"There is no sight quite so terrifying as ignorance in action" -Johann von Goethe

WARNING - Bad language ahead

You gotta love teenagers. They are often so smugly sure of their own brilliance, even when they make complete asses of themselves.

On a typical day, after I get off work, I pick up my two kids (aged 7 and 5) from school, and then when we get home, they love to play on the driveway. They ride their bikes, Ripsticks, and scooters on the driveway, climb the tree on the front lawn, and basically wind down. It is especially nice to do now that the Sacramento summer is over, and the late-afternoon weather is positively beautiful outside.

How angry I was then when on Friday afternoon (10/28), I looked down my street to see a pack of about ten teenagers from the local high school walking down the middle (literally, the middle) of the street. They were dressed in their finest slacker gear, with shaggy uncut hair spilling out their backwards baseball caps, and their skateboards being carried alongside their sagging skinny jeans. If that had been it, I would have tolerated it and moved on. What I could not tolerate was the filthy, vulgar language that was loudly pouring out of their mouths as they swaggered down my quiet residential street. I had to send my kids into the house, it was so bad.

As they walked past my house, I stood there on my driveway and watched them pass by; their filthy conversation continuing unabated as the words "fuck", "fucking", "motherfucker", and all other manner of words violated our quiet neighborhood.

I couldn't let this one go. I yelled, "Excuse me. Could you please not talk like this in our neighborhood? I just had to send my 7 and 5 year-old kids into the house so they wouldn't have to hear your foul language."

One of the boys turned toward me while continuing to walk, gave me a mocking salute, and said, "Yes, Sir!" in a very mocking and disrespectful fashion. One of the other boys yelled, "First Amendment, my friend! We can say whatever we want!"

I yelled in response, "First Amendment? I'm not the government! How about just common decency?!"

They continued walking.

And there it was, one of the major problems of our society on full display: The exercise of rights without regard to responsibilities. Although I could make an argument toward the budding lawyer's ignorant comment that you indeed do not have a right under the First Amendment to yell vulgarities as you walk down a residential street (disturbing the peace, anyone?), for the sake of argument, let's say that you did have that right. Should you exercise it? Where was that little voice inside their heads, that realization that perhaps cussing like that in front of my children wasn't exactly a good idea? Where was that sense of shame when confronted by me about it where instead of mocking me, they could have given a quick apology for possibly corrupting the innocence of my children, and moved on without further comment?

I wonder the same thing when I walk down the halls of the school at which I teach and listen to the atrocious and vulgar language uttered by my students as they flitter down the hallways and the lunch grounds outside.

When I am around my friends, do we cuss like sailors? On occasion, you bet! But the difference is that I do it out of earshot of my kids, and my friends' kids. And when I slip on occasion and say a bad word in front of my kids, such as when I drop something or hurt myself, I profusely apologize to them for having done it. I make sure they know that it is not OK to publicly cuss with abandon.

Too bad no one taught these boys the same lesson. Whether or not they learned anything, that lesson was left to me to give in front of my house on a Friday afternoon.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

And I thought *I* have it bad...

When it comes to posting, I love nothing better than a juicy story about something that happened to me at work; a story that serves as a microcosm of the problems with our nation's education system.

I have had school years in the past where certain class periods caused me to drink entire bottles of wine when I got home. So it is rather refreshing that so far this year, I honestly don't have much to complain about. I am now just a bit over two months into this school year - plenty of time for the honeymoon to end - and overall, my students are pretty darn well-behaved. Is every day going to be all sunshine and bunny rabbits? Yeah right. But for the most part, I tell my students to calm down or quiet down and they... do.

My wife on the other hand...

She teaches first grade in a different district than mine. Her student population makes mine look like a bunch of private school Stepford children. She teaches in a very poor area full of apartment complexes, drug use, family dysfunction, and victim mentality. When we get home at the end of the school day, my report of how my day was can usually be summed up with a succinct, "No problems; I had a good day." Whereas, my wife usually has a couple tales to tell. Today was especially true.

While my wife has plenty of challenging students, her first grade teaching partner in the room next door is fighting what appears to be a losing battle. My wife often gets a call from him in the middle of the day because he needs her assistance reining in an out-of-control student (or two). Today, she got that call and walked in to see one student standing on the teacher's desk, and another student tossing the classroom computer monitors on the floor. At the same time, my wife had been babysitting yet another student from her partner's class - a female student who my wife describes as "pure evil." Keep in mind, this girl is a six year-old first grader. This girl also began seriously acting up, to the point where my wife ended up having to carry this girl to the principal's office while the girl struggled, tried to bite my wife and spit on her, and upon being delivered to the principal, slapped my wife on the arm.

Of course, one of the reasons behavior like this has become the norm at my wife's site is largely due to the administration's inability or outright refusal to do anything about it. Between fear of lawsuits from belligerent parents,; fear of loss of ADA money if the kid is suspended; and fear of damaging the self-esteem of the precious little monsters, these students act out in the most disruptive and atrocious ways, yet they are right back at school the next day, ready to do it all over again.

And my wife is right in the middle of it all.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

If they don't like this bathroom policy, wait until they get a load of mine!

It seems some parents and students are in an uproar about a new bathroom visitation policy at a suburban Chicago high school. The school has a rule in place that limits to three the number of times a student can leave class to go to the bathroom during a given semester.

