I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630
You might say this lad is on the way up...but he's already been there. Someone all teenagers should emulate. It takes courage and strength to accomplish what he did. Life won't seem like such a challenge anymore after standing on top of the world.
Jordan Romero, 13, youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
He is awsome cute, and it is a great story. This is not meant to be a pun but it will sound like one when I wonder now that he has peaked where does he go from here? Maybe they will make a movie about him or maybe he will write a journal about his adventures
I think there are teenagers all over the world with courage and stamina and living heroic lives. For instance guys living in and out of pediatric oncology wards. If you are ever curious about what acute lymphocytic leukemia does to thirteen year old dudes let me know. One of our friends has been at war with that disease since he was four.
Yup, no doubt about it, this guy had a great adventure but for me I am not counting him among my personal heros.
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630
Well CB, it seems he has another peak to climb at the south pole, ambitious little critter.
I worked for many years with middle school aged kids, not many with asperations this high. But I discovered that the gay gene did something for many of them, it made them reach further and run faster. Not that I think this boy is gay, he'd probably be on the moon if he was.
I admire your empathy for those with a need and I'm sure your feelings must encourage your friend to keep up the battle. We are all hard pressed to understand the reason that so many children suffer with horrible diseases, until you look at the way humanity lives. We have always been our own worst enemy in what we do to our environment, our food supply and our bodies.
It doesn't take but a glance to discover that the human mind transcends the body, I give as my example Stephen Hawking. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, we all need at least one.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Location: U.S.A.
Registered: April 2007
Messages: 907
Climbing a mountain is cool. But taking an unpopular stand to benefit others is way cooler.
This was big news when it hit the press 7 months ago. Ten year old (now 11) Will Phillips refused to say the pledge of allegiance at school. He said it was because he didn’t believe the Pledge was appropriate since not everyone in the country has full “liberty and justice” as the last line indicates.
“I definitely think gays and lesbians deserve the same rights as everyone else,” Will says. “And until they are given equality in every way, I don’t see the point of standing and saying the Pledge.”
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630
Thank you for sharing that, Paul. The boy is a true hero because he sees LGBT issues as everyone's concern.
Also thanks for the link to the Watermark site, didn't know there was such a thing
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Interesting, Paul, because I just read a book called 'The Misfits' by James Howe in which Addie Carle refuses to say the pledge of allegiance in class.
Sorry but 10 y/o boys do not just come up with stuff like this on their own. OK he is a nerd and probably a brainiac but the stuff he is quoted as saying is just too adult. He got the idea for the pledge from his mom it sounds like.
Also, there is reason behind everything, and like my dad says that reason is usually money. This is a quote from a reply to the article in the comments section.
From their Facebook page: Jay Phillips: "anyone interested in contributing to Will's COLLEGE FUND can do so with the instructions located in the comment section of this status. Thank you for all of your support & your patience as we got something together that met people's needs while not bankrupting us in the year to come! : )"
Jay Phillips:
please mail a check payable to "Franklin Templeton 529 College Savings Plan" P.O. Box 33090 St. Petersburg, FL 33733-8090
in the memo section write Will Phillips Acct# 472-321-7514
It is important to note that any contribution under $13,000 (I don't expect to see anything in that ballpark) is considered a GIFT by the IRS and as such is NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE as a charitable contribution! This has the added benefit of not being considered taxable income for our family therefore not wrecking our finances for next year because of income we can't & wouldn't spend! lol!!!...
Also, if he does not want to say the pledge maybe he should go live in some country where "liberty and justice for all" is not a concern even if we still have a way to go. America is still one of the few countries in the world with people dying in attempts to just get here.
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630
Who knows what inspired this kid, Cabin Boy? But silence is a very valid means of protest (National Day of Silence) and a non-violent means of getting his statement out there. (it doesn't hurt that CNN finds it newsworthy)
I'm sure you know the Pledge is just a statement of the ideal as opposed to reality. "Liberty and justice for all" has never applied in this country,(take out the word "all," substitute the word "wealthy" and you come closer to the truth) but it's a goal. I personally have more discomfort with the words "one nation under God."
Whose God? We certainly don't mean those filty ragheaded Muslum bastards. I mean how dare they come to this country, find jobs, raise a family, contribute to our tax base and seek a peaceful existance just like the rest of us. (we are so intolerant)
Christians would deny the very foundation of their religion to get that point across. So much for liberty and justice for all.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
At 10 I thought very strongly about issues. I might have been inspired by my parents beliefs. But there's nothing to say that it was his parents' idea.
It's interesting how people often underestimate the capacity of people younger than themselves. I know 18 year olds that think 14 year olds aren't capable of thinking deeply about issues or making decisions themselves. And 14 year olds look the same way at 10 year olds.
You'd be surprised at the conviction that can be found in a 10 year old, though. This kid probably still plays with his action figures for fun, but that doesn't mean he can't have strongly held views about gay marriage.
At 6 I got in trouble for doing something at school and the teacher wouldn't let me go back to class until I admitted to it- I refused to lie to her to get myself out of trouble so I sat there for an hour until she let me go.
At 8 I threw a packet of my uncle's smokes in the ocean when we were at the beach because I thought smoking was wrong.
And by 10 I refused to taste coffee in a class science experiment about taste because I was Mormon and I had been taught coffee was bad.
By mum had taught me those morals, but my actions and my convictions were my own. Don't underestimate kids- they are smarter than they get credit for.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
It really does not matter if he thought it up or was helped to think it up by his parents. It is still a bad way of protesting this issue when the gay community in general is running around trying to prove how patriotic they were and are and how they want to servie in the military. This kid just gives our enemies another round in their guns to shoot at us. "See the faggots are not patriotic this one will not even say the pledge."
Also I note neither of the two commentators mentioned the smelly financial aspect of all this.
Personally I would not send him a dime and if he went to my school I would unfriend him too. And I am mostly gay.
He will not say the pledge but uses the freedoms the flag represents?
Location: U.S.A.
Registered: April 2007
Messages: 907
Will Phillips, the 11-year-old Arkansas boy who refuses to say the pledge of allegiance at school until gays and lesbians have full equality, stole the show with his acceptance speech addressed to President Barack Obama at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City.
Phillips took the stage at the Times Square Marriott accompanied by his parents to accept the award for Outstanding TV Journalism Segment for “Why Will Won’t Pledge Alliance” on CNN.
Anyone that is catapulted into the media spotlight stands to make a buck. I think his parents are doing the responsible thing by encouraging college donations rather than encouraging gifts.
As for his refusal to say the pledge of allegiance? Good! Patriotism has nothing to do with it. It's about the right of protest. If that is seen as unpatriotic? Oh well, patriotism is just about assimilation anyway. Who wants to be a stepford fag? We shouldn't need to assimilate just to have our human dignity respected. People need to embrace diversity- not force conformity!
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
Location: United States
Registered: January 2005
Messages: 204
Another cool kid is Craig Kielburger who, at age 12, rallied against sweatshop and child labour. He started an organization for kids called Free the Children. There's a documentary about him.
I just skimmed this thread a bit so I hope my reply isn't too far off-topic.
It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all
~Phil Ochs "I Aint Marching Anymore"
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869
Three days after Jordan Romero became the youngest person to ever scale the heights of Mount Everest, Peter Kinloch too, as reported last night at netscape.aol.com, achieved his life-long goal of scaling the same peak; sadly it also cost him his life.
I have to wonder if the two, one on the way down and the other on the way up, met with one another, and what thoughts the two might have shared in such an encounter?
Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869
... for perhaps the first time, in a goodly long while, I actually have to wholeheartedly agree with something you have said, to wit:
"Who wants to be a stepford fag? We shouldn't need to assimilate just to have our human dignity respected. People need to embrace diversity - not force conformity!"
Well said.
Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869
... Saben might consider starting a whole "new" thread based solely around his most worthy and valuable quote.
It would serve two purposes; firstly to not hijack the originating thread; and, secondly provide the membership here at APOS an opportunity to voice their thoughts on what could very well be a very hot topic.
Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada
] 
A Place of Safety
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
