Say Anything Blog

A northern Kentucky man is in jail today – serving a 180-day sentence – because his 18-year-old daughter failed a math test and didn’t get her General Equivalency Diploma, or GED, as a previous court order required.

Brittany Gegner, the daughter, says if anyone should be jailed, it should be her. “It’s like I should, if anybody should be punished for this,” Brittany told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. “I would way rather me go to jail than my dad.”

Even Brian Gegner’s ex-wife agrees the judge’s decision is absurd. “They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody,” said Brittany’s mother Shana Roach. “Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that’s why he’s being punished. But I don’t understand the punishment altogether because she’s going to school, she’s been going for four months. The only thing that’s holding her back is she can’t pass her math test.”

Is it right for one person to be punished for the failures of another person, in this case for an adult? Is it right for the State to require, punishable by law, that a person graduate from High School? Is it right to punish her father when the girl is still studying to pass her the math portion of the GED test? Is this even Constitutional?

For the rest of the story, go to:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64055

A country legend died today just days short of his 90th birthday. He is more of my generation, but he was unfailingly kind, a real gentleman, he was married to one woman for a lifetime. Although, while he was still quite popular his wife was middle aged, with middle-aged spread, with grey hair and yet he still loved her deeply and I admired him as much for that as well as his music.

As I get older more of my family members and friends pass away and more of the people I admired, like Arnold, pass away and are not even known by most of the people alive today. That’s too bad, Arnold was worth knowing.

I have been raised to believe there is good in everyone, even if it is very hard to find; and that no matter what bad deeds we may have done, God offers His Redemption to all that by faith turn in Repentance to Him and accepts His Salvation; but, even I have a very hard time thinking there is any good in this guy or chance of Redemption, as he seems to me like evil personified. This is a follow-up to a story posted here before:

Fritzl kept sex slave daughter chained up with a dog lead in the dungeon that SHE helped to build

Fritzl - A truly evil man!

Elisabeth Fritzl was forced to help build the dungeon where she was kept by her sadistic father Josef, it emerged yesterday.

For the first nine months of her 24 years in captivity, she was also tethered with a 5ft dog leash around her neck to prevent her escape. Elisabeth, now 42, had been sexually abused by her father since the age of 11.

She ran away from home at the age of 16 but was dragged back by Fritzl and locked up when he suspected she was planning to leave again. For the first nine years, he imprisoned her in a grim 15ft by 15ft box room which had a makeshift toilet in one corner.

She told police that Fritzl forced her to help drag a 600lb concrete and steel door into position to seal the dungeon. It was only when it was in place that she discovered she had helped to build her own prison.

Elizabeth, age Nine

When Fritzl was not molesting, raping and tormenting his daughter, it is said he would go to Thailand and have sex with little boys. Of course, his wife says she knew nothing about it all, which means she is either a complete moron or a damnable, cowardly liar.

Elizabeth was a lovely, innocent looking young lady once.

Police want to see him die in prison but under the country’s law the maximum sentence - even for double murder - is 15 years. That can be reduced to ten for good behaviour. So far Fritzl is facing charges of rape, incest and kidnap.

Prosecutors also want to see him charged with murder following the death of his and Elisabeth’s three-day-old child 12 years ago. And if Kerstin - who is suffering from multiple organ failure - dies, he could face another murder charge because of the delay seeking medical treatment.

Detective Inspector Polzer said: “We want to see this man die in prison. It will take a lot longer than ten years for his victims to recover from what he put them through. “The man is evil beyond words. The misery he has inflicted on his family is unimaginable.” But Fritzl’s lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said: “In my personal opinion, Josef Fritzl is mentally ill and therefore not responsible for his actions.”

Elisabeth has been making secret visits to Kerstin’s hospital bedside, praying she will recover. But, local priest Franz Halbartschlager, who was called in to perform the last rites on the sick teenager soon after she arrived in hospital, said Kerstin was ‘pale and thin’.

‘She was in a coma between life and death,’ he said after his visit last month. “I prayed for her.” Rosemarie’s sister Christine said that the family was struggling to comprehend what had happened. She added: “My sister is doing very badly and Elisabeth is not in the best shape either.

Was he mentally ill? Yes! Was he possessed by an evil beyond his control? Maybe! But, no matter how he is punished, his victims are beyond hope of ever recapturing what they lost or of ever living a normal life.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=563912&in_page_id=1770

Two articles appeared at WND today, which highlights how the Homosexual Movement is antagonistic towards any one that holds any views on homosexuality contrary to their own narrow views. I should also point out that Liberals in general hate Free Speech unless it is Liberal Speech, unless it is liberal speech they have nothing but contempt for the First Amendement.

