The Dark Left - Again

John Podhoretz reveals the dark heart of the left:

Inside Iraq, political parties and factions are jockeying for position in advance of the elections, with threats of boycotts and pleas for a delay. Such behavior is part of the process of a nascent democracy; it could and should be seen as a hopeful sign. Yet in the eyes of the Left, the boycott threats have already invalidated those elections — indeed, they mean the country is inexorably headed toward civil war.

So claims the appallingly jejeune but sadly representative Spencer Ackerman, who writes "Iraq'd," an online column for The New Republic. He quotes an Iraqi government official who says that delaying elections would be seen as a triumph for the insurgents and would raise new questions about the legitimacy of Iraq's transition to democracy.

This anti-delay view, Ackerman says, is an affront to Sunnis and therefore unacceptable. Why? Because the official he quotes views as "irrelevant" the question of "whether the Sunnis consider the elections illegitimate." With perverse glee, Ackerman writes: "If the insurgents drank, they would be popping champagne corks."

This is preposterous. It's beyond obvious that the greatest threat to Iraq's nascent democracy would be to allow the undemocratic threat of an electoral boycott to delay elections. Once such a thing happened, the boycott would become the method of choice whenever any group decided it didn't like the way things were heading.

But in truth, it's hard not to feel that it's Ackerman who is secretly popping corks at the prospect of continued trouble in Iraq. For you see, having passionately opposed the war like so many on the Left, Ackerman has a weirdly vested interest in the failure of American efforts to ensure that the future will be better than the past.

Otherwise, he and his willfully blind brethren will be proven history's fools — which has been the unhappy fate of many on Left who have spent their intellectual capital placing bets against the American creed.

The Left consistently sets themselves up to only benefit or 'win' when America fails. This will always be a losing position for all the regular sane folks in America. Not only do we not like to lose, we really don't like to see our own countrymen cheering for the other side. Some may call this unpatriotic...call me crazy.

There's much more, you know what to do.

Blogger Disappointment

So when Tucker Eskew started his new blog right before the election I instantly bookmarked him and prepared myself for some great behind the scenes scoops. Tucker's first post was on October 22nd and his last was on November 3rd. This guy got a launch from many of the big-big bloggers....for what? What a waste.

More Lefty Deafening Silence

JimK of Right Thoughts has some excellent questions for the lefties out there over this UN Oil for Food scandal. Check it out.

Murder/Suicide Obituary

How should a father, who can't handle his life, who murders his 2 daughters and then blows his own brains out be memorialized? Michelle Malkin has the post on the obituary that you should read in its entirety (and don't miss the photo of the loving father with the two girls). Then read this ridiculous link and try telling me the world hasn't gone absolutely bat-ass crazy. If living in the NW makes you this dumb I don't want anywhere near it.

In times like these, she said, people don't want to focus on the "bad stuff" about Byrne.

"There were things in his life to be honored," she said.

God forbid we focus on the pesky 'bad stuff'. Heaven knows we don't want to stain the memory of this man who murdered two innocent little girls rather than allow them to live out their lives with their mother. Why that wouldn't be right. (/sarcasm)

Here's my memorial:
He ended up a double child-killer and may he be rotting in hell.

O'Reilly Fisked

Glenn Reynolds fisks Bill O'Reilly, as he well deserves. I couldn't believe it when I read O'Reilly's column, it's like he has put his brain in the freezer and is suffering from freezer burn. Bill's been unimpressive for a long time now. Watch his show and count how many times he directs the conversation or topics back directly to himself.

Ratherfest

The guy who wrote this article should be embarrassed to show his face in public. It is a silly puff piece on Dan Rather that could be fisked top to bottom, however, I will focus only on a small tidbit:

And then there was this: "Ed Murrow's ghost is here. I've seen him and talked to him on the third floor of this building many times late at night. And I can tell you that he's watching over us."

If Rather has been spending too much time of late yakking with the ghost of Murrow and too little confirming the veracity of his sources, maybe we need to cut the dude a little slack. He's earned the right to be eccentric by continuing the quest to be a real journalist when he didn't have to.

WHAT?? We need to cut Rather slack for not checking his sources in an attempt to de-rail a U.S. Presidential election because of his 'quest to be a real journalist'? I believe this is the stupidest statement I've ever read.

We forget that long before he became a right-wing punching bag, he was a true pioneer as an anchor who insisted on continuing to go out, get his hands dirty and report. There have been no ivory towers for Rather, who famously placed himself in harm's way in war zones and the path of hurricanes. And it wasn't just for the photo op.

You've could've fooled me! That is always what it has been about with Rather. Just check this out. Or this one.

Brokaw: Blind or Dumb?

Drudge is reporting the following:

Outgoing NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw was asked on MSNBC's HARDBALL Monday if the Bush White House has been tough with the press corps, citing as an example of Dick Cheney stipulating no NEW YORK TIMES reporters on his trips.

Brokaw said, "I think they have been too tough.

"The idea that this White House has not given Tom Friedman a long, in-depth interview is astonishing to me. I have had a very good relationship with them, I have gotten to interview the President a lot. I have had access on the phone and other areas and I have been very vigorous in my discussions with them. But no reporter that I know covering national politics and the international policies that are of such great concern today know as much about them as Tom Friedman does and they have completely shut out the NEW YORK TIMES."

Boo Hoo Tom, Are you really this dumb? The NYTs should've been thrown out a long time ago, and I'm proud that Cheney has shut them out. How else will they ever change?

Getting High, Baby Dies

Some people need to go straight to the electric chair:

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A month-old baby died while his parents were on a three-day crack cocaine binge that began after Thanksgiving dinner, police said Tuesday.

The cause of death was not immediately clear. Sonia Thomas, 39, and Neal Anthony Bryan, 46, have been charged with child neglect. More charges could be filed after autopsy results are available, police spokesman Jeff Kelly said.

Bryan told police he awoke to find that his son, whose name was not released, was on the bed next to him, not wearing a diaper and not breathing, according to a police report.

Thomas told investigators the baby was blue and she ran to the kitchen and sprinkled water on him in an attempt to "get him back." He was pronounced dead at a hospital after the couple called 911.

Thomas said she could not remember when she had last fed the baby because "she was messed up on crack" and tired, the report said. It said the couple admitted smoking about $500 worth of crack cocaine over three days.

If I am suppose to feel pity for these adults, I do not. Just outrage and the need for swift justice for this innocent child who never really had a sliver of hope. These are the saddest of stories.

Flakey Protesters

Man! What is a hippie protest-organizer to do? You work your tail off for months organizing large and, hopefully, violent protests of that fascist U.S. president....and for what? Well let's see:

OTTAWA (AFP) - Hopes for early mass protests in the streets of Ottawa on the eve of Tuesday's visit by US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) fizzled out, as journalists outnumbered demonstrators.

A loose coalition of groups opposed to just about everything Bush supports had promised two demonstrations hours before Bush was due to jet into Ottawa Tuesday aboard Air Force One.

The first demonstration -- of Palestinians and sympathisers of the Palestinian cause opposed to Washington's support of Israel -- attracted less than 40 demonstrators.

According to a quick head count by journalists, the protest attracted 39 demonstrators, 42 journalists and television crew members and three police officers.

A second, ostensibly larger, demonstration scheduled for the midst of the evening rush hour -- was called by a group calling itself Students Against Bush.

Nobody turned up. Further protests however were expected on Tuesday.

Efforts to contact protest organizers were unsuccessful, with the phone numbers listed by organizers remaining unanswered.

ROFLMAO!!! It doesn't get any better than this!! Oh, what are we gonna do when all of these left over 60's hippies die off? I guess the bigger question is: Will we really even notice?

(Link via Right-Thinking)

UPDATE: Check out the worthy photo-blogging of above event. (link via Instapundit)

Sad State of Jihad

Real Clear Politics has excellent commentary today on the disintegrating Jihad. That's right, we're winning this Jihad thing, but how would anyone know? The news of this victory could not possibly dirty the front pages of the NYT's or the Washington Post could it? Buried in the news last week was this little tidbit from that cold-blooded murderous Jordanian, Zarqawi:

On the audiotape, the speaker purported to be al-Zarqawi addressed the ''ulama'' senior Muslim religious clerics.

''You have let us down in the darkest circumstances and handed us over to the enemy. ... You have quit supporting the mujahedeen,'' the speaker said. ''Hundreds of thousands of the nation's sons are being slaughtered at the hands of the infidels because of your silence.''

He said the clerics ''left the mujahadeen to face the strongest power in the world. Are your hearts not shaken by the scenes of your brothers being surrounded and hurt by your enemy?''

This boys and girls is what defeat sounds like. Wonder why that good ole MSM doesn't see it that way? Bastards.

Cowboy George

Having been out of the loop last week, I completely missed the story of the Prez busting up an attempt to separate him from his security detail in Chile. BrainShavings has a series of pictures of the incident along with a link to Powerline quoting two readers who give a thoughtful take on the incident. All I've got to say is how remarkable for the Pres. of the U.S. to stop what he was doing and go himself and pull his guy out of an argument. Here's how the Washington Times reported the incident:

Law-enforcement authorities said the Chileans, who claimed to be in charge of security for the event, stopped Secret Service agent Nick Trotta as he was escorting Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush into the center, jumping in front of the agent as he approached the building entry. The authorities said the Chilean officers had seemed poised to act.
    
