A Florida substitute teacher performed a little magic trick in his class and voila, he’s accused of wizardry. Unfortunately, too many schools use all sorts of magic tricks with their budgeting. Fla. Teacher Accused Of Wizardry
LAND ‘O LAKES, Fla. — A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry.
Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears.
Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes.
Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he’d been accused of wizardry.
“I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue, you can’t take any more assignments you need to come in right away,’” he said.
Piculas said he did not know of any other accusations that would have led to the action.
The teacher said he is concerned that the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs.
Last October the Tn Patriot Guard (PGR) gave mid-tour send off for the 1175th Transportation Company, yesterday we welcomed them home after a year tour of duty. All 300 of the 1175th Transportation Company returned and PGR was at the Smyrna Airport with flags flying high. In fact, the wind was so strong it was a challenge holding the flags out on the tarmac. There were 2 chartered jets to fly the company in from Fort Bragg, then 5 chartered coach buses to transport them to the Tullahoma National Guard Base.
It was a fabulous escort with an estimated 40 PGR Bikers, 6 cages, TN Highway Patrol and numerous city and county law enforcement vehicles. We traveled at a reduced speed so the Bikers could keep their flags flying on the Interstate (due to the wind). I’m telling you that wind was dangerous if per chance you got snapped in the face by one of the flags whipping around. We still have the second leg of the escort to go for Tuesday morning for 103 of the Soldiers who need to get to Brownsville, TN. So, if you see a couple of coach buses with Bikers with flags in front of the buses give a hearty honk and thumbs up for our returning Soldiers.
Local support was out once we got off the interstate and onto Hwy 55 going through Manchester and on to Tullahoma.
Some of the bikes and PGR members holding flags on the tarmac.
They even had a band out playing “Rocky Top”!
Deplaning
Heading out with the Bikers leading the way
Here’s a family that went all out to welcome home their Soldier
Local Firefighters out in force
The crowd converges on the road
Base Welcome Home
Intruding on a couple
Trying to get a group photo is like herding cats (especially after a year away from your loved ones)
I had to include this photo of my little PGR Mascot
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The Goal: To pack and ship 6000 backpacks filled with personal items such as phone cards, encouraging notes, small toys etc to the members of the 506th Brigade Combat Team home based from Ft Campbell, KY. in time for them to receive them before Father’s Day.
The Deadline: Everything needs to be collected by May 21st in order to be packed and shipped in time to arrive by June 15th.
The Need: HELP!!! We need donations, we need letters of support and cards of encouragement. We need people to pack and assemble the bags. We need businesses, churches, schools, day cares and clubs to help sponsor the shipping and provide the donations. We also need additional locations to become drop off points for donations to assist those who can’t get to Madison to donate.
FAQ:
Why backpacks? By using children’s backpacks, we are giving the gift of giving. The troops can “re-gift” them to the children in the area they are serving, along with the toys (such as small stuffed animals) we are including.
What about the Brigade members who are not fathers? We don’t want anyone left out, so we are including the entire the Brigade in our Operation, male and female. We want to encourage them all — after all, every one of them has a “Dad”.
How much will it cost to ship all this overseas? Approximately $5.32 per bag. That amount multiplied by 6000 is $31,920.00. That’s why we need shipping sponsors. Where can I drop off my donations? Madison Church of Christ, 106 N Gallatin Road, Madison, TN 615.860.3204 Madison Chamber of Commerce, 301 Madison St, Madison, TN 615.865.5400 Old Hickory Credit Union, all locations Main Branch, 1000 Industrial Road, Old Hickory, TN (615) 847-4043 Lebanon - 1401 West Main Street, Lebanon, TN Rivergate - 708 Rivergate Parkway, Goodlettsville, TN Nashville - 444 Enos Reed Road, Nashville, TN Hendersonville - 543 E. Main (Gallatin Rd.), Hendersonville, TN Greenbrier - 2338 Hwy 41 S, Greenbrier, TN Clarksville Highway - 4123 Clarksville Pike, Nashville, TN Shiloh Music Center, 4066A N. Mt Juliet Rd, Mt Juliet, TN 615.758.9437
Volunteer State Bank, all locations: Portland, 101 Hwy 52 W, Phone: 615.325.9257 Gallatin, 615 Nashville Pike, Phone: 615.452.6666 Hendersonville (Main) 239 West Main St. Phone: 615.824.6542 530 New Shackle Island Road Phone: 615.824.6844 Goodlettsville, 405 Long Hollow Pike Phone: 615.855.6676 Orlinda, 1204 East Church Street Phone: 615.654.3388 Springfield, 1310 Memorial Blvd. Phone: 615.384.9623
What items are suggested?
