We Need More People Like James Harrison! We Need A Few Less Like Casey Wardynski...

Given the topics of the past few days I thought I'd start today of with some more uplifting news than normal. I feel like we could all use a little faith restoring now and then.

Meet James Harrison, who has alone saved the lives of 2.4 million infants.

When James was 14 years old he had to have a chest surgery that saved his life, and required 13 liters of blood to survive. Just to put that into perspective, that's about three and a half gallons of blood.

The experience left him realizing the importance of blood donation. So, when James turned 18 he hopped onto blood donation.

Once he started donating he found out he had an extremely rare antibody in his blood, so the make-up of his plasma was so unique he held the cure to rhesus disease running through his veins. Rhesus disease is a severe form on anaemia that causes either death of brain damage for newly born children.

Researchers were so fascinated by his blood they insured his life for a million dollars and his blood has been used to create life saving injections for the disease.

He is now 77 years old and has been donating about twice a month since he was 18 (59 years ago) and has donated about 1,000 times.

It makes me truly happy to see someone who has found they've been blessed with the ability to help others and stops at nothing to carry it out. So I salute Mr. Harrison for all the good he's done this world, and I'm sure the mothers of those 2.4 million children would absolutely agree.

Next, I attend Huntsville City Schools in Alabama, and come lately it has been the talk of the state.

You see, the superintendent, retired U.S. Army Colonel, Dr. Casey Wardynski, of Huntsville City Schools is nothing if not controversial. Not only have 735 people employed in the school system quit since 2011 due to the hostile work environment he has created, but as of lately he's been a tad pre-occupied with the Hereford v. Huntsville City Schools case.

In this case, the Department of Justice has been investigating the school system for working around desegregation laws and setting up student interviews with D.o.J. representatives. 

However, now he's encompassed in a whole new issue. This one I find much more concerning. (Not to say ignoring segregation laws isn't concerning, but you get the point.)

Recently, Casey Wardynski has taken it upon himself to look into student's social media accounts to look for pictures of students with guns or gang signs.

One student in particular, Auseel Yousefi, was expelled for this first semester of his senior year because of a string of joking tweets to his friends.

All of these events started unfolding due to a phone call from "The NSA" to Al Sharpton, a long-time security officer, warning of potential threat. The problem with this is that the NSA did not call Huntsville City Schools.

Yeah, that's right! The NSA never contacted the school system, imagine that! One phone call from someone claiming to be connected to the National Security Agency, with no real identification or evidence, to one security guard, and now it's time to stalk our student's social media accounts?

Regardless, the school system started a program to monitor kids social media accounts called SAFe (Students Against Fear). Wardynski claims that at least a dozen students have been expelled per year since the program's implementation.

Well if they are monitoring social media, then I'll make my position loud and clear for anyone listening.

Mr. Wardynski is a militarized, power-flexing, dictator-like superintendent with disregard for any sense of individual rights or privacy. Well let me tell you, Mr. Wardynski, as a student of Huntsville City Schools, I don't feel "SAFe". I feel terrified, as a matter of fact. Your greatest accomplishment as superintendent is your fascinating ability to give every student you rule over legitimate amounts of paranoia.

Any kids reading this blog in Huntsville City Schools, let me bring you some comfort. Casey Wardynski does not have the control over you he believes he does. He is the superintendent, but he is not the god-king he thinks he is. You are what dictates you, and nothing else.

I'd like to suggest something to Papa Bear, and that is that the tighter grip you think you have on students lives, the less you actually do.

That's all for today, I'll be back again to post tomorrow!

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in." -Anonymous

https://www.change.org/p/huntsville-city-schools-board-of-education-request-the-resignation-of-superintendent-dr-casey-wardynski-immediately#intro