The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

If you keep up with current events, you have no doubt read or heard about the fiasco of Louisville's first day of school for the JCPS. I really don't have a dog in this fight but as a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, citizen of Louisville, former teacher in private schools, a lover of children and a person with common sense and wisdom, I have much to say about what transpired on opening day.

There has never been a reasonable explanation for the current superintendent's desire to deviate from the rest of the country's decision to recognize the fact that 'busing' as we know it is no longer needed in this city or for most other cities in the U.S. I'm sure that when the results of the census are finally tabulated it will show that cities the size of Louisville are gradually becoming more and more diverse.

If you were to visit each home on my street you would meet, a Japanese/American couple, a Caucasian/African American couple, with three African American children, an Hispanic couple, three or four Jewish couples, three or four Catholic couples, a Baptist/Catholic couple, a number of Protestant couples a Mid-Eastern couple, and an African American. That is just one street. Diversity is evident if you shop at the small group of stores at one of the intersections. We have a Mediterranean restaurant, a great Mexican restaurant, a Chinese Restaurant and a Mexican grocery store, a Greek Church, Catholic Church, Methodist Church a Baptist Church. Do you think we need to put our five year old children on a bus and drive them for one or more hours so that they can see people that are not just like them?

There are so many things wrong with the plan that was foisted upon the Louisville people that I have a hard time knowing just where to begin to list them. Under the guise of keeping 'what is best for the children' in mind it was decided that if the youngest among them were to be exposed to other cultures and children with different skin color they would grow to be more accepting of those "people" as they grew older. What hog wash! The method by which they are going to accomplish this fete is to put the kindergarten children on buses and drive them through morning rush hour traffic across town or down town at 7:30 in the morning so that they can mingle with children that do not live in their neighborhoods.

School begins at 9:00 A M and the children have to get an early start because it sometimes takes one or one and a half hours to get to their destination. Remember these are five year old children! ( Are we there yet?) They have their lunch at 11:00 or 11;30 and then at 3:45 they are back on the buses and headed for home. Even under the best conditions they will not reach home until 5:30 or there-about. There is a great effort being made to get them all home by 6:30PM. They boarded the bus at 7:30 and arrive back home TEN hours later. Mom and Dad were probably gone from their home about eight or nine hours max to complete their day's work. The children have six hours of instruction, one half hour for lunch and three hours, (if all goes well) of bus riding. Tell me how this can possibly be a good thing.

Last year there were so many complaints because the children that averaged so much more than three hours on the buses that the decision makers though it would be solved if they bought more buses, so they spent SIX MILLION dollars buying more buses so that they could have more buses on the road to expedite the riders thereby getting them home quicker.

The first day of school they aimed to get all the children home by six o'clock, (remember they got on the buses at 7:30 AM) but the gods were not kind to them. Some of the kids did not get home until 7 or 7;30. Some of them did not get home until 9 PM!!! The HIIC *said they did pretty well because ONLY 200 children got home after 6:30. (There seems to be a slight controversy about whether it was 200 or 400.) One little girl was still on the bus at 9:00 and they had no idea who she was! Her parents were frantic and had other relatives stationed at various bus stops trying to find her. One parent became so frantic that she called the police!

Five year old kindergartners!! Imagine the trauma they will probably be dealing with for years! Why is it allowed to continue? I enquired as to whether there were monitors on the buses. No! How is the bus driver supposed to deal with a bus load of 5 year old children and drive in morning and late afternoon traffic? What if one of them throw up, fall off the seat, get a scratch,a bumped head or get in a fracas with another child? Have you heard about bullying? A great percentage of it happens on the school bus. It is so appalling and so senseless, how can it be stopped?

Why doesn't each bus have at least one monitor with a clip board listing the name, address and phone number of each and every child. A child of that age should not be expected to have all of that information readily handy. This may surprise some of you but children have been known to lose their name-tags, lanyards, and many other possessions.