In typical overbearing, helicopter parent-type fashion, these overprotective parents - of high schoolers, mind you - gnashed their teeth for the news cameras as they denounced this horrific policy.

One parent, Bea Bailey, said, "This principal -- let him find out he's got diarrhea, and he's only told that he can go to the bathroom three times a semester and we'll see how this policy holds up with him."

Sorry, Bea, but you apparently have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Judging by her quote (and the way she said it, if you watch the video at the news story I linked) it almost seems like she believes the school is only going to let students go to the bathroom thrice in a semester under any circumstances. Uh, no. Again, the three time-only limit only applies to leaving class to go to the bathroom. Students still have before school, after school, during lunch, and passing periods between classes to go potty as much as they desire. I wish I could inform Bea that I teach straight through from 9:00am to 12:15pm, when my lunch starts. At that time, my morning coffee is ready to be purged, and off I go. How is it that I am able to make it long periods of time without having to use the bathroom, but these pitiful students, with their enabling parents, aren't able to go the distance? Are you telling me that the bladder of a high schooler isn't yet fully developed?

I learned early on as a new teacher that there are plenty of students who will ask to go to the bathroom every class period of every single day. Quite often, students who have different classes with their friends will coordinate their clocks and ask their respective teachers to go to the bathroom at a designated time, and then the friends will meet up to do God-knows-what.

You think three visits is harsh? For years now, I have had a ONE-visit-per-quarter policy that has worked quite nicely. At the beginning of each quarter, I issue to every one of my students a bathroom pass that is good for one visit to the bathroom. The pass is the size of a half-sheet of paper. I have it saved on a Word document with two passes on one sheet of paper. After I make my copies, I cut the stack in half with a slicer.

This bathroom pass has been one of the most successful policies I have ever instituted in my classroom. Every quarter, I enter the bathroom pass as an extra credit assignment on my gradebook. After I hand out the passes, I record on the gradebook that the students received their pass. I then inform/remind them that this is their one and only chance to go to the bathroom for this quarter. If they absolutely, positively have to go now now now, then that is what the pass is for. If they don't use the pass, and they hang on to it without losing it for the entire quarter, then at the end of the quarter, they can turn in their bathroom pass to me for a 3% bump on their final quarter grade. For example, if their final quarter grade is an 87%, the unused bathroom pass moves their grade up to a 90%. If a student actually uses the pass (and I do everything I can to remind them of what they are giving up if they use it), they turn it in to me upon their return from the bathroom, and I record in the gradebook that they used it. This way, it does no good for a student to make copies of his pass, as I check the gradebook to make sure they haven't used it.

I usually have between 160-180 students. Every quarter, I get an average of maybe 5 students who actually use their bathroom pass. Before I instituted my bathroom pass policy, I had dozens of students going to the bathroom every day.

We teachers see the reality of what it is like if visits to the bathroom are not regulated, which makes me shake my head in indignation as I watch these parents in that news clip with their knee-jerk reactions against the school's very reasonable and overly-generous bathroom policy. I actually think three visits is too many. One has worked just fine in my classroom for years.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

What was the worst song of the 1980s?

I might be the world's biggest '80s music fan. If a song was in the Billboard Top 100 during that decade, chances are that I can tell you not only what year that song was popular, but which season of that year.

I therefore took great interest the other day when Rolling Stone magazine released a list based on a reader poll of the ten worst songs released in the 1980s.

What can I say? I agree with some of the choices; some I don't. Here is a rundown of the list, along with my thoughts:

10. Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Winter 1988)
I'm not sure if this one belongs on the list. It is definitely high up on the cheese-o-meter, but it has a beat and you can dance to it. The most memorable thing about this song was the reaction from people when they saw the video. The deep baritone that people heard on the radio had everyone assuming that it belonged to some black Motown singer. Imagine everyone's surprise when they saw that voice emanating from a waif-ish, wimpy Brit who looked like the skinny version of a Bob's Big Boy statue.

9. Taco - Puttin' On The Ritz (Summer 1983)

This one so belongs on this list. In fact, I believe this song should be in the #1 spot. How bad is it? Take a Jazz Age song, synthesize it and add some Eurotrash vocals, then make it sound like some jam session where the studio engineers were making stuff up as they went, and Voila! You have what I believe is the worst song of the 1980s.

8. Toni Basil - Mickey (Fall 1982)

Yeesh! Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.... While Toni's mind is being blown, I am blowing chunks. I can't stand this song; never could.

7. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy (Fall 1988)

I could think of other songs that should be on the list instead of this one, but this a capella stinker from the soundtrack to one of the worst movies of the 1980s - Cocktail - is still pretty bad. When your song has lyrics like this: Your landlord say your rent is late; he may have to litigate - it can't help but make people want to put the song on a "worst of" list:

6. Falco - Rock Me Amadeus (Spring 1986)

This song bugs me for three reasons. First, it was such a nakedly shameful attempt to capitalize on the success of the movie Amadeus, which had won the Best Picture Oscar the previous year. Second, the strange halting rap that Falco strains through during the song was his obvious attempt to cover up the fact that he barely spoke a lick of English. And third was the annoying bridge in the song where, while the synthesizers were still going strong, some strange far away voice begins listing Mozart's life accomplishments. Right in the middle of the song!

5. Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance (Summer 1983)

Whoever voted to include this song on the list ought to be ashamed of themselves. This is a great song.