*Note & Letters (No political references please) Video Games I-Tune Gift Cards *Carabiners(found in camping sections) DVD’s Music CD’s AA or AAA Batteries
Guests sit on the South Lawn of the White House Tuesday, May 6, 2008, as President George W. Bush delivers remarks in celebration of Military Spouse Day, recognizing the impact spouses have on service members and honoring their volunteer service in educational, social and community endeavors. White House photo by Chris Greenberg Full Story
Country recording artist Phil Vassar sings the national anthem Tuesday, May 6, 2008, during Military Spouse Day celebration on the South Lawn of the White House. White House photo by Chris Greenberg Full Story
Excerpt from the President’s speech:
So here’s why this event is happening. Twenty-four years ago, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation recognizing Military Spouses Day. And my own judgment is, is that we need to recognize military spouses every day. (Applause.) But this is the time of year that we honor the wives and husbands who support our men and women in uniform. And today, it’s my honor to welcome you here to the White House. I can’t think of a better place in which to say thanks. Whether you’re signed up for military life at the recruiting station or at the altar rail, each person — (laughter) — each person is a volunteer. And when you married your soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, or Coast Guardsman, you became more than just part of a family — you became part of our nation’s military family.
It’s not an easy life being in the military, particularly when we’re at war, and I understand that. For many of you it means packing up your belongings and moving on short notice. I suspect a lot of you have been on the move much more than you thought you’d be on the move. (Laughter.) For others it means living in a foreign land, which can be exciting, but it also means you’re far away from your extended family, and that’s hard. And for many of you, it means missing a spouse as he or she serves on the front lines in this battle to secure our country and to spread freedom for the sake of peace.
Being left behind when a loved one goes to war has got to be one of the hardest jobs in the United States military. Talked to a lot of folks who have been in the theater, as well as spouses, and it is clear to me the harder job in many ways is to be the person at home taking care of the kids and having sleepless nights as you pray for safe return.
You’re carrying out the burdens — you’re serving our country. And it’s noble service. And it’s necessary service. And the United States [of] America owes you a huge debt of gratitude. And so, on behalf of our people, thank you for what you’re doing. (Applause.)
One of the things I have learned in seven and a half years as the President is, as you’ve served our country, you also serve each other. I’ve spent a lot of time visiting our military bases here in America and across the world. And it’s been a great experience. What I’ve found is that there’s always a close-knit community, people who are sharing a special bond, and people who take time to look out after people. It’s a — it’s been an amazing experience to see the fabric of our military communities firsthand, and today we’re going to honor six military spouses who have done a little extra to serve your communities and serve the nation.
Thank you Military Spouses for your service to our country.
VE Day finally arrived on May 8, 1945 after fierce efforts by the allied forces. The previous year British, Canadian, and U.S. ftroops invaded Normandy, and began to drive the Nazis out of France. At the same time, the Soviets were launching their own counter-offensive. They pushed the German army completely out of Europe. Seizing their advantage, the Soviets advanced into Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania.
By 1945, the German defenses had begun to collapse. The Soviet army occupied the eastern one-third of Germany. Eventually, the allies surounded Berlin. On April 30, Adolf Hitler commited suicide. Germany surrendered soon after.
This clip is a live report from Edward R. Murrow of CBS news. He is reporting from Piccadilly Circus in London amidst a crowd of jubilant Britains celebrating the end of the war.
CSM Robert Prosser and LTC Erik Kurilla 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four)
LTC. Erik Kurilla and CSM. Robert Prosser’s story is an amazing one. One that Michael Yon has told far better than I ever could. Warning. The site contains very graphic images. Some may want to turn off images before viewing.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Instead of arresting thousands of illegal immigrants who qualify for prosecution for entering the country multiple times, the U.S. Border Patrol simply gives them a ride home knowing that they will likely return.
In some cases the cycle repeats itself on dozens of occasions or more than 100 times with no consequences for the illegal border crossers. The illegal aliens get caught repeatedly and, rather than getting arrested or charged, they get a free ride south of the border. Most have no intention of staying in the U.S., but rather make it north to panhandle with their children in front of American businesses located near the border.
They mostly include groups of women who use their children to lure sympathy and money from Americans. They solicit at strip malls and other businesses far enough from the border to avoid federal agents. Then, when they are ready to return home with their dollars, they purposely loiter at stores near the U.S.-Mexico border and agents drive them back south.
Each year the agency in charge of protecting the nation’s borders gets played in this manner by thousands of illegal aliens. In the last fiscal year alone, nearly 500 Mexican women and children have been rounded up and returned home. One woman sneaked across the border at least 128 times in the past eight years and each time she used the Border Patrol as a free taxi service from El Paso Texas to her hometown of Oaxaca Mexico.
