Jeffrey C. Long » Current Affairs

Checks cashed here! Payday loans! Title loans. You keep the car.

jeffreyclong — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:48:52 +0000

All around us, we are seeing signs that the economy is going south. The dollar is weak. Gas is nearly $4 a gallon here in Idaho. People are losing their homes and those who are selling theirs are having a hard time.
I’ve spotted another sign: checking cashing and high interest loan businesses. My wife and I both work full time jobs. And we have the added income of student loan money. But still times are tough for us. Because I had to take a job living away from the family we have an additional rent cost. And I drive over 30 miles to work every morning. So we have troubles making ends meet. When we find our selves with more month then money, I often find myself noticing all the check cashing places on the boulevard and thinking “there but the grace of God go I,” and worry that God’s grace is going to run out and there I’ll be.

Recently I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of these places. So yesterday I drove down the boulevard and counted. I discovered there is a whopping 13 of these businesses in just two miles.

I think that this is a sign of the economy we live in. The cost of my yogurt, milk and gas have gone up, but my earning power has not.

A couple months ago I was with my wife at a debate contest. We sat down at the judges lounge with an acquaintance of hers who travels with the team. I sat uncomfortably through his demeaning talk about the poor clients in his social work and how they take advantage of the system. But then he decided to minimize the pain of the recession by comparing it to the depression. I blew up. People who are comfortable don’t understand the pain lower income people are in as the economy turns south. They don’t understand that the working poor are becoming trapped by the cycle of credit at these predatory lending businesses. 13 of them!

There but by the grace of God go I. These institutions are preying on the working poor. We need to show more compassion for those who are working hard but having trouble making ends meet. I know I’m talking about myself here. But I have also fallen prey to the lure of judging the poor, thinking they are getting a free ride by the system. That they have control of their situation if they would only work hard. It’s not as easy as that. Poverty is a complicated problem. And part of the equation now are these yellow buildings with red trim offering temporary relief at a high interest rate.

Where do you surf?

jeffreyclong — Mon, 23 May 2005 11:47:22 +0000

Following are the blogs I read on a regular or semi-regular basis. Please comment sites that you visit, or blogs that are in your news aggregator.

Bands

Jam Band bittorrents

Relix magazine

Jam band news source

Jam band fan blog

BrandYou! (Tom Peters phraseology) (personal business)

Seth Godin Author of Unleash the Ideavirus

The Occupational Adventure

Tom Peters Uber-guru of the new business environment

Josh Kaufman

The Personal MBA

Tom Peters Wire Service

Christian

Dunker’s Journal conservative Church of the Brethern member blog

Comics

Doonesbury

Calvin and Hobbes

Foxtrot

Garfied

del.icio.us

My del.icio.us inbox

Lifehacks

Open Loops

Creating Passionate Users. Excellent!

Frugal for Life

Lifehacker. Very fun.

Cooking for engineers. ‘nuf said

43folders

43folders del.icio.us

Lifehack.org

Metablogs. Blogs about bloggin

Blogaholics

Many2Many. Excellent!

Blogging Help

Tech

Slashdot.org rss feed

Macslash Mac spinoff of slashdot

Devon-technologies Maker of devon-think

Makezine O’reilley publishing hacker magazine blog

Smartmobs Convergence of mobile computing and society. Excellent!

Weather

RSS Weather

Whole Earth

Alternet Alternative news source

World Changing: Another World is here

Viridian Design

Beyond the beyond Former Whole Earth editor

Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools better as an email subscription then RSS

Writing

Coffee Blog

Neil Gaiman Sci-fi/Fantasy author. Excellent. Blog is better then his books

Just Thinking Nancy Nordenson’s Blog. Friend of mine

Journalisimo – Back to Analog. Blog on journaling

Technorati Tags: Anabaptist, blogging, brandyou, budget, coffee, comics, culture, delicious, devonthink, faith, GettingThingsDone, journaling, music, neilgaiman, RSS, slashdot, smartmobs, thinking, writing

First Amendment Schools: Steps to address school violence

jeffreyclong — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 11:47:37 +0000

The following was sent to me as an email from First Amendment Schools, an organization I discovered while taking classes for my teaching certificate. I believe it addresses well the steps needed to meet the challenge of disaffected students who resort to violence. And I believe that FAS is an important voice in establishing a philosophy of education in America.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

Have we learned nothing since Columbine?