At least one Secret Service agent was shoved against a wall, the authorities said, as Mr. Trotta continued to push his way into the center. It was then that Mr. Bush responded, pushing into the crowd of angry security officials, pointing at Mr. Trotta and ordering that he be released. Mr. Bush finally reached over and grabbed the agent by the suit collar.
    
"He's with me," Mr. Bush said as he waded into the scuffle and pulled the agent through the crowd.
    
The authorities said the Chilean agents were shocked when they determined that the man pushing over them was Mr. Bush, who, they said, grabbed Mr. Trotta, adjusted his shirt cuffs and then winked at bystanders with the agent at his side.
    
La Cuarta, a Santiago newspaper, described Mr. Bush's actions as a "total breach of protocol" and referred to him as "John Wayne ... definitely acting like a cowboy."

Yeah, and he's not just anybody's cowboy, he's our cowboy! Bush was right to do what he did, and it may have saved his life. Everyone should be proactive in their personal safety, and no one is more of a marked man than George W. Bush. May God continue to protect him every second of every day.

9/11 Widow With Class

Grab a tissue and read this, a column about a 9/11 widow who has published a book composed of letters written to her husband, who died on Flight 93, and to her daughter, who was only 12 weeks old when her father died. This widow is simply telling her tale of survival and keeping her husband's memory alive for her daughter. It is quite moving and refreshing, considering all the overexposure that "other" group of widows received during the election.

Jeremy called from the plane, telling her that "bad men" were in control and that he and other passengers were planning to fight back.

"You've got to promise me you're going to be happy," he told her. "For Emmy to know how much I love her. And because whatever decisions you make in your life, no matter what, I'll support you."

"That's still very hard, and I don't think there is ever a mastery," Glick said in a recent interview. "But I'm able to look forward on a Monday to Friday now. It would be easier to be sad sometimes. But it is important to me to provide a happy, stable home."

I can only imagine the deep sadness this mother must feel everyday. God bless her for pulling it all together and moving forward making a happy life for herself and her daughter. Go read her story.

(Link via Michelle Malkin)

Compare & Contrast: Christians vs. Academics

This is an interesting column written by an evangelical law professor. He makes many interesting points comparing christians and academics. Here's a taste:

That gets to an aspect of evangelical culture that the mainstream press has never understood: the combination of strong faith commitments with uncertainty, the awareness that I don't know everything, that I have a lot more to learn than to teach. Belief that a good God has a plan does not imply knowledge of the plan's details. Judging from the lives and conversations of my Christian friends, faith in that God does not tend to produce a belief in one's infallibility. More the opposite: Christians believe we see "through a glass, darkly" when we see at all -- and that we're constantly tempted to imagine ourselves as better and smarter than we really are. If that sensibility were a little more common in universities, faculty meetings would be a lot more pleasant. And it should be more common: Academics know better than anyone just how vast is the pool of human knowledge, and how little of it any of us can grasp. Talking humbly should be second nature.

There is even a measure of political common ground. True, university faculties are heavily Democratic, and evangelical churches are thick with Republicans. But that red-blue polarization is mostly a consequence of which issues are on the table -- and which ones aren't. Change the issue menu, and those electoral maps may look very different. Imagine a presidential campaign in which the two candidates seriously debated how a loving society should treat its poorest members. Helping the poor is supposed to be the left's central commitment, going back to the days of FDR and the New Deal. In practice, the commitment has all but disappeared from national politics. Judging by the speeches of liberal Democratic politicians, what poor people need most is free abortions. Anti-poverty programs tend to help middle-class government employees; the poor end up with a few scraps from the table. Teachers' unions have a stranglehold on failed urban school systems, even though fixing those schools would be the best anti-poverty program imaginable.

I don't necessarily agree with everything he writes (ie, as long as the Dems stand for pro-choice I don't believe christians are going to flock to them), but it is an interesting perspective. Go get the full dose.

Healthcare Solutions

Want affordable healthcare? Do you want to control the rate of healthcare increasing costs? Here's how.

When insurance kicks in, it is in the form of a personal medical fund, similar to the health savings account model that was part of the 2003 Medicare/prescription drug act. Unused amounts can be rolled over into the next year, and employees who leave the company will have access to remaining balances. This encourages employees to treat the money as if it is their own -- which it is -- and to keep cost in mind while making health care decisions. Experts of all ilks agree that one reason health care costs keep rising so rapidly is that consumers have gotten into the habit of making decisions with no regard at all for cost. The Destiny plan encourages them to break that habit.

The third and perhaps most interesting feature of the Destiny plan is its wellness programs, designed to encourage healthier lifestyles. Employees' insurance premiums are cut if they abstain from smoking, exercise regularly, hold down their weight and seek preventive care such as Pap smears or prostate exams. For achieving such goals, they earn "vitality points," which can be redeemed for health club memberships and travel discounts.

Read the whole thing to get the full plan. This is the answer folks, putting the cost:benefit ratio back in the minds of the consumer. I would love to see this reward system for healthy behavior. I know, it's rewarding appropriate behavior...but it would be nice to get a break on those gym fees. ;) And in the long run, the folks eating right and excercising is saving the system tons and tons of money. If it convinced only 1% of the couch potatoes to eat better and walk more, the cost benefits to the healthcare system would be well worth it.

The Left's Unholy alliance

This speech given by David Horowitz during the election is profound and must be read in its entirety. He speaks of the alliance between the political left and radical islam. I often recall that during the run-up to the Iraqi war, I would argue that by not supporting the war you were by default supporting Saddam and what he stood for. Well this speech makes the case and goes much, much farther than that. Horowitz names names, defines treason, tells you who all those 'protesters' really are, etc... It is a long piece, so you may want to print it out, but whatever it takes, read this important column to have a comprehensive understanding of why we fight in Iraq and what the left has tried to do to our country for their own, selfish political gain.

Here's a little historical perspective the author gives about Vietnam and himself:

The left has never learned the lessons of Vietnam, a fact underscored by the way in which Howard Dean and Ted Kennedy and leaders of the movement against the war in Iraq invoked the history of Vietnam as though it showed that they were right and their opponents were wrong. As you probably know, I began my life on the political left and was one of the founders of the movement against the Vietnam War. My parents were, in fact, card-carrying Communists, and my first political march was against an even earlier war. I was nine years old in 1948 and marched down 7th Avenue with my parents and their political comrades in New York chanting, "One, two, three, four, we don't want another war." "We" called ourselves "progressives" and supported the Progressive Party candidacy of Henry Wallace, who had once been Franklin Roosevelt's Vice President but was now a captive of the Communist left. The war we marched against was Harry Truman's "Cold War" to prevent Joseph Stalin from conquering more of Europe than he had already acquired. The peace movement of that time wanted Stalin to "liberate" Eastern Europe, which he had in fact enslaved. This campaign was the seed of the anti-war movements of Vietnam and Iraq, and also of the political left's influence in the Democratic Party. George McGovern began his political career in the Progressive Party's 1948 campaign against the Cold War. The Democratic Party of Harry Truman was committed to the Cold War. But as far as the peace movements are concerned, not much has really changed in 50 years.

As a post-graduate student at Berkeley in the early Sixties, I was one of the organizers of the first demonstration against the Vietnam War. It was 1962 and I can tell you as someone who was there, everybody who organized that demonstration was a Marxist and a leftist who thought the Communists were liberating Vietnam the way Michael Moore thinks Zarqawi is liberating Iraq. By that time, I was a "new leftist," disillusioned with the Communism of my parents' generation, so I was aware that the North Vietnamese Communists were not Jeffersonian democrats as people like Jane Fonda and John Kerry seemed to think they were. I avoided the Winter Soldier Investigation into American "war crimes" that John Kerry and Jane Fonda were part of. Jane Fonda was an idiot (useful, to be sure) who had embraced the Communists and committed treason. Perhaps John Kerry didn't grasp that fact. He got himself in bed with people who had a hatred for the United States as intense as their current hatred of George Bush.(/snip)

I can not recommend this speech more strongly: Read it to understand. Warning to leftist: This may be too much reason and reality for you to digest. Proceed with great caution.

After reading this, I've never been prouder to be a Republican and supporter of G.W.B. My side chooses taking the fight to the enemy, spreading freedom and democracy, bringing down brutal dictators and killing terrorists. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Link via Sean O in RI. Thanks for the tip!

Go Vote Again!

That's right, it is time to exercise your right to vote one more time this month. But this time it is for a great American hero Pat Tillman for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. BlackFive gives step by step instructions with the links to do what is valid and right. I just voted and you should too! Help bring justice to counter Ted Rall's filthy and disgusting cartoon.

Where are the Hollywood Big Mouths?

What if a teacher was gunned down for teaching? What if a Doctor is gunned down for doctoring? What if a pastor is gunned down for pastoring? What would happen? I'm willing to bet for each incidence that maybe teachers, doctors and pastors would stand up and speak out demanding justice.

Well now, what if a filmmaker is murdered in broad daylight for making a film? Would filmmakers speak out? Would they be activist in demanding justice? Obviously, the answer is no. Some have argued that the outspoken celebrities of the election actually assisted in getting the opposition elected, but now they are silent. Celebs are more than happy to speak out obnoxiously on issues were they have no expertise or credibility, but now the issue presents itself where they have perfect expertise and credibility. What action do they choose? Silence....and it is deafening.

