Title IX, Marissa Rothenberger and softball

In July 2019 we sat on our porch at Lakeside and watched a sample of championship softball (a women's sport--until recently). I wrote in my blog: "Wheelersburg, Ohio, (on the Ohio River) has a championship girls little league softball team, and the family of the pitcher is renting 2 doors down. We sit on the porch and watch a powerhouse pitch like I've never seen--12 years old--as she practices with her dad in the yard. Her older sister already has a college scholarship in the sport, and there are 4 other girls in the family."
So, I had a week or two of following not just these girls, the sport, but the towns and counties in the U.S. who build their local culture around this sport. And now? Well, as powerful as those young girls were, they now have to compete for those scholarships and honors against males. Call them transwomen, if you wish, but there is no such being on this planet. Men don't transition into women. It's a fantasy. Marissa Rothenberger, is a boy and is playing on a girls' team and of course it's in Tampon Tim's state, Minnesota.

https://www.totalprosports.com/ncaa/transgender-pitcher-destroyed-females-high-school-softball-championship-lawsuit/?

https://www.scripps.org/news_items/7637-common-sports-injuries-in-women-causes-and-prevention?

Biden's folly--IX changes

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a single sentence. It simply bars sex discrimination in any federally funded education program. See what happens in a bureaucracy, in the swamp? The latest disaster is 1,577 pages. Both parties have created a monster, but the Democrats have defied God, nature, science and history. Nothing more evil than that. The party of intersectionality, of wokeism, of feminism, of transparency, of "me too" and rich old fools has dealt a death blow to women's safety and equality in scholarships and ambition. Way to go, Biden.

That Was Fast: 3 Federal Lawsuits Challenge New Title IX Rule (dailysignal.com)

Giving children a gift

Which candidate for president actually did something about giving children this gift? The Carson Scholars Fund, Inc. was founded in 1994 to address the education crisis in the United States. When retired world-renowned Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgeon Benjamin S. Carson, M.D. and his wife, Candy, read a research study about education in the United States, they were alarmed by the  findings. The study showed that our nation’s students ranked #21 out of 22 countries; next to the bottom of the list in science and math. Furthermore, the Carsons observed that many school display cases were filled with large trophies paying tribute to their sports teams’ achievements, while honor students were largely overlooked.” http://carsonscholars.org/

Church of the Best Buy

Sometimes I arrange my poetry into shapes. My best efforts were a Christmas tree, a tornado, and a side profile of a man's face. So when I see information in an ad arranged to give two messages--one verbal, one graphic, I stop to read it. In yesterday's paper there was a small ad for the Best Buy Scholarship fund. I don't think I own BB stock, but I shop at Best Buy once a year for my son-in-law--it sells "consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through more than 1,200 retail stores across the United States, throughout Canada and in China." Volunteerism figures prominently at its corporate website. 1500 of the scholarships (non-renewable) are $1,500, but 51 are for $10,000--well worth taking the time to apply.

The ad I saw was all words, but shaped like a human, and it listed all the volunteer activities high school students might be doing which would qualify them for a Best Buy college scholarship. It was really quite clever and well done. Here's the list, and notice #14. (I added the numbers.)

1. Worked at the local food pantry.
2. Mentor
3. Picked up garbage off the freeway
4. Delivered meals on wheels.
5. Tutored a 2nd grader.
6. Walked the neighbor's 2 dogs.
7. Visited residents at a nursing home.
8. Rang the ------ (unreadable) for a total of --??--- hours.
9. Raked leaves for elderly people.
10. Mentor for a 3rd grader,.
11. Mowed the lawn for a handicapped neighbor for the past 4 summers.
12. Shoveled snow for Mrs. Jones.
13. Volunteered at a book drive to raise money for children's literacy.
14. Got a B+ on my chemistry test.
15. Organized a school blood drive,.
16. Basketball coach for 5th grade boys.
17. Read to toddlers at the local bookstore.
18. Children's summer program assistant.
19. Wildlife nursery volunteer.
20. Cooked for homeless teens on the week-end.

The only academic item on this list is a B+ in chemistry, and it is so different than the others, (it was the left arm of the figure), it almost looks like an error. The scholarship does have a grade point requirement, and obviously, the selectors are not looking for a teen who did all of this. In fact, a B+ in chemistry won't get you far in academic competitions--perhaps that's why it was included, to encourage the less than stellar students to apply.

What I like about this list is, 1) specificity, and 2) age appropriateness. They are not asking 15 year olds to go out and organize farm workers, picket abortion clinics, sleep on the streets with the homeless, or build homes for low income people. The list just by appearing in the paper shows that everyone, no matter how young, can do something close to home (and close to a Best Buy store, which is part of the FAQ). Only #20 seems out of place, considering the logistics and exclusivity of the idea (a pizza party with other teens sounds like a better idea to me rather than let-me-help you-feel-inadequate).

I think it is nice that Best Buy is a good corporate citizen, that it helps the communities from which it earns its income, and that its employees have opportunities to volunteer. However, I also believe its first commitment has to be to its real mission, to make money honestly in an ethical manner for its investors, which will in turn be good for its employees, the U.S. economy and the global economy.

This is a good lesson for youth staff of churches--as long as they keep in mind their real mission, which is to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ--his life, death and resurrection--discipling their youth to move out into the community, and not just compiling to-do lists to keep their young, affluent members busy with feel-good projects.