Your Children’s Education Is At Risk

The Common Core Diva is a fellow blogger who is extremely well informed on what is being done to the education of our children. Because she understands these things much better than I do, I am posting her latest article exactly as she wrote it. This is a critical time. Congress has decided not to listen to the parents of American and is going forward with a bill that will make it impossible to get rid of Common Core. If you care about your children and grandchildren, please read this carefully and take the appropriate action.

Anti CCSS Warriors, our time is upon us! In spite of all that we’ve uncovered that is WRONG with the illegally based education reform; where Common Core is the conductor; we are seeing our federal level officials board the fast tracking train to educational ruin! The train’s name? “Every Student Succeeds Act”, or in other words, it is the re-authorization of the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act).

The CCSS Machine, as I call it, has loaded this train with all kinds of luggage (fallacies, media spins that purport the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) will restore the states authority, lessen the role of federal overreach, and other such fodder).
In spite of how full of coal this train is, we have seen proof provided by anti CCSS Warriors which has proven the derailment we are headed for is not only massive, but will alter American life as we know it. Do the passengers aboard this train (the federal level officials) seem to notice? Do they appear to care? From the news we have been hearing since just before Thanksgiving, those on board seem to be suffering from tunnel vision, loss of hearing the citizens (or the truth) How do I know this? Look at the short summary of ‘successes’ the U.S. Committee on Education and the Workforce churned out on 11/23/15: http://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/joint_esea_conference_framework_short_summary.pdf
The media ‘spin doctor’ job can be seen here: http://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399849

Truth in American Education had this feature you may want to consider that shows the latest from 11/23/15 as well. http://truthinamericaneducation.com/elementary-and-secondary-education-act/late-stage-draft-of-esea-reauthorization-bill/
The ‘fuel’  for this bill is the language, fellow Warriors. As we have learned by now the CCSS Machine thrives on double speak. They use one term which sounds like it is a great move for education, but when the real truth is uncovered, it is anything but ‘great’! For example, in the language featured on the TAE website, the title 21st Century Schools” can be seen.
Warriors Against Common Core, how many times have you read the documented proof of what those 21st Century Schools are doing to our students?! I have shared with you MANY articles with evidence of how these are CCSS wolves in sheep’s clothing! Yet, the fast tracking train has them on board!!

So, It is Our Time!:

Women on the Wall has challenged us to record a short video message to Congress!
PJNET has set up Twitter rallies for 11/29 and 11/30! Why? The vote is set to be as early as 12/2/15!! Many of the anti CCSS Warriors behind these battle cries have urged for a NO vote to the ESSA. Why? As we have seen with other mammoth sized, rushed bills from D.C., time needs to be taken, vetting needs to happen to the language, and many other legal moves. Why rush the train of education reform? There is everything to lose, America!!

This is one video:

Where Can I Get A Job Like This?

The Daily Caller posted an article today about how well new employees are treated at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The article reports:

A new hire at the Environmental Protection Agency hit the jackpot when the employee’s new bosses awarded her $9,000 in performance bonuses for less than three months of work.

The EPA’s inspector general said the newly hired director of the environmental agency’s RTP Finance Center in Raleigh was paid two separate performance bonuses of $4,500 shortly after beginning work.

“The total award amount of $9,000 represents approximately 25 percent of the Director’s salary for that 3-month time period.

The article mentions that management had decided that they had to treat new directors well. It’s really easy to do that when it’s not really your money and you don’t have to worry about making a profit.

I Suspect This Problem Is Not Unique To Paris

Townhall.com is reporting today that fifty-seven employees at Charles de Gaulle Airport who had access to airplanes and runways were on a terror watch list. As a result of this finding, the security passes of 86,000 workers at the airport will be reviewed.

Belgium has also pulled security badges from some airport workers after finding out that they had links to jihadis who had traveled to Syria.

The article at Townhall also reported:

The recent finding of Arabic graffiti on four planes at two French airports, including one that had “Allahu Akbar” written on a fuel tank hatch, has only increased security concerns. While the graffiti in and of itself is not harmful, it raises serious questions about who has access to restricted airport locations. 

Let’s hope the investigations are completed before there is some sort of incident.

Losing Our Country Legally

Yesterday The New York Times posted a story about efforts to help new immigrants become citizens quickly so that they can register to vote. I think the idea of new immigrants registering to vote is a wonderful idea if they have some understanding of how American works. In the past, American Presidents have paused immigration in order to allow new immigrants to assimilate. At the present time, we have a very large number of immigrants, some of which are not at all interested in assimilation.

The article reports:

The influence of the Latino voting bloc has added impetus to the drive. According to Latino Decisions, a polling and research firm, 80 percent of naturalized Latino citizens voted for President Obama in 2012. In New York State, there are approximately 915,000 legal permanent residents, more than 317,400 of whom are Latino, according to the Center for Migration Studies.

Do you think that if these immigrants were voting Republican the Democrats would be so anxious to have them here?