One would think that in the name of artistic freedom, the creative community would take a stand against filmmakers being sent into hiding à la Salman Rushdie, or left bleeding in the street. Yet we've heard nary a peep from Hollywood about the van Gogh slaying. Indeed Hollywood has long walked on eggshells regarding the topic of Islamic fundamentalism. The film version of Tom Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears" changed Palestinian terrorists to neo-Nazis out of a desire to avoid offending Arabs or Muslims. The war on terror is a Tinsel Town taboo, even though a Hollywood Reporter poll showed that roughly two-thirds of filmgoers surveyed would pay to see a film on the topic.

In a recent conversation with a struggling liberal screenwriter, I brought up the Clancy film as an example of Hollywood shying away from what really affects filmgoers--namely, the al Qaeda threat vs. the neo-Nazi threat. He vehemently defended the script switch. "It's an easy target," he said of Arab terrorism, repeating this like a parrot, then adding, "It's a cheap shot." How many American moviegoers would think that scripting Arab terrorists as the enemy in a fiction film is a "cheap shot"? In fact, it's realism; it's what touches lives world-wide. It's this disconnect with filmgoers that has left the Hollywood box office bleeding by the side of the road.(/snip)

The writer goes on to discuss the emergence of conservative filmmakers:

A month before the election, the Liberty Film Festival in West Hollywood generated a palpable excitement among conservatives in the industry and those lining up to catch a glimpse of the flicks. The diverse and hip crowd joined producers Stephen K. Bannon ("In the Face of Evil"), Lionel Chetwynd ("Celsius 41.11"), Doug Urbanski ("The Contender"), Mr. Zucker and others.

One film, by Brain-Terminal.com's Evan Maloney, "Brainwashing 101," highlighted attempts to stifle free speech on college campuses. After the film, an immigrant in the audience who identified himself as Boris angrily proclaimed, "This is just like Soviet Union!"

Another film, "Relentless," exposed Yasser Arafat's doublespeak in favor of the destruction of Israel and chillingly showed children on a Palestinian TV show expressing their desire to be suicide bombers, urged on by the host--who blew herself up in Jerusalem a week before the screening.

Movie after movie showed filmmakers on the edge, taking risks, telling truths that needed to be told. But Mr. van Gogh paid the ultimate price to make his film, and the ensuing silence of a community purportedly so interested in free speech is maddening. Agree with the man or not, what warranted his violent death?

Giving Hollywood the benefit of the doubt, I did one more search to find industry response to the van Gogh murder. I found the blog of novelist and screenwriter Roger L. Simon, who confirmed that I wasn't the only one who'd been wondering: "It's stunning how silent the American artistic community, Hollywood in particular, has been about the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in Amsterdam," he wrote. "Do they even know what happened to one of their own? Have they even heard of him? Do they care someone was killed for making a film which protested violent abuse against women? Are they even interested?"

Hollywood = Hypocrisy: Somebody prove me wrong.

Link via Brain Terminal

Monochromatic University

This column really caught my eye, since I work for a University. I wonder to what magnitude of a minority I fall in? Will's concluding paragraphs are great:

Academics, such as the next secretary of state, still decorate Washington, but academia is less listened to than it was. It has marginalized itself, partly by political shrillness and silliness that have something to do with the parochialism produced by what George Orwell called "smelly little orthodoxies."

Many campuses are intellectual versions of one-party nations — except such nations usually have the merit, such as it is, of candor about their ideological monopolies. In contrast, American campuses have more insistently proclaimed their commitment to diversity as they have become more intellectually monochrome.

They do indeed cultivate diversity — in race, skin color, ethnicity, sexual preference. In everything but thought.

The problem here is that most of these 'academics' already think they are smarter than all the peasants, so they are right and everyone else is just dumb. I don't ever see this turning around..

(Link via Instapundit)

Wireless Networking Advice

Lee over at Right Thinking has some advice for anyone who has a wireless network set-up. Wireless internet is a must-have joy if you are on the net for any substantial amount of time. Trust me, don't be frugal on this one. On my recent vacation, I discovered that most people I know are somewhat.. ummmmm....lets just say, the latest in technology and having it actually working is not high on the priority list for most of our friends. For me, to have to sit at a desk in front of a bulky monitor is like having to stand up and use the kitchen rotary phone with a 2 foot cord. Some of you know what I'm saying! We've all come a long way, but we must be careful as well. Check out Lee's post, he always makes me laugh and has good advice.

Big D Poker

Last night in the airport I picked up D Magazine to read on the plane, a testiment to how nicely the kids were traveling. I read several stories and was amazed when I checked Real Clear Politics, as I do every day, and found this link to an article in the magazine. It was a fascinating story about Andy Beal, a banker billionaire, who likes to play cards with poker champions with very high stakes.

Even though many of the top poker players are multimillionaires, none of them could afford to take on Beal without risking his entire bankroll. So they formed the Corporation—pooling their money (and money from investors) to take on a man they had to see as the biggest gravy train ever to hit The Strip. In addition to Doyle Brunson, the team included 16 of the best players in the world. Johnny Chan, Chip Reese, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Chau Giang, Gus Hansen, and Phil Ivey are some of the names a casual fan of the World Poker Tour might recognize.

During the next few years, you could always tell when Beal was in town, because at the Bellagio’s highest-stakes table, a crowd of pros would gather around just two players duking it out with towering stacks of chips, each chip worth $10,000. For the most part, the Corporation booked wins of a few million each session. Beal did reportedly deliver a $5 million blow to two-time World Champion Chan, but then there was also that time Beal was supposedly up $4.5 million, only to see it turn into a $1 million loss.

Though who has won or lost how many millions is in dispute, Beal admits that he has been an overall loser since he began playing in the Big Game. But he’s getting better, and last May, he played in the biggest game ever. Blinds were $100,000/$200,000, and for four days, for up to 14 hours a day, Beal sat quietly in a white suit and bulky black headphones and grinded it out against the pros, who took him on in shifts. He finally got up and walked away from the table, saying he had to go back to Dallas for his twin daughters’ camping trip—finishing up a $10 million winner.

It is a fascinating read with great details of how this man, a college drop-out/math nut, became a billionaire. Go check it out.

Bad Sushi?

OK, this is just plain weird! My husband, a surgeon, nor I have never seen anything like this before....

See BS and the Ukrainian Press

Link here for the scoop on CBS considering the bold, new Ukrainian Journalistic ideology. Let's hope CBS can duplicate their model.

Fallujah in the First Person

Link here to read a great narrative from a military man who fought through Fallujah:

Anyone back home who thinks the world is a safe place needs to come here for a day and learn real fast that there are an awful lot of people out there who hate Americans so much that they risk their lives to try to kill us. We cannot live peacefully back at home right now unless we continue to stay on the offensive against our enemies and fight them in their backyards. Remember, radical Arabs started this war...and they continue to fight it, proving to America over and over that they need to be fought.

I am hopeful that most Americans understand that you have to accept death to defeat evil; all of us soldiers accepted that the day we signed up.There are some things worth fighting and dying for, and making the world and especially America, a safer place, is one of them. For every Mom out there that you read about who turns into a peace protestor when her son is killed in action, there are 99 Moms you don't hear about who are proud and believe in this mission even more.

Go read the whole thing to read the details of his mission - It'll make you proud to be an American.

(Link via LittleGreenFootballs)

I'm Back!

Providence to Dallas to Shreveport to Monroe to Dallas to Providence. What a week and a great Thanksgiving! My mother had dinner for 24 people. My brothers constructed a long table that stretched through the bottom floor of the house I grew up in. No separate children's table - Everyone sat together. And for all the La ex-pat's out there: Yes, we had a fried cajun turkey along with the smoked turkey and ham. But best of all, my Mom's wild duck dressing...Mmmmmm. I'll be spending quite a bit of time on the treadmill these coming weeks.

Dallas was incredible, along with the people we met there as well. As things stand right now, I would bet my money that Dallas will be our next home in 7 months. I spent 2 days neighborhood shopping and Highland Park is beautiful to say the least. I'll let ya know as soon as I know for sure.

In La, I stopped at the North Louisiana Military Museum in Ruston. Some may remember the speech I posted a while back by the veteran Ernie Stevens who owns and maintains the museum. It was a great pleasure to meet him and tour his most impressive museum. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you stop in for a visit. Every war the U.S. has been involved with is represented.

Being away from blogging for 8 days was tough for me! Maintaining this site is what is keeping me sane up here to make it through this challenging time and I've poured alot of time and effort into this...so it was hard to ignore it all for that long of a time period. Not to mention, I missed reading my favorite sites and keeping up with my internet buddies.

So, I'm back and I hope that all of my readers keep coming back!

A Marine Writes Home

OK, I'm back - for just a second...I've got to pack!!

Powerline has this incredible letter from a brave, proud marine. Go read the whole thing to get proper context of what our marines are facing in Iraq that our media will never tell you.

For those of you who don't know, we Marines, Band of Brothers, Jarheads, Leathernecks, etc., do not fight because we think it is right, or think
it is wrong. We are here for the man to our left, and the man to our right. We choose to give our lives so that the man or woman next to us can go home and see their husbands, wives, children, friends and families.

