Brown’s Funeral, the Exploiters and America’s Police

Though skillfully orchestrated to transform convenience store robber Michael Brown into a heroic martyr for civil rights, his funeral was hijacked into becoming a platform for the evil and obscene slander of police and America, perpetrated by the usual deplorable suspects; Al Sharpton, Democrats and the MSM.

Candidly, as a black man, it is easy to feel a little like odd man out; consistently finding myself taking the opposite side than a majority of black Americans. In 2008, over 96% of blacks voted for Obama. I did not.

While I am familiar with black Republican author, orator, and advisor to U.S. Presidents, Booker T. Washington, I only recently came across this amazing quote from him which nailed the Rev. Sharptons and Rev Jacksons of America back in 1911.

“There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”

Wow! Booker T. Washington had these low life scoundrels figured out way back then. He perfectly described the shameful despicable exploitation of the goodness of the American people on display at the Michael Brown funeral.

Folks, in a nutshell, the Left’s selective outrage over Brown’s death is about getting paid and ginning up rage-based black voter turnout for Democrats in November. Apparently, the Democrats and MSM only consider a young black male’s life of value when it is taken by a white person. Epidemic black on black shootings only get a yawn from Dems and the MSM while sipping their mocha lattes.

Insidiously, irresponsibly and strategically, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder even threw in their anecdotal two cents, sharing their uncomfortable experiences with police as black males.

Allow me to offer a few of my numerous anecdotal encounters with police.

In the 1970s, my cousin who lived in a low income neighborhood in Baltimore had a nervous breakdown. He held his two toddler sons hostage in his basement, threatening to kill himself and his kids. Shortly after I arrived on the scene, two white cops responded to my cousin’s wife’s emergency phone call.

In seconds, the young slim fit cop dashed up the ten front steps into the house. He then waited for his partner’s instructions. His much older obese partner moved a bit slower. After negotiating the steps, he waddled to the open basement door.

Upon catching his breath, with wisdom, experience and compassion, the seasoned police officer talked my cousin out of the basement. “C’mon son, I know you’re hurtin’. But, you don’t wanna do this.”

Fearful for my cousin’s life, I was extremely relieved. The incident totally contradicted what my militant black college associates said to expect from white “pigs”; shoot the n***** and ask questions later.

On another occasion, my wife and I were surrounded by police cars at a traffic light and ordered out of our car. A bank robbery had just taken place. The perpetrators were an interracial couple driving a car very similar to ours. Mary and I were calm and cooperative. Upon checking us out, the police apologized for the inconvenience and were quickly on their way.

There were other opportunities for an over zealous or racist cop to act like a jerk; it never happened.

Am I saying that bad cops do not exist? Of course, not. Man is a fallen sinful creature. Consequently, bad players show up in every area of the human experience; bad cops, priests, teachers and so on. Jesus had a 12 man crew. One was a bad apple.

I am saying that the Left’s narrative that police departments across America are dens of “institutional police brutality” is hogwash; as bogus as their mythical “Republican war on women”. Neither are white cops using black boys for target practice. According to FBI stats, out of 12 million yearly arrests, only 400 resulted in fatal shootings; many justified.

Another disgusting aspect of the Left’s political exploitation of Brown’s death is the cruel crucifixion of Officer Darren Wilson without a trial.

thank a police officer daySeveral years ago, I visited a buddy at work at the police station. He was a black veteran Baltimore City police officer and talented musician; a gentle giant. On the occasion of my visit, he was working lock up. My friend greeted me with his signature big smile and easygoing personality. During my visit, I witnessed his personality fluidly flow between easygoing musician to tough cop mode when dealing with criminals and prisoners.

He later explained that policing 101 requires that you always take control of the situation; less you risk getting caught off guard and stabbed in the back by a suspect’s weepy old gray-haired mom or a girlfriend.

People who are second guessing and criticizing Officer Wilson for not tazing or shooting Brown in a non fatal area of his body are just plain clueless.

I wish to offer my sincere heartfelt, thanks, prayers and support to all of our brave men and women who protect and serve us; police, troops, firefighters, veterans and border parole agents. God bless.

EDITORS NOTE: September 20, 2014 is national Thank a Police Officer Day. If you wish to make a video thanking your local police force or sheriff visit the Whole Truth Project.

Common Core Rapidly Losing Support

As their children either start or return to school, parents are naturally concerned about the quality of education they receive from kindergarten through twelfth grade. In the past, before the teachers unions gained virtual control of the schools and before the federal government decided it had to impose “national standards”, it was the job of local boards of education to ensure students learned the basics—the three R’s—and, if history is any indicator, they did.

There should be no federal intervention in our school systems, but programs such as 2001’s “No Child Left Behind” and Obama’s “Race to the Top” have conditioned people to accept its role. The most recent example is Common Core, but it is the creation of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The support it has received from the White House, the Department of Education, and voices on Capitol Hill has left many with the impression it is a federal program. That doesn’t make it any less awful.

If you want to learn the facts about it, read a brief analysis by Joy Pullman, “Common Core: A Bad Choice for America”, which you can download for free from The Heartland Institute’s website or purchase copies in quantity. Pullman, a research fellow, is the managing editor of Heartland’s “School Reform News”, published ten times per year. For the record, I am a Heartland advisor.

As Pullman notes in her analysis, “In 2010, every state but Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia adopted Common Core education standards, a set of requirements in each grade in math and English language arts.” As school begins this year, four states, Indiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, and South Carolina have already dropped the program. Watch other states such as Louisiana and Wisconsin do the same.

Common Core

Click on the image for a larger view. Poster courtesy of ThePeoplesCube.com.

Here’s why. As Pullman notes in a recent article, for the first time the annual Pi Kappa Delta/Gallup poll revealed that “a majority of Americans—81%–has heard of Common Core. And 60% oppose it.” As more Americans learn more about Common Core, they too will oppose it, but the most intriguing finding of the poll was that, among teachers, there was a drop of support from 76% last year to 46% this year! The poll demonstrated that “Majorities wanted local school boards to have far more control over what schools teach than state or federal governments.”

Pullman said, “Everyone is for ‘standards’ in the abstract. Everyone is not for ‘standards’ that, like Common Core, coerce teachers and schools, and impose bad education theories on the countries.”

“Nationalizing education, like nationalizing anything,” says Pullman “requires compromise to get enacted. And compromise inevitably sacrifices quality. Quality has to grow from the ground up, through cooperation and competition, or it will never exist.”

What teachers and parents subject to Common Core requirements have learned rather quickly is that the program has a number of serious flaws. It not only slows the process of learning multiplication, it dampens the development of the creative thinking process, and offers a skewed, leftist selection of reading materials about U.S. history.

Pullman says, “The most important thing to understand about education standards is that research has demonstrated they have no effect on student achievement. That’s right: no effect at all. A series of data analyses from the Brookings Institution found no link between high state standards and high student achievement.”

Any parent and any teacher will confirm that different students learn at different rates and some encounter problems in certain areas. Some are better at mathematics. Others are better readers and writers. Still others find science or the arts of greatest interest. People are different. It is foolish to think that children aren’t.

This is not to say that the states don’t have education standards. They do and local boards ensure that their curriculums meet them.

At the national level, Pullman points out that “the country already has a national testing program that sets cut scores: the National Assessment of Educational Progress” that is “a valid, well-respected measuring stick that already offers states and citizens the ability to compare schools’ progress across state lines without the intrusions and muddle curriculum Common Core introduces.”