The Border Patrol admits that the repeat offenders qualify for prosecution, but claims that a crucial humanitarian factor—not separating a family—plays a role in its decision not to arrest the illegal immigrant women with children. Agents use a loophole that gives them discretion to keep adults and children united and out of prison. An agency spokesman justified it, saying that these particular Mexicans are coming to beg and not trying to further their entry into the United States.
Isn’t that so nice of the BP, not only do they not charge these illegal aliens with illegal entry but they then turn around and use taxpayers dollars to provide a free taxi ride. The Border Patrol goes from insult to injury with American citizens. I would suppose since none of these illegals are charged that would mean their biometrics are not on file. If charged, the second illegal re-entry would be considered a felony.
Hogwash to the justification used by the BP on separating the adults from their children. The illegal aliens choose to illegally cross the border with their children, it’s their problem if arrested. How about these illegal put their energies into finding work in Mexico instead of begging off of Americans. The BP is encouraging another generation of Mexicans to beg and sponge off of Americans, way to go.
**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email brianbonner90-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.
There are 3 House bills which are important to parents rights this week. The information for both came from Bobbie Patray (TFRW Legislative/Research Chairman). Remember at election time that a vote for a Democrat (any Democrat) running for the TN House is a vote for the continuing reign of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. Naifeh is an open border nanny state demagogue who has controlled this state for too long.
The first is TN HB1652 (Education, State Board of - Authorizes board of education to develop model grading policy - Amernds TCA Title 49):
This is a brief history of the Category IV legislation about which we are asking you to call the House Ed. Committee members (see that list below).
On April 19th we received an e-mail from John Evans, Sr. that his policeman son, John Jr., a 2001 graduate of Gateway Christian School, was told he would lose his job as a policeman if he did not take and pass the GED within 90 days. Rep. Mike Bell found a bill to which he could attach an amendment requiring state agencies to recognize the diplomas of Category IV schools, schools such as Gateway, Aaron Academy, Family Christian Academy and others.
Reps. Mike Bell (R) and Dennis Ferguson (D), sponsor & co-sponsor of the Category IV bill, testified before the Higher Education sub-committee of the House Education Committee yesterday, Tuesday, April 29th. Mike told the sub-committee members that he has a very personal stake in this matter; his son who is now working towards certification as a fire-fighter is a graduate of a Category IV school and his daughter who is a high school senior will graduate in a few weeks with a Category IV diploma intending to attend a near-by Technical School after graduation.
Rep. Ferguson (the representative of Evans family) and Rep. Bell are both deeply distressed over the treatment of John Evans, 2001 graduate of a Category IV school who lives in Roane County (Ferguson’s district), graduate of Walter State Community College with a 4.0 GPA from the Police Academy, serving as a Police Officer since Jan. ‘08, now required to give up his cruiser work and take a desk job with all of his pending criminal arrests possibly invalidated, until he takes and passes the GED b/c the TN DOE says that his ‘01 Category IV high school diploma is invalid or “worthless”.
With discussion and supportive comments from many of the sub-committee members, including Les Winningham, (D), Chair of the House Ed. Comm., and Rep.Tommie Brown (D), the bill passed the sub-committee yesterday.
The Department of Education has just entered an amendment to this bill which will require all parents teaching grades 9-12 (and all teachers in category IV schools teaching grades 9-12) to have a baccaluarreate degree from state accredited associations. We Ask you to please call NOW to the House Education Committee members, then call your state representative, and ask them to support HB 1652 without the DOE amendment.
Thank you!!
Here is the amendment, HB 1652, which Mike Bell is sponsoring: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 1, Part 1, is amended by adding a new section thereto, as follows: Section 49-1-1__. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a student who has a diploma recognized under or awarded by § 49-50-801 or § 49-6-3050 shall be considered by all departments, agencies or entities of state government as possessing a valid high school diploma. This section shall not apply to state lottery proceeds as provided in title 49, chapter 4, part 9. SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
WEST TENNESSEE members: Memphis members: Joe Towns, Jr.(D), Secretary, [Dist. 84], 615-741-2189 Barbara Cooper, (D), [Dist.86], 615-741-4295 Ulysses Jones, (D), [Dist. 98], 615-741-4575 Larry Turner, (D) [Dist.85], 615-741-6954 Bartlett: Jim Coley, (R), [Dist. 97], 615-741-8201 Ron Lollar, (R), [Dist. 99], 615-741-7084 Somerville: Delores Gresham, (R), [Dist.94], 615-741-6890 Dresden: Mark Maddox, (D), [Dist. 76], 615-741-7847
MIDDLE TENNESSEE members: Huntsville: NE of Nashville: Les Winningham, (D) Chairman, [Dist. 38], 615-741-6852 Portland: N of Nashville: Mike McDonald, (D), [Dist. 44], 615-741-1980 Nashville/Brentwood: Beth Harwell, (R), [Dist. 56], 615-741-0709 Pegram: SW of Nashville: Phillip Johnson, (R), [Dist. 78], 615-741-7477 Murfreesboro: John Hood, (D), [Dist. 48], 615-741-7849
EAST TENNESSEE members: Livingston: John Mark Windle, (D), [Dist. 41], 615-741-1260 Knoxville: Harry Brooks, (R), [Dist. 19], 615-741-6879 Sevierville: Richard Montgomery, (R), [Dist. 12], 615-741-5981 Chattanooga: Tommie Brown, (D), Vice-Chairman, [Dist. 28], 615-741-4374 Gerald McCormick, (R), [Dist. 26], 615-741-2548
PROTECTING PARENTAL RIGHTS:
HB3161 by *DeBerry J. (SB3419 by *Johnson, *Black, *Finney R.)