Lesbians riot at Smith College speech
‘This is no civil rights movement, but a sexual special interest lobby’

Lesbian With Frying Pan

Rioting lesbians have stormed a speech by “Born Gay Hoax” author Ryan Sorba on the campus of Smith College in Massachusetts, shutting down his address, according to two major pro-family organizations, Americans for Truth and Mass Resistance.

“Beware lesbians with frying pans (if you care about free speech),” AFT said in his announcement. “Lesbian activists at Smith College just couldn’t stand by and let a young critic explain his views about the supposed innateness of homosexuality – so they stormed Ryan Sorba’s speech on the ‘Born Gay Hoax’ and forced him to end it prematurely.”

“Thus they decided for everyone in the room – supporters, foes, the curious and the undecided – whether Sorba’s arguments would be heard. Stalin would be proud,” said AFT’s Peter LaBarbera.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63208

‘Gays’ shut down discussion of faith
Psychiatrists pull symposium on ‘The Religious Dimension’

Throckmorton

A discussion on religion, homosexuality and therapy that had been scheduled during the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Washington has been shut down following an attack by a “gay” publication on some of the people planning to participate.

The symposium called “Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religion Dimension,” had been in the plans for months at the APA convention in Washington, and was to feature advocates for homosexuality including New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal church and was to be moderated by Harvard psychiatrist John Peteet.

Others scheduled to be on the podium included Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton, who has studied related issues intensively, and Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

But the event, scheduled Monday, has been yanked from the schedule, according to the APA, because of the “misinformation and rhetoric” that was circulating about the issue.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63198

FYI: I have not verified all of this, but I think it is worthy of your attention.

In her senior thesis at Princeton, Michele Obama, the wife of Barack Obama stated that America was a nation founded on “crime and hatred”. Moreover, she stated that whites in America were “ineradicably racist”.

The 1985 thesis, titled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community” was written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson. Michelle Obama stated in her thesis that to “Whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, she will always be Black first” However, it was reported by a fellow black classmate, “If those “Whites at Princeton “ really saw Michelle as one who always would “be Black first,” it seems that she gave them that impression”.

Most alarming is Michele Obama’s use of the terms “separationist” and “integrationist” when describing the views of black people. Mrs. Obama clearly identifies herself with a “separationist” view of race. “By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desperation of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to their plight.”

Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her “further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant.” Michele Obama clearly has a chip on her shoulder. Not only does she see separate black and white societies in America, but she elevates black over white in her world.

Here is another passage that is uncomfortable and ominous in meaning: “There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit the black community first and foremost.” What is Michelle Obama planning to do with her future resources if she’s first lady that will elevate black over white in America?

The following passage appears to be a call to arms for affirmative action policies that could be the hallmark of an Obama administration.
“Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments.”

The conclusion of her thesis is alarming. Michelle Obama’s poll of black alumni concludes that other black students at Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin. “I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.”

Is it no wonder that most black alumni ignored her racist questionnaire? Only 89 students responded out of 400 who were asked for input.
Michelle Obama does not look into a crowd of Obama supporters and see Americans. She sees black people and white people eternally conflicted with one another. The thesis provides a trove of Mrs. Obama’s thoughts and world view seen through a race-based prism. This is a very divisive view for a potential first lady that would do untold damage to race relations in this country in a Barack Obama administration.

Michelle Obama’s intellectually refined racism should give all Americans pause for deep concern. Now maybe she’s changed, but she sure sounds like someone with an axe to grind with America. Will the press let Michelle get a free pass over her obviously racist comment about American whites? I am sure that it will.  But it shouldn’t.
.

In her senior thesis at Princeton, Michele Obama, the wife of Barack Obama stated that America was a nation founded on “crime and hatred”. Moreover, she stated that whites in America were “ineradicably racist”.  The 1985 thesis, titled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community” was written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson.
Michelle Obama stated in her thesis that to “Whites at Princeton , it often seems as if, to them, she will always be Black first...” However, it was reported by a fellow black classmate, “If those “Whites at Princeton “ really saw Michelle as one who always would “be Black first,” it seems that she gave them that impression”.
Most alarming is Michele Obama’s use of the terms “separationist” and “integrationist” when describing the views of black people.
Mrs. Obama clearly identifies herself with a “separationist” view of race.
“By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desperation of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to their plight.”
Obama writes that the path she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her “further integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant.”
Michele Obama clearly has a chip on her shoulder.
Not only does she see separate black and white societies in America , but she elevates black over white in her world.

