Speaking of the Rhino, I also found this coverage of the school board's deliberations about peanut butter quite interesting... and encouraging.
Seems the administration was recommending that our Board vote to ban peanut butter from the food offerings in all Guilford County school cafeterias. This now-delayed action was due to the devastating allergic reaction that some people have to ingesting any kind of nuts. After some common sense questioning by board members, the administration finally had to place a number on the extent of the problem, and it's not much of one... in fact it is only fifty. "...50 students in about, what, 35,000?", asked an indignant Anita Sharp.
The Board would do well to nix this particular recommendation as it is clearly a 'cover-our-ass' proposal that was likely forwarded by some loss-prevention administrator to avoid some maybe-in-the-future lawsuit. Schools have been serving peanut butter for about a thousand years around here and I don't recall any litigation arising from the practice, nor has there been any local public outcry to remove this staple of the all-American diet from our schools that I'm aware of.
As far as the very real vulnerability of nut-allergic students goes, give them and their parents a little credit here. I can promise you the first time a child has encountered such an allergic reaction will not likely be in a school lunchroom. If a student is allergic to nuts, they, and their parents, generally know it early on and have been warned to avoid such offending foods before coming to school and obviously the school is aware of who these students are. We have no business banning peanut butter anymore than we should be banning colognes and other scents on campus, some of which can cause allergic reactions similar to those triggered by nuts.
Full disclosure: I am a practicing and unapologetic peanut butter addict - a Jiff guy, if you must know.
Having been out-of-pocket for awhile, I finally picked up a copy of last week's Rhino Times today to get editor John Hammer's take on the finalized slate of candidates for the upcoming Greensboro City Council race.
I was pleased to read that after some very public indecision on my part, he affirmed my decision not to run for a seat this time around. But I'm even more pleased that he and the Rhino crew continue to follow this weblog. To wit...
"...You could tell from his blog that Hoggard really wanted to run and was trying to find some way to do it without being a jerk, but there wasn’t. In politics, it often seems that everything is gray, but in this case Hoggard made the right decision. The City Council isn’t going anywhere, and in two years he will be older and possibly wiser..."
What's with this 'possibly' stuff, John?
Previously, Hammer opined I might run into to some trouble with a segment of the electorate if I chose to run given my family's current predicament...
"...it appears he will have trouble with the women’s vote if he runs since he will be out campaigning while his wife is being treated for breast cancer."
It takes a true political mind to think of 'appearances' such as that. I would have never thought about it in such a way, but he is probably astute in his observation. More correctly, probably... Elaine, John's lovely and talented wife, and his admitted 'muse', was the astute one in this case.
With the start of school upon us, one of things I dread is the obligatory science project. But now I am pleased to read that we no longer have to deal with that messy and time consuming 'scientific method' stuff.
Mr. Sun has the whole story... and nothing but The Story.
Yeah, I'm back. Due to a downed internet connection at our Chicago hotel, much travel, and nothing much I really wanted to say, I just stayed away from blogging for awhile and enjoyed being a spectator.
Jack's team did good, but not good enough to bring home the hardware. There was some mighty fine roller hockey played up there. I'm very proud of my eldest... he's a good team guy and one helluva goalie. I have no idea from wence he got the urge to stand in front of a bunch of guys firing 90 mph slapshots at him, but he does it and he loves it. I think he's a little crazy but he came by it honestly I suppose.
Last Friday I jumped on a plane for Kentucky to attend the 50 year anniversary of the LaRue County Band of Hawks. My dad started that storied organization back in 1955 and there was no way I was going to miss the gathering. Unlike many of the other alumni who only spent four years in the band, my siblings and I were in the middle of the action from birth until graduation and that band is a big part of who we are. It was great to see everyone and hear them tell what a positive influence Gene Hoggard had on so many lives. I'll have more to say on the event later.
Jinni's was able to postpone last week's chemo treatment until this Friday. With this upcoming treatment, we will finally be shed of the stuff. Sounds like a good reason for a party but we will probably put it off at least until she is again able to taste the celebratory Bourbon that will be served. (Well... maybe there will be a small porch party here Friday night just to get warmed up... after all... my taste buds are working just fine.)
