Town Meetings Teach The Bill Of Rights: Fill & Download for Free

Okay sit down grab a drink maybe a snack and read this response. I am getting annoyed with all of this talk lately and CNN’s town hall meeting just go me more aggravated. I will be as calm and make sure I am not pointing fingers or accusing anyone of anything, so my apologies if I do.First and foremost, I am not a republican. I DO NOT support any political party. I do not align myself with the “best” political party, I align myself with the best policy. My idea of the best policy what is aligned with groundwork laid down by the Constitution, the guarantees in the Bill of Rights, and the reasons for independence in the Declaration of Independence.Next onto your question. If gun control is not the answer, what other solution do republicans propose to prevent violence and mass shootings? Well since I am not a republican I can not answer that part but instead I will answer what I believe the solutions are. After my solutions I will explain why I believe gun control would not work.1.) Metal detectors, that is right ladies and gentlemen what better way to make sure someone doesn’t bring a gun into school than a good old fashion metal detector. We use them at airports and court houses. Do you hear of courthouse shootings happening? I do not think so, something must be working right there. Now metal detectors do not prevent guns from being brought in, all it does it sound an alarm, but sometimes an alarm is all students need. An alarm that tells them to go and hide out of sight and make sure they are locked away. But alas I do not think metal detectors are 100% the solution.2.) Armed guards. We use armed guards for everything: sporting events, banks, jewelry stores, court houses, VIP’s, airports, etc. We use them when we want to be safe so what you are saying is that children are not important enough to be safe? Is somewhere in this world trying to tell me that they do not deem their child more important than a diamond earring? Please I hope they do not. Now people will complain that “but guards make it look like a prison and make it scary!!” Well being someone who went to school and use to go to school in the Chicago land region (south area specifically) I’d rather be scared than be shot.3.) As a last line a defense, allow teachers who wish to carry a weapon. Even if it is just a taser allow them to carry it. Children are sent to school every day with the expectation that teachers will teach the kids and protect their kids from bullying. Are someone saying it is not okay to bully but it is okay to shoot up a school? Please I hope no one is saying that. If a gunman gets passed the armed guards and breaks into a room I would hope that my teacher is able to put one between their eyes because I do not want one in me.4.) Stop this bullying. Why do we still have bullying? Why can people not accept someone has different colored skin? Why can we not accept that occasionally someone is born with a messed up face? Why? That is most (I almost typed all but that would be incorrect as far as I am aware) of the reasons for these shootings. Cause someone was bulled by everyone and they wanted revenge. If you stop being rude to each other maybe they won’t try and kill you, what a strange thought wow.5.) Make weapons harder to get, make it a waiting process before you can buy a gun. You should have to wait for a full background check before walking out the store with a gun, it should take into account and mental illnesses you may have and if you are currently in therapy for something like oh I do not know aggression? And if you are in therapy you should have to prove very rigorously that you are not aggressive and you can safely own a weapon.Now to explain why banning guns won’t work. First let me ask by banning guns are you trying to keep the guns out of criminals who want to kill people or law abiding citizens who do not want to kill people. If you are trying to keep them out of criminal’s hand then it won’t work and let me give you two reasons why.Reason #1 they are criminals they do not care about the law that is why they are criminals they will find a way to illegal get a weapon and use it for whatever they desire. It is just the way of the world.Reason #2 the prohibition. For those of you who are not aware of the Prohibition era in the United States it was the governments sad attempt at making alcohol illegal. Why do I say sad? Because it didn’t work. Everyone who wanted alcohol still go it, why you may ask? Because they didn’t care about the law they wanted something to soothe their nerves. Do you know what else is an example of that? Buying illegal drugs? People across the country get their hands on illegal obtained drugs, most of them are law abiding citizens except for the illegal drugs. The law did not stop them from getting it, all it did was make it impossible to track the drugs and regulate it.Thank you for your time, you may stop reading now and have a nice day.