Requires childcare agencies to obtain parental consent before engaging in personal safety instruction related to the prevention of child sexual abuse.
As amended, gives broad latitude to child care providers to choose terminology and instructional methods and provides that any personal safety curriculum which will be implemented by a child care provider must be made available so parents and legal guardians have the opportunity to review it, etc.
ACTION: It has already passed the Senate and is scheduled for a House floor vote on Tuesday. Contact your House member and urge him or her to support this proposal.
OMNIBUS LOTTERY SCHOLARSHIP BILL:
SB0611 by *Woodson, *Bunch. (HB0653 by *Winningham, and others)
Makes changes to eligibility requirements for HOPE scholarships, ASPIRE awards, HOPE access grants, and HOPE scholarships for nontraditional students; clarifies amount of award under HOPE foster child tuition grant; sets amount of HOPE scholarship for 2007-2008 at $4,000 at four-year institutions and $2,000 at two-year institutions and amount of Wilder-Naifeh technical skills grant for 2007-2008 at $2,000
The debate over Lottery scholarship changes continues. SB0611 is in Senate Finance and HB0653 is in House Education awaiting further action.
REDUCING GPA FOR SCHOLARSHIP — Lawmakers discussing proposals to lower the cumulative grade point average needed to keep a lottery-funded scholarship say they hope funding board numbers to be released this week will help them decide which one is the most feasible. Under current rules, a student must be enrolled full time in college, have a GPA of at least 2.75 after the freshman year and a cumulative 3.0 GPA for subsequent years to keep the merit-based HOPE scholarship Many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and Gov. Phil Bredesen believe reducing the required cumulative GPA to 2.75 would allow more students to keep the scholarships — and stay in school to finish their degrees. However, the issue is choosing the least expensive proposal to do that in a tight budget year. Bredesen announced last week that as much as $500 million may have to be cut out of the upcoming state spending plan amid worsening tax revenue projections. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/NEWS0201/804280354
Relating to the Parental Rights bill, I had posted previously on this although it was a different bill number. The TN Democrat controlled House believes government is the better parent than the actual parents. To check on the schedule for these bills or to watch the streaming video:
Go to http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/ On the left sidebar click on Senate, then click on Video Streaming, then click on Senate Schedule or Joint Schedule. The same schedule can be found for the House by clicking on the House on the left sidebar.
UPDATE (May 7th): Step one in the process to fight back the Dept of Education of invalidating Cat IV School High School Diplomas was successful. Mike Bell’s Amendment passed in the House Education Committee while the Dept of Education Amendment failed. The Memphis contingent tried to steam roll the DOE’s amendment through committee but failed. There’s still a ways to go on this amendment although I’d guess this will pass through the Senate Education Committee but there still the House floor and Senate floor and Gov Bredesen to sign the bill.
I had heard this mentioned on Steve Gill’s radio program and must have missed the posting at Ben Cunningham’s site. See, if the Fed’s suspend the gas tax well then Tennessee’s gas tax automatically increases to compensate for this.
67-3-206. Maintenance of funding under highway trust fund. — [Effectiveness suspended until July 1, 2008. See subsection (b).]
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if the federal government reduces or eliminates any or all taxes imposed by title 26 of the United States Code and allocated by chapter 98 of that title of the federal highway trust fund, the existing state tax imposed on the sale and/or use of such products shall be adjusted so as to maintain the amount of funding for the Tennessee department of transportation generated by the federal tax. The adjustment in the state tax shall become effective simultaneously with the reduction in the federal tax. The department of revenue is directed to collect such taxes and allocate such taxes in their entirety, less the appropriate cost of administration, to the state highway trust fund for use by the department of transportation. If the federal goverment elects to increase any or all taxes imposed by title 26 of the United States Code and allocated by chapter 98 of that title to the federal highway trust fund after it has reduced or eliminated such taxes, the state tax on the sale and/or use of such products is reduced equal to the amount of the increase by the federal government. No amounts of revenue received pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be pledged specifically to the payment of debt service on any state bond or note.
