Larry's Weblog

Why Do We Go Back To Prison

Larry — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:35:03 +0000

Well, I am back after a very long absence. I have not stopped working and doing research about subjects that interest me. So, why go back to prison? Some of the following comments came from both current inmates and ex-inmates. The theme seems to be the same for both groups. Lack of skill, no family structure/support, lack of motivation.

Let us address these on an item by item basis. Lack of skill is sometimes the fault of the prisoner. Sometimes they just do not see the importance of more education or skill training. But, sometimes they do not have the opportunity to receive the training. All prisons do not offer the same programs. The prisons will not transfer an inmate to another facility just to help him get the training he desires. Maybe I understand that to a degree, however, if we are to rehabilitate prisoners, we certainly should listen when one is crying out for help to better himself. This is normally a sign that someone is trying to improve himself and become a productive citizen when he is released. Most inmates end up in one of two groups: One group comes out more savvy and thinks he can learn from past mistakes and will now be able to continue his criminal activity without getting caught. The second group are the ones that realize that prison is not the life they want to have and set about finding a way to help themselves have a chance for success.

There are those that have no family support, maybe they come from a broken home or maybe they have done so many bad things to their family that they do not want to have anything to do with them anymore. This group is more likely to fail. Not having support, leadership and encouragement makes it very hard to know which way to turn. They have no one to look up to and do not have the advantage of having someone to mentor them. It is always good if you have someone that has already been down a road to give you advice and halp you avoid mistakes they have already faced.

Lack of motivation is a combination of many things. Lack of confidence, no support group, lack of trust and peer pressure not to toe under to “the man”. When in prison it is so easy to get in a rut and the staff certainly do not encourage. They are just running a big warehouse, usually one that is over crowded and under staffed, get their eight and go home. You rarely hear of a staff member in prison sitting down with an inmate and telling him “hey, I know you can better yourself, let me help you get into a school or training program to learn a skill”. That just hardly ever happens. It is just too easy to sit around with the boys and play cards.

There are answers to many of these problems that would benefit the inmates and serve the public as well. An example is truth in sentencing, this would take away the discretion of the judge. Have you ever noticed in the paper, two crimes identical in nature, in different counties. One man gets 10 years the other gets 20 years. I have looked into this and found that in some cases the judge in one county had a bad night and took it out on the man before him. In some cases the judge maybe had a family member that was a victim of a certain type crime, needless to say he is not going to be impartial, he can’t help himself, it’s just human nature. Sometimes judges get the idea that nobody cares for the man before him, so why worry about it.

The truth in sentencing law would make every similar case carry the same punishment. That takes the personal feeling out of it and makes it fair to the men involved. This would also reduce the sentence for many men and this would reduce the overhead required to house the inmates. Also, this would in many cases make the accused eligible for probation which would save the tax payers even more money, not to mention ease the over crowding somewhat.

I do believe in the guilty party being punished for his crimes. However, it should be fair and equal, he should have every opportunity to receive training and/or education to help him succeed when released and receive counseling to determine if he will have the support necessary when released and provide some type of follow-up to assure as much as possible that he will not return to the old life and go back to prison. The prison system, at some point has to realize they can’t push a man out the door with a cheap suit and $10 and expect them to be successful. maybe they want the men to return, it would just be job security for them.

I look forward to your comments and questions.

Filed under: blogs, family, gangs, government, politicians, politics, voters, writing Tagged: children, church, ex-cons, family, gangs, government, inmates, politicians, politics, prison

Will Christmas be Eliminated in America?