Here is another passage that is uncomfortable and ominous in meaning:
“There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit the black community first and foremost. “
What is Michelle Obama planning to do with her future resources if she’s first lady that will elevate black over white in America ?
The following passage appears to be a call to arms for affirmative action policies that could be the hallmark of an Obama administration.
“Predominately white universities like Princeton are socially and academically designed to cater to the needs of the white students comprising the bulk of their enrollments.”

The conclusion of her thesis is alarming. Michelle Obama’s poll of black alumni concludes that other black students at Princeton do not share her obsession with blackness. But rather than celebrate, she is horrified that black alumni identify with our common American culture more than they value the color of their skin. “I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility.”

Is it no wonder that most black alumni ignored her racist questionnaire? Only 89 students responded out of 400 who were asked for input.
Michelle Obama does not look into a crowd of Obama supporters and see Americans. She sees black people and white people eternally conflicted with one another. The thesis provides a trove of Mrs. Obama’s thoughts and world view seen through a race-based prism. This is a very divisive view for a potential first lady that would do untold damage to race relations in this country in a Barack Obama administration.

Michelle Obama’s intellectually refined racism should give all Americans pause for deep concern. Now maybe she’s changed, but she sure sounds like someone with an axe to grind with America. Will the press let Michelle get a free pass over her obviously racist comment about American whites?  I am sure that it will.  But it shouldn’t.

PS: We paid for her scholarship

This needs to be said!

THIS QUAKER LADY’S LETTER TO MARINES SHOULD BE READ BY ALL AMERICANS. THE MARINES ARE COVERING YOUR BACKS! SEMPER FIDELIS!

“Dear Marines,

I worked nights as a waitress, paying my way through college, in Honolulu during the early 1980’s. Between work and school, I didn’t have much time to meet other people, and my family
was thousands of miles away. Several Marines frequented the bar, and one GySgt. of a Marine sniper platoon, Larry Hatfield, sensed my shyness and invited me to participate in a lot of Marine recreational events.

We became close friends, but I could never understandhow a person could look through a scope and willingly kill another human being. As a Quaker, the very concept of a sniper troubled me. I was raised that killing is always wrong - period. I often told him, and the other guys in the sniper platoon, my opinion on this. They usually remained silent on the subject.

As time went by, I lost contact with the Marines I knew from that sniper platoon, but I was privileged, later on, to be invited to
produce tours as a volunteer (USO/AFE) for Marines on various bases overseas. Those of you who have met USO/AFE entertainers know that we are nowhere near the combat zones, and are in fact well-insulated from the horrors of war.

We have fun entertaining you; we love eating with you at the mess halls or sitting out in the dirt and hearing your crazy jokes; we do our handshake tours of hospitals and PR tents and feel good and then are lucky enough to go home while you stay behind. But Iraq was different. For the first time I found myself weeping at night after I came back from doing handshake tours. I couldn’t adopt the USO maxim of looking the Marines in the eyes and shaking hands on the hospital tours, because there were teenage Marines with no hands and no eyes. A bomb at a well while I was there on my last tour left 200 women and children dead or injured at the hands of their own countrymen.

The image of a Marine, badly wounded, struggling to carry a small 3 year old girl to safety is forever seared in my mind.

I wondered - a lot - about the kind of sacrifice that it takes for a person to volunteer in the Corps and experience this kind of tragedy on a regular basis.

Iraqi women refugees would tell me, through translators, about how the Kurdish women would throw their infants from trucks on their way to being executed by Saddam Hussein in the hope that strangers would raise the soon-to-be-orphaned children, and how often it was only the U.S. Marines and military units who would help them get medical care if they did survive the terrors inflicted upon them.

This is what I have learned about war and the Marines: that I have never seen a U.S. senator cry while telling me about holding a dying friend in his/her arms, and there’s precious few senators who come home from work missing a leg or two.

That I have never heard a U.S. congressman tell me what it’s like to pass out soccer balls and writing paper to children who have been denied an education since birth.

That I have never heard any politician or corporate leader describe to me, as one Marine did after a show, that she wanted a better life for her child back home but wanted better lives
for the children of Iraq, too.

