- If I could have been a teenager/twenty-something in another decade, it would be the _____________.
- If I could pick out a special talent for myself, it would be _____________.
- If I could change one physical attribute about myself, it would be ______________.
- If I could be any super hero, I would be __________.
- If I could skip any holiday during the year, it would be __________.
- If I could spoil myself with one thing today, it would be _________.
1. Between the 1930s and 1950s 2. A Writer 3. My Chest, I want something smaller 4. Laura Croft b/c she kicks butt but she is also educated and refined 5. Christmas, it's become way too commericalized 6. A spa treament by the beach. I'm already feeling relaxed
I've long used www.ontheissues.org to help me determine who to vote for. I first became interested in politics when I was a senior in high school. It was during the race for the White House between George Bush and Al Gore. I was, at that time, incredibly conservative. I was one of two people in my American Government class willing to actually speak my mind on subjects and nearly ended up not graduating high school because of it. (If you interested in the whys and wherefores ask - I'll tell the story.) I've discovered, though, as I've gotten older (and perhaps better informed) I'm much more what someone might call moderate.
Here's the thing, though. I took the votematch quiz again today. I think I took it some time last week and it told me that I was a conservative leaning populist. I tool it again today and it tells me that I'm a moderate populist. Now, I'm completely willing to believe that the analysis would change because I took the time to better educate myself on some issues that I was only peripherally aware of. However, I don't think I'm a moderate populist. And, I actually think the site isn't very accurate about marking the issues as party-line-towers might actually think. So, here are my results, on the issues.
Last week, when I took the quiz, I was discouraged. I didn't have a match with any candidate higher than 38%. That's a bad number to me. So, I decided since I was both 38% with McCain and 38% with Obama that I'd be better off voting economic issues than social issues in this election and therefore would vote McCain. But then I take the quiz again today, right? Today I'm matched what I assume to be better because of the impromptu education I decided to give myself. Today I'm a 48% match for the libertarian candidate (that I won't vote for because voting for anyone outside of the big-two is basically just a wasted vote), a 45% match for Obama and a 40% match for McCain. You can see for yourself how it stacked up:
Here's the thing, though. I'm not sure any of that information above is reliable enough to base a vote on. I'm not sure that the percentages really accurately depict who I am as a voter. Not only that, but it doesn't ask me how much more important any one issues is to me than another. And I really feel as if that's an important factor. So, vox brethren, what do you all think about the way this shook down? Any words of advice?
University: LeCorn's degrees genuine
School board candidate earned bachelor's, master's from Alabama A&M.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 6:37 a.m.
A Star-Banner story earlier this week raised doubts about his educational background, but LeCorn insisted that he did earn the degrees in 1979 and 1980. The school on Friday confirmed that he was right.
Now LeCorn and Alabama A&M want to know why a degree verifying clearinghouse that the school uses says that LeCorn attended the school in the 1980s but never earned diplomas.
"I think the way Alabama A&M conducts their degree verifications needs to be tweaked," said LeCorn on Friday. "My reputation as a viable School Board candidate is at stake. I don't know if this mistake has done permanent damage to my campaign. I suppose it probably has. This all made me appear to be some type of fraud."
The clearinghouse, called DegreeVerify.org, told the Star-Banner on Wednesday that LeCorn attended Alabama A&M but never earned degrees. The school referred the Star-Banner to the clearinghouse to verify LeCorn's educational background.
The clearinghouse maintains that the information it supplied to the Star-Banner came from Alabama A&M. The clearinghouse still stands by its information.
Though the university will continue using the clearinghouse, Alabama A&M's registrar said his office will investigate to see what went wrong and why the wrong information was supplied.
"We will look into this,'' Registrar Cedric Arrington said.
Arrington said all degree verification requests are required to go through the clearinghouse and that his office no longer supplies those verifications, usually without exception.
However, Arrington chose to look into the situation after receiving an urgent fax on Friday from the Star-Banner about the controversy. Arrington said his office reviewed the matter and discovered that LeCorn does have a bachelor's degree in agribusiness education and a master's in education.
A DegreeVerify.org employee said Friday that all degree verification requests are thoroughly investigated and double-checked through the school before they are released to the customer. The Star-Banner paid the standard $7.50 fee when it requested the information on Wednesday.
The article also questioned the value of LeCorn's doctorate degree from the American College of Metaphysical Theology, an unaccredited diploma mill that issues doctorate degrees for $249 and doesn't require any coursework. LeCorn has touted that degree during his campaign.
