Spotted

This afternoon, on the way to Home Depot, I saw a car in front of me with multiple bumper stickers. Among them were these two:

My kids think I'm an ATM!

and

Obama '08

If I had the opportunity to pull alongside the driver, I would have yelled, "Obama thinks you're an ATM too!"

Good Day to You, Sir

The Test-o-rama is underway!

What a wonderful, wonderful day it was! We began state testing on this beautiful Wednesday, and I couldn't not have had a more relaxing experience. For the first time in the five years I have taught at my school, the administration finally got it right.

In years past, the testing was spread out over a week and a half, with the students testing for two hours, and then going through their class schedule for the rest of the school day. The periods were shorter (they are 41 minutes on a regular day!), and since they had already tested, I couldn't give a quiz or test on anything I taught during that week and a half. The students were also quite ill-behaved during these abbreviated classes, both because they knew there was no quiz on the horizon, and because they were burned out from the whole testing schedule in the first place.

But this year... ahhhh, Heaven! We test Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. The teachers administer the tests to their first period classes from 9am to 1:10pm, with a 10 minute break at 11:30. The students eat lunch from 1:10 to 1:40, and then they GO HOME! I have been beating my head against the wall at staff meetings for the last five years suggesting that this is what should be done during state testing, and they have finally taken my advice. Well, I'm sure they don't remember that it's me who has been yelling from the rooftops, but my desires became policy just the same!

So tomorrow, I shall go to work, hand out the test booklets and bubbly answer sheets, and then enjoy the silence.

Good Day to You, Sir

Just imagine if Bush had done it?

Not that I have any love for most recent ex-president, but the overall silence of the leftstream media is hypocritically deafening on the story of one of Obama's 747s being used for a low-flying photo-op over New York City that scared the hell out of the residents.

At 3:30pm, I just checked the homepages of MSNBC, ABC, CBS, USAToday, and CNN, and the only thing I could find was a itty-bitty thumbnail link to the story on CNN. Other than that? Bupkiss. Conversely, the story is still a front-page matter on the website for Fox News.

I know what a Lefty's immediate reaction would be on that one, and that would be to scream about how that is more evidence of the conservative bias of Fox News, to which I would say, no, that is evidence that Fox News is living up to its responsibility as a news organization. The bias is on the other sites with the fact that any story about the fly-over is wiped clean from the other news organizations.

So what were the New Yorkers so scared of? Check this out:



Good Day to You, Sir

Psalm 66:6?

In honor of President Obama's first one hundred days in office, a friend of mine named Mike Nevin penned what he called "The Psalm of O." He left it in my comments section, but I considered it too clever not to post it here. Enjoy:

Psalm of O
A psalm of some of the American People.

1 Obama is our shepherd, we shall not be in want.

2 He makes us lie down in Green homes, he leads us beside clean waters,

3 he restores my job. He guides me in paths of progressiveness for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of conservatism, I will fear no republican evil, for he is with me; his rhetoric and informality, they comfort me.

5 He will prepare a tax relief plan before me in the presence of the upper class. He anoints my health care plan with benefits; my bank account overflows.

6 Surely hope and change will follow me all the days of my life, and he will dwell in the Whitehouse forever.

Parody written by Mike Nevin.

Thank you, Mike!

Good Day to You, Sir

**Update: After I quickly realized that there really is a Psalm 66:6, I looked it up out of curiosity and was amused by what I found. Here is the actual passage:

He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot - come, let us rejoice in him.

What instantly came to my mind was the passage from Obama's speech the night that he clinched the Democrat nomination:

“[G]enerations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when... the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal...."

Pure coincidence of course, but amusing just the same.

Good Day to You, Sir

"We civilized freedom 'til no one was free..."

Those brilliant lyrics came from a rather goofy 1969 movie musical called Paint Your Wagon. How goofy? Those lyrics were sung by tough-guy actor Lee Marvin; Clint Eastwood sang in that movie as well!