(b) The provisions of this section shall cease to be effective until July 1, 2008, at which time this section shall have full effect of law.
This must top it all in the judicial branch of our government. Judge Carol Mackenzie isn’t even allowing a vote on a bill by the Suffolk County Legislature.
A judge has blocked lawmakers in a New York county from voting on a popular measure that would require contractors seeking county deals to verify that their employees are not illegal immigrants.
Although courts throughout the country have struck down laws created to curb illegal immigration, no judge has intervened before the measure was passed by essentially intercepting the democratic process.
Angering many lawmakers, Suffolk District Court Judge Carol Mackenzie issued an injunction this week preventing them from even voting on the proposed law for at least another month. The 18 members of the Suffolk County Legislature were set to vote on the bill when one member, Ricardo Montano, filed a petition claiming that the measure had passed a committee on an improper vote.
Now the county with a population of about 1.5 million will have to spend taxpayer money to get legal representation for future court proceedings relating to this issue. Considering the county is in the midst of economic difficulty, several lawmakers expressed outrage over the inevitable expense.
Some of the county legislators were angry at the judge, however. One pointed out that telling a legislature that it can’t act on something creates a dangerous precedent. He said it’s one thing for a court to say a law that was passed is illegal, but it’s quite another to tell elected officials, representatives of the people, that they can’t vote.
The law was introduced earlier this year by a Democrat lawmaker to maintain a level playing field for contractors that hire legal workers and pay taxes for those employees. Otherwise, unscrupulous contractors that avoid paying taxes by hiring illegal aliens, can submit lower bids on county contacts because overhead costs are lower.
And you wonder why your taxes keep going up? Suffolk County needs to oust this judge who I think just appointed herself to be the imperial queen.
National Military Appreciation Month (NMAM), as designated by Congress, provides a period encompassing both the history and recognition of our armed services with an in-depth look at the diversity of its individuals and achievements. It allows Americans to educate each generation on the historical impact of our military through the participation of the community with those who serve encouraging patriotism and love for America.
This month gives the nation a time and place on which to focus and draw attention to our many expressions of appreciation and recognition of our armed services via numerous venues and also to recall and learn about our fast American history.
National Military Appreciation Month (May 2008) includes Loyalty Day (1st), VE Day(8th), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (9th), Armed Forces Day (17th), and Memorial Day (26th). This very important month honors, remembers, recognizes and appreciates all military personnel; those men and women who have served throughout our history and all who now serve in uniform and their families as well as those Americans who have given their lives in defense of our freedoms we all enjoy today.
It recognizes those on active duty in all branches of the services, the National Guard and Reserves plus retirees, veterans, and all of their families - well over 90 million Americans and more than 230 years of our nation’s history. Let us celebrate them just as we celebrate the other important entities that make up this wonderful country of ours.
Our weekly video podcast/vlog on illegal immigration and border security issues. In this weeks edition…
May Day 2008: Chicago!
Our coverage of the third annual Pro-amnesty tantrum here in Chicago. This is the official blogburst for the week, we plan on taking the weekend off and enjoying the heck out of it!
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Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a
sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.
What an astonishing man. Here’s a Marine who was burned over 97% of his body from a roadside blast in Iraq on February 21, 2005. He survived until last Friday. This man of tremendous courage and inner strength was mentoring and helping others who were burned at BAMC. Sgt. German truly is a HERO!
To the doctors, staff and patients, he was a walking beacon of hope, having survived burns to 97 percent of his body from a roadside blast in Iraq.
Though he died unexpectedly after a surgery last week, the indomitable spirit of Sgt. Merlin German lives on at Brooke Army Medical Center, friends and family members said during a touching tribute to the Marine called the “Miracle Man.”
In his three years at BAMC — first a record 17 months in inpatient care, then more than a year in outpatient therapy — German was a living legend whose inspiring determination drew the interest of President Bush, actor Chuck Norris and other VIPs he met. Everything about him, from sarcastic one-liners to his color-coordinated medical garments, will be missed at BAMC, which has treated more than 3,700 troops wounded in the Middle East.
snip….. “If Merlin were here today, there is no doubt in my mind what he would say: ‘Fight through, stay strong and overcome because we are warriors,’” Gilman said.