4. Wham! - Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go) (Fall 1984)

This song is so impossibly happy, it is evil. Add in the short shorts that George Michael wears in the song's video, and there is just nowhere to go but down. This song does NOT make me want to do the jitterbug... oh do the jiiitterbug.

3. Chris DeBurgh - Lady In Red (Spring 1987)

The ultimate in '80s high school slow dance cheese. By the way, when I was a junior in high school, my prom date wore a red dress and we danced to this song. Cool huh? Of course, since Chris DeBurgh really laid on the thick British/Irish accent in this song (just like the Psychedelic Furs liked to do), my prom date wasn't "dancing" with me, she was "dah-ncing" with me.

2. Europe - The Final Countdown (Winter-Spring 1987)

The ultimate in pretentious hair band cheese. I don't think this song is terrible, but there is something about it that bugs the heck out of me. Obviously, it has the same effect on others, since it is in the #2 spot. If you want to hear a much better song from Europe, try Superstitious from 1988.

1. Starship - We Built This City (Fall 1985)

Oh the irony. The 1960s counterculture group known as Jefferson Airplane had, by the 1980s, morphed into a canned, corporate schlock factory called Starship. One of their biggest hits was this atrocity that includes a radio weather forecast/traffic report during the song's bridge. I think what makes me despise this song even today is not so much that it is so bad, but that it got so much radio airplay when it was released, that 26 years later, I am still sick of hearing it.

Since I expressed my misgivings about the presence of some of the songs on this list, you are probably wondering what I would have put there instead. That's easy. The following songs are so awful, that they are forever seared into my memory. Whenever I hear any of these songs on the radio, I immediately turn the station:

Blondie - Call Me (Winter-Spring 1980)

Irene Cara - Fame (Summer 1980)

Blondie - Rapture (Winter 1981)

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Winter-Spring 1982)

Soft Cell - Tainted Love (Summer 1982)

Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio (Spring 1983)

Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (Spring 1983)

Prince - Little Red Corvette (Spring 1983)

Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money (Summer 1983)

Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield (Fall 1983)

Night Ranger - Sister Christian (Spring 1984)

Mike Reno and Ann Wilson - Almost Paradise (Summer 1984)

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It (Summer 1984)

Cyndi Lauper - She Bop (Summer 1984)

Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You (Summer 1984)

New Edition - Cool It Now (Fall 1984)

The Time - Jungle Love (Fall 1984)

Glenn Frey - The Heat Is On (Winter 1985)

Katrina and the Waves - Walking On Sunshine (Spring 1985)

Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (Spring 1986)

Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle - On My Own (Spring 1986)

Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone (Summer 1986)

Simply Red - Money$ Too Tight To Mention (Summer 1986)

Stacey Q - Two Of Hearts (Summer 1986)

Whew! That felt good to get off my chest. Any decade is going to have its stinkeroos. For the 1980s, those songs were definitely it!

On another note, I am happy to report that the 1980s sound is beginning to make a comeback! There are bands that are recapturing that happy, poppy, synth sound but with a post-modern angsty twist that we can't quite seem to shake these days, as the 2010s are not exactly Morning in America. One of the best examples is a group that is currently tearing up the sales called Foster the People. What great music they are producing! Another group making "new waves" is One Republic. I am happy to see music from these groups showing up on the charts and supplanting some of the dominance we have seen in the last two decades from shi*-hop and (c)rap music. I remember ten years ago or so when so-called music from that genre occupied every spot in the Billboard Top Ten. That's not the case nearly as much any more. My wife and I have both noticed a shift in music and we are tickled about it.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Checkmate complete: Statist governor and legislature outlaw open carry of handguns in California

Back in August, I wrote a post about Assembly Bill (AB) 144, which called for the outlawing of the open carry of handguns by law-abiding citizens in California.

Being a "may issue" rather than a "shall issue" state when it comes to handing out concealed carry (CCW) permits, the one way that law-abiding citizens in California could still exercise their right to self-defense as guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was by carrying their handgun in plain view, usually with the use of a holster on the hip.

Now, California gun owners will no longer be able to openly carry their handgun. Late Sunday night, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 144 into law. As I have been saying: Checkmate. Most Californians are already unable to obtain permission to carry their handgun concealed; now they no longer have the option of carrying openly either. For all intents and purposes, the carrying of handguns in California is now entirely illegal.

I fully expect this newly-signed law to be challenged in court, however, there is the matter of a federal court case that has already been decided, but the basis for the decision has been negated by the signing of AB 144 into law.

In the 2009 case of Richards v. Prieto, Adam Richards sued Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto after Prieto refused Richards' application for a concealed carry permit. The federal district court judge found in favor of Prieto because, after all:

"...even if Plaintiffs are denied a concealed weapon license for self-defense purposes from Yolo County, they are still more than free to keep an unloaded weapon nearby their person, load it, and use it for self-defense in circumstances that may occur in a public setting. Yolo County's policy does not substantially burden Plaintiffs' right to bear and keep arms."

Translated: Even though Richards got turned down for a CCW permit, he was still free in California to open carry, so quit complaining.

Uh, now what?

In the meantime, Open Carry advocates are not going to give up. AB 144 does not go into effect until January 1, 2012. After that, people will start walking down the street with rifles and shotguns strapped around their shoulder, as AB 144 only applies to handguns.