For those of you who sit on your couches in front of your television, and choose to condemn this man's actions, I have but one thing to say to you. Get out of your recliner, lace up my boots, pick up a rifle, leave your family behind and join me. See what I've seen, walk where I have walked. To those of you who support us, my sincerest gratitude. You keep us alive.

It is my honor to support these guys in any way that I can. My small contribution is to spread the TRUTH of our great and mighty military.

Semper Fi!!

Vacation Time!!

Thanksgiving is approaching and my husband and I will be traveling to our home state of Louisiana by way of Texas. We will be spending the next 9 days visiting with family, old friends and wrapping up a few second interviews so that we may choose exactly where we will be settling our family for, hopefully, a final move. As I write this we have exactly 7 1/2 months left in Rhode Island and then we will be turning to a new chapter in our lives. It is gearing up to be a very exciting new year!

So, I'm off and don't know if I'll even have access to a functioning computer...I think I'll need a little medication to get through....

Bin Laden Hooked for $addam

This link provides a tremendous amount of detailed information telling a tangled web of terrorism and payback. Essentially, Saddam hated us but couldn't do anything about it without us lobbing a few cruise missiles on his WMD stashes, so he started paying big money, provided by the UN Food for Oil Program, to al-Qaeda so that bin Laden could do his dirty work for him. The whole thing must be read, here's a teaser:

After he received Saddam's payout, Zawahiri immediately folded up his tent and irrevocably merged his organization with bin Laden's. "The merger was de facto complete by February 1998," the 9/11 Report states. Zawahiri most likely used it to fund the merger costs: to regularize the training and indoctrination of jihad recruits and to jump-start the new project initiatives of al-Qaeda. It is impossible to believe that Saddam, state gangster extraordinaire, would simply sign over a check to a known terrorist and be unaware of what his money was going for. In effect, this payment helped fund the new, merged al-Qaeda - and its new plots.

What was the big plot brewing in 1998? September 11, 2001. Bin Laden and Zawahiri knew they needed to kick their newly funded terrorist network off with a big public flourish. And so, less than three weeks after his new deputy's visit to Baghdad, on February 23, 1998, bin Laden issued his infamous public fatwa. The particular language had been in negotiation for some time, as part of the merger deal. 

I certainly don't need to be talked into the justification of the Iraqi war. My pastor in Texas once said that God will rage war for 2 reasons: 1) to bring justice (check that) and 2) to protect Israel (check that). However, many americans simply do not understand the full truth. This is such a huge story, and our dinosaur media continues to ignore the truth. So sad, their own agenda is just more important to them.

(Hat tip to my fellow RI conservative friend: Sean O.)

A Terrorist Speaks

This story is a unique insider view that I would not think comes along very often. This is the testimony of a marked man for telling the ugly truth.

"I am not ashamed to stand in front of you and say I am Walid Shoebat and I used to be a Palestinian terrorist,” a middle-aged man from Northern California told over 115 students yesterday. Once imprisoned for his violent attempts to kill Israeli citizens, Shoebat now advocates for his former enemy, speaking worldwide about his rare and controversial transformation into a leading Zionist.

In a speech in the Alfred Lerner Cinema, Shoebat rejected occupation and land ownership as causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict, instead citing global and rising anti-Semitism, propaganda in Palestinian schooling, Islamic fundamentalism, and the relative silence of pro-Israel activists as major factors contributing to the problem.(/snip)

“My family hates me now,” said Shoebat, who spoke to his father last month for the first time in years after his father received a call predicting that Shoebat would be shot by those who oppose him.

“If go back home, I have five minutes to live,” said Shoebat. In the Middle East, “I am only safe in Israel proper.”

Shoebat’s family took away his land when he defected from their cause and converted to Christianity. His parents told him that he would have to return to Islam in order to regain acceptance.

“I was always taught that the Jews stole my land. My own family did,” Shoebat said. “I cannot go home ... not because of the Jews but because of my opinion.”

Shoebat said he “woke up and smelled the hummus” at age 33 when his wife asked him to prove that the negative things he claimed about Jews were right. For months he intensively studied Jewish history, the Holocaust, and the Jewish Bible to understand the people he said he used to hate.

“In order to understand the enemy you must put yourself in his shoes,” said Shoebat.

After “realizing that all that I was taught was a lie, I made a pledge to cleanse my grandfather’s house,” he said. As his grandfather did, Shoebat dedicates his life to promote what he believes to be the truth: Israel security and reform in the Middle East.

Shoebat blamed the Arab countries’ failure to accept Israel’s right to exist as the underlying factor in ongoing conflict, and he described the culture that he grew up in as intolerant of any belief other than “that of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, or the coffin.”

At age six in a kindergarten in Jericho, Shoebat said he would sing a popular song entitled “Arabs Our Beloved and Jews Our Dogs.”

“I used to wonder at that time who the Jews were but with the rest of the kids, I repeated the words without any knowledge of their meaning,” he said.

Relentless hatred towards the Jews has always been prevalent in Shoebat’s family, he said. He told the audience that after a Jew saved his cousin from drowning, his family refused to acknowledge the ethnicity of the rescuer. In fact, the cousin’s brother died in a suicide attempt in Jerusalem soon afterwards.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Shoebat said he would laugh with his family at images of naked, heaps of Jews, amazed by how far he thought Jews would go to fabricate the Holocaust.

“None of my teachers, family members, or friends said the Holocaust was real,” Shoebat said. “I was taught that it was an act intended only for the establishment of the Jewish State.”

Shoebat cited such thoughts in the Arab world as reasons for heightening anti-Semitism and Islamic fundamentalism, as evidenced by the presence of a DVD entitled “I Hate Israel” on the top of last year’s best-seller list in Egypt.

“New Palestinian leadership is not the solution,” he said. “Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen], the prime minister of the PLO, himself wrote his thesis on the Holocaust as a fabrication,” said Shoebat.

“Neither is ‘Israel’s occupation’ the cause. Jews have tried to give land for peace,” he said. “The occupation is in the minds of children who are taught hatred.”

Shoebat acknowledged that Muslims are often offended by his speeches. But he emphasized that he was interested in exposing the violence present in Islamic fundamentalism rather than “exposing Islam as violent religion.”

This is the legacy of Arafat. So you defenders of suicide bombers, do you also endorse this society of hatred, brainwashing and death?

This man should be applauded for turning his life around and speaking out. I fear that Charles was right, the Palestinians may not be ready for peace for another generation or two....

(Link via Right Thinking)

Mac Blogging

Being a Mac user, and married to a Mac fanatic, I found Jay Reding's post on 'soft bigotry of low expectations' pretty funny. Macs' are tremendously easier to use and 'stuff' just works better on them.

Christian Condi

Scott Ott of ScrappleFace has been on a tremendous role lately. I haven't posted on Condi Rice's nomination for Secretary of State (Hooray for her and us!), so I shall make up for it with a link to great humor. Go and enjoy.

Kim, Where are you?

Something is going on in North Korea.

TOKYO, Nov. 16 - Portraits of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, have been quietly taken down this fall in important institutions in the country's capital, Pyongyang, several diplomats there say.

Analysts are debating the reasons, with explanations that range from a demotion of North Korea's "Dear Leader" to a simple desire to place the portraits in more ornate frames.(/snip)

In Tokyo, analysts at Radiopress, a Japanese news agency that monitors the North Korean news media, were mystified.

"To me, it does not look like a coup d'état," said a senior analyst who asked not to be identified. "But somehow, the images have been removed in an orderly way."

In Seoul, a government intelligence analyst reported that in recent days North Korea's state radio had shifted one catch phrase from "Kim Jong Il, ruling according to the Kim Il Sung legacy" to simply "Ruling by Kim Il Sung."

May be nothing, but...it may be something. Maybe he couldn't handle how silly he was depicted in Team America. Stay tuned.

(Link via PoliPundit)

Killing Terrorists

Killing the bad guys. That's what it is all about people. So while some are agonizing about a brave, young marine doing the job we sent him to do, I'm enjoying the reduction of the enemy. This past summer before I was blogging, I ran across this post at Right-Thinking. Go there now and watch the video and don't miss the best line at the end: "Oh, Dude"

This is war folks, kill or be killed. The more dead terrorists there are, the less there are to kill us or bomb our cities. It really is that simple.

ScrappleFace reports on the brave journalist who is responsible for the marines-killing-terrorists video. (/sarcasm)

You must go see for it is goooood!

The Fallujah Nightmare Emerges

The terrorized people of Fallujah are beginning to tell their horror stories of being placed under the most strictest taliban-like rule.

Even those who had been hurt in the attack appeared to be happy to see the American troops. One half-naked elderly man in underwear stained with blood from wounds inflicted by a US shell cursed the insurgents as he greeted advancing Marines. “I wish the Americans had come here the very first day and not waited eight months,” he said.

Another old man, who had been imprisoned by the rebels and was then petrified by the US assault, praised the American troops for driving out the gunmen. “We were happy you did what you did because Fallujah had been suffocated by the Mujahidin,” he said, recalling arbitrary killings of anyone who failed to adhere to the strict doctrine of the Wahhabi hardliners. “Anyone considered suspicious would be slaughtered. We would see unknown corpses around the city all the time.”