It has been six years now since the mass murders at Columbine High School. It has been just four days since the latest school shooting, in Red Lake, Minnesota. But Jeff Weise’s desperate decision to extinguish the lives of nine innocent people, and then his own, makes the memory of Columbine and other violent episodes on American school campuses feel eerily recent.

We still have a chance, as a nation, to respond to this tragedy better than we did six years ago. But to do so we must resist the urge to reach for quick fixes, and begin a deeper discussion about the role schools play in the overall mental health and social acclimatization of their students.

Experts on school shootings say assailants are typically disaffected, socially handicapped, bitterly angry young men.

“This is someone who is a failed loner,” says Princeton University sociologist Katherine Newman, editor of Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. It is someone “who is repeatedly trying to gain access to peer groups that reject him.”

That was certainly true of Jeff Weise. As a neighbor told a reporter afterwards, “nobody took the time to get to know him.” Now, everyone knows Jeff Weise’s name in death, even as his local community and the national media scramble to learn more about who he was in life.

Each of our schools has students who feel invisible, alienated, and alone. When will one child’s murderous quest for attention and visibility alert us all to the inadequacy of past responses to our other most vulnerable and disaffected young people?

Clearly, cameras and metal detectors – both were present at the school in Red Lake – are an insufficient response to student alienation and anger. Such security measures may be necessary short-term responses in some schools; but for the long-term, caring communities are not built on fear and mechanical interventions. And although physical violence of this nature is extremely rare in schools, the conditions that led up to the shooting are not.

“With every interaction in a school, we are either building community or destroying it,” says Dr. James Comer, founder of the School Development Program. Scott Poland, the director of psychological services for the Cypress-Fairbanks school district in Houston, agrees. “We need to work a lot harder on prevention,” said Poland. “We can introduce all the complicated security technology imaginable, but in the end it comes down to how well we know our students.”

With that in mind, we suggest three clear steps for schools to follow:

First, allow students to speak more, not less, in school. As the readers of this newsletter know, student speech is not the reason schools are unsafe; properly channeled and cultivated, it’s the solution that can help lead to safer schools. Indeed, students are more likely to develop a greater sense of identity and community if we as adults are willing to help them – in an authoritative but caring setting – discover the power and uniqueness of their own voice.

Second, develop policies and practices that reinforce respectful, responsible behavior. A recent World Health Organization-sponsored study of peer attitudes in the United States and 29 other countries found that American students are among the least likely to feel their classmates are kind and helpful. Moreover, the researchers suggest that “not only are students who feel unconnected more likely to abuse substances, engage in violence, and become pregnant, but they may be less likely to acquire developmental assets and to experience opportunities to demonstrate competence through increasing autonomy.”

Third, ensure that every student feels connected to at least one supportive adult at school. Ask any of the world’s most successful people to name the person who has had the greatest influence on them in life, and you’ll hear, “There was this teacher.” We all deserve such a person.

Of course, raising a child takes a community, and schools must not be expected to solve all their students’ problems. All of us can, however, take more seriously the warning signs our most troubled students send us, and create more proactively the opportunities for students to feel included, listened to, and visible. The price of not doing so is simply too great.

Sincerely,

Sam Chaltain

First Amendment Schools

Molly McCloskey

ASCD

The history of the end of times

jeffreyclong — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 19:09:41 +0000

In about April, I will begin a series of sermons on the end of times. I look forward to the study and preparation of these messages as it has always been a topic of great curiosity to people. And particularly, I believe that how we view the future has a profound effect on how we live in the presence.