Anthony Portantino (Democrat, naturally), the legislator who created this noxious bill-turned-law, cited as one of the reasons he wanted AB 144 passed was that some people were "uncomfortable" at the sight of someone with a pistol holstered on their hip. Awwwww.

How would these faint-hearted wimps feel with me walking by them with my SKS 7.62X39mm carbine hanging off my shoulder? That is what this anti-gun madness is coming to.

Since carrying a handgun openly is so visually upsetting, the best thing for the California legislature to do would be to change state law so that we are a "shall issue" rather than a "may issue" state when it comes to issuing CCW permits. Better yet, we could change the law to make California like Vermont, Arizona, and Alaska. In those states, you don't need a permit to carry concealed, let alone openly.

What is the California legislature (and our Governor) so afraid of?

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

"Occupy Sacramento" protesters seek publicity, but reject their opportunity to receive it

When a few hundred people hold a public protest in a public park in the middle of downtown Sacramento, you would think they would not only expect the media to show up, they would welcome the media's presence.

That thought was occurring to me as I watched this amazing bit of video from the local CBS (Channel 13) station here in Sacramento. Not only did these insipid people in Cesar Chavez Park not know why they were there, many of them did not want to tell the media even if they did know why they were there. Perhaps all they knew is that they wanted to piggyback on the Wall Street protests in New York, but that is only as far ahead as their drug-addled minds could think. Watch this and shake your head in amazement:

I have seen other public assemblies where protesters did not want to be filmed by bloggers with cameras (like me) or something like that, but I don't know that I have ever seen this kind of hostility directed at members of the news media by people who are seeking public attention.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Sacramento restaurant closures provide a lesson in free-market economics

The Sacramento Bee ran an article today about the travails of the eateries in downtown and midtown that unintentionally provided a wonderful lesson in the concepts of what in free-market economics is called "creative destruction."

Since the economic downturn began in 2008, quite a few restaurants in downtown and midtown Sacramento - some very well known - have gone out of business. Does that stink if you work at one of those restaurants? You bet. But a cursory drive around downtown/midtown quickly dispels any notion you may have that all the restaurants are going to go out of business. Many are doing quite well, thank you very much. In fact, the closure of one restaurant means opportunity for other restaurants that are succeeding:

Still, some restaurateurs are betting things will get better. They're snapping up vacated restaurant space at bargain rates for future expansion...

The silver lining for entrepreneurs is that the commercial real estate market is now full of bargains.

"The deals are good right now," [local restaurateur Randy] Paragary said. "What used to be $2 a square foot is now $1.50, or maybe you get six months' free rent. Landlords just want to get a new tenant."

Many restaurants that recently closed are being scouted by potential new owners. For instance, the space formerly occupied by California Pizza Kitchen at 15th and L streets is being remodeled into a sports bar by the families behind Mix Downtown and de Vere's Irish Pub.

Bazett of Golden Bear and his business partners are also branching out with Hook and Ladder Manufacturing Co., a bar and eatery that will occupy the former Hangar 17 at 17th and S streets come February.

"It was too good of a deal to pass up," said Bazett. "The next five years could hold some promise for Sac, but yeah, it's kind of scary at times."

The tough part about economics is that people only see half the story. When a business goes out of business, what people see are a boarded-up building and dozens of employees out of a job. What often goes unseen, however, is the opportunity for expansion of a competing business that is obviously delivering a superior product. How do we know their product is superior? Easy - they are still in business and the other is not. This expansion means the buying up of the inventory and real estate of the business that failed, and the hiring of many of the people who lost their jobs after the other establishment went out of business; or the opportunity for those people who have learned enough about their trade to try their hand at opening their own business rather than working for one.

If these restaurants were treated like the banks that were "too big to fail," Uncle Sugar would come swooping in with Joe Taxpayer's money in order to "save" Red Lotus, Brew It Up, Spin Burger Bar, L Wine Lounge & Urban Kitchen, Celestin's Island Eats, California Pizza Kitchen's 15th and L street location, Good Eats, The Terrace, Slocum House, and any other eatery that has been unable to attract enough customers to stay open in these difficult times.

As for the restaurants that are attracting enough customers to stay open? They don't need a taxpayer bailout; they are creating taxpayers with their successful business. What sense does it make to take money from the success stories and transfer it to the failed businesses in an effort to prop them up when they would otherwise close down?

Like I said, it's a great economics lesson.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

You can't make this sh** up!

Those words are often uttered by my wife after she regales me with yet another story of something that happened that day at her school where she teaches first grade.

While I teach in a middle to lower-middle class school, my wife teaches at a school that is located smack dab in poverty central. With neighborhoods in which the majority of residents live under the poverty threshold, there is always a certain amount of dysfunction to be found there.

Case in point:

Today, my wife watched as her principal affixed a district police officer sticker to the chest of a female first grader who had found and turned in a baggy of marijuana that she had discovered on a bench near the playground.

Later, my wife asked the student how she even knew that what she found was a bag of pot. The student told my wife, "Oh, I know what that stuff is. I see my mom and dad smoke it all the time."

You can't make this sh** up.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Teacher invokes Godwin's Law, proves to be an embarrassment to the profession

Although no one can ever accuse me of not being a political conservative, my participation in the teaching profession does often put me at odds with my fellow conservatives regarding the conventional wisdom about teachers and teaching.

One assumption conservatives often have about teachers is that they are all a bunch of raving left wing wackos. While I can attest that many of them are, I stand as living proof that this is definitely not always the case. And hey, my wife is a teacher, and she is conservative, too.

