Jason Wescoat
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On the article Alex Fees Joins the Mehlville School District
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On the article Alex Fees Joins the Mehlville School District
Jason Wescoat
7:19 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
ReplyAssuming Mr. Fees is up to the task, which his resume certainly seems to imply that he is, and the district is able to get the word out to the people, this is brilliant!
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On the article Forum: Mehlville School Candidates Answer Questions
Jason Wescoat
1:53 am on Friday, March 22, 2013
ReplyC'mon Karl. As always, you're welcome to your opinion. However, putting together a set of edited segments of comments, out of order and out of context, is at best unfair and you know it.
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On the Blog Post Nothing Matters. Plenty to See Here. Time to Move On.
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On the Blog Post Nothing Matters. Plenty to See Here. Time to Move On.
Jason Wescoat
10:23 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
ReplyThat's all fine. To some extent, I don't disagree. My point is, don't claim to talk about what's known (not only your list, but your plethora of posts claiming to be about what is known), if nothing is able to be truly known.
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On the Blog Post Nothing Matters. Plenty to See Here. Time to Move On.
Jason Wescoat
2:09 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
ReplyObviously you know we'll disagree on the very basis of your whole post, so I won't bore any readers or you with an in depth conversation. We're not likely to change each others opinion. Either God will work on you, or I'll die and it will be over anyway. However, I have two points that are so glaring, I can't ignore.
First, the evolution of a one-cell organism to the diversity of life seen throughout history has zero to do with medicine. How species change over time is obviously relevant. How species change species isn't. Second, in your list of what is "known," "probably," "probability," and "likely" fill the entire list. Obviously you're welcome to believe as you wish, but don't pretend to be the arbiter of what is "known" when you fully admit you know very little.
Okay, I have a third. Never mind the philosophical questions about if we're really here or not, but assuming we are real, we know life exists. That is a priori knowledge. We don't know that physics is the reason life came into existence or that physics is the reason anything at all came into existence. That belief is called faith, at least until we observe life coming from non-life in some sort of natural form or something coming from nothing.
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On the article Mehlville Schools Superintendent Reacts to Connecticut Shooting
Jason Wescoat
12:46 am on Saturday, December 15, 2012
ReplyAs much as it pains me to agree with Karl, a school isn't a temple, church, mall, theater or other public place. It is one of two places I can think of, summer camps being the other, where hundreds or thousands of young children are congregated without their parents. I have zero problem with extra protection. Also, we're not talking about a team in S.W.A.T gear hiding in corners, we're talking about a highly trained person doing his job in plain sight for all to see.
For the record, I also have very little problem with armed guards at almost any place. I don't want to walk through metal detectors and get a pat down wherever I go, but I don't think that's what anyone here has suggested.
I'm a proponent of guns and conceal and carry type laws, but those do come with some real concerns. Mostly, they're too easy to obtain. However, in addition to those laws (preferably with more common sense) as a deterrent, if scumbags who want to hurt other people know that trained guards are there with a gun, there's a good chance that will be an additional deterrent. I'm all for deterrents, especially when my children could be in harm's way.
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On the article How Long Was Your Wait at the Polls? Tell Us
Jason Wescoat
2:48 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
ReplyJust beat the lunch rush at Trunity Church in Mehlville. Walked in with nobody in line at the check in, though there was a line for the voting machines (only 3...weird since there have been three or more for non-Presidential election years). Still, in and out in 20 minutes. By the time I left, the line was 30 people deep to check in, and growing by the minute.
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On the article Video Evidence Presented at Point Ex-Principal's Trial
Jason Wescoat
10:33 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
ReplyWhere you there, Laura? No way a prosecution goes to trial with nothing. They'd settle or drop charges before going on with a public trial. It's a complete waste of time and money...our money, and a major risk of a civil suit back on the city. If the video only shows from 3 to 3:15, why not go back to 2:45 and remove doubt that this happened just before the park ranger wrote on the summons. What possible reason could the former park ranger have to just make up a story like this? Is it some bitter former student? If the ranger is so dumb, isn't it possible that the location was off enough to not be in range of the camera? Are there other cameras covering other sections of the park that might have been in range? On the flip side, where is the dude from the car, why didn't he get a summons, or did he? Did the former ranger testify?
I'm not saying he's guilty of anything because I have no idea. In fact, I can think of a few legitimate explanations I'd buy if Mr. Walters said that's what happened. But if you're commenting based on this article, you don't know if the prosecution had anything or not. There are so many questions. My hunch is, this article was written after talking to Mr. Bruntrager only since the trial was moved. If you were there, please enlighten us to what they actually did present. Without bias, if possible. If he's innocent, the city is out millions of dollars with any semblance of a decent lawsuit, and he would deserve it.
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On the article Meet Your New Mehlville-Oakville Editor: Lindsay Toler
Jason Wescoat
8:31 am on Monday, September 24, 2012
ReplyWelcome, Lindsay! It was a pleasure to meet you at the social networking meeting a few weeks back. I feel confident saying to my fellow Mehlville/Oakville Patch readers that we are in good hands with Lindsay at the helm...unlike that poor Moldovan cow!
Jason Wescoat
1:23 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
First off, reading comprehension is grand. I specifically said, "if" in my comment. Moving on...on many items, I'm sure you and I would agree PR, but when it comes to education, we simply don't. Side note, that by itself doesn't make me wrong and you right.
I'm all for getting rid of most taxes as there are lots of things my tax dollars pay for that I don't like. I do think the teacher's unions are a joke and materially harm education on a national scale, I do think that NCLB and other solely standardized tests means of measurement are a joke, I do think some of the moves by previous MSD boards have been absurd. I'm pretty sure if I took the time to dive into each financial decision by Dr. Knost and previous superintendents, I could find plenty I don't like. However, to imply educators are unimportant, which you routinely do on this site, or to argue that an engaged local population isn't a benefit to the best education possible for children in the area is simply nonsense. Overall, the population around thinks the MSD is a cesspool of crap. That's a problem that communication would help. Your comments are the clearest evidence that public relations are sorely needed.
Full disclosure, I'm not a fan of the public school system on a national scale. However, it's the system we have and I have no means to make changes to it. I'll be darned if I'm going to watch it crumble without at least doing my part to make it better. I think Mr. Fees is choosing to do the same.