Eric Jeffrey
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On the article Annandale, Thomas Jefferson Among Top 35 High Schools in Virginia, U.S. News & World Report Says
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On the article Critical Violations at One Falls Church Restaurants
Eric Jeffrey
9:12 am on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
ReplyI believe that either the headline or the body of the story is incorrect. The headline refers to critical violations an two restaurants, but the body shows critical violations at only one restaurant -- with the other two having no violations or only non-critical violations.
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On the article Gay Marriage in Virginia: Speaking for God -- And Man
Eric Jeffrey
9:44 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
ReplyAs the Bible, and religion in general, well post-dated the institution of marriage, it is certainly not a very reliable source for tracing the history of marriage. Marriage was a civil ceremony well before either Judaism or Christianity existed, and it remains at base a civil matter. Religions may control what goes on with respect to marriage as a religious rite, but that should have no effect on marriage as a civil matter, just as civil law ignores Catholic concepts regarding divorce. Nor may any religious practitioner create a legal marriage without the benefit of a state-issued license. There is no reason to conflate marriage as a civil matter with any religious concept of marriage. No religion need recognize a marriage, but neither should they be able to control its legal effect.
The statement that the Bible commands one man and one woman is of course quite silly. Indeed, the Bible explicitly sanctions polygamy, at least of the one man, many women sort. And in reality, polygamy was the dominant form of marriage throughout the world for most of history. This is not to argue for polygamy, but simply to emphasize that there need be no concordance between religious views of marriage and the position of the state.
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On the article Speak Out: Should Home-Schooled Students Play on Public School Teams?
Eric Jeffrey
11:30 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
They are not discriminated against -- as they have the exact same right as every other student/parent -- to attend the school and obtain its benefits and bear its burdens -- or to stay out of the system. Do you think that home schooled students should be able to choose what aspects of school they prefer -- say take chemistry, but nothing else, or play in the band? By your logic, someone who has no children but still pays taxes should be able to come attend classes and make whatever use of the facilities he/she desires. What you want is not equality, but a special privilege for the home-schooled -- to have their cake and eat it too. Moreover, many of the academic requirements applied to athletes -- such as attaneding a full day of class that day -- have no analogue in the home-school world. Finally, your characterization of the relationship between schools and athletic programs is pure nonsense. The large majority of funds for any team come from the education budget. Sales and boosters merely pay for extras. This is no different than, for example, the French Honor society, regarding which my daughter is participating in a bake sale today. Perhaps the home-schooled should be able to join that as they please as well?
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On the article Survey: Majority of Teachers Don't Want Guns in Fairfax Schools
Eric Jeffrey
1:11 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013
ReplyMaking our schools into armed camps would be a huge waste of resources. Despite recent occurrences, schools are quite safe -- children are safer IN school than going to/from scgool or playing on local playgrounds. Rather than putting armed guards into schools, we would get a much greater return on investment by hiring more police, spending more time/money on traffic enforcement, etc.
I have no idea why any teacher would even want to be armed and responsible for the safety of the school against armed attack. Not only is a non-professional more likely to injure/kill innocent bystanders than stop such an unlikely event, they could also face staggering personal liability for any inadvertent shooting, which would likely be covered at the county's expense. It is all just an overreaction and a terrible idea.
I won't even go into the likely effect on students of turning schools into armed prisons.
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On the article Fairfax Staff Organizing Gun Turn-In Days
Eric Jeffrey
12:56 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
ReplyLes Aker, did you read the law? It specifically Authorizes destruction of turned in guns, after an attempt to sell to licensed dealers. And it only applies where the guns are purchased, not when turned in for free.
§ 15.2-915.5. Disposition of firearms acquired by localities.
A. No locality or agent of such locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value provided by another individual or other entity in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality or agent of such locality unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance, . . . authorizing . . . such program.
B. Any ordinance enacted pursuant to this section shall require that any firearm received . . . shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921 et seq. . . . Any firearm remaining in possession of the locality or agent of the locality after attempts to sell at public auction or by sealed bids shall be disposed of in a manner the locality deems proper, which may include destruction of the firearm or, subject to any registration requirements of federal law, sale of the firearm to a licensed dealer.
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On the article Letter to the Editor: Gun Legislation
Eric Jeffrey
1:27 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
Not true. It is quite clear that when gun murders go down, so invariably do total homicides. So very few people are in fact switching to other weapons. That eliminating/regulating guns would not eliminate the issue 100%, does not mean that we should not take steps that would make a significant reduction.
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On the article Letter to the Editor: Gun Legislation
Eric Jeffrey
1:27 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
I have read the complete Federalist Papers and the debates regarding the Second Amendment, and am also familiar with the actual events in the early years of the nation -- when many states/cities substantially regulated guns and the federal government took a census of gun ownership. It is quite clear that the Second Amendment is not a blanket approval for citizens to own guns, and even the 5-members of the supreme court explicitly acknowledged that fact, saying that reasonable regulation of guns is fully consistent with the Second amendment.
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On the article Letter to the Editor: Gun Legislation
Eric Jeffrey
12:45 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
Eric Hennessy. Your citation disproves your argument, as it refers both the regulated militia -- e.g., the NAtional Guard, and the unregulated militia. The Second Amendment refers only to the former -- the "well-regulated" militia. In any event, the reference in the Second amendment is to well-regulated STATE militias.
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On the article Letter to the Editor: Gun Legislation
Eric Jeffrey
12:45 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
First, these mass killings are not the real issue, they are only a miniscule part of gun homicides and gun deaths. Kids remain safer in school than walking to or from school, or playing at their own house or park. And if you do not think that we can significantly reduce the number of illegal guns, at least going forward, then you know little about the issue.
Eric Jeffrey
3:46 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
I don't see how one can give any credence to these rankings, given the obviously invalid methodology. That schools may rise or fall as many as 300 plus places from one year to another without any known change in the school demonstrates that they cannot possibly be measuring the schools, but rather are ranking the students in the school. This is even more obvious when conbined with the obvious fact that virtually all of the top schools are magnet or other special schools for the gifted and talented. Use of a rolling average over 4-5 years might yield a more reliable ranking, but I have my doubts.