Let me see if I got this right.....
. - IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.
. - IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET................................
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FOOD STAMPS,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON,
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE,
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Samual Adams by Glenn Beck
Our Founding Fathers were once revered in this country as divinely inspired, courageous visionaries. But now, after the past 100 years of "enlightenment," we've come to realize that they were nothing but old, white, racist, heathens. The "myth" of our Christian founding has been obliterated and, at best, we now know that they were no more than "deists" at best.
That's what the progressives have had to do to the memory of those great men. Men who — while not perfect, certainly, men with flaws — were in fact, mostly Christian and nearly all believers.
In order to restore the country, we have to restore the men who founded it on certain principles to the rightful place in our national psyche.
I want to start with the man known at the time as "the father of the American Revolution," but now has become all but forgotten.
We start with Samuel Adams. I want to tell you a story about him with the help of a man named Stephen McDowell, a historian from the Providence Foundation.
In the first two years of the War for Independence, the Americans had seen a few successes but many more defeats. If you ever get frustrated or down in your life, remember that George Washington lost every single battle he fought for over a year during the opening stages of the war.
By 1777, prospects were grim with little hope of overall victory in the war. By September, the army had been driven out of New York and New Jersey and had lost the strategic Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.
On September 11, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in Delaware; Americans had 200 soldiers killed, 500 wounded and 400 captured. Keep in mind that Washington only had about 14,000 troops. With the defeat, his troops deserted and numbers fell to only 6,000.
Ten days later in Pennsylvania, another 300 soldiers were killed or wounded and 100 captured at the Paoli Massacre.
By now, only 20 members of the Continental Congress even remained together and they met to decide whether they should even continue the struggle for liberty or if it was now a lost cause.
One of those present was Samuel Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts who had been involved in the cause of independence from the beginning. In fact, he had earned the title, "Father of the American Revolution" for his leadership since even before the Stamp Act in 1765.
King George was well aware of Adams' leadership in the rebellion, placing a bounty on his head and sending troops to capture him and kill him. In fact here is what the British order said as reported by the British officer in charge: "Our business was to seize a quantity of military stores and the bodies of Messrs. Hancock and Adams."
Samuel Adams suffered greatly for the cause. The British virtually destroyed his home; he had to leave his family for long periods of time and he was in continual danger of capture and death.
But Adams' faith in God and the cause of liberty were greatly needed that day in late September 1777. He spoke to his fellow congressmen, telling them "Gentlemen," he said, "your spirits appear oppressed with the weight of the public calamities."
He then told them that they could not show it to the American public. He told Congress: "Our affairs, it is said, are desperate! If this be our language, they are indeed. If we wear long faces, long faces will become fashionable. The eyes of the people are upon us."
Sam Adams knew that if Congress openly showed their fear to the people, the cause of liberty would be over. He also told them, "We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die freemen, rather than to live slaves' ... we have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause, and in heaven have we placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us."
Then he said, "In the gloomy period of adversity, we have had 'our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.' We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up... Let us still rely in humble confidence on him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive."
His confidence and faith in God convinced them.
Adams' statement also turned out to be prophetic, as it wasn't long after this that one of the most significant battles in history took place — one of the seven most important battles of all time happened after that. British General John Burgoyne was defeated by colonial forces under the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. General Washington called it a "signal stroke of Providence. The arm of Omnipotence" was evident in the victory.
Afterward, Congress approved a resolution, which included Adams' call for a national day of "Thanksgiving." But Sam Adams did not intend the day to be set aside for eating turkey and pie while watching football and parades. Instead, it was set aside for "solemn thanksgiving and praise."
Here's the way he described that praise:
"With one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor ... and that together with their sincere acknowledgments of kind offerings they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public councils of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings: independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost."
Oh my goodness, call the ACLU. Where were the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State? The PSCS? Or the NSA, the FBI or the CIA? They were nowhere at our founding. That twisted, perverted, nonsense came over 100 years later. Check the Constitution, you'll find no mention of it — zero.
What you will find is protection from the state for religion. Look up the Constitution of Massachusetts — a constitution that Sam Adams helped write. It is the world's oldest constitution, still in use. Take a look at how perverted our thinking has become on this issue.
Samuel Adams was there at the beginning. There's a reason this man is only known now for beer.
— Watch "Glenn Beck" weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel
That's what the progressives have had to do to the memory of those great men. Men who — while not perfect, certainly, men with flaws — were in fact, mostly Christian and nearly all believers.
In order to restore the country, we have to restore the men who founded it on certain principles to the rightful place in our national psyche.
I want to start with the man known at the time as "the father of the American Revolution," but now has become all but forgotten.
We start with Samuel Adams. I want to tell you a story about him with the help of a man named Stephen McDowell, a historian from the Providence Foundation.
In the first two years of the War for Independence, the Americans had seen a few successes but many more defeats. If you ever get frustrated or down in your life, remember that George Washington lost every single battle he fought for over a year during the opening stages of the war.
By 1777, prospects were grim with little hope of overall victory in the war. By September, the army had been driven out of New York and New Jersey and had lost the strategic Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.
On September 11, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in Delaware; Americans had 200 soldiers killed, 500 wounded and 400 captured. Keep in mind that Washington only had about 14,000 troops. With the defeat, his troops deserted and numbers fell to only 6,000.
