Wilson County Judge Barry Tatum previously ordered a Mexican woman learn English in six months or she would have her 11 year old daughter taken away. Today the judge did not rule on it.
I strongly question Judge Tatum’s position. He may not realize how difficult it is to learn the English language. I suspect he has rarely (or never) been put in a situation where he is a minority English speaker (perhaps another country). Unfortunately this is a common view for many people who have not been exposed to a world view.
Should Americans who have moved to Mexico be forced to learn Spanish or have their children taken away? Why the double standard, Judge Tatum?
I am thankful that I have been exposed to the world. China, El Salvador… Everyday I deal with people from all over the world. I have to see past culture and customs in order to get the most out of international business. It’s only after we are able to view the world as one big global community rather than trying to compare the rest to what we feel the world should be, we can achieve a world view on things.
It is unfortunate that Wilson County is receiving negative press about this. It is rare that Wilson County achieves any National Press, positive or negative. I hope the rest of the nation realizes that the view of Judge Tatum is the minority view. Hopefully most people are versed enough to be respectful of those who are from different cultures, rather than finding ways to take away basic human rights.

Cicadas ready to end 17 years of silence.
Some snippets from the article:

“While her husband complains about the horrible crunching sound of trapped cicadas under his lawn mower, she said the sound of cicadas brings back memories of her childhood in Alabama.”

They were last here in 1987. Honestly I don’t remeber that strain too well. I do remember the 1985 swarm. That must have been the 13 year variety. I distinctly remember in 4th grade some kid (Lee Moore) bringing in a hatching cicada to class. “Shuuush It’s hatching.” he said. It wasn’t a science experiment. It wasn’t part of biology lab. It was some kid bringing in a bug and setting it on his desk to watch it hatch. Kinda gross. But we were all fasciniated by it, even though we had probably seen a hundred of their shells lying around.
I’m kinda not looking forward to this Spring. Yet I don’t remember the 1998 13 year swarm or the 1987 swarm. I guess I wasn’t outside as much as before. When you’re in elementary school and you get at least one hour each day outside, you tend to notice swarms of red eyed insects in your playground. In 7th grade you don’t. You come in from school and spend the rest of the night doing homework inside.

I know this guy. Used to go to church with me. I hope he gets his life straightened out.
And then there’s the Big Red controversy.
Why did this appear on the front page of the Tennessean? Must have been a slow newsday.

Joel Meriwether goes to church with me. Here’s his story.

Here’s the video of me on Channel 2. I was loading Spam for the Church of Christ Disaster Relief. The video makes me look stupid. I was holding out the Spam for the men in front of me to load into the boxes.
All 4 news stations were out there. I’m pretty sure the Disaster Relief folks called them out there. I got the most airtime with Channel 2. Not even shown on the other channels. Foxnews just sent a camera crew. No reporters. James Lewis with Channel 4 was out there, although he didn’t appear in the clip that I saw.
We could have used more people out there. We were short about 30 people someone said. We needed about 3 more people on the spam line. 1 to load it. 1 to hand it to the loader. And another one to push the spam cans up. Anyways I hope those fire victims out in California get the much needed relief with these supplies we loaded.

While I was driving home from church last night I noticed TV News vans near the interstate. It was due to this. It is a tragedy. Sometimes I wonder if it is really worth trying to catch these stolen cars, considering the risk.
You see those car chases on TV all the time. “World’s Scariest Police Chases.” Is it that these people pose a risk to those around them? Or do the law enforcement get caught up in the chase and forget the danger posed to themselves?
No doubt the 21 year old driver of this car definitely needed to be apprehended. She posed a danger to herself and those around her. But was it necessary to apprehend her on a busy interstate? Or should she have been apprehended later on when there were less risk to those around her? How erratically was she driving on the interstate? 100MPH? People drive that fast all the time. But was it really erratic?
And now she will probably receive a conviction for manslaughter and be locked up for a long time. 3 sets of lives ruined because of her.
We prayed for the families of the police officers at church last night. I was selfishly relieved that I didn’t know either of them. We have alot of police officers who go to church with us.

Here we go again:
Mt. Juliet Associate Minister Arrested
Not meaning to beat a dead horse. Probably the only reason this is still making news is because they had a minister before this incident to get arrested on weapons charges.
In our society ministers are looked upon as role models. But we also need to remember that they are human and sin just like lay men. I’m not avocating spouse abuse. If he did the crime, he should be punished for it.
The other news is that I am going to see Better Than Ezra at Dancin in the District this Thursday night. So far I have been unable to find a true music fan to join me. If you are reading this and are interested, let me know.