To illustrate my point about assimilation:

In the end, though, only 38 of the day’s applicants were able to move forward (with the process of becoming an American citizen), Mr. Frugone said. Most of the others were not proficient enough in English to pass the citizenship exam, which requires an applicant to answer basic questions orally, write a sentence and pass a civics test.

Some older immigrants who have not learned English wait for the precise moment when they have lived in the United States for 20 years and are older than 50; at that point, they can take the test in their own language.

Jose Miguel Toledo Madera, 53, a resident of Washington Heights in Manhattan, said he had been too busy working as a custodian to learn English. After six hours at the Unite Here citizenship drive, he finally finished his application by taking photos.

The article further states:

“I want to vote so that we can have a better situation in the country for all the immigrants, for all the people we actually need in this country,” Dinelsa Quezada Martinez, 70, said in Spanish in the organization’s offices. “I want a president that’s really going to worry and take care of our country and all the people in this country.

Note to Ms. Martinez: It is not the President’s job to take care of the people in this country–it is the President’s job not to interfere with the success of the people in this country. Dear lady, your attitude is part of the problem.

What We Need To Know

The Center for Security Policy recently posted an article listing the things all Americans need to know about the current wave of Syrian refugees.

The list is a as follows:

  1. Many are not from Syria. They are not refugees–they are migrants. That would be fine if they were willing to assimilate rather than trying to recreate the mess that they left.
  2. Most of them are not widowed women or orphaned children. According to a Pew Research Center review of Eurostat data, 72 percent of asylum applicants are male, and over half are men under the age of 40.
  3. Those in charge of ensuring our security don’t think that the refugees can be properly vetted.
  4. Most are not from the minority groups ISIS targets for persecution.
  5. Some have ISIS sympathies.According to the article: Some 16 to 23 percent of the estimated 3 million Syrian refugees who have fled the country are Christians. Even though ISIS has specifically targeted religious minorities (notably Christians and Yazidis) for persecution, less than 3 percent of the Syrian refugees admitted to the United States so far are Christian, and 96 percent are Muslim.
  6. It costs more money to resettle refugees in the U.S. than in countries that neighbor Syria.
  7. The wealthy Arab-Islamic countries surrounding Syria aren’t taking refugees because of security concerns.

The article concludes:

Critics of President Obama’s plan for resettling Syrian refugees in the U.S. are labeled xenophobic bigots by those seeking warm fuzzy feelings and accolades for doing the supposed “right thing.”  It’s time for the president to stop demonizing his opponents, take a look at the facts, realize that they run counter to his narrative, and change course before we’re placed in a dangerous situation similar to the one Europe now faces.

It is time to mix common sense with compassion, something the Obama Administration seems reluctant to do.

Can Anyone Explain This?

On Tuesday, Hot Air posted an article quoting President Obama on the recent terrorist attack in Paris. President Obama stated that it will be a “powerful rebuke” to ISIS to hold the climate-change summit in Paris. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it would be a more powerful rebuke simply to blow their headquarters to smithereens.

The article states:

Asked Guy Benson, “Is he saying the climate conference is the rebuke to terrorists, or unbowed world leaders gathering in Paris?” The answer is both, right? Partly this is stiff-upper-lip stuff of the sort you always hear from a head of state after a major attack. “We refuse to be terrorized by terror, we will carry on as we always did,” etc. They had a conference planned, and no scumbag jihadi is going to intimidate them out of holding it. Fine.

We need to continue with business as usual as much as possible, but to see any relationship between terrorism and so-called climate change is simply beyond the pale.

It would be really nice if a group of pro-democracy world leaders got together to discuss how to protect western countries from ISIS and its terrorist buddies or how to wipe out ISIS, but I guess climate change is more urgent. I suppose it is purely coincidental that all of the solutions to climate change limit the freedom of people who are currently free and funnel money to third world dictators who have no intention of using it for anything remotely related to climate.

Happy Thanksgiving

From The Daily Caller, President George Washington‘s Thanksgiving Proclamation:
Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

In Ten Years What Will We Be?

Breitbart.com posted an article today stating that 680,000 green cards have been given to immigrants from Muslim countries in the last five years. I understand that not all Muslims are terrorists, but most terrorists seem to be Muslims. This is an alarming number, whether it is simply Muslims or all immigrants.

The article reports:

The data, released by Senator Sen. Jeff Sessions adds that these, “refugees have instant access to federal welfare and entitlements, along with local benefits and education services; these costs are not offset.”

…According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one-quarter of the U.S. population, over 41 million, is now either foreign-born or has foreign-born parents. Data from Pew Polling shows that 83% percent of the American public oppose increasing the baseline for immigration and believe that it should either be frozen or reduced.

I welcome anyone who comes to America to pursue the American dream and become an American. I question the wisdom of taking in the number of people we are currently taking in. The fact that one-quarter of the population is either foreign-born or has foreign-born parents is a problem for our country. We need to give people a chance to assimilate when they arrive. We are in danger of being overrun by people who don’t understand the dream of America. I would love to know how many legal and illegal immigrants are on our welfare rolls. This is not the American dream, and people who come here should be prevented from collecting welfare for a period of time after they arrive. We cannot be the world’s safety net. We are going bankrupt and need time to regroup and get our finances together before we start trying to support the world.