I recommend you download Pullman’s analysis, but in the meantime let me offer a good way to understand Common Core. It is the Obamacare of education.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is by RealClearEducation.com.

Idiotic comments from State Dept: Foley beheading not about the U.S. [VIDEO]

Just a warning. Before you watch this video, make sure you don’t have anything in your mouth.

I’m thinking that when Obama referred to the “JV team” back in January he was talking about his own collection of knuckleheads. I’m amazed you don’t hear more laughing from the press corps when his spokespeople get in front of the cameras. Where did he find this group of cub scouts?

And now the latest from Marie Harf — who infamously claimed that Bergdahl’s platoon mates were lying and had no idea what they were talking about. Take a gander her at comments regarding the beheading of James Foley.

As reported by CNS News, “Deputy State Department spokesperson Marie Harf on Wednesday condemned the beheading of American journalist James Foley by Islamic terrorists, but she also stated that the ISIS threat “is not about the United States and what we do.” Harf spoke after President Obama told the nation that “governments and peoples across the Middle East” should come together in a “common effort to extract this cancer, so that it does not spread.” He then went golfing.”

Ms. Harf, if beheading an American is not about America, then what is it about? Maybe ISIS is upset Germany won the World Cup? Or perhaps ISIS is angry about global warming and how the world community isn’t tackling the situation? No, you’re right, when an American gets beheaded, it has nothing to do with America – even though the beheader himself said it was because of what America has done.

Look, I’m not making this up. Watch the video! But I’m warning you – make sure you don’t have anything in your mouth.

“I think ISIL wants to make this about the United States and our actions. And I think what the President was trying to say was that this is not about the United States and what we do. This is about countries in the region coming together to fight a shared threat, and this is not about us.”

Who the heck is this about when an American is beheaded Ms. Harf? When someone tells you they’re going to kill you, have you choke on your own blood, and blood will flow in your streets, i.e. American streets, it is about YOU, and you can’t dismiss this because you won’t confront the threat. You can’t just wait and “hope” that you can convince others to join you. It is the responsibility of the president of the United States to protect the citizens of the United States and not lead from his own behind.

Regardless of what the enemy expresses, the pursuit of political correctness remains a central theme to the Obama administration. “ISIL does not operate in the name of any religion. The president has been very clear about that, and the more we can underscore that, the better,” Harf said.

Excuse me young lady, these monsters are doing exactly what is commanded to them by Mohammad. Perhaps you should read about the breaking of the Treaty of Hudabiyya, the Battle of the Trenches, or read his letter to Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.

Trust me, if I were ISIS watching American news and these comments by Harf, I’d be totally inspired to swell the ranks of my jihadist fighters and continue to march towards my goals and objectives, because clearly there’s nothing to stop me.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the voice of foreign policy and national security in your federal government – your tax dollars Harf at work. If we can’t do better than this, we are indeed screwed. Folks, in plain southern lexicon, this sucks!

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Remembering MLK: Judging people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character

August 28, 2014 marks the fifty-first anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech. Question: Is Dr. King’s dream alive and well today, or not?

We have written about two tragedies that occurred on Saturday, August 9th, 2014. Two Americans lost their lives. One was a Rabbi on his way to a shul (synagogue) in North Miami Beach, Florida and the second a black man walking down the middle of a street in Ferguson, Missouri. The reaction to each shooting may indicate how alive and well the dream Dr. Martin Luther King spoke about in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial truly is. Dr. King said:

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

[ … ]

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Rabbi Joseph Raksin

Rabbi Joseph Raksin

Are Joseph Raksin and Michael Brown being judged based upon the color of their skins or the content of their characters? Are government officials and the media treating both shootings equally? Is the law treating each shooting equally?

If Dr. King was correct, then our dream must be “deeply rooted in the America dream.” Both men deserve equal justice under the law. To do otherwise destroys the very foundation of the civil rights movement.

michael brown photo with gun

Michael Brown (with gun).

Should a white holy man not receive the same media and legal attention as a black man with a criminal record and history of violence? Should not both men’s shootings garner the same level of justice under the law? Should not both men’s families and funerals be covered equally by the media? Should not our highest elected and civic leaders show empathy, and more importantly, seek equal justice under the law for both men?

Apparently not. As we have witnessed since August 9th, 2014, there is growing evidence that men are being judged in the public square by the color of their skin rather than the content of their characters.

As Dr. King warned in 1963:

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.

[ … ]

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

Jews and blacks have both been the victims of hate and racial animus. Both have suffered great harm at the hands of those who would make them second class citizens. Even today both are put upon across the globe. But their history as a people is not why each should be treated equally. They should be treated equally because they are both Americans.

Is Dr. King’s dream alive and well today, or not? You be the judge.

VIDEO: Theodore “Ted” Hayes, Jr. – We are Americans

What is the Difference Between the Democrat Party and the Communist Party USA?

On the home page of the Communist Party USA it says “A better and peaceful world is possible—a world where people and nature come before profits. That’s socialism. That’s our vision. We are the Communist Party USA.”

No, it’s not Socialism which is a watered down version of Communism. Real Communism is the kind that was practiced in the former Soviet Union. It can be found in Cuba and North Korea where the state controls all power and property,and the people have none.

Modified versions exist in China, Russia, Venezuela, and other nations where some aspects of Capitalism are maintained for the sake of their economies. In the West Socialism was incorporated by both the U.S. and Great Britain, and other nations via various social welfare programs.

Capitalism is about profits, innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment. It is about the freedom to acquire wealth. It emphasizes work, not welfare. It is the reason America has a dynamic economic system—when it is permitted to prosper, free from federal interference.

AA - Dem Party is CommunistIn America, conservatives have always been acutely aware of Communism, but the 47% who still approve of Barack Obama and those who are members of the Democratic Party are the dupes of those whose quest for tyrannical power permits them to tell the most appalling lies, particularly about Republicans.

The Democratic Party is so politically corrupt and devoid of moral standards that it is currently engaged in seeking to harm potential Republican presidential candidates with an utterly bogus indictment of Texas Governor Perry and the slanders leveled against New Jersey Governor Christie. It is a tactic of those who fear a loss at the ballot box.

It is the Democratic Party and its elected officials that have advanced the global warming hoax, now called climate change and the CPUSA website refers to the “Accumulation of greenhouse gases (as) a ‘planetary emergency’” This is what both the President and the Secretary of State are saying, but there has been no warming on a planet that is now 17 years into a cooling cycle.

As for those “greenhouse” gases, nitrogen and oxygen are the most abundant in the atmosphere, followed by nothing more dangerous than water vapor! Carbon dioxide is a very minor gas at 0.04%. And most importantly, the Earth is not a greenhouse. When the Sun’s radiation is reduced due to its own natural cycles, it gets colder.

Tied to the climate change message is an agenda that includes Obama’s “war on coal” and his refusal to permit the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from our neighbor Canada, among other measures to restrict access and use of America’s vast energy reserves. This is an attack on the nation’s economy in the name of “nature” or the “environment.”

The CPUSA wants “No new sanctions on Iran” and the administration’s negotiations with Iran to slow or end its nuclear weapons program have dropped some sanctions to get them to the table, but no one believes that Iran will stop because they are openly avowed enemies of America and Israel.