Ten days later in Pennsylvania, another 300 soldiers were killed or wounded and 100 captured at the Paoli Massacre.
By now, only 20 members of the Continental Congress even remained together and they met to decide whether they should even continue the struggle for liberty or if it was now a lost cause.
One of those present was Samuel Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts who had been involved in the cause of independence from the beginning. In fact, he had earned the title, "Father of the American Revolution" for his leadership since even before the Stamp Act in 1765.
King George was well aware of Adams' leadership in the rebellion, placing a bounty on his head and sending troops to capture him and kill him. In fact here is what the British order said as reported by the British officer in charge: "Our business was to seize a quantity of military stores and the bodies of Messrs. Hancock and Adams."
Samuel Adams suffered greatly for the cause. The British virtually destroyed his home; he had to leave his family for long periods of time and he was in continual danger of capture and death.
But Adams' faith in God and the cause of liberty were greatly needed that day in late September 1777. He spoke to his fellow congressmen, telling them "Gentlemen," he said, "your spirits appear oppressed with the weight of the public calamities."
He then told them that they could not show it to the American public. He told Congress: "Our affairs, it is said, are desperate! If this be our language, they are indeed. If we wear long faces, long faces will become fashionable. The eyes of the people are upon us."
Sam Adams knew that if Congress openly showed their fear to the people, the cause of liberty would be over. He also told them, "We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die freemen, rather than to live slaves' ... we have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause, and in heaven have we placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us."
Then he said, "In the gloomy period of adversity, we have had 'our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.' We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up... Let us still rely in humble confidence on him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive."
His confidence and faith in God convinced them.
Adams' statement also turned out to be prophetic, as it wasn't long after this that one of the most significant battles in history took place — one of the seven most important battles of all time happened after that. British General John Burgoyne was defeated by colonial forces under the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. General Washington called it a "signal stroke of Providence. The arm of Omnipotence" was evident in the victory.
Afterward, Congress approved a resolution, which included Adams' call for a national day of "Thanksgiving." But Sam Adams did not intend the day to be set aside for eating turkey and pie while watching football and parades. Instead, it was set aside for "solemn thanksgiving and praise."
Here's the way he described that praise:
"With one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor ... and that together with their sincere acknowledgments of kind offerings they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public councils of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings: independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost."
Oh my goodness, call the ACLU. Where were the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State? The PSCS? Or the NSA, the FBI or the CIA? They were nowhere at our founding. That twisted, perverted, nonsense came over 100 years later. Check the Constitution, you'll find no mention of it — zero.
What you will find is protection from the state for religion. Look up the Constitution of Massachusetts — a constitution that Sam Adams helped write. It is the world's oldest constitution, still in use. Take a look at how perverted our thinking has become on this issue.
Samuel Adams was there at the beginning. There's a reason this man is only known now for beer.
— Watch "Glenn Beck" weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Obama's NASA trip
Author unknown
*The President at Space X*
*- His motorcade proceeded not far from the building where I
work. There is no picture for this historic moment in my life because
every building on the military instillation near his motorcade was put
into complete lockdown.*
*- The President then gave a 45 minute speech on his plans for
NASA at the Operations and Control building. 1,000 employees were given
paid leave to keep them out of the building the entire day. The O&C
building was in lockdown from 7 AM to 7 PM including the surrounding
parking lots.*
*- _The speech was given to persons who rec’d a White House
invitation._*
*- The President then flew out from the SLF around 3:45 PM.*
*The President came to “talk to us” about the future of NASA, but _NONE_
of “us” were at his speech. Nor were we able to even wave to him as he
drove around. Even his supporters that I work with were livid that they
could not even walk out of the building to view his motorcade at a
distance. One even stormed off from the single window facing the road he
traveled & stated that America is not free.*
*I can understand the desire for safety for our President, but this was
serious over-kill. The President was on a secure facility; surrounded by
unarmed nerds w/federally investigated backgrounds. Many of the
employees at NASA-KSC have been around since the beginning of the
shuttle program. I can honestly say that I do not believe we would have
been confined to our buildings or that entire buildings would have been
shut down for an entire day if Bush had ever visited … or any other past
President for that matter. We, as the media labeled us, truly were
hostile territory for this President.*
*The President’s speech did not tell us anything more than what we could
have read in /Florida Today/. We will still lose 8,000 jobs at just KSC
alone. He will “save” 2,000 jobs … not really. Tho, his logic is very
similar to the health care bill. We will spend (i.e. lose) 8,000 ($1
trillion dollars) jobs in order to save 2,000 jobs ($100 billion) in the
future. He is still cancelling Constellation. He is still relegating us
to the back of the bus in the space industry. We still do not have a
private industry that can send humans into space. We will give foreign
countries millions to employ their citizens in order to send our
astronauts into space.*
*He has proclaimed that he is giving us a “new” direction much like JFK
did when he proclaimed that America would go to the moon. Only, his new
direction does not have us going to the moon or Mars or even the ISS! He
wants us to find where the Easter bunny lives (i.e. Climate
Change). This is not a direction for NASA. This is the destruction of
America ’s lead in space.*