As lightweight of a film as Paint Your Wagon was, this line about civilizing freedom out of existence has a lot of truth to it. In that vein, Professor Walter Williams wrote a wonderful column this week about what happens when laws replace common customs and courtesy as the civilizing force in society. For example:

Behavior accepted as the norm today would have been seen as despicable yesteryear. There are television debt relief advertisements that promise to help debtors to pay back only half of what they owe. Foul language is spoken by children in front of and sometimes to teachers and other adults. When I was a youngster, it was unthinkable to use foul language to an adult; it would have meant a smack across the face. Back then, parents and teachers didn't have child-raising "experts" to tell them that "time out" is a means of discipline. Baby showers are held for unwed mothers. Yesteryear, such an acceptance of illegitimacy would have been unthinkable....

Amen!

Good Day to You, Sir

He's just a man, folks

I know you Obamabots out there really like your guy, but do us all a favor and stop comparing him to Jesus Christ or any other kind of saint, and please stop creating photos and paintings to convey that impression. I guess the whole church and state thing to which the lefties cling goes out the window when their Obamessiah is involved.

Good Day to You, Sir

You Global Warming cultists make me chuckle

How convinced is former vice president Al Gore (the Goracle) that anthropogenic global warming is for real and that it is catastrophic? How about the fact that he refuses to debate any of the so-called global warming "deniers" out there who, if they were actually given a chance to address some of Gore's hot air to his face, would make Gore the gasbag look like a blooming idiot.

The latest example? Lord Christopher Monckton, one of the best known "deniers" out there, was invited by our congress to testify at the same hearing as Al Gore on Capitol Hill. However, when zero-hour arrived, Gore "chickened out" in the words of Monckton, and refused to appear unless Monckton didn't. So, guess who got to appear before congress, and guess who was shut out of the proceedings?

If you members of the Church of Global Warming are so sure of your faith, then why do you refuse to debate and simply shut down and insult anyone who disagrees with you?

Pathetic.

Good Day to You, Sir

"Leave, office, now!"

I wrote my first referral today that I have had to write in quite a while. I kicked the student out of class, and also suspended him from my class for tomorrow as well. I'm sure you are wondering what the student did to incur my wrath; allow me to share it with you.

First, I must anonymously introduce you to... oh heck, I could think up some fake name, but I won't. Let's just call him "Missing Filter," as in he is missing a filter between his brain and his mouth, which means he often just blurts out any little old thought that somehow manages to form in that thick skull of his. Of course, "Missing Filter" is a bit long of a name to keep typing over and over, so let's just call him MF for short. Now, MF's ancestry is half-black, but before your knee starts jerking and you begin asking me what that has to do with anything, just bear with me. It makes his moronic utterances that much more astounding.

My 8th graders are currently learning about the major events leading up to the Civil War. On Monday and Tuesday, they learned about the world of slavery in the South. Yesterday, they learned about the three compromises: the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Today, we discussed the other major landmark events of the 1850s that made the Civil War inevitable, such as "Bleeding Kansas", John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, the formation of the Republican Party and Lincoln's run for the senate and then the presidency, Brooks beating down Sumner, and of course, the Dred Scott decision of 1857. It was this last item that led to one of the most incredibly stupid displays of behavior that I have seen in my six years of teaching.

When I do lectures, I always accompany the displayed notes on the overhead screen with a Power Point presentation that I run from my computer monitor to my television. The Power Point never has any text, just images. When we got to the Dred Scott case in the notes, I brought up an image of a famous portrait of the famous slave, Dred Scott. In fact, here it is:

As soon as the image appeared on the TV screen, I heard and watched MF make a monkey sound: Ooooh, Ooooh, Ooooh, Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh. I was speechless. All I could do was look at MF with a countenance that was one part incredulity and another part pure shock, along with my palms outstretched away from my sides and turned upward. "What?" MF sarcastically responded, "He looks like a monkey."