Putting Law Enforcement People At Risk

There are some real questions as to President Obama’s attitude toward police. A recent executive order really raises more questions.

Fox News reported Wednesday that:

President Obama issued Executive Order 13688 in January after the 2014 riots in Ferguson, Mo., amid concerns about the “militarization” of the police fueling a heavy-handed response.

The article explains:

Sheriffs using the program are outraged, saying that the main focus of the initial backlash – the armored tracked vehicles – are purely defensive vehicles that save lives in crisis situations, and double as rescue vehicles in areas with rough terrain.

Sheriff Mike Bouchard of Oakland County, Mich., told FoxNews.com of a situation in which an active shooter was holed up in his house shooting out of the windows, hitting nearby homes. Bouchard said they were able to use the vehicle to evacuate residents from houses, while also protecting police officers from being shot. During the siege, over 500 rounds of ammunition were exchanged.

“There’s no question that saved lives,” Bouchard, who is also a former senatorial and gubernatorial candidate, said. “We have letters from people we evacuated saying ‘we don’t know what you could have done to save us without that armored vehicle.’”

Bouchard said the federal government’s crackdown on the equipment is an example of the disconnect between Obama’s claims and reality.

“His verbiage calls these tanks. These aren’t tanks. There is no offensive weaponry mounted on a tracked armored vehicle in any police department. These are big safe boxes,” he said.

This is not the time to ask local police departments to give up weapons and machines that keep them safe. We are under a rather severe terrorist threat, and local police departments need all of the weapons they can get.

The executive order to take these weapons away from local police was part of President Obama’s response to the events in Ferguson, Missouri. We need to remember some of the specifics regarding the events of Ferguson. The policeman involved did not use excessive force, the criminal (yes, he had robbed a convenience store) had already attempted to steal the policeman’s gun and was charging the policeman. Remember that at one point in the Baltimore riots, the police were told not to restrain the rioters. These are things to think about.

Stop and think for a moment. If the local police force is stripped of all of its heavy weapons, who will have those weapons? Do you trust a federal government with weapons that would be overwhelming to local police forces? Do local police forces need safe vehicles to use in the case of terrorist attacks?

At the same time, ask yourself why in August of 2012  it was reported that Social Security Administration had purchased 174,000 rounds of ammunition, adding the agency to a growing list of federal agencies that have purchased multithousands of rounds of ammo over the last six months. This was reported in The Examiner on August 15, 2012.

I support the right of local law enforcement to have whatever armor and weapons they feel are needed. I also support the right of individual citizens to own guns.

There Is A Problem In The United Nations

It is becoming very obvious that the world has a terrorism problem. The civil war in Syria and the rise of ISIS in the Middle East have caused a tremendous amount of instability in the region and around the world. The goal of both the Iranians and ISIS is the establishment of a world-wide caliphate to be ruled by Sharia Law. They are in total agreement on that—what they don’t agree on is whether the Shia or the Sunnis should run the caliphate. Iran and ISIS have a lot in common in the way they treat non-Muslims, gays, and anyone who stands in the way of their desire for this caliphate. Enter the United Nations, established after World War II to prevent any more wars.

CNS News posted an article today about the United Nations’ comments on the cause of the violence in the Middle East.

The article stated:

Amid a wave of jihadist terrorism in France, Sinai, Lebanon and Mali, members of the United Nations met on Monday to focus on “Palestine,” with several speakers accusing Israel of fueling the violence across the region.

“The continued Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territory is the main challenge before the international community to achieve peace and stability in the region and the world,” said Arab League secretary-general Nabil al-Arabi, in a speech read out by his representative.

“This occupation represents the main cause for the spread of terrorism and extremist ideology in the region,” he said.

“Failure to find a just solution to the Palestinian cause – as the core issue in the Middle East – has started fueling conflicts in the region, threatening to affect international peace and security,” said Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani.

This statement is a result of what has happened to the United Nations in recent years. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has become the major voting bloc in the United Nations. One of the goals of the OIC is to rid the Middle East of the State of Israel. In attempting to reach this goal, the OIC has been behind numerous votes in the United Nations citing Israel for civil rights violations, war crimes, and anything else they could invent. The average consumer of news has no idea who the people behind these charges are or what their goals are.

The article further reports:

“We cannot separate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from this global threat,” he said.

Monday’s meeting in New York kicked off an annual intensive U.N. focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. This year’s U.N. “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinia People,” Nov. 29, falls on a Sunday so was marked instead on Monday.

Later on Monday, the U.N. General Assembly began considering a raft of reports and draft resolutions related to two ongoing agenda items, “the question of Palestine” and “the situation in the Middle East.”

(At the U.N., the “situation in the Middle East” does not refer to the situation in the Middle East writ large – for example, to developments in Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Iran – but deals solely with Israel and its relations with the Palestinians and neighbors like Syria.)

