Some thoughts about sharing other people's posts

Last week I posted something on one of my sites and I saw basically my exact thoughts on someone else's page later that day. I was thinking about how (a) perhaps it was coincidence, (b) they were trying to reword my thoughts into their own or (c) they blatantly stole what I was saying and just shared it on their own site.

I know one day a friend of mine mentioned that I had posted something from her Facebook page on my own and I had NO idea what she was talking about because I didn't get it off her page; it came from my aunt's page. It was one of those things that's just spread around over and over... most likely no one will ever know the original source and it's more of just a fun thing rather than anything important and it certainly has completely lost any connection with the original author. (But I also thought that if people had left the original attribution there from whoever wrote it in the first place, we WOULD know who said it originally.) One thing I did learn from that, however... no matter how innocent the post, I will ALWAYS say where I got it from if they aren't my own original thoughts. This was the only time I recall forwarding something without saying where it came from and I regretted that afterward.

So anyway, based on that conversation w/ my friend, I do know that sometimes it can seem like something came off your own page when it really didn't. We all have access to a LOT of information - "dangerous diversions," I suppose Obama would say - and so obviously some of us are going to share the same things.

If it were the second option, that my friend was simply trying to take my thoughts and reword them into their own thoughts, that's something else people frequently do. There's nothing really "wrong" with this, but generally I think it's polite to at least mention that you got the idea from "so and so" (whoever so and so is...). After all, it wasn't really YOUR original thought - it was someone else's. The least you could do is give them credit.

If their intention was truly just to "steal" what I wrote and post it on their own page, well, all of us could probably (maybe???) agree that this is wrong. In today's world, I wouldn't be shocked if there were those out there who still said this was OK. I had students in my college English class who told me quite frankly that their high school English teachers didn't care when they bought papers off the Internet or copied them from another student, so why should I?!? Well, let me give you alllll the reasons... Just kidding. I'll save that for another day. : )

Anyway, when I write things, you may have noticed that I frequently share LINKS with my comments - often to the original news source. I always try to use the original news source when possible. One reason for this is that typically when you go to the original source, you're more likely to have a more accurate version of the story. Second, I think the person or news outlet who went through the trouble of sharing the story initially should get the credit for covering it. They DO keep track of hits and they monitor these things to see which stories receive ratings. I would like for them to see higher ratings on things that interest me so they would continue to cover those topics.

If another social networking friend or homeschooler or whoever sends me a link, I ALWAYS say that the link was sent to me from someone else and post the person's name out of courtesy. I love it when people share links with me or send me information that I might not have seen. While I do try to stay on top of political issues - especially as they relate to homeschooling, general education issues and other "ridiculous" news of our day - sometimes I miss things. If you send me news of this nature, I'll share it! If you don't want me to mention that the link came from you, however, then just let me know and I'll leave off your name. I do realize that sometimes people don't want to be associated with something, but they still would like to let others know about it.

Finally, if you really enjoy the things I post and you share them with others, please just do a "share," post a link to my original blog post, or let others know where your material came from. I had someone write me earlier this week and say that they couldn't believe I wrote something myself!! Well, you know... there are days when that's about all I CAN do. And one thing I can do is write. Even if you don't believe it, yep, sometimes I can actually write pretty well and say something intelligent. : ) Tonight I have a horrible headache (at the base of my skull - it feels like another of what I call "blood thinner" headaches and they're AWFUL!!) and my legs are feeling like they need to be chopped off again. It's after midnight and despite two hours in bed, I couldn't sleep because I feel too bad! So... yep, here I am - writing. It seems that the Lord has given me the ability to write even when I'm accomplishing much of nothing else. Perhaps it's good that He has given me this ability. It serves as a diversion from the pain and sometimes I can't tell you how badly I need that!!!

Also, writing is how I make my living. It would be nice to sell books. I am not physically able to get out there as much as I would like and promote the books all across the US. I would love to speak at conferences, but it's very difficult to find an opening. I'd very much enjoy traveling and speaking while promoting the books at the same time as I've done in the past, but right now finances don't make this possible. So basically my means of communication with the outside world is through blogs and other things I post.

