As a young boy, I was really proud when I became a Cub Scout, then a Weblogs and finally a Boy Scout, rising to Life (I discovered cars & girls that occupied my attention in High School before earning my final merit badge to be an Eagle Scout), Junior Assistant Scoutmaster and enjoyed several years in the organization.
Camping, hunting, caring for the land we camped on and Patriotism are skills learned that have served me well, discipline I learned early serving me during my 8 years active duty in the U.S. Army and tours in Vietnam.
It is an organization that has taught many a young boy skills needed to go on to becoming great leaders of society.
If there is one thing the left knows well, it is how easily conservatives are distracted to focus their attention where led to, often by the left or their willing accomplices in the lamestream media.
A prime example of this would be the impeachment proceedings of former President William Jefferson Clinton over his lying to Congress about sexual relations he was accused of having with a young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.
The country became fixated on that scandal and the Republicans fell for it hook, line and sinker.
If you think back, Ken Starr was getting close to the Clinton’s in his investigation of the many scandalous acts of the Clinton’s when suddenly, news broke of he was receiving oral sex from a young intern and a dress had his semen on it. The country’s attention became fixated on that allegations while Republicans in the House launched impeachment proceedings over his lie of “Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I’m going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you!”
Once again Americans were taken by surprise as bombs exploded at the finish of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring hundreds, to include catastrophic amputations of several.
As we have gotten all too accustomed to today, speculation immediately focused on unknown conservatives, creating false links to “right-wingers” and “Tea Party” to smear conservatives in America as leftwingers continues their assault on traditional minded Americans.
Late Thursday and early Friday morning the smoke began to clear as we heard of a raging gun battle occurring in Massachusetts where two individuals seen walking through the crowd at the marathon were acting suspiciously and appeared to leave backpacks in the vicinity of the explosions were located.
One was killed in that gun battle and the younger brother is the effort of an intense city wide manhunt as I write this.
Common Core and the Hitler Youth-Can it happen here?
by Jennifer on April 14, 2013
A universal set of educational standards that challenges students to become better critical thinkers sounds great, right? As a college instructor I would frankly welcome just about anything that would help my students come into college as life-long critical thinkers-note that I said “just about anything”. The one thing I cannot, and will not, welcome is what is being called the Common Core standards. It sounds great when you look at their website, it is filled with top-notch marketing copy that would make most parents grin from ear to ear (and keep in mind I say this as a marketing professional). Here is some of that copy:
“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”
That sounds amazing, right? Standards that will help parents understand what their kids are studying in order to help them-anyone remember the “new math” our parents struggled with? Who doesn’t want their children to be better prepared and positioned to gain employment after college? The problem with common core, as with so many other things, lies beneath all that shiny, slick marketing copy and brand messaging.
Shortly after the end of World War One, a small group of Veterans erected a plain, simple cross in the middle of the vast expanse of the Mojave Desert, far away from civilization to honor their fallen brethren.
The wooden cross erected in what was open land in 1934, sat silently in the desert, subjected to the weather, occasional vandals but maintained by those Veterans and later by friends of the Veterans.
The land was made part of a Federal Reserve in 1994 and due to deterioration of the original wooden cross, caretakers replaced it with a metal cross, somehow enraging a park ranger, Frank Buono who waited until he retired on a comfortable taxpayer paid pension, to seek the assistance of the ACLU to file a lawsuit to have it removed.
The latest song from Micheal & Angela Souders featuring the great kids from Tussing Elementary School. We Will Stand With You is dedicated to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Facebook is likely the premier social networking site, having grown immensely since it was first brought online years ago. Millions of people have joined and promoted several causes, many quite controversial and of questionable taste, without even a bat of the eyelids from facebook.
Some have been very objectionable such as a page labeled “Ann Romney’s Magical Mormon Cunt” depicting Mrs. Romney with vampire fangs.
Complaints on that offensive page received a reply from facebook of, “we were not able to confirm that the specific page you reported violates Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
You judge if the page would be considered objectionable to you in the screenshot below.
Once again we find ourselves preparing to have our ears tickled by Barack Obama as he speaks before both houses of congress and the nation to give the annual ‘State of the Union’ speech where he undoubtedly will speak of how well the country is doing under his tutelage and how well off citizens are, whether we actually are or not.
He is expected to cover “his plans to create jobs, tackle gun violence, and pass comprehensive immigration reform” as Nancy Pelosi, unarguably one of the worst Speakers of the House in our history, famously known for stating “we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it” regarding Obama’s signature ‘Obamacare’ legislation, a direct contradiction of Obama’s campaign promise of a transparent government.
She also makes mention in this same email seeking support for Obama of this “ambitious agenda.”
February 1, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — In this I-Team report, Chicago’s rising murder rate in a new context, how the numbers of shooting deaths compare to the city’s most notorious crime era, the one that has tarnished Chicago’s reputation around the world for a century.
The surprising stats show the city is worse off now in the category of murder than at the height of the era that has driven Chicago’s reputation for almost a century, Capone’s “gangland” Chicago.