It is long past time for America to get out of the United Nations and remove them from New York City. The United Nations is telling the U.S. government how many and which refugees to accept from the Middle East. The United Nations is also involved in attempted to undermine the Second Amendment rights of Americans. The United Nations is also attempting to impose a legal definition of free speech on its member countries that would put those countries in compliance with Sharia Law. Any altruistic goals that might have been there at the founding of the United Nations have long since been replaced by petty politics. It is time to end what might have been a good idea at the time, but has become a miserable failure.

I Don’t Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry

The War on Terror has reached the stage where Americans are asked not to travel abroad. Brussels has recently been in lockdown. France is nervous. Americans are wondering who is walking among them. The world has become a truly dangerous place. Well, there is a ray of sunshine in the works for Americans who live in New York City. Obviously, New York City was a target more than once in the past, and the fear is that it will be a target in the future. Fear not, Giovanni Gambino, a member of the Gambino crime family has offered to protect the city.

The American Thinker posted an article today about the offer. I am reminded of something I heard Joan Rivers say in an interview a long time ago.. She commented that when the Mob ran Las Vegas a handshake on a deal to appear there was all you needed. I am not praising the Mob, I am just noting that they take business seriously. There was also an incident of a New England blogger who hosted a weekly radio show. Da Tech Guy Blog is written by a friend in Massachusetts who hosted a radio show. At times conservative bloggers have been under attack physically (that is the reason my name does not appear on this blog). Someone called in and asked if Pete was worried about being physically attacked. His reply was very simple–“For some reason people seem reluctant to get into a grudge match with a Sicilian.” True.

Back to the article.

The American Thinker reports:

So word to the wise: if ISIS warriors would rather not wake up with a pig’s head in their bed, have hellfire visited upon them, be dismembered in a pork sausage factory, or prematurely meet 72 virgins after being dipped in a vat of boiling bacon grease, maybe the bloodthirsty should pick another neighborhood to carry out the commands of the Quran.

And in case ISIS is willing to gamble, there’s a track record both here and abroad to prove that unlike Barack Obama, if ISIS dares crosses the “red line,” the family will not hesitate to follow through on their word.

Taking that into consideration, in a city that overlooks the capital of Sicily, ISIS’s made men have decided that because of the threat of Mafia retaliation, the mountainous region of Palermo may not the best place to wage terrorist attacks or establish underground cells.

An Italian security official disclosed that out of fear of being eradicated by mob bosses, ISIS cells are afraid to enter certain areas such as “Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and Campania – including the city of Naples.”

I am not fond of this solution, but it is a reflection on the ineffectiveness of both local and national governments in dealing with ISIS. Admittedly, part of that failure is due to the limitations of the U.S. Constitution (which I have no desire to change), but part of that failure is due to people in power who refuse to admit that Islamic radicals are responsible for the current wave of terrorism.

The article further states:

A little closer to home, Gambino reminded the wary that “[t]he world is dangerous today” and reassured “people living in New York neighborhoods with Sicilian connections [that they] should feel safe.”  Rest assured Giovanni means it when he says, “We make sure our friends and families are protected from extremists and terrorists, especially the brutal, psychopathic organization that calls itself the Islamic State.”

Speaking of “brutal, psychopathic organizations,” in truth, the Mafia is just a more effective facsimile of the U.S. federal government.  Both entities extort money with the promise of protection.  The difference is that the Mafia is an organization that actually delivers on the promise.  

Hmmmm.

Manipulation At Its Finest

One of the most effective ways to manipulate people is through guilt. A well-written news article about a poor victim of some horrible right-wing activity is a favorite of our left-leaning media. That method is being used now to encourage Americans to let down their guard regarding who enters the country. However, every now and then the efforts of the left to make the right look bad totally backfire. The ericontheradio website posted an amazing example of this phenomenon today. The story also serves as a warning to Americans to be aware of the associations of some supposedly moderate Muslim groups. Whenever you hear CAIR  (Council on American-Islamic Relations) mentioned anywhere, remember that CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial. If you are not familiar with the trial, look it up and read the exhibits. They are guaranteed to curl your hair.

The article at ericontheradio reports:

Nonetheless, MSNBC a few years ago highlighted the terrible plight of Saadiq Long. He became the poster child for opposing the “no fly list.”

…Long’s cause got international attention when Glenn Greenwald published an article at The Guardian saying that Long was “effectively exiled from his own country.” Kevin Drum of Mother Jones branded it the “Kafkaesque World of the No-Fly List.” CAIR has 22 article entries related to Long’s case on its website.

After several months of wrangling between his CAIR attorneys and the Department of Homeland Security, Long was temporarily removed from the no-fly list and allowed to return to Oklahoma.

Once home, however, he was still subject to FBI surveillance according to claims he made during a press conference with his CAIR handlers.

After an incident with local police and the FBI, Long was apparently placed back on the no-fly list, preventing his return to Qatar.

Eventually he was taken off the list and allowed to return to Qatar. If the story ended there, it would be fine. However, Long and several family were arrested earlier this month near the Turkey-Syria border as members of an ISIS cell. But he was such a nice-looking young man…

It’s Those Pesky Emails Again

The problem is those pesky emails again–only they are not Hillary’s. Catherine Herridge at Fox News is reporting today that at least two emails were sent to analysts at U.S. Central Command requesting that they ease off negative assessments about the Islamic State threat.