If you wanted to harm America, you would undermine its southern border so that thousands of illegal aliens could join the estimated eleven million already here. That is what President Obama has done and he is joined by former Democratic Majority Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said of the illegals, “We are all Americans.” No, they are not.

The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, continues to push for amnesty for illegal aliens saying “It isn’t about politics at all. They (illegal aliens) essentially have become the backbone of the economy.” The Center for Immigration Studies has documented the many jobs that have gone to illegal aliens, leaving native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens with fewer employment opportunities.

In July Gallup reported that “With thousands of undocumented immigrant minors crossing the nation’s southern border in recent months, the percentage of Americans citing immigration as the top problem has surged to 17% this month, up from 5% in June, and the highest seen since 2006. As a result, immigration now virtually ties ‘dissatisfaction with government’ at 16%, as the primary issue Americans think of when asked to name the country’s top problems.”

ObamaCare - Needle_PosterThe Affordable Patient Care Act—Obamacare—is the perfect example of Socialism in its government control of what once was the world’s finest healthcare system and is being destroyed by a law for which only Democrats in Congress voted.

President Obama has illegally asserted more power than the Constitution grants the executive branch, unilaterally altering Obamacare. It is the reason the House of Representatives is suing him.

For several generations since the last century, Americans have been indoctrinated to accept an ever-growing central government, but even so an August Reason-Rupe survey poll found that fully 54% favored a smaller government providing fewer services. Just 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 75% disapprove.

Though education is never mentioned in the Constitution, we have a Department of Education and the same applies to the Department of Energy, both created by Jimmy Carter. A Nixon executive order brought about the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency that is masterminding an attack on private property along with the manufacturing, agricultural and energy sectors of the economy.

If one looks at the Democratic Party today, there is often scant difference between it and the self-professed Communist Party USA which twice endorsed the election of Barack Obama, a man whose father was a Communist, whose grandparents who helped raise him were Socialists, and who was mentored in his youth by a card-carrying member of the CPUSA.

We have a President who believes that the problems throughout the world have been caused by America. His disdain for the nation and the military that serves to protect it is on full display. And the Democratic Party twice chose him as its candidate.

If you want to see what Communism looks like, acts and says, watch and listen to the Democratic Party.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

TWO REPORTS: Teachers make up only 50% of all Education Jobs

Parents, concerned citizens and taxpayers have long been concerned about the growing number of non-teaching jobs in public schools. Taxpayers want their property tax dollars to go primarily to the classroom. Two recent studies show that, overtime, education funding is increasingly going to non-teaching jobs.

Visual Editor at The Daily Signal and digital media associate at The Heritage Foundation, Kelsey Harris reports, “Even though the Obama Administration proposes spending $25 billion specifically to ‘provide support for hundreds of thousands of education jobs’ in order to ‘keep teachers in the classroom,’ research by both Heritage and The Fordham Institute reveal alarming numbers: only half of education jobs belong to teachers.”

The Fordham Institutes Matt Richmond writes, “The number of non-teaching staff in the United States (those employed by school systems but not serving as classroom teachers) has grown by 130 percent since 1970. Non-teachers—more than three million strong—now comprise half of the public school workforce. Their salaries and benefits absorb one-quarter of current education expenditures. ”

To show how teachers are no longer the majority The Fordham Institute and Heritage provide the following four charts and map (NOTE: For a larger view click on the chart/map):

Chart 1 & 2: Only half of education jobs are teachers:

Hidden-Half-Report chart 1

chart2-1 (1)

Chart 3: How education staffing has outpaced student enrollment:

chart1600

Chart 4: The farther a school is from a city, the more non-teaching staff it has:

Hidden half report chart 2

Map showing the number of teachers aides per 1,000 students by state:

Final-National-Map-Web

 

EDITORS NOTE: Click on the chart/map for a larger view.

Introducing kids to adult/youth “gay clubs” in communities, outside of schools. A dangerous intro to “gay sex.”

Probably the fastest and most dangerous way that schoolchildren are introduced to homosexual behavior is through adult-youth “community” gay clubs, which are run by homosexual (and transgender) activist adults and seek to attract local high school and middle school children.

Contingent of men and children from Boston LGBT club BAGLY marching in Youth Pride Parade. They were shouting “Trans Rights Now!”[All photos by MassResistance]

This is the fifth part in our series on this year’s annual GLSEN Conference held in Boston in April 2014 which brought together LGBT teachers, school officials, and education activists (and their “allies”) — along with children as young as fifth grade
— where they outlined their latest tactics for the schools.

Community “LGBT youth” clubs: Mixing vulnerable kids with adult “gay” activists

Unlike the “gay straight alliance” clubs inside the schools – which are themselves outrageous — these meet at various places in the community and are completely unsupervised by any outside entity. However, schools know this and are still cooperative in steering vulnerable kids to these clubs, where the kids develop relationships with the adult activists. In our experience, the school authorities do not notify parents when they introduce their child to these groups.

“Business card” given out to kids at the conference.

How dangerous can these clubs get?  Most parents and public officials don’t have a clue.  Back in 2007 MassResistance posted a shocking public letter written by a 20-year-old homosexual activist in Maine describing the abuses going on by adults to kids in the local “gay youth” club. It included his own admission of sexual relations with two younger boys.

Last year a Massachusetts mother introduced legislation to stop the public schools from steering students to outside “gay clubs” after a counselor at her 16-year-old son’s high school referred the boy to a local club without the parents’ knowledge or consent.

Here’s from the mother’s testimony before the Massachusetts Legislature:

Our son was seeing a [therapist] for childhood traumas that are known to cause sexual identity issues in adolescence.

At [the gay club] our son was told that he was born gay, could never change, and that anyone who didn’t embrace his sexual identity was a hater and a homophobe, including his family. . . He was provided with sexually provocative and anti-Christian literature .  . .

The school administrators defended [the school counselor’s] actions [in referring him to them].

In recent years, these outside “gay youth clubs” have also emphasized cross-dressing, transgenderism, and even sex-change medical procedures for kids. MassResistance recently documented how these clubs partner with even more extreme groups and radical government-funded transgender programs.

Conference workshop

At the GLSEN LGBT Teachers Conference it was clear that steering kids to these outside “gay youth clubs” and getting them involved with adult homosexual activists is no accident, but a part of their agenda. To start with, they had a workshop devoted to it:


“Youth / adult collaboration” involving homosexual activists is every parent’s nightmare. But the homosexual movement sees this as an important “positive” way for youth to be helped to free themselves from the influence of “homophobic” parents, and particularly their religious beliefs. In their eyes, this is good for kids’ emotional and psychological well-being.

There are various strategies for using schools to get kids involved with these groups. As mentioned above, one is to have a trusted counselor or advisor to suggest it as a “support group.”

In contrast the image they carefully craft for public officials, concerned citizens, and the media, is a well-honed script describing education programs, emotional and psychological support, and claims that reinforcing homosexual behavior prevents suicides.  The latter claim often references the unscientific and discredited Mass. Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

This article from the local Wellesley MA newspaper is a classic example of how the community “gay youth” clubs carefully craft their image for the public. It was passed out at the conference.

“BAGLY”

Note that the conference workshop presenters are from BAGLY (Boston Alliance of Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth) . BAGLY is the largest, most aggressive (and most well-funded) LGBT “youth club” in Massachusetts.

