Guns Also Stop Violence

When looking for ideas about which to blog, I often find the Metro section in the Sacramento Bee to be a gold mine. I came across something in today's Metro section that instantly stood out because I couldn't believe the leftward tilting Bee actually printed it.

At the bottom of page B1, was an article entitled Eight are honored for selfless actions. The article was about an awards ceremony put on by the city for citizens who had done heroic deeds. The first deed that was profiled went like this:

In the early morning of November 21, freelance news cameraman Paul Thomas Ennis, 54, was driving down Freeport Boulevard to film the aftermath of a shooting. He never made it. Instead he put himself at risk and in doing so joined the ranks of area residents recognized Friday as heroes. Flashing lights of a Sacramento police squad car at a Union 76 gas station at Fruitridge Road grabbed his attention that morning. Ennis could see what looked like an officer struggling with a man. Possible story, he though. Ennis got out of his car, video camera on his shoulder. But suddenly, the officer was on the ground, the man seated on him. Ennis put down his camera, yelled and leveled a licensed gun he carried. Startled, the man put his hands up, and Officer Stephen Moore, 26, gained control... The man, identified as Ricky Williams, 40, faces felony charges of resisting arrest, battery of a peace officer, and driving while under the influence. (my emphasis)

I was astounded that the Bee highlighted this incident. Usually, the media buries defensive uses of firearms as deeply as they can, but this one must have floated under the radar. It has been estimated that guns are used for defensive purposes somewhere between 200,000 and 2 million times a year. Why such a discrepancy? For one thing, defensive uses usually involve no shots being fired, and no police report being filed. That makes it pretty hard to track; unlike offensive uses of guns which usually are reported, even if shots are not fired.

There have been several famous incidents of defensive gun use, and several instances where guns should have been available.

On October 1, 1997 in Pearl, Mississippi, student Luke Woodham killed his mother, then went to his high school and began shooting. When the shooting ended, two students were dead, and seven were injured. What the media rarely told us was how the shooting ended. When the shooting started, a vice principal ran to his car in the school parking lot, took out a gun he had stored in there, and pointed it at Woodham as the deranged student shooter was reloading. Had the VP not done this, Woodham would have reloaded and continued shooting.

In January 2002, a student who had flunked out of Appalachian School of Law in Virginia went to his campus and began shooting, killing three people and wounding three more. Again, as he stopped to reload, he was stopped from committing further violence by two students who had retrieved their own guns from their cars. A CNN story said that the shooter was "grabbed and subdued" by some other students. Golly Gee, how exactly did they "subdue" him if he was armed? CNN left that little part out of the story, now didn't they?

My final scenario is one where there wasn't anyone who shot back, but if they had, the incident could have been stopped like the two above. On December 7, 1993, Colin Ferguson, a deranged black man who decided to go kill some white people because of what he described at his trial as "Black Rage", began shooting passengers on a Long Island commuter train. When it was over, six passengers were dead, and nineteen were wounded. Witnesses said that Ferguson calmly walked down the aisle of the train cars, carefully picking his white targets and methodically shooting them. If some of these passengers had been armed, they could have easily taken him out, as he stopped to reload several times. Of course, you don't have to wait for a shooter to stop to reload. If people are being killed anyway, someone should have engaged Ferguson immediately. Unfortunately, this was the state of New York we are talking about, so naturally, these people were not armed. Instead, they were sitting ducks. The same goes for George Hennard, who in 1991, killed 23 people inside a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. One customer, Susanna Gratia Huff watched both her parents die as she rued the fact that her gun was inside her car instead of on her person, due to Texas laws that said she couldn't carry the gun.

Time and again, these violent incidents occur, and of course the knee-jerk reaction is to want to get rid of the guns. I'm sorry folks, but that is not going to happen. You could ban the production of guns tomorrow, but guns last for decades and even centuries. The hundreds of millions of guns that already exist will not just go away. The best thing we can do is allow law abiding citizens to carry guns for self-protection, as is their God-given right to do so. I have a God-given right to defend myself and my family, and I refuse to give up that right, even if it makes people uncomfortable because I am carrying a gun.

Good Day to You, Sir

There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

That is a very famous quote that illustrates one of the constant rules of life. Even if you think it is free, someone somewhere is paying for it; and that includes our freedom. This brings me to another famous quote, which I had trouble verifying if it came from George Orwell or Rudyard Kipling:

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

I have always loved this quote because it points out the absurdity of these nitwits who demonstrate with their little signs that declare WAR IS NEVER THE ANSWER, and VISUALIZE WORLD PEACE. The only reason that these people can live in their little fantasy world is because we have a military and other "rough men" who are willing to lay their lives on the line to protect the right of these street-theater morons to go out there and bash our country.

I bring all of this up because I came across a poem via Michelle Malkin's blog and the Mudville Gazette that was inspired by the "rough men" quote by Orwell/Kipling. The poem was written by one Russ Vaughn, who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Hear now the word of truth:

Rough men

There's a character trait that's decided by fate
Comes (sadly) to many, far too faint, far too late.
They won't face the aggressor, stand up to his ire
They have not the will to fight his fire with fire.
So they bend over backwards to see all sides as fair,
Till they're faced with dragon breath fire in their hair.
Like our brethren in France, who'd know better than we,
Yet seem never to learn, seem doomed never to see.

Yes, it seems there are some who're determined by fate,
To possess not the courage to step up to the plate,
Who shrink from all threat because nothing's worth war.
But how can they know lest they've been there before?
Thank God some have courage, the will, yes, the grace,
To stand for the shirkers, stand strong in their place.
Thank God we have stalwarts who'll stand for us all,
Who will rise to the challenge at their nation's call.

The faint-hearted, who fear, whose reaction is flight,
Have no comprehension of those who will fight.
To hide their own trepidation they attempt to demean
The rough men, who defend them, as barbaric, obscene.
Yet these rough men stand ready, hard weapons to hand,
To put placaters behind them, draw a line in the sand,
To preserve for the peaceniks what they won't defend,
So their own unearned freedom won't perish, won't end.

To appeasers, rough men are coarse government tools.
To rough men, appeasers are dumb delusional fools.

I think of this poem as I read about the recent successful intimidation tactics employed by college students at places like UC Santa Cruz and a community college in Seattle in order to kick military recruiters off campus, or the people who get in a tizzy about the "horrible" treatment about detainees at Guantanamo, yet have nothing to say about the gulag that is Castro's Cuba which takes up the rest of the island.

I spent 12 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard. During my time of service, one of the things for which I was most proud was knowing that I was one of these "rough men" who was voluntarily protecting our country.

Good Day to You, Sir

Hmm, May Day... How Appropriate

Well, I am back to blogging in a limited capacity. It has been a week since my daughter was born, and during that time, we have gotten the sleeping arrangements solidified, and I must say, she is a really good sleeper. Two years ago, our son turned my wife and me into honorary zombies.

So, with the sleep issue well under control, I can comment on the issues that I feel need my comments. Today, let's touch on this ridiculous mass protest scheduled for Monday. A couple things:

1. I notice that it will be held on May Day. I remember as a kid in the 1980s watching the news every year on May 1st as they featured the obligatory piece on the May Day parades in the Soviet Union and other communist countries around the world. May Day is very important to socialists and communists around the world, and make no mistake about it - this big push for the legalization of illegal aliens and the whole Aztlan reconquista has huge communist and socialist support.
2. I use the term illegal alien because that is what these people are when they come to the United States by crossing the border without permission. People who support illegal aliens never call them "illegal aliens". Their preferred monikers include illegal immigrants (but even that is way too harsh), simply immigrants, or my favorite: undocumented workers. This last one gets me because they are trying to make it a given that all illegals who come here are workers. Many of them are, but I would like to know why so many of them end up in our prisons for crimes other than coming here illegally in the first place. The commonly agreed upon number of illegal aliens in this country is around 12 million (I happen to think it is more). Using that number, that means that out of a population of 300 million people in this country, right around 4% of them are here illegally. Compare that to the fact that 25-30% of our federal prisoners are illegal aliens. Talk about disproportionate!
3. OK, assuming that all these illegal aliens are in fact "workers", what does that say about them that so many are apparently willing to walk off their job on Monday to protest about the fact that they came here to work? I would love to counter-protest, but I will be at my job all day Monday.
   