*This President spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to come & tell us
everything we already knew. He could have simply remained in D.C. &
given the same worthless speech to save everyone time &
money. Operations at KSC were shut down; some for the entire day. For
what? Well, we did learn something. When this President is around the
/“intelligent workforce that America ’s space industry cannot afford to
lose,”/ we will be locked down & prevented from seeing him.*
*This narcissistic, communistic President has betrayed America over &
over again. His reign of destruction will prove difficult to fix when he
is voted out in 2012. Are you, America, up for the challenge?*
*The President at Space X*
*- His motorcade proceeded not far from the building where I
work. There is no picture for this historic moment in my life because
every building on the military instillation near his motorcade was put
into complete lockdown.*
*- The President then gave a 45 minute speech on his plans for
NASA at the Operations and Control building. 1,000 employees were given
paid leave to keep them out of the building the entire day. The O&C
building was in lockdown from 7 AM to 7 PM including the surrounding
parking lots.*
*- _The speech was given to persons who rec’d a White House
invitation._*
*- The President then flew out from the SLF around 3:45 PM.*
*The President came to “talk to us” about the future of NASA, but _NONE_
of “us” were at his speech. Nor were we able to even wave to him as he
drove around. Even his supporters that I work with were livid that they
could not even walk out of the building to view his motorcade at a
distance. One even stormed off from the single window facing the road he
traveled & stated that America is not free.*
*I can understand the desire for safety for our President, but this was
serious over-kill. The President was on a secure facility; surrounded by
unarmed nerds w/federally investigated backgrounds. Many of the
employees at NASA-KSC have been around since the beginning of the
shuttle program. I can honestly say that I do not believe we would have
been confined to our buildings or that entire buildings would have been
shut down for an entire day if Bush had ever visited … or any other past
President for that matter. We, as the media labeled us, truly were
hostile territory for this President.*
*The President’s speech did not tell us anything more than what we could
have read in /Florida Today/. We will still lose 8,000 jobs at just KSC
alone. He will “save” 2,000 jobs … not really. Tho, his logic is very
similar to the health care bill. We will spend (i.e. lose) 8,000 ($1
trillion dollars) jobs in order to save 2,000 jobs ($100 billion) in the
future. He is still cancelling Constellation. He is still relegating us
to the back of the bus in the space industry. We still do not have a
private industry that can send humans into space. We will give foreign
countries millions to employ their citizens in order to send our
astronauts into space.*
*He has proclaimed that he is giving us a “new” direction much like JFK
did when he proclaimed that America would go to the moon. Only, his new
direction does not have us going to the moon or Mars or even the ISS! He
wants us to find where the Easter bunny lives (i.e. Climate
Change). This is not a direction for NASA. This is the destruction of
America ’s lead in space.*
*This President spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to come & tell us
everything we already knew. He could have simply remained in D.C. &
given the same worthless speech to save everyone time &
money. Operations at KSC were shut down; some for the entire day. For
what? Well, we did learn something. When this President is around the
/“intelligent workforce that America ’s space industry cannot afford to
lose,”/ we will be locked down & prevented from seeing him.*
*This narcissistic, communistic President has betrayed America over &
over again. His reign of destruction will prove difficult to fix when he
is voted out in 2012. Are you, America, up for the challenge?*
What the hell happend to REAL MEN - Borrowed from a blog I belong to - cited at the end
I've made some slight corrections where I think there were some typo-s. I hope I haven't changed what the author really intended.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Lament for the REAL MAN?
What the Hell Happened to Real Men?
When I was young it was stand up for the girl, stand up for what is right, don't back down from bullies and never hit a guy with glasses. Real men always did the right thing. They took care of their families and put food on the table.
We had role models like Mike Brady of the Brady Bunch, James Evans of Goodtimes, Steve Douglas of My Three Sons and good old Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver. On the big screen there was Stallone, Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, and of course the Duke "John Wayne". They represented the man of the time:
they worked, they fought, they were faithful and honorable. They took responsibility and had accountability.
The dads I knew went to work and loved mom. He dispensed kindness and discipline with the wisdom of Solomon. He showed you how to take responsibility, treat a woman with respect, showed compassion and kindness and was willing to fight for his beliefs.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line those ideals became outdated and antiquated to caveman proportions. Men have been force fed their feminine side. Ideals have have been replaced with "reality". "Reality" is code for shifting focus from the good to the bad. Let's face it, you watch reality shows for the train wrecks, not the triumphs.
"Reality" has become the new truth and it's perverted. Our effort to show this new "truth" men has destroyed the image of REAL MEN. We are taught that real men are narrow-minded Neanderthals incapable of being humane. They are 2 dimension throwbacks that objectify women and are prone to violence.
Real men have been taught that all violence is bad. That violence doesn't solve anything. Well, it may not solve anything, but it sure stops a lot of shit. Violence is a SOLUTION, not an ANSWER.
Real men have been forced into social sensitivity training. We have been told it's OK to cry. Listen, real men only cry at funerals, Old Yeller and when they retire from professional sports. They can shed an occasional tear, but no more than two.
In the media men are unfaithful, cheat are deadbeat and nonexistent. They have been portrayed as buffoons an inept providers. Cliff Huckstable has been replaced by Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. The new series Modern Family portrays the DADS like this: One is like an impetuous child, another is an antiquated tough guy with the proverbial wife who is 25 years younger and finally the homosexual couple who have my gay friends saying "they're a little over the top." Hell, even Spider-man and Superman developed "issues".