Here is a wonderful series of articles on the history of the end of times. If you are curious about the topic, read on. It’s interesting to learn what people have believed in the past and how we’ve arrived at what many people believe to be what the Bible teaches on the subject.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/61h/

Drug Recall: Important for children

jeffreyclong — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 15:13:49 +0000

I received this in a discussion group I subscribe to. I felt it was important enough to warrant posting here.

First some links confirming the accuracy of this post.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/default.htm

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blppa.htm

I post these because it is very important when sharing information from online sources that you verify whether they are true or not. The urbanlegends.about.com site can be very helpful in researching the claims of forwarded emails.

URGENT-URGENT- DRUG RECALL.

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. You may want

to try calling the 800 number listed on most drug boxes and inquire about a!

REFUND. Please read this CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone

you know.

STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to

increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain) among women ages 18-49

in the three days

after starting use of medication. Problems were not found in men, however,

the FDA

recommended that everyone (even children) seek an alternative medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant

Acutrim Plus Dietary Supplements

Acu trim Maximum Strength Appetite Control

Alka-Seltzer Plus Children’s Cold Medicine

Effervescent

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or orange)

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine Original

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent

Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine

BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder

BC Sinus Cold Powder

Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief

Day &Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules

Contac 12 Hour Caplets

Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus

Dexatrim Caffeine Free

Dexatrim Extended Duration

Dexatrim Gelcaps

Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free

Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets

Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels

Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir

Dimetapp Elixir

Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels

Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets

Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets

Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops

Permathene Mega-16!

Robitussin CF

Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion

Triaminic DM Cough Relief

Triaminic Expectorant Ches t & Head

Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy

Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough

I just found out and called the 800# on the container for Triaminic and they

informed me that they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines

because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in

children:

Orange 3D Cold &Allergy Cherry (Pink)

3D Cold &Cough Berry

3D Cough Relief Yellow 3D Expectorant

They are asking you to call them at 800-548-3708 with the lot number on the

box so they can send you postage for you to send it back to them, and they

will also issue

you a refund.

If you know of anyone else with small children, PLEASE PASS THIS ON. THIS

IS SERIOUS STUFF!

Presidential

jeffreyclong — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 18:31:10 +0000

technoOne of my academic goals in life is to be a lay Presidential scholar. I’ve read many biographies of the Clinton presidency and find them fascinating. While I didn’t vote for him, I’d be interested in reading about George W. Bush. And I’ve been thinking reading about Nixon and Roosevelt would be interesting. So it was with great pleasure that I got to listen to President Carter on NPR this afternoon. If you’d like to catch the show, it can be found at NPR’s Talk of the Nation

Negotiating with terrorists

jeffreyclong — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 12:47:59 +0000

here is a story that highlights that the terrorists are not simply about the total destruction of America, but actually are upset about a specific issue.

that issue is palestine.

it is my opinion that the war on terrorism needs to seek to address the muslim’s feelings about palestine rather then simply keep ramming israel down their throat. admittedly this is difficult because some palestinians have taken up terrorist activities as a last-ditch option to try and fight back against a seemingly overwhelming opponent. and so we need to convince the terrorists to stop their activities by agreeing to meet some of their concerns.

of course this amounts to negotiating with hostage takers in some people’s eyes. but the issue is resolving this conflict with as few casualties as possible. and in my opinion this tactic has not been taken seriously.

News Blackout

jeffreyclong — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:11:51 +0000

I’m currently in the midst of a self-imposed news blackout. Generally, I’m an NPR addict, so this is pretty significant. But I just grew tired of hearing about Iraq everyday. And the political debate between Bush and Kerry basically degenerated to Kerry being the opposite of whatever Bush said, rather then having an agenda of his own. And every news cycle I was getting bombarded with the latest example. So I have a question for everybody… how do you ration your news? What are your sources? How much do you get? Is it enough? Or too much? Please post your responses.