Larry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:18:17 +0000

Many of us grew up with certain things as a staple. One main thing we looked forward to with longing in our heart was Christmas. Ahh, the food, family and of course the gifts. None of those things were enjoyed until everyone had gone to church for Christmas services. As children we could hardly wait til church was over to rush home and shake those presents. Always a big available, mom out-did herself every year it seemed. Children focused on gifts, did we get that BB gun, did Jane get the doll she wanted? But during all the excitement, in the back of our minds was the reason for the celebration. How many times did you hear mom say, “remember what this day stands for”. Yes, we had a great day of visiting family, wonderful meals, gifts and prayers. Even as we grew into adulthood, those things stuck with us and was passed on to our children. Most of us have such wonderful memories of childhood at Christmas time. How many times have we thought back to those times as we prepared for Christmas with our children? Good memories and good attitudes prevailed during those times, everyone on his best behavior.
Now days I hear people refer to happy holiday and holiday trees. What has happened to our values? You do not have to be a Christian to appreciate the moral value of good attitude and behavior. We are constantly trying to be politicallycorrect , even to the point of destroying our core beliefs. No prayers in school, remove slogans from currency, stop using the word Christmas. When will it stop? Will we become the country we have fought against since our country began? Our country started with the belief that everyone should be free, happy and safe. Where everyone can be treated the same with an equal voice. It is not an equal voice anymore, now it seems in an effort to be fair to the minority we are being unfair to the majority. In this country majority rules, that is what a democracy means, we all vote and the majority of votes wins. Now days it seems we are trying so hard to be fair to the minority that we completely overlook the fact that the majority s being made to suffer for it. How many people stand up and cry using the word Christmas is an infringement on their free religious beliefs, then sneak out to buy presents for their children. How long will this go on? The old song says if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything, we all need to think about this. First the word Christmas is not politicallycorrect, can’t say Christmas tree anymore nor Christmas dinner. Next thing you know there will be no Christmas at all.
In my home it is, has been and always be the Christmas season, Christmas tree, Christmas dinner and a special time for children. I do believe our country has made mistakes in the past in regards to how it treated some people and cultures. However, we have made many accommodations for these mistakes and has tried, I believe, in earnest to change those things. How long will we punish ourselves for past mistakes? How far will we let it go before we will say enough is enough? If this goes on within a few years there will be no Christmas in America. What will our children and grandchildren think of a spineless bunch of forefathers that could not even maintain the most basic of belief? When you are old and gray will you look back and remark, I didn’t realize it had gone so far? Well, you need to realize it now before it is too late. One big question is, would you rather be politicallycorrect or morally correct , they are not always the same thing. We need to preserve certain things for our children such as good moral values, tradition, fairness, honesty, compassion, education, and other ideals that have molded this country into the best in the world. When I was a teenager no country on this planet would have thought about harming an American citizen. Now we cannot travel to many countries and is not even safe here at home now. The bleeding heart liberals and politically correct have put us in this position. It will get worse in the future, at my age, thank God I will not be here to see it. I love this country and what it represents but I do not like nor respect the people that have let us down to the point where we are now. We now allow people from other countries to stand in open defiance, on television and curse this country, how can we let this go on? Have you not seen the breakdown of the family unit? Is it not obvious to you that divorce, unwed mothers, gang activity and murder is up? How many times do you see on the news where a child has killed his family. Look into your past and remember the things that are so different from today. Look at the things that have changed, realize how much we have lost in the last forty years. Hopefully, people will see it is time to put your foot down and speak up. I just wonder if it will take another civil war to get this country back in order. Unfortunately, that would make us weak to the outside world and possibly cause us to be taken over by the very ones we fight to keep at bay. So, what will it be for our childrens’ future? Anyone can have children, but it takes a spine and effort to be a parent. How can the police end gang wars? I’ll tell you, when the parents become responsible again and know what their children are doing. Same goes for the drugs, I never got into the drug scene because I had parents that knew where I was, who I was with and what I was doing every minute of the day. Now days I hear parents saying “he needs his space and privacy”. That space and privacy is the very thing that is causing teen births at an alarming rate, drug addiction and crime to be at the highest level ever! WAKE UP!! Your children do not need you to be a friend, they need a parent that can provide love, discipline, guidance and advice. How we deal with our children and the politicallycorrect bunch will determine the future of this country. What will be your contribution?

Posted in internet opportunities Tagged: american leaders, blogs, books, children, christmas, church, discipline, family, government, holidays, our freedom, politicians, politics, raising children, traditions, voters

your doctor killing you?