The HIIC* has answered all complaints by saying how much the schools have improved and boasts of the new programs and so on. Never mind that we spent an added six million dollars to support a failed venture. Law suits have been filed and lost, there's been an exodus of students that are being enrolled in private schools but still the pleas fall on deaf ears. Some one, please explain this to me! I'm baffled! Caio

*Head Idiot In Charge

Historical Day

This is truly a long awaited day in our country. The opening news pictures on the 6:30 P.M. news were of The Last Patrol convoy loaded up with the fighting men that have been in Irak. Richard Engle was the reporter on duty, riding on the back of one of the troop filled truck telling us that ,indeed this was the end of American combat troops in Irak. They were driving along a two lane paved road about 30 miles from the Kuwait border. they had been traveling since about 2:00 A.M. They reviewed back and showed some of the scenes that we have been shown on the six o'clock news since the war started in the year 2001. We saw the troops being driven into the war zone and now see them finally being driven out. I must admit when a picture of David Bloome suddenly appeared riding along on the back of a vihicle reporting on the battles of the soldiers, one of the first news people to be allowed to ride with them, I cried all over again for his family. A three year old daughter and two year old twins and their mother left behind by the evils of war. During these war years we lost over 4000 soldiers, men and women, and had 32,000 wounded. Think of the thousands and thousands of children left with out their mothers and fathers, the mothers and dads whose sons or daughters were killed or wounded, the living 'survivors' of the war that will forever be haunted by their experiences, and will be forced to live their lives out in their traumatized state, some of them in mental hospitals, some homeless and living on the streets because they no longer 'fit' into society or function as they did before going to war. Throughout the whole time G.W.Bush told us 'We shall prevail!" At one point in a staged tableau from a USN ship, we were told."Mission Accomplished".

Now, years later, we are withdrawing combat units but leaving 50,000 men and women behind to help the Irak government. How long will they be there? Do we really believe that the danger the combat troops faced has come to an end? Are the 50,000 men and women left behind out of danger? I'm just saying.. Ciao

Andthe Beat Goes On

I thought I would open the paper today and not be met with Karen S.'s picture or name but alas, she is due in court again today to try to settle a custody issue with her former husband Tim. It seems to me that would be a slam dunk! I guess I'll have to listen to the news tonight to see just how that all worked out. I have nothing but abject pity for her five year old daughter. How sad to have to grow up being singled out as being the child of that woman. I know the four boys must have their share of embarrassment and have memories of turmoil and trouble in their home but they are at least old enough to make decisions and have opinions of the mess she created. I pity all of the children involved in this case. Enough, already!

I am going to switch to another subject. Since I have a lot of free time on my hands I am free to watch day time television. I never had the opportunity before because I worked. I have certainly found out that I didn't miss much.

I do like to turn on the TV as soon as I awaken because I am a news junkie. I want to know what is going on in the world at all times. I don't particularly enjoy the local news because it is mostly murders, swindlers and car wreck stories. Local news is a waste of time, so why do I watch it? As Rowan would say, "I don know either"

I watch the Today show, not because I think they are more accurate , (none of them are totally accurate) but from force of habit. I've become attached to Matt L. Anne C. Al Roker. I personally can barely tolerate Meridith V. I think she could easily be replaced by someone with more intelligence and more pizazz. Any way, after I am fully awake and have a bit of knowledge about what is going on in the world, and a few recipes I'd like to try, I get up.

I do my morning matins and ablutions and then start my day. I read the morning paper from front to back,( a task that is becoming easier and easier since the CJ is so pitifully inept,) while I eat breakfast. I try to do the chores that I have lined up for the day and then check my e-mails, face book, Internet news and tune back in to the last segment of the Today Show, Kathy Lee G.and Hoda K. They are frequently very funny. They have one feature on the show whereby they choose people from the Today Show viewers that stand on the street and scream during the show. They bring them inside for a make over! I think they extend their stay in N.Y.
for the next day so they can appear on the show in their new persona. It is remarkable how they can make these drab, dowdy people into classy, sexy looking beautiful people. There are always members of the family or best friends waiting to see how fabulous they look. A 'mercle' right in front of our eyes. The people are blind folded and stand and wait for the signal,"OK you can look now! The blind folds are snatched off and their awe begins.
They shout "Oh, my God, Oh, my God Oh, my God' The the make-over-ee, is directed to turn and see herself in the long mirror and she shouts ,"Oh, my God, Oh, my God." The on lookers rush to join the make-over-ee and they all shout, in unison, "Oh, my God, Oh my God". I wonder who scripts this part of the show. I wonder if back stage it is dubbed the "Oh, my God" segment of the show.

