a couple days ago, max brantley, on the arkansas blog, posted a list of city employees organized by place of residency (little rock or non-little rock). the most skewed numbers toward non-little rock residents—confirming brantley’s suspicions—were police and fire employees.

non-little rock fire department employees outnumber little rock employees by an almost 3 to 1 margin (295 to 110). despite the margin being more narrow, the far more troubling numbers, to me, are non-little rock police employees who outnumber little rock employees by more than 100 (365 to 252).

i think i first heard about occupy wall street, like others, on the news. my reaction was equal parts interest and dismissiveness. on one hand, the very brief reporting offered some of the reasons for the protests and they were things that mildly resonated with me. on the other hand, though, i assumed, like other protests, that this one would fizzle out after about 24 hours at best. these hippies surely couldn’t turn this protest into a movement.

but…

this past weekend, i had the privilege of spending the weekend at the arkansas juvenile detention center in alexander. i participated as the “spiritual director” for a ministry event called kairos torch (a part of an ongoing ministry called kairos).

there’s a number of stories i could share of young men (ranging from 14 to 17) who have great hearts and shared things with me that i would never expect to hear from someone twice their age. it was a humbling experience and i was glad to be a part of it once again.

but…that’s for another post.

for quite some time, i’ve been a relatively outspoken proponent of public education. quite frankly, i wish it was the only system of education we had (for many and varied reasons). my feelings have only grown stronger over the last month as lucy—our oldest child—has started pre-K.

one of the things i’m keenly aware of—relative to my advocacy of public schools—is that the public education system isn’t healthy. for various reasons, i certainly think it’s healthier than private or home school alternatives, but nevertheless, it’s a long way from where it should and could be.

editorial note: we’re about a week shy of one year since the voices for justice west memphis 3 rally with eddie vedder and a host of other supporters. just a month later, i posted the following account of a candelight vigil i attended to coincide with oral arguments on behalf of damien. and today—if reports are to be trusted (which is always iffy)—we’ll see damien, jason & jessie walk free. after 18 years behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit, they’ll get to experience freedom once more. so, i thought i’d offer this up again now that our times of prayer and reflection are becoming realities. i’ll offer an update as the developments continue.

i’ve been wanting to create an infographic for a very long time. not only do i love them, but i’ve had a particular project i’ve been working on for quite a long time that lends itself to an infographic. while i’m still working on that project, i recently had an opportunity where this type of presentation seemed like a good fit.

the project was a handout/”promotional” graphic we assembled to solicit volunteers for our 4 primary connecting points at eikon. we’ve been preparing to put a little more shape and form to these various aspects of our church and lining up volunteers was one of the primary things we needed to do in order to bring that to fruition.

UPDATE :: i assumed this story would get a lot of response, but even i was surprised at the overwhelming reaction (it is now my most read post of 2011). i appreciate the reposts, retweets and other things that start with ‘re-‘… i wanted to offer an update and unfortunately, the update is much less heartwarming than the original story.

as of yesterday afternoon—ironically just hours after posting the story—my friends were kicked out of the house. i’m still not too sure of all the details, but it seems the woman had nothing to do with it. it was out of her control. my understanding is that she is the manager/caretaker of the house (and has lived there for quite some time) and a family member is the actual owner. once the owner found out, he kicked them out.

so, they’re back on the streets.

given the immense response, i thought i’d put it out there to see if anyone knew of any alternative housing situations for my friends. they need to stay in the downtown area if possible because they don’t have a vehicle. it’s just the 2 of them, so it wouldn’t need to be much.

if you have anything or know of anything, please contact me and i can offer some more information. you can leave a comment or email me at ryan [at] beingryanbyrd [dot] com. thanks in advance!