After that story was published, LeCorn continued to insist that he earned the Alabama A&M degrees and accused the Star-Banner of being "culturally biased."
On Friday, upon learning news of the Star-Banner's follow-up investigation, LeCorn had this to say:
"It is important everyone has the facts. And the fact is the Star-Banner is not, and I said not, a culturally biased newspaper," LeCorn said. "It is important to me that people know that I do, in fact, have these degrees and I am not a fraud."
Joe Callahan may be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com or 867-4113.
13 Fun Times With My Friends & Family:
1. Bogartz for Qui's birthday.
2. Most of the important people with me on an important night - the first anniversary of my father's death. That was a really fun night.
3. Wathing Tyler play 3-year-old basketball. Too cute!
4. Dinner Party at James' & April's.
5. Tamera's wedding/rehearsal.
6. Fourth of July party.
7. Kentucky Derby party.
8. Cinco De Mayo.
9. Port Orange Beach with Tamera.
10. Bo's & Rachel's wedding.
11. My 21st birthday party at my little house in Citra. I miss that place!
12. My 18th birthday at The Melting Pot.
13. Graduating from High School, celebratory road trip with Tanya.
(excerpt from Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf)
…
are we ghouls?
children of horror?
the joke?
don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul
are we animals? have we gone crazy?
…
sing her song of life
she’s been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn’t know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty
she’s half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly.
…
& this is for colored girls who have considered suicide
but moved to the ends of their own rainbows.
(dark phrases, Shange 1997)
The following article was in today's newspaper. I can't believe this guy is running for the school board:
Candidate's diplomas appear iffy
School Board hopeful's doctorate from online, unaccredited operation.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 5:40 a.m.
LeCorn has said he's the only one, including incumbent Steve Hering and challenger Jackie Porter, who can put college degrees on their resume as they head into the District 3 primary on Aug. 26.
In reality, he only attended Alabama A&M University between June 1984 and June 1985, according to a degree verification clearinghouse utilized by the Alabama college and many others.
The Alabama A&M registrar's office referred the Star-Banner to DegreeVerify.org, stating it was the only way to verify a student's enrollment. It is the same database that would have been searched if the school still released the information, an employee said.
Just prior to the request, LeCorn came to the Star-Banner for an interview, presenting his diplomas, which appeared to be legitimate.
One showed a bachelor's degree in agribusiness from Alabama A&M in 1979 and his master's in agribusiness from the same school in 1980.
LeCorn said he would be available Wednesday evening to talk about the results of the diploma verification. However, he did not answer repeated calls to his cell phone.
LeCorn also told the Star-Banner that he worked as a professor at Alabama A&M. The Alabama A&M human resources department said it takes three days to verify employment. Without a bachelor's or master's, it is unlikely that LeCorn worked as a college professor.
Meanwhile, LeCorn's doctorate comes from the American College of Metaphysical Theology, an unaccredited diploma mill that sells doctorate degrees for $249.
The school Web site, which lists a Golden Valley, Minn. address, says you can also get a master's degree for $209 and a bachelor's for $149, all without taking one class. Degrees are mailed within a month of payment in many cases.
LeCorn insists his doctorate in pastoral administration is legitimate because the degree recognizes his life's work as an educator and a pastor for First Missionary Full Baptist Church of Ocala on Southeast 35th Court, just north of Belleview.
"I still feel that my qualifications are better than my opponents," said LeCorn, referring to the colleges that he claimed had awarded him degrees.
The metaphysical college's Web site - www.americancollege.com - acknowledges that it is not accredited. It states that accreditation is not important in theology and metaphysics colleges.
When the Star-Banner called the number listed on the Web site, the phone number was disconnected.
The school Web site states that paying for a degree can boost any applicants quest for a better job: "On the day that you enroll in a degree program, you may legitimately add an important line to your resume..."
To get a doctorate, the Web site states that after paying $249, a student gets full credit for life experiences through living life in your own community without going to classes. The doctorate also includes "ministerial credentials at no extra charge."
The site defines metaphysics as "the science which investigates first causes of existence and knowledge. It seeks to explain the nature of being and the origin and structure of the world, uniting man's physical, mental, and spiritual character into its true nature of holism."
During a check of LeCorn's background, it was also discovered that the 54-year-old has had his driver's license suspended twice in the last year for not paying his car insurance premium.
He said he quickly paid the fee moments after his license was revoked on June 9. It was reinstated on June 25.