The article reports:

Those emails, among others, are now in the possession of the Pentagon inspector general. The IG’s probe is expanding into whether intelligence assessments were changed to give a more positive picture of the anti-ISIS campaign.

The former Pentagon official said there were “multiple assessments” from military intelligence and the CIA regarding the “rapid rise” of ISIS in Iraq and North Africa in the year leading up to the group’s territory grab in 2014.

Similar intelligence was included in the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB – the intelligence community’s most authoritative product — during the same time period. Yet the official, who was part of the White House discussions, said the administration kept “kicking the can down the road.” The official said there was no discussion of the military involvement needed to make a difference.

The IG probe started earlier this year amid complaints that information was changed to make ISIS look more degraded than it really was.

National security is not a game–nor is it a political issue–it is an issue that impacts all Americans. I would be somewhat sympathetic if I thought information was sanitized to prevent creating a panic, but I am not sympathetic at all to information being sanitized for political purposes. The investigation needs to proceed without being compromised by interference by the White House or those in the Obama Administration.

Bad Faith In Negotiations

We seem to have totally missed the mark on our recent negotiations with Iran. We never asked Iran to release the American citizens they were holding hostage, Pastor Abedini for example. Now Iran has sentenced Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian to prison on charges of spying. Jason Rezaian is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen.

Politico reported today that Tholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, announced that Rezaian has been sentenced to an unspecified prison term. An appeal is expected, and Ejehi described the verdict as “not finished.”

The article reports:

Rezaian, who has covered Iran for the Post since 2012, grew up in Marin County, California and spent most of his life in the United States. The Post, U.S. officials and Rezaian’s family have all called for his release. Iran does not recognize dual-nationality.

“By withholding information about the verdict and sentence, the Iranian government shows that its pursuit of Jason Rezaian on bogus espionage charges is nothing but a facade to prolong his unjust imprisonment,” said Sherif Mansour, the Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

“The authorities should immediately drop all charges against Jason Rezaian and release him, along with all journalists imprisoned in Iran in relation to their work,” he said.

The CPJ says 30 journalists were behind bars in Iran in 2014, making it the second worst jailer of reporters, after China.

We should not even be discussing the time of day with the government of Iran until they release the Americans they are currently holding in prison. We need to add economic sanctions on them until these people are returned home.

One Government Agency Stuck On Stupid

Today’s Washington Times posted an article about the U.S. Labor Department’s Center for Civil Rights. In order to celebrate it’s recent accomplishments, the managers threw a football-themed tailgate party for the staff in the office parking lot. Sounds like fun, right? Well, it was a great idea until political correctness reared its ugly head.

The article reports:

Even the regular office dress policy was relaxed. “Show your team spirit and wear your favorite sports or club theme gear and come and enjoy tailgating favorites like dips, chili, chicken wings, nachos and more game-day grub,” the invite said.

There was only stipulation: no Washington Redskins jerseys, paraphernalia or memorabilia.

“It has been respectfully requested that employees voluntarily refrain from wearing clothing or other sports memorabilia that promote Washington D.C.’s professional football team, the Redskins, or other teams that use names, characters, etc. that may portray American Indians or other cultures in a derogatory manner,” an asterisk-marked note at the bottom of the invitation reader.

Isn’t it part of my First Amendment rights and civil rights to be able to wear whatever national football league jersey I want to? Are some national football league teams more equal than others? The part of the name that all Americans should be ashamed of is not Redskins–it’s Washington.

Smile, You Are Being Manipulated

Right now there is a lot of discussion as to whether of not American should allow Syrian refugees into America. There are a lot of aspects to this problem, but one that may not have been fully explored is the political left’s use of Saul Alinsky‘s Rules for Radicals.

Rule No. 4 states:

The left is using the refugees as a wedge issue. They are following Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #4, which states: RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.).

America has had problems with Muslim refugees in the past. Here are links to two articles dealing with past problems: one from The Clarion Project and one from World Net Daily. In June of this year, The Center for Security Policy posted the following:

According to the just-released survey of Muslims, a majority (51%) agreed that “Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to shariah.”  When that question was put to the broader U.S. population, the overwhelming majority held that shariah should not displace the U.S. Constitution (86% to 2%).

More than half (51%) of U.S. Muslims polled also believe either that they should have the choice of American or shariah courts, or that they should have their own tribunals to apply shariah. Only 39% of those polled said that Muslims in the U.S. should be subject to American courts.

…Even more troubling, is the fact that nearly a quarter of the Muslims polled believed that, “It is legitimate to use violence to punish those who give offense to Islam by, for example, portraying the prophet Mohammed.”

Understand that Sharia Law and the U.S. Constitution are not compatible. The Muslim definition of free speech is not compatible with the American First Amendment. Under Sharia Law, the definition of slander includes saying anything negative about Islam whether or not it is true. Slander can be punishable by death.

