Famous People with ADHD Provide Hope

My hardworking grandfather worked the fields of the farm he owned from 5:30am to 1:30p. Then he jumped on a bus headed to Philadelphia to go to his job in a book bindery to work a shift there. I am not sure how he did it.

I was a city boy according to grandfather. But every summer, I would work on the farm for a week or two. The pay was terrible, the days were long and it was completely voluntary. I imposed this self torture to be with the grandparents I loved so very much. My parents and my friends thought I was crazy. I did it every summer from age 12 to age 17.

The days I worked the farm were the most exhausting days of my life. I would get up at 5:30a to cut, wash and pack squash. After a quick breakfast break, we would go out into the fields and pick peppers and tomatoes and cut eggplant and butternut squash. Then we would load the truck for market. We would typically end the day at 5:30p. Eat dinner. Play in the yard and be sleeping by 8:30p so we could do it again the next day.

I remember on brutally hot day. My cousin Tony and I were in a butternut squash field slaving away. We decided that we needed a quick break after working for 2 straight hours. Wouldn't you know that that is when my grandfather came to check on us. He yelled and called us good for nothing, lazy bastards before he drove off mad in a cloud of dust.

I was so mad, but not at him. I was mad at myself for letting the man I admired down. Not long after, at the farmers market, I was unloading the truck when I overheard my grandfather talking to his farming buddies. He was talking with pride about his hardworking city boy grandson. The next time he called me a lazy good for nothing. I just smiled to myself.

My son has ADD/ADHD. Many kids with ADD / ADHD are label as stupid and lazy. I tried every trick in the book to motivate him. Money. Stickers. Hugs. All with no results. I admittedly and repeatedly have tried my grandfathers method and called my son out as a lazy good for nothing. This does not work either. Nothing seems to motivate my son. I told to lower my expectations. I was told that you do not have to be a hard working rich man to be happy. I was told to just let him be what he is going to be. I was going to take this advice until I had a chance meeting with a man who is an expert in ADD/ADHD

This man has ADD/ADHD. This man had a mother who 30 years ago realized that her son needed different learning strategies to succeed. He is now a successful businessman on the verge of making it really big with an i-learning product develop for ADD/ADHD kids. This man is teaching my that my son is not stupid and lazy and to not give up on him.

He told me that my son has a gift, the gift to think differently. He then went on to tell me that many famous people in the world had ADD/ADHD. Winston Churchill failed 6th grade. Thomas Edison's teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Tolstoy failed out of college. Einstein did not talk until four and did not read until seven. Lincoln and Kennedy had ADD/ADHD. He also told me that 40% of people in jail have ADD / ADHD.

Kids with ADHD have low self-esteem and do not feel like they fit into the world. This list of people shows that kids with ADD/ADHD can not only fit in, but can also define the world. Parents just need to steer them in the right direction.

I admire so many people on the list. I would love to admire my son one day.

Three Pigs and a Puppy Die

In Britain, a school decided to change the 150-year-old Three Little Pigs story to something less offensive to Muslims. (Story) The Koran states that Muslims cannot eat or touch pigs. In their infinite wisdom the school district replaced the three pigs with three puppies. Here was their first attempt.

Once upon a time, there were three little puppies living with their mum (this is Britain). They decided to leave their mum to make it in the big world. The youngest was full of hate toward Jews, Christians Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, Americans, capitalists, pigs and other Muslims that did not share his radical puppy beliefs.

This young puppy did not have much optimism, self-esteem or drive so he built a modest medieval doghouse made of mud and straw. His brothers opted for more substantial housing further from home in mountain caves in the tribal territories of Pakistan.

One day a big bad wolf came to the mud and straw house of the youngest puppy and knocked on the door. "Let me in," the wolf yelled, “or I will huff and puff and I will blow your house down.” The radical puppy opened the door and said praise Allah and blew up himself and the wolf. The End.

There is a war going on against our culture. The enemies are radical Islam, the ACLU, secular progressives and good people who are paralyzed by political correctness.

Victims in the war include Christmas, George Washington and Abe Lincoln, the Ten Commandments, and now the three pigs. Rest in peace.

We need to fight this to preserve our great nation for our Conservative Kids.

Actually, to be fair, Islamic leaders in the British community condemned the politically correct move to change pigs to puppies as misguided and said decisions like this were turning Muslims into 'misfits' in society.

I hate to tell you Mr. British spineless Islamic leader - The radical faction of your religion is turning Muslims into misfits. Denounce radical Islam, not scared Christians who think that they need to appease the aggressor by changing our culture.

Bill Frist Heard Conservative Kids Calling for Fred

After Washington Whispers / Zogby concluded Hillary was the most Reaganesque - I started blogging about Fred Thompson. That was on January 22, 2007.

