The Blessings Box
Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.
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Biscotti Nocciole Cioccolato (hazelnut, chocolate cookies)
It is no secret; I love coffee! And what goes better with coffee than a good cookie? Biscotti, of course!
Biscotti are twice baked cookies. The bis meaning twice and cotto meaning baked. They are a dry cookie, meant to be dunked.
Exodus from public education?
poll, 69.99% said it was easier and less expensive than private or homeschooling http://www.onenewsnow.com/Poll.aspx?ekfrm=371710
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=370350
Filabuster promised to prevent Franken Senate seating
Al Franken has truly turned Minnesota election law into a Frankenstein of a monster--something the election laws were never intended to do: enable stealing an election.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/cornyn-promises-filibuster-on-franken-seating-2009-01-02.html
RNC Chairman
http://steeleforchairman.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=A-New-Partnership-With-State-And-Local-Parties.html&Itemid=126#readmore
Tipping point
men doing their job go to jail while the drug dealer goes free
people who save and live within their means see others bailed out
Green Hair and Gifts
Posted by Kelly Feng
Not that the families of St. John Vianney needed additional motivation to donate, but Mr. Jared Ziegler and Mr. Dan Demeter recently pledged new hair styles if our school met the goal of 200 gifts/donations for Bids for Kids 2009 by December 19th. Did it work? As you can see, two SJV teachers now have new hairstyles.
This Is For the Parents Out There
There are three key phrases that I find myself repeating over and over to our youngest:
1. Keep eating.
Minnesota's Franken/Coleman recount: One monster of a Senate race
It appears Al Franken has truly turned Minnesota election law into a Franken-stein of a monster recount--something the election laws were never intended to do: enable stealing an election.
If you have been following this race since election day 2 months ago, you know that incumbent Senator Coleman was 215 votes ahead of opponent Al Franken when the votes were originally counted. But after Minneapolis' director of elections remembered she forgot 32 absentee ballots in her car the following Friday, and 2 liberal precincts claimed they initially miscommunicated the vote totals, Franken picked up another 346 votes, for a total of 378 Franken votes. The oddity being that "none of the other contests recorded any changes in their vote totals" due to this supposed miscommunication.
Home schooling movement growing, so is "unschooling"
http://www.hslda.org/docs/media/2009/200901060.asp Homeschooling Grows Rapidly, HSLDA Jan. 6, 2009
Purcellville, VA—The National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the Department of Education estimates that homeschooling grew 36% between 2003 and 2007. “Homeschoolers can now be found in all walks of life,” said Michael Smith, HSLDA President.
2008 another big chill year
http://www.rightsidenews.com/200901043207/energy-and-environment/global-warming-in-2008-a-record-year.html
January 4, 2009
Right Side News Reports finds that global warming set
some records in the disappointment catagory for those that believe the
planet will fry itself due to mans Co2 emissions. Michael R. Fox
expounds on this in some detail.
Another Grim Year for the Global Warmers
By Michael R. Fox Ph.D.
"Brawl at the Mall" - The Denigration of Race in Milwaukee
I was reulcutant to write this blog. Living as we do in a predominantly white and relatively affluent area, it is easy to target the work of a long-running Journal Sentinel columnist. But a column posted last Sunday, January 4, caught my attention. It had comments I liked, and some that concerned me.
The article dealt with yet another incident of violence at a major local mall, a long familiar story in this area. l will not present much of its content - you can look for it yourself if interested. But after relating information on a post-Christmas brawl, it continued by discussing the alarming rate of black on black murder in urban America, and I was struck by the following statement, "Solutions are few and far between, but it seems clear too many young black males deal with a form of personal anger that drives them to kill each other over real or imainged slights...........In that sense, the only real solution has to come from a change in the behavior of the very same young black men who are making each other obsolete. Someone has to teach them how to heal themselves".
The Measure of a Man
Professional football is by far the most popular sport in America. And whatever sport is number two is so far behind it as to be invisible in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's rear view mirror. Our son loves the NFL, and I have enjoyed watching him grow into a fan. Last night when I got home he told me, "the NFL isn't as good as it was Dad".
He believes that because Tony Dungy retired yesterday as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
Take a Tour of St. John Vianney!
Posted by Kelly Feng
Here's a great chance to tour St. John Vianney in a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Take your time to tour the classrooms, view the student's recent projects and ask the teacher's questions. 
Below: The SJV/St. Dom's Jazz Band performs during last year's Catholic Schools Week Open House
Remembering Dr. King
So "in the moment" do we live today that I believe we have all but forgotten 9-11, though the smouldering ruins of the towers lie not even eight years in our collective rear view mirror.
The United States of Europe?
There is little question in my mind that the United States is losing its sovereignity. I believe this has been inexorably occuring since Woodrow Wilson led us into World War One, and after that conflict, was instrumental in establishing the League of Nations. In the late 1980's we heard of Bush 41's "New World Order", and have seen the nearly uninterrupted ascendancy of the United Nations. Today, we see global economic conditions paving the way for discussion of world currencies and governing bodies. Get ready - we will be hearing of these things in the next three to five years.
Now what exactly does it mean to say we are losing our sovereignity, and what are the implications of it? And even if you agree that we are, is that necessarily a good or a bad thing? When Americans thump their chests and talk of sovereignity, it is typically with the implicit assumption that it is a vitally important and GOOD thing. But the most autonomous political entities of the last two hundred years were Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia - the two greatest killing machines in history. I would argue that autonomy is neither good nor bad. It is a descriptive not a prescriptive.
Our classrooms this Sunday - 1/25/09
Posted by Kelly Feng
The Youngest's Take on the Inauguration
As The Youngest grows up, it's fascinating to hear her views, especially on big topics, like religion or politics for example. Conversations with her can be a bit of a mind exercise for The Spouse and I because we need to frame concepts in terms that she can grasp.
On Inauguration Day, I watched the events on T.V. As soon as The Youngest came home from school, she promptly told me to turn the T.V. off because Dad would be "mad". (The Spouse is a stalwart Republican.) Worried that she might give her playground friends the mistaken impression that her Dad was unpatriotic, I responded that Dad wasn't really "mad"; he was just disappointed. She asked why he was disappointed, and without really thinking, I replied that he was disappointed because he was a Republican, forgetting that the Youngest has no idea what a Republican is.
Wirth Park - Overly Familiar?
With his signature insight and keen wit, Mark Twain once remarked that "familiarity breeds contempt". He later added, "and also children".
The great American author and critic did not mean contempt in the literal sense. His larger point I believe, was that as things become more and more familiar to us, we VALUE them less. Oscar Wilde offered similar sentiments when he said, "we would appreciate a sunset more if we had to pay for it".
Parents of Preschoolers: Visit our 4K Open House!
Posted by Kelly Feng
We are delighted to announce that the Open House for the four year old Kindergarten program will be held on Wednesday, February 11, in the 4K room of the Parish Center. There will be two sessions to choose from, one at 9 am and another at 7 pm. Please come and meet the 4K teachers, Mrs. Nancy Arena and Mrs. Janice Averkamp, who will give an overview of the program. The school principal, Mrs. Jayme Hartmann, will provide a short introduction. Refreshments will be served. Please e-mail janellep@stjohnv.org or call 262-796-3942 to tell us which session you wish to attend. We look forward to providing exceptional early childhood education and spiritual development for our youngest children.
