I witnessed very interesting behavior from our dog, Rocket, this evening. He was napping on the floor next to me while I read in the recliner and Hallie surfed the Internet from the other room. Kelly had been at work all day and was bringing Travis home from his piano lesson.

Everything was quiet in the house so I was wondering where our dog was going as he suddenly hopped up from his nap and walked over to the door leading to the garage. Seconds later, the garage door went up and Kelly and Travis walked in with Rocket greeting them.

I sat there astonished. Could it be the dog had somehow known they were coming home? How? He clearly hopped up from his nap and went directly to the door as if he knew they would arrive. I can’t say for sure what his intentions were but to my eyes it certainly seemed like he was ready to greet someone at the door.
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Today is Martin Luther King Day, honoring a great man who pushed America to honor its commitments to everyone. It’s got me in a contemplative mood.

A well-meaning liberal friend forwarded this article from the NEA about the “school-to-prison” pipeline. It portends to raise alarms about how a kid who gets suspended often winds up taking a path towards crime. This is indeed a serious issue with troubling implications. I was disappointed, though, to see the article missing an important point. For example:

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, which last year ordered school districts to respond to student misbehavior in “fair, non-discriminatory, and effective” ways, Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than White students, while Black and Latino students account for 70 percent of police referrals.
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My friend and new Wake County Commissioner John Burns was at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners where the state’s commissioners were given a presentation of the state’s changing demographics. Demographic trends show that white people will soon no longer be the majority.

One commissioner took issue with this and, according to John, announced “so we’re just going to take what built America for 200 years and throw it in the trash can, I guess.”

Of course, it was the immigrants who built America. Blacks, Chinese, Irish, Mexicans, and many others. The people who did the jobs that no one else wanted to do (and in the case of slavery, that they didn’t want to do, either).

Fortunately, everyone around this guy rolled their eyes. And it makes me glad that idiots like him are getting left behind.

See this gentleman? He was arrested last month for a string of burglaries around East Raleigh. Before was busted in December he had been arrested six times since September. This photo was taken today at the county jail, when he was charged again with possession of a stolen firearm and possession of stolen goods.

Now here’s the mugshot of his mother, taken the same day her son was arrested. Note the shiner. Mom was charged with marijuana possession and possession of a stolen firearm. She has a rap sheet stretching back to 1995 with a few larcenies, license revocation charges, and minor drug charges. In each case her sentences were suspended and you know what? She managed to largely stay out of trouble since 2003.

Though I’ve been quite willing to send kids like this one on his way to jail whenever one’s been caught stealing in my neighborhood, it has made me wonder how a kid can wind up in such a situation. It’s a damn shame to have to send a kid to jail.

As a PTA president, I hear a lot of stories of sad cases, absolutely heartbreaking cases of completely dysfunctional families. I heard one today that will haunt me into my dreams tonight, a story of a child whose parents are apparently no longer interested in being parents and want the child gone.

What kind of world is that for a child to grow up in? When you have no advocate at all? And no love? What kind of future does that child have?
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