What doesn't help counter this blanket accusation of leftitude is knuckleheads like this high school government teacher who recently spoke at a Tea Party forum that focused on illegal immigration. The teacher was reduced to invoking Godwin's Law, which states that when one is losing a political argument with his debating opponent, you can be assured that the losing debater will call his opponent a Nazi. Watch:



How old is this teacher? 12? Aside from simply using the "N-word", just the way he calls the guy a Nazi betrays him as a snot-nose little punk who, when he was in high school, probably had upperclassmen shoving each other out of the way to see who could make him push a penny down the hall with his nose.

And shame on him for dragging his minion-esque students to the forum to serve as props. This guy should do himself a favor and find another line of work. If he taught my kids, I would pull them out of his class yesterday.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

The true power of the Reno air race crash

I'm sure you have all heard of the tragedy near Reno, Nevada when a souped-up P-51 Mustang nose-dived into a crowd of spectators near the tarmac, killing 10 (so far).

Most of the videos I have seen were taken quite a distance away, so you see the explosion, but it seems like a major puff of dust. This video I found today is not like that. The person who filmed this was so close to the impact zone, I wouldn't be surprised if he was hit with flying shrapnel. The sound of the plane just before it hit, and the sound of the collision with the ground are truly horrifying:

Naturally, there are those who are calling for the air races to be permanently cancelled, and in some cases, all air races. I am not one of them. Heck, I didn't even know these air races happened every year, but now that I do, I would love to go!

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Medal of Honor: Sergeant Dakota Meyer, U.S. Marine Corps

For only the second time since the Vietnam War, a member of the U.S. Armed Forces has survived to receive his Medal of Honor in person rather than posthumously.

Sergeant Dakota Meyer, USMC, was presented with the nation's highest award for valor by President Obama, and judging from what I have read about his actions, he deserves it and then some.

Here is his citation:

Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre-dawn meeting with village elders. Moving into the village, the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades, mortars, and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above. Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off, Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving, Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner's position in a gun-truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team. Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle, some at near point blank range, as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area. During the first two trips, he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many of whom were wounded. When one machine gun became inoperable, he directed a return to the rally point to switch to another gun-truck for a third trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported the remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out of the ambush. Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun-truck accompanied by four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and search for the missing U.S. team members. Still under heavy enemy fire, he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer's daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6-hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy's attack and inspired the members of the combined force to fight on. His unwavering courage and steadfast devotion to his U.S. and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

I continue to live in awe of these seemingly ordinary men who, when called, did something extraordinary. I am also happy to see that in an age when every kid gets a trophy, and even when the criteria to receive some lower military awards, such as the Bronze Star, have been watered down, the criteria for receiving the Medal of Honor are as exacting as they have ever been. The combat in Iraq and Afghanistan has dragged on for almost exactly 10 years now, and in that time, only 10 Medals of Honor have been awarded, for an average of one per year.

My hat is off to Sgt Dakota Meyer. Well done!

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

The Solyndra scandal for dummies

If you have any confusion about what exactly is happening with the scandal involving the now-defunct solar panel manufacturing company Solyndra and its ties to the Obama administration, then this should clear it up for you.

My thanks to Atlanta talk radio host Neal Boortz for breaking it down for us:

• Obama decides that he is the one who will decide where the new jobs will be, and he wants green jobs. Green jobs make liberals happy.
• Since Obama thinks that green jobs are cool, he decides to throw taxpayer money to private businesses who promise him green jobs.
• Solyndra needs money. So Solyndra gets in line for some ObamaMoney.
• Obama thinks that Solyndra is the perfect backdrop for his green jobs program, so he designates Joe Biden to go make a speech at the groundbreaking for a new Solyndra facility.
• But wait! Solyndra has applied for a $500 million plus loan guarantee, and the application hasn’t been approved yet!
• Obama’s own Office of Management and Budget tells him that the loan isn’t a very good idea.
• Obama remembers, though, that Solyndra principal George Kaiser is huge contributor to his campaign.
• Emails fly at the White House. Some suggesting that the loan guarantee isn’t a good idea, some saying we need to move ahead on this project.
• Somewhere along the line the loan agreement is modified to protect Solyndra investors while putting the American taxpayers on the hook.
• Obama administration officials actually sat in on some Solyndra board meetings while all of this, and Solyndra finances, were being discussed. (Imagine of Bush administration officials had sat in on Enron board meetings.)
• The loan guarantee goes through. The administration gets their day in the sun with Joe Biden speaking at Solyndra headquarters.
• About a year later Solyndra is in the tank.
• The taxpayers take it on the chin for over $500 milllion.
• The Democrats blame Bush, saying that the loan application happened during the Bush administration, not Obama’s.
• The Republicans are rude enough to point out that the Bush administration rejected the Solyndra loan application. It only gained new life when Obama took office and started spouting off about green jobs.
• The FBI raids Solyndra headquarters.
• Democrats and the Obama folks go into pure defense mode.
• Where does this go from here? That is going to depend on whether or not the ObamaMedia is compelled to really cover the story.

