Preteens Trading Fairy Wands For Fishnets

Does your 11 year old daughter need a costume for Halloween?

How about the Funky Punk Pirate Pre-Teen, with an off-the-shoulder blouse and bare midriff?
Or
the Playboy Racy Referee with a micro-mini black skirt and a form-fitting black and white-striped spandex top held together with black laces running up the flesh-exposing sides. Optional are the thigh-high black go-go boots.

Americans are expected to spend upwards of $5 billion this year on candy, ghoulish decorations and costumes. And the hottest trend in costumes, retailers say, is sexy. And young.

As one exasperated mother said "When I was their age, I was a bunch of grapes." More

Ms Emily Goes To The Movies

Review by Emily Trosprel
10th Grade BHHS
Senior Entertainment Editor

Into The Wild

A mournful glisten in audience’s eyes at the end of a film is not proof of a its brilliance, but Into the Wild is rarity that truly earns its power over the viewers; it captivates with its beauty, disturbs with its message, and takes the audience on a journey, like Christopher McCandless, into the wild. Based on the true story of the novel by John Krakauer, the film begins with Chris (Emile Hirsch) already in the Alaskan wilderness, tramping though the snow in solitude and discovering an abandoned bus, a “magic bus” as he calls it, which is to be his home for over one hundred days. The journey is more important than the destination though, and the movie jumps back to Chris’s days after graduating from college, emotionally alienated from his parents and yearning to escape their restrictions. Why not escape? A promising future of law school and wealth holds no interest to a free-spirit, thus his life’s savings are given to charity (and a few extra bills are burned). “If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed,” says Chris, and there is certainly no reason to the odyssey he sets out upon, one that will take him north and south, from city to country, and into the raw wilderness, hunting, foraging, and living, simply living. Living free.

Oh, the visual opportunities the setting of “Alaskan wilderness” conjures—panoramic scenes of a lone man trekking through the snow; the regal, white mountains; caribou galloping in a still forest. Sean Penn, gifted director as he is, misses none of them. Not only that, but the lush landscapes of white water rapids in the Grand Canyon to the golden wheat fields of South Dakota and more are harvested of their beauty for the screen. Rivaling even the awe of the cinematography is the film’s acting, for Emile Hirsch proves he has all the charm and talent to carry a movie where for a third he is alone in the woods with only himself to talk to. The quirky characters that Chris encounters on his journey add equal depth; look for an especially poignant performance by Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz, an old man living alone in the desert who acts as a brief surrogate father to the young adventurer. Trust Penn, also the screenwriter, to provide the most affecting dialogue. “When you forgive, you love,” says Ron Franz when giving the advice to return to his family. If only Chris had heeded the words before heading to Alaska. Whether one sees Christopher McCandless as an irresponsible rich kid desperate to rebel, a reckless societal nonconformist, an independent, free-spirited idol, or all three, his story will move one just as powerfully to a place of awe and wonder with the lengths a man will go to escape the triviality of the world by trekking Into the Wild. Four out of four stars.

Four out of four Stars for Into The Wild

Into The Wlld is now playing at the Civic Theatre in Allentown.

Winter Has Arrived

FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 9 AM EDT MONDAY...

UNDER A MOSTLY CLEAR SKY WITH A DIMINISHING WIND, TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S LATE TONIGHT IN
THE POCONOS, THE LEHIGH VALLEY AND BERKS COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA, AS
WELL AS IN NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY. AS A RESULT, THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FREEZE WARNING FOR LATE TONIGHT AND
EARLY MONDAY MORNING.

Its Only A Flesh Wound

A little FX for Halloween. For the squeamish other assorted Halloween fun

Attention Newbie Parents

Hang on, soon there will be no reason to worry about how to raise your child. Lynne Spears the mother of Britney has signed a book deal on parenting. Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World is supposed to be out mother's day.

“It’s a parenting book that’s going to have faith elements to it. I don’t think it’s totally been written yet,” says the publisher’s rep, who expects the manuscript by December.

Mrs Spears is taking her time, writing the book slowly because Britney she don't read that fast. You just can't make this stuff up.

This Weekend

Don't let the weather get you down come by tonight and Saturday for a rousing game of Totally Tublar indoor golf sponsored by the Art Club.

Always delightful seeing their latest creations using minimum dollars and guidelines but a whole lot of creativity. 4:00 PM to 9:00PM tonight and 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday.