Larry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:13:41 +0000

We grow up being taught to trust certain people without question. The policeman, fireman and our doctors. During the last decade many changes have taken place that changes the way we should live. Death by over medication of prescription drugs is up a staggering 284 percent in the last five years! This crisis is mainly in people over 50 years old. What has caused this? The greater influx of patients wanting to have better and longer lives. Drug companies trying to develop new medications at a pace to keep up with both demand and competition. Doctors seeing more and more patients cuts down the time for individual analysis. Every time your doctor comes into your room he is reading your chart because he has forgotten what you are there for. He has so many patients he cannot possibly remember each one. Some doctors have a good heart but are just overwhelmed and will not turn away patients. I almost lost my wife recently due to this problem. Let me say, she taught veterinary medicine at a major university for 25 years and is familiar with medications. She fell into the same situation as many others, she didn’t question her doctor, she just trusted that he knew what he was doing. She left for work one morning and stopped in for coffee at a local Burger King. When she returned to her car she fainted. She remained in the car that afternoon. The employees stated they saw someone in a car when they locked up for the night but did not think anything was wrong. The next morning they saw she was still there and called the police, who in turn called paramedics. I was out of town and was phoned at 6:30 am by the paramedics who was transporting her to the local hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, she had no knowledge where she was nor did she know anyone. Her blood pressure was 65 over 35 and it took almost 12 hours to get the pressure up and stabilize her. A few more hours in that car and I would have lost her. She remained in intensive care 9 days. During that time she had two blood transfusions, received bags of liquids, was on oxygen, antibiotics and pain killers. For a week they feared there would be permanent brain damage. I was furious and needed to know how something like this could happen. I spoke to the chief of neurology several times to ask questions, which he answered with reservation. He kept telling me that she was very lucky, turns out there was no brain damage and given a few more weeks she should make a complete recovery. That was such good news I did not question anything further at that point. Finally when I had time to think, I began wondering exactly what had happened, and worse, could it happen again. I began to press for answers and finally it all came out with the final reports. She had been a victim of prescription drug poisoning, which I had never heard of. One doctor does not want to point a finger at another doctor, but facts are facts. I took her to an internist, addiction specialist. He immediately took her off two medications and reduced one by half. It took a month for her to get back to normal physically and be able to stand up without fainting. She then began suffering from depression and a great fear of her medications which I am told is normal given what she went through.
Just recently an article came out in the AARP magazine about this subject. They discuss the same things in the article which we experienced first hand. My wife was very fortunate to not have become a statistic as the article discussed. Most people over 50 that have this happen to them simply cannot survive the physical trauma that takes place in the body. Many of the coma and death victims are simply diagnosed as “accidentally” overdosing on their medications and no questions asked. Apparently people think it is common for someone to lose count of what they have taken and therefore take too many of some medication. Being a vet, my wife is almost anal about schedules in regard to taking medication. Just to be sure I counted all her medications and none were missing, the count was exactly what it should have been. She had been prescribed several pain medications for her back pain and arthritis. The pain medications accumulated and adversely reacted with each other, her blood pressure dropped to a very dangerous level and she fainted. Fortunately she was in an upright position in the car when this happened or she might not be here today. Most people this happens to would fall down when they faint if they are at home. They may not be found in time and brain damage, coma or death takes place.
The main thing here is ask questions of your doctor. Do not assume he will never make a mistake. Ask why he is giving you certain medications, ask how long they have been on the market and if they have been found to be safe. Ask if there could be an adverse reaction of your other medications. Do a little research on the computer about your medications, read about any side affects that may occur and if they should not be taken with medications with certain chemicals in them. Your doctor may not hurt you on purpose, but even by accident the results could be the same.

Posted in american safety, blogs, family, health, over medication, prescriptions Tagged: doctor errors, drug death, drug reaction, medications, over medication, prescriptions

mirror image, poem by Larry

Larry — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:27:23 +0000

He caught my attention with a long deep sigh

It was then I noticed the defeat in his eye

His shoulders stooped like they carried so much

I was sure he would fall at the slightest touch.

How could a person get in that state of mind

Was it sudden or over a period of time

You could tell he didn’t want to be alone today

But with no one around there’s nothing to say.

Why would a person be so sad for so long

It should have been obvious before, that something was wrong

Nobody can carry the burdens of the world and hide

Because pretty soon it will eat you up inside.

Looking much deeper now I wonder anew

Is this man a martyr or just a fool

Will he recover from this downhill slide

Will there be wailing and tears when they learn he died

Now I understand why I stared and could not go

Why his sadness held my interest so

It was there before but I would not see

It’s a mirror I’m facing and that man is me

Posted in blogs, entertainment, family, lyrics, poems, poetry, writing Tagged: books, family, lyrics, new authors, poems, poetry, writing

mirror image

Larry — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:53:25 +0000

He caught my attention with a long deep sigh

It was then I noticed the defeat in his eye

His shoulders stooped like they carried so much

I was sure he would fall at the slightest touch.

How could a person get in that state of mind

Was it sudden or over a period of time

You could tell he didn’t want to be alone today

But with no one around there’s nothing to say.

Why would a person be so sad for so long

It should have been obvious before, that something was wrong

Nobody can carry the burdens of the world and hide

Because pretty soon it will eat you up inside.