Washington Whispers

By Paul Bedard

Posted 1/14/07

Hillary: Filling the Boots of the Gipper

It was one of those in-the-shower brainstorms for pollster John Zogby:Ronald Reagan, at 28 percent, FDR at 26 percent, JFK at 21 percent, Abraham Lincoln at 16 percent, and just 6 percent for George Washington. And who's viewed as most Reaganesque? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She also grabs the FDR and Washington mantle but falls far short of upstart Sen. Barack Obama for the JFK title. Let's see which past A-list president voters wish they could put in the Oval Office to fix the nation and which of the major 2008 presidential hopefuls best matches that pick. Drumroll, please. In order:

Zogby says there are several messages from his just completed poll, provided exclusively to Whispers. Most obvious: If voters want a Reaganesque or Rooseveltian firm hand and vision in the White House, then Clinton looks like a good bet. But if they prefer the inspiration of JFK and Lincoln, then Obama's their guy. "It looks like youthful vigor has the best crossover appeal," says Zogby. It's not so clear on the GOP side. Only Rudy Giuliani scores well, seen as the most Lincoln-like and beating Sen. John McCain in every "most like" category. Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ranks last in all but one. Zogby sees a biblical race between Jeremiah and Moses in how some major themes play out. "Moses had a plan to get to the Promised Land, and for Jeremiah the sky was falling." Who wins? "Hopefulness is the key."

Since that time, Fred Thompson has been the most popular topic on my site. It was a slow build but traffic with people looking for info on Fred Thompson has exploded ever since.

I linked to small bloggers who were talking about Fred. Those combined voices of small bloggers resonated very loud.

Bill Frist (VOLPAC) heard the call and he has Fred's ear.

I believe that future of Conservative Kids will be so much brighter with Fred Thompson as the leader. The ultra liberal Obama and the deceitful, cold, selfish power hungry politician Clinton will not lead this country in a positive direction.

Teacher Teaches Capitalism Burns at Stake.

My last post got me thinking about the most memorable teacher I ever had.

In sixth grade, I had Mrs. Steele. She taught the requisite broad spectrum of subjects like math, English, social studies, etc. But she also taught capitalism.

Mrs. Steele created a market economy in her class. She printed Steele dollars. She gave everyone a job and a base salary. She also gave us the opportunity to earn more dollars by providing a meaningful service to the class. This was strictly optional. Like any real world economy, some people worked harder than others and soon a social class structure emerged.

To earn extra money, I approached Mrs. Steele with an idea to start a class newspaper. She as delighted and was supportive. I got started right away. I covered the news of the class; Kickball highlights. The much anticipated announcement of the dodgeball MVP. I listed upcoming events. I acknowledged the personal achievements of class members. I had a horoscope. I listed birthdays.

Mrs. Steele helped me with story ideas and editing. She also gave me supplies - the mimeograph paper. It is easy to make money when the cost of goods is zero. She also strongly encouraged everyone to buy my paper. This endeavor added $1,000 per week to my salary.

I also made a lot of money tutoring kids in Math.

Every last Friday in the month was market day. Kids would bring in unwanted toys and Mrs. Steele would bring in candy, baseball cards and some other small things she bought. The stuff Mrs. Steele brought in was sold at a fixed price. All the other stuff went to auction and went to the highest bidder. It was always quite exciting.

I never bought anything. I set a goal to have $100,000 at the end of the school year. My buddy and I had a secret competition to be the richest kid in the class. I ended up exceeding my goal and winning. I'm still winning thanks to Mrs. Steele.

If Mrs Steele taught capitalism in school today, she would be burned at the stake. The liberals and Psychologists like Doctor Ablow (or Dr. AimLow as I like to call him) would go on the TODAY show and call Mrs. Steele out and tell her that she is hurting the self-esteem of poor Johnny.

Johnny was literally poor (in school). He was making the minimum salary and getting fined for missing homework. Johnny was also literally stupid. He went into Mrs. Steele's desk when we had a substitute and stole a wad of Steele Dollars. When Mrs. Steele returned, she questioned the class regarding the missing money. No one confessed. It was the top story in the newspaper.

A week later at Market Day, Johnny, flush with cash, went on a buying spree. Mrs. Steele knew Johnny's financial situation, so she took the cash back and reported the situation to the principal and Johnny's mom. I reported the capture of the thief in the newspaper. (Mrs. Steele would not let me report the name of the robber).

Liberals would say that the capitalism experiment caused Johnny to steal. I had known Johnny since kindergarten. He was a punk on the road to no where and even the great Mrs. Steele could not teach him the cause and effect of hard work. But she taught me.

Thank you Mrs. Steele.

Conservative Kids Don't Need Dr. AimLow Ablow

In Texas kids are paid $100 for each AP exam passed.

A non-profit called Advanced Placement Strategies established the program. It was featured on the Today Show this morning. Two executives affiliated with Advanced Placement Strategies provided irrefutable data that clearly illustrated the power of the corporately funded project.

From 1991 to 1995 about 300 AP exams were taken in 10 DISD Schools in Math, Science and English about 150 passed.