As American bulldozers began to clear the streets yesterday and the first of the army’s civil affairs teams headed in to assess reconstruction needs, one officer judged that for the people of Fallujah, the old Vietnam War adage – “To save the village we had to destroy it” – may hold true.(/snip)

Military and civilian experts have plans to repair and restock hospitals, reopen schools and government buildings and restore amenities. The aim is to have the city operating again in time for elections in January.

Yep! The evil Americans have done it again. What is really sad about this story is the thought, that possibly, pacifist liberals despise tales like this because it hurts their cause. I am still thanking the good Lord every day that we do not have a pacifist in the White House. Hoorah!

(Link via Powerline)

Scrap the Tax

I am all for this! The sooner the better.

"Watch Your Six"

Cox and Forkum captures the correct moment brilliantly in this cartoon concerning what the media is attempting to do to our Marines. Heh, Heh...but we won't let them get away with it!

Semper Fi!

It's not PEST, It's BDS People!!

These are some the most silliest people alive...

The Boca Raton News reported last week that more than 30 distraught Kerry supporters in South Florida contacted the non-profit AHA following their candidate’s Nov. 3 concession to President Bush. AHA officials have diagnosed the disorder as Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST) and have scheduled the first of several free group therapy sessions for just after Thanksgiving.

Cooperman, whose professional practice is based in Delray Beach, said the election-related symptoms she sees in the Kerry supporters more than quality PEST as “a legitimate syndrome or disorder within the trauma spectrum,” according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

“Rush Limbaugh has no clinical qualifications to counsel anyone,” Cooperman said. “He’s not only minimizing PEST, but he’s bastardizing the entire psychological field and our clinical expertise.”

ROFLMAO!!! As Letterman would say, sometimes the jokes just write themselves. I think Cooperman with her PEST is bastardizing the field of psychology all by herself.

Rob Gordon, AHA executive director, said Limbaugh’s radio musings caused the charity to receive hundreds of calls and letters from gloating Republicans. But he said he also received a small batch of letters and e-mails from people who said they understood why some Kerry voters would need therapy.

Well, I could've told you that all Kerry voters need therapy, even before the election.

A man named Paul wrote to AHA, “I too was very depressed, and I knew a lot people who felt the same way. You have to understand that to many of us, this was the key election about the future of our country, and with a Bush win that future is pretty much destroyed. Naturally, there’s going to be some significant grief.”

Paul, you are right about the election being about the future of our country, and it is now safe and secure with W. right back in the White House! Now Paul, I advise you to check out my post on the wimpification of our country, then go look in the mirror. Maybe you can have one of your 'depressed' friends over and you guys can take turns losing at checkers or something, so you can get use to the idea. Because, I feel pretty sure in 2 years and then in 4 years, and so on, you're going to be feeling like this again, so consider it "Loser Training".

I must add that I did my duty by issuing a pre-election warning concerning this particular brand of Political Disorder, called BDS.
And not to toot my own horn (OK, I will), but I also said that it would be widespread, and hopefully, the CDC has stockpiled those meds I spoke about. The writing was on the wall.

Ridiculing Christians

One thing for sure boys and girls, there is only one group of people in the great U.S. that anyone (celebrities, journalists, and anyone else) may publicly and loudly ridicule without retribution: Christians of course. And the more charismatic the greater the ridicule. Red State, who you should definitely read their post on this, has this link quoting NPR's Garrison Keillor here:

Not one to shy away from speaking his mind, Keillor proposed a solution to what he deemed a fundamental problem with U.S. elections. “I’m trying to organize support for a constitutional amendment to deny voting rights to born-again Christians,” Keillor smirked. “I feel if your citizenship is in Heaven—like a born again Christian’s is—you should give up your citizenship. Sorry, but this is my new cause. If born again Christians are allowed to vote in this country, then why not Canadians?”(/snip)

He then turned back to the election. “People voted for all sorts of things they don’t know they’re getting,” he said. “They voted for freedom to worship, which is sort of like buying a plane ticket to London so you can eat a pack of salted peanuts. Even after they get what they wished for—like the two or three justices it may take to overturn Roe v. Wade. If you forbid a doctor to perform an abortion for a young woman working at McDonald’s who has no health insurance, you have set the motions for an American tragedy.”

And of course most of us may remember Andy Rooney's blasphemous screed during the run up to the release of "The Passion of the Christ". Not to mention these statements made to Imus:

Saying he had no intention of seeing "The Passion of the Christ," Rooney told radio host Don Imus, "I mean, I don't want to pay $9 just for a few laughs."

Rooney went on to bash religion in general, saying those who believe in God are "absurd."

Now what other group do we share this earth with who you'd think would be sensitive to this type of persecution? Perhaps a member of the Jewish community? A member of the most persecuted religion in the history of the world....ya think? Well....not so fast.

When Rooney made those statements last February, I discussed the incident with an observant Jewish friend. Her reaction (with a smirk): "Yeah, I saw it. I thought it was pretty funny!" Mind you, she said this to me fully aware of the fact that I am christian. Could there have been a more insensitive reply?

The fight is on. We must all stick together and strong, for I fear this will get much worse. We must bring attention to this behavior and pray for the soul of our countrymen, though some people seem to be past the point of cold and hardened to me.

Anti Anti-War Protest

One of my favorite sites on the web is Protest Warrior. You have to go and read this debriefing of a great anti-protest. Seems as though some young marines got together with some older war veterans and really ruined the good anti-war protest of some leftover 60's hippies. There are some great pictures as well. Go and enjoy! I would've loved to have been there, I'm just waiting for one of these in my area.

(Link via InstaPundit)

Arafat's Ugly Legacy

Well, to be honest, nothing ever came close to being pretty for Arafat. Anyway, C. Krauthammer lays out in his usual clear vision what the Palestinians and the Peace Process is left with now that that murderous thug is rotting. I will post a few graphs, but you really must read the whole thing:

It is for this reason that, while Arafat's death does open a first chance for peace since he took over the Palestinian movement four decades ago, that chance remains remote. Why? Because the revolution continues. Arafat made sure it would survive him. He created Palestinian nationalism and shaped it in a revolutionary mold that will take years, perhaps decades, to undo.

It is a legacy in two parts: means and ends. The means? Violence. Arafat invented modern terrorism: airplane hijackings, kidnappings and the spectacular mass murder, like the Olympic massacre of 1972. Others had tried it. Arafat perfected it. He turned terrorism into a brilliantly successful political instrument, a vehicle to international recognition and respect. The man who murdered more innocent Jews than anyone since Hitler died an international hero. The president of France bowed to his casket. The secretary general ordered U.N. flags to fly at half-staff.

Tell me we don't live in a screwed up world! Chirac and Annan must be the 2 biggest idiots alive.

Arafat also bequeathed a legacy of ends: uncompromising, irredentist ends. He didn't just reject any settlement that would leave Israel intact, thereby setting a precedent that any successor dare not violate. He also raised a new generation to ensure that rejection. Deploying every instrument of propaganda -- television, radio, newspapers and, most importantly, schools and summer camps for children -- his Palestinian Authority fed his people a diet of such virulent anti-Semitism and denial of the Jewish connection with the land that no successor will even be in position to contemplate breaking Arafat's rejectionist precedent.

Arafat's most cherished achievement was to so poison the well that the revolution -- until total victory -- continues long after he is gone. As soon as he died, the most murderous terrorist wing of his Fatah movement, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, changed its name to the Yasser Arafat Martyrs Brigades.

They understood their master. Which is why the prospects for peace upon his death are far more distant than the naifs (who got him wrong all through his life) now insist. Arafat's legacy -- the romanticization of violence, the rejection of Israel, the indoctrination of a new generation in intolerance and hatred -- will require a long time to undo. It will require years, perhaps even generations. It will require brave new Palestinian leaders who are the very antithesis of Yasser Arafat.

I hope that Charles is wrong on this, but he certainly makes a compelling case. You would think the mothers and fathers of Palestine would want a better life for their children. How many of their children must be strapped with bombs and murdered before they realize their current path holds no hope and only contains the darkest of futures?

La Yasser Square?

OK, this is the last straw. Wait a minute - We've been way past that. Anyway, I'm never ever going back to France again. (HT: Little Green Footballs)

Several French municipalities governed by communist and left-wing majorities are considering naming a street or a square after Yasser Arafat.

The French police intelligence service, Renseignements Generaux, reportedly warned the Ministry of Interior that such initiatives might trigger heated polemics and tensions between Jews and Muslims, especially neighborhoods ridden by ethnic violence.

France has a huge problem, unless they start acknowledging what is going on in their country, they are set to become a Islamic country in about 30 years. They needed new leadership, many years ago.

The Wimpification of Our Kids

This fall my 5 year-old son played soccer for the first time. After a game I asked my son what the final score was and he promptly replied "Mom, we don't keep score, nobody wins or loses, we just play for fun". I instantly thought to myself: "Here we go, more liberalism!" Earlier today I ran across this rather snarky column addressing this same issue.

Andrew Dillon's struggle is another. He couldn't play on the team close to home unless he lost some weight. Well, his Mom put it bluntly: "We cut out all junk food and snacking and sodas." Andrew ended up losing the weight and making the team.

Said Andrew: "I was happy. I was finally on the team."

So, there you have it: Requiring kids to meet standards causes very real trauma. Trauma that may indeed alter these kids forever.