Of course I don't make much money writing and I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. When people have wanted to share my articles and such in the past in publications, I've always allowed them to do this, for free. The Lord frequently places something on my heart that I feel needs to be shared and if that's the case, then who am I to say how it should be used. If I saved it in a file and never shared it with anyone else, I wouldn't be obeying the Lord very well to share what he has given me! On the other hand, it is a general courtesy of others to at least mention where they obtained the material, especially since I do not ask for compensation. : ) I think credit should be given simply because it's GOOD MANNERS.

I realize that there are going to be many times when there are hundreds of people talking about the same thing at the same time, but I just think if someone is going to use someone else's post (whether it's one line or several paragraphs), people should have the decency to provide credit to their source. We do live in an age where this "politeness" has largely been overlooked due to the rapid advancement of technology and people honestly don't think twice about plagiarism these days, but that doesn't mean it's right. And it boils down to this... plagiarism isn't just a direct quoting of someone without citation. Plagiarism also includes changing someone else's words slightly or copying someone's thoughts or ideas and pass them as your own.

Chris and I were talking about this tonight as he told me about a report (that I haven't read yet) about how we are wasting billions of tax dollars each year educating students AGAIN in remedial classes in college after we've already put them through twelve years of government school before college. While lack of high academic standards is a problem, when you take character or morals out of the picture (as we largely have in most government schools), the outlook will REMAIN bleak and most likely GET WORSE. If a student knows he can cheat (copy, lie, etc.) without it being a problem, then why should he bother to "waste" his time studying. For some students, it's more of a challenge to spend their time finding ways to beat the system.

If you're a parent, be an example for your children on social networking sites and blogs: DON'T copy someone else's work!

If you're a student, be original. I'd much rather hear what YOU have to say than a regurgitation of someone else's thoughts. : )

Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

back in contest, please vote again

Since there were people cheating in the Pigeon Forge contest, we weren't sure we were going to continue participating. They postponed voting for a few days and fixed the issue so that people can only vote once. Now we really need MORE people to vote once each day. Could you please bookmark the page and just go on each day, sort by votes, and click on our family (listed as "Sonya H - Jonesborough, TN, 4/14/2010"). It's easiest to find us if you sort by vote. Hopefully we'll stay on the first page!

We MUST be in the top ten to win for the month of May. Could you please vote and ask your friends and family to vote for us as well? We'd really appreciate it.

Here is the link: http://www.mypigeonforge.com/savingvacations/Story/Page1

Thanks so much!!

Sonya :)

P.S. If you'd like to find more about our family, please visit my website - www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

more children slaughtered in China

Do you all remember my post a couple of weeks ago about all the attacks against children in China? I wrote that post on April 29. The next day, a farmer in Shandong attacked children w/ a hammer - injuring five children.

And earlier today, Wednesday, May 12, a man in Hanzhong killed seven kindergartners and injured 20 others.

Again, I ask... how can this possibly be a coincidence??? And if it isn't - they're claiming "copycat" killers are doing this due to "social inequality" - do they really have that many people who would be willing to MURDER children as young as four years old for no apparent reason whatsoever ... or because they aren't receiving "social justice"?!? After all, that's what they're claiming - that people are so upset about social inequality that they're murdering kindergartners. And if we had social justice, as we're trying to achieve in the United States (gag there), all these poor little children wouldn't be dying. Doesn't this sound like a HUGE conspiracy to anyone other than myself ???? As I asked before, "What is going on in China?!?" Even if one incident was linked to "social inequality," I find it difficult to believe that this many unrelated men in unrelated situations and locations would just suddenly decide to hack some little children to death because they think life's not fair! Especially in a country where children are held so dear.