I continue to be amused by what the news media decides is a scandal and what is not. I can pretty much guarantee you that had Nixon and Reagan been Democrat presidents and taken the same exact actions that they did when they were president, the terms "Watergate" and "Iran-Contra" would not be in our national consciousness. Tell me I'm wrong.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

I would check for the union label, but whatever is written on it is probably too profane to read

If you haven't heard about the longshoremen strike up in Washington state that turned violent and felonious, then I'm not surprised. Somehow, the lamestream media isn't too enthused about reporting on the nefarious activities of one of Obama's and the Democrats' core constituencies.

During their strike/attack at a grain shipping terminal in Longview, Washington, these upstanding union members:

1. Threw rocks and sprayed pepper spray at police officers.

2. Restrained commerce by blocking trains on railroad tracks.

3. Cut brake lines on train cars.

4. Destroyed other property such as vehicles and building windows.

5. Assaulted several security guards and took them hostage.

Golly, just think what kind of national news coverage this would have received had these people been Tea Party activists. Think the coverage would have been sparse? Or positive? Instead, the very day that these union thugs did all this, the leader of their parent union, AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka, was a guest of honor at President Obama's speech given before a joint session of Congress.

One of the union thugs who - allegedly - carried out multiple crimes that day was one Ronald Patrick Stavas, age 45, of Kelso, Washington. One of Stavas' - alleged - victims identified him after viewing video of him "confronting" - in the words of a Clark County, Washington newspaper - a KGW TV news crew.

Somehow, I think the word "confronting" doesn't quite convey the magnitude of the abuse that the KGW crew received at the hands of Mr. Stavas. After listening and watching to his actions and words, I have little trouble doubting that he was capable of committing some of the crimes that were carried out at the Longview shipping facility. What Mr. Stavas didn't think through was that TV news cameras tend to have playback ability. What you are about to watch is absolutely, positively NOT SAFE FOR WORK, so turn down those speakers:



Remember, according to The Narrative, it is the Tea Party that is violent.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

I wonder if Obama employed this strategy the first time he tried to get laid?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is starting to look like the wheels are coming off the bus in the Obama administration and - after last night's shellacking in New York and Nevada - the Democrat party as a whole. How desperate does Dear Leader sound when he says something like this?



As one comment from another blog retorted to Obama: "If you love me, you'll resign!"

Is this man really the President of the United States? Please tell me it is all a bad dream.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Talk about a rebuke to Obama!

If the Democrats have lost the voters of the Brooklyn/Queens congressional district that sent raging statist Anthony Weiner to the House of Representatives seven times, then the times, they might be a-changin'.

Tonight, in the special election to replace Weiner the Perv, Republican Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin. Most of the votes have come in, and Turner is currently leading Weprin by 54%-46%.

It was pretty impressive when Massachusetts sent Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, but with two Republican governors (Weld and Romney) in its recent past, and the fact that it is easier for a candidate of the opposite party to appeal to an entire state rather than just a single congressional district (think a Republican trying to get elected in Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district versus getting the whole state of California to approve him) I would say that Turner's win in New York City is even more impressive. Anthony Weiner was one of the most leftist members of the House, and Obama won that district in 2008 with a comfortable 55% of the vote.

Don't get me wrong though; never ever count out the cult-like following who will vote for Barack Obama next year no matter how destructive and/or incompetent he is. This election in New York may or may not be an indicator of how the 2012 election will go, but I can assure you that Obama will not go quietly. If you think he can lose on his record, keep in mind that Franklin Roosevelt was president during sustained periods of 20+% unemployment, yet the voters kept sending him back three more times.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

"Bow" or "Bow"? - As it turns out, President Obama knows about neither

I have finally had the opportunity to view some of last Sunday's 9/11 ten-year commemoration coverage. Most of it was done in a respectful and somber manner, even to a fault it seemed - this morning, local talk radio duo Armstrong and Getty expressed their disdain at Sunday's "griefgasm" that included a commercial showing the Budweiser horses bowing toward New York City.

What left me most appalled at Sunday's coverage was the speech given by our Dear Leader at the site of the World Trade Center Memorial. President Obama, who, after attending Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for 20+ years and says he prays every day and should know something about the Bible, made a faux-pas that I believe ranks up there with the time he called a Navy Corpsman a "Corpse-man."

Obama was reciting (reading off his teleprompter) the 46th Psalm, which talks about snapping a spear and breaking a bow... as in a bow and arrow. Since Obama is actually unfamiliar with the Bible seeing as how all his church talked about was hating America and hating whitey, and is also unfamiliar with all things military, as his "Corpse-man" mispronunciation shows, it is no shocker that Obama flubbed his 46th Psalm reading by pronouncing "bow" the other way, such as: "Bow before the Japanese Emperor, a Saudi ruler, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives."

Hey Barry, you want to know how to properly recite the 46th Psalm? Let Color Sergeant Bourne from Zulu show you how it's done. God, I love this movie:



But wait, our Dear Leader wasn't done making an ass of himself. Since he is so good at bowing, you would think he would know that if there is anyone to whom you should bow your head, it is not the Emperor of Japan or some Saudi potentate, but to God. Did Obama do that? Yeah right:

If you look up "juxtaposition" in the dictionary, the above image should be included there. Doesn't this just tell you everything you need to know about the arrogant, narcissistic man-child that currently occupies our Oval Office? How can he bow before God when he is too busy working on his Mussolini impression? This one has always been my favorite:

If Obama had any shred of dignity left, he would "bow" out of the 2012 election and go back to Chicago.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

In Memorium: September 11, 2001

On the 5th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I posted a memorial to one of the victims of those attacks. I did this as part of an Internet project called 2,996: Honoring the Victims of 9/11. Three years later, I took part again, and posted a new memorial to a different victim. Both of them died at the World Trade Center. Even though it has been five years and two years respectively since I posted these memorials, I have received occasional comments about them, including two comments just in the past couple of days. Obviously the victims' names were Googled by interested parties, and they came across my posts.