Marines are living - and sometimes dying - for democracy, not just talking about it for the CNN cameras. They do their jobs, and come home, quietly, to go back to farming in Iowa or driving trucks in Kentucky, and, for the most part, don’t talk about it.

And God knows we civilians don’t get an accurate picture back home of what is going on. I still think killing is wrong, but I have come to understand that sometimes it is necessary and that lack of intervention, especially in humanitarian missions in oppressed nations,
is tantamount to pulling the trigger on innocent civilians who only want what we want: a safe home for their children and food on the table and the right to be who they are.

I’m not naive enough to think that most of our political leaders go to war for compassion
(I think most of them want to protect corporate interests),but I do believe, from knowing the Marines I have been lucky enough to know, that Marines act from compassion, decency, and with hearts bigger than most people will ever experience.

I understand now that a sniper - or any Marine, in any job supporting the ideals of the Corps - does what he or she does because the Constitution of the United States is not some remote piece of paper; the idea of freedom is real to a Marine.

As one young lance corporal told me, as he guarded us during a show set-up in a particularly volatile area (after our show had been cancelled the day before because terrorists had blown up
another 27 children nearby), “Don’t worry - we got your back.”

It shames me to think that I had to leave my country on these tours in order to understand what precious gifts I have as an American,
that every day, somewhere in the world, a Marine is watching my back. I never considered that a sniper, or any Marine, may be asked to kill in order to save innocent lives but now I understand.

So to all of you Marines out there, please accept this heartfelt thanks for what you do. To the guys from the sniper platoon in Kaneohe - this is a late apology for questioning you, and a thank you for what you have taught me, but I hope some of you read this. In our American culture,
we don’t talk much about being noble, decent, loyal and honorable.

I have yet to meet a Marine who did not possess all of those qualities. You are the big kids in high school who didn’t let the bullies hurt the little kids. If you are reading this from Afghanistan or Iraq or Camp Lejeune; if you are reading this from a V.A. facility; if you are reading this from your home, know this: that what you do is important. When you are feeling weary and discouraged, remember that there are people in the world living in freedom because of you.
Not only the refugees from war - but me, too.

Sincerely,
Laura Minor

Semper Fidelis”

UK and world facing the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, says IMF
By ALEX BRUMMER - More by this author »

The world is facing the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, warns the International Monetary Fund. In its most startling report of modern times, it says the meltdown “has inflicted heavy damage on markets and the financial institutions at the core of the financial system”.

For the first time the IMF predicts that the American economy is heading for recession and will shrink by 0.7 per cent this year, sending shock waves across the globe. Despite healthy growth in the Far East, it now believes there is a 25 per cent chance that the whole world could follow the Americans into recession.

“The financial markets crisis that erupted in August 2007 has developed into the largest financial shock since the Great Depression,” the report says. It estimates that the losses from American mortgages will reach $945billion (£500billion) - more than twice previous estimates. The U.S. housing collapse is far from over, with the fund economists expecting a further 10 per cent decline in 2008, on top of a similar fall in prices in the previous years.

Such declines, it believes, are way beyond anything seen in the previous American experience. The apocalyptic language used by the fund is highly unusual and reflects an unprecedented concern about the impact of the credit crunch which has prevented banks from borrowing in the wholesale money markets, making it all but impossible to fund new mortgage lending on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Britain, the IMF warns that the “housing correction will continue to impact on consumers” and “be a drag on the economy”. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558297&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Spanking apparently is headed for another swatting in the California Legislature, as Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, has reintroduced a proposal to effectively ban such discipline, even by parents, according to the Capitol Resource Family Impact organization.

“Last session this same bill received national attention because of its assault on parents rights to discipline their children,” said Karen England, executive director with the group. “We succeeded in stopping the bill because parents were so outraged that an arrogant lawmaker thinks she knows better than parents how to raise their children.”

Last year’s plan as AB755, and this year’s, AB 2943, is virtually the same, England said.

“According to AB 2943, a parent who spanks their child would be placed on probation for a minimum of four years, and would be forced to attend a ‘nonviolent parental education class’ and the child would receive a criminal court protective order ‘protecting the victim from further acts of violence or threats’ and ‘residence exclusion or stay-away conditions,’” England said.

The bill itself dumps parental discipline into categories previously reserve for child abuse.