BAGLY is run by a middle-aged man who dresses as a woman. As an official member of the state-funded Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth, BAGLY has an entrée into public schools across the state. It helps organize the annual “Youth Pride” Day and runs the accompanying evening “Youth gay/transgender” prom in Boston City Hall. (We have a full report on this year’s “Youth Pride” event coming up. Here’s our report from Youth Pride Day 2009.)

A group of activists from BAGLY posed for us at the 2014 Youth Pride event earlier this year.

BAGLY does not hide the fact the fact that children and adults freely mix (see top photo). Its website admits that it has no minimum age, and that:

All LGBTQ youth ages 22 and under are welcome to participate in BAGLY’s program activities and events. The average age range of the youth who currently participate in our weekly programming is 14 – 20, while our annual events are usually more inclusive of 21 and 22 year-olds.

BAGLY’s attitude toward sexual activity between participants is also very clear:

[O]ur approach to programming and services is youth-centered, non-judgmental and “sex-positive” (meaning we think consensual sex is natural and healthy).

Despite all of this, the state continues to fund BAGLY’s activities and the schools continue to include it.

“WAGLY”

Literature from WAGLY (West Suburban Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth) was also distributed and promoted to kids at the conference. As BAGLY is mostly centered around the Boston inner-city area, WAGLY is located in the western suburbs.

ABOVE: WAGLY contingent marches in this year’s “Youth Pride Day” parade.LEFT: These are the kinds of people they pair up schoolchildren with: Man marching at left of top photo, wearing WAGLY shirt, is wearing women’s high-heel shoes.

WAGLY uses many of the same strategies to attract schoolchildren as the other “LLGBT youth” community clubs. They seem to focus on offering kids “a welcoming place” for “support,” and the group meets in unsupervised “gay friendly” settings away from the public schools.  Some of WAGLY’s literature, which was passed out at the conference, is shown below.

In 2010, the WAGLY adults and kids marched with a different banner, but the same purpose.

“LGBT Coalition of Western Massachusetts”

The LGBT Coalition of Western Massachusetts is also disturbing because it is much more overtly adult-oriented than the others. But seems to use the same “mentoring” tactics to attract kids and to involve them in ts events and activities. Their literature was also passed out at the conference.

RIGHT: LGBT Coalition booklet passed out at conference.BELOW: Excerpt from the LGBT Coalition booklet describing their youth/adult “mentoring” program.
Postcard passed out as part of the LGBT Coalition package, also pitching their “mentoring” program.
And, of course, a business card.

Other “LGBT youth” community groups

There are several other “LGBT youth” community clubs across the state that are quite active, but weren’t promoted at this conference. However, we’ve observed that those groups use the same tactics and work as closely as they can with local public school administrators and teachers.

It is shocking that most parents, citizens, and even politicians are completely unaware that this is happening to vulnerable kids in their public schools and communities – and that teachers are being instructed in how to promote it to schoolchildren at conferences like this. MassResistance will continue to expose this!

Guess who has made ‘Eleven Major Climate Change Predictions’ that have Come True?

Mr. John L. Casey, President Space and Science Research Corporation, has an amazing track record of major climate predictions dating back to 2007. No one has matched his accuracy in predicting major climate changes. No one.

Mr. Casey is a former White House national space policy adviser under two U.S. Presidents and the author of “Dark Winter“. Watch this interview to learn more about his book and unprecedented string of accurate climate change predictions.

DARK WINTER BOOK COVERThe predictions 1 through 7 below were made primarily in Mr. Casey’s original press release on April 30, 2007 and by his web-site-posted peer reviewed ‘RC Theory’ research paper, January 22, 2008. These predictions were in some part also covered and in his climate books, “Cold Sun” (June 2011) and “Dark Winter” (August 2014). The April 2007 press release is on page 70 of “Dark Winter.” The RC Theory paper is available at the RC Theory page at the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC).

Numerous other press releases and communications to U.S. government officials and the media since 2007 reiterated these original predictions from 2007 and 2008. These predictions have been confirmed through multiple U.S. and international science data bases and organizations that track solar activity and global temperatures. Further, the Global Climate Status Report, (GCSR) produced by the SSRC displays global temperature data in chart form that validates global temperature predictions made in 2007, 2008, as well as the start of the solar hibernation, using NASA, NOAA, and other international climate data.

Prediction 1. That global warming (caused by the Sun) would end within three to fourteen years of 2007.

This has since been validated by the SSRC and numerous others. Even the UK Met Office last year acknowledged that 17 years had gone by without global warming. September marks year 18. There is no longer any global warming. Mr. Casey’s calculations showed the average temperature curve associated with the 206 year solar cycle determined that 2007 or between 3 and 14 years (RC Theory paper) of that date would be the peak of the modern warm period. In a July 1, 2008 TV news conference held by Mr. Casey, he announced that there was sufficient data to declare that global warming had in fact already ended.

Prediction 2. That the Sun would begin to enter a state of “solar hibernation” beginning in solar cycle 24 and would be marked by a dramatic reduction in the Suns’ energy output.

This historic, reduction of solar activity during solar cycle 24 as measured by sunspots, magnetic field strength, solar wind velocity etc. and has since been verified by NASA, the SSRC, and many others.

Prediction 3. That the Earth’s oceans would begin to cool soon after 2007.

Though it was undetectable at the time, the actual start of ocean temperature decline apparently began in 2003. See the actual chart of ocean temps that verifies the predicted decline as Figure 3 on page 40 of the GCSR.

Prediction 4. That the Earth’s atmospheres would begin to cool soon after 2007.

This has also been validated by the SSRC, and all major global temperature measurement data sets. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 on page 38 and page 39 of the GCSR.

Prediction 5. That a new cold climate would envelope the Earth and during solar cycles 25 and 26, (the 2020’s thru the 2040’s).

Sunspot counts for cycles 25 and 26 would approach 50. That this cold climate would bring record cold to the planet causing substantial crop damage – expected to lead to “world wide, agricultural, social, and economic disruption.” (RC Theory paper). Use of the phrase “significant loss of life” was added to the list of ill-effects of the new cold climate by Mr. Casey in other press releases and public statements and books.
This is the most important prediction made by John Casey and can only be verified as the new cold climate period deepens. Given the accuracy of his other predictions this also appears likely as the global temperatures continue their predicted decline and solar activity enters a new low level after passing the peak of activity for solar cycle 24.

Prediction 6. That the solar cycle #24 would have around 74 sunspots at peak (about half the official NASA prediction of 145 sunspots).

This important prediction for the Sun’s behavior during solar cycle 24 was well documented in the RC Theory research paper posted January 2008 and discussed between Mr. Casey and NASA (phone and emails) during May-June 2007. The specific 74 sunspot prediction was passed via phone to NASA’s solar physics group leader in May-June 2007 and via other publications. Mr. Casey’s prediction and the large error in NASA’s prediction are also evident by comparing NASA’s solar activity forecast for solar cycle 24 between their web posting of 2006 and 2013. This latter 2013 NASA forecast showing solar cycle 24 performance validates Mr. Casey’s “spot-on” prediction for solar cycle 24, where NASA was off by almost 100%.

Prediction 7. That 2012 would be colder than 2008 in terms of global atmospheric temperatures.

This prediction was made via SSRC Press Release 2-2010 on May 10, 2010. It was validated after a review of global temperature data sets in early 2014 and documented on page 100 of “Dark Winter.” Though many were told by NASA and NOAA that 2012 was the warmest year ever, a more thorough examination of the data shows the average temperature for most major global temperature data sets showed that only the first eight months were warmer and that the year overall, was as cold or colder than 2008 as Mr. Casey predicted.