4. I am sick to death of the statement, "These people do the jobs that Americans don't or won't do". For pete's sake, even our own president said this in a speech! If you think about it, can you think of anything more demeaning to say about illegal aliens? To say that the only thing they are good for is cleaning the turds out of the punchbowl, metaphorically speaking?
5. I don't know if any of the students at my middle school will join in our inevitable local protests, but I expect any students who don't come to school without an excused absence to face the consequences of what an unexcused absence can bring.
   
6. Finally, when you watch news coverage of these protests on Monday's news, don't let all the American flags and red, white, and blue fool you. These people made their true feelings known in their initial protests when they flew the Mexican flag with abandon, along with signs that proclaimed this continent to be theirs. Since they love Mexico so much, here is my proposal to them: Let the United States adopt the same exact immigration policy that their dear Mexico employs. It is a policy that only allows in highly skilled workers, and violently turns away unwanted immigrants. It is a policy that severely limits the right of non-citizens in Mexico to protest Mexico's national policies, and limits the ability of naturalized Mexican citizens to run for or hold public office. You want to bring Mexico across our borders? No problem. Let's dance!

Good Day to You, Muchacho

And Three Became Four...

My daughter was born yesterday. It's a good thing she was delivered by c-section, because she weighed 9 lbs. 15.6 ozs and was 21.5 inches long. My wife and I are looking forward to taking her home tomorrow and getting her acquainted with her big brother, and the wonderful world of conservative politics. HEY! You can never start too early.

Good Night to You, Little Girl

A Day in the Life of a Teacher

I probably don't blog enough about the goings on during my daily grind in the classroom, but a couple incidents happened today that struck me funny, so I thought I would share the insanity with the rest of you.

First, I opened my email this morning to find a request for homework for a girl who had been suspended. This happens often; our principal or vice principal sends out a school-wide email to all the teachers that says something to the effect of: Attention teachers of so-and-so: So-and-so has been suspended for however-many-days. Please send so-and-so's make-up work to the office. Now, I saw the referral on this girl yesterday. She was suspended for flipping off her P.E. teacher in full view of the rest of the students. This girl is not some delicate flower who just had a bad day. She is a known and persistent trouble maker at my school. In fact, I recently covered for another teacher during my prep period for three days in a row because the teacher's dad died. All three times, I ended up kicking this girl out of the class due to extreme disrespect and defiance directed toward me. So how many days suspension did she receive for this little finger stunt? A whopping two (that's 2) days - for publicly flipping off a teacher! Our administration isn't afraid of handing out suspensions, but what does strike fear into their hearts is handing out enough days of suspension. This is one of the reasons that we still have such bad discipline issues at our school: even if the kid gets suspended, the kid knows that not only will s/he be back in no time flat, but also - as I mentioned earlier - they get to make up the work they missed while they were suspended! What kind of crap is that? How is it any kind of punishment at all if the kid can make up the missed work?

Next item: I have a particularly rambuctious class during 7th period, which is the period right after lunch. This class has three girls who are (mostly) friends. You know how middle school girls can be; friends one day, enemies the next, then back to friends the next. Today, they were obviously friends, because I could do nothing to stop the incessant talking, whispering, and giggling that went on for way too long. After too many warnings to these three girls, I finally scrapped my lesson and spent a few minutes changing the seating chart. After they began to give me lip about it, I had each girl come up and call her parents right then and there during class. For the first two girls, I only got their parents' voice mail, so I left a voice mail message for each girl's parents while the rest of the class intently looked on. So the class knew that I would be speaking to those parents at a later time. Then it got interesting. With the third girl, I got her mom on the phone. I have dealt with this mom before. She is loud, bitchy... and totally on my side! The mom thanked me profusely for calling her and asked me to put her darling daughter on the phone. I handed the phone to the daughter, and I swear to God, the kids in the back of the classroom could hear this mother yelling through the phone. There was a very low but audible gasp that rose from the crowd as this mom unloaded on the daughter for about 30 seconds. I could not have asked for a better example to be made that showed that not only was I not playing, but also showed the other students what could be in store for them if they got out of line. There wasn't time to see if the behavior would improve for the rest of the period, because by the time that last phone call was done, it was time to pack up. My parting words to my students were, "And that is today's lesson ladies and gentlemen... pack up."

Good Day to You, Sir

The Suspense is Killing Me!

I just noticed that I haven't blogged since Wednesday. The issue there is that the birth of our second child is imminent, but she appears to be quite happy hanging around in my wife's abdomen. According to previous ultrasounds, the due date was April 13. The original due date is this Monday, April 17. Conceivably (no pun intended), my wife could walk into the room as these words are being typed, and say, "It's time." Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet.

In the meantime, I have been making lesson plans and photocopies like a madman to make sure that I don't leave my substitute (whoever it might be) hanging out to dry. I know what it is like to be a substitute teacher, and I never want to leave a sub in some of the positions in which I found myself.

So this post is just a little reassurance to my thousands of loyal readers out there (snicker) that I haven't gotten lazy, just overwhelmingly busy as my wife and I (and my 22 month old soon-to-be-in-for-the-shock-of-his-life son) prepare for the arrival of our daughter. Back during my 20s, being a father always seemed like a strange proposition for me. Being a father to two children will be more surreal than I can currently imagine. I don't think reality will truly hit me until both kids are home, and my wife and I look at each other with loving eyes and ask each other, "What in the hell have we just gotten ourselves into?" We can't wait to find out!

Good Day to You, Sir

More on What Mexico Would Do...

A few posts back, I mentioned a column by Michael Reagan that showcased some enlightening excerpts from the constitution of Mexico that showed quite clearly how Mexico treats its foreigners. I have now found another article that you just have to read.

One of my favorite sources of information is City Journal. It is a quarterly publication that is produced by the Manhattan Institute. "Quarterly" means, of course, that once their latest edition comes out, I have to wait another three months for their next one; but boy is it worth it. Being a quarterly publication means that the authors of its articles have time to research and get in-depth. The Spring 2006 issue of City Journal was just released, and I found one humdinger of an article about illegal immigration written by one of their staff writers, Heather MacDonald. Below are some of the juicier passages from the article. Check this out:

Fine. If Mexico wants to dictate our immigration policy to us, let’s follow their example to the letter. That example is particularly relevant on this further day of protests demanding amnesty for illegals. Among the demonstrators in at least 60 cities nationwide will undoubtedly be thousands of border lawbreakers. What would Mexico do? The answer is easy: deport them on the spot. In 2002, a dozen American college students, in Mexico legally, participated peacefully in an environmental protest against a planned airport outside of Mexico City. They swiftly found themselves deported as law-breakers for interfering in Mexico’s internal affairs...

It is particularly delicious to imagine what would happen if American students in Mexico ran the American flag up a flag pole over an upside down Mexican flag, as students in a Southern California high school did last month. An international crisis! Each participant would be promptly ejected and possibly the American ambassador as well. When President Ernesto Zedillo tried to revise Mexican textbooks in the 1990s to be more favorable toward U.S. foreign policy, Mexico’s pundits denounced him as a traitor. Yet Mexican consuls in the U.S. work mightily to disseminate Mexican textbooks in U.S. schools and they have raised not a peep of remonstrance against Mexican protesters carrying signs such as THIS IS STOLEN LAND and WE DIDN’T CROSS THE BORDER, THE BORDER CROSSED US during the mass demonstrations last month...

Then there’s the question of whom we should favor in our immigration policy. Accept only the economic cream of other countries. Mexico’s immigration law grants preferences to scientists and other professionals likely to contribute to “national progress.” Peasants with third-grade educations aren’t high on their wish list; in fact they do everything they can to keep them out. Local observers have often alleged Mexico’s brutal treatment of impoverished Central Americans crossing its borders. Yet according to Mexican officials, millions of uneducated, unskilled campesinos are just what the American economy needs...

The hypocrisy of this whole situation continues to become more and more realized, and it shows. A new Zogby poll shows that all these demonstrations have backfired. The American people, rather than being sympathetic to the illegals' cause, are instead turning against it. We Americans may sometimes be an ignorant mushy-headed bunch, but we are not yet quite ready to commit national suicide.

Good Day to You, Sir

The Irritating Fad Du Jour Continues

Why, oh why do they do this to themselves? Walking around trying to hold up your pants isn't enough, I guess. The number of black male students on my campus who are wearing "grillz" (it pains me to even write the word), is increasing. Again, when I see a student of another race, ethnicity, or sex wearing... (wince)... grillz... I will let you know ASAP. Until then, so far it is only our black male students. Here is an interesting Fox News article that talks about the obvious fact that... (wretch)... grillz... can ruin a wearer's teeth due to the fact that saliva and bits of previous meals are trapped up against the wearer's teeth all day. Yuk!