Remember the Brit cameraman captured by terrorist militia in Iraq? Richard Butler who was kidnapped Feb. 10th, 2008 was interviewed on CBS Evening News and he made this comment:
PIZZEY: You took a lot of pictures in Afghanistan of people in the situation you were in, people hooded, their eyes taped, their hands tied up, kept in small cages. You must have had a lot of empathy from your situation with what you saw. Did you remember all that stuff?
BUTLER: Yes, I did it is quite ironic. I was very pleased that I wasn’t being kept in such harsh conditions that they were kept because I have seen them be put in stress positions for every waking hour, and at least they weren’t doing that to me. I had loose handcuffs, whereas they had plastic tie wraps that were very tight, and they were also taped round their mouth the whole time and hooded.
So yes, I was relieved that my captivity wasn’t as harsh as I have witnessed being applied to suspects taken from Afghanistan.
PIZZEY: You were saying it is better to be kidnapped by Shi’ites in southern Iraq than by Americans in Afghanistan.
BUTLER: I was pleased I wasn’t being waterboarded in Guantanamo or being held for six and a half years like an al Jazeera cameraman, for instance.
The full transcript is available at CBSNews.com: www.cbsnews.com
I’m sure this guy had no bias in his camera work. Guess he fits right into CBS’s anti-American agenda.
Wednesday Hero was started to put a face to the men and women of the American Armed Forces and what they do for us. Vary rarely has there been a member of a foreign military profiled. In fact, in the two years Wednesday Hero’s been going on it’s only been done once before. Here’s the second.
Lance Corporal Matt Croucher
24 years old from Birmingham, England
40 Commando Royal Marines
L/Cpl Matt Croucher is not only one of the bravest men alive, he’s also one of the luckiest men alive. On the morning of February 9, 2008 L/Cpl. and his unit were searching a compound near Sangin in Afghanistan that was suspected of being used to make bombs to be used in attacks on British and Afghan troops. Walking in the darkness among a group of four men, Croucher stepped into a tripwire that pulled the pin from a boobytrap grenade. His patrol commander, Corporal Adam Lesley, remembered Croucher shouting “Grenade!”
As others dived for cover, Croucher did something nobody expected. He lay down on the grenade to smother the blast. Lesley got on the ground, another man got behind a wall, but the last member of the patrol was still standing in the open when the grenade went off.
“My reaction was, ‘My God this can’t be real’,” said Lesley. “Croucher had simply lain back and used his day sack to blunt the force of the explosion. You would expect nine out of 10 people to die in that situation.” L/Cpl. Croucher was that 1/10. Not only did he survive, amazingly he only suffered shock from the blast and a bloody nose. He was saved by the special plating inside his Osprey body armor. The backpack he was wearing was thrown more than 30ft by the blast.
“I felt one of the lads giving me a top to toe check. My head was ringing. Blood was streaming from my nose. It took 30 seconds before I realized I was definitely not dead,” said L/Cpl. Croucher.
For his actions that day, L/Cpl. Croucher was in line for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for a British Serviceman, but it has yet to be awarded.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Today, finally Barack Hussein Obama is outraged by the recent speeches given by his former paster of 20 years Jeremiah Wright. But his anger seems more to be directed at the point Wright made in referring to Obama’s previous comments on their church as “political posturing”. So, Obama went to this church every Sunday for 20 years and was defending Paster Wright and his church’s Black Liberation Theology.
Michelle Malkin has a great run down on Obama’s statement and comments from today’s press conference.
At the end of March/beginning of April I had posted some great articles by Anthony B. Bradley (assistant professor of theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, his PhD dissertation is titled “Victimology in Black Liberation Theology).
After listening and reading about the latest exploits of Barack Hussein Obama’s friend, mentor, father-figure and former paster Jeremiah Wright the song “Freak Parade” by Big and Rich came to mind. Think about it, Obama has this troop of freaks and misfits for his mentors and friends.
On May 13 about 70 percent of Iraq’s mobile telephone network will cease to operate. This will be a serious blow to the Iraqi economy. Moreover, a shutdown of Iraq’s mobile phone network - upon which our own people in Baghdad rely to communicate, by the way — will greatly diminish our intelligence gathering on al Qaeda in Iraq, thus de-railing our counter-insurgency strategy of relying on tips telephoned to us by Iraqis. And that will cost American lives.
Here’s what’s happening:
The primary mobile phone network in Iraq is operated by a Kuwaiti company called Zain Group. Zain also operates cell phone networks in other Mideast countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and Lebanon.
It takes about 1,300 cell towers to provide service in Iraq, and to protect these towers from being blown up by terrorists, or cannibalized by Iraqis working the black market, Zain signed a contract with an Iraqi-owned company called Babylon Eagles Security Company (BESC).