Prediction 8. That the new cold era would coincide with record earthquake and volcanic activity.

This prediction was made both in Mr. Casey’s research paper on the subject and a press release at the same time. The SSRC Research Report 1-2010 (Preliminary) from March 1, 2010 titled “Correlation of Solar Activity Minimums and Large Magnitude Geophysical Events,” is at the RC Theory page of the SSRC web site. The associated press release SSRC 1-2010 titled “Sun’s Activity Linked to Largest Earthquakes and Volcanoes,” is at the ‘Press Release Archives’ page of the SSRC web site.

This prediction for increased earthquake and volcanic activity has been verified by other researchers, including in a recent paper by Choi, Casey, Maslov and Tsunoda (see at page 7 of the June 2014 edition of the GCSR). This joint paper is titled “Global increase in seismic and magmatic activities since 1990 and their relation to solar cycles.”

Ongoing verification of the increased geophysical activity predicted in 2010 by Casey is exemplified by the record M9.0 earthquake one year later on March 11, 2011 with the Japanese Tohoku Earthquake that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant and killed over 13,000 people. This prediction is further validated by the M7.8 and M8.0 earthquakes of northern Chile in 2014. It should also be noted that the great Indonesian M9.1+ earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004 that killed over 230,000 occurred after global oceans began to cool after 2003.

Recent increased volcanic activity has been demonstrated by the Mt. Sangeang Api volcano, Indonesia, the Puyehue volcano , Chile, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland, et.al.. As of August 22, 2014 volcano Bardargunga in Iceland is threatening to erupt. The first three volcanic eruptions shut down air traffic for large areas of the globe in each case.

Combined, these geophysical events demonstrate the existence of an increased level of major earthquake and volcanic activity as predicted by Mr. Casey.

Prediction 9. That the decline in Arctic sea ice had ended and was now a new long term growth trend.

This prediction was made June 10, 2013, paradoxically, the year after NOAA announced that Arctic Sea ice had reached its lowest extent ever recorded and restated its forecast for continued declines. The prediction by Mr. Casey was widely distributed via SSRC Press Release 4-2013 and was titled,” Arctic Sea Ice to Grow as Global Cooling Era Takes Hold.”

This prediction has since been validated by NOAA data that shows Arctic sea ice declines have stopped their historic decline and now show a dramatic reversal that actually began after 2007 and has been repeated during 2014. See chart of NOAA data for Arctic sea ice extent on page 44 of the June 10, 2014 edition of the GCSR.

Note: Al Gore, NOAA and UK climate officials have over the years made predictions that the entire Arctic sea ice would be gone by 2008 or other past years. They have since adjusted their predictions out to safer dates like 2030 or 2050.

Prediction 10. That the North Atlantic Ocean temperatures had reached a peak or maximum warming, and these waters would soon begin a long term temperature decline lasting decades.

This prediction was made via SSRC Press Release 1-2013, on February 4, 2013 titled, “Climate Change to Next Cold Era Accelerates with Colder North Atlantic. The time frame for evaluation of this relatively recent prediction is still open. However, the largest ocean heat content decline ever recorded for the North Atlantic has been recorded and reinforces that this prediction will also transpire as described.

Prediction 11. That the world’s sea levels would soon begin to decline (between 2014 and 2020) and reach the level they were in the early 1800’s predicted by the late 2020’s and 2030’s.

This recent August 21, 2013 prediction will be evaluated when the time frame indicated has been entered for a few years. The prediction was documented at a news conference held near Miami Florida and was recorded in the SSRC Press Release 7-2013 (August 21, 2014) which is posted at the SSRC web site.

Validation of this prediction, though in abeyance, is receiving support from the fact that sea levels on the US west coast have already begun to drop as a consequence of the Pacific Ocean cooling The Atlantic Ocean starts its predicted drop in sea levels soon.

Added validation comes from the setting of all time records for the combined amount of sea ice for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Most importantly, the ongoing decline in global ocean temperatures since 2003 underscores this prediction by Mr. Casey that a long term global ocean cooling is to be followed by historic drops in sea levels. The colder oceans will of course result in lower sea levels just as past ocean warming contributed to rising sea levels.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image with John Casey’s book cover is titled dark winter is by Elvens Day.

CLICHES OF PROGRESSIVISM #19 – “Big Government Is a Check on Big Business”

A myth runs through most of America today, and it goes like this: Big business hates government and yearns for an unregulated market. But the reality is the opposite: Big government can be highly profitable for big business.

Many regulations restrict competition that would otherwise challenge existing firms. At the same time, government institutions—many created during the New Deal—funnel money to the largest corporations.

When government regulates X industry, it imposes high costs that hurt smaller firms and reduce competition. Imagine that the Department of Energy imposes a new rule that dishwashers must be more energy efficient. Coming up with designs, retrofitting factories to produce these energy-efficient models, and navigating the forms and licenses around this rule might cost a dishwasher-producing firm thousands of dollars. An industry giant, with more revenue and sizeable profit margins, can absorb this cost. A small dishwasher factory that’s only a year or two old, with little revenue and less profit, cannot. The latter would have to shut down. That means less competition for the industry giant, enabling it to grow even bigger and seize even more market share.

Barriers to entry, such as expensive licenses, also cripple start-ups and reduce competition. The Progressive New Republic speaks favorably of how Dwolla, an Iowa-based start-up that processes payments and competes with credit card agencies, had to pay $200,000 for a license to operate. Rather than hire employees or build a better product to compete with its entrenched competition, Dwolla was forced to spend its first $200,000 on a permission slip. Dwolla could afford it; but how many less-well-funded competitors were forced from the market? How many were deterred from even starting a payment-processing business by this six-figure barrier to entry?

For big businesses, which often sacrifice agility for size, smaller competitors are a major threat. By limiting smaller competition, government helps the industry giants at the expense of everyone else. Barriers to entry can kill the next innovative firm before it can become a threat to its giant competition. When this happens, we don’t even know it: The killed-before-it-can-live company is a classic example of the “unseen” costs of regulation.

While regulations minimize competition, government entities subsidize big business. The Export-Import Bank, established in 1934 as part of the New Deal, exists to subsidize exports by U.S.-based firms. The primary beneficiaries? Large corporations. From 2009 to 2014, for instance, the Ex-Im Bank financed over one-quarter of Boeing’s planes. Farm bills, a key element of the New Deal that still exists today, subsidize huge farms at the expense of smaller ones. The program uses a variety of methods, from crop insurance to direct payments, to subsidize farmers. The program is ostensibly designed to protect small farmers. But 75 percent of total subsidies—$126 billion from 2004 to 2013—go to the biggest 10 percent of farming companies. The program taxes consumers to funnel money to large farms.

Nor are these programs unique. National Journalism Center graduate Tim Carney argues, “The history of big business is one of cooperation with big government.” In the time of Teddy Roosevelt, big meat packers lobbied for federal meat inspection, knowing that the costs around compliance would crush their smaller competitors. New Deal legislation was only passed with help from the national Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association. The Marshall Plan, which subsidized the sale of billions of dollars of goods to Europe, was implemented by a committee of businessmen. President Johnson created the Transportation Department in 1966, overcoming resistance from shipping interests by agreeing to exempt them from the new rules. Costly regulations for thee, but not for me.