I have a student who has defied me on numerous occasions regarding the wearing of his... (oh, the humanity!)... grillz... in my classroom. I have tried calling his mother (there is no father listed on the contact info), but she never returns my phone calls. This means that when I leave for work in about seven hours, I will take a little ziploc baggie with me. When this student walks into class tomorrow morning inevitably wearing his... (shudder)... grillz... I will have him remove them from his mouth and deposit them in said baggie. His mother may then pick them up herself from the office.

Good Day to You, Homie

About Monday's Illegal Immigration Rallies...

According to this article from Fox News Online,

Hundreds of thousands of people demanding U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants took to the streets in dozens of cities from New York to San Diego on Monday in some of the most widespread demonstrations since the mass protests began around the country last month...

Rallies took place in communities of all sizes, from a gathering of at least 50,000 people in Atlanta to one involving 3,000 people in the farming town of Garden City, Kan., which has fewer than 30,000 residents...

Thick crowds gathered in New York's Washington Square Park before marching to City Hall. Many waved flags, both American and of countries of their origin. Korean-Americans beat drums nearby. Another group marched from Chinatown, and a third demonstration took place in Brooklyn. Police declined to estimate the size of the crowds, but organizers said 125,000 people were present at City Hall...

Just a little observation: These protests all took place on Monday. Isn't Monday a work day? I know I was at work. I would have loved to join in a counter-demonstration, but I have a family to feed. Don't apologists for illegal aliens say that they all come here just wanting to work? What do I know? I'm just a dumb American.

Good Day to You, Muchacho

What to Do About Iran?

Again, my thanks to Cox and Forkum for a cartoon that about sums it all up regarding our crazy Persian friends. They claim that they are that much closer to going nuclear. There's your cheerful thought for the day.

Good Day to You, Sir

Just So You Don't Think...

...that I blame illegal aliens for all of our nation's woes, there is plenty to be worried about from our own native population; particularly our younger generations. Thank you Cox and Forkum for the cartoon, and thank you Darren at Right on the Left Coast for that oh-so-true article about our over-pampered generations of the last 35 years. Disclosure: I'm only 33, and a proud member of Generation X. Just consider me one of the exceptions to the rule.

Good Day to You, Dude

What Would Mexico Do? (WWMD?)

Here is a link to a great column by Michael Reagan. In this column, Mr. Reagan fills us in on some rather enlightening sections from Mexico's constitution that deal with immigration and the rights of foreigners living in Mexico. Here are some examples taken right from the Mexican constitution:

Pursuant to Article 33, "Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country."

Gosh, does that mean that if I go to Mexico and protest one of their policies - say, their immigration policies - I would be kicked out of the country?

Article 55 denies immigrants the right to become federal lawmakers. A Mexican congressman or senator must be "a Mexican citizen by birth."

Gosh, I know of quite a few foreign-born congressmembers in the United States. You mean that Mexico doesn't allow the same thing in their country?

Article 32: "Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable."

What? You mean that Mexico favors Mexican citizens over foreigners - legal and illegal - in matters of employment?

Watch your step folks; there's a whole lot of hypocrisy goin' on, and it's littered all over the ground from here to the Rio Grande.

I think of all those numb-nuts walking our streets in protest and idiotically flying that Mexican flag. Fine - if they want us to be like Mexico, then let us indulge them. Let's adopt all those provisions from the Mexican constitution, and then use it as justification to ship their illegal keesters back where they came from.

Good Day to You, Sir

Some Moral Equivalency for Your Sunday Sermon

My wife and I are members of the Presbyterian Church. For quite awhile now, I have known that on a national level, the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) is pretty leftist; just look at their recent decision to divest themselves of anything having to to with Israel. But I wondered if that leftism trickled down to my local church. During this morning's sermon by our lead pastor, I got a hint at an answer.

The theme of this morning's sermon was "A World Gone Mad". On this Palm Sunday, our pastor gave examples of how our world has gone mad in our time, and then told of how the world had gone mad during the days of Imperial Rome. In his list of examples of our modern world gone mad, he named the recent senseless murders of a woman in Roseville and two men in Elk Grove. Then, he got down to business. First, he named the Iraq War - fair enough I guess; war is often madness, even if you're one of the good guys. But this next one threw me for a loop. Our pastor said (and I'm paraphrasing),

"People danced in the streets all over the world when the Berlin Wall was torn down. Now, two decades later, we are seeing more walls erected, such as along our border with Mexico, or in Israel."

Do you see what our pastor did here? He equated the Berlin Wall - a wall designed to keep goodness in by preventing the escape of millions of people from a horrible communist prison called Eastern Europe - to two other walls that are meant to keep evil out. Our wall (and fences) that we wish to build along our border with Mexico is meant to protect the security of our borders - both from those who wish to come here uninvited, and from those who wish to come to our country to do us harm. The wall that has been proposed in Israel is to protect that country from Islamic Palestinian terrorists who walk into Israel on a regular basis and blow themselves up on crowded buses and restaurants in the hopes of taking a lot of innocent Israelis with them.
For our pastor to stand up there and say that Israel and the United States are no better than East Germany and the Soviet Union because they all want to build, or have built walls on their border is ludicrous and irresponsible.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from William F. Buckley when he described moral equivalency. He said,
"'Moral Equivalency' is saying that pushing an old lady out of the path of an oncoming bus is just as bad as pushing an old lady into the path of an oncoming bus, because either way, you are pushing old ladies around."

Good Day to You, Sir

Is Islam a Violent Religion? A Reader Responds...

Back on February 12, 2005, I posted this entry on my blog that included the above cartoon. Just the other day, I got a rather long comment from "ryan h" who took me to task on my position. I can tell that ryan put quite a bit of time and effort into his comment, and I wanted to respond back to him, and educate the rest of my reader(s) at the same time. First, here is what ryan h had to say:

Hail.

I wanted to take the time to respond to this, in hopes that I may help to break your tunnel vision.

First and foremost, most all of the things you write I stand by. Namely this entry which I have been spreading to many. You strike me as someone who is down to earth and sees matters for what they are. I'm afraid, however, that this issue you have been lost.

I'm not Muslim, and before 9/11 I knew absolutely nothing about the religion other than the word. Even though I had been dating a Muslim for some time. I'm not a religious person at all, but I see the value in faith and hope, as they help many survive cold and lonely nights. And push when sometimes it feels like there is no longer a reason.

I think you have lost site of the real issues here, and your attention has been misdirected by otherwise arrogant sources. That's not intended to be an insult to anyone.

I'll start with the obvious: violence. My personal problem with the drawings of Muhammad is that they're drawn by ignorant people. Muhammad was a prophet, like any other prophet. His words were simply written from God. The violence comes from the interpretation, and the people, not the religion.

Seeing as how you are a teacher I don't expect to lecture you about the different denominations of the Islamic faith, but I hope to remind you of the psychology behind everything in hopes that you regain control of your point of view.

It's late, and I just got done having this discussion with another buddy of mine so I'll do all of this in dude talk, so forgive me if I don't sound as scholarly as others. :P

Muslims have a bad rep because of the Sunni's. When Muhammad died, Ali and Abu were the two successors. Sunni's believe Abu was the man, Shi'a believe Ali was the man. Abu was a friend of Muhammad, and a militant kind of guy. While Ali was actually Muhammad blood. Most people followed Abu, and his militant interpretations are why we have people drawing cartoons of Muhammad with a bomb on his head, which isn't fair.

Also, you should remember the Taliban, which have ruled with /fear and violence/, aren't any kind of religious group. They're terrorists to both their own people and the world and shouldn't be related to the Muslim faith in any form. I bring up the Taliban because you mentioned Rushdie, which was the whole reason the conversation came up with my buddy. ANYWAYS. He was held captive for 16 *YEARS*. It's old news. And hardly constitutes among the worst crimes of the Taliban. Also remember that, while the Taliban are in rule, all the clerics and political leaders 'benefit' with their lives by promoting it as faith.

If 1.5 billion people exhibited the violence you, and sadly many others, associate with Muslims as a whole.. well.. think about it. 1.5 people killing.. well.. everyone else? There's be a lot more dead bodies. -- Most of the violence I know of is 'in the family'. Sunni vs Shi'a. Sunni's again being the bullies because the militant interpretation that's been taught for FIFTEEN HUNDRED YEARS since the death of Muhammad. And when you know only one ultimate rule since the day of your birth; death to the unfaithful, you tend to, even after the liberation of those rulers, follow suit.