LeCorn was also cited in February 2005 for speeding through the Ward Highlands Elementary School zone. A Marion County deputy pulled LeCorn over for doing 50 mph in a 20-mph zone at 8 a.m.
"I just didn't see the flashing lights," he said.
LeCorn has had financial trouble as well, according to a foreclosure case filed at the Marion County Courthouse. LeCorn purchased the First Missionary Full Gospel Baptist Church near Belleview and the mortgage was held by Robert Hobbs.
Hobbs filed for foreclosure in 2006 after LeCorn fell far behind on his payments, which were more than $1,400 per month. A Marion County judge ordered the church to be sold in August 2006.
Just before it was to go to auction, friends - investors - of LeCorn paid off the mortgage and the foreclosure case was closed, according to court files.
LeCorn said his church congregation started dropping and so did donations and he fell behind on the payments. "It's only as good as the money stream," he said.
When asked if he felt the near-foreclosure had any bearing on how he would handle the School District's $628 million budget, he said: "I think that means I know how to get things done when money is tight," he said, referring to the School District's funding shortage. "I know how to get things done on a shoestring budget."
Joe Callahan may be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com or 867-4113.
I feel like, for as busy as I keep myself, that there is absolutely nothing going on in my world. Sure, my life gets touched by those around me. But nothing's happening to me. In a lot of ways, that's good. That means that bad things aren't happening to me. But in a way it's bad because that means nothing good is happening to me either. I feel like I'm participating in my friend's lives rather than living my own life. I'm wrapped up in what's going on for my people - you know? Friends who are going through rough times. Friends who are going through good times. Friend's that are getting ready to have monumental changes thrust upon them. I'm sharing in their fear, their pain and their happiness. But I'm not creating my own things to spark those emotions.
Then, it struck me - for how busy I am I'm not actually doing anything. I'm not out there in ways that things are happening for me. I'm working. Good. I've got a good, steady job. But I've got things down to such a science here that most days I show up, do what I'm supposed to do and head home. I'm getting ready to go back to school, so I guess that's something. But I'm ready to step into another phase of life. I'm not sure what phase I'm particularly interested in. There are some major accomplishments I'd like to make over the next 20 years or so:
- Graduate with an AA (almost!), a BA, a Master's and a Ph.D.
- Get married.
- Buy a house.
- Have kids.
But there are also some things that are just on my "I need to start doing this stuff again" list:
- Get active in politics.
- Write.
- Dance classes.
- Exercise.
- Tennis.
I just feel like life isn't happening for me right now. But, what is it they say? Life is what happens when you're sitting around waiting for your life to start. So here I am, wasting time (probably). But all in all, feeling pretty good about being alive. I just can't help but think that if I got involved perhaps I might start meeting people. (And by people I mean single guys that might be interested in me.) But first I need to tackle the whole exercise thing. Thanks to Jeny and Frances I'm going to have a little support doing that. We're all going to support each other and get a group thing going. This could really work. If I start exercising again perhaps I could lose enough weight to make tennis enjoyable again. If I can start playing tennis I can really lose enough weight to get rid of this "big ol' blob" feeling I've got going on. In turn that will make me carry myself differently and more confidently. That should facilitate the meeting the guy so I can eventually and one day get married and have kids. See how all this stuff is interrelated? In the mean time I just want to start participating in my life again rather than participating in the lives of those around me. Not that I'm not having fun and not that I don't love them, but it's time for there to be something going on for me. You know?
So after being disappointed again, I'm going to focus my strength on things that I have control over. These include my art (drawing, painting, dancing, singing), my education (finishing school), and my self perception. I am going to check out some books on tape and cd on midfulness and I'm getting back on the wagon to discovering my bliss. I can't control how other people see or percieve me and I'm not going to let that bother me. I have to learn to love myself, or I'm going to end up dead. By accident or otherwise. There are great things to experience in life and I'm going to have to find and work at them. Let them carry me to the place where I feel self-sufficient and not overly reliant on other people for happiness because they will just let me down, intentionally or otherwise. Here I go. Cheer me on and I'll do the same for you. Namaste.
That's how I feel. I'm unstable and unhappy and just got put in my place. So, I guess I either have to wait until I'm derailed and fall off of the tracks, or stop at the next station, re-evaluate my life, and do something positive toward fixing it. It's hard when you can't think straight but don't want to take the numbing pills that will turn you into a drone, but at least a productive one. Right now I'm holding everthing together with shoe strings and duct tape and I feel like I'm hanging over a cliff. Or at least "6 feet front the edge"....
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All of us as Six Apart
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