As the cell phone network in Iraq has grown during the past four years, BESC itself has grown to more than 7,000 heavily-armed and well-trained Iraqi security employees. The company has developed its own intelligence and counter-intelligence capabilities, and maintains a complex set of working relationships with all the various tribes, militias, political parties and religious sects that live within its area of coverage.
snip….Zain and BESC are in the midst of a commercial dispute that’s heading for arbitration in London. This, by itself, is of no interest to the US.
However, according to BESC, Zain hasn’t paid BESC since December — about $12 million that’s owed — and since then all BESC employees have been receiving their salaries from BESC’s fast-dwindling cash reserves. That money runs out on May 13, and even now notice is being prepared for all BESC employees telling them that on that date they’re out of work.
Those 1,300 cell phone towers won’t survive a week.
I hope this disaster is averted since this could cost American Soldier casualties and injuries.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the push for H-1B visa expansion has nothing to do with a lack of American professionals and more to do with corporations driving down salaries with Bill Gates at Microsoft driving the lobbying efforts. Now we are being told it isn’t a lack of workers but a lack of innovation by Congressional supporters of the expansion. They are trying to tell us that Americans aren’t clever enough but foreign workers fulfill that need.
In pressuring Congress to expand the H-1B work visa and employment-based green card programs, industry lobbyists have recently adopted a new tack. Seeing that their past cries of a tech labor shortage are contradicted by stagnant or declining wages, their new buzzword is innovation. Building on their perennial assertion that the foreign workers are “the best and the brightest,” they now say that continued U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hinges on our ability to import the world’s best engineers and scientists. Yet, this Backgrounder will present new data analysis showing that the vast majority of the foreign workers — including those at most major tech firms — are people of just ordinary talent, doing ordinary work. They are not the innovators the industry lobbyists portray them to be.
Norman Matloff at CIS developed theory to test that assertion that the best and brightest foreign workers would then be paid accordingly. He has called this the TM Value (Talent Measure):
We can thus easily determine whether a foreign worker is among “the best and the brightest” by computing the ratio of his salary to the prevailing wage figure stated by the employer. Let’s call this the Talent Measure ™. Keep in mind that a TM value of 1.0 means that the worker is merely average, not of outstanding talent.
The analysis uses data from the Department of Labor’s Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM). Go to CIS for more details on his methodology.
Talent Measure Analysis
Again, I take as our Talent Measure ™ the ratio of a worker’s salary to the prevailing wage claimed by the employer. The employer is legally required to pay at least the prevailing wage, and must state on the PERM application how that wage level was determined.3 Since the application will be rejected if the wage offered is below the prevailing wage, by definition all values of TM will be at least 1.0. The latter value means “the average worker,” i.e. of average talent, so if most workers have TM values close to 1.0, then most are probably not “the best and the brightest.”
With that it mind, let’s look at TM values, both overall and also for some specific occupations:
The trend, both general and for STEM occupations, is clear: Most TM values are only a little higher than 1.0, indicating that most of the foreign workers are not outstanding talents.
The sole exceptional occupation is mathematicians. Though rather few workers are in this category, the TM value is worth some comment. The anomaly is likely due to the recent interest in data mining, which has created a de facto two-tier wage structure among mathematicians, in which those who specialize in data mining are paid much more. Since the prevailing wage figures do not distinguish between these tiers, the official prevailing wage value set for mathematicians will be well below the market wage for data miners. Thus it is probable that even these foreign workers are not “the best and the brightest.”
Lobbyists for the big firms often claim that abuse of the H-1B program occurs mainly in Indian-owned “bodyshops” (firms that subcontract H-1Bs to larger companies), while by contrast the big firms are hiring “the best and the brightest.” Yet neither this scapegoating of the Indians nor the claim of hiring the top talents is warranted. Consider the TM values after disaggregation by firm:
Though these figures are slightly above the overall figures we saw earlier, they still show that the firms are not paying salaries indicating top talents.
Even Microsoft, on the high end of the companies shown here, is not paying top dollar, as seen by restricting attention to Microsoft’s workers holding the O-1 visa. As O-1 is specifically for, in the phrasing of the statute, “workers of extraordinary ability,” this gives us a measure of the salaries Microsoft pays to those foreign workers who in fact are “the best and the brightest.” The median TM for Microsoft O-1 workers is 1.404. That represents a salary premium of more than double what the firm is giving its foreign workers in general, so there does not appear to be much support for Microsoft’s claim that most of their H-1Bs are of extraordinary talent.
Thus again, it is readily apparent that even the most prominent tech firms, which are in the vanguard of the industry movement pressuring Congress to expand foreign worker programs, generally do not hire from “the best and the brightest” league.