I know, you’d be more shocked if I did believe something released on behalf of Barack Obama, but bear with me and see if this newly released photo of Obama supposedly skeet shooting on Aug. 4, 2012 rings true with you.
As always seems to happen after a horrific shooting, blame is placed on guns as gun grabbers and politicians line up to scheme of new ways to disarm law-abiding people, criminals ignoring current laws and any new ones passed (that is why we call them criminals)
But we also hear voices of sanity rising out of the sorrow. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp after losing both of her parents in the Luby’s restaurant shooting in Killeen, Texas in 1991. Darrell Scott after his daughter Rachel was gunned down in the Columbine massacre in 1999. And now, Mark Mattioli whose small son James was killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting in December 2012.
KATU TV recently featured a discussion with 18th Legislative District Representative Liz, Pike, Vancouver’s Bob Larimer advocating allowing the arming of teachers and Drew Persse a teacher and Erin Thomas a Brady Campaign Representative opposing the arming of teachers.
I feel Liz and Bob gave excellent logic in favor of arming teachers while the other relied more on talking points.
Thanks to KATU for hosting this 1/2 hour discussion and to Rep. Liz Pike and Bob Larimer for presenting reasonable, solid logic trying to prevent another mass school shooting.
By now most everybody has heard of Hillary Clinton’s little outburst in her testimony concerning Benghazi and the death of 4 Americans in a terrorist attack that first labeled aspontaneous protest over some film critical of Islam, the film maker still in prison after the truth was revealed.
In the midst of a heated exchange between her and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) she abruptly blurted out at one point, “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk last night who decided to kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?”
As the willing accomplices of our lamestream media who can’t uncover anything revealing on this administration and carry their water continually, you have to wonder how they would have reacted if other leaders in the past were to blurt out anything like “what difference does it make?”
Few people reaching the age to enlist in today’s Military will remember the TV Show, Combat. It aired from 1962 to 1967 and hasn’t seen a wide syndication. But reading some comments from a few women and supporters of opening combat positions to women tells me they have unrealistic views of just what combat is, almost as unrealistic as it is portrayed in TV Shows, Movies and Video Games.
In announcing the end of the ban on women serving in combat roles, Leon Panetta said “everyone is entitled to a chance to become a combat soldier in a military that will now adopt gender neutral standards.”
One big problem for Mr. Panetta and those who feel they have something to prove, there is no such thing as “gender neutrality.” We are born male or female with distinct differences. One being upper torso strength, on average females having much less. And yes, I acknowledge that some females might have sufficient upper torso strength to equal the average male and even some men do not.
But our Military isn’t geared to individuals, it is geared to teams, units that are no stronger than their weakest link.
But what I find disturbing is quotes from former Military members who are female that were interviewed by the media bout the ending of the ban.
Without the audio it can’t be said with certainty what triggered the eye roll, but not what we expect to see from a First ‘Lady’ during an official function.
Regardless though, we do expect a certain degree of decorum and civility towards each other, especially while dining at any official function our government holds.
Our nation was founded on the republican ideal of guarantees of individual liberty and of constraining the power of government through a system of separation of powers, best expressed by Thomas Jefferson as “the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Republicanism emphasizes that “people are sovereign and not hereditary kings, demanded civic duty, feared corruption, and rejected any aristocracy.”
Since that founding, primarily in the last half of the 20th century we have seen a very gradual erosion of those ideals we were founded on and that served us well over the decades as politicians leaning left gained office with tactics of class envy, demonization of the opposition, ever raising of taxes to fund special projects likely funneling our money into either their pockets or the pockets of some of the very people they demonize with their class envy.
While this is readily seen across the spectrum, two areas will be my focus here, areas of concern for us locally that threaten our way of life and ability to secure our right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the Columbia River Crossing project and our second amendment right to bear arms.
The Constitution of the United States of America is one of the most remarkable documents ever written. It clearly and in plain language lays out the foundation of our nation, the makeup of our government and establishes the rights of our citizens along with the limitations of government.
It has served our nation well in our short history and guided us into becoming the super power we have been known as, along with being the freest nation on the planet a long as we have abided by it and followed the basic tenets of it.
But government wishes to grow and assume powers our country was founded to get away from, putting the limits on citizens and granting more powers to government denied it when we adhere to our Constitution.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin 1759
Over the years we have all heard the above quote or a disambiguation of it, usually from the anti-war crowd, twisting it to mean if we submit to any measure for security, we are not deserving of liberty.
What they and many others did not do, though, was to research the quote and its context. Had any done just a little research they would have discovered Ben Franklin was addressing those who would not accept one of the guns he purchased to help protect what was then the frontier from marauders and murderers.
Sadly we are once again facing the claim of if we just give up a little bit of our liberty, that being our rights under the second amendment to bear arms freely, we can be safer and our children less likely to be slaughtered in schools or even on the streets in drive-by gang shootings.
As a young boy, I was really proud when I became a Cub Scout, then a Weblogs and finally a Boy Scout, rising to Life (I discovered cars & girls that occupied my attention in High School before earning my final merit badge to be an Eagle Scout), Junior Assistant Scoutmaster and enjoyed several years in the organization.