For The Busy Family

or the forgetful ones. If you have ever settled down for the evening only to realize you left a kid at some practice? Then try Famundo a free web calendar application designed for the family. Since it is web based you can access it from almost anywhere.

Weather Forecast

Instead of nice cool crisp fall days looks like we are in for some dreary rainy ones. However there should be no complaints.

Classroom Wish List

Yes taxes are high but they still can't provide enough funds to supply classrooms with all the supplies a teacher would like to have. The average teacher spends $400-$500 of their own funds each year to purchase these classroom supplies.

Classroom Wish List is a web service where teachers can pick items from a catalog of classroom related items and create a wish list. Parents, grandparents, companies and benefactors browse the wishlists, select the items they would like to see provided to the classroom, and make a tax deductible donation. Classroom Wishlist purchases the selected items and delivers them to the classroom.

40 is indeed the new 30.

Bound to happen as baby boomers ages someone writes a paper on redefining age. People have been living longer but retirement has has been relatively constant so this plan is set a person retirement age based on either their mortality risk or remaining life expectancy.

By conventional 65+ standards, the fraction of the population that is elderly will grow by about 66 percent. However, the fraction of the population that is above a mortality rate that corresponds to 65+ today will grow by only 20 percent. Needless to say, the aging of the society is a lot less dramatic with the alternative mortality-based age measures. In a separate application of age measurement...GDP would be between seven and ten percent higher by 2050 if retirement lengths stabilize.

Topton Manager

Nice article on Topton Borough Mananger Anthony Branco in the Reading Eagle.

Real American Trivia

In today’s America, there are more World of Warcraft players than farmers.

Weekly Roundup

Emmaus High School students who want to go to the junior prom need to sell $60 worth of candles to have a shot at going. Students who sell at least $60 worth of Yankee Candles by Friday will be able to buy tickets before they go on sale to the rest of the class. The two highest sellers each will receive two free prom tickets.

A.P. Investigation Sexual Misconduct Plagues US Schools

Zero Tolerance Abuse 7 year old gets suspended for drawing a picture of "me" shooting "David" with a gun.

Judge Speechless: An Easton, PA man who admitted he beat up his girlfriend's 2-year-old son offered an excuse that angered a judge: He said he's not a morning person.

In England A headteacher has defended her decision to investigate an allegation that a four-year-old boy was guilty of racism during a game of chase. "A very young child can hate another person because of the colour of their skin – I have met with a boy of six who said he used to be racist." And some six year olds thought they used to be a fire truck.

Kentucky man decides to download child porn at public library. Bonus: in front of a cop

Shirtless idiots with painted chests at football games goes coed

Infants make great shields from taser.

For parents concerned about their overweight teens, new research suggests the best tactic might be to just relax and cook a healthy Sunday dinner. Researchers found that teasing them about their weigh only makes it worse. Next study is on determining the color of the sky.

Seems I Forgot Blog Action Day

Monday was Blog Action Day where post were supposed to be related to issues related to the Earth. OK better late then never inspired by one of my favorite groups.

EARTH FIRST

We'll drill the other planets later

The International Society of Oilfield Trash

Now A Word From Our Sponsors

Why Does Al Gore Hate Blind People?

Now you can justify to your spouse why you need to spend a lot on a Hummer.

Judge Spares English School Children

Last Wednesday, a judge of the United Kingdom's High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, issued a ruling in a challenge to the use of Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth." The judge ruled that, under British education law, the film was "partisan" and could not be shown to students without presentation of different viewpoints. The decision listed nine major factual errors in the film. The judge noted that, as a result of the suit, the British education authorities have already agreed to address the factual errors, and to present other views.

and over at IMAO

What the hell is the Nobel Peace Prize? You'd assume from its name it has something to do with peace, but a look at the list of winners would leave one baffled as to find anything connecting them all. With as much as Al Gore has to do with peace, they might as well give the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the winner of a pie eating contest. Other winners, like Arafat, are antithetical to peace and giving them the peace prize is equivalent to giving the Nobel Prize in Physics to Rosie O'Donnell ("FIRE CAN'T MELT STEEL!!!").

High School Is Being Dismissed Early

The high school is being dismissed early 9:15. There was a vehicular accident causing an area power outage. It is not expected to be repaired till after 11:30

Engineering The Happy Profession

Citing Blogs

If you are doing a research paper and need to cite a blog in your bibliography, here is a style guide.