There will always be extremists. And as scary as it is when you introduce violence as a core, it is ultimately left up to the person to decide what is right and wrong. This is the reason (I believe) that 70% of the Muslim population that are Sunni aren't killing people. Because killing is wrong.

Also, when you said "The worst part about all of this is that much of the major media on both sides of the Atlantic are capitulating to the Muslims by criticizing the publishing of the cartoons, and refusing to run them in their own newspapers or show them on television." I had to make a face like this.. =/

Surely you don't believe that's the worse... the fighting. The lives that have been lost for what's actually a common cause. The blind hate that the families of both 'houses' have developed because of the centuries of deaths and all the pain they have caused each other. And.. the worst part? The pride. Ooohhh what damage can be done by the ripple of broken pride. When the very core of your lifestyle is challenged and insulted. These men.. are they not equally capable of love? Do they not love their children? Their mothers? Do they wish heart ache and torment on their friends and family? Over a *thousand* years of broken pride. Surely you must see the impact that has. And sadly, when other people get involved, when an artist decides to volunteer himself to insult that very group of people, he's sucked, like a vacuum into the pool of hate. It is sad, but the artist is as much to blame for poking a stick at the serpent as the serpent is for striking.

And finally, it's unfair to make assessments of the entire Islamic faith based on the actions, no matter how horrific, of a few. Is it fair to call all Catholics molesters? Hardly. Is it fair to call all Americans greedy, stupid, killers? Of course not. Don't loose your focus on the -person- responsible. Don't allow yourself to become that person who stereotypes. America's shit stinks too. 2 bombs.. 220 thousand people dead in only a moment of time.

I hope everything I've said has meant something... really I do.

In a nutshell, I believe that Islam is a violent religion. I have never said that all Muslims are violent, but for the love of Allah, all you have to do is take a look around you (tunnel vision indeed), and you will see that a disproportionate amount of the violence and bloodshed in the world is being perpetrated by Muslims - very often against other Muslims. As the common saying goes: Not all Muslims are terrorists, but most of the world's terrorists are Muslim. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I am going to partially respond to ryan's comment with a response that Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Steyn wrote to one of his readers who basically said the same thing, i.e. Mark, how can you paint Islam with such a broad brush? How can you attribute to all because of what a few do, and all the other common arguments. Here is what Mr. Steyn had to say to his reader, and it is the same thing I would retort to ryan h:

Well, if I’m not an expert on Islam and Muslim society, perhaps you can explain a couple of things to me: As you note, I was paraphrasing Dr Wafa Sultan when I referred to “the backwardness and misery and oppression that attend the advance of Islam.” According to the annual Freedom House survey on political rights and civil liberties in the world, of the 46 Muslim majority nations in the world only three are ranked as free: Indonesia, Mali and Senegal. Of the 16 additional nations in which Muslims form between 20 and 50% of the population, only three are ranked as free: Benin, Serbia & Montenegro, and Suriname. Of the eight nations in the world which have the very worst ranking on the Freedom House chart and thus the least freedom, five are Muslim. So, simply as a statistical proposition, the correlation between Islam and lack of freedom is clearly demonstrable. That would seem to take care of the “oppression”.

As for “backwardness”, here is Dr Mahathir Mohammed, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, one of the least worst states in the Muslim world, speaking just a week ago:

"We produce practically nothing on our own, we can do almost nothing for ourselves, we cannot even manage our wealth."

You think I’m being unfair, take it up with Dr Mahathir. And as for “misery”, ask those who have to share real estate with Muslims – from the Christians in Nigeria and the Sudan to the Buddhists in southern Thailand – whether that’s such a barrel of fun.

I would be very interested in hearing your responses to the above points. Till then I stand by my words.

And I also stand by my words. There are a few specific things ryan said that I just have to be taken to task:

Muhammad was a prophet, like any other prophet. His words were simply written from God. The violence comes from the interpretation, and the people, not the religion.

"The violence comes from the interpretation"? Folks, read a Quran sometime. Take special note of the Suras which talk about smiting the necks of the unbelievers. What is there to interpret?

I bring up the Taliban because you mentioned Rushdie, which was the whole reason the conversation came up with my buddy. ANYWAYS. He was held captive for 16 *YEARS*. It's old news. And hardly constitutes among the worst crimes of the Taliban.

First of all, it wasn't the Taliban that issued the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie; it was our old buddies the Iranians. The fatwa was issued in 1989. The Taliban didn't come to power in Afghanistan until 1996. Second of all, Rushdie wasn't "held captive", but he might as well have been. He became a prisoner in his own home because Muslims from all over the world were looking for him so they could kill him. If you don't think any Muslim would carry out the killing of Rushdie for insulting their faith, just ask Theo Van Gogh... oh wait, he was murdered by a Muslim in Amsterdam for the crime of making a film that highlighted the oppression of women in Muslim society.

Also, when you said "The worst part about all of this is that much of the major media on both sides of the Atlantic are capitulating to the Muslims by criticizing the publishing of the cartoons, and refusing to run them in their own newspapers or show them on television." I had to make a face like this.. =/

Uh, ryan - why do you think much of the world's media didn't print the cartoons? Because they didn't want their throats slit like Theo Van Gogh. Newspaper men in Muslim countries are already being put on trial and threatened with death for printing the cartoons.

It is sad, but the artist is as much to blame for poking a stick at the serpent as the serpent is for striking.

You are kidding me right? Worldwide riots, hundreds of deaths, destruction of property, mayhem, chaos... all over some cartoons? I believe I covered this: where were similar actions done by Christians all over the world when a so-called artist took a crucifix and stuck in a jar of his own urine? Where were the world-wide Christian riots when a so-called artist displayed a painting of the Virgin Mary that was adorned with elephant dung and pornography? Where were the world-wide Jewish riots when millions of them were exterminated in the death camps?

And finally:

America's shit stinks too. 2 bombs.. 220 thousand people dead in only a moment of time.

This is where ryan's argument went off the deep end. He is saying that we are just as bad as the terrorists because we dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan? Never mind that we were in a declared war with Japan. Never mind that it was either end the war this way, or have many more Japanese civilians, along with possibly hundreds of thousands of Allied troops killed if an all-out invasion of Japan had been attempted instead. Do you think if the Japanese had had the atomic bomb, they would have thought twice about using it on us? War is hell ryan, and there is no medal for coming in second.

Thank you for your response ryan, but no matter how you try to sugar coat it, you are dead wrong.

Good Day to You, Sir

In Honor of a Hero; and a True Pacifist

When I was a little kid, I was quite the reader. During the summer of 1985 (and numerous other times), I devoured my parents' Time Life World War II series. In one of the books - it was either Island Fighting or The Road to Tokyo - I read about an American medic on Okinawa named Desmond Doss. He was a Seventh Day Adventist and a pacifist. So when the draft board came knocking, did he slap a "Visualize World Peace" bumper sticker on his car and tell them to get lost? No, he went into the Army as a medic. He didn't have to carry a rifle or engage the enemy, but that doesn't mean that his situation was any less dangerous. His job was to be right in the thick of it on the battlefield and tend to his fellow soldiers who fell wounded.

On numerous occasions during the Battle of Okinawa, Desmond Doss saved dozens of his fellow soldiers, all the while being shot and shrapneled to holy hell. For his many selfless actions, Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor. If you want to read exactly what he did, here is his citation.

On March 23, 2006, Desmond Doss died at the age of 87. It has been over a week since he died, but word of it has only now reached the papers.

I have read that something like 2,000 World War II veterans die every day. Within another 10 or 20 years, they will all be gone. Some people wonder if bravery like that even exists in this country anymore. I can assure you it does. If you don't believe me, read the citation of Sergeant First Class Paul Smith; the only U.S. serviceman so far to be awarded the Medal of Honor for service in the War on Terrorism. This medal was posthumus.

Good Day to You, Sir

The Inevitable Race Card Has Officially Been Put on the Table

Shocker! When it became evident that Cynthia McKinney was indeed going to be charged for her little physical temper tantrum, she got together a press conference, complete with her sign-holding myrmidons behind her, and gave a wild-eyed "woe is me" in which - again, shocker! - she played the race card. McKinney said that the reason she was supposedly harassed at the metal detector is because she is a female, BLACK congresswoman (her emphasis - you gotta listen to the vid/aud link).

This woman is a detestable disgrace.

Good Day to You, Georgia. She is aaaaaall yours.

Please, Throw the Book At Her!