In 2006, 3,965 tests were taken and 1,300 passed.

Wait for it.

Wait.

Yep I heard it. This program discriminates against African Americans and Hispanics.

Not true Jessee.

From 1991 to 1995 about 25 AP tests were passed by minorities in the test schools.

In 2006, 532 AP tests were passed by African Americans and Hispanics. WOW.

US Public Schools have about 25 minority kids pass an AP test per 1,000. In the Texas test program that number is 3X.

The scores in Math and Science for all students went from an average of 70 in the early 90's to 877 in 2006. The program is working.

There are more results on the website.

Are the tests easier? No. Are the teachers better? Yes.

Teachers are given extra training and cash incentives too. Add in professional management (not government oversight), measurement and accountability and you have a successful program.

Of course the Today Show had to parade out a liberal psychologist (Dr. Ablow). Dr. AimLow told a very unconvincing theory about how this program will hurt the self-esteem of the kids who do not take AP classes or happen to be artists. Dr. AimLow, we have programs to reward artists, especially those high achievers who smear elephant dung on the Virgin Mary.

Dr. Aimlow did not seem to care about the improved self-esteem of the considerable number of additional students who not only challenged themselves to take the AP classes but also passed and earned college credits. His great evidence was the he had great passionate teachers who motivated him without paying him. Focus group of one, doctor. Thanks for the shallow insight. I agree that everyone has one or two teachers who touched them, but let's face it the vast majority of teachers were dull and quite forgettable.

And Doctor, you are not considering the other side of the equation. Teachers are given incentives to get better and more schools are encouraged to offer AP classes. Plus the program provides incentives to kids in the form of food and door prizes to show up to review sessions on a Saturday. I know this hurts the self-esteem of kids who hate prizes and do not eat.

Dr. AimLow you called this program a shortcut to getting back on track in Math and Science. I am not sure if you noticed but America is getting passed up in Math and Science by the rest of the world while the Bush / Kennedy No Kid Gets To Far Ahead Else Little Johnny Might Feel Bad and Start to Wet his Bed Again Plan sputters along in bureaucratic red tape and while child psychologists try to protect the self-esteem of the lowest common denominator at the expense of the self-esteem of the kids who work hard to get ahead.

Dr. AimLow went to Brown and Johns Hopkins but he got schooled today on Today.

The Today Show had another liberal, Robert Scheaffer, who was also against the program. He stated that this kind of motivation generally does not work. (Did you see the data?). And this program will lead to a cynical attitude in student who will not study unless paid. The consequences for not studying are the same with or without the program. Mr Scheaffer, we would not want to teach kids that they get paid for pushing themselves to succeed. That never happens in the real world. Please think before you talk on TV.

You all know that my oldest son has ADHD. (Story here and here) At home, he watches his brother and sister excel academically, socially and athletically. At school, his schoolmates jokingly call him a retard for taking the remedial classes. My son's self-esteem would not be changed in the least if an AP student earned a Benjamin or three.

Conservative kids need radical new thinking to compete in this world.

What is More Important Stature or Stance?

Seems that there is now quite a bit of interest in Fred Daulton Thompson. From my site meter I can see what the real important issues are. Google's referring search terms can be very telling.

Using this very unscientific data, I have determined that Fred's stature is more important then Fred's stance on the issues; Fred's height, his age, where he went to college and how many times he has been married and whether he is Catholic or not are much more important than his stance on abortion, gun control, taxes and the death penalty.



Here is what I have found

Fred was born in Sheffield, Alabama on August 19th 1942. That would make him 64. When Fred Thompson puts his hand on the bible during the inauguration, he will be 3 years younger than when Ronald Reagan took office as the oldest president at the age of 69. McCain is 70 for those keeping score.

What Thompson lacks in experience vis-a-vis Reagan, he makes up in height. Fred Thompson is 6' 6" or 5 inches taller than Reagan. And a full 11 inches taller than McCain and 12 inches taller than Hillary Clinton.

Thompson has been married the same amount of times as Reagan. He is currently married to Jeri Kehn married June 2002 and they have one daughter. He was married to Sarah Lindsey from 1959 to 1985 and they had two boys and a daughter together. They divorced. He has five grandchildren.

He is not Catholic. The 106th Congressional Record has Church of Christ (Stone Campbell) listed as his church affiliation. On the Issues lists him as Protestant since 2002. That was the year he was remarried.

Senator Thompson went to Memphis State University in 1964 and Vanderbilt University in 1967.

Fred Thompson worked as a shoe salesman. Jack Reagan, Ronald's Dad, was a shoe salesman. Fred's dad was a used car salesman. Which makes both dads more noble than 95% of the politicians in Washington.

Do Conservative Kids Have Their Man?

Fred Daulton Thompson is considering a run for the White House in '08. Chris Wallace Fox News interviewed him today.

I can not wait for the debate between the ice queen and the quick-witted and affable Thompson.