Life is full of pain and failure. And yet, some silly people go on living nonetheless, facing challenges, handling disappointment, exceeding expectations, only to find success and happiness. Maybe there is a lesson here, somewhere . . . if only our village can find it.

I told my son that it is important to keep score, for if you win, you need to learn how to do so graciously; and if you lose, this motivates you to work harder for next time. How many life's lessons are being lost on our children in the name of not hurting feelings? Well this will be part of my contribution to fight liberal infiltration of our educational system: I will immediately and completely debunk this nonsense to my sons and anyone else who wants to listen. We must fight to prevent standards and true accomplishments from falling by way of the red ink.

Honoring the Infantryman

Ralph Peters writes a compelling column, hinting to us what our brave infantrymen face. Go read it all.

In urban combat, the physical difficulties and psychological stresses soar. There are few clear fields of observation and fire. Everything seems a deadly muddle. The enemy might appear from any angle, in front of you, behind you or on a flank, firing from a window or a rooftop, waiting in a ruin to detonate a booby-trap or popping up from a tunnel or a cellar with a rocket-propelled grenade.

For the Infantry squad — sometimes reduced to a half-dozen members — there's no time-out. Even during pauses to bring up ammunition or water, the danger meter always pegs out. The adrenalin rush of combat alternates with weariness of body and soul. Nerves move outside the skin. All senses intensify.

CIA Purge

I posted yesterday on the partisan atmosphere of the CIA. Check this out. (HT: Right-Thinking) Maybe someone in the White House reads blogs, for the CIA house cleaning has been ordered.

WASHINGTON -- The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.

"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to the agency and to the White House. "Goss was given instructions... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda."

Bye-Bye treasonous liberals...I won't even mind if the unemployment rate ticks up for you guys.

Olbermann Gets a Spanking

A well deserved spanking! Read and enjoy:

Olbermann, however, really made a Dan Rather of himself last week.

He never directly charged that Republicans stole the election or demanded that Karl Rove should be picked up for questioning by the U.N. But for 15 minutes on Monday, Olbermann pointed to a "small but blood-curdling group of reports of voting irregularities and possible fraud" from across the country, topped it with some vague partisan innuendo from Democrat Congressman John Conyers, and acted like he deserved a Peabody Award for Civic Journalism.

On Tuesday I checked out some of Olbermann's claims. Using a high-tech personal communication device professional journalists refer to as a "telephone," I called an elections bureau person in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (greater Cleveland), where, as Olbermann pointed out, 93,000 extra votes had been inexplicably cast Nov. 2.

It turns out the votes were "a computer anomaly" that didn't affect or reflect the official vote count. And those 18,472 votes Olbermann said were counted in Fairview Park, a Cleveland suburb that had only 13,342 registered voters? Absentee ballots from many precincts had been grouped together by the computer and credited to Fairview Park, where 8,421 voted.

But what about Florida, the Vote-Fraud State?

Olbermann had made a big sinister deal about 29 counties whose registered voters were predominantly Democrat "suddenly" voting "overwhelmingly for Mr. Bush." He slyly left the impression that massive vote-stealing could have been perpetrated by ballot tabulating companies like Diebold, whose bosses were known Bush allies.

I called Baker County, Fla., Olbermann's first example. Yes, twanged the cheery election lady, 69 percent of voters in her rural county on the Georgia border are registered Democrat. Yes, "Mr. Boosh" got 78 percent of the vote and trounced Kerry, 7,738 to 2,180.

This was nothing new or untoward, she said. Folks in Florida's Panhandle are conservative, especially on social and moral issues. They mostly register as Democrats and vote that way on local issues, but in national and state elections, they go Republican. Been doing so for years.

I heard the same explanation from election ladies in the tiny and large counties of Calhoun, Lafayette, Escambia, Highland and Liberty, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by as much as 9 to 1. Yet Bush beat Kerry in every one.

If they had cared, Olbermann and the producers of "Countdown" could have discovered these facts before they began flogging their sloppy Internet-spawned conspiracy Monday and Tueday nights. Non-Republican journalists on Salon.com and Slate.com. had no trouble explaining/debunking it. Nor did bloggers.

By Wednesday, Olbermann's fever had cooled. But he had abandoned the Florida conspiracy angle, explained Cleveland's oddities and mostly was yukking it up about a Unilect computer that ate 4,000 votes in North Carolina.

Still, he and his guest enabler from the grownup world of journalism, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, were concerned about the wussiness of the news media. Why had no major print or electronic outlet pursued this shameful story?

I don't know, boys. Maybe it's because before they start making wild charges of "vote fraud," real journalists pick up a telephone.

Another media lie, another debunking - What a great way to start the day!

Arafat Kisses

OK, so you should know by the title of this post, that the link I'm going to provide is not for the shakey-kneed or queasy at heart. Remove all liquids from around your computer before watching this video, via Editors in Pajamas, of Arafat. Here's a hint: There has been numerous stories the past couple of days speculating over whether Arafat had AIDS and had been a homosexual. I've resisted posting on this, but this video put me over the edge. Go see and laugh your tail off! Yes, I will make fun of terrorists after they are dead.

More Presbyterian Church Fallout

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is on alert as described:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Presbyterian Church (USA) (search) has stepped up security at its headquarters and advised its churches to be on alert after receiving a letter threatening arson attacks because of its policies in the Middle East.

The handwritten letter, received Wednesday at the church's Louisville headquarters, threatened to set churches on fire while people were inside in retaliation for "anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes," Jerry L. Van Marter (search), director of the Presbyterian news service, said Saturday.

The letter had no return address, but it was postmarked from Queens, N.Y., Van Marter said. The letter gave a Nov. 15 deadline for the church to reverse its Middle East policies, he said.

Church officials are taking the threat seriously and have contacted law enforcement authorities in Kentucky and New York, Van Marter said.

The FBI (search) is investigating the letter with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local authorities, FBI spokesman David Beyer said.

Van Marter said the church has received thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls since the church's General Assembly decided in June to begin the process of selective divestment from corporations supporting the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

I had an earlier post concerning this issue, that includes a link to an essay by Dennis Prager. Go read it for the background info on this issue.

The other day, after finding out that my internet friend, Politickal Animal, was a card-carrying, ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church, I asked him for his thoughts on this issue. He responded with a wonderful, comprehensive post. His post has many links to background information of what exactly occurred and also provides an insightful view of how the folks at the local church level feels about what has transpired by their corporate leaders. You should definitely go check out his perspective.

It is very concerning that a christian church has been hijacked by its own corporate office.

Gotta Smoke?

Franklog has an awesome post on the picture of that marine that has been all over the net and the cover of newspapers and magazines. Go see the picture and scroll down to read a bunch of lefties responding to this striking photo. They seem to be incapable of enjoying any single moment.

A Spin-Free Word from Iraq

You must go and read this entire post from the Mudville Gazette. It's a lengthly post with pictures and includes an excerpt from a teenage girl living in Mosul. It is profound and you will not regret it! Go now and learn from the people doing it and living it. (HT: Instapundit)

Arafat's "Funeral"

The other day I posted that I would be pretty upset if the networks made a big deal of Arafat's funeral and that they could dump his carcass in the dump for all I cared. Well I caught the helicopter landing with the wild mob scene in Ramallah on Fox yesterday morning. What I saw was nearly comedic. There was no grace, no respect, and nothing approaching dignified, so I was pretty happy about his "funeral". Link here for the ugly details:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Yasser Arafat was laid to rest in a marble-and-stone grave Friday after his flag-draped coffin was borne through a sea of emotional Palestinians who swarmed the helicopter that brought him from a state funeral in Egypt.

Police fired wildly into the air to keep back the surging crowd at the West Bank compound known as the Muqata, where Arafat spent his last years as a virtual prisoner.

After Arafat's body was lowered into the ground, Muslim clerics read Quranic verses and the late leader's bodyguards wept and embraced each other.

Frantic mourners surged toward the tomb, trampling the olive tree saplings that were planted around the grave according to Islamic tradition. One policeman knelt on the marble and kissed the tombstone.

Earlier, officials tried for 25 minutes to open the helicopter door to remove the coffin onto a jeep that had plowed through the crowd to clear a path.(/snip)

In Gaza City, hundreds gathered on rooftops, streets and apartment balconies in hopes of catching a glimpse of Arafat's helicopter. Barred from attending the burial, tens of thousands of Gaza residents held rallies and symbolic funerals across the strip.

A small group of masked gunmen marched into the Muqata, ignoring calls from official Palestine TV not to carry arms or mask faces, as is common in Palestinian funerals during times of crisis. However, the gunmen calmly submitted to inspection by plainclothes security personnel who ensured there were no bullets in the chambers.(/snip)

It was truly a circus if you missed it. There were several moments when I thought that coffin was coming open! It was nothing less than pure, unadulterated mob madness.

Carving the Pork

I've often wondered: Where in the heck did that line-item veto get off to? Now I know:

In response to taxpayers’ concerns about waste and abuse in the federal budget, Congress passed the line-item veto in 1996, which ultimately went into effect in January of 1997. President Clinton used the power 82 times that year to strike specific wasteful pork projects in larger spending bills, saving taxpayers nearly $2 billion. However, in 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the line-item veto was unconstitutional. Specifically, the High Court held that the law gave too much power to the executive branch to usurp the "power of the purse" delegated to Congress in the U.S. Constitution.