If Progressives want to see what free enterprise looks like, they need only look at the Internet. For the past 20 years, it’s been largely unregulated. The result? Start-ups erupt and die every year. New competitors like Facebook bring down existing giants like MySpace and are in turn challenged by a wealth of social media competitors. Yahoo was the Internet search king until two college kids founded Google. Google has been recently accused of monopoly status, but competitors like DuckDuckGo spring up every day.

Let’s imagine if the Internet—a playground of creative destruction—had been as subject to big government as brick and mortar businesses have been. Yahoo would have been subsidized. Facebook would have had to pay six figures to get a licensing fee, crushing college-kid Zuckerberg before he got started and preserving MySpace’s market dominance. Businesses that learned to play the lobbying game would have been allowed to write regulations to crush their competitors.

For those who doubt, the proof of business’s collusion with big government is in the pudding. In 2014, a surprising number of libertarian-leaning men and women are in Congress. How has big business responded? K Street has spent millions of dollars working to replace laissez-faire advocates with those who are establishment-friendly. Sadly, cronyist businesses are fighting to keep free market advocates out of power.

A final note: I have criticized Progressives here, but the institution of big government, which enables businesses to hire lobbyists to write regulations or give themselves a subsidy, is the primary problem. The bigger government grows, the more powerful a tool it becomes for businesses prone to use it for private advantage. That’s not capitalism; it’s what one economist properly labeled “crapitalism.”

Julian Adorney
Economic Historian, Entrepreneur, Fiction Writer

Summary

  • Big Government and Big Business often play well together, at the expense of start-ups, little guys, and consumers.
  • Artificial, politically instigated barriers to entry make markets less competitive and dynamic, and make established firms more monopolistic.
  • A free market (true capitalism, not its adulterated “crapitalism” version) maximizes competition and, therefore, service to the consumer.

For further information, see:

“Of Meat and Myth” by Lawrence W. Reed
“Atlas Shrugged and the Corporate State” by Sheldon Richman
“Ending Corporate Welfare As We Know It” by Lawrence W. Reed
“The Rise of Big Business and the Growth of Government” by Robert Higgs
“Theodore Roosevelt: Big Government Man” by Jim Powell

ABOUT JULIAN ADORNEY

Julian Adorney is an economic historian, entrepreneur, and fiction writer. He writes for the Ludwig von Mises Institute and other websites. You can find his collected work at adorney.liberty.me.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of FEE and Shutterstock.

Freedom OF Religion, Not Freedom FROM Religion

The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution do not abandon religion, they embrace it. They do not, however, require that Americans believe in God, nor punish them for failing to do so.

Central to the liberties enshrined in these documents is the belief that they come from a higher power and America exists because of that belief. Without it there would have been no America. There are those among us who insist that, as a nation, we abandon faith in God and, if we do, America will cease to be a power for good in the world.

First-Amendment-Religious-Freedom-610x400When Thomas Jefferson presented the Declaration to those who would pledge their lives and their sacred honor to achieve independence from England John Adams asked that it include the words “They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” after the phrase “all men are created equal” and Benjamin Franklin agreed, suggesting that “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence” be added as well.” In their 2004 book, “Under God” by Toby Mac and Michael Tait, said “The changes demonstrated Congress’s strong reliance upon God—as delegates added the words “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions.”

Aware of the dangers inherent in a state religion, the First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” followed by freedom of speech, the press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance.” There is no state religion in America, but reflecting the values that created it, its leaders have always acknowledged a greater power than government, the belief in God.

There would be no America if the Pilgrims who established Plymouth, Massachusetts had not left England in the quest for their right to worship as they wished, reflecting the Protestant Reformation. Another early settlement, Jamestown, was a business venture by investors to obtain wealth. Jamestown failed and Plymouth is with us today.

I am not a religious person per se, but I do believe in God. Always have and always will. I don’t insist that anyone else has to and neither do our founding documents. They do, however, acknowledge God and sought His protection to create a new nation; a republic with clearly stated protections for all its citizens.

There are, however, those who insist that any reference to God be removed from public documents and recognition. The leader among them is the Freedom From Religion Foundation and their most recent lawsuit is against the U.S. Treasury Department claiming they are discriminating against non-believers by including the phrase “In God We Trust” on the nation’s currency. Their claim is that the government is prohibited from endorsing religion over non-religion.

“In God We Trust” on U.S. coins was first approved by Congress during the Civil War in 1864. In 1956, Congress passed a resolution to recognize the words officially as the national motto, replacing the de facto phrase, “E Pluribus Unum” and it has appeared on U.S. currency since 1957.

The Foundation’s intention is to make any acknowledgement of God illegal by any public institution. If that is true, then we might was well tear up the Declaration and Constitution. Atheists are not content to not believe in God, they insist that everyone else not believe as well. That is a form of tyranny we must not permit to exist in America.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation specializes in lawsuits to advance what it calls the separation of church and state, but this principle is enshrined in the Constitution along with the right to freely exercise one’s faith. Its lawsuits are designed to destroy religion in America. In 2012 the Foundation had total contributions of $2,726,316. Nearly 90% was devoted to its attack on the freedom of religion.

In 2013, the Huffington Post reported that in the past six years the Foundation’s paid membership had increased 130 percent. It was estimated at “nearly 20,000” members. Its co-president, Laurie Gaylor, said that recent high-profile legal victories had increased the foundation’s popularity.

There is still strong support in Congress for the freedom of religion. In 1993 it passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act aimed at preventing laws that substantially burden a person’s free exercise of religion. It was signed into law by President Clinton. In 1997 the Supreme Court found that it was unconstitutional if applied to states, ruling that it was not a proper exercise of Congress’s enforcement power. It does, however, still apply to the federal government. In response, some states passed their own religious freedom restoration acts.

The Act was recently cited by the Supreme Court that ruled that closely held companies may be exempted from a government requirement to include contraceptives in employee health insurance coverage if it contravenes their belief in the sanctity of life.

There are millions more Americans who belong to various religious faiths and who believe that America must protect their right to exercise their faith. A relatively small Freedom From Religion Foundation will continue to use the courts to impose their atheistic views on any public institution. They must be resisted if America is to remain a citadel to the world as a place where people of faith can live together and exercise the tolerance that the atheists will not.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Sarasota, Florida hosting Female Wounded Warriors Retreat on September 16-19, 2014

“Women veterans are increasing in numbers for military service and will continue to do so….”

Georgie Alfano-Cronk

Georgie Alfano-Cronk

Annually the Sarasota County Veterans Commission (SCVC) recognizes the Veteran of the Year, Woman Veteran of the Year and Auxiliary Person of the Year. In 2010, the Female Veteran of the Year Award went to Ms. Georgie Alfano-Cronk.

Far too often, when someone receives an award they tend to quietly return home and place their award on a shelf to just collect dust. But not so with Alfano-Cronk. Alfano-Cronk is a U.S. Army disabled woman veteran.

Alfano-Cronk states, “We have many ‘women warriors’ that need our recognition and assistance in transitioning back into their communities or back into the work force”. Alfano-Cronk has become a passionate advocate for America’s women veterans.

Alfano-Crock notes, “No matter where our female veterans are in their lives; whenever they need help navigating the VA system or just need an ear to listen to one of their concerns, they dial my phone number. As a former police officer and retired New York State Correction Sergeant I can easily look at a veteran’s life and view their problems without passing judgment on them.” She knows how hard the road of life can be because she herself has been there and done that.