If left to use the mass media example of a what a real man is, my son will have 3 kids with 3 different mothers, no job and be living in my basement for the next 30 years eating nothing but peanut butter and crackers, smoking pot and playing Gears of War 15.
My daughter will learn to accept any substandard behavior because her expectations will be lowered to the point of ZERO. She will be mistreated and abused while moving from one failed relationship to another. Doesn't it bother anybody that the rate of divorce is 50%.
We have been told that marriage is unnatural and outdated. That animals are not monogamous, so how can you expect humans to be? Really, have we put our intellect on the level of the rest of the animal kingdom? People cheat and there's a high rate of divorce because the men you created are little whining maggots too concerned with their fulfillment. You have made them so sensitive that they question EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES. They are insecure, congratulations on your new inner child!
Listen, there are some people who shouldn't be together. But growing apart is....BULLSHIT!!! How can you grow apart when you live together. What happens is you get too distracted by your own world and FORGOT what you promised each other....how the hell did I wind up here?
Back on track.
The media will not help you. Time to turn off the TV and teach our kids to hold themselves to a higher standard. To be accountable and assume responsibility.
So far I have created a list of rules I am going to instill in my kids. The list is a work in progress but here goes.
For starters my son will:
1. Hold the door open for a woman
2. Pick up the check
3. Know how to protect himself
4. Stand up for what he thinks is right
5. Know that NO means NO.
6. To treat women with respect and kindness
7. To own his mistakes
8. To never kiss on the first date
9. To help the little guy in trouble
10.To play hard and by the rules
11. To know that steroids are not an acceptable performance enhancer
12. To be honest and loyal to his friends and family until given sufficient reason otherwise.
13. Never send a digital image of any body part, whatsoever.
14. Always be polite
My daughter will:
1. Never wait for a boy
2. Never do anything just because it's time or for the sake of doing it
3. Know how to protect herself
4. Know how she should be treated
5. To never pick up a check
6. To be honest and loyal to friends and family until given sufficient reason otherwise
7. Know that NO means NO.
8. To treat men with respect and honesty
9. To own her mistakes
10. To never kiss on the first date
11. To help the little guy/girl in trouble
12. To play hard and by the rules
13. Never send a digital image of any body part, whatsoever
14. Always be polite
The bar for behavior has been set so low that I don't think it even exists. Other than murder and rape, most everything is fair game. Like LtCol Slade in Scent of a Woman said "Grow up! [Today]It's fuck your buddy, cheat on your wife, call your mother on Mother's Day!"
Well not on my watch. I will not accept the "anything is good enough standard" that is set. I will not let myself or my family settle. We will strive to be a better son, daughter, friend, sister, brother and coworker. They will expect more of themselves and not at the expense of losing themselves. They will understand the virtues of a REAL MAN.
Damian Ross
The Self Defense Company
Family Safe Program
The Self Defense Training System
Posted by Damian Ross at 10:21 AM
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Lament for the REAL MAN?
What the Hell Happened to Real Men?
When I was young it was stand up for the girl, stand up for what is right, don't back down from bullies and never hit a guy with glasses. Real men always did the right thing. They took care of their families and put food on the table.
We had role models like Mike Brady of the Brady Bunch, James Evans of Goodtimes, Steve Douglas of My Three Sons and good old Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver. On the big screen there was Stallone, Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, and of course the Duke "John Wayne". They represented the man of the time:
they worked, they fought, they were faithful and honorable. They took responsibility and had accountability.
The dads I knew went to work and loved mom. He dispensed kindness and discipline with the wisdom of Solomon. He showed you how to take responsibility, treat a woman with respect, showed compassion and kindness and was willing to fight for his beliefs.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line those ideals became outdated and antiquated to caveman proportions. Men have been force fed their feminine side. Ideals have have been replaced with "reality". "Reality" is code for shifting focus from the good to the bad. Let's face it, you watch reality shows for the train wrecks, not the triumphs.
"Reality" has become the new truth and it's perverted. Our effort to show this new "truth" men has destroyed the image of REAL MEN. We are taught that real men are narrow-minded Neanderthals incapable of being humane. They are 2 dimension throwbacks that objectify women and are prone to violence.
Real men have been taught that all violence is bad. That violence doesn't solve anything. Well, it may not solve anything, but it sure stops a lot of shit. Violence is a SOLUTION, not an ANSWER.
Real men have been forced into social sensitivity training. We have been told it's OK to cry. Listen, real men only cry at funerals, Old Yeller and when they retire from professional sports. They can shed an occasional tear, but no more than two.
In the media men are unfaithful, cheat are deadbeat and nonexistent. They have been portrayed as buffoons an inept providers. Cliff Huckstable has been replaced by Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. The new series Modern Family portrays the DADS like this: One is like an impetuous child, another is an antiquated tough guy with the proverbial wife who is 25 years younger and finally the homosexual couple who have my gay friends saying "they're a little over the top." Hell, even Spider-man and Superman developed "issues".