Representative Cynthia McKinney (Democrat, naturally) of Georgia, is one of the the most loony individuals to ever hold a congressional seat in Washington. She is a paranoid, bitchy racist who sees white sheets around every corner, and holds some of the most leftist politics this side of North Korea. The woman is an embarassment. If you read Nealz Nuze, the daily blog of radio talker Neal Boortz, who is out of Atlanta, you would be well versed in McKinney's antics.

Cynthia McKinney is in a bit of hot water, because the other day, she (allegedly) punched a Capitol police officer in the chest with her cell phone. It seems that McKinney was too important and in too much of a hurry to go through the metal detector at a security checkpoint like all the other rabble. A police officer told her three times to stop, but she didn't. He grabbed her by the shoulder, then she turned around and punched him. Now her lawyer is telling the media that this incident is a case of "being in Congress while black". Read this article if you would like to know more about the incident.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi of the People's Republic of San Francisco was quoted as saying of the incident, "I would not make a big deal of this". To this I have to ask the standard question: What would be the reaction of the leftists in Congress and in our "mainstream" media if it had been a Republican, say, Tom DeLay, who punched a Capitol police officer. Would Pinko Pelosi be saying it was no big deal then. The hypocrisy of these people never ceases to floor me.

Here are some examples of Cynthia McKinney's lunacy in action:

• Last fall, McKinney stated that Michael Chertoff of Homeland Security should be charged with negligent homicide for failing to save the lives of people in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
• She offered to accept a $10 million dollar 9/11 recovery donation from a Saudi prince. This was the same money from the same prince who was rebuked by Rudy Guiliani after the prince said some nasty things about Israel and U.S. foreign policy.
• She won her last election with the majority of her campaign funds coming from Islamic jihadists and their sympthizers.

In a little sum-up of her past, here is an excerpt from an article about her from National Review Online:

McKinney ended up losing the Democratic primary in 2002 to Denise Majette. Majette rode to victory largely on the negative publicity that flowed McKinney's way both when the "Bush KNEW" accusation made national news and when her anti-Semitic and pro-Islamist beliefs were exposed. She supports Yasser Arafat's intifada. She was the only American to refuse to walk out on the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism, a United Nations confab that swiftly descended into an abyss of anti-American and anti-Semitic rancor. She has often taken to the floor of the House to defend her friends in radical Islamic circles — when she isn't busy attacking American policies. She has taken donations from a handful of "charities" the U.S. government has shut down for allegedly funneling cash to terrorists. And her father blamed his own August 2002 political defeat on Jews, who he claimed had "bought everybody." He even helpfully spelled it out — "J-E-W-S" — just in case anyone got confused.

See also, this article from WorldNetDaily: Who is Cynthia McKinney?

And this woman is a member of the United States Congress...?

Good Day to You, Sir (and God save us all)

And You Can Quote Me On That

Last night, members of the Media Research Center met in Washington D.C. to hand out their annual DisHonors Awards. They are given to members of our media (probably always in absentia) for some of the kooky things they say. Quote of the year went to Ted Turner for what he said about North Korea during an exchange with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. I won't even set up the quote - here it is:

Ted Turner: "I am absolutely convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere. There’s really no reason for them to cheat [on nukes]....I looked them right in the eyes. And they looked like they meant the truth. I mean, you know, just because somebody’s done something wrong in the past doesn’t mean they can’t do right in the future or the present. That happens all the, all the time."
Wolf Blitzer: "But this is one of the most despotic regimes and Kim Jong-Il is one of the worst men on Earth. Isn’t that a fair assessment?"
Turner: "Well, I didn’t get to meet him, but he didn’t look — in the pictures that I’ve seen of him on CNN, he didn’t look too much different than most other people I’ve met."
Blitzer: "But, look at the way, look at the way he’s, look at the way he’s treating his own people."
Turner: "Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but–"
Blitzer: "A lot of those people are starving."
Turner: "I didn’t see any, I didn’t see any brutality...."

— Exchange on CNN’s The Situation Room, September 19, 2005

How could a man that stupid have actually created the business fortunes he did? I guess there really are different kinds of smarts, because when it comes to foreign affairs and policy, Ted Turner is quite the dim bulb.

Good Day to You, Sir

The Flag Controversy Worsens

A big hat tip to my favorite blogger, Michelle Malkin for posting this to her site. As she says there, you won't see this pic on the front page of the New York Times any time soon. Students at Montebello High School in the Los Angeles area pulled this little stunt, during school hours I might add. Students from a cross-town high school were also there and participated as well.

You know, in some parts, wouldn't this be seen as an act of war?

Good Day to You, Muchacho

A Word of Advice...

Here's the situation: you are an illegal alien living in the United States. You take part in one of the many protests held over this weekend throughout the country. These protests are being held in defiance of a backlash happening against illegals in this country. The American people are getting tired of it, and a federal law has been proposed that would make being in this country illegally a felony. The protesters think that immigrants who are in this country illegally should be given work visas, or amnesty, or even outright citizenship.

Now we come to my word of advice. If you are one of these protesters, like this young lady above, and you want the American people to be sympathetic to your cause, one of the worst things you could do would be to proudly hold aloft, a MEXICAN FLAG during your protest! @#$%&

Good Day to You, Muchacho

The Bee and TB

On the Opinion page (B8) in today's Sacramento Bee, there is an editorial entitled, Mobile Killer: TB remains a threat, even here. The purpose of the editorial is to alert readers to the increase in cases of Tuberculosis in this country, particularly in California. What immediately became apparent in the editorial was the Bee's flagrant attempt at soft-pedaling the reason for that increase of TB in California.

First, the Bee presents the problem:

"...last year, there were 8.9 million new cases in the world and 1.7 million deaths. In this country, California had the largest number of cases last year - 2,900 - and 10 of the 20 most affected urban areas in the United States were in this state. One was Sacramento."

Then the Bee presents possible causes:

"The persistence of TB in this and other wealthy countries can be largely attributed to two recent phenomenon: HIV/AIDS... and human mobility."

Ah yes, "human mobility". What does that mean exactly? Let's read on and find out:

"About half the cases in California used to be among the foreign born; now its 77 percent. Many of those carrying TB are migrants or middle-class travelers, many of whom are not screened before leaving their home countries."

Hmm, what kind of "migrant" (as the Bee so gently puts it) to this country would not be screened before entering? Why, a migrant of the illegal variety, perhaps? What the Bee spends this entire editorial doing is dancing, ducking, and weaving around the fact that Tuberculosis is being reintroduced to our country, and especially to the state of California, through the influx of illegal aliens. What is even worse is the strain of TB that the illegals are bringing in with them. According to an article from WorldNetDaily,

"TB's swift, deadly return now is lethal for about 60 percent of those infected because of new Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Until recently MDR-TB was endemic to Mexico. This Mycobacterium tuberculosis is resistant to at least two major anti-tubercular drugs. Ordinary TB usually is cured in six months with four drugs that cost about $2,000. MDR-TB takes 24 months with many expensive drugs that cost around $250,000 with toxic side effects. Each illegal with MDR-TB coughs and infects 10 to 30 people, who will not show symptoms immediately. Latent disease explodes later.

If you read the article, you will find that thanks to illegal immigration, TB isn't the only formerly "conquered" disease making a comeback in the United States. There have also been sharp increases in leprosy, chagas disease, dengue fever, polio, and the plague.

People often talk about the need for illegal immigrants because they help keep prices down for us by working for low pay doing "the jobs that Americans aren't willing to do." It's true, that might bring down the price of your produce on your table or the roof over your head. But we are paying for it in other ways, with increased taxes to pay for these illegal aliens who come to our country and have their health problems addressed on our dime, and the health problems that we acquire through contact with these people who shouldn't even be in our country in the first place. You all know the old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Always remember folks, if you don't pay as much for something, that just means you are paying more for something else.

Good Day to You, Sir

The Numbskulls Say Thank You

Well, it looks as if my correspondence had the desired effect. Christian Peacemaker Teams put an addendum on their homepage statement that recognized the efforts of the soldiers who rescued the CPT members.

Apparently, CPT was swamped with emails and calls about this affair. It's nice to see they saw the error of their ways, and fixed the problem.

Good Day to You, Sir

A Book You Need to Read

With the month-long break I have been enjoying, I have been able to fit in a good deal of pleasure reading. I read the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt - very interesting. I also finally got around to reading Michael Savage's latest tome, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder - a good and solid effort. I didn't really learn anything new from it, but it helped me to gel a lot of prior information into my long-term memory for future reference. Then there was the coup de grace; the book that kept me absolutely captivated: Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, by Peter Schwiezer. This book blew my hair back. Never did I imagine some of the shenanigans that these pious and posturing leftists get away with.