While I would never approve of any child discipline that causes serious bodily or emotional injury, I do not believe it is a state interest to place the government between a child and parent when it comes to discipline that does not rise to the level of child abuse. Spare the rod and spoil the child, discipline a child in the ways of God (morality) and when they get old they shall not depart from those lessons, are still of value today. Yet, day after day we are witnessing the state assuming absolute control over the minds and bodies of our children, demanding they be raised according to liberal principles and few people are objecting.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60750

Here is a great song for your Saturday Night Music enjoyment. Especially dedicated to Whistler, Gene, HG, Chief RZ and many others here that believe these words to be absolutely true.

Obviously, Bush did not resign, but this made up resignation speech makes a very good point about the American Voter of today:

Subject: George Bush’s Resignation Speech

If Bush resigned today, this is what his speech would be.....

“Normally, I start these things out by saying ‘My Fellow Americans’, not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don’t know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you’re really not fellow Americans any longer.

I’ll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution, let me assure you: There’s been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I’m quitting is simple. I’m fed up with you people. I’m fed up because you have no understanding of what’s really going on in the world. Or of what’s going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let’s start local. You’ve been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that’s despite record numbers of homeowners, including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we’re mentioning minorities, I’ll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton administration. I’ve mentioned all those things before, but it doesn’t sink in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there’s increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don’t give me this ‘blood for oil’ crap. If I were trading blood for oil I would’ve already seized Iraq’s oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. And don’t give me this ‘Bush Lied; People Died’ crap either. If I were the liar you morons take me for, I could’ve easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be ‘discovered.’ Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty.

Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Clinton established that policy. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to out-spend and out-tech them.

That’s not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don’t care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That’d be fine, as long as they weren’t also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you, and the bastards are all over the globe. You should be grateful that they haven’t gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you’re not. That’s because you’ve got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement, and homeland security people ha ve worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I’m disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of ‘Survivor.’

Instead, you’ve grown impatient. You’re incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-an d-run Democrat’s political campaign, well, you might just as well Fed-Ex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it’s easy enough to find the truth. It’s all over the Internet, it just isn’t on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you’d be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you’re too stupid to leave a city that’s below sea level and has a Category 5 hurricane approaching. I could say more about your idiotic belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I’ve come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So, I quit. I’m going back to Crawford. I’ve got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream of) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I’m done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney’s quitting too.

That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it - you can have her. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there are just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that’s it. God bless what’s left of America . Some of you know what I mean. The rest of you - kiss my ass!

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona.

The Tucson Unified School District has found itself tangled in a web of online discontent, following outrage over the way a second-grade class recites the Pledge of Allegiance.

For years, Gale Elementary School teacher Anne Lee has had her students recite the pledge in three languages — English, Spanish and American Sign Language — as a learning exercise. The kids start with English.

When Lance Altherr learned last week that his son was reciting the pledge in Spanish, he was outraged. He spoke with Lee and then Principal Paula Godfrey, demanding they stop the practice. They wouldn’t, and Altherr moved his son to a different class.

Tom Horn, School District Superintendent says the Pledge in English should come first.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars stepped in and while they felt the Pledge in Spanish was not disrespectful, they also felt it should be made in English.

What do you think? It seems to me that once we allow children not equipped to speak English into our schools, we do have an obligation to help them learn basic subjects, while we should also place a strong emphasis upon their learning English as rapidly as possible, so that they can fully participate in all that is American.

The big question here is this, should the Pledge only be spoken in English? If students speak it in English, Spanish and Sign language are they doing any harm to the pledge? Is it bad to have Spanish speaking students learn and appreciate the Pledge in their native language? Does it harm the English speaking students to learn two other ways to recite the pledge?

In part I am very protective of the Pledge of Allegiance, but for the life of me I cannot see the harm in what the school is doing. To me this is much ado about nothing! The Pledge is spoken and all the students learn what it means, while learning to appreciate other languages, but the main thing is - the Pledge of Allegiance is being learned and its words and meaning appreciated.

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/232859

Actually, Barry Soetoro is the reported name used by Barak Obama when he was allegedly enrolled in a Roman Catholic School in Indonesia as a youth.

“Obama was ‘quite religious in Islam’
Contemporaries, records dispute campaign
claim that he was never ‘practicing Muslim”

Unfortunately in an article in Whistleblower, a magazine by World Net Daily, the authors try unsuccessfuly IMO to make a case that Braak Obama was a practicing Muslim in his youth, contrary to his claims otherwise. After reading the article through, I find no credible, objective evidence therein to support that claim.