If left to use the mass media example of a what a real man is, my son will have 3 kids with 3 different mothers, no job and be living in my basement for the next 30 years eating nothing but peanut butter and crackers, smoking pot and playing Gears of War 15.
My daughter will learn to accept any substandard behavior because her expectations will be lowered to the point of ZERO. She will be mistreated and abused while moving from one failed relationship to another. Doesn't it bother anybody that the rate of divorce is 50%.
We have been told that marriage is unnatural and outdated. That animals are not monogamous, so how can you expect humans to be? Really, have we put our intellect on the level of the rest of the animal kingdom? People cheat and there's a high rate of divorce because the men you created are little whining maggots too concerned with their fulfillment. You have made them so sensitive that they question EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES. They are insecure, congratulations on your new inner child!
Listen, there are some people who shouldn't be together. But growing apart is....BULLSHIT!!! How can you grow apart when you live together. What happens is you get too distracted by your own world and FORGOT what you promised each other....how the hell did I wind up here?
Back on track.
The media will not help you. Time to turn off the TV and teach our kids to hold themselves to a higher standard. To be accountable and assume responsibility.
So far I have created a list of rules I am going to instill in my kids. The list is a work in progress but here goes.
For starters my son will:
1. Hold the door open for a woman
2. Pick up the check
3. Know how to protect himself
4. Stand up for what he thinks is right
5. Know that NO means NO.
6. To treat women with respect and kindness
7. To own his mistakes
8. To never kiss on the first date
9. To help the little guy in trouble
10.To play hard and by the rules
11. To know that steroids are not an acceptable performance enhancer
12. To be honest and loyal to his friends and family until given sufficient reason otherwise.
13. Never send a digital image of any body part, whatsoever.
14. Always be polite
My daughter will:
1. Never wait for a boy
2. Never do anything just because it's time or for the sake of doing it
3. Know how to protect herself
4. Know how she should be treated
5. To never pick up a check
6. To be honest and loyal to friends and family until given sufficient reason otherwise
7. Know that NO means NO.
8. To treat men with respect and honesty
9. To own her mistakes
10. To never kiss on the first date
11. To help the little guy/girl in trouble
12. To play hard and by the rules
13. Never send a digital image of any body part, whatsoever
14. Always be polite
The bar for behavior has been set so low that I don't think it even exists. Other than murder and rape, most everything is fair game. Like LtCol Slade in Scent of a Woman said "Grow up! [Today]It's fuck your buddy, cheat on your wife, call your mother on Mother's Day!"
Well not on my watch. I will not accept the "anything is good enough standard" that is set. I will not let myself or my family settle. We will strive to be a better son, daughter, friend, sister, brother and coworker. They will expect more of themselves and not at the expense of losing themselves. They will understand the virtues of a REAL MAN.
Damian Ross
The Self Defense Company
Family Safe Program
The Self Defense Training System
Posted by Damian Ross at 10:21 AM
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The History human policital development
For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version:
Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.
Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history:
It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.
A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to piss them off.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self.....I'm going to have another beer.
Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.
Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history:
It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.
A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to piss them off.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self.....I'm going to have another beer.
Only in Texas
Just read today where Governor Rick Perry was out with his dog and using the pistol he carries lawfully under his concealed weapons permit he shot and killed a coyote that was coming after the dog. What a problem for the liberals. Guns bad, no he used for protection. Animal rights, well what about the dog's rights....
Way to go Rick. I didn't vote for you in the Primary but I will next fall.
Way to go Rick. I didn't vote for you in the Primary but I will next fall.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Islam, taking over one American school at a time
With fatal terrorist attacks on the decline worldwide and al Qaeda apparently in disarray, it would seem a time for optimism in the global war on terrorism. But the war has simply shifted to a different arena. Islamists, or those who believe that Islam is a political and religious system that must dominate all others, are focusing less on the military and more on the ideological. It turns out that Western liberal democracies can be subverted without firing a shot.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the educational realm. Islamists have taken what's come to be known as the "soft jihad" into America's classrooms and children in K-12 are the first casualties. Whether it is textbooks, curriculum, classroom exercises, film screenings, speakers or teacher training, public education in America is under assault.
Capitalizing on the post-9/11 demand for Arabic instruction, some public, charter and voucher-funded private schools are inappropriately using taxpayer dollars to implement a religious curriculum. They are also bringing in outside speakers with Islamist ties or sympathies. As a result, not only are children receiving a biased education, but possible violations of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause abound. Consider the following cases:
•Last month, students at Friendswood Junior High in Houston were required to attend an "Islamic Awareness" presentation during class time allotted for physical education. The presentation involved two representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization with a record of Islamist statements and terrorism convictions. According to students, they were taught that "there is one God, his name is Allah" and that "Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets." Students were also taught about the Five Pillars of Islam and how to pray five times a day and wear Islamic religious garb. Parents were not notified about the presentation and it wasn't until a number of complaints arose that school officials responded with an apologetic e-mail.
•Earlier this year at Lake Brantley High School in Seminole County, Fla., speakers from the Academy for Learning Islam gave a presentation to students about "cultural diversity" that extended to a detailed discussion of the Quran and Islam. The school neither screened the ALI speakers nor notified parents. After a number of complaints, local media coverage and a subsequent investigation, the school district apologized for the inappropriate presentation, admitting that it violated the law. Subsequently, ALI was removed from the Seminole County school system's Dividends and Speaker's Bureau.
