A ban on singing “Happy Birthday” lasted all of four days at Chesterfield Elementary School in Missouri after angry parents bombarded the school with complaints.
“Singing is not permitted due to the sensitivity of all student beliefs,” wrote Principal Jodi Davidson in a letter to parents dated August 13.
On August 23 Davidson sent another letter reversing the policy noting that students “are permitted and encouraged to sing the happy birthday song in the classroom.”
However, students will not be permitted to sing the traditional song in the cafeteria and all birthday treats must be individually inspected by the school nurse.
“We have lots of students who celebrate birthdays on the same day and we just didn’t want to have the loud chaos that happens in the cafeteria,” Davidson told KSDK television. “That should be a calming environment so that it’s safe for all students and they can celebrate their birthdays with their classmates and friends.”
Kim Cranston, a spokesperson for the Rockwood School District, told FOX News Radio, the initial ban on the birthday song was meant to protect the students.
“One of the things that she (Davidson) had explained to me is they always want to be sensitive to all children,” Cranston said. “And there are some children in their school – as there are in many schools – who don’t participate in holiday or birthday celebrations.”
Cranston said to her knowledge there had been no prior complaints about the singing of the “Happy Birthday” song.
As for the inspections of the birthday goodies?
“We have to be especially careful with children with allergies,” she said.
While cupcakes and other pre-packaged treats are allowed, the school also encourages non-food related items to be distributed for birthday celebrations.
Among the “non-food” related items suggested by the principal are pencils, erasers, book marks, and book donations to the class library.
The school district acknowledged the situation could have been handled a bit more delicately.
“Mrs. Davidson has freely admitted that she didn’t communicate that very well,” Cranston said. “She has apologized.”
An Arizona man has been fined by his homeowner’s association for flying a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag outside his home.
Andy McDonel, of Laveen, said the flag is attached to a pole in his front yard and has been flying since January. The yellow banner with a coiled snake has become a symbol of the Tea Party movement.
“There’s no way that I’m going to take the flag down,” McDonel said. “This flag is a flag of conviction. The Founding Fathers fought to establish this great country.”
But the homeowner’s association disagreed and levied a fine against McDonel. That decision outraged some of his neighbors.
“If you want to fly a flag that represents something you believe in, then you should be able to do it without anyone telling you that you don’t have a First Amendment right,” said neighbor Ed Turner.
And while the homeowner’s association may have taken issue with the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, they don’t have a problem with professional football flags. Video from the local FOX television affiliate shows a homeowner flying a Dallas Cowboys flag.
Arizona allows citizens to fly the American flag, the state flag and military flags in outdoor displays.
A Tennessee middle school football coach said he got fired after he wrote a song that criticized President Obama.
Bryan Glover, an assistant coach at Grassland Middle School near Nashville, co-wrote the country music song, “When You’re Holding a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail.”
It was co-written by a parent who has a child on the team. Glover, 26, said he emailed a copy of the song to friends, family members and player’s parents through his personal email account.
And that’s when all the trouble started for the self-described independent conservative.
“The coach called me and said parents were upset – that I was being politically incorrect and the song had racial overtones,” Glover told FOX News Radio. “An hour and a half later I was told I was being terminated.”
“I was informed that I was being let go because of the song,” he said, denying claims there were any racial overtones in the song.
Williamson County School Superintendent Mike Looney disputed Glover’s account and said his dismissal had nothing to do with the song.
“Absolutely not,” he told FOX News Radio. “That’s a false claim.”
Looney said he was not allowed to go into specifics but acknowledged he spoke with the school’s principal and was satisfied with their handling of the matter.
“They presented me with logical, legally defensible reasons for doing so,” Looney said. “As far as I’m concerned they’ve handled the matter appropriately.”
Glover said he’s angry over what happened and believes he lost his job because his song was critical of President Obama. And he’s not the only one.
“It was a disgrace and we have to stand up for the guy,” said Michael Katsaitis, who has a son on the football team. He said he met with the principal of the school after Glover’s firing and is convinced his dismissal was a result of the song.”