Justice John Paul Stevens, authoring the majority opinion for the Court, wrote, "The act gives the president unilateral power to change the text of duly enacted statutes." In his concurrence, Justice Anthony Kennedy went further. "Failure of political will does not justify unconstitutional remedies. …The Constitution's structure requires a stability which transcends the convenience of the moment." Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, joined by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, dissented.

Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Senator Dan Coats (R-IN), at the time a leading proponent of the line-item veto, proclaimed, "The Supreme Court has resurrected a pig that we thought was dead."

Deficit hawks in Congress have been contemplating new versions of the line-item veto capable of withstanding constitutional scrutiny ever since the Supreme Court ruled. But substantive discussion of the issue has never really materialized, in large part due to weakened political will that resulted from several years of budget surpluses.

That is, until now.

At his first post-election press conference last week, President Bush put the issue front and center, explaining that he is committed to working with Congress to revive a line-item veto that would "pass[ ] constitutional muster" and would help him work with the legislature to "maintain budget discipline." In fact, the Administration’s budget and legal teams have been working feverishly to do just that.

Included in the President’s fiscal 2005 budget is a provision that administration officials believe "would correct the constitutional flaw in the 1996 act." The language explicitly ties the veto to "deficit reduction," enabling the President to strike new appropriations and certain tax breaks if he determines they’re not "essential government priorities." The money saved would remain in the general treasury, and could not be shifted to fund other projects.

Opponents, led by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), argue that the President’s plan does nothing to address the High Court’s concerns. But that’s for the Court to decide, not Senator Byrd, who Citizens Against Government Waste, an organization that tracks pork-barrel spending every year, has aptly nicknamed the "King of Pork," and who was also the first to point the finger at President Bush for expanding deficits.

Hopefully the Congress can come up with something, so that pork spending like this can never see the light offered by indoor-rain forests.

The Road Ahead

Victor Hanson Davis has a new column today, and it is brilliant. Go read the whole thing, I'll only give a taste:

George Bush is asked to win the war without losing Americans. He must defeat Islamists, but not kill too many jihadists on global television. His second term must deal with everything from jobs and globalization, energy dilemmas, fickle Europeans, and a war where winning is sometimes seen as losing. Entitlements are out of control, yet his critics don't want cuts, but rather further increases. In such a topsy-turvy world, all that will see him through are his iron will to stay firm and consistent in face of a global media barrage. He must smile more, keep far quieter, seem much nicer — and carry an even a bigger stick. God help him, because few others will.

Read the whole thing.

The Partisan C.I.A.

It is most unfortunate that the C.I.A. is full of a bunch of spoiled bureaucrats that wish to make policy rather than do their jobs. This story is upsetting because we will probably never know how much these guys have hurt the U.S.

At the height of the campaign, C.I.A. officials, who are supposed to serve the president and stay out of politics and policy, served up leak after leak to discredit the president's Iraq policy. There were leaks of prewar intelligence estimates, leaks of interagency memos. In mid-September, somebody leaked a C.I.A. report predicting a gloomy or apocalyptic future for the region. Later that month, a senior C.I.A. official, Paul Pillar, reportedly made comments saying he had long felt the decision to go to war would heighten anti-American animosity in the Arab world.

White House officials concluded that they could no longer share important arguments and information with intelligence officials. They had to parse every syllable in internal e-mail. One White House official says it felt as if the C.I.A. had turned over its internal wastebaskets and fed every shred of paper to the press.

The White House-C.I.A. relationship became dysfunctional, and while the blame was certainly not all on one side, Langley was engaged in slow-motion, brazen insubordination, which violated all standards of honorable public service. It was also incredibly stupid, since C.I.A. officials were betting their agency on a Kerry victory.

This is irresponsible and I pray that Goss cleans some serious house. These partisans should lose their jobs as soon as possible. Once again, members of the left put their own political aspirations ahead of National security.

Nor is this feud over. C.I.A. officials are now busy undermining their new boss, Porter Goss. One senior official called one of Goss's deputies, who worked on Capitol Hill, a "Hill Puke," and said he didn't have to listen to anything the deputy said. Is this any way to run a superpower?

Meanwhile, members of Congress and people around the executive branch are wondering what President Bush is going to do to punish the mutineers. A president simply cannot allow a department or agency to go into campaign season opposition and then pay no price for it. If that happens, employees of every agency will feel free to go off and start their own little media campaigns whenever their hearts desire.

If we lived in a primitive age, the ground at Langley would be laid waste and salted, and there would be heads on spikes. As it is, the answer to the C.I.A. insubordination is not just to move a few boxes on the office flow chart.

The answer is to define carefully what the president expects from the intelligence community: information. Policy making is not the C.I.A.'s concern. It is time to reassert some harsh authority so C.I.A. employees know they must defer to the people who win elections, so they do not feel free at meetings to spout off about their contempt of the White House, so they do not go around to their counterparts from other nations and tell them to ignore American policy.

I would not be against heads on spikes in this case. It is time we get back to seriously putting treasonous citizens on trial and handing down some hefty jail sentences. Who are these people to do this? What price have we paid for this behavior? Will Bush or Goss clean house? Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Go to Red State to read about the 'other' CIA article from today. No sense in me re-inventing the wheel. Check it out and increase your brain size.

Travel Advice for Blue Blue-Staters

Here's some wonderful relocation advice for all those blue-staters who are looking to move out-of-country to show us Bush-voters just how mad they are! World's smallest violin: Start now please!

The bottom line is Bush-voters terrify Bush-haters. After all, they go to church. Or, worse, they don't go to church and are untroubled by co-conservatives who do. According to blue-state logic (hysteria), this means religious fanaticism is ascendant, theocracy is inevitable, and Manhattan is expendable. Really. "Maybe the guys in power want us to be attacked," writes James Atlas in New York Magazine, which I guess is supposed to add whimsy to his grotesque observations: "What better way to get rid of all those noisome New Yorkers than to have an al-Qaeda dirty bomb explode in Grand Central at rush hour?"
    
A death worse than fate, maybe. But not for Bush-haters, some considerable number of whom regard Mr. Bush's re-election as being a calamity greater than the attacks of September 11. To which I say: Go. Leave. Be ex-patriates. But not just in somewhat "progressive" New Zealand, recently downgraded from American "ally" to American "friend." And not in more "progressive" Canada, where some provinces already sanction same-sex marriage and marijuana use. Only the best for our blue-state losers, only the most progressive haven in the world. I want to see all Americans who feel compelled to up and leave these United States because George W. Bush won the 2004 election emigrate to Holland.
    
Nothing against dear Holland, mind you, home to professor-politician Pim Fortuyn and moviemaker-provocateur Theo van Gogh, two heroic martyrs in the war on Islamic terrorism, which is, by the way, real religious fanaticism. I can think of no better remedy for our frivolously, childishly disaffected fellow-citizens than to experience the progressive's dream — the permissive welfare state where traditional vice has become a civic virtue in same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and legalized drugs — as it turns into the democrat's nightmare. Due to massive Islamic immigration over the past several decades — immigration that has brought the repressive teachings of sharia into soon-to-be Muslim-majority Dutch cities — it is Holland, not America, where religious fanaticism is ascendant, theocratic dictatorship is really a possibility and Manhattan is definitely expendable. Amid the tulips, the windmills and the jihadist mosques, Holland now contends with the same murderous forces of reaction that American and Iraqi troops face in Fallujah.
    
That is the reality behind the vicious assassination last week of Theo van Gogh. An outspoken, even profane, critic of Islamic practices and teachings — and a great-great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh's brother — Mr. van Gogh, 47, was shot to death in broad daylight and very nearly beheaded where he fell in an act of ritual murder previously unimaginable on an Amsterdam street. His Dutch-Moroccan Muslim assassin's "reason"? Mr. Van Gogh had recently directed "Submission," a 10-minute film written by ex-Muslim and Dutch parliamentarian Hirsi Ali, that is harshly critical — as we all of us should be — of the abuse and subjugation of women under Islamic law. A five-page letter in Dutch, stabbed into the slain man's chest with a knife, was addressed to Ms. Ali, stating, "This letter is — insha Allah (Allah willing) — an attempt to impose silence on your evil once and for all." Ms. Ali, 34, a duly elected representative of a Western democracy, now lives amid a phalanx of bodyguards, as do several other Dutch leaders threatened in the letter.
    
About this our blue-state fantasists say nothing. Obsessed with the majorities by which American voters freely and peacefully declared not only that George W. Bush should remain president and finish Fallujah, but also that marriage should be restricted to a man and a woman, they rant about W's "jihad in America" (Maureen Dowd), and rave about philosophical overlap between American conservatives and Islamic terrorists (Garry Wills). This is morally depraved.

Hey Blue-staters: You do know that you can buy airline tickets on-line, right? Very easy, very convenient. Have fun!

Humor Break

So how does Chirac, Arafat, and Peterson all fit together? Go look over at ScrappleFace to find out. That Scott Ott works fast.

Guilty!

Scott Peterson has finally been found guilty. I have to admit this story, as disturbing as it is, has always bothered me due to the overwhelming hypercoverage by the media. As horrible as this murder was, it was not a national story.

