03 Feb 2005 | Jeremy Flint said...

Huntsville is just an hour or so north of where I am (Birmingham). I wouldn't be suprised if the same kinds of weapons were found in the Birmingham public schools, or any school for that matter.

Funny thing is that they just built a Honda plant very close to Hunstville, and are in the process of doubling its size (referring to manufacturing jobs). There is also a Mercedes plant near Birmingham and a Hyundai plant near Montgomery.

Speaking of violence, I am sure you have all seen this video by now: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146267,00.html

03 Feb 2005 | stp said...

What good is shop class if you can't learn how to make brass knuckles or a bong?

04 Feb 2005 | nathan said...

wow, spybot s&d caught 2 spyware things on that foxnews page.

05 Feb 2005 | Michael Bee said...

Jobs - We're losing manufacturing jobs to those parts of the world because our Federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is more than those parts of the world will get paid in a day...or week. Alabama does not have a state minimum wage and they have given huge tax breaks to manufacturers such as Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai and Schlumberger to attract those critical jobs.
Schools - Alabama and other schools have a weapons problem that hopefully will be worked out before my daughter starts school in a few years. Most likely not, though.
Talent - Why are we losing critical computer programming jobs to India when we have talented and creative developers right here at home?

06 Feb 2005 | Jeffrey said...

I bet those guys get lots of chicks. They have all the skills...
Icepick skills... Knife skills... Nunchuck skills...

09 Feb 2005 | Chris S said...

First off, kids like weapons. I know my kids do. And mine have access to a wide variety of them so long as they follow my rules for using them, and under my watchful eye. There was a time when that was just part of being a dad.

Of course, when you live in a culture where two a majority of parents pay someone else to take care of their children while the parents try and "have it all", where far too many children don't even have two parents to begin with, and where stern male discipline is lacking and (typically) frowned upon, what else does anyone expect?

Disclosure: I am a product (or is that by-product?) of the Huntsville City Schools (of course, that was a pretty long time ago now), and carried a Buck 4" lockback folding drop-point hunting knife most every day of high school, and frequently used it to menace taped boxes and tightly strung packages for my teachers.