The link I'm posting below has a Beijing Associated Press article about the latest attack.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/7-children-killed-in-latest-attack-at-chinese-kindergarten/article1565685/?cmpid=rss1

Here was my original blog post from April 29 about all the attacks:
http://thehomeschoollady.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-in-world-is-going-on-in-china.html

How incredibly sad...
Sonya

Sinkhole swallows part of village, including home and family

I've heard of stories of sinkholes and landslides before, but people usually know when to anticipate them and leave the location for safety. Yesterday a huge sinkhole opened up in Canada, swallowed up part of a village, including one huge house and the family within. All have been found and are confirmed dead. It's sad how many more of these stories we're seeing and how much damage is being done. Here is the link from the original news source, where you can see an aerial photo. It's not the best, but it gives you an idea of the devastation.

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100511/100511_landslide/20100511/?hub=CP24Home

Sonya

No longer a Christian nation??

Just thought everyone should know that I had a very long chat w/ my uncle last night. Actually, that's not what you need to know. :) He is a missionary in the Czech Republic and he has been here on furlough for six months. He is returning on Friday and we spent some time chatting before he has to leave. He has served the people of the Czech Republic for about 8 years now. It's very difficult work because a majority of the population there is atheist. They just have no concept of "God." They just do not believe a God exists AT ALL.

While I was wishing him the best and telling him that I will continue to pray for his family and the work they're doing there to bring people to Christ, he said that he appreciates it, but after this six month furlough, he is much more concerned about our country - the United States of America. He said it has changed so much from when he was growing up and even from 8 years ago, when he first went overseas. He said it seems more like an Islamic nation now rather than a Christian nation. What he said is true and it just broke my heart.

He is in Europe trying to minister to and preach to a people who don't even believe God exists, but meanwhile, the country where he was born is rapidly transforming into a nation that no longer worships the Living God. He said he may be called back one day, but for now he believes the Lord wants his family in the Czech Republic.

My uncle discussed the fact that Europe is rapidly being taken over by Muslims. Here is one map where you can see the extent of the Muslim religion: http://btw.imb.org/news_map.asp

The Bible tells us that there will be the spread of FALSE PROPHETS and I believe this is what we're seeing, but it is sad to witness our nation - a CHRISTIAN nation - turns its back on God. But then... you can't really have a "Christian nation," can you? Being a Christian means someone is in an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A nation can't do that. We probably came closer than any other, since our founders established this nation on principles of personal accountability, just as we're personally accountable in our relationship with the Lord.

But we have been complacent. We have not shared the Gospel with friends and family. We have been "nice" and "fair" and allowed others to come in and take over our schools and our government. They come in the name of "freedom of religion," but they are still spreading their religion! These people have given "meat" to hungry souls, but the problem is that the meat they've shared is spoiled. And now - as a nation - our people are rotting from the food of the false prophets. Our unborn are being murdered. Our children are being led astray. Our young adults are given drugs and alcohol and unprecedented freedom that has led to sin and then we bail them out with more drugs, counseling, welfare checks. Adults are tired, sick, frustrated, lonely, divorced, immoral ... Everyone is SEEKING PEACE, yet they are seeking in the wrong places.

The Lord said that if we seek, we will find; if we knock, the door will be opened. This is the message we need to be sharing.

Sonya

Mosque at Ground Zero??

I had been watching the news on this, but didn't realize a vote had taken place last week. I'll just paste the Eagle Forum writer's comments below. He says pretty much everything that needs to be said. It's sickening. And as always, if you don't receive these reports, I'd recommend you click on the link at the bottom of the e-mail and sign up.

Sonya

Exclusive: Spitting in the Face of Everyone Murdered on 9/11

Gadi Adelman

Well, it’s official, we have all lost our minds.

I read about this last December, plans for a mosque at Ground Zero, but like a fool, I assumed that New Yorkers would never let this come to pass. A mosque just 600 feet from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. I thought to myself; no way will New York or anyone with a heart or soul, not to mention just plain common sense, ever allow a mosque to be built anywhere near Ground Zero. But, as I said, I am a fool.

