Open Letter from Crafty Dog

[Crafty_Dog]

A Howl of Greeting to All:

It has been brought to me attention that there has been concern by some
people about my mingling of politics and martial arts on the Public Forum.

For me, it was logical to do so.  With the attack by the Islamo-Fascists on
911, Dog Brother Martial Arts' mission statement of "Walk as a Warrior for
all your days" naturally connected with the idea of the heroes of Flight 93
on 911.  In short, as behooves a free people,  the idea is that "We the
people" step forward in our own behalf-- just as envisioned by our Founding
Fathers in the Second Amendment of our Constitution and in Section 311 of
Title 10 of the US Code.

As I see it, our homeland is under attack.  This attack did not begin on 911.  It did not
finish with the attack of 911.  911 was simply one step in a progression-- 
the next step of which may include nuclear contamination.   (Even on 911 the
risk was there:  What would have happened had the Islamo Fascists had flown
Flight 93 into the nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island and left
Pennsylvania glowing for several hundred years?)

THIS is the context in which I began including politics on the General
Forum.

Where I rather blithely have missed the point however was in my failure to
appreciate that some people on the Public Forum were worried that
participation in Dog Brothers Martial Arts meant agreement, or would be
taken by others to mean agreement with my distinctive politics.

Certainly this has not been my intention!

I am well aware that intelligent people of good faith can and do come to
different conclusions about how to best go about responding to the
challenges and dangers of our time!

So, please allow me to be perfectly clear: Dog Brothers Martial Arts is for
anyone of any political or religious persuasion that accepts Respect,
Reciprocity and Reason as the basis of human interaction.  When we come
together to train, it is as if we are part of the Olympics.

To accentuate this principle, we have re-organized the public forum so as to
put Politics in its own Forum.  The Spanish language forum continues as
before, but the previous General Forum has now been divided into three
forums:

·         Martial Arts and related matters:

·         Science, Culture & Humanities

·         Politics & Religion:

Whichever forum(s) you go to, we promise you high-IQ, informed, passionate, and lively reading.

The Adventure continues,
Crafty Dog

[thai70]

I was a school teacher for seven years here in Hawaii.  They try to have the zero tolerance about bullying, but the system is easily manipulated.  I can only speak for what I have witnessed at one middle school.  Principals are overworked and don't spend much time on bullying.  It is tough to prove. 
As far as fighting, they generally suspend everybody, but if a parent chooses to appeal the suspension, the kid is allowed back into school until the case is decided.  This goes for any suspension here.  A kid can bring a knife to school (which has happened, often) and they will be suspended, but if they appeal, they are right back in school.  I feel safer already.
One course of action is to have the aggressor kid arrested.  If your kid gets hassled, instruct them to say out loud so others can hear, "I don't want to fight you."  Then If the other kid persists, your kid can whoop ass, call the cops, say your kid was the victim and claim self defense.
The best way to deal with principals who don't do what you want is (and God is going to strike me down for saying this) is to mention either one of two words...
"lawsuit" or "Lawyer"  Principals usually wet their pants at those words.
However, the best thing I've found to work is to be involved, and communicate with the school admin and teachers.  Teachers will usually take the time to talk to you, admin may not.  Mention the kids who are bullying and see if anything gets done.  You get more flys with honey than with piss.