Many of the Somali refugees in the midwest have left America to join Islamic terrorists. The Boston bombers were refugees. The refugee issue is not as simple as letting anyone into America who is fleeing violence. It is something that needs to be handled cautiously and without politics. I am not sure our present leaders are capable of either.

About That Transparency Thing…

As anyone who regularly reads this blog is aware, I am involved in the fight against Common Core in North Carolina. There is a better plan, the North Carolina Education Plan, that would better suit the students of North Carolina–it will encourage critical thinking and improve both their reading and mathematics skills. Common Core is a one-size-fits-all group of standards that is heavily funded by the Bill Gates Foundation and supported by the political class in Washington, D.C. Bill Gates himself has stated, “It would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won’t know for probably a decade.”  The father of Common Core is the “No Child Left Behind” Law which moved a large part of education in America under the control of the federal government. Just for the record, the federal government does not have the Constitutional right to control local education. Well, No Child Left Behind has morphed into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, now before Congress.

On Thursday, Truth In American Education posted an article about the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

The article stated:

Because the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) will be the largest piece of federal education legislation Congress will pass in over a decade, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) should allow the bill to be made publicly available for at least 60 days before the House considers it.

The bill is not scheduled to be made publicly available until November 30th. Thus, a vote should not be scheduled until late January. Currently, it is scheduled for December 2; two days is clearly not sufficient. House members will be forced to vote on a bill they haven’t read.

The American people expected a new style of leadership under Speaker Ryan, not more of the same. If he allows a bill of this magnitude to become law without adequately vetting its merits and faults, it will affirm that the same ills that plagued Congress under Speaker Boehner remain fully intact.

Transparency is obviously an issue here, but there are other issues.

The article further states:

What we have heard, but can’t confirm:

The new bill is hundreds of pages longer than either prior version.

It contains new programs that weren’t in either prior version.

There is a new competitive grant for pre-schools- think Race to the Top for Tots

Very complex language that is unclear. This means the US Depart of Education will have tremendous leeway to interpret it to the advantage of the federal government. Because it has discretion over how to administer the law, unclear language makes it easier for the US Department of Education to justify and make decisions to place requirements on the states through its rule-making authority.

Education needs to be under local control. Admittedly, every student in America needs to learn basic English and Mathematics, but different areas of the country have different educational needs beyond that. Americans are individuals, we need to have an education system that educates individuals. One size does not fit all.

One thing that could really help the federal budget would be to get rid of the Department of Education on the federal level. In 1953, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare became a cabinet-level agency of the U.S. government. In 1979, Jimmy Carter created the cabinet-level Department of Education. In 1979, the Office of Education had 3,000 employees and an annual budget of $12 billion. When the Department of Education was created, it had an annual budget of $14.2 billion and 17,000 employees. According to the government Budget Office, the U. S. Department of Education currently administers a budget of $67.1 billion in discretionary appropriations. I truly think it is time for them to go away.

I also think it is time for Speaker Paul Ryan to live up to his promises about transparency.

Debunking The Media Lies

Donald Trump is not a media darling. He is not even an establishment Republican darling. His support seems to come from people who are fed up with politics the way it is currently done and looking for change. He has a few major political players gunning for him–Republican and Democrat. Therefore it should not be surprising when his remarks are twisted to make it sound like he said something he did not. I need to mention here that I am not a supporter of Donald Trump. He is not at all my first choice for a Republican presidential candidate, although I would vote for him instead of Hillary Clinton.

The Associated Press is reporting today:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has voiced support for creating a mandatory database to track Muslims in the United States – the latest in an escalating series of responses following the deadly attacks in Paris.

This seems like an odd comment from someone who generally handles the press as well as Donald Trump does. Well, Rush Limbaugh posted the actual transcript of the remarks the media statement claims to be quoting.

This is the transcript (from Rush Limbaugh):

TRUMP:  There should be a lot of systems beyond database.  We should have a lot of systems.  And today you can do it.  But right now we have to have a border.  We have to have strength.  We have to have a wall.  And we cannot let what’s happening to this country happen.

REPORTER:  But is it something your White House would like to implement?

TRUMP:  Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely.

REPORTER:  What do you think the effect of that would be?  How would that work?

TRUMP:  It would stop people from coming in illegally.  We have to stop people from coming into our country illegally.

REPORTER:  Muslims specifically, how do you actually get them registered into a database? 

TRUMP:  It would be just good management.  What you have to do is good management procedures.  And we can do that.

It seems to me that Donald Trump was talking about a wall to keep illegal immigrants out. I think the question he was answering was not the same as the question he was being asked.

At any rate, the story is questionable at best.

The commentary at Rush Limbaugh also mentions the following:

I think the reporter is Hunter Walker.  If that’s who it is, you need to know that this guy is a major backer of Hillary Clinton, as most in the Drive-By Media are.  He has written endless articles championing her, and now I think he writes for Yahoo News and is the Business Insider politics editor. 

We are in the silly season–the time when you really can’t believe most of what you hear from the mainstream media. Be on guard, there is an obvious attempt at manipulation here.