•As reported by the Cabinet Press, a school project last year at Amherst Middle School transformed "the quaint colonial town of Amherst, N.H., into a Saudi Arabian Bedouin tent community." Male and female students were segregated, with the girls hosting "hijab and veil stations" and handing out the oppressive head-to-toe black garment known as the abaya to female guests. Meanwhile, the boys hosted food and Arabic dancing stations because, as explained in the article, "the traditions of Saudi Arabia at this time prevent women from participating in these public roles." An "Islamic religion station" offered up a prayer rug, verses from the Quran, prayer items and a compass pointed towards Mecca. The fact that female subjugation was presented as a benign cultural practice and Islamic religious rituals were promoted with public funds is cause for concern.
•Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., came under recent scrutiny after Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten brought to light concerns about public funding for its overtly religious curriculum. The school is housed in the Muslim American Society's (the American branch of the Egyptian Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood) Minnesota building, alongside a mosque, and the daily routine includes prayer, ritual washing, halal food preparation and an after-school "Islamic studies" program. Kersten's columns prompted the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to issue a press release expressing its own reservations about potential First Amendment violations. An investigation initiated by the Minnesota Department of Education verified several of Kersten's allegations and the school has since promised to make the appropriate changes. In a bizarre twist, when a local television news crew tried to report on the findings from school grounds, school officials confronted them and wrestled a camera away from one of its photographers, injuring him in the process.
•The controversy surrounding the founding of New York City's Arabic language public school, Khalil Gibran International Academy, last year continues. Former principal Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser was asked to step down after publicly defending T-shirts produced by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, an organization with whom she shared office space, emblazoned with "Intifada NYC." But KGIA has other troublesome associations. Its advisory board includes three imams, one of whom, New York University Imam Khalid Latif, sent a threatening letter to the university's president regarding a planned display of the Danish cartoons. Another, Shamsi Ali, runs the Jamaica Muslim Center Quranic Memorization School in Queens, a replica of the type of Pakistani madrassa (or school) counter-terrorism officials have been warning about since 9/11. Accordingly, several parents founded Stop the Madrassa: A Community Coalition to voice their contention that KGIA is an inappropriate candidate for taxpayer funding.
Equally problematic are the textbooks used in American public schools to teach Islam or Islamic history. Organizations such as Southern California's Council on Islamic Education and Arabic World and Islamic Resources are tasked with screening and editing these textbooks for public school districts, but questions have been raised about the groups' scholarship and ideological agenda. The American Textbook Council, an organization that reviews history and social studies textbooks used in American schools, and its director, Gilbert T. Sewall, have produced a series of articles and reports on Islam textbooks and the findings are damning. They include textbooks that are factually inaccurate, misrepresent and in some cases, glorify Islam, or are hostile to other religions. While teaching students about Islam within a religious studies context may be appropriate, the purpose becomes suspect when the texts involved are compromised in this manner.
Such are the complaints about "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond," a textbook published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, to the point where parents in the Scottsdale, Ariz., school district succeeded in having it removed from the curriculum in 2005. TCI is based in Mountain View, and the textbook is now being used in the state's public schools, where similar concerns have arisen. A Marin County mother whose son has been assigned "History Alive!" has been trying to mount an effort to call school officials' attention to the problem. Similarly, a San Luis Obispo mother filed an official complaint several years ago with her son's school authorities over the use of Houghton Mifflin's middle school text, "Across the Centuries," which has been widely criticized for whitewashing Islamic history and glorifying Islam. Its inclusion in the Montgomery County, Md. public school curriculum among other districts across the country, could lead to further objections.
But the forces in opposition are powerful and plenty. They include public education bureaucrats and teachers mired in naivete and political correctness, biased textbook publishers, politicized professors and other experts tasked with helping states approve textbooks, and at the top of the heap, billions of dollars in Saudi funding. These funds are pouring into the coffers of various organs that design K-12 curricula. The resultant material, not coincidentally, turns out to be inaccurate, biased and, considering the Wahhabist strain of Islam promulgated by Saudi Arabia, dangerous. And again, taxpayer dollars are involved. National Review Online contributing editor Stanley Kurtz explains :
"The United States government gives money — and a federal seal of approval — to a university Middle East Studies center. That center offers a government-approved K-12 Middle East studies curriculum to America's teachers. But in fact, that curriculum has been bought and paid for by the Saudis, who may even have trained the personnel who operate the university's outreach program. Meanwhile, the American government is asleep at the wheel — paying scant attention to how its federally mandated public outreach programs actually work. So without ever realizing it, America's taxpayers end up subsidizing — and providing official federal approval for — K-12 educational materials on the Middle East that have been created under Saudi auspices. Game, set, match: Saudis."
Along with funding textbooks and curricula, the Saudis are also involved in funding and designing training for public school teachers. The Saudi funded Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University now offers professional development workshops for K-12 teachers. The workshops take place at the hosting institution and provide teachers with classroom material. They are free of charge and ACMCU throws in lunch to boot.