Ok, let me tell my story here.Maybe this will serve you as an example that you can do it.I went through this already years ago...in my native eastern European country.I worked in a coal mine for several years (deep shaft mines). Everyday I lived in danger, for all those years.Then, I decided I had enough of it and wanted to do something else (no future in coal mining). I was also quite young with no obligations, just like you.The government gave us money to leave the mines so I took the offer (about $2,500 - that was a year worth of salary at that time, for that specific job in my country).I took the money and started to learn computers. I didn't know anything about them until then. Had only seen some pictures and read some.So, I bought an old 486 computer (that was a quarter of my money) and a printer (another quarter). I went to some university courses (for several months), but the bulk of the learning was on my own. That lasted about 2 years.Learned how to operate a computer...how to install programs, how to repair them, how to work with some programs (Word, graphics, stuff like that).Then one year later I got the Internet connection at home. Dial-up, of course. From then on, much of my money went on the Internet connection and the telephone line (it was quite expensive at that time in my country).Many times I had to skip meals or eat once a day (potatoes mostly, because that was the cheapest food I could find) so I would have enough to meet the bills. Not to mention I had a retired mother and several brothers and sisters to take care of (me being the oldest)I never bought new clothes or shoes during those 2 years, never went out for dinner or clubbing, and no girlfriend during that time (obviously).So, when I got on the Internet (oh, the glorious days of Yahoo, Hotbot, Webcrawler, Altavista :) ) I started to learn how to program webpages. Learned HTML, some CSS, some Adobe Photoshop, then some Microsoft technologies (ASP classic and Access/SQL server). Took me about 6 months to build my first mini-website (not dynamic/database driven website). It was hard at that time because the information on building websites was scarce and there were not too many people (especially in my country and my town) to teach me. My English level was so-so.After one year on the Internet I posted my "resume" (it's too much to say resume) on a job database in my country (my money was running out).There, a German company found me and contacted me. In the meantime I had to get a job at a cigarette factory to make some money (and I don't even smoke).2 months after that German company contacted me I went to an interview in another city...I was the only one (from 6 people) without a college degree...but I managed to get the job (apparently, I knew more than those people :), even if I thought I wouldn't stand a chance).The salary they gave me was good at that time so I quit the cigarette factory (which went bankrupt not long after).After 2 years of struggling financially and learning, I got my first job as a web developer, working from home remotely to build an e-commerce site for that company. But I knew nothing about e-commerce and database driven websites so I learned even more. I spent hours and hours a day dissecting this...I built my first version of the site almost 1 year after...then after another year I went to Germany and worked 3 months on site.2 years after starting building we launched (fall 2002). I not only built the site but also did online marketing for it and thus managing to increase the sale more than 1000% (from several hundreds of euros a month to tens of thousands a month after 3 years from launching).There was no going back to coal mining for me anymore. Although some of my former colleagues regretted leaving the mines, I didn't.Now I am living in the States since 5 years ago doing the same web development thing and hopefully starting a company soon (already some ideas in the works).6 years ago another passion started to rise up in me: filmmaking.So, now I am learning something new, yet again :). Who knows, maybe I'll change my career once again...I wrote my story to inspire the guy who asked this question...you can do it!Don't be afraid, if you're frugal, your money will give you enough time to be proficient in programming so you can live from it.You have to be perseverent (sometimes you hit roadblocks), you have to be frugal (not to waste money on something you don't really need - that includes going and eating out, for example), you have to be able to learn by yourself as well as to be able to find answers to your questions (Google is your ally), to have a bit of an analytical spirit (to analyze and feel things when there is no one to point you in the right direction).Nowadays, you have more info I ever imagined 11 years ago...you have cheaper or free tools to help you in this and you have communities around this subject to guide you. Believe me, you are in much better shape now.Hope to see you doing well !UPDATEA reader asked me another question, directly, about my journey from coal mining to web development (and coming to USA) and I responded here: What were some instances where Mircea Goia felt like giving up but persevered in his journey from coal mining in Romania to web consulting in the US?Maybe you'll find it interesting too.

"The evil that men do oft lives on after them while the good is buried with their bones."Everyone loves to hate the Puritans, and for good reason -- Massachusetts Bay Colony hung withces and Connecticut mandated the death penalty for mastrubation! But scratch the surface and you'll find that there is much to appreciate. For example,The School Law of 1642 Mandated public education in order to promote a literate, Bible reading Commonwealth. Literacy rates in Puritan Massachusetts were the highest in the world : Forasmuch as the good education of children is of singular behoof and benefit to any Common-wealth; and whereas many parents & masters are too indulgent and negligent of their duty in that kind. It is therfore ordered that the Select men of every town, in the severall precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren & neighbours, to see, first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to indeavour to teach by themselves or others, their children & apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue, & knowledge of the Capital Lawes: upon penaltie of twentie shillings for each neglect therinThe Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) is actually a precursor to the English Bill of Rights. It focus on procedural and individual rights. It enshrines due process, freedom of speech, a right to a jury trail, a prohibiton against cruel and unusual punishemnt and sets safeguards on the power of the state of the individual.The Body of Liberties also was unique in that it provided a mechanism agaisnt domestic violence and child abuse.-- . "Everie marryed woeman shall be free from bodilie correction or stripes by her husband, unlesse it be in his owne defence upon her assalt." Puritans believed domestic violence to be sinful and a threat to the piousness of the community as a whole.Finally, the Body of Liberties also was remarkable in that it presented the first prohibiton against cruely to animals n the English speaking world "No man shall exercise any Tirrany or Crueltie toward any bruite Creature which are usuallie kept for man's use."I'll keep the rest brief, but the other Puritan contribution was the impotance of democracy -- their form of it was (obviously) much more restricted than ours, but Puritans made frequent choices about the governance of their local churches, their town government (The New England Town Meeting is a democracy in the purest sense of the world.) they also elected representatives to run the colonial government and for the first fifty years of the colony elected their governors.They were prickly about rights and big on elected govenrment -- its not a coincidence that the American War of Independece was kindeled in Boston and its environs.