My body language continued in its frozen position, except my eyes grew much wider, and one of my outstretched palms turned into a fist with a pointed index finger that showed the way to the classroom door, and in my anger, I was only able to muster three words: "Leave, office, now!" MF gathered his things, and off he went to the office. When he was gone, there was an uncomfortable silence in the classroom, as many of the students were as shocked as I was at what MF had just said. The funny thing, is we all just kind of gave a half-chuckle and then moved on with the lesson. We were all so used to MF saying such inappropriate things, that we chose not to dwell on it.

Just another day in the classroom.

Good Day to You, Sir

Ten years ago

It's amazing to me that the Columbine High School massacre was ten years ago today. How could ten years have already zoomed by? Heck, I was still six months away from meeting my wife.

I caught the second half of a History Channel special on the massacre, and the one thing that stood out to me upon revisiting that horrible day was the - and I don't use this term lightly - cowardly demeanor of the police on scene.

It is a common procedure that when there is a hostage situation in a building, the police hang back and negotiate. But once shooting of hostages begins, that's when the police go in. At Columbine, there was no hostage situation; the bad guys proceeded directly to the shooting part. For three hours, the police did not enter that building, even though they were mere yards away from the windows of the school library where most of the killings took place. The police could hear the shooters methodically dispatching their victims. In the aftermath, the police had every excuse in the book: We didn't know how many shooters there were, there were explosive devices, so on and so forth. Sorry, but police get paid to put their lives on the line, and this was one of those moments where it was clearly necessary. For God's sake, even after the two murderers had killed themselves, the police didn't enter the building for another hour, and didn't reach the library where the police knew the killing was taking place until three and a half hours after the killers had offed themselves.

I went on YouTube to try to find some kind of tribute to the victims to honor them on this sad day, but I had trouble finding a tribute that didn't mention the names of the two subhumans who perpetrated this horrific crime. Heck some misguided souls even posted victim tributes that showed photos of the two killers as if they were fellow victims. As for me, I hope they are rotting in Hell. Thankfully, I finally found what I was looking for. Here are the people who should be remembered on this day:



Good Day to You, Sir

Just performing a public service, folks

So it seems that CNN is none too happy about the negative reaction to their reporter in Chicago and her little confrontational hissy-fit at that city's Tax Day Tea Party last Wednesday. So unhappy are they, that they are attempting to toss it down the memory hole. It seems that after CNN reporter Susan Roesgen confronted, rather than interviewed, a Tea Party attendee, the camera kept rolling after Roesgen cut her losses and sent it back to the studio. The blog Founding Bloggers has posted the footage, which shows the crowd verbally turning on Roesgen, and CNN has been trying to get that footage dropped from YouTube by claiming copyright violation. Good Luck. Fellow bloggers who have re-posted the footage are urging all of us to take what one blogger described as the "I am Spartacus" approach, and post this video so many places, that CNN will never be able to keep up. The video below will replay the initial interview/confrontation, then will cut to what happened after. By all means, enjoy!



Good Day to You, Sir

This is a test, this is only a test

This is a test post. I just tried to sign in, and I was informed that my blog was locked out for 20 days as a possible spam blog. I tried again and I got in, but I'm still wondering if everything is working OK.

What a pisser!

UPDATE: I just asked for a review (as instructed) and entered one of those crazy nonsensical code words, and I received the following message:

Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

We received your unlock request on April 21, 2009. On behalf of the robots, we apologize for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam.

Find out more about how Blogger is fighting spam blogs.

Give me a frickin' heart attack, why don't you??!! "False positive" they say? Good thing they weren't diagnosing a disease!

Good Day to You, Sir

Do you think the lefties were intimidated by today's Tea Parties?

Check out this paragon of objectivity as she gauges the vibe at a Chicago Tea Party.



If CNN doesn't fire this wench, or at least reassign her to the file room, they lose any shred of credibility they may have left.