The project of a community center /mosque is being proposed by two organizations, the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and their sister organization, the Cordoba Initiative. This past Wednesday night they made their presentation to the Community Board of lower Manhattan (CB1). Twelve people sit on the board and would you like to guess what the final vote was? Get ready to grab a barf bag … the 12 members voted unanimously to support the project. Yes, it’s not a typo, it was unanimous, all were in favor and, to give you an idea of how excited the board members were, they applauded during the presentation.

In an article in the New York Daily News on Thursday, retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches said,

"I realize it's not all of them, but I don't want to have to go down to a memorial where my son died on 9/11 and look at a mosque. If you ask me, it's a religion of hate." Deputy Chief Riches lost his son Jim, a firefighter, on 9/11.

Also quoted in the article was Rosemary Cain of Massapequa, L.I., whose son, firefighter George Cain, 35, was killed in the 2001 attacks, she called the project,

"a slap in the face. I think it's despicable. That's sacred ground," said Cain, "How could anybody give them permission to build a mosque there? It tarnishes the area."

The mosque would be located in a former Burlington Coat Factory outlet which is just 2 blocks or 600 feet from where the World Trade Towers once stood. I find it ironic that the building has been mostly abandoned since 9/11 because the landing gear of one of the hijacked airplanes crashed through its roof.

The leader and co-founder of the project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, paid $4.85 million dollars for the building in December last year.

In a Fox NY channel 5 interview on Thursday, a 9/11 firefighter Tim Brown described the mosque project as,

"a Trojan horse being rolled into our most sacred ground". He asked the mosque's imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, where did Rauf get the reported $4.85 million in cash to purchase the building?

Needless to say, that question was never answered in full; Rauf would say only that the cash came from “members of the community.”

Tim Brown is a former NY firefighter and one of the few 9/11 survivors to survive the collapse of both WTC towers. He was also a first responder to the 1993 WTC bombing, also executed by a group of Islamic terrorists. He is the founder of the website thebravest.com.

I spoke with Matt Dunning, the Associate Editor of the Tribeca Trib newspaper on the telephone on Sunday. The Tribeca Trib is a monthly newspaper that covers lower Manhattan. Unlike most publications today, they actually report the news. Mr. Dunning explained to me that they “do not even do editorials for that reason”, they report on facts. He was at the CB1 board meeting Wednesday night. We spoke about his article on the meeting and I must say I was shocked when Dunning told me that “not one person from the community came to the meeting was in opposition. If someone had been, we would have reported it.”

This was a public board meeting, and no one who lives or works in this area even showed up to voice his or her opinion that they opposed the mosque? Have we actually arrived at the point in this country where forgiveness or ignorance overrides sense and responsibility?

Back on December 16^th, 2009, in an article written shortly after the purchase of the building, Youssef M. Ibrahim wrote the following in Hudson NY

,

“As a former New York Times and Wall Street Journal correspondent, and as a New York Sun columnist who covered Islamic fundamentalism extensively overseas and in the USA, I find the facts oddly lacking. The story as reported fails to answer, and avoids asking, so many pertinent questions.

The source of money matters as a significant part of the hundreds of mosques being built and already erected in this country double up as cultural Islamic centers for distributing literature-- Islamist propaganda in fact—from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to Detroit, and for schools growing Muslim minorities. They house Imams of unknown origin and education, many of whom do not speak a word of English but preach in Arabic and Urdu -- radical messages, it often turns out.

As a reporter familiar with the Arab communities of the USA, I doubt the faithful fork out all that money for mega mosques, and if they did, the mayor’s office should prove it, not merely accept someone’s say so. It is an established fact that a significant percentage of the mosques built in the USA in the past two decades are receiving a disproportionate amount of their funds not only from the Saudis, but also the UAE, Qatar and Iran -- all problematic Islamists activist nations. The government just discontinued work on a major Iranian-funded mosque and center in New York City, which had operated under the radar since the days of the good old Shah of Iran under the auspices of the Pahlavi Foundation, and has been owned since 1979 by the Mullahs of Iran.