21st Century Halloween Razor Blades In The Apple Rumor

You may receive one of these before Halloween.

Halloween Warning for Parents
There is a type of crystal meth going around that looks like strawberry pop rocks. It smells like strawberry also and it is being handed out to kids in school yards in AR. I'm sure it will make its way around the country. Kids are ingesting this thinking it is candy and being rushed off to the ER in dire condition.

It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange. It looks just like pop rocks.

Please instruct children to not accept candy that looks like this even from a friend and to take any that they may have to a teacher, principal, etc. Pass this around it could save some family a lot of heartache! They call it strawberry meth or strawberry quick.

Special Agent Todd V. Coleman
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
Direct Office Line (956)753-4678
Office Fax Line (956)753-4673

According to Snopes its mostly another Halloweeen myth. There have been reports of strawberry flavored meth but no reports of kids being treated in a hospital, even in Arkansas. The note been going around for awhile but recently the Special Agent name got tacked on the end.

Upset With Fat Report

A mom in Denver is upset that her daughter's school sent home a student health report along with the report card. The report was in a sealed envelope but the daughter read it and discovered to her amazement that she was over weight causing her distress. To help her daughter cope the mom calls up the local station to voice her displeasure with the school.

"The part that upset her the most as she started reading it, there it stated that she was overweight and she started to cry saying, 'Mom, that school tells me I'm fat.' So, it was very heart wrenching," said Flaurette Martinez.

Her daughter Isabel was sent home from the Centennial K-8 School on Monday with the health notice. It listed her height, weight and body mass index – a measure of body fat. Underneath the listing it had a marking next to the status "overweight."

"My daughter is big boned," said Martinez.

Isabel's mother does not have a problem with what the schools are trying to do. She says that type of sensitive information should be mailed directly home to parents, because kids are prone to reading letters sent home by the schools.

"If she would have dropped this letter, a student may have found it and may have exposed it to other students," said Martinez. "Anything specific to the child should be mailed. It should not be given to the child."

Or you could teach your child not to open envelopes addressed to someone else. The whole measuring and reporting on kids weights is a terrible idea and will cause even more eating disorder problems. However if your child was traumatized by just reading the note wouldn't most parents think it would be a good idea to STAY OFF THE TV and the web where all her peers along with the rest of the world can see the report and a picture of the child?

If You Have To Leave Berks County

Yes, some residents sometimes have to leave the area or have someone flying back requiring them to spend money taking the toll road to Philly to be the picker-uppper. For the latest in flight information try FlightStats. According to the Wall Street Journal this site offers far superior information then even the airlines provide. Most airlines will say a plane has departed once it has left the gate even if it is setting on the runway for hours. Flight Stats uses information from a variety of sources to provide more accurate (Question: Can something be more accurate?] information and can text message your cell phone or other electronic PDA. It also informs you of gate changes so you don't park at Terminal "A" and find out your traveler is now arriving at Terminal "E".

The most useful source of more information was at FlightStats.com, which collects data from airlines, airports and the Federal Aviation Administration and sends frequent updates. A big advantage of FlightStats status alerts is that the service sends messages when planes actually take off and when they actually land. On some flights, we received eight different updates from FlightStats, compared with only one or two from an airline.

You can also use this information in a far cooler to view the flight in 3-D using Google Earth flight tracking capabilities.

Exploring .edu

Little appreciated outside the world of academia, there are literally thousands of .edu sites bursting with incredibly useful and interesting information and resources. Most of these sites won't pop up to the surface of the average search engine quest, and so they wait, neglected and underused...until now. Keep reading for a quick tour through the mysterious underground world of .edu.

Thought Everyone Was Just Happy

No post all weekend turns out that the hosting company had been "upgrading" again adding new "features". Seems to be working now after a nasty gram.

Friday Night Lights

Interesting articles today in the Reading Eagle on youth sports especially on how Oley introduced the one true sport.

Friends tackle challenge of bringing football back to Oley

The building of a cheerleading program.

Some coaches have another answer for chronically complaining parents — offer them a chance to volunteer as a coach. “Usually they back right off,” Miller said. “They have a lot of opinions until we ask them to help. They’re pretty quiet after that.”

The trials and tribulation of coaching

The number of volunteers involved

And the difficulties with all the different sport of finding a place to play.