By 2011, she had convinced the SCVC that a special committee should be named and formed to assist woman veterans after military service. She was nominated for and became the Chairwoman of this newly formed committee.

Fast forward from November 2011 to the present when Alfano-Crock discovered a not-for-profit organization, which loves veterans and their families as much as she does, and partnered with them. This organization is the Professionals Assisting Military Families & Friends (PAMFF). Working together the SCVC and PAMFF decided to have a free retreat for America’s women warriors. The retreat allows women wounded warriors a safe environment to share their transitional concerns and receive free counseling and access to support groups after the retreat is over.

Then there was that little problem of fundraising for the retreat.

SCVC and PAMFF knew early on that they wanted to make this a totally free event. The PAMFF committees, without any major contacts or knowledge of grants or fundraising, began to solicit donations from veterans’ organizations and community members. But would that be enough financial support? As the applications starting rolling in from women veterans across America, the PAMFF selection committee, decided that none of the women veterans should be turned away and so the original number of 10 applicants allowed to participate in the event increased to 15 women veterans. There is still a waiting list and applications are no longer being accepted.

The reaction from women veterans clearly shows a need to support, recognize, and help them as much as there is for their male counterparts.

Alfano-Crock notes that since women veterans were trained to be strong and independent, like their male counterparts, that often a women veteran will not ask for help until she is in a full blown, major crisis. And often they do not know where to find the proper resources to help them or to move ahead. Women veterans have a tendency to fall through the cracks of an already saturated VA health care system.

Alfano-Crock is adamant that female veteran’s needs are “totally different” than the needs of our male veterans and wounded warriors.

Women naturally process life’s ups and downs differently than men do and need a different type of an environment to vent and must have a trust system in place with a counselor prior to sharing their personal stories and unique concerns.

From Tuesday, September 16th to Friday, September 19th, 2014 fifteen “woman warriors” will share their lives with each other, and with PAMFF’s licensed clinicians and female community volunteers and form “battle buddy relationships” that will hopefully blossom and grow. “After all,” says Alfano-Crock, “the most therapeutic sharing sessions are those that are done in a nurturing environment with other veterans present who have gone through the same sequence of events and realize the type of traumas that often accompany military life and war. No one understands a veteran better than another veteran who has ‘walked the walk’.”

RETREAT INFORMATION:

Event Title: “A Season of Change – You Can!” 1st Annual Retreat for Female Veterans.
What: Topics for discussion will be: MST, TBI, PTS, Balance in One’s Life, Heeding the Red Flags, Interviewing and Job Hunting Techniques, Meditation, Resources, and many more.
When: September 16th – 19th
Where: Christian Retreat Conference Center in Bradenton, FL

EDITORS NOTE: Applications are closed for this retreat. For any additional questions or information you may contact Georgie Alfano-Cronk at (941) 266-2769 or PAMFF at (941) 224-1094. PAMFF still needs financial assistance to keep the retreat free for the 15 attendees. PAMFF must secure approximately $400.00 per person in donations. If you wish you may send a donation to PAMFF, P.O. Box 2171, Sarasota, FL 34230. The featured image is of Ladda Tammy Duckworth an American woman wounded warrior and politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district since 2013.

Florida: Lee and Palm Beach County looking to opt-out of high stakes testing (+Video)

There is a growing movement against the high stakes testing requirement in Florida’s public schools. The School Boards of Lee and Palm Beach County are seriously looking at opting out of the Florida (Common Core) State Standards testing program.

NewsPress.com’s Emily Atteberry reports:

FCAT. Florida Standards. Common core.

No matter what you call it, the school board wants it gone.

[Palm Beach County] Board members unanimously expressed their disdain for standardized testing at the school board meeting Tuesday, pledging to research the possibility of “opting out” the entire district from standardized testing.

“There needs to be a come-to-Jesus meeting … to talk about these issues point blank,” Chairman Tom Scott said.

Read more.

Lamarre Notargiacomo, American Coalition 4 Property Rights, in an email writes, “Thanks to the efforts of the Lee County School Board, Chris Quackenbush and other dedicated parents, their decision to opt out of Standardized testing is having a domino effect. Miami-Dade School board has also said they want out, but their legislators are not listening to them. PBC wants to allow parents to opt out. Parents, if we defeat the high stakes standardized testing (huge corporations profiting from the tests being administered, to the people who are being paid to ‘grade’ the tests, which can be very subjective), we can defeat Common Core. Pass on this good news. Call your legislators and governor Scott and tell him we want to reject the Standardized, computerized AIR testing consortium.”

Sandy Krischke notes, “Another interesting tidbit of information I found out was that, according to Florida state law, the ONLY standardized testing currently mandated IS that singular, high stakes test.  While I agree that we should absolutely be able to opt out of it…I also think we should start pressing our districts to explain WHY our children are testing so much outside of that mandate. They gripe and complain all the time about unfounded mandates, yet our teachers must prepare for, administer, and study the results of numerous other tests throughout the school year, many of which start just weeks into the academic year. How much curriculum can be taught and time spent on our kids learning instead of all these tests.  Benchmark exams, etc….I have spoken to several teachers and they are told this is a requirement….but had no idea that the state did not mandate these tests. Time to hold their feet to the fire. Let’s keep the pressure on.”

Will this movement spread? Florida groups like Teaching is Not Testing and the Florida Stop Common Core Coalition are working to educate the educators on the pitfalls of high stakes testing, which is an integral part of Common Core. The below videos tell the story being heard by local school boards across Florida and beyond.

Palm Beach School Board Remarks on Standardized Testing

Remarks by members of the Palm Beach County School Board about excessive standardized testing. August 20, 2014. NOTE: This clip has been edited to focus on just remarks about standardized testing.

More and More Testing, Less and Less Instructional Time

Parent Clare Kirchman speaks to the School Board of Palm Beach County, Florida on August 20, 2014 about the excessive standardized testing which makes for less and less instructional time.

Kids React to 2+2=5 (Common Core)

This is a composite video covering the history of Common Core and the use of bio-metrics to monitor students in the classroom with the objective to measure how well a teacher is teaching.

RELATED ARTICLES: 

The Privatizing Agenda of Survey-producing Education Next
“Reframing” California Common Core for a Better Public Sale
Peter Greene: Why Teachers are Breaking Up with Common Core
The AstroTurf Lament: Common Core in Two 2014 Public Opinion Polls

Is the Tea Party Dead and More MSM Lies

I have been engaged in a series of interviews, radio/TV discussing the topic, “Is The Tea Party Dead?” Because I am black, every interview has begun with me being asked my take on Ferguson before discussing the Tea Party.

Talk about the excrement hitting the fan; liberal interviewers are outraged when I say blacks are not routinely shot by police and that the MSM is promoting a deplorable, divisive and irresponsible false narrative.

One radio interviewer laughed at me saying she was looking at stats on her computer screen which proved otherwise. During another radio interview the host cited stats that say one hundred thousand people are shot by police every year in America. Bill O’Reilly stated the true FBI stats. Out of 12 million arrests only 400 fatal shootings; many justified.

Clearly, the Left is using lies to spread their despicable evil lie that blacks are targeted and murdered by police. I am struck by the liberal interviewer’s passion behind spreading their lie. They act as if their belief is as true as there is a sun in the sky. The liberal media’s attitude is, of course the police murder black males. The media will slap around anyone who states otherwise.