The context here is that 15 of the 19 perpetrators of the attacks -- on the very site where this new mosque shall rise -- came from Saudi Arabia.”

He ended his article with “One would hope for a follow-up story or stories, and that New York City and its citizens at least ask harder questions, rather than submit to being misled in the interest of political correctness.”

The estimated cost for the 13 story building is $100 million dollars. According to page 8 of the ASMA website financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 they have “temporarily restricted net assets” as follows:

UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) $ 53,664

MDG3 Fund (Millennium Development Goals) $481,942

Hunt Alternatives Fund $15,000

Carnegie Corporation of N.Y. $ 144,752

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund $50,000

Qatar government fund $576,312

Interestingly, I had no trouble locating all of the groups as linked above, except for the Qatar government fund, which donated over half a million dollars to ASMA in 2009.

The fact that the UN has a hand in this really comes as no surprise given that just last week they embraced the Islamic Republic of Iran by allowing them to become a member of The Commission on the Status of Women, as I wrote about in my article “Even if it were a joke, it wouldn’t be funny”.

Also, according to the same financial statement, on page 10 of the report they list their “Expenditure report for the period October 13, 2008 to June 30, 2009” leaving ASMA with a balance of $988,586.00 when converted from Euros to Dollars using the conversion noted on the same page.

So, assuming this “independent” audit is correct they ended their fiscal year on 6-30-09 with a balance of almost 1 million dollars. I wonder then, where is the money for a 100 million dollar mosque coming from?

As Youssef M. Ibrahim wrote in his article “It is an established fact that a significant percentage of the mosques built in the USA in the past two decades are receiving a disproportionate amount of their funds not only from the Saudis, but also the UAE, Qatar and Iran -- all problematic Islamists activist nations.”

Does anyone have the sense to connect the dots and follow the money trail? Is it not enough that the terrorists who were responsible for 9/11 are from the same country that is funding mosques all over our country, that we have to allow them to fund the building of a mosque in the very location where they committed the most heinous act in American history?

Using this analogy, had the bomb last week in Times Square actually exploded, we would be planning a mosque in Times Square right now. Have we lost our minds so much that we have moved to erecting monuments to perpetrators and not victims?

Currently, in the U.S. there are over 1200 mosques, with at least one in each state. I don’t see the need to build a new mosque at the same location where nearly 3000 people were murdered by terrorists who followed an Islamic ideology that will be preached inside this new one.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He is currently writing his first book, "Terrorism; Understanding the Threat". He can be reached through his website http://gadiadelman.com

Source: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6177/pub_detail.asp


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Obama talks about technology

Obama was fine with technology until everyone started recognizing - and talking about - his deception and manipulation. And even with the topic of technology, he can't avoid pulling the "race card," with words like "empowerment" and "emancipation." Regardless of one's race, those words sound great to a largely uneducated audience (thanks to the government school system), who are looking for someone to bail them out of all their woes. In other words, they cling to words like "empowerment" and "emancipation" and I believe they would throw their electronic devices off a cliff, and possibly jump themselves, if Obama said to do so. After all, he is the "savior."

Our Founding Fathers decided that their leader would be called a "president" and did not allow him to rise to the title of "king" or "dictator" for a reason - to preserve the integrity of our system of checks and balances and to ensure an individual's right to life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness. They never guaranteed that we would have these things, but if we work hard and keep our leaders in check, then our country provides more opportunity than any other for the tired, the poor, the wretched, the huddled masses YEARNING to breathe free.

It breaks my heart to see the things going on in this country. I believe Obama will use this new push against technology to suspend the flow of information as we know it, which is a direct violation of the First Amendment. If this happens, we will no longer have a chance against a tyrannical government. After all, the First Amendment protects ALL speech for a reason. Obama can claim that others are spreading lies, but without freedom of speech, we wouldn't be able to deny that or point out all his discrepancies of speech. It also seems ironic to me that suddenly Oprah has started an anti-cell phone campaign and Obama seemingly has started an anti-technology campaign.

