From DSC:
My brother lost a lifelong friend recently and I’ve lost friends and family members waaaay too soon as well. It made me reflect, once again, on the brevity of our lives here on Earth.


Psalms 90:12

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

James 4:14

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalms: 39:5

You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.

Psalms 144:3-4

Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

 

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

 


John 3:17

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

1 Timothy 4:8

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

From DSC: LORD, you know I need help on these two areas (and many more as well). Don’t give up on the work of your hands please!

Psalms 51:10-12

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalms 51:1-3
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

Psalms 52:1-8
For the director of music. A maskil[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.[c]
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
    He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living.
The righteous will see and fear;
    they will laugh at you, saying,
“Here now is the man
    who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
    and grew strong by destroying others!”

From DSC:
Anyone come to mind on this last one?


 

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

 

John 13:34

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

2 Chronicles 7:14

…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

James 3:17-18

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Psalm 30:11-12

11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

Teens, Social Media and Mental Health — from pewresearch.org by Michelle Faverio, Monica Anderson, and Eugenie Park
Most teens credit social media with feeling more connected to friends. Still, roughly 1 in 5 say social media sites hurt their mental health, and growing shares think they harm people their age

Rising rates of poor mental health among youth have been called a national crisis. While this is often linked to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic or poverty, some officials, like former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, name social media as a major threat to teenagers.

Our latest survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents finds that parents are generally more worried than their children about the mental health of teenagers today.

And while both groups call out social media’s impact on young people’s well-being, parents are more likely to make this connection.1

Still, teens are growing more wary of social media for their peers. Roughly half of teens (48%) say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022. But fewer (14%) think they negatively affect them personally.

 

How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025 — from hbr.org by Marc Zao-Sanders

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Here’s why you shouldn’t let AI run your company — from theneurondaily.com by Grant Harvey; emphasis DSC

When “vibe-coding” goes wrong… or, a parable in why you shouldn’t “vibe” your entire company.
Cursor, an AI-powered coding tool that many developers love-to-hate, face-planted spectacularly yesterday when its own AI support bot went off-script and fabricated a company policy, leading to a complete user revolt.

Here’s the short version:

  • A bug locked Cursor users out when switching devices.
  • Instead of human help, Cursor’s AI support bot confidently told users this was a new policy (it wasn’t).
  • No human checked the replies—big mistake.
  • The fake news spread, and devs canceled subscriptions en masse.
  • A Reddit thread about it got mysteriously nuked, fueling suspicion.

The reality? Just a bug, plus a bot hallucination… doing maximum damage.

Why it matters: This is what we’d call “vibe-companying”—blindly trusting AI with critical functions without human oversight.

Think about it like this: this was JUST a startup. If more big corporations continue to lay off entire departments, replaced by AI, these already byzantine companies will become increasingly more opaque, unaccountable systems where no one, human or AI, fully understands what’s happening or who’s responsible.

Our take? Kafka dude has it right. We need to pay attention to WHAT we’re actually automating. Because automating more bureaucracy at scale, with agents we increasingly don’t understand or don’t double check, can potentially make companies less intelligent—and harder to fix when things inevitably go wrong.


 

 

Jeremiah 31:33-34

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
    and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
 

1 Samuel 16:7

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 John 4:11

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Lamentations 3:40

Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.

Lamentations 3:22-26

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

 

Isaiah 25:1

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Psalm 29:1-2
A psalm of David.

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

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From DSC:
Two of our small groups at church have been watching The Chosen. The discussions have been deep and valuable. The series gives us a clear picture of the cultural things that were going on when Jesus Christ came into our world, in the flesh. We have grown closer to the LORD and to each other. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend this professionally done video series. The LORD’s fingerprints are all over it!
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Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Romans 8:35

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Proverbs 17:9

Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.


 

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

11 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Romans 1:16

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Psalm 33:4-5

4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. 5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

 

10 Extreme Challenges Facing Schools — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard

TL;DR
Schools face 10 extreme challenges

– assessment
– funding
– deportations
– opposition to trans students
– mental health
– AI/AGI world
– a struggle to engage students
– too many hats
– war risks
– resource redistribution and civil conflict


Hundreds of thousands of students are entitled to training and help finding jobs. They don’t get it — from hechingerreport.org by Meredith Kolodner
The best program to help students with disabilities get jobs is so hidden, ‘It’s like a secret society’

There’s a half-billion-dollar federal program that is supposed to help students with disabilities get into the workforce when they leave high school, but most parents — and even some school officials — don’t know it exists. As a result, hundreds of thousands of students who could be getting help go without it. New Jersey had the nation’s lowest proportion — roughly 2 percent — of eligible students receiving these services in 2023.

More than a decade ago, Congress recognized the need to help young people with disabilities get jobs, and earmarked funding for pre-employment transition services to help students explore and train for careers and send them on a pathway to independence after high school. Yet, today, fewer than 40 percent of people with disabilities ages 16 to 64 are employed, even though experts say most are capable of working.

The article links to:

Pre-Employment Transition Services

Both vocational rehabilitation agencies and schools are required by law to provide certain transition services and supports to improve post-school outcomes of students with disabilities.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and requires vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to set aside at least 15% of their federal funds to provide pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) to students with disabilities who are eligible or potentially eligible for VR services.  The intent of pre-employment transition services is to:

improve the transition of students with disabilities from school to postsecondary education or to an employment outcome, increase opportunities for students with disabilities to practice and improve workplace readiness skills, through work-based learning experiences in a competitive, integrated work setting and increase opportunities for students with disabilities to explore post-secondary training options, leading to more industry recognized credentials, and meaningful post-secondary employment.


Repurposing Furniture to Support Learning in the Early Grades — from edutopia.org by Kendall Stallings
A kindergarten teacher gives five practical examples of repurposing classroom furniture to serve multiple uses.

I’m a supporter of evolving classroom spaces—of redesigning the layout of the room as the needs and interests of students develop. The easiest way to accommodate students, I’ve found, is to use the furniture itself to set up a functional, spacious, and logical classroom. There are several benefits to this approach. It provides children with safe, low-stakes environmental changes; fosters flexibility; and creates opportunities for spatial adaptation and problem-solving. Additionally, rearranging the room throughout the school year enables teachers to address potential catalysts for challenging behaviors and social conflicts that may arise, while sparking curiosity in an otherwise-familiar space.


How Teacher-Generated Videos Support Students in Science — from edutopia.org by Shawn Sutton
A five-minute video can help students get a refresher on important science concepts at their own pace.

While instructional videos were prepared out of necessity in the past, I’ve rediscovered their utility as a quick, flexible, and personal way to enhance classroom teaching. Instructional videos can be created through free screencasting software such as ScreencastifyScreenRecLoom, or OBS Studio. Screencasting would be ideal for the direct presentation of information, like a slide deck of notes. Phone cameras make practical recording devices for live content beyond the computer screen, like a science demo. A teacher could invest in a phone stand and ring light at a nominal cost to assist in this type of recording.

However, not all teacher videos are created equal, and I’ve discovered four benefits and strategies that help make these teaching tools more effective.


 
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