They are not the only Oh,my Godders on TV. "A mother who lost her children back in 1989 is reconnected to then and they all cry and shout "Oh, my God" for five minutes. Sometimes the show host puts the mics in their faces and asked dumb questions like, "Are you surprised?" "Oh, my God!" A little dog is rescued out of the raging flood waters and the dog owner grabs the half drowned put into his arms and the reporters rush to him and asks, "Did you think he would ever be rescued?" "Oh, my God."

I am certainly not one to rebuke people for mentioning God, but is that praising? I don't hear a Thank God in any of these events. I've seen the acronym OMG on signs, bracelets, charms, tee-shirts etc. It almost seems like blasphemy to me. It is irreverant, or contemptuous. Is it taking the name of the lord thy God in vain? Ciao.

The Blame Game

I really can't remember the TV show or the comedian from years past that made the statement,"the devil made me do it" but I do remember that it became very popular and always made people laugh when it was used. We have progressed from that point since then. No longer are things blamed on the devil but things are blamed on a multidude of other things, real people, society, the Republicans, the Democrats, your wife/husband, teacher, best friend, mother, father, alchohol, whoever or whatever is handy or thought to be feasible at the time. or capable of being used. So the sordid, x-rated trial came to a close, guess what? It was all Tim Sypher's fault!

Despite the fact that Karen Sypher went into Porcino's restrarant dressed in a provocative outfit and made herself available to Patino, who had two things against him one, he was in his cups and two he is male. She clearly set out to seduce him. She's had a lot of practice so it was a sure shot. She then drove him to his home because he does not drive when under the influence, as do many of his fellow coaches. The date was July 31, 2003. She claimed she did it because of the snow!

K.S. had made the statement many times that she could hardly wait to tell her side of the story, but when her lawyer took over he chose not to let her or any one else testify. Hfe simply made his closing argument and the trial went to the jury. In the closing argument her lawyer claimed that there was enough evidence to say that the whole smutty affair was all Tim Sypher's fault.

Nevertheless, saner heads prevailed and the jury, six men and six women, convicted her of attempting to extort Patino and of lying to the FBI and four other charges. Guilty on all six charges. Some are Federal offences which allows no probation. The sentencing is scheduled for Oct. Her lawyer is not allowed to appeal until after the sentencing because of Federal law.

She was released from the court and walked out onto the street smiling all the way. She will be on the loose until October. Gentlemen, zip your bloomers. Caio

Dirty Laundry

Just when you think you have heard it all... The first half of the trial is over and tomorrow starts the defense. Sypher says she can hardly wait to tell her side of the story.

Each and every male that has appeared on the witness stand has admitted to having had sex with K. Sypher. No one has come forward to make claims of what happened before her first marriage but from her first husband, her lawyer, her boy friend, her second husband, Patino and her third husband have all been members of the K.S. club. So far her present lawyer has not testified so we will be left in the dark as to whether he joined the club or not.

One of the witnesses was a reporter that said she got a call from Karen one day to let her know she was volunteering to go to police headquarters to file a charge and she wanted a camera crew and a reporter to meet her there. They did. She spent most of her session that day disputing the things she had said in her other encounters with the police.

When she was asked the question: "If he raped you why did you drive him home? She replied," it was snowy and his designated driver had left the restaurant." (The driver had not left) and it was July 31st. Her credibility is a little questionable.

She claimed to be pregnant and did in fact have an abortion in August. She and Patino did the nasty on July 31 and the abortionist verified the fact that she was indeed FIVE weeks pregnant.
We are all smart enough to figure out that if she thought she was pregnant with Patino's child she would not have been eager to have it aborted. Life time meal ticket there.

Her first husband and her last husband (Sypher ) have used words to explain her actions and words by saying, "She is nuts" "She is crazy," etc.

It will be interesting to see what the other side will say. I'll keep you up to date. Caio.