“The first thing she told me was that Bryan’s song was derogatory to our president,” he said. “He shouldn’t have fired over that song.”
Glover said he is seeking legal counsel and may consider a lawsuit against the school.
“First and foremost I’m a conservative,” he said. “I do support what the tea party movement is all about but I’m more Republican than Democrat. I’m an independent conservative who thinks the government tries to have their hand in way too many things.”
“I’m pretty heated,” he said. “I’m just a blue-collar guy, trying to make a living, trying to chase a dream.”
Following are the lyrics to his song:
He was a little man, just turned three
Took the present from his daddy’s hand
A genuine toy hammer
He started beatin’ to beat the band
He hit the floors and the wall, broke a lamp in the hall,
Started swinging at the puppy’s tail
When you’re holding a hammer
Everything looks like a nail.
He was the president, number 44
He says, “Trust me, I’m here to help you
I have got some big big plans
You’re gonna love what I’m gonna do.”
There’s no problem too big or small
He thinks he’s got an answer that just can’t fail
When you’re holding a hammer
Everything looks like a nail.
He thinks big thoughts and he dreams big dreams
But it’s another man’s sweat that pays for those schemes
He don’t care how the little people feel
‘Cause saving the world is a big freaking deal
So he does his business behind closed doors
And pretends that the world is just begging for more
When the stuff hits the fan he says, “Don’t look at me
If you got trouble, blame 43.”
Now Congress is saving Wall Street
While they’re watching Main Street fall
They got health care all figured out
But it don’t seem to care much at all
As soon as they save the planet
They’ll put the fire out in hell
When you’re holding a hammer.
Everything looks like a nail.
He thinks big thoughts and he dreams big dreams
But it’s another man’s sweat that pays for those schemes
He don’t care how the little people feel
‘Cause saving the world is a big freaking deal
So he does his business behind closed doors
And pretends that the world is just begging for more
When the stuff hits the fan he says, “Don’t look at me
If you got trouble, blame 43.”
There’ll be a party come this November
When we’re gonna set things straight
All good people gonna gather ‘round
Gonna show what made this country great
We’ll run off the schemers and backroom dealers
So the Red, White and Blue will prevail
When we’re holding the hammer
When we’re holding the hammer
Everyone of them looks like a nail.
Jordan Gavaris is not your typical Hollywood actor. He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink, and he actually enjoys hanging around with his parents.
No, really.
As a matter of fact, Jordan said his lone vice in life is an affinity for coffee. Make that an obsession.
“My family calls it insanity,” he said. I spend more money looking for the perfect coffee bean and the perfect espresso machine than I think most people do on their first car.”
So it’s really no surprise that the co-star of the Cartoon Network’s hit show Unnatural History knows the exact location of the best java in Los Angeles and his hometown of Toronto.
“Before I go on a trip, the first thing I’ll do is Google a town and get a list of different coffee houses,” he said.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said, reflecting on the virtues of the latte they serve at Lamill Coffee in LA. And when Gavaris is north-of-the-border, there’s a pretty good chance he’s nursing a latte at the Mercury Espresso Bar in Toronto.
“It’s incredibly addictive,” he said.
And so is acting – another passion for the coffee-swilling Canadian. That might explain why he managed to land a spot on the Cartoon Network with what he calls a “less-than-impressive” resume.
There were a few television commercials, a starring role in an independent film and some episodic work on “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
“It’s that iconic show that every Canadian actor works on at some point in their career,” he said. Think of it as their version of “Law and Order” – without the crime scene tape.
But after two years in college, Gavaris decided to pursue a fulltime career as an actor. And after four auditions, he managed to land a co-starring role in his first American series – “Unnatural History.”
Gavaris plays the role of Jasper Bartlett in the action-adventure show. “Hist with a twist,” is what they call it. “We take something from history and we twist it so we get a mystery out of it.”
“The character is very much a real teenager,” he said. “He’s vulnerable, he’s insecure. He’s not a superhero. He’s goofy – very tenacious.”
In other words – Jordan is a lot like Jasper.