There is additional data detailing PERM data relating to “outstanding” foreign talent along with the myths and truths. The lobbyists are using the myths primarily to lobby for an increase in the H-1b Visas.
The findings show:
# The median TM value over all foreign workers studied was just a hair over 1.0.
# The median TM value was also essentially 1.0 in each of the tech professions studied.
# Median TM was near 1.0 for almost all prominent tech firms that were analyzed.
# Contrary to the constant hyperbole in the press that ‘Johnnie can’t do math’ in comparison with kids in Asia, TM values for workers from Western European countries tend to be much higher than those of their Asian counterparts.
# Most foreign workers work at or near entry level, described by the Department of Labor in terms akin to apprenticeship. This counters the industry’s claim that they hire the workers as key innovators. Other CAII News and Information:
**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email brianbonner90-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.
This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.
Since the US refuses to exploit it’s own oil supplies we must rely on other countries. Recent oil discoveries in Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Mexico could shift the energy focus away from the Middle East to Latin America. Unfortunately, the Democrats recently blocked trade agreements with Columbia thus creating an adversarial relationship. Since the Democrats also block any efforts towards energy independence within the US our energy dependence is dependent on foreign sources.
By 2020, the places that matter to the U.S. strategically may be entirely different than today. It’s not hard to project the possibilities.
Oil is being discovered in vast quantities in Brazil. Other gigantic deposits have been located in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Colombia now shows oil reserves as high as Algeria’s. The U.S. imported 4.9 million barrels of oil a day in 2007. Absent development of U.S. reserves, the U.S. will need the new suppliers.
snip…High oil prices and tight supply create incentives to seek out new sources. Enter Brazil, Colombia and Peru, none of which were big players a few years ago. New technology to extract oil and natural gas from previously impossible sea depths or siphon it from laced rock formations brings those countries to the fore.
But the most pivotal factor in why oil’s future is south is that most of these new players have the political will to drill, something not seen in oil-producing nations dominated by green sensibilities, as the U.S. is, or by petrotyrants in Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
Colombia is now our ninth-largest oil supplier, and Brazil is our 11th largest. Both have moved sharply higher in the ranks of suppliers in the last few years. In 2007, Colombia supplied 50 million barrels of oil a day and Brazil supplied 61 million — small numbers compared with our biggest supplier, Canada, which sold the U.S. 680 million barrels a day last year. But the trend is up — and with the new discoveries, probably sharply so.
The Democrats have also been playing games with funding for Columbian military training recently so the efforts to establish Columbia as an ally will be especially trying with Democrats working against this alliance. I’m still trying to figure out where Democrats think our energy will come from to keep the US economy pumping.
Here’s your chance. You can order a ticket to the 1st Annual Police Week Benefit Concert starring Mark Wills, Austin Cody hosted by Karri Turner (actress from J.A.G. tv show). When you order a ticket there is the option to “Donate to the Troops” and the USO will distribute these tickets to soldiers at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Details: Monday, May 12th Meet and Greet: 7:00 PM Doors: 7:30 PM Showtime: 8:30 PM Tickets: $35
*Tickets for this show may be donated to wounded troops. Just choose the “DONATE TO TROOPS” ticket type on your order. The USO will distribute these tickets to soldiers at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Go to www.thestatetheatre.com. Click on upcoming shows on the left sidebar. Scroll down to the Monday May 12 show starring Mark Wills and click on the tab to buy tickets!
The last people who care about life or conservation are the global warming environMENTAL activists. The true agenda was disclosed at the United Nations earlier this week:
Ideologies: Once in a while the truth accidentally tumbles out on global warming activists’ real agenda. That’s exactly what happened at the U.N., when Bolivia’s leader called for ending capitalism to save the planet.
Delivering the keynote address at the United Nations forum on Indigenous People on Monday, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales told the adoring crowd that “if we want to save our planet earth, to save life, to save mankind, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system.”
Morales elaborated on that by calling for an end to “unbridled industrial development, extraction of natural resources, excessive consumption of goods and accumulation of waste.”
More conveniently, he also demanded that trillions of dollars from the West be diverted to places like Bolivia, “to repair the earth.”
Seldom has the environmentalist agenda to end the capitalist system been laid out so plainly.
But in reality, it’s capitalism — combined with the framework that enables it to flourish, like rule of law and property rights — that has lifted billions of people out of poverty and improved the environment. Contrary to Morales’ assertions, the most capitalist countries are also the cleanest.
According to a 2006 study by the Heartland Institute, free enterprise does more to protect the environment than state intervention.
“The nations that have the best track records on environmental protection and improvement are those with the highest amount of free-market capitalism,” wrote Samuel Aldrich and Jay Lehr, in “Free Enterprise Protects the Environment.”
Morales is a Marxist, so