Now to the verdict. 1st degree murder for killing his wife. I'm good with that, but how does Connor's murder only get a 2nd degree murder charge? If Scott premeditates his pregnant wife's murder, he therefore knows beforehand that he is also killing his unborn son at the same time. By default, if you plan to murder a pregnant mother, then you concurrently plan the baby's murder. No? Maybe there is some legalistic reason for this....

Debunking the "Bigoted Christian Redneck"

Charles Krauthammer tackles the myth set forth by delirious east/west coast liberals to cope with their electoral loss. It must be very hard for these spoiled, self-centered brats to realize, I guess for the first time, that no one really cares what they think. Again, the name for this is Bush Derangement Syndrome, a disorder first recognized by Charles as well.

<...>
Plus ca change ... Ten years and another stunning Democratic defeat later, and liberals are at it again. The Angry White Male has been transmuted into the Bigoted Christian Redneck.

In the post-election analyses, the liberal elite, led by the holy trinity of the New York Times -- Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd -- just about lost its mind denouncing the return of medieval primitivism. As usual, Dowd achieved the highest level of hysteria, cursing the Republicans for pandering to "isolationism, nativism, chauvinism, puritanism and religious fanaticism" in their unfailing drive to "summon our nasty devils."

Whence comes this fable? With President Bush increasing his share of the vote among Hispanics, Jews, women (especially married women), Catholics, seniors and even African Americans, on what does this victory-of-the-homophobic-evangelical voter rest?

Charles goes on to debunk the 'moral values got Bush elected' myth.

<...>

Ah, yes. But the fallback is then to attribute Bush's victory to the gay marriage referendums that pushed Bush over the top, particularly in Ohio.

This is more nonsense. George Bush increased his vote in 2004 over 2000 by an average of 3.1 percent nationwide. In Ohio the increase was 1 percent -- less than a third of the national average. In the 11 states in which the gay marriage referendums were held, Bush increased his vote by less than he did in the 39 states that did not have the referendum. The great anti-gay surge was pure fiction.

This does not deter the myth of the Bigoted Christian Redneck from dominating the thinking of liberals and infecting the blue-state media. They need their moral superiority like oxygen, and they cannot have it cut off by mere facts. Once again they angrily claim the moral high ground, while standing in the ruins of yet another humiliating electoral defeat.

Until the left can get past this foolishness, they will go on to lose more elections. Most sane persons now recognize that the "Micheal Moore" wing of the party probably cost Kerry the election, but they still continue with this rhetoric. Keep it up guys, because every time you say it and print it, the other side gain votes.

Don't Forget the Victims

The media has been doing its darndest to make Arafat somehow seem respectable. The whole affair is rather silly. The man was nothing more than a murderous thug. No one will miss him; and I am quite sure that God has had a very special place prepared for Arafat in the deepest, darkest pits of Hell.

There has been one, little detail, the press loves to brush over in his death, and that is all the victims of this man's terror. This site really got to me today. It is a listing of all the victims of Arafat's intifada starting in 2000. At first I just scrolled down watching the progression of the dates, stopping to look at the multiple of names listed for a single day....there are so many. Then click on a random name and learn about someone that was simply living their life and were cut down by Arafat and his henchmen. For the next few days, we will all need perspective, because the media will surely NOT provide it.

(Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs)

Charter School Perversion

My son is 5 years old, and this Fall we took our first steps into the public school system. Something I have been dreading since my son was born. Growing up, my family had one battle after another with the educational system. Not all, but many teachers were lazy or just plain incompetent.

Needless to say, when my last sibling graduated from High School my mother was overjoyed. Now I am just beginning to face these same challenges. I've often thought about writing about my initial experience with the public school system, but have held off. However, earlier, I was looking around La Shawn Barber's Corner earlier and ran across this post, and decided that I should post on my experience.

This past summer my child was enrolled in summer camp at the YMCA. As I was picking him up one afternoon, I was approached by a lady, Sarah, about enrolling my child into a new Charter School. They were going to have this wonderful new curriculum, all masters-level teachers, uniforms, and kindergarten was going to last all day. The regular public school only offered a 2 1/2 hour/day kindergarten. It all looked very attractive and I took the flyer home with me to think about it. When I read their mission statement later, one word jumped out at me setting off my mommy-radar. The word: Multiculturalism.

This would only alarm a political junkie, for most people this is a very innocent word. They would believe that this would only indicate that their child was going to learn about people from different countries and maybe even pick up a little Spanish. Right? Well most of you probably know that this is not a good sign. At this point, I sought advice from a school teacher that I know personally. She knew nothing of this new school, but encouraged me to give it a try. The thought was 1) It's just Kindergarten! and 2) if you don't like it, pull him out and put him into the regular public school. So I thought, what the heck! I shoved that beeping radar aside and filled out the paper work and took my son in for his pre-entry interview.

Well, it wasn't just my son that was being interviewed, I was as well. Everything was going beautifully and my son was passing their pre-testing with flying colors. I had answered all the pertinent questions...and then there was time to kill, my son was not yet done. Sarah was around my age, if not younger, and we started talking. Feeling very comfortable, I told her that at first I had some reservations about the school, and then went on to tell her how the word 'multicultural' had made me nervous. And then I said something like this:

You know, I don't mind if my son learns about people from different countries, I just don't want to see him coming home from school with a book titled "Susie Has Two Mommies".

Sarah said nothing to me about this sentiment, and my son and I left thinking we would be starting school soon.

About 2 days later Sarah called me at home and told me that my son and I would not be a 'good fit' for the school. She never told me that I could not send my child there, she just kept repeating the line of 'not a good fit'. It doesn't take much to infer what message she was sending. Well I confronted her on why this was, and she went on to tell me that there would be books like "Susie has Two Mommies" coming home with my son. Desperate to just have my child in school, I said well he will only be there for Kindergarten and surely it will not be an issue for Kindergartners. She then went on to assure me that is definetely was part of the curriculum for my son's age group.

Needless to say, my child is enjoying a 2 1/2 hour/day public school kindergarten.

There are many infuriating points to consider here. First off: That school is being funded with federal and state tax dollars! No one can tell you that you and your child are not a good fit! I confronted the director on this point and she agreed.

Next, how often are parents lectured on restricting television and movies for their children by child experts? I have worked very hard to minimize the TV time, and what they do watch is commercial-free educational programs. My 5-year old has no idea that heterosexual sex exists, much less homosexual sex. It is disgusting that these 'educators' have an agenda to normalize homosexual lifestyles to 5 year old children.

So how were my objections to this obvious perversion in my child's educational plan received you ask? Well of course, up here in the highly secular and liberal New England, they offered an incredulous response. To them, I was being a bigot, or a 'hick' to have these views. I tried explaining that I would never condone hate or violence toward any group, but as a parent, it was up to me to explain these situations when they present themselves. I was furious to realize that at this particular school, I would be powerless to prevent my child from being exposed to what I consider inappropriate subject matter (at the least) for his tender age of 5.

If you've read my bio on the side-bar, you know that my family will be moving soon. End of June of '05 to be exact. And when we do, it will be my mission, wherever we go, to be completely involved in my child's school, to monitor their every move. And if I can't stop it, then I will be removing my child completely from the public school system (along with my federal dollars) and enroll my child in a private school. At that point I will be able to afford any school that I choose, and will if necessary.

Which brings me to my last point. Another angle to this situation that really angered me, was how many parents have no idea what is being taught to their 5 year olds in that school? The charter school was recruiting children from a large area, and most of those children were going to be from poor families. Many of these parents won't have the options that I will have. But not only that, unless the word 'multicultural' drew their attention, they probably had no idea that normalizing homosexual life styles were going to be part of their child's education.

Look here for more on this issue on the internet.
Or here. And a quote:

One teacher from the district commented that Kindergarten is the best place to begin instructing students on gay issues. Another teacher suggested that the district was backward in supposedly taking a neutral stance on homosexuality.

It was at the workshop that Osterberg learned that an organization known as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is the driving force behind the aggressive agenda to see the “safe school” homosexual philosophy implemented in K-12 public schools in Minnesota.

And check this out:

The homosexual community, having anecdotal evidence to support their claim to widespread homophobia, immediately adopts resolutions and works to pass legislation that teaches homosexuality in public schools.

Yet, it goes much further than that. Homosexuality is not only taught in public schools, it is portrayed as an acceptable lifestyle and act – and those who believe it is a sin are homophobic hate-mongers.

<...>

If the word "religion" was behind the homosexual lifestyle, there would be a huge public outcry, forcing the prohibition of homosexuality in public schools. However, there is no public outcry because homosexuality is not a religion, although it is objectionable to many parents of faith around the country.

America is filled with a war of words. Doublespeak, disinformation and propaganda are an epidemic in the political and cultural world of America. The unfortunate aspect of this particular case is that unaware and innocent children are losing from it.

The so-called "hate-crime prevention" programs in schools are an excuse for promoting homosexuality and just another way to force the homosexual agenda into the open. Under the name of "tolerance, school safety and multiculturalism," children are being indoctrinated to believe that the homosexual lifestyle is legitimate and acceptable!

And I could go on and on with the links.....

Every parent must know, you have to scrutinize everything about whichever school you decide to place your child. They don't come out and tell you this trash. You have to have your radar on, and then you have to listen when it starts beeping.