Looking much deeper now I wonder anew

Is this man a martyr or just a fool

Will he recover from this downhill slide

Will there be wailing and tears when they learn he died

Now I understand why I stared and could not go

Why his sadness held my interest so

It was there before but I would not see

It’s a mirror I’m facing and that man is me

Posted in arts and crafts, blogs, entertainment, family, poems, writing Tagged: blogs, entertainment, lyrics, poem, poetry, songs, writing

letter to mr. obama from a teacher

Larry — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:24:35 +0000

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.. You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America. You are responsible to the citizens of the United States.. You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth. I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century? Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States? This country was founded on Judeo- Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this? Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You didn’t show Great Britain, our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia .. How dare you, sir! How dare you! You can’t find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you dont want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey … You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What’s the matter with you? I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.. You are so self- righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it. What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members on top of the $2..5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer. You havent said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didnt! Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that’s $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven’t you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now? I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Every real American

Posted in american safety, black president, black voters, blogs, elections, family, government, Obama, politicians, politics, president of us, voters, writing Tagged: american leaders, black president, elections, family, government, leaders, Obama, our freedom, politicians, politics, president, schools, voters

Men and women out of prison

Larry — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:34:15 +0000

What to do? That is the big question for recently released prisoners. More women make a go of it than men mainly becuse of children and family. Many women have time to think about being away from their children and vow to do better, be a good mother and take care of their children. Unfortunately, most men do not have the same outlook. Many men have seperated from their families due to several reasons. For one thing, men do not exhibit the same responsible feelings for their children as women do. Many men do not support their children and feel this is the womans place. That, of course is not true, it takes two to make a baby. Also, many men have done bad things more than once and their families do not want to have aanything to do with them any more. It is easy to understand that when someone steals your belongings and sells them to the dope dealer, you no longer want that person around.

Since about 67% of the prisoners are in prison for drug or drug related offences, it makes sense that the worst problem to address is drugs. Once an addict always an addict. Just because they may be clean for the period they were incarcerated does not change the fact that they are still an addict. If they get together with old friends just once to celebrate to catch a buzz with their old buddies it may lead right back to prison. One of the strongest preventatives is family support. So, how can you help? For one thing, do not enable them to get back into old habits, especially old friends. Most of the time those old friends do not communicate with the prisoner and have all kinds of excuses when they are released and want to be pals again. Try to make you recently released loved one know that old habits will lead to the same conclusion as last time. If necessary, tell them you will be the one to call the police if they get out of line, hard love is often a good cure for bad habits. If you allow them to go and do as they please, they WILL be back in prison, it is a proven fact. Also, most times, the next stay will be longer than the previous one. Every time a person goes to prison there is a chance he will get into trouble there. For example, I knew a man that wenyt to prison with three years to serve on a drug charge. While there he got nto a fight with another inmate and stabbed him with a ball point pen. The inmate died and the man with three years got another twenty added to his sentence because of the death. It happens all the time, fights over personal property, drugs, homosexuals, gang rites, respect and many other reasons. The bottom line is, when a man goes to prison there is a good chance he will be hurt, killed or get more time for his actions. So, it pays to be tough on them when they get home. The prisons are full of young men wasting their lives and being away from their families. According to statistics, most of these young men are black, why is that? It is not a racial thing, the white man is not picking on the black man. In fact, most crimes are black on black crimes. So, what is it? For one thing according to most surveys, young black men as a whole do not want to accept responsibility for children, so many young black men grow up without male influence. How many young women have you seen that have children and do not have a man? The numbers are staggering. Almost every state is building or planning more prisons, will your son or brother be a resident of one of them? What will you do, how far are you willing to go to keep your loved one out of prison? It is time to make a stand about drugs, parenthood and responsibilities. The days of easy money are over. Police have at their disposal many new ways to track down the drug dealers and put them away. If you notice, only the little guys end up in prison, the big fish get away more often. Why is that? Most big dealers do not handle the drugs or money, they leave that to their runners. The runners are usually young black men looking for a way to make the easy money, and they are the ones in prison while the big fish live in the lap of luxury. The answer is education, family support and firmness at an early age. I have visited prisons where so many young men are there who can barely write and can hardly read. Once they have been incarcerated, they become something that will be with them the rest of their lives, an ex-con! Now it will be harder to get a job than ever because being an ex-con many companies will not take a chance on them, and not having any education just compounds the problem. So, what can they do to survive? The only thing they know how, sell drugs or steal, then they are on their way back to prison, it is just a matter of time.