Sadly enough, I never saw any project advertised like the one five or two years ago, so I have decided to repost the two memorials I wrote in 2006 and 2009. The first memorial that I wrote in 2006 is for Christopher Faughnan:

Christopher Faughnan, 1963-2001

I recently told you that I, along with thousands of other bloggers, signed up to honor a victim of the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It is now time for me to carry out my promise. I know I am early (I am writing this on 9/6/06), but I think Mr. Faughnan deserves more than one day, don't you?


Christopher Faughnan was born on October 31, 1963 in Colorado. He attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, graduating in 1985. Chris met his wife Cathy while both were undergraduates at CU. He was working as a security guard, she as a lifeguard. One day, Cathy held up a piece of paper to Chris that said, "Cute Butt."

Chris and Cathy had three children: Siena, Juliet, and Liam. The Faughnan family lived in South Orange, New Jersey and Chris worked as a government bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, which was located on floors 101-105 in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

When Chris got home every weekday at 6:30 p.m. from his job, "he would get the kids all crazy," Cathy said. "They would jump around him, laughing and kissing him." Chris and Cathy bought a minivan, and Chris ferried the three children to art classes, gymnastic practice, ballet lessons and soccer games.

According to Chris's younger brother Michael, Chris was a, "compassionate, respectful and generous man. He stood in defense of our environment, volunteered his time and money in support of human rights, and gave unselfishly to help disadvantaged, vulnerable members of our society. He spoke openly against unjust government policies, and followed a private ethic of compassion."

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Chris was working in his office in the North Tower. At about 8:30am, Chris had talked to his youngest daughter, Juliet, who was four years old at the time. Chris cajoled Juliet into saying "I love you" to him. Juliet was the last Faughnan family member to speak to Chris. At 8:46am, Islamic terrorists piloting American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center just below the offices of Cantor Fitzgerald. Chris was one of 658 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald who died that awful day. Chris Faughnan, husband and father of three, was 37 years old.

After Chris's death, Cathy and the children moved to Boulder, Colorado to be closer to family.

In a November 2003 tribute to his brother, Michael Faughnan had this to say about Chris:
"There are many adjectives I could use to describe my brother, but words always fall short. So I guess I'll just identify a scene perhaps many may relate to. It may sound superficial but it really is quite telling. You know when you're in a bar and there's somebody in the group that looks to you and says, 'what are you drinking?' and he comes back with three or four drinks for others - that's an example of Chris. Not keeping score on who buys the next round, but because he wants you to have a beer and not pay for it.

So the next time somebody buys you a beer - not expecting one in return- think of my brother."

God Bless you, and Good Day to You, Christopher Faughnan


Sources:
http://www.legacy.com/Sept11.asp?Page=Story&PersonID=96021
http://www.irishtribute.com/tributes/view.adp@d=236920&t=245269.html
http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill_faughnan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantor_Fitzgerald_Securities
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center

Next is the memorial I wrote in 2009 for Joan Francis:


Three years ago, I profiled Christopher Faughnan, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. I have linked the profile to his name if you wish to read it. I wrote about Mr. Faughnan as a part of the 2,996 Project, which was begun to help remember the 2,996 innocent people who were killed on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center, in the hijacked airplanes, or in the Pentagon. The way the Project works is that bloggers sign up to honor one or more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The person I was assigned is a woman named Joan Francis. While I found all kinds of information for Christopher Faughnan, it was very difficult to find any information on Ms. Francis. After Googling her name, I noticed that on list after list of all the 9/11 victims, Ms. Francis was the only person on the entire list who did not have her age and town/state of residence listed beside her name. I found one website that quoted a government official from the Carribean island nation of Trinidad-Tobago identifying Ms. Francis as being a citizen of that country.

The lack of information or photos of Ms. Francis saddened me greatly, as I could not find out if there is anyone - friends or family - who miss her or give tribute to her memory. So Joan Francis of Trinidad-Tobago, although I have never met you; I don't know what you look like; I have no idea what kind of person you were or what kind of life you led; I do know that you were present in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and you deserve to be remembered and honored for giving your life on that horrible day that still haunts my dreams.

God Bless you, and Good Day to You, Joan Francis

Source: http://www.caribvoice.org/Features/caritoll.html

God Bless these two people, the thousands of other victims who died that day, and also the thousands of American servicemembers who have died in the wars that were born out of the aftermath of that day ten years ago that changed the United States forever.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Ten Years Later: September 11, 2001

Where were you when you first heard or saw the news? My wife and I were getting ready for work. This was before kids, so we always had the TV tuned to the local news as we got ready. At around 5:50am PST, the local news cut away to a special report, saying that apparently, an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center and one of the towers was on fire. At that time, they didn't know if it was an accident or what kind of plane it was.

As my wife and I watched the smoke rise from the gaping hole in the top of the North Tower, I watched another airplane flash into view from the right side of the screen. It disappeared behind the towers, and then a split second later, a giant fireball filled the screen. I'm sure you have seen this footage yourself.

