I hate the Burger King, king. You know, that weird semi- human automaton pitchman. What is it about that deranged, fixed, plastic face that seems to suggest that he has lost a puppy, and would like me to drive around the block with him in his windowless van to help him look for it?

In the burger giant’s latest ad entitled “the Debate,” the grotesque android engages with some nondescript politician, about the price of its chicken nuggets I guess, (which by the way, the chain should be giving away. I mean really… if I wanted some kind of microwavable chicken whatevers, I’ll get them in the frozen foods department at my local grocery store. But I digress). The commercial is so nonsensical that analysis is probably a criminal waste of time. Basically the cardboard cut- out of a politician is left speechless at the price of Burger King’s meals and the audience at home is left in need of anger management.

I presume that the advertising department at BK has taken a page from that of Jack- in- the Box. Both companies have inhuman characters assuming somewhat human attributes while the surrounding characters fail to notice the mascot’s weirdness. Essentially the corporations are using the old ploy that being memorable is more important than good sense. And Burger King in particular has decided that the more foolish and annoying their ads are, the more customers will remember and respond to their ads. The tactic has been moderately successful for Jack- in- the Box, who has managed to inject a modicum of humor as opposed to straight stupidity.

I hope customers will avail themselves of other options when choosing a burger joint. While I’m no fan of clowns either, I’ll take them over creepy plastic kings and insulting commercials any day of the week.

Over this past I weekend I spent a good deal of time absorbed in the news of the goings on in Paris. And as I watched events unfold I experienced essentially the same emotions I did more than a decade and a half ago on 9-11. Only this time there was something more. Helplessness. Europe is the cradle of our own civilization, and yes I realize that’s not a politically correct thing to say, but the fact is if you are an American, regardless of your ethnicity, you owe the European cultures a tremendous debt. But our government is defaulting on that cultural debt. While France makes just war on their [and our] enemies, our leadership offers toothless platitudes, and I have zero confidence in the administration’s willingness to protect us when we are eventually attacked again. Our president and the federal government he leads is impotent, and I’ll admit I’m angry and terrified.

I wouldn’t be fearful by the way if I could just bring myself to hope that the President would stand up to our enemies, call evil by its name, and be willing to join France in kicking issis in the teeth, but instead he makes rounds in the world reasserting that he will not join the fight on the ground and ridiculing those who correctly perceive the threat. Meanwhile he works to raise the profile of irrelevant issues like climate change. He’s like the embarrassing uncle at a wake who moves from guest to guest pulling coins out of people’s ears in an effort to lighten the mood.

I do not care about climate change Mr. President! And I know you hate this part of your job, but protect my family! We don’t all have secret service details. It is, at the end of the day, the only part of your job I really care about. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like your domestic politics… at all. But if you would just protect your country, I could give you a “but at least…” for instance, I hate Obamacare, [but at least] he stood up to issis. Instead I feel like, I’m in a national nightmare in which everyone is standing around waiting for the other shoe to drop, while the rest of us are running in slow motion yelling at top of or lungs for everyone to look out while the executive doggedly turns its back and closes its eyes.

So what do we do about all of this? Lord, I wish I knew. Pray, do good to our neighbors at every opportunity and for god’s sake vote for leaders who will actually do their jobs and protect the citizenry. And don’t forget to pray.

Christian Heritage School has been a Tyler Texas institution for thirty five years. And while its community profile has risen and fallen over the years, it has exhibited tremendous resilience in lean times as well as prosperous ones. While the school’s enrollment is small it’s generally steady and the tuition is among the more affordable private schools in town.

The CHS educational model is a classical “Principle Approach” which places faith and reason, together at the center of all academic disciplines. CHS places a heavy emphasis on classic Anglo- American literature and law. As such, students develop tremendous critical reasoning skills as well as excellence in writing and communication. The school encourages the student to examine original writings first and seeks to appeal to and to reassert the best parts of America’s founding characteristics, both individually and nationally.
So what does this mean to the student in the classroom? The small student body (typically around one hundred to one hundred twenty) does tend to allow for small class sizes (generally around ten to fifteen students) and more individual attention. And the teachers are central to the CHS classroom. The Christian Heritage educator is expected to be the master of his or her subject. The small class size creates strong mentor- student relationships, a reason why CHS places a premium on teachers with a strong sense of faith. The result is a classroom that is not child centered, but subject centered and based in Scripture.

Christian Heritage School offers a tremendous education for the cost. What the school currently lacks in extra- curriculars it makes up for in challenging academics. The student body is made up of local residents as well as foreign exchange students and students whose parents are receiving missionary training. But with that said it is emphatically an established part of the local community, a fact the staff is increasingly trying to emphasize.

Christian Heritage School is located at 961 County Rd 1143, Tyler, TX 75704. For more information visit the schools web page at chstyler.org .

It’s crazy to think that only one week remains in high school football’s regular season. That means 10 weeks have gone by and teams around the Lone Star State will play their last games. Some teams will play for a higher playoff spot. Others will play to get into the playoffs while the fate of other teams has already been decided, whether they’ve already clinched the highest spot possible or won’t be playing at all in the postseason.

Teams around East Texas are looking to finish the regular season strong and going into the playoffs on a high note before taking a shot at the state championship.

Robert E. Lee is the largest school in East Texas and is currently the only 6A in the area. The Red Raiders are currently 4-5 on the season and 3-3 in their district. They are coming off a 65-35 loss to Rockwall and will host Naaman Forest Thursday night at Trinity Mother Francis Rose Stadium at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the John Tyler Lions are 6-3 overall, and have a perfect district record of 6-0. They are coming off a 57-21 win over Jacksonville and are set to travel to Nacogdoches Friday night to cap off the season against Nacogdoches at 7:30 p.m.