The people profiled in this book included:

• Noam Chomsky, the capitalism and military-hating socialist who owns two, million-dollar homes and charges people to download speeches off his website, and grew rich off grant money given to him by the Pentagon;
  
• Michael Moore, who owns stock in the hated Halliburton corporation, even though he says he doesn't own any stock;
  
• Hillary Clinton, who thinks teenage girls should be able to get an abortion without any parent knowledge or permission, yet wouldn't let her own teenage daughter get her ears pierced;
  
• Al Franken, who refers to people who don't believe in affirmative action as racist, yet of the 112 senior people he hired to produced his books, movies, and t.v. shows, only 3 were black;
  
• Ralph Nader, who "stands up" for the little guy, yet made his own employees work 80 hour weeks for low pay and wouldn't let them unionize;
  
• Teddy Kennedy, who is a big-time environmentalist, yet gets fat oil checks from his family fortune, and continues to oppose a wind farm that would affect his sailing routes near his Massachusetts home;
  
• Nancy Pelosi, who also "stands up" for the little guy, yet won't let her employees unionize either;
  
• Gloria Steinem, who told a generation of young women that they "need a man like a fish needs a bicycle", yet she did date men and they were always more powerful and successful than she, and she got married after years of saying she never would and telling women that they shouldn't marry either.
  
• Barbra Streisand, who also "stands up" for the little guy, yet requires that hotel staff not look at her as she passes in the halls and "stands up" for the environment as she uses $20,000 worth of water for her lawn every month and runs her air conditioner all day even when she told other people they should turn off theirs; and finally
  
• Cornel West, the unstable Harvard/Princeton Marxist professor who tells his fellow blacks that they should not be successful or leave other blacks behind, even as he pulls in his $300,000 annual salary and lives in swanky neighborhoods where only 2-5% of the population is black.

The examples I gave don't even scratch the surface of all the hypocritical behavior that is detailed in this book. I encourage you all to read it; you will not be disappointed.

One of the best points that Schweizer brought up was when he was addressing the inevitable criticism that he knew he would receive regarding the fact that conservatives also commit hypocrisy. Two big recent examples were Rush Limbaugh and his OxyContin addiction, and paragon of virtue Bill Bennett and his gambling addiction. The important point that Schweizer made was that when a conservative does not live up to his ideals, he often ends up hurting himself and his family, such as with Limbaugh's drug addiction and subsequent hearing loss. But when liberals don't live up to their ideals, they improve their lives. Look at Noam Chomsky- he believes that all wealth should be shared and no one should own private property. If he lived up to that ideal, then he wouldn't copyright his books (which he does), and charge people for his speeches (which he does), or own a $1.2 million vacation home (which he does). Not following your own advice can be very lucrative if you are a leftist. Read the book!

Good Day to You, Sir

All I Can Say Is, Yikes!

Say hello to legendary music producer Phil Spector. People have always known that ol' Phil was completely off his rocker. They never really knew how much until about three years ago when he (allegedly) murdered b-movie actress Lana Clarkson after taking her home from a bar.

There is no deep or underlying reason for this post except to point out just how wacko some of these Hollywood types truly are, and how much of their crap people are willing to put up with until their crap cannot be ignored anymore when they go and do something really bad, like, say, oh, I don't know, kill someone?

Good Day to You, Sir

You Ungrateful Little Ingrates!!

Remember a few days back when Christian anti-war activist Tom Fox was brutally tortured and killed in Iraq by the very people he was purporting to help? The late Mr. Fox was actually only one of four activists who were kidnapped by those practitioners of the Religion of Peace.

Today, those other three activists were rescued by members of our military and the British military. Notice that I and even the New York Times used the word "rescued" when describing how these three numbskulls came to be freed from their captors. The organization from which they were affiliated, the Christian Peacemaker Teams, had a different take on how this happened when they posted an announcement about it on their website. Here is how CPT described it:

Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community. Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.

Did you catch that? "...have been safely released"? Good God, they make it sound as if the kidnappers had a change of heart and just let the three men go.

Well, I couldn't let this one go. I sent off a quick email to CPT, and here it is:

Subject: You Left Something Out

Date: Thu 03/23/06 07:31 AM

I thank God for the safe return of your activists, misguided as their presence in Iraq was.

The statement on your homepage reads: "Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad."

I just read a New York Times article that was headlined, "3 Western Aid Workers in Iraq Rescued in Military Operation" (my emphasis).

When you say "released", you make it sound like the terrorists let your people go out of the goodness of their black hearts. Would it kill you to give just the slightest amount of credit to the military members - that you so malign - who risked their lives to save your people?

What I find ironic is that you are happy your people were "released", even though the methods used to secure that "release" were the potentially violent methods that the military use that you claim to abhor.

I think that to stay true to your principles, you should tell Mssrs. Sooden, Loney, and Kember to march right back to their captors and demand that they be retaken as hostages, so that the circumstances of their "release" are not in conflict with your stated goals and beliefs.

Otherwise, it would only be the Christian thing to do that you properly recognize on your homepage statement, the role that the military played in the RESCUE of your people.

God Bless,

Chanman

If any of you out there wish to call on the carpet, these so-called Christians who hate our military and seem to have no problem with the Muslim throat-cutters. Please, by all means contact them like I did at their website: www.cpt.org.

Good Day to You, Sir

New Links

I have added a couple of new links on my Link Menu to your right.

Polski3's View from Here is written by a teacher somewhere in Southern California. He has some great observations about life in the classroom.

RightOnTheLeftCoast is also a teacher - an unapologetically conservative teacher - who works somewhere in the Sacramento area. Check him out as well.

Expose the Left has great links to video footage of talk shows and appearances of people on talking head shows. An example would be this morning's showdown between David Gregory and Laura Ingraham on the Today Show. If sparks fly on the news channels, you will probably find the footage on Expose the Left.

Finally, the Media Research Center is a great resource for seeing clear cut examples of gross bias of the majority of our mainstream media. The best part about them is their annual "Notable Quotables", where they compile the most outrageous statements of the year that are made by members of the press.

I have also provided a link to Cox & Forkum, my favorite political cartoonists. They really hit 'em where it hurts.

Enjoy!

Good Day to You, Sir

God's Country

I am really in the mood to vent about some juicy happening at my school of employ, but I have been off track since the beginning of March, and I don't go back until the beginning of April, so I have nothing to share in that department. These long non-summer breaks are weird. Sometimes, I almost forget that I have a job. One fun thing I have done so far on this break was to take my son with me to his Grandma and Grandpa's pad in the mountains of northern California. A late winter snowstorm made it possible for me to introduce him to snow for the first time. Where was Mommy you may ask? We left her pregnant self at home so she could have a weekend to relax without worrying about taking care of her pampered demanding kid, and her 20 month old son, too (ha-ha)! My wife is giving birth to our second child next month, so I figured she could use a little alone time before the arrival.

I thought a photo of a toddler standing enthralled in the wonderment of the winter landscape surrounding him would be a fitting addition to God's Country. Check out his footprints in the foreground that follow him into the background. I wish I could use a closer shot, but posting my son's mug up close on the world wide web just kind of creeps me out.

Good Day to You, Sir

So Funny It's Scary

A big hat tip to Evan Maloney at Brain Terminal for this bit of humor to lighten your conservative day:

Two boys in Boston were throwing a baseball around when one was attacked by a rabid Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy picked up a large stick, wedged it into the dog's collar and twisted it, snapping the dog's neck.

A reporter from the Boston Globe who witnessed the whole incident rushes over to interview the brave boy.

The reporter pulls out his laptop and starts typing. The headline reads: "Brave Young Red Sox Fan Saves Friend From Vicious Animal."

"But," the boy interjects, "I'm not a Red Sox fan."

Tapping the delete key, the reporter replies, "Sorry, but I saw you playing baseball, and since we're here in Boston, I just figured you had to be."

The reporter's fingers start flying around the keyboard again. The new headline: "John Kerry Fan Rescues Friend from Horrific Dog Attack."

"But I'm not a Kerry fan, either," the boy responds.

The reporter, looking dejected, says, "Sorry young tyke. Since you're not a Red Sox fan, I figured you were at least for Kerry."

"Well, I'm sorry to say that's not correct," the boy replies. "I'm a Texas Rangers fan and I really like President Bush."

