observe Earth Day 2012 by conserving water. Here's how.
Water worries creep up again as surely as the water level in Lake Allatoona creeps down. It’s been some four years since the record low lake levels of our 2007 drought. And in case you haven’t noticed, we’re headed in that direction again. Record warm weather has dried up our April showers this spring, and climatologists who know say that our weather this spring is more like Tampa than Atlanta. Whether you attribute that to man-made global warming or the extra-human rhythms of a diffident G*d, it’s warmer and drier in East Cobb, and the dark predictions of long ago warning of days when drinking water would be more valuable than gasoline seem closer to reality than doom-saying. Water use as public policy is a sticky wicket. Cobb and …
Friday, April 6, 2012
What better way to honor Jesus' sacrifice than to follow his example of easing pain and suffering?
I work on Good Friday. As long as I’ve been self-employed, I have. I’m also a practicing Christian. An unashamed evangelical Christian at that. So you may ask, “Why in the world would you work on Good Friday and not observe its significance?” But I DO observe the significance of Good Friday by working on that day. I try not to wear my Christianity on my sleeve. Not trying to be self-righteous here. But I know plenty of folks who show off their religiosity like crazy in public and make up for it when no one is looking. Don’t get me wrong. I’m far from perfect and would not want anyone to use me as an example of the “perfect Christian.” But I do try to live my faith in an active way. A friend asked me some time ago how, despite having gone …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
What's the bigger sign of spring in Georgia?
- OPINION
-
Thursday, April 5
The azaleas in Augusta. The cool patterns in the mowed outfield grass. The too-blue water of Rae’s Creek. The too-white crispness of new home uniforms. And perfect green everywhere you look. Welcome to Day 1 of The Masters and opening day for the Atlanta Braves and most of Major League Baseball. It’s Tiger Woods vs. Rory McIlroy at Augusta National. It’s Tommy Hanson vs. Johan Santana at Citi Field. Because baseball season traditionally started on a Monday and The Masters always starts on a Thursday, this is an unprecedented spring sports convergence. If you don’t drive out I-20 to Augusta or fly to New York, you can sit in your air-conditioned living room and flip between the golf on ESPN at 3 p.m. and the baseball on Sports South at 1:10…
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The realignment of Cobb County school board posts creates at least temporary confusion in East Cobb.
It turns out Wheeler itself remains in Scott Sweeney's district, although the attendance zone for the high school is split between Sweeney and David Banks. Banks disseminated a more detailed map of the new Board of Education posts Monday night, and it shows that the border between the East Cobb members bows westward to keep Wheeler in Sweeney's district, along with East Cobb Middle across Holt Road. Here’s a little homework for you during spring break this week: Figure out who your school board member is. Either David Banks or Scott Sweeney is your representative on the Cobb County Board of Education if you live in East Cobb Patch. That was true before the Georgia General Assembly enacted new post borders Thursday night, and it’s true now…
Bugs, pollen and flowers are among the harbingers, portents, warblers and baseball marking the change of season in East Cobb.
Springtime in Cobb County is here, we've made it one more time around the sun, and life is good. Old Man Winter didn’t stay long, never really settled in and froze our pipes and iced the roads. There was nothing to compare to last year’s deep freeze. The harbingers have all been springlike. Kudzu bugs and bumblebees arrived early, the leading edge of what experts warn will be a buggy summer. It doesn’t really matter who you choose to blame for climate change, but it sure seems to have changed in North Georgia this year. Record pollen levels and high temperatures came before the equinox this year, hot yellow clouds foreshadowing the green flowery spectacular to come. Some years we’ve dealt with March blizzards but not this time around. …
33.97124
-84.450965
Fullers Park and Recreation Center
3499 Robinson Rd NE, Marietta, GA
/articles/spring-sprung-62d98e31
1374685
/locations/6747399
33.949036
-84.416414
Metro North Youth Soccer
4645 Paper Mill Rd SE, Marietta, GA
/articles/spring-sprung-62d98e31
1374834
/locations/6747400
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Six years of recreation league play creates a lifetime of good lessons for kids and parents.
Since the autumn of her first grade year our girl has played soccer. We wanted her to learn teamwork and explore her athletic skills. Now that she’s middle-school age she’s a six year veteran of the local rec league wars. Playing up into U-8 at the beginning because of her size, she’s now a 12-year-old in U-14. In the beginning she learned about a coaches, cleats and shin-guards. She and her teammates ran around in a scrum of little girls chasing the ball on the half-sized field like a litter of retriever puppies. Six years on they’re all on the cusp of womanhood, all flying feet and elbows to the finish, eye black for attitude, high fives and hollers, then a deadly boot of the ball into the back of the net like Lionel Messi. Or so her …
Russell Sauve
10:05 pm on Sunday, May 13, 2012
From wikipedia; "[Chiropractic] is generally categorized as complementary and alternative medicine." And; "The American Medical Association called chiropractic an "unscientific cult". The following video is from a television show called Bull(poop). It is not safe for work or suitable for those who are easily offended but the show easily shows how alternative medicine is inline with the name of … more ›