Opening The Door Wide For Identity Theft

Identity theft is a problem in the electronic age. Credit cards with chips can be stolen without anyone actually going near the actual card. The internet is a gold mine for identity thieves. Now the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is going to make it really easy to have your identity stolen.

Freedomworks posted an article yesterday about a new rule the IRS is proposing on charitable donations.

The article reports:

A new rule is proposing that non-profit organizations collect the “tax identification numbers” of all their donors who give over $250. For you and me, that means our Social Security numbers.

It’s hard to imagine a more chilling regulation on charitable giving. Would you be willing to enter your Social Security number into an internet donation form, knowing that the government will get to see it? Would you be willing to write that number down and mail it through the U.S. Post Office alongside a check? I wouldn’t.

The article continues:

This is part of the IRS’a continued efforts to reduce the reach and effectiveness of non-profit organizations. Many of you will remember the proposed regulations from last year that would have narrowly defined “social welfare” to shut down conservative organizations critical of the IRS. Through a massive grassroots activism campaign, FreedomWorks, along with other organizations, was able to stop the regulation by driving a record number of comments – over 150,000 – to defeat the rule. This new regulation is a resurrection of the same idea – identify and deter voters to causes the government doesn’t approve of.

In addition to the compliance cost of organizations having to keep track of all these numbers, the potential for civil liberties violations is huge. The Constitution guarantees us the freedom of association, but that freedom is compromised when the we know the government is watching us, especially when the watching is being done by an organization capable of inflicting punishment in the form of fines, audits, asset forfeiture, and general harassment.

We saw that harassment when a business was boycotted because they gave money to support Proposition 8 in California. If this information is required, we can expect to see donors to conservative causes targeted. We have already seen thegovernment harass businessmen who contributed to conservative causes using audits and safety inspections.

The comment period on this new rule is open until December 16. Please comment and let the IRS know that they have no right to demand your Social Security number for charitable contributions.

In What World Does This Make Sense?

I celebrate the release of Jonathan Pollard from prison today. Jonathan Pollard, 61, was given a life sentence thirty years ago for selling American intelligence secrets to Israel. He has been released and will spend at least the next five years on parole. He sentence seems a little harsh, as we spy on our allies all the time. Spying on allies seems to be a normal mode of operation. Contrast this thirty-year sentence with the recent sentence of Jared Fogle, former spokesman for Subway sandwich shops. Mr. Fogle has been sentence to 15 years for child pornography and sex with a minor.

Yahoo News posted a story about Jonathan Pollard yesterday.

The story includes the following:

Both the Justice Department and Pollard’s lawyers have so far declined to discuss his parole conditions, but one longtime supporter, Rabbi Pesach Lerner of New York, told a radio interviewer this month that Pollard would have to abide by a curfew and wear a GPS unit to track his movements.

He has also been ordered to stay off the Internet, Lerner said, which could complicate his ability to hold a job.

“We’re concerned that maybe they are trying to set him up so they can say he broke his parole and send him back,” Lerner told Nachum Segal, who hosts a program on Jewish affairs on WFMU in New Jersey. “They’re keeping the reins on him very tightly.”

This man was never a threat to national security. There is no reason to believe that he will become a threat. It is obscene that he was kept in prison so long and that excessive restrictions are being put on him after his release. I wish the Obama Administration was as diligent about tracking the terrorists they release from Guantanamo.

An Amazing Story From A Middle School Teacher

The following was written by a friend of mine who teaches Middle School. My hope is that they are many more teachers like him and many more students like his students.

Sharing a Wonderful Experience

I know many of us grow weary and worried for the future of our great nation. This is often amplified when we look at our younger generations and the fruit of our educational system. It can certainly be food for depression. However, I would like to share a dose of superb sunshine and positive encouragement I recently received while working with two classes of middle-school students.

I was presenting material on folk literatureoral traditions. We were specifically studying fables. I had selected two pieces which create an opportunity for challenging and discussing some of the troubling modern thinking. The first selection was “The Grasshopper and the Ants.” The second was “The Scorpion and the Frog.”

The students were given the first passage to read for homework. In addition to reading the selection, the students were to answer one question, were the ants right in their response to the grasshopper? They were to write three brief paragraphs which would include their answer and support for their answer. On the following day, I asked the students to get into one of two groups – those who thought the ants were wrong, and those who thought the ants were right. We then proceeded to have a structured debate with opening comments, rebuttal statements, a period for questions and answers, and closing statements. It was an absolute joy to see the majority, about 4/5, of my students supporting the ants. Through the course of the debate/discussion, my students further impressed me with their passionate arguments supporting the rights of the producer/worker to reap the rewards of his labor. When presented with the counter argument that the ants should have at least been a little helpful to the starving grasshopper, a few students promptly set the record straight by arguing that the ants had tried to help by warning the grasshopper and encouraging him to do some work in preparation for the coming winter. When asked if it would be right for some outside force, The Grasshopper Protection Society of the Universe, to pressure/force the ants to give a portion of their goods to the grasshopper, my students responded with a resounding no. They did acknowledge that the ants could choose, on their own, to give some of their goods away, but the choice belonged to the ants. Even when applying to real-life situations – one of which was the sharing of academic success with under-achieving students – my students argued that those who worked for successful outcomes should benefit from their work and choose how to help others. They submitted that if others wanted to be successful they need to work for that success.