Relieved, the reporter finally has his angle for the story: "Arrogant Little Conservative Bastard Kills Beloved Family Pet."

Good Day to You, Sir

Does a Photo Always Tell the Whole Story?

When this photo and the accompanying article (you may need to register to view it) ran on the front page of last Wednesday's (March 15th) Sacramento Bee, I thought at the time that the Bee was asking for it. Sure enough, judging by the ensuing letters to the editor that flooded the Bee, I wasn't the only one who noticed this biased and disgusting attempt at making news instead of reporting it.

The photo shows some Iraqi children who were killed by U.S. troops during a firefight that was part of this major offensive going on in which our troops are working alongside Iraqi troops in an attempt to ferret out the leaders of Iraq's "Insurgency". The headline of this article reads, Iraqis say 11 people killed in U.S. raid. So the casual reader sees the photo of dead Iraqi children and then reads the headline that says that the children were killed in a "U.S. raid".

One has to read all the way down to the last paragraph (out of 14 paragraphs) of the article that talks about this particular incident before the "Aha!!" moment arrives. That paragraph says, "[American] troops were engaged by enemy fire as they approched the building [where these children were located]. Coalition forces returned fire utilizing both air and ground assets."
(my emphasis).

So, it turns out that our troops aren't bloodthirsty cowboys who indiscriminately kill little children after all. Can't you see what happened here? Our troops are on patrol, and they are fired upon by some cowardly terrorists holed up in a house. And who pray tell do the terrorists have with them in the house? Why, their families, including their little children. The Americans have no choice but to fire back, and lo and behold, the children are killed in the battle. Meanwhile, the Bee and God knows how many other newspapers run this morbid photo of these poor innocent defenseless Iraqi children who were brazenly killed by our big, bad, mean American military. Forget about the the cowardly cockroaches who served up their own children as cannon fodder in an attempt to score a PR coup at the expense of our soldiers and our country's reputation. This is how it works folks. This is what happens when you deal with people who will stop at nothing, even sacrificing their own children, in order to gain some points on the battlefield, and in the court of public opinion.

Good Day to You, Sir

Racism is Universal - Let's Acknowledge that Fact Shall We?

On top is a photo of twin sisters Lamb and Lynx Gaede. On the bottom is Autum Ashante (yes, that is how her name is spelled). Last fall, the Gaede twins became a rather big news story, because hiding behind those cute bubbly faces is an insidious hatred that they express in the music and dancing they perform as the "white nationalist", Bakersfield-based rock group, Prussian Blue. That hatred is prominently illustrated by their t-shirts. There is nothing like a have-a-nice-day smiley face made up like Adolf Hitler to brighten your day. Yeeeuck! During their live performances, Lamb and Lynx have been known to do a circle dance around a Nazi swastika on the stage floor. Here is an example of some of their lyrics. They are from a little song with the charming title, Aryan Man Awake:

When the man who plows the fields is driven from his lands. When the carpenter must give away what he's built with his own hands. When a mother's only children belong to her no more. And black masked men with guns come bashing down the doors. Where freedom exists for only those with darker skin. Where lies and propaganda will never let you win. Where symbols of your heritage are held with such contempt, and benefits of country 'cept tax are you exempt .

Aryan man awake, How much more will you take, Turn that fear to hate, Aryan man awake.

Can you see how they lie to warp your daughter's minds? Can you let your sons be trodden down or held behind? Can you apologize for things you did not do, and leave this battle that we fight to the proud and the few? What will it take for you to waken to the truth? What will it take for you to remember your own youth? What will you give up to help this worthy Cause, and strike with force and fury, without a single pause?

What will it take for you to remember your own folk? What will it take for you to break that heavy yoke? Why do you still cast your eyes downward to the ground? Worry lest what you say have prejudicial sound. Who will stand beside us when the war begins? Who will run and hide their heads and wait to see who wins? Who will face the end and watch a Valkyrie ride forth To join the gods and fallen stormtroopers of the North?

Ah yes, "Turn that fear to hate". That will solve your problems. These two are still in the news; I listened to two local morning talk hosts talking about them a couple of weeks ago, and there is an article about them in the latest edition of GQ magazine.

With their continuing national coverage in mind, I now bring your attention to Autum Ashante. Autum is a 7 year old New Yorker, and is in big demand as a poet. She recently came to the attention of the New York press after her controversial poetry reading at a high school and middle school in Peekskill, New York. Why was little Autum's poetry reading so controversial? Here is her poem, entitled, White Nationalism Put U in Bondage:

White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirate and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
Drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel, tricks and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look in our streets
The mis-education of she and Hegro — leaves you on your knee2grow
Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse
They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers
They took the black women, with the black man weak
Made to watch as they changed the paradigm
Of our village
They killed the blind, they killed the lazy, they went
So far as to kill the unborn baby
Yeah White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirates and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
They drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel laden feet, throw in the tricks alcohol and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look at our streets.

So I, being a white person, am a vampire who has sucked the lifeblood of the black race? Someone might retort to me that, No no Chanman, she isn't calling you a vampire, she is referring to men like Christopher Columbus, Charles Darwin, and J.P. Morgan. Little Autum and her father cleared up any confusion about that when they were asked for comment about the backlash from members of the Peekskill audience following Autum's poetry reading, and the recorded apology that school officials sent out to the parents of the children at those schools. According to Michelle Malkin, Autum was quoted in a Westchester newspaper as saying, White people are "devils, and they should be gone. We should be away from them and still be in Africa." Batin Ashante, Autum's father, called the school officials, "racist crackers". "Cracker"? I believe that is a racist term itself there Batin. In the same linked article, it was revealed that Autum led only the black and hispanic students in a recital of the "Black Childrens' Pledge". She told the white students to remain seated.

Once again, we have a clear double standard. The Gaede twins of Prussian Blue have been universally condemned, as they certainly should be. However, when it comes to the racist rhetoric of Autum Ashante and her father, they have in their corner such local heavyweights as The "Reverend" Al Sharpton (remember folks, he was considered by the Democrats to be a legitimate candidate for President of the United States), and NYC Councilman Charles Barron, a former Black Panther who famously replied a couple of years ago that he would like to slap white people. This has always been the difference between the left-wing and the right-wing in this country - the loony right (e.g. David Duke and company) is condemned by the mainstream right. The loony left (Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan, etc.) is embraced by the mainstream left.

One other comment/question: is Mr. Ashante aware that the season after summer is spelled a-u-t-u-m-n? Just wondering.

Good Day to You, Sir

Now, Why Would People Increasingly Not Like Islam?

This is rich. Today's Washington Post ran an article entitled Negative Perception of Islam Increasing. Goodness, I can't imagine why that would be. Let's hear what Ronald Stockton, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, Dearborn has to say about the reason for this "negative perception of Islam":

"You're getting [from the media], a constant drumbeat of negative information about Islam."

Oh! I see. What is making Americans think negatively about Islam is not the beheadings, burnings, stabbings, shootings, rioting over cartoons, flying planes into buildings, blowing up of children in pizza parlors, brutal subjugation of women, and all the other violent acts committed on a daily basis all over the world in the name of Allah. No, it is the fact that the media actually reports it (not enough of it I might add).

Talk about putting the cart before the horse. If Muslims would stop brutalizing their neighbors, then the media wouldn't have any "negative information" to report. And please spare me the whole bit about how most Muslims are peaceful and how all the violence is being committed by a small number of extremists who have hijacked the peaceful religion of Islam. I am so tired of that pap. Even President Bush repeats that nonsense. Sorry folks, but read your history. Islam has been an unusually violent religion since Muhammad stepped out of his cave on Mount Hira. Here is some homework for you: look up a list of all the shooting wars taking place in the world as we speak, and find out how many involve Muslims as belligerents.

Newspaper stories like this make me want to just shake my head and cluck my tongue.

Good Day to You, Sir

Finally, Someone Has the Guts to Say It!

In past posts, I have commented on the laziness and sense of entitlement that I encounter in many of my students; but that's just me bloviating on my own private blog. Today, I ran across a guest column written for USAToday that was written by an AP English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. You can go to the link to read the whole thing if you like, but here are some highlights from the column:

Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change...

"Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort," says Dave Roscher, a chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams in this Washington suburb. "In my day, parents didn't listen when kids complained about teachers. We are supposed to miraculously make kids learn even though they are not working."

As my colleague Ed Cannon puts it: "Today, the teacher is supposed to be responsible for motivating the kid. If they don't learn it is supposed to be our problem, not theirs..."