Obama's real complaint can be found in his comments to the graduating class, when he stated that the students were "coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter." In reality, I think Obama is worried that those of us who are diligent will continue to find errors in his statements and expose his lies, his deception, and his blatant intent to transform our country from the republic it once was to a pure socialist state where justice, money, property, and everything else is "distributed" under the control of a strong central government, thus removing the rights of the individual altogether!

Sonya Haskins, author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us

Need advice about getting a dog

OK... It your turn to give me advice. I enjoy sharing news, information, advice, etc., but sometimes I need help as well! This is one of those times. :)

Our son Daniel, who will be nine next weekend, has wanted a dog since he was a toddler. He LOVES dogs. He just adores them. He has asked for a dog EVERY year for his birthday and Christmas. Last year he wrote us a letter and told us the ONLY thing he wanted for Christmas was a dog - no presents or anything. He even said he'd get a job to pay for the food if we would let him get a dog.

So the perseverance is definitely there. This is not a passing phase. His birthday is coming this weekend and what does he want ... the same thing he has wanted for the past seven years! A dog. He has researched dog breeds and came up with about 20 selections that would "match" well with our "family dynamics." I'm not kidding. The kid is smart. He went through and looked at the dogs' needs based on family size, climate, food requirements, size of dog, temperament, etc. He gave me a list and said that IF I were going to get him a dog, these would be the best ones to consider. :)

My problem is this. I do NOT like dogs!! Ask any of my friends who have seen me around dogs and they'll tell you that I just don't like dogs. They seem to like me. Every time I'm around a dog, the goofy things try to sit in my lap, stand next to me, want to be petted, etc. They definitely want my attention, but I just don't like the furry little things. They seem to KNOW what you're thinking - like when you're happy or sad, etc. (You should also know that it's not just that I'm weird. I was attacked by a dog when I was 12 and had numerous bites all over my legs before someone saved me from the attacking creature! So I actually have a reason not to trust dogs.)

So here is my dilemma... Do we allow Daniel to have a dog and try to force me to overcome my doggy fear? Or do we just tell him no on the ONE thing he has wanted most in his life and just tell him he can have a dog when he leaves home? It's not like we're talking about a pony or even a kid who wants something "bad." We're just talking about a dog and I don't want Daniel to grow up thinking that the ONE thing he wanted as a kid he could never have. I know there are valid reasons why someone would say no to a "simple" request, for example, such as if a mom is allergic to cats, then it would make sense to tell the child that cats are OUT of the question. I am not allergic to dogs. I just don't like them.

I've thought about the possibility of telling him he could have an outside dog. We do already have a dog cage. (We were using if for our chickens.) :) With the outside cage, we could keep the dog in the cage at night, which might help protect against some of the predators we have out here - coyotes, raccoons, opossums, etc. Then, each day, Daniel could go out and play with his dog.

You should know a little about Daniel before you comment. He is my quietest child. He rarely talks. He enjoys books and reading and words (as in what they mean and using the right word, but not necessarily the use of a LOT of words). :) He is definitely a thinker and I was hoping that a dog would help him come out of his shell a little. I am not worried about his ability to care for the dog. That's not even an issue. He is very responsible and I know he would care for the dog and play with the dog and enjoy the dog. I am more worried about my ability to accept the dog.

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks!
Sonya :)

P.S. Also, we are NOT looking for advice about where to get a dog. If we do get one, we'll get it from the animal shelter.

DNA research may discover if Lost Colony settlers integrated w/ local Indian tribe

A British group - in conjunction with scientists in USA - is going to do an investigation to see if descendants of the Croatoan tribe show DNA likeness to relatives of settlers who came to Roanoke - the Lost Colony - in 1587. Later settlers found the original Lost Colony settlers gone and the only clue was a word, "Croatoan," carved into a tree. I've always thought this was such an amazing mystery and wished someone would do DNA research on this. It should be relatively easy to tell if the blue-eyed Indians reported on the East Coast were actually descendants of Indians who had married the English settlers. This would be a wonderful finding if they were able to come to conclusive results. It will probably be some time before we know anything else, but I thought some of you might want to read this if you haven't heard about the research yet.