It is crazy how the mind works during a stressful moment. Even after I watched the second plane fly into the South Tower, I will always remember my first thought, which was, "Man, there is some air traffic controller who is royally screwing up." My mind still hadn't wrapped itself around the fact that this was a terrorist attack! Talk about having a "September 10th" mentality.

As the morning quickly unfolded, my wife and I had to continue getting ready for work. But when news came in that the Pentagon had been hit as well, that is when I called my parents. My Dad answered the phone, and I will always remember what I said. I asked, "Are you watching the TV?" He said he wasn't. I told him, "Turn on the news right now!"

I wasn't teaching in 2001; I was still working full time at the California National Guard State Headquarters in the Inspector General office. I had called in earlier to ask if they wanted us to come in and they said to wait and they would call. They finally did call at about 6:45am and said come in to work. It was during my drive to work that the news on the car radio announced that the South Tower had collapsed. That was 6:59am PST. I got into my office and the rest of the staff already had the TV on. We watched the North Tower collapse at 7:28am PST. After the North Tower collapsed, the leadership at the CalGuard HQ changed their minds and sent everyone home. My wife was not so lucky. She attempted to teach her 1st graders for the rest of the day, but not much teaching was accomplished. She was told that she could not talk about it with her class (understandable with six year olds). Every recess she shuffled her students out as fast as possible so she could turn on the TV. As for me, I spent the rest of the day in front of the television with a perpetual look of astonishment on my face. When one of the newscasters said that, based on how many people worked in the World Trade Center on a typical day, as many as 30,000 people could have been killed, I burst into tears.

As the day wore on, I also tried to digest the news that a fourth plane had been crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. By the time my wife got home, she and I were both absolutely numb.

In the years since that awful day, our entire society has changed. Life has almost become Orwellian, as we live in an increasingly repressive police state with the TSA molesting and manhandling us at the airport; we live in a state of perpetual warfare in such places as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya ("We have always been at war with Eastasia"); and through laws like the PATRIOT Act, the federal government has the ability to conduct surveillance on Americans that, while the feds insist now that abuses of these laws cannot happen, there is no guarantee that these laws will not be abused in the future, if they are not being abused already. Creeping tyranny in this country has become so pronounced that, more often than not, I question which I should fear more: Islamic terrorism or the actions of my own federal and state governments? What should I fear more: the one in lightning-strike chance that I or my family could be killed in a terrorist attack, or the almost 100% chance that the legislature and governor of my home state of California are - through Assembly Bill 144 - about to shut off any method for me to defend myself and my family with a firearm? What should I fear more: A one in a lightning-strike chance that Islamic terrorists will kill me or my family, or a fifty-fifty chance that due to job-killing and crony-protecting laws, regulations, and spending passed by the federal government, my wife and I will lose our livelihoods, our home, and God knows what else?

My children were born in 2004 and 2006. They will never know an America as it existed before September 11, 2001; just as I, having been born in 1972, will never know the America that existed before the national cultural and financial upheaval that began in the mid-to-late 1960s. Even after the 1960s ended, I like to think that the United States still enjoyed just a smidgen of innocence in the decades that followed. I believe that smidgen of innocence was extinguished on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, and I don't know if we will ever get it back. The thought that my children are growing up in the roiling cauldron that is Post-9/11 America pains my wife and me to no end.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Who do U.S. military members like better, Obama or Bush?

h/t to Bookworm Room (see blogroll):

Say what you will about George W. Bush (and I have plenty, and it isn't pretty), it was always very obvious that he was loved by the servicemembers he commanded. Just watch this rousing reception when Bush was introduced to a crowd of Marines during his presidency:



Now contrast that with the reception a group of what looks to be Marines and Navy personnel gave Obama just the other day. Notice what it takes to get them to finally applaud:



Can't say I blame them. I ended my 12-year stint in the U.S. Army and National Guard during Bush's presidency, but I served all four years of my active duty under Bill Clinton. I swear to you, I felt more honored to serve under Clinton than I would under Obama. Left-wing politics aside, at least Clinton has some wisp of masculine gravitas to him. Obama is just a preening metrosexual who I can't imagine would last more than a week in the military.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson

Agency Fee Payers: It's that time of year again

It is time once again for the yearly ritual that teachers like me who are not members of the California Teachers Association (CTA) must accomplish if we wish to get back a portion of the union dues that we are nonetheless forced by law to pay to the CTA if we want to continue teaching in this benighted state.

California is a "closed shop" or "non-right to work" state whose laws force teachers like me to pay approximately $900 in annual dues to the CTA, even if I am not a member. Luckily, I get about $300 of that money back, as that is the approximate amount of my dues that the CTA uses, not for work related issues, but for political activism - the lion's share of that money going to Leftist/Statist/Democrat causes. If a member of the CTA wants that money back, he has to donate it a charity that is on a CTA-approved list. If the member simply wants the money back free and clear, he must quit the CTA, as I have done.

If you are a conservative teacher like me who is sick of having his money forcibly confiscated and used to support causes that disgust you, you can get that money back. And as for liability insurance and all those benefits that that CTA promises its members? You can use your $300 refund to buy better benefits from the Association of American Educators (AAE), who are linked in my blogroll at left. I have been a member for about five years now, and I couldn't be happier with them.

For further information, you can also check out the California Teachers Empowerment Network (CTEN), who also writes about such issues, and can also be found on my blogroll.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson