Here is a way to do that.

But seriously, some of these are real concerns, and Boys Town has decided to take the bull by the horn, as it were, and produce some books that may be helpful in this area. I’ve got three examples right here.

Boys Town is a non profit organization originally founded as an orphanage by a priest (Father Edward Flanagan), in Nebraska. You may have heard the slogan “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother.” That’s from Boys Down. Spencer Tracy played Flannagan in the movie “Boys Town” and the sequel, “Men of Boys Town.”

This is all very suspicious and seems too religious to the average modern atheist like me, but I’ve looked over these books very carefully and I do not think they contain hidden religious messages.

The Technology Tail: A Digital Footprint Story (Communicate with Confidence) by Julia Cook and Anita DuFalla pins a tail on the subject (the reader, the kid) and adds all the bits and pieces of Internet/Online behavior we accuulate through life as a seven year old. Your Facebook feed, Instagram, etc. Then it shows how this tail follows you around and when future employers or school admission councilors stalk you on the internet, they judge you.

It is a little scary but I think it makes good points.

Mindset Matters (Without Limits), by Byran Smith and Lisa Griffin, is more general in its focus, helping kids to not be afraid of new challenges, and to enhance their confidence. That is a huge issue with first and second graders. It helps that the main character in this book is a girl.

Hey Goose! What’s Your Excuse? by Lisa Griffin also addresses confidence and getting out of one’s comfort zone, in this case, from the perspective of a nervous-nelly gosling.

All of these books are suitable for kids from 4-8 years, ore perhaps a bit older in some cases. Kids just beyond an intro reading level can probably read them on their own (but better to the parents to get feed back and the parents can then learn some tricks), or the books can be read to the kids.

“No clue.”

Here’s what happened. Hackbarth was spotted in security cameras changing jackets, and that’s how the security people saw the gun strapped to his belt. The called Saint Paul police (this was the clinic in the Highland Park neighborhood, which is a very different place than Hackbarth’s district) who arrived on the scene shortly, spotting Hackbarth at a nearby intersection. They busted him, took his gun, and let him go. This happened several days ago, and yesterday he came by the police headquarters to pick up the pistol. For some reason that is when the story broke.

Hackbarth told the police that he had a girlfriend. They had only seen each other a couple of times, having met on line. He did not have a phone number or email address for her since they had only communicated via the dating web site. He had reason to suspect, he told police, that she was seeing another man, and had come down to Highland Park to spy on her in order to see whether or not he was being lied to.

A guy from up ’round Bethel or Elk Lake would need a map to find his way to and around Highland Park. The binoculars make sense if you are going to spy on someone. The pistol … well, he carries that all the time, and he does have a permit for it. Why park in Planned Parenthood’s lot? Well, it was just an empty lot and he needed to stop somewhere for a few minutes, to change his jacket and stuff. Why the second clip of ammo for a different caliber gun, also found in his pickup truck? I’m not sure that question has been asked.

The whole situation is just a little strange. Was he staking out the Planned Parenthood facility for some terroristic reason? The police thought that a possibility, that’s why they took the gun. Was he stalking a woman whom he barely knew? Well, either his story indicates that he was, or his story is a rather lame excuse for why he was in the Planned Parenthood lot. The police also thought he was a bit “stalky” … another reason to interview him and take his firearm.

And the Republican Leadership in the Minnesota House also think this is a bit strange, and have suspended Hackbarth’s planned and current leadership roles until this is all figured out.

The police claim that Hackbarth indicated he was jealous of another man dating his ‘girlfriend,’ but he denied that to the press. The police state that he appeared angry and dangerous at the truck they stopped his truck, but Hackbarth appears to be reasonably contrite and calm when interviewed by the press. Here are some of Hackbarth’s statements to the press:

I have a permit to carry legally. I carry my gun all the time. I have never had an incident and everything is perfectly legal and above board.

We have to air our dirty laundry? My wife and I are going through a divorce we are separated. We’ve been separated for about a year and a half now.

She [his alleged girlfriend] gave me some line of baloney, and I thought, ‘well, she’s fibbing to me.’ You could tell, and I thought, ‘well, I’m going to check it out.’ and I went there to see if she was around and her vehicle was not there. And I was just checking on her.

Hackbarth has a routinely Republican voting record (against study of iron range miner’s cancer, against the bonding bill which mainly benefits the University and various educational facilities, against stem cell research, against abortion and choice) except in a couple of interesting areas. Republican leaders voted for K-12 background checks for coaches, Hackbarth voted against that, and voted against a bill that would have pulled the state out of a federal ID program, while Republican leaders seem to have supported that initiative (so he’s for a federal ID)*.

Sources

• Armed MN Lawmaker Detained Near Planned Parenthood
• Minn. Lawmaker Wears Gun Outside Abortion Clinic
• Hackbarth loses GOP leadership roles for now
• Minnesota legislator stopped with gun near abortion clinic suspended from leadership position
• Rep. Tom Hackbarth’s loaded gun seized by cops near Planned Parenthood
• State Rep. Caught with Loaded Gun on Planned Parenthood Property