This is not a hopeless case but change must start now. When I see ten and twelve year old children walking the street at eleven at night on a school night, I know this is most likely a child headed in the wrong direction. It is time o be responsible parents and raise children in a way that they will have a chance at a good life rather than being a prisoner. It is time to set the example insted of being made an example of. The right thing is not always easy but is still the right thing. Saying no to a child is much harder than saying yes to everything they ask for. What type of statement are you making to a child when you buy him a $100 pair of tennis shoes when you can’t pay your bills? This is a common occurance unfortunately. People seem to have their priorities screwed up these days. Let children know that being responsible means taking care of household bills first then if there is extra money purchases can be made. If a child grows up seeing thet dressing in high fashion is more important than paying bills you are responsible for, what do you expect him to do when he gets grown?

Take time to think about your actions, be responsible parents. I would rather have my child at home crying about something he wants that I can’t get, than to have him spend his prime years in prison- wouldn’t you?

Posted in american safety, children, family, government, politics, raising children Tagged: church, ex-cons, family, FREEDOM, gangs, inmates, out of control chidren, prison, punishing children, raising children

maybe the children can teach us a thing or two

Larry — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:05:48 +0000

I received this in an e-mail from a friend tonight, thought I would share it, makes you stop and think.

Since the Pledge of Allegiance
And
The Lord’s Prayer
Are not allowed in most Public schools anymore
Because the word ‘God’ is mentioned….
A kid in Arizona wrote the attached

NEW School prayer :

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

Whoopi Goldberg says good manners are a must

Larry — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:41:45 +0000

In a Scholastic Parent and Child article, Whoopi discusses manners and their importance. Raised to be impeccably polite by her mother, she received a guiding hand in etiquette from teachers and neighbors as well. “Having good manners was never a question back when I was a kid,” she says, “you just had them.”

Goldberg is sharing her lessons with a new generation. In her latest childrens book, WHOOPI’S BIG BOOK OF MANNERS, she provides guidance-in that typically wacky whoopi way- about the rules and reasons to be polite. Goldberg says good manners make everything in the world better. She knows kids are exposed to rude and uncouth behavior on television and in the movies, while it can be funny for comedys sake, in real life it is no laughing matter.

Children emulate what they are exposed to daily. Whoopi says the most effective way for kids to learn the dos and don’ts is through example. If you provide a good atmosphere with good manners, respect for others, good priorities, children will respond to this. Unfortunately, most people now days want to have children but do not want to be parents, there is a big difference!!

The family unit as a whole is suffering in America today. More divorces, higher crime and younger criminals, shootings in schools and drug use. Proof positive that the important issues are not being taught at home, no dicipline at home and teachers are not allowed to administer discipline at school.

If you have children, it is time to take a long hard look at how and what they are being taught at home what are they seeing as an example every day?

Out of control children our next leaders?

Larry — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:05:52 +0000

I have noticed that most people use blogging to entertain themselves, and there is nothing wrong with that. But I do not think we realize that people from all around the world see these blogs. I recently was interviewed by The Pakistani Spectator about my blogs. It made me realize this is a great place to meet people of different cultures, make new friends and promote world peace. In that regard I want to address a couple of the problems that concern me such as government and children. The government of America has gone south in many aspects. The left wing politicians have taken over and have changed our national policy to the point it is all but unrecognizable. Our forefathers would be gravely disappointed to see what we have done to the great country they built. They set up this nation based on country, god and family. Now we have allowed the prayer to be abolished, want to change the pledge, take mottos off the money and on and on. The family unit is all but gone, children have no respect for their elders or even life for that matter. Read the paper any day and you will see proof of this, shootings by children, robbery, stealing. Any school night you can see children on the street at 11pm, this never happened when I was a child, we had to be in our yard by dark. We were taught to respect our elders. If you were not able to learn in school, you at least kept quiet and did not disturb others. To raise a hand to a teacher was unthinkable. Now days it seems everyone is only interested in themselves. You cannot build a mountain with one rock, it takes many. The same applies to building any good society, it takes many people of diverse opinions and beliefs. There is a saying “it takes an entire village to raise one child”. Now days people do not want to raise their own children let alone help with anyone elses. People want to have children but do not want to be parents. In our society today we want our children to be raised by day care, schools and then welfare. What is wrong with that picture? Can we not see that children with guns and no supervision is a bad combination? More and more I see parents on television with children they cannot control, a 13 year old girl using profanity towards her mother! This is happening daily across the nation. The scary thing is that those out of control children are the future leaders of this nation. What will they do with that responsibility? If they have no respect for the elderly, do you think they will provide for our older generation? This is just the kind of turmoil terrorist love to see, it makes their job easy. They can easily recruit children for their purposes because of the lack of proper training and moral values most of the younger generation has. This country could be destroyed from within easier than invasion. Why have our values changed so much the last few years? I am concerned for the future of this country, you should be too.