Being a former practicing Muslim, a superficial one or an ardent Muslim is not a barrier to becoming POTUS. While Obama claims to be a Christian now, whether true or not in his heart, it is also no barrier to the office of POTUS and it can be either a negative or a positive thing depending upon the person.

I must admit that for a host of reasons I do not want a Muslim for President, mostly because Islam does demand forced conversion or death to all non-believers. I would also be deeply concerned if he lied about the depth of involvement in his Muslim past, mostly because that would prove him to be Liar-In-Chief and unworthy of our trust.

However, the point of this thread is that it is, IMO, indecent and counterproductive to try and make a case for Obama having a Muslim past based on second and third hand accounts, as it would be an attempt to stop Obama from becoming POTUS based on religious bias not on whether or not he is qualified. I believe there is ample evidence in his life to question Barak’s honesty, his credentials and noting his unsavory associations are of greater value than to try and build a case against his candidacy rather than resorting to cheap innuendos.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

This is a story from the AP. What has happened to our society when even children this young are able to plot to hurt and maybe kill a teacher for daring to speak harshly to a child for standing on their seat, which disobedience to the rules placed that child in danger? This is what we get when Liberals and the NEA educate our children, violence and fear in the classroom.

3rd-Graders Plot to Hurt Teacher
WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP)

Police say a group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward.
The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said Tuesday.
“We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely,” Tanner said. “We feel like if they weren’t interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don’t know.”
The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said.
They could be expelled, but a prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.
Tanner said school officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school.
Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher, Tanner said.
The alleged target is a veteran educator who teaches third-grade students with a range of learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.
Tanner said the scheme involved a division of roles. One child’s job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.
“We estimate between six to nine students were involved. ... We’re not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher,” Tanner said.
The parents of the students have cooperated with investigators, who aren’t allowed to question the children without their parents’ or guardians’ consent, he said. Authorities have withheld the children’s names.
Police expected to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors, Tanner said.
Children in Georgia can’t be charged with a crime unless they are at least 13, District Attorney Rick Currie said.
Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system, told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla., that administrators would follow school system policy and state law in disciplining the students.
“From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids,” Martin said. “But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that’s what we did.”
Four mothers of other third-grade students at Center Elementary called for the immediate expulsion of the suspected plotters.
Stacy Carter and Deana Hiott both cited school system policy stating that any student who brings “anything reasonably considered to be a weapon” is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.
“We don’t want our children around them,” Carter told the Times-Union. “The one with the knife could have stabbed my child or someone else’s child at lunch or out on the playground.”
“This is an isolated incident, an aberration. ... We have good kids,” Center Principal Angie Coleman told the newspaper.

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/national/2008/04/01/Children_s.Plot/

I find this an interesting case to deal with the subjects of Free Political Speech, equal protection under the law. freedom of religion and whether or not a government having accepted a monument for public display, must accept all other monuments promoting contrary beliefs.

The Supreme Court today announced it will review a case that could be used to install a “Statue of Tyranny” to oppose the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

“We’re delighted that the Supreme Court agreed to take this critical case – it’s exactly what we were hoping for,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah, in the dispute.

Jay Sekalow of the ACLJ

“The Supreme Court is faced with a dramatic opportunity: Preserve sound precedent involving the well-established distinction between government speech and private speech – or permit a twisted interpretation of the Constitution to create havoc in cities and localities across America,” Sekulow said. “The lower court decision – if left unchecked – would ultimately force local governments to remove long-standing and well-established patriotic, religious and historical displays.

“The lower court decision misses a key distinction between government speech and private speech,” Sekulow said. “The government has to be neutral toward private speech, but it does not have to be neutral in its own speech. The 10th Circuit confused this rule when it said private parties have a First Amendment right to put up the monuments of their choosing in a city park, unless the city takes away all other donated monuments.”

The ACLJ’s petition argued: “When private speakers have the right to use government property to speak, there is a speech forum. But when, as here, the donor cedes and the government accepts ownership and control of something from a private party, that ‘something’ is no longer private property. It becomes government property. And if it is a message-bearing ‘something,’ any communication thenceforth is government speech, not private speech.”

It continued: ”Accepting a monument for permanent display as the government’s own property does not require accepting other monuments in the name of content- or viewpoint-neutrality. Nor does the government’s acceptance of a donated monument require that a government park be turned into a cluttered junkyard of monuments contributed by all comers.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60375

This is kind of cool and I always love the National Anthem!

Or, if you don’t like an American Flag Parachute jump, how about a great, heartfelt redition by some school kids!