Happy Veteran’s Day, Dad, Vern, Uncle George, Uncle Jim, Uncle
Don, Uncle Terry, and all you other veterans out there who
sacrificed years and sweat and
– some of you – blood for our country. Happy Veteran’s Day,
Danny Perry. Thank you, all of you, very much. You are my
heroes.
Happy Veteran’s Day, Dad, Vern, Uncle George, Uncle Jim, Uncle Don, Uncle Terry, and all you other veterans out there who sacrificed years and sweat and – some of you – blood for our country. Happy Veteran’s Day, Danny Perry. Thank you, all of you, very much. You are my heroes.
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Recently, a letter to the editor complained that certain columnists (me) write too many columns bickering with letter writers. I think the point is valid, so I have saved several months worth of letters criticizing my positions. I hope to make do with one rebuttal column every three months.
On Franca Barsi’s murder: after reading the letters on this subject, I had to go back and re-read my column to see if I had blamed or mocked or been mean to the victim. Nope. I criticized our society for a lack of judgmentalism.
Our society does a fine job of holding murderers accountable. Franca Barsi’s killer is behind bars. I hope he gets the death penalty, and I trust that Cynthia Hunter and Dina Campeau will join me in demanding it.
Our society falls apart in protecting women and children because we will not candidly acknowledge that some situations are riskier than others. Our lack of judgmentalism means that women are putting themselves and their children at risk in increasing numbers.
The fact is that never-married women are twice as likely to suffer abuse from boyfriends as married or previously married women are to suffer it from husbands or ex-husbands.
The fact is that a child living with only his mother is 14 times likelier to suffer serious physical abuse than a child living with his married biological parents. The riskiest situation of all is a child living with his mother and his mother’s boyfriend; that child is 33 times more likely to be abused and 70 times more likely to be killed than a child living with his married parents.
By all accounts, Franca Barsi was a loving mother. I bet that if she had known that living with a guy would put her son at risk, she would never have let him move in with her. She would in that case still be alive.
True, some married women get beaten or murdered by their husbands. By the same token, one can get hit by a car even while standing on the sidewalk. But it is a hell of a lot riskier to run across the freeway at night in dark clothes. No doubt some people do it and survive. That does not make it as safe as staying on the sidewalk.
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On cheerleaders:
To Mary Silva: 78 percent of Gilroy Dispatch poll respondents think that the cheerleaders should be able to go to Hawaii. That is 78 percent of the community who cannot tell a good education from a hole in the ground. And you think cheerleaders are creative, not conformists? What an interesting point of view.
To Phil Johnson: I believe and meant every word I wrote. I am never sarcastic. (I do indulge in irony occasionally.) I have written reams of concrete suggestions on how to improve Gilroy schools. Your suggestion about minimum GPAs might have merit were it not for the grade inflation that at present allows a student with As in math to test at below basic proficiency.
To Nora Hunt: Congratulations on your 4 in AP English Comp. How is your math proficiency? The statistics say that 0 (zero) percent of GHS seniors are ready for college math. And I am not captious; I am sincerely horrified at what passes for an education at GHS.
To Dennis Rathi: Hard work in a worthless pursuit is hard work in a worthless pursuit.
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As often happens, I am not quite sure what Harold Williams means in his letter Sept. 15. But his “reasonable conclusion” that “some maverick” must have slipped a title past the editor is, alas, unfounded. I submitted no title for my column of Aug. 19. Someone on the editorial staff came up with it. In fact, my editor often makes my titles punchier and harder-hitting. Maybe he thinks I am a softie.
Cynthia Anne Walker is a
homeschooling mother of three and former engineer. She is a published independent author. Her column is published in
The Dispatch every Friday.