But this generosity likely comes with a catch, for the center is known for producing scholars and material with a decidedly apologist bent, both toward the Saudi Royal Family and Islamic radicalism. It's no accident that ACMCU education consultant Susan Douglass, according to her bio, has been "an affiliated scholar" with the Council on Islamic Education "for over a decade." Douglass also taught social studies at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax, Va., where her husband still teaches. ISA has come under investigation for Saudi-provided textbooks and curriculum that some have alleged promotes hatred and intolerance towards non-Muslims. That someone with Douglass' problematic associations would be in charge of training public school teachers hardly inspires confidence in the system.
While groups such as People for the American Way, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the ACLU express outrage at any semblance of Christianity in America's public schools, very little clamor has met the emergence of Islam in the same arena. An occasional press release, such as the one put out by the Minnesota chapter of the ACLU regarding TIZA, will surface, but by and large, the arbiters of separation of church and state or in this case, mosque and state, have gone silent. The same can largely be said for the federal government and, in particular, the State Department. No doubt, Saudi dollars and influence are part of the problem.
Probably the single greatest weapon in the arsenal of those trying to fight the misuse of America's public schools is community involvement. As noted previously, a number of parental coalitions have sprung up across the country in an effort to protect their own children from indoctrination. The Stop the Madrassa Coalition has expanded its efforts beyond New York City by working on policy ideas for legislation and meeting privately with members of Congress. Also providing hope are Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), whose 10-point "Wake Up America" agenda includes a call to reform Saudi-provided textbooks, and the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus she co-chairs. Its focus on "jihadist ideology" demonstrates an all-too-rare governmental understanding of the nature of the current conflict.
The power to educate the next generation is an inestimable one and a free society cedes control at its peril. The days of the "silent majority" are no longer tenable in the face of a determined and clever enemy. The battle of ideas must be joined.
Cinnamon Stillwell is a San Francisco writer. She can be reached at cinnamonstillwell@yahoo.com. She also writes for the blog at campus-watch.org.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/06/11/cstillwell.DTL#ixzz13oJ03KiV
Nowhere is this more evident than in the educational realm. Islamists have taken what's come to be known as the "soft jihad" into America's classrooms and children in K-12 are the first casualties. Whether it is textbooks, curriculum, classroom exercises, film screenings, speakers or teacher training, public education in America is under assault.
Capitalizing on the post-9/11 demand for Arabic instruction, some public, charter and voucher-funded private schools are inappropriately using taxpayer dollars to implement a religious curriculum. They are also bringing in outside speakers with Islamist ties or sympathies. As a result, not only are children receiving a biased education, but possible violations of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause abound. Consider the following cases:
•Last month, students at Friendswood Junior High in Houston were required to attend an "Islamic Awareness" presentation during class time allotted for physical education. The presentation involved two representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization with a record of Islamist statements and terrorism convictions. According to students, they were taught that "there is one God, his name is Allah" and that "Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets." Students were also taught about the Five Pillars of Islam and how to pray five times a day and wear Islamic religious garb. Parents were not notified about the presentation and it wasn't until a number of complaints arose that school officials responded with an apologetic e-mail.
•Earlier this year at Lake Brantley High School in Seminole County, Fla., speakers from the Academy for Learning Islam gave a presentation to students about "cultural diversity" that extended to a detailed discussion of the Quran and Islam. The school neither screened the ALI speakers nor notified parents. After a number of complaints, local media coverage and a subsequent investigation, the school district apologized for the inappropriate presentation, admitting that it violated the law. Subsequently, ALI was removed from the Seminole County school system's Dividends and Speaker's Bureau.
•As reported by the Cabinet Press, a school project last year at Amherst Middle School transformed "the quaint colonial town of Amherst, N.H., into a Saudi Arabian Bedouin tent community." Male and female students were segregated, with the girls hosting "hijab and veil stations" and handing out the oppressive head-to-toe black garment known as the abaya to female guests. Meanwhile, the boys hosted food and Arabic dancing stations because, as explained in the article, "the traditions of Saudi Arabia at this time prevent women from participating in these public roles." An "Islamic religion station" offered up a prayer rug, verses from the Quran, prayer items and a compass pointed towards Mecca. The fact that female subjugation was presented as a benign cultural practice and Islamic religious rituals were promoted with public funds is cause for concern.
•Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., came under recent scrutiny after Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten brought to light concerns about public funding for its overtly religious curriculum. The school is housed in the Muslim American Society's (the American branch of the Egyptian Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood) Minnesota building, alongside a mosque, and the daily routine includes prayer, ritual washing, halal food preparation and an after-school "Islamic studies" program. Kersten's columns prompted the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to issue a press release expressing its own reservations about potential First Amendment violations. An investigation initiated by the Minnesota Department of Education verified several of Kersten's allegations and the school has since promised to make the appropriate changes. In a bizarre twist, when a local television news crew tried to report on the findings from school grounds, school officials confronted them and wrestled a camera away from one of its photographers, injuring him in the process.
•The controversy surrounding the founding of New York City's Arabic language public school, Khalil Gibran International Academy, last year continues. Former principal Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser was asked to step down after publicly defending T-shirts produced by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, an organization with whom she shared office space, emblazoned with "Intifada NYC." But KGIA has other troublesome associations. Its advisory board includes three imams, one of whom, New York University Imam Khalid Latif, sent a threatening letter to the university's president regarding a planned display of the Danish cartoons. Another, Shamsi Ali, runs the Jamaica Muslim Center Quranic Memorization School in Queens, a replica of the type of Pakistani madrassa (or school) counter-terrorism officials have been warning about since 9/11. Accordingly, several parents founded Stop the Madrassa: A Community Coalition to voice their contention that KGIA is an inappropriate candidate for taxpayer funding.