Good Day to You, Sir

The masses take it to the elephants and the asses

There was a different kind of feeling of "hope" and "change" in the air today as an estimated 7,000 people (I think it was more) converged around the west steps of the California State Capitol in order to express their displeasure over the bailouts, the stimulus spending, and the inflationary spending that goes with it, that President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress are attempting with our hard-earned tax money, and the future earnings of our great-grandchildren.

Today's rally in downtown Sacramento was one of hundreds of Tax Day Tea Parties being held in cities all across the country. From the banking and auto industry bailouts, to the trillions of taxpayer dollars being spent to "stimulate" the economy, the attendees of today's rally made their feelings known with a plethora of signs, flags, t-shirts, and harsh words for our elected officials, both state and federal.

Some of the more memorable signs included one that used the words used in the title to this post; another told the government that we are not their ATM. There were also a huge number of Revolutionary War-era flags, complete with rattlesnakes and the words "Don't Tread On Me."

I attended today's Tea Party with my parents and my two children in tow (my wife had to work today). We arrived at the Capitol about twenty minutes before the official 12pm start time, but there were already thousands of people who had beaten us to the punch. The mood in the crowd was good-natured, but with a definite air of anxiety and fear for the future. I suspect one of the reasons for this anxious mood - aside from the aforementioned government spending spree - was a report that was just released by the Department for Homeland Security, entitled Assessment - Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. This anger in the crowd over this DHS assessment was verbalized by the rally's MC, local talk host Eric Hogue, who challenged the head of DHS, Janet Napolitano, yelling to the enthusiastic crowd that if she wants to know where all these "right wing radicals" are, "We are right here!" I find it hard to believe that it was pure coincidence that this DHS report was released with full knowledge of the DHS director and presumably President Obama the day before the Tea Parties were scheduled to commence. This was a naked attempt to intimidate and demonize the Tea Party organizers and attendees.

Sacramento's Tax Day Tea Party was a rousing success. They had top-notch speakers, such as Eric Hogue, local radio hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, Fox News' Neil Cavuto, and national radio host Michael Reagan; they had good organization, with port-a-potties available, a jumbotron screen provided by Pajamas Media's PJTV, and sufficient room for the thousands of people in attendance to mill about; and most of all, the people who attended the Tea Party itself. I didn't see a bunch of the stereotypical "country club Republican" types that people on the left seem to think that people on the right tend to be. I saw thousands of the kind of people who make this country successful. If I didn't work for a living, I would attend many more rallies like this, but I can't... I work for a living. I think of the dedication that so many of these people showed by taking a day off work so they could come out and show their support for the future of the state of California, the future of our Republic, and the future for our children and their children. This rally reminded me that there are still people out there that can make this country great again. This will only happen if the enthusiasm we saw today and in cities across this nation continue through the upcoming election cycles where we must show our incumbent politicians that we want "Change" alright; but not the kind that Obama and his minions in Congress have in mind.

I end this, my 1,000th post by the way, with some pictures that I took at Sacramento's Tax Day Tea Party:

One of the "Don't Tread On Me" flags was carried by Yours Truly.

There were lots of tea bags and references to tea bags. C'mon, it was a Tea Party!

Down on the ground, it was difficult to manage a camera shot that conveys the enormity of the crowd. This was my best effort.

Luckily, a friend of mine who works at the Capitol got me the shot I was looking for.

My friend wasn't the only one looking down on the crowd from above. Big Brother was definitely watching us, both with binoculars and at least one official with a camera and telephoto lens.

A nice sampling of the many clever signs that were to be found at the Tea Party.


Patriotic flags were in abundance as well.

It was a beautiful day for a Tea Party!

For a three hour rally, my kids behaved wonderfully. They were truly intrigued by all the activity. Grandma was on hand for backup, just in case the Chanman Children decided to go on the rampage!

Good Day to You, Sir

He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

Don't forget April 15th

Tax Day Tea Party is coming up soon. This Wednesday, rallies and protests will be held in cities all across the fruited plain. Find out if there is one in your area.