The one article they didn't have was are we doing the youth a favor by having all of these year round adult organized sports? Is fall baseball really necessary? Would they be better off organizing and playing pick up games in vacant lots by their selves? There is always well the argument they have to specialize and have proper training if they hope to earn a college scholarship. That only happens to a very select few and the money spent on these activities may by better off being put in the bank, because when all is said and done any college scholarship has just been paid early.

School News Roundup

Knoxville, TN: An undercover investigation is being conducted after outraged parents complained about an elementary teacher posting semi-nude pictures on on websites like www.myspace.com and www.absolutepunk.com. School officials say she still has her 1st amendment rights and hope to reveal everything in the near future.

Columbia, SC: Parents are outraged because the elected homecoming queen is a guy. "A queen is a female. A woman. A girl," one person said. Obviously a person that doesn't get out much.

Jacksonville, FL: Talk about Zero Tolerance. An outraged mother whose son was a victim of middle school bullying met the school bus waving a gun. The report states Briggs pointed the gun at other students getting off the bus and said, "Does anyone have something to say?" and "You can all get some of this."

Yahoo Big Surprise Poll: 8% of parents have never married. 64% of this group are less inclined than ever-married parents to see unmarried childbearing as bad for society or morally wrong; more than six in ten (61%) in a new Pew survey said that having a child outside marriage is not at all wrong or only wrong sometimes compared with 46% of ever-married parents. are less inclined than ever-married parents to see unmarried childbearing as bad for society or morally wrong; more than six in ten (61%) in a new Pew survey said that having a child outside marriage is not at all wrong or only wrong sometimes compared with 46% of ever-married parents.

Valparaiso Ind: A first grade teacher is out on bond after she was arrested at school drunk. Forty nine-year-old Sharon Duerring reportedly had two cans of beer in her purse when she was arrested. Like they really expect someone to deal with a room full of first graders stone cold sober.

Richmond, VA - A high school art teacher fired after officials learned he moonlighted by creating paintings using his bare buttocks and other body parts joined the ACLU and sued his former employers. No mention of outraged parents in this story.

Jackson, MS - An assistant principal promised to help a student with his grades, gave him money and and passes to get out of class in exchange for sucking his big toe. He allegedly also promised a friend of the minor special treatment The outraged parents transferred their child to a different school.

Marietta, Georgia - Parents are outraged but District officials are standing by a Marietta high school principal's decision not to censor an opinion piece calling homosexuality one of biology's "reproductive errors," despite high profile media attention describing the "furor" caused by the article. A column argued that homosexuality is a medical disorder "as much as Down's syndrome."

OSWEGO, Ill. - Students at Oswego High School in Oswego, Ill., wanted to warn against teen driving, but instead two of them were suspended over a T-shirt. Around 50 students showed up to school during spirit week wearing red T-shirts that read "Seniors .08" on the front and "Don't blow it" on the back, playing off the states legal blood alcohol limit.

Cobb Co, GA - Duct Tape more then just for shoe repair. Taping a talkative child's mouth shut may not be the best approach, but it is not a crime, a Cobb County magistrate decided Thursday. Criminal charges will not be filed against a current and a former staff member at a Cobb after-school program where a student's mouth was taped shut last week.

Empire Of The Son

STORY NUMBER ONE

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago .. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but also, Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against TheMob, and he knew that the cost would be great.

So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street.

But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

The clock of life is wound but once, And no man has the power To tell just when the hands will stop At late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.

STORY NUMBER TWO

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship he saw something that turned his blood cold: a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching
danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.


Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet.

He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.


So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.

SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?

Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son.

Want To Get Away From It All

If you have any money you can buy a complete above and underground ICBM missile base outside Spokane, WA on ebay. A real handyman special. Would be perfect it only came with at least one missile. No mention of the local tax rate but if you have a missile base doesn't matter because who would be brave enough to try and collect.

Great Scores

Congratulations to everyone for the great SAT Scores. This is the test that counts. We beat Wilson and their money and Kutztown with their laptops. Next year Wyomissing is going down.



Courtesy of the Reading Eagle

In For A Penny In For A Pound

Sometimes when you found that you have dug yourself into a hole you just have to keep digging.

Tips For Business Owners and Hiring Managers

Sometimes you just can't find enough illegals and are forced to hire females. Eleven handy tips for those occasions, including #3 don't hire the unproductive skinny ones.

1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.

2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.

3. General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.

4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.

5. Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.

6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.

8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.

9. Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.

10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.

11. Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy."

- 1943 "Mass Transportation Magazine" this looked like a hoax but it checked out on Snopes