Equally problematic are the textbooks used in American public schools to teach Islam or Islamic history. Organizations such as Southern California's Council on Islamic Education and Arabic World and Islamic Resources are tasked with screening and editing these textbooks for public school districts, but questions have been raised about the groups' scholarship and ideological agenda. The American Textbook Council, an organization that reviews history and social studies textbooks used in American schools, and its director, Gilbert T. Sewall, have produced a series of articles and reports on Islam textbooks and the findings are damning. They include textbooks that are factually inaccurate, misrepresent and in some cases, glorify Islam, or are hostile to other religions. While teaching students about Islam within a religious studies context may be appropriate, the purpose becomes suspect when the texts involved are compromised in this manner.
Such are the complaints about "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond," a textbook published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, to the point where parents in the Scottsdale, Ariz., school district succeeded in having it removed from the curriculum in 2005. TCI is based in Mountain View, and the textbook is now being used in the state's public schools, where similar concerns have arisen. A Marin County mother whose son has been assigned "History Alive!" has been trying to mount an effort to call school officials' attention to the problem. Similarly, a San Luis Obispo mother filed an official complaint several years ago with her son's school authorities over the use of Houghton Mifflin's middle school text, "Across the Centuries," which has been widely criticized for whitewashing Islamic history and glorifying Islam. Its inclusion in the Montgomery County, Md. public school curriculum among other districts across the country, could lead to further objections.
But the forces in opposition are powerful and plenty. They include public education bureaucrats and teachers mired in naivete and political correctness, biased textbook publishers, politicized professors and other experts tasked with helping states approve textbooks, and at the top of the heap, billions of dollars in Saudi funding. These funds are pouring into the coffers of various organs that design K-12 curricula. The resultant material, not coincidentally, turns out to be inaccurate, biased and, considering the Wahhabist strain of Islam promulgated by Saudi Arabia, dangerous. And again, taxpayer dollars are involved. National Review Online contributing editor Stanley Kurtz explains :
"The United States government gives money — and a federal seal of approval — to a university Middle East Studies center. That center offers a government-approved K-12 Middle East studies curriculum to America's teachers. But in fact, that curriculum has been bought and paid for by the Saudis, who may even have trained the personnel who operate the university's outreach program. Meanwhile, the American government is asleep at the wheel — paying scant attention to how its federally mandated public outreach programs actually work. So without ever realizing it, America's taxpayers end up subsidizing — and providing official federal approval for — K-12 educational materials on the Middle East that have been created under Saudi auspices. Game, set, match: Saudis."
Along with funding textbooks and curricula, the Saudis are also involved in funding and designing training for public school teachers. The Saudi funded Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University now offers professional development workshops for K-12 teachers. The workshops take place at the hosting institution and provide teachers with classroom material. They are free of charge and ACMCU throws in lunch to boot.
But this generosity likely comes with a catch, for the center is known for producing scholars and material with a decidedly apologist bent, both toward the Saudi Royal Family and Islamic radicalism. It's no accident that ACMCU education consultant Susan Douglass, according to her bio, has been "an affiliated scholar" with the Council on Islamic Education "for over a decade." Douglass also taught social studies at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax, Va., where her husband still teaches. ISA has come under investigation for Saudi-provided textbooks and curriculum that some have alleged promotes hatred and intolerance towards non-Muslims. That someone with Douglass' problematic associations would be in charge of training public school teachers hardly inspires confidence in the system.
While groups such as People for the American Way, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the ACLU express outrage at any semblance of Christianity in America's public schools, very little clamor has met the emergence of Islam in the same arena. An occasional press release, such as the one put out by the Minnesota chapter of the ACLU regarding TIZA, will surface, but by and large, the arbiters of separation of church and state or in this case, mosque and state, have gone silent. The same can largely be said for the federal government and, in particular, the State Department. No doubt, Saudi dollars and influence are part of the problem.
Probably the single greatest weapon in the arsenal of those trying to fight the misuse of America's public schools is community involvement. As noted previously, a number of parental coalitions have sprung up across the country in an effort to protect their own children from indoctrination. The Stop the Madrassa Coalition has expanded its efforts beyond New York City by working on policy ideas for legislation and meeting privately with members of Congress. Also providing hope are Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), whose 10-point "Wake Up America" agenda includes a call to reform Saudi-provided textbooks, and the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus she co-chairs. Its focus on "jihadist ideology" demonstrates an all-too-rare governmental understanding of the nature of the current conflict.
The power to educate the next generation is an inestimable one and a free society cedes control at its peril. The days of the "silent majority" are no longer tenable in the face of a determined and clever enemy. The battle of ideas must be joined.
Cinnamon Stillwell is a San Francisco writer. She can be reached at cinnamonstillwell@yahoo.com. She also writes for the blog at campus-watch.org.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/06/11/cstillwell.DTL#ixzz13oJ03KiV
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