A real encouragement came when similar results occurred in my second class.

The second fable, given for the next day’s assignment, dealt more with the influence of our nature – i.e. the scorpion stings and kills the frog saying he had to because that is what scorpions do. The question for my students was, did the scorpion have to do what he did. Again, we had a group discussion – not a debate, but a sort of panel with a randomly selected student to represent the frog and another to represent the scorpion. At the conclusion of this discussion, I presented the students with a final question, what is stronger and more important – your nature or your power of choice? My students warmed my heart with a unanimous outcry that our choices are the most powerful.

Again, similar outcomes for both classes.

While this year has been a good year already, these two days were extraordinary! Our country will be great if these young people have anything to do with it. Find them, and encourage them.

This Won’t Help Me Sleep Nights

Breitbart.com reported yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that eight Syrian illegal aliens were taken into custody as they attempted to enter America in the Laredo Sector.

The article reports:

Agent Garza further stated that in matters as sensitive as Syrians crossing the border from Mexico, it would be highly unlikely that federal agencies would publicize it or inform a broad group of law enforcement. He did say that Local 2455 is taking the reports seriously and that they “will be issuing an officer safety bulletin advising Border Patrol agents to exercise extra precautions as they patrol the border.”

Breitbart Texas can confirm that a Syrian did attempt to enter the U.S. illegally through Texas in late September. The Syrian was caught using a passport that belonged to someone else and U.S. authorities decided against prosecuting anyone involved due to “circumstances.”

The obvious question here is, “If eight were caught, how many got through?”

What Is Being Said Here?

Howie Carr at The Boston Herald posted an article today about remarks Secretary of State John Kerry made at the U.S. Embassy in Paris on Tuesday.

The article posted:

At the U.S. Embassy in Paris Tuesday, the secretary of state compared the two Muslim terrorist massacres in France this year — the shooting up of the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices and then last Friday’s celebration of diversity.

“There’s something different about what happened (Friday) from Hebdo,” he says on the tape, “and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of — not legitimacy — but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and, ‘OK, they’re really angry because of this or that.’ ”

The implication here is that the Charlie Hebdo attacks were caused by the actions of the editors. Actually, those responsible for the Charlies Hebdo acts were the people who planned them and carried them out. Note to Secretary Kerry–nothing justifies the kind of cold-blooded murder that went on at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices.

There is another aspect to this. In his book, Catastrophic Failure, Stephen Coughlin explains that one of the goals of the Islamic Movement and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is to institute Islamic Law on non-Muslims, beginning with the concept of slander. In Islam, slander is defined to any speech that mentions something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet, or Islam. It doesn’t matter if what you say is true, if it is negative, it is considered slander. The penalty for slander is death. We need to be careful that we do not compromise our free speech rights in this area. People who commit crimes because they do not like what is being said need to know that there will be consequences for their behavior. Unfortunately, what Secretary Kerry said implied that killing people because you don’t like what they published is understandable. Americans need to state clearly that this is neither understandable nor justifiable.

The invented word ‘Islamophobia’ is an example of the attempt to curtain the First Amendment rights of Americans. If we tell the politically incorrect truth about the goals of Islam, that word is often invoked. It is a way of avoiding the truth. It is unfortunate that our Secretary of State did not choose his words more carefully.

Free Speech?

One of the foundations of our representative republic is free speech. This can be a very mixed blessing. We have the right to speak freely–we don’t have the right not to be offended. Some of our politicians have rather thin skins.

Yesterday Judicial Watch reported that the Laugh Factor, a comedy club in Hollywood, has been contacted by the Hillary Clinton campaign because of a short video (less than three minutes) of a performance at the club which targets Hillary Clinton which is posted on the website of the club. Jamie Masada, who owns the club, says that a Clinton campaign staffer called him and threatened to put him out of business if he didn’t take down the video. The campaign also demanded personal contact information on the performers in the recording.

The article describes the performance as somewhat crass and including some profanity, but that does not disqualify it from being free speech. Anyone who does not approve of the language or the content has the option of turning it off–that’s part of what free speech is about.

The article reports:

Masada told Judicial Watch that, as soon as the video got posted on the Laugh Factory website, he received a phone call from a “prominent” person inside Clinton’s campaign. “He said the video was disgusting and asked who put me up to this,” Masada said. The Clinton staffer, who Masada did not want to identify, also demanded to know the names and phone numbers of the comedians that appear in the video. Masada refused and hung up. He insists that the comedy stage is a sanctuary for freedom of speech no matter who is offended. “Just last night we had (Emmy-award winner) Dana Carvey doing Donald Trump and it was hilarious,” Masada said.

Can you imaging Donald Trump doing this in response to all the jokes about his hair? This should be a red flag for anyone planning to vote for Hillary. The lady is thin-skinned and not above threatening someone to avoid bad press–even if it comes under the heading of comedy.