Maybe every generation of kids has wanted to take it easy, but until the past few decades students were not allowed to get away with it. "Nowadays, it's the kids who have the power. When they don't do the work and get lower grades, they scream and yell. Parents side with the kids who pressure teachers to lower standards," says Joel Kaplan, another chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams...

Every year, I have had parents come in to argue about the grades I have given in my AP English classes. To me, my grades are far too generous; to middle-class parents, they are often an affront to their sense of entitlement. If their kids do a modicum of work, many parents expect them to get at least a B. When I have given C's or D's to bright middle-class kids who have done poor or mediocre work, some parents have accused me of destroying their children's futures...

As a teacher, I don't object to the heightened standards required of educators in the No Child Left Behind law. Who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home — and from within each student....

I get so sick of hearing from administration and education gurus that if the student isn't learning, it is the teacher's fault. Hasn't anyone ever heard of the old cliche' "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? It might be a cliche' but there is a lot of truth to it. I teach quite a few students who will not study, who will not turn in their homework, who will not do anything you ask of them no matter what I do. You can plead, threaten, cajole, bribe, call their parents, try and make the lesson as interesting and relevant as possible - these students don't care. I am glad that a national newspaper has alerted people to the fact that this is so.

Good Day to You, Sir

Speaking of Tolerance....

Let's not forget about those Muhammad cartoon protestors still out there. I didn't see any Buddhists holding similar signs after the Taliban blew up the two statues of Buddha, but if you draw a couple cartoons showing Muhammad, oh boy....

Good Day to You, Sir

The Ivy League Isn't What it Used to Be

Let's quickly recap some of the activities of the Taliban of Afghanistan shall we?
They practiced the absolute strictest form of Muslim Sharia law by:

1.) Publicly executing homosexuals.
2.) Publicly beating and sometimes executing women for not wearing a burqa or walking outside the home without a male escort.
3.) Not allowing women to get an education or see a doctor.
4.) Not allowing women to work outside the home.
5.) Pulling out the fingernails and/or severing the thumbs of women who wore fingernail polish.
6.) Forcing men to grow beards and keep them at least a certain length.
7.) Brutally suppressing the Shi'ite (Shia) practitioners of Islam. Over 15,000 were killed by the Taliban government in the Hazara Province.
8.) Blowing up two 1,800 year old priceless Buddha statues that had been cut into sandstone cliffs in northeast Afghanistan.
9.) And of course, they sheltered the leadership of Al Qaeda and were thereby accomplices in carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Now, let's recap some items about Yale University:
1.) Like any college campus, Yale promotes the advancement of women into the workplace and the higher echelons of power.
2.) Like many left-wing colleges, Yale not just tolerates, but promotes and celebrates the lifestyle of homosexuals.
3.) Like many super left-wing colleges, Yale has banned the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) from their campus - officially because of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy; unofficially because many faculty, administration, and students hate the military and any other form of masculine aggression, even if this aggression keeps us safe from our enemies.
4.) Like many colleges, Yale preaches tolerance of any lifestyle, presumably including religion.

As you let this information soak in, please know that Yale University recently accepted the enrollment of one Rahmatullah Hashemi, who is the former spokesman for Afghanistan's former Taliban government - you know, the one that the United States military knocked out of power?

This man, Hashemi, shilled for one of the most oppressive regimes of the 20th-21st century, and Yale welcomed him with open arms. What's even more of a tongue clucker is that they snatched him up because apparently Harvard was courting him too. This man represented and defended a regime that violated every code of tolerance for which Yale University supposedly stands. And as a 12 year veteran of the United States Army and National Guard, I am most angry about the fact that Yale does not allow ROTC on its campus because they discriminate against homosexuals and represent violence and aggression, yet Yale had no problem bringing to their campus, a man who represented a government that stoned homosexuals to death, and committed unspeakable acts of violence against people of all stripes in Afghanistan. So the defenders of America are not allowed on campus, while the enemies of America are welcomed with open arms. Way to go, Yale! Go Bulldogs!!

I have been stewing about this situation for a couple of weeks now, but this morning, while reading a post about it on Michelle Malkin's blog, my anger done runneth over. Mrs. Malkin showcased a letter from a Yale alum who voiced her displeasure about this supposedly tolerant university accepting a man like Hashemi on its campus. Additionally, Mrs. Malkin alerted her readers to a mail-in campaign that has been started against Yale; one in which I plan to participate. If you want to participate too, here is what you need to do. Send a box of press-on fingernails to Yale. The nails are in reference to the Taliban's policy of pulling off the fingernails (or severing the thumbs) of women who dared to wear fingernail polish. It's just a little reminder to Yale's administration of what kind of man they have hypocritically allowed onto their campus. If you care to participate, further details and Yale's mailing address can be found at the above link to Michelle Malkin's blog.

Good Day to You, Sir

It's Hard Out Here for an Oscar Viewer

I know the Oscars are a bunch of self-congratulatory crap. I know that in the grand scheme of things, they don't mean much. However, due to the fact that I absolutely love to watch movies, every year I find myself alongside my wife watching the Oscars. After all, some of my favorite movies have been either Oscar winners or Oscar nominees: Saving Private Ryan, Silence of the Lambs, Patton, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Good Will Hunting... all Oscar winners. In addition to the movies, the music they spawn can be quite enjoyable as well. One of my favorite Oscar- nominated songs from a movie is Miss Misery from Good Will Hunting. Don't forget about Madonna's You Must Love Me from Evita, A Whole New World from Aladdin, Lionel Richie's Say You, Say Me from White Nights, Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen, and Let the River Run by Carly Simon, which was in the 1988 movie, Working Girl.

The reason I listed all these wonderful songs is to provide a comparison to the pile of defecation that won the Oscar for Best Song last night. The song is called It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp by Memphis rap group, Three 6 Mafia. The "song" came from a movie called Hustle and Flow which is about a pimp from Memphis trying to become a rapper - oh joy.

You know how they do it at the Oscar ceremony: throughout the night, each nominated song is performed. When the last one is performed, the Oscar for Best Song is presented. The first nominee was performed by Dolly Parton, and it was from the movie Transamerica. Parton's song was happy and upbeat even if a little repetitious. The second nominated song to be performed was a beautiful and haunting song from the movie Crash. It was this song that I thought should have won. The next song was of course, It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp by Three 6 Mafia. I knew the song was coming, as the controversial title had already caused pre-ceremony buzz. I did come into the performance with an open mind, hoping that maybe it was a clever or well done rap song - hey, there is some rap I don't mind; it's just all from the 1980s or early 1990s. Once the "song" got underway, I was underwhelmed. Frankly, it sucked. First you have a woman singing over and over, "It's hard out here for a pimp!" Meanwhile, the angry young rappers echo her line with "Bee dump! bee dump!" or something like that. When the song ended, I said to my wife, "If that wins for Best Song, I am shutting off the t.v." Of course, then it won. My wife made me keep the t.v. on anyway because she wanted to see if Reese Witherspoon would win for Best Actress.

I think I probably feel the same way that people from my parents' generation felt as they watched the catchy and happy-go-lucky music of the late 1950s, early 1960s give way to the drug-induced crap of the late 1960s and 1970s. Popular music took a serious turn for the worse around the year 1993 when what we call pop music gave way to hip-hop. If this were the Roman Empire, I would consider hip-hop to be one of the key indicators that we are headed for a fall. When people start accepting the lowest common denominator as their goal, we are headed for serious trouble. Yes, I know we are talking about one song at an Oscar ceremony, but the implications of this song winning the Oscar for Best Song transcend the win itself. It says something about the people of this country and where their priorities are. It says something about what Americans are willing to accept when it comes to excellence versus mediocrity. Once we start not only accepting mediocrity, but aspiring to it, it spells the possible death knell for our nation. This "song" winning the Oscar is but one more indicator that shows what we have accepted, and it is not excellence.

Good Day to You, Sir

Please Try to Remember, Not All Schoolteachers Are This Far Off Their Rocker...

So a World Geography teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado is "teaching" his kids. He goes into a 20 minute diatribe against Israel, against President Bush, against the evil and violent United States. Luckily for us, we get to hear it all! It seems one of his students likes to tape his teacher's lectures along with taking notes. Wait until you hear this rant; it must be heard to be believed.

My first question is, what the hell does anything this teacher is talking about have to do with teaching Geography? My second question is, what kind of teaching is he doing? He just talks for 20 minutes straight with little feedback or contributions from the students. That's not teaching, it is preaching.

More later,

Good Day to You, Sir