My parents will be in town for a post-Easter visit, so they are excited to join me on the steps of the California State Capitol and express their displeasure over our government full of "Goodfellas."

I will have my camera in hand to record the afternoon's events.

Good Day to You, Sir

Totally random... but COOL!

I have always loved airplanes. Of course, I am most fascinated by the kind of airplanes that shoot stuff. Of that genre, my favorite is the A-10 Warthog. With all the sleek, swept-wing fastmovers that get all the glory, I love the simple toughness of the the A-10. Ever since the Gulf War of 1991, I have followed the life of the only Air Force jet in their arsenal that is solely dedicated to close air support for the troops on the ground. This lesson was learned from Vietnam when the Air Force tried to protect our troops by using supersonic aircraft that were built more for taking on other supersonic aircraft rather than trying to pick off infantry or armor on the terra firma. The Air Force (and the Navy) had the A-1 Skyraider, but while it was a wonderful aircraft, it was also a propellor driven aircraft, and technological advancements had begun to leave it behind by the Vietnam War got underway. That's where the A-10 came in. What sets the Warthog apart is this big old thing right here:

Say hello to the GAU-8/A 30mm cannon. In just one second, this thing can spit out 70 rounds of depleted uranium shells that will take out a tank, a truck, or even a building. The cannon's recoil is so substantial that it actually slows down the Warthog when fired. The best thing about this cannon is the sound it makes. It is an absolutely evil sound, but if it is aimed at you, you will never hear it, because the bullets will get there first. Just ask the Taliban fighters holed up in this hideout in Afghanistan. Watch the whole video, because there are two separate strafing passes:



I showed my son that video, and he said, "Daddy, that gun sounds like a toot!" I think I remember talk of retiring the A-10 after the end of Gulf War I. If that's true, I'm glad the Brass changed their minds!

Good Day to You, Sir

Let me fix that statement for you there, Padre

As these words are typed, I am sitting in the home of my wife's sister and her family in the Point Loma area of San Diego. The fam and I departed Sacramento after work on Friday, and after nine hours on Interstate 5 (I drove every one of those miles by the way), we arrived at our destination just after 1am Saturday morning.

We have spent an afternoon at the beach, and tomorrow, we will hit the world-famous San Diego Zoo, but this morning we all attended church at one of the Protestant denominations in the Point Loma area.

During the sermon, the pastor was talking about the anxiety that our society currently feels, what with the economy and all, and he found the space in the sermon to offer up this gratuitous paean to our Dear Leader:

"We have a president who is gifted with a non-anxious presence."

I beg to differ. When I watch or listen to President Obama speak, I see and hear nothing but anxiety. I see a man who stutters and "uhh's" his way through his speeches whenever he must diverge from the teleprompter and actually speak what I assume are his actual thoughts.

I see an American public and stock market that gets anxious every time Obama or his tax-cheating Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, say anything about their plans for our industry and economy.

I see a world that is anxious as people of the different countries attempt to figure out just what kind of resolve our wishy-washy commander in chief really has in standing up to the bullies and aggressors of the world.

Speaking of those bullies and aggressors, they seem to be the only ones who aren't anxious. The terrorist group Hamas seems to be perfectly content as Obama seems hell-bent on securing almost a billion of our tax dollars to rebuild Gaza. Of course, due to incompetence, mismanagement, and general derangement, Gaza was a pit before the Israelis bombed it earlier this year. Not that the billion would be spent toward rebuilding efforts anyway... too many rockets and strap-on bomb vests to buy.

North Korea doesn't seem too anxious, as that country's demented leadership just fired a rocket the other day and continue the desire to be a nuclear power.

Russia doesn't seem too anxious as, ever since Obama took office, they have ratcheted up the rhetoric. Never forget that the leader of Russia is still Putin, and that he spent the better part of his life working for the KGB.

I am noticing more and more a kind of self-assuaging attitude where the Obamabots out there keep saying over and over again that their Dear Leader is an oratorical genius, even though he more and more being shown to be good at reading stuff. When Obama speaks off the cuff, I don't feel calmed. I feel my anxiety building with his every word.