Here's the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/06/bideford-devon-america-lost-colony

Sonya :)



Comments

You can follow our progress here:

http://the-lost-colony.blogspot.com/

Ten seconds of your time - and we're not trying to sell you anything!!

A friend of mine nominated my family for a contest where we could potentially win a vacation to Pigeon Forge plus $15,000 toward our mortgage payment!! It would be an amazing thing. How do we win? All we have to do is get the most votes. I thought - WOW!! Homeschoolers are the MOST loyal people in the world. I think we could actually do this. So I asked people to vote. We have a bunch of friends, even more acquaintances, and interact with hundreds of other people on a not-as-regular basis so I thought this wouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately we've seen handfuls of votes each day.

With that in mind, my friend was wondering why people don't take the time to vote. It's not just that they're voting for OTHER people, but they're barely voting at all! I wondered if people were apathetic. One of my other friends suggested that perhaps people were jealous that we had been nominated. (I can't imagine that - since anyone can be nominated. It would be silly to be jealous.) Are people just lazy? Do people think they'd be tracked and don't have to register? (You do NOT have to register. You just click on the link, find our name, and vote.)

Honestly, I don't know what the issue is. I figure perhaps people are just too busy. I really think that's the reason. So even thought it would only take about TEN SECONDS of people's time each day, they don't to spend ten seconds to do something that could make a world of difference in our lives. It's sad. I've really been kind of down about the whole thing.

So anyway, it would mean so much to us to win this contest and it really only takes a few moments. All we need is for people to click on the link, sort by votes, find our name and click VOTE. This is four steps, but literally takes about 7 seconds - I TIMED it. LOL

I think we can keep us on the first page if people vote enough so that we'd be easier to find. Just click on sort by "vote" and then we're currently on page one under "Sonya H. - Jonesborough, TN, 4/14/2010."

Also, PLEASE, place a request to your FB page, My Space, or other e-mail loops and ask your friends and family to vote every day until the end of July. Even if they'd vote for the next month, we'd appreciate it, but if they could just vote each day - ten seconds - until the end of July, we would be so grateful! Our family works diligently to serve the homeschool community and we rarely ask for or receive anything in return for that. We serve because the Lord has called us to serve. We are grateful that our friend nominated us for this contest and we do believe that this is an opportunity that would help us tremendously with the medical debt that I face on a monthly basis. (My monthly medicines and bills run over $250 - EVERY month. I realize some people have worse bills than that, but we receive no public assistance, no Medicaid, etc. It's just me and my husband working like crazy while homeschooling our five children and doing what we can to help others. That's how we like it.) :)

OK, enough with the pity party! Would you please vote each day until the end of July? And please - ask your friends and family if they would do the same? Forward this - or portions of it - to your pages or websites. Share the link and share our information so they'll vote for our family. If you want to know more about us, please ask. Or, please feel free to read or post my website - www.thehomeschooladvocate.com. We would be happy to share any information you might need to make a decision if you'd like to vote for us. We would really appreciate it!!

Thanks for reading and thanks for VOTING!!!! Here's the link:
http://www.mypigeonforge.com/savingvacations/Story/Page1

Sonya
on behalf of the Haskins family - Chris, Sarah (14), Micah (12),
Christopher (10), Daniel (who will be 9 next weekend), and Hannah (7)

teacher sues for right to give failing grades

In Louisiana, a teacher has sued for the right to fail students after she was told to give no grade lower than "D" - regardless of performance. And people wonder why kids are graduating who can't read or count, who don't know history or can't identify Asia on a map... Administrators and unions have taken over public education in the United States. It's time to TAKE THE EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN BACK. Whether your children are in public, private or homeschool, we need to make sure students have an opportunity to learn and students who don't learn should not continue to advance.

Here is a link to the article: http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/92569189.html

Sonya