The MSM’s shameful coverage of Ferguson is as criminal as yelling fire in a crowded theater. Remember the outbreak of black flash mob attacks on whites? No one in the MSM is talking about the “Knock Out Game” also known as “polar-bear hunting”. Mostly black youths bet whether or not they can knock out an unsuspecting innocent white person with one powerful punch; women, seniors and more.

My God, what is wrong with these people in the MSM? Furthering the socialist/progressive agenda and bolstering Democrat voter registration and turnout has trumped all sense of decency and morality. If dividing Americans along racial lines and selling millions of black youths the lie that whitey (Republicans, Conservatives and police) are out to get them will further the Left’s cause, the Left says so be it. This truly is spiritual wickedness in high places.

After several rounds of verbally beating me up side the head, realizing they can not force me to agree with their claim that cops are shooting blacks at will, the liberal interviewers move on to gleefully proclaiming the death of the Tea Party.

They cite how numerous Tea Party candidates have been defeated in primaries by GOP establishment candidates. As chairman of The Conservative Campaign Committee, my team, my wife and I have been boots on the ground in Mississippi, Tennessee and other Senate races. We are away from home so much that upon our return, Sammy our greyhound only gives me an acknowledging glance and retires to his bed. I think the pet sitter has conspired to steal Sammy’s affection from me. But, that’s another story.

In every Senate race, we (CCC) have witnessed the intense involvement, commitment and enthusiasm of the local Tea Party groups in support of our candidates. Every race has been a David vs Goliath scenario; highly qualified grassroots funded Tea Party conservative candidates vs deep pocketed GOP establishment and big business funded and MSM supported Democrat-Lite GOP primary candidates.

brat-winsWhile Dave Brat’s stone, launched from his Tea Party slingshot struck and defeated his GOP Goliath, we have lost several races. Our most recent disappointing loss is Joe Miller’s run for U.S. Senate, Alaska. Several great patriots in our Tea Party family came together to endorse Joe; Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family, Conservative Campaign Committee and others.

I point out to interviewers that the Tea Party is more fired up than ever; more sophisticated, schooling and honing conservative candidates to perform well on the big stage. Several Tea Party groups have targeted various aspects of the electoral process which include addressing rampant voter fraud. Other TP groups have focused on reaching out to and educating low info voters. My patriot brother, Michael Holler (Mr. Constitution) has been passionately educating and spreading the gospel of the Constitution for several years via his book, “The Constitution Made Easy” and lecture tours.

No, the Tea Party is not dead, nor will it ever die as long as there are those of us who love, God, family and country.

Without a doubt, we in the Tea Party have a very high mountain to climb. With all due respect, I say that is Okay. Our cause is just and God is on our side. We have lost battles, but the war is far from over. Our mission each day is to wake up every morning with faith and hope in our hearts which empowers us to faithfully continue fighting the good fight for that which we know is right. Faithfulness is the key to our victory.

We at Conservative Campaign Committee are planning our next mission. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Connecting the Red Dots: Where convicted illegal alien murderers were released

I grew up believing you people in Washington took your oaths seriously to protect the citizens yet ICE released 169 convicted killers and a total of 35,000 other criminals back into our society because their home countries won’t take them back. Together, they committed nearly 88,000 crimes, according to recently released report.

Question: A total of 36,000 illegal aliens involved whose countries won’t take them back must be a large number of countries. So how many are there?

Do you in Congress have the names of the countries refusing to back their citizens? Do you know which of those countries we currently give financial aid? Do you plan on stopping all aid immediately to any country that won’t take back their citizens? If not, why not?

What about transferring them all to Guantanamo Bay so they won’t be a threat to U.S. citizens?

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Click on the map for a larger view.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Feds Let Go of Dozens of Convicted Murder Illegal Immigrants, See Where They Are on This Map | National Review Online

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of 100PercentFedUp.com.

The Ferguson Riots and Lessons from 1964

Policesign

The wrong lesson.

It’s a sad day when the first day of school is delayed a week because of rioting, as it has been in Ferguson, Missouri.  Teachers, instead of being in classrooms teaching, have been getting “crisis training.” Those who have irresponsibly been quick to judge in the case of the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer without all the facts have only added fuel to the fire.  This is the case in the lessons about Ferguson that have been prepared, free for teachers to download.

They follow the numerous lessons already fashioned out of the Trayvon Martin case (such as one by PBS called “Debating Race, Justice and Policy in the Case of Trayvon Martin”), with the focus on race and social justice, instead of real justice–as in the jury system, evaluation of evidence, etc.

It almost seems that the indoctrinators have been waiting with material.  Within days of the shooting, the lessons were ready for teachers to download. PBS has come out with an entire list of “resources” for teaching about Ferguson and Michael Brown to grades 7-12 (including links to videos from the PBS News Hour). The Anti-Defamation League offers a detailed lesson plan (Common Core-aligned), with discussions centered on race, the “militarization” of police, and the best ways to engage in “activism.” Teachers are instructed to play the lyrics of rapper J.Cole who has already written a song about Michael Brown. Teachers are then to ask students:

“How did you feel while listening to the song?”
“What do the lyrics mean?”
“Why do you think he wrote the song?”
“Will it make a difference?”

These lessons follow the lead of journalists, who have been quick to condemn the police, blaming the “militarization of police” for criminal and subversive elements. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch presented the first night’s looting, which seemed to go on while police stood back, as a justified release of emotion.  It was not.  The gangs came out in even greater force the following nights, perhaps encouraged by their successes and enflamed by the rhetoric of the race agitators that have come out at such moments throughout the twentieth century, especially fifty years ago.

Fifty years ago in Rochester my neighborhood was set on the path to destruction by the riots. This July in a perverse kind of “celebration” media outlets and libraries “looked back” to 1964.  The rationalizations for the rioting back then were what they are now: poverty, unemployment, discrimination, bad housing.

Nothing was the same after the riots in Rochester in 1964, no matter what the teachers or commentators said.  The destroyed businesses, ruined property values, and deteriorating schools that we had to live with defied the politically correct lessons and the commentary from perches in the suburbs or Washington, D.C.  The criminals 50 years later know the script; they know that their actions will be excused by the agitators and the oh-so-sensitive who write from offices far from the violence.  It’s shocking to see it happen over and over, in Rochester in 1964 and in Ferguson in 2014.  Today, audaciously, pundits in Washington, D.C. lecture police to be more understanding, more “brave.”

What’s different today is that the anti-police pundits are seen as being conservative.  But these conservatives are new kinds of conservatives, they insist.  They disparage the old-fashioned conservatism.  All they want is freedom, they say.  They’re purists, lumping every form of social control under Big Government.  They are, proudly, Libertarians.

Barry Goldwater 1962

Barry Goldwater 1962

Really?  Then they ought to consider the words of Mr. Libertarian himself, Barry Goldwater, who in 1964 said this in his acceptance speech for the nomination of Republican presidential candidate:

Security from domestic violence, no less than from foreign aggression, is the most elementary and fundamental purpose of any government, and a government that cannot fulfill that purpose is one that cannot long command the loyalty of its citizens. History shows us – demonstrates that nothing – nothing prepares the way for tyranny more than the failure of public officials to keep the streets from bullies and marauders.

This is what we need to start putting in lessons for school children…after teaching the adults in Washington, D.C., who would lecture us about the “militarization of police” or being more “brave.”