“I love being able to live out all of my childhood fantasies,” he said. “I grew up on shows like Scooby-Doo and I read the Hardy Boys. I loved a good mystery, a good who-done-it.”
Gavaris is the youngest of three children. His father was a school teacher; his mother, a stay-at-home mom – living a pretty average, run-of-the-mill life outside Toronto.
“We lived close to the country,” he said, “No mall – we had cornfields.”
Like any good Canadian, Gavaris played hockey – left wing. And when the countryside thawed, he whacked around a golf ball. But he was no Tiger Woods.
“Sports were never really for me,” he said. “I wasn’t a real rough kid. A lot of my friends were, though. And as I got older, I realized I didn’t have a lot in common with the other kids.”
And since there wasn’t a glee club around, Gavaris turned to film. It was like peanut butter meeting jelly – a perfect combination.
“My first job was at a video store just so I could get free movie rentals,” he said. By the time he turned 15, Gavaris had send nearly 500 movies.
He was particularly drawn to the works of Quentin Tarantino. “When I saw his movies, they blew my mind,” he said. “I’d never seem movies like that. He wanted to make films that just hit you like a brick in the face.”
And the rest – they say, is history.
With season one wrapped up, Gavaris is back in Canada – living with his parents. And while he has big plans those plans don’t necessarily include a beach house in Malibu.
“My dream place is somewhere in Virginia or Massachusetts,” he said. “Maybe a farm or a ranch in the middle of nowhere.”
The bright lights of Hollywood are enticing, but not just for the 20-year-old kid from Canada.
“It’s a nice place but I’ll never live there,” he said.
And that’s when he dropped the bombshell.
“I have a moral compass,” he said. “It’s very important to me.”
So no drunken nights on Sunset Strip?
“Never liked the taste of it.”
No massive parties on the beach with all sorts of Lady Gaga-esque shenanigans?
“My mom would kill me.”
Is this guy really for real?
“I made a promise to my parents and I meant it,” he said. “I attribute a lot of who I am to my parents. They taught me a lot about life and they still teach me a lot about life.”
But that’s not to say he’s an altar boy.
“I want to play a psychopath,” he admitted. “My dream role is to play a complete and utter psychopath.”
Gavaris admits that he knows little about psychopaths and to his knowledge, he is not one. “But when you play somebody who doesn’t abide by the rules of society, you can get away with anything – being theatrical, over the top.”
And while we’re on the subject of theatrics, don’t get Gavaris started on his favorite movie star.
“Sissy Spacek,” he said. “She is the most phenomenal actor on the planet. Did you see her in ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’?”
I did – actually – although I’m not sure how many 20-year-old Canadians are familiar with the Loretta Lynn bio-pic.
“Those performances wanted me to bare my soul for the camera,” he said.
And there you have it. Jordan Gavaris, a kid from Canada with a passion for coffee, a passion for acting, and a passion for doing the right thing.
Oh, yeah, and according to his Twitter profile, Justin Bieber “stole his look.”
Superheroes may be bad role models for your little boys. It’s not about the spandex – it’s about their attitude, according to a new study from the University of Massachusetts.
“Today’s superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he’s aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity,” said Dr. Sharon Lamb in an interview with The Telegraph. “There’s a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday.
Lamb unveiled her findings at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
One of the most offensive superheroes, according to her findings, is Iron Man. He’s a playboy millionaire who flies around in an iron suit – has a thing for the ladies. And then there’s Batman. He’s a playboy millionaire who flies around in tights – had a ward named Dick.
Lamb told the newspaper that old-school superheroes did good deeds by day and fought evil by night. “These were heroes boys could look up to and learn from because outside of their costumes, they were real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities,” she said.
Among the good guys in her study is Spiderman, who squirts things out of his wrists, and Superman, who may or may not have fathered a child out of wedlock before fleeing the planet (or so the story goes in Superman Returns).
Professor Lamb said there are two kinds of superheroes you need to watch out for – the bad-boy superhero and the slacker superhero.
“The superhero image, created as someone who shows their masculinity through power over other people, through exploiting women, showing their wealth, and through sarcasm and superiority,” is one of the two poor role model choices for young boys.
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