Good Day to You, Sir

Lies, damned lies, and statistics

The jig is up on an recently oft-repeated statistic that proves Mark Twain's famous quote to be correct.

Rather than reexplaining the entire history of the 90% of weapons statistic, read this article from Fox News. The headline should help sum it up for you:

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.

Good Day to You, Sir

RIP Maurice Jarre

I love movies. I am fascinated by the whole process of making movies, and I am one of those people who actually sit in the theater when everyone else has cleared out so I can read the credits.

One aspect of movies to which I often pay attention is the movie's score. The score is the music that plays in the background during various scenes. If the scene is exciting, the score will be driving and fast-paced. If the scene is sad, the score will slow down and convey the seriousness of the moment.

Famous scores include the simple yet ominous two-notes of the Jaws theme and the inspiring brass of the Indiana Jones movies; both written by John Williams. Or who could forget the electronica-based scores of numerous movies from the early to mid-1980s, such as Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, and The Bounty? I also cannot fail to mention the haunting boys choir vocals that set the mood for the Civil War movie, Glory. Oooh, one more: the Back to the Future score by Alan Silvestri. That one is a classic in my book.

There are some musical scorers who have stood the test of time and worked in the business so long that they had the opportunity to dabble in different styles of scores. Maurice Jarre is one of those people. He wrote the drum and brass-heavy score for Lawrence of Arabia, the depressing score for Doctor Zhivago, and the electronica-heavy score for Witness - the "Amish" movie with Harrison Ford.

Maurice Jarre died the other day. His work is what, from an early age, inspired me to begin paying attention in the first place to who wrote the music to all those movies. Check out a rundown of his life's work and see if there is a movie whose musical score might have moved you.

Good Day to You, Sir

All in the name of fairness

With his latest column, Charles Krauthammer does a wonderful job of explaining the motivation that drives President Obama. With this kind of opening paragraph, you just gotta read the rest!

Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more). Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows the president to unilaterally guarantee the repair or replacement of every component of millions of such contraptions sold in the several states, and you will leave him slack-jawed....

Good Day to You, Sir

April Fools!

This week is a duty week for me. Every morning from 8:45 to 9:00, you will find me walking my post on the east side of the campus, chosen by me because of its dearth of students and quiet area.

However, just before the first bell rang, I noticed that things were not calm to the west on the other side of the quad. Students were converging on an area on the other side of a block of classrooms, and then I watched the principal and vice-principal walking there briskly with walkie-talkies in their hands. I didn't stick around to see what was happening because an all-call went out over the campus PA for teachers to immediately get their students into the classroom.

When it comes to middle schoolers, it doesn't take long to get the skinny on what happened. Seeing as how it is April Fools Day and all, a large group of students thought it would be funny to run around the campus together in order to get everyone else on campus to think there was a fight happening. So, the stampede was on. The problem is that once a stampede begins, it is very difficult to stop. The thundering herd ended up knocking down one of our Language Arts teachers and trampling her. When the principal and VP were walking briskly, they were walking to where the teacher was still down on the ground. I heard later that the teacher went to the hospital.

Wow! What a funny April Fools prank for these dipshits to pull. See me laughing? *sarcasm off*

What makes me additionally angry is that what I just told you above is really all I know, and what I do know, I found out second-hand from my students. All day long, we teachers never received a phone call, an email, or anything from administration letting us know what happened, or how the teacher is doing. After I got home from work, I kept waiting for a connect-ed message from the principal on my home phone, but one never came.

If I find out anything tomorrow that is worth adding to this post, I will add it. Otherwise, I will continue to be like a mushroom: kept in the dark, and fed a bunch of crap.

Good Day to You, Sir

Carnival of Education

I haven't linked to one of these in a while. Of course, I haven't been featured in quite a while. My post on the importance of securing a competent sub is posted there. Check it and rest of it out.

Good Day to You, Sir