Here’s the Tennessean story about Scottsville, KY’s murder suspect. Between this and the AP story about the Scottsville tongue splitting, Scottsville is looking like a rough place.
Meanwhile, here’s the news story Lipscomb University officials didn’t want you to know about.

There was a big storm last night. It hit Lebanon Road in Mt. Juliet pretty hard. Moss’s Florist. Burger King’s sign. The car wash. All damaged due to the storm. People were rubbernecking while driving past the intersection of Nonaville and Lebanon Road. Channel 4 was out there doing interviews. I don’t remember there being any type of severe storm warning issued when the storm came through at 3AM this morning. I remember being awakened by it. But I didn’t think there was much to it after all the lightning ceased.
I took a picture of the Burger King sign. I would have taken pictures of the other stuff, however I don’t think it would have been appropriate since many of the business owners were out cleaning up. It would have just been weird to take pictures.

I’m posting this here because I went to school with Greg, although I didn’t know him personally.

By Laurie Everett
Mt. Juliet News
April 23, 2003
Two Mt. Juliet families anxiously await further news of their loved ones seriously injured in America’s war against terrorism.
Greg Mathis, 26, was seriously wounded last week in a land mine explosion in Iraq. Mathis is a Sergeant in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade (RAKKASANS) with the 101st out of Fort Campbell.
Nancy Mathis, Greg’s mother, said Greg was working in south Baghdad with two American and three Iraqi soldiers when an Iraqi soldier stepped on a land mine. The explosion killed all three Iraqis. Greg and his two fellow soldiers were seriously wounded.
Mathis’ wife, Jennifer, received the dreaded phone call from her husband’s captain immediately following the accident.
“He allowed her to speak to the doctor,” said Nancy Mathis. “She was told Greg was serioulsy wounded but not critically with the shrapnel wounds from the waist down,” said Mathis.
Greg Mathis was deployed to Iraq in February and has served in the military almost eight years, both in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
“We knew it might be bad this time,” said Mathis. “I say Praise the Lord, he could have been killed. It’s serious but could have been a whole lot worse.”
Mathi’s left leg as also fractured in the explosion. He was flown to a hospital in Kuwait and has had two surgeries to date. Monday night he was transferred to an Amry hospital in Spain where he will undergo further surgery and skin grafts.
Nancy Mathis said the news shocked her.
“I was so worried the whole time he was more concerned about possible chemical warfare.”
Mathis has call his wife three times since the accident, the last communication on Monday.
“He said he loved everyone and was so grateful for all the prayers and we should continue to pray for all the soldiers,” said his mom.
The huge yellow ribbon will remain tied around the tree in her front yard until he comes home. Mathis said that might be in the next few weeks.
“To me Greg is not safe until he touches U.S. ground,” she said. “I’m so proud of him and all the soldiers doing their jobs so we can be free to do what we want.”
Greg Mathis is a graduate of Mt. Juliet High School. he is married with a 10-month-old daughter, Sarah.
While the Mathis family still waits, the Barkalow family anticipates their son’s arrival home. Scott Barkalow, an Army Reserve soldier with an undisclosed rank, was stations in Afghanistan when his truck drove over a land mine in late February.
Ann Barkalow, Scott’s mother, had just spoken with her son a few days before she got the frightening phone call.
“A medic called to say that he had just been with my son Scott,” Ann Barkalow recalled. “And I said ‘What?’ Not thinking, I thought it was like a joke. I had talked to him two days before that. I said ‘Is he alive?’ It shocked me so.”
Scott Barkalow, 40, was alive, but in need of surgery.
“That had gone on an overnight mission,” Ann Barkalow said.
“While they were gone there was a light snow and the car veered slightly and over a land mine and the explosion hit his part of the car.”
The accident and explosion injured Scott’s right leg. It required amputation up to the knee. He is in recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Ann Barkalow said now that he shock is over, everyone is doing quite well, especially Scott.
“His spirits are real, real good,” Ann Barkalow said. “Sometimes I think they are better than ours.”
Scott Barkalow graduated from Mt. Juliet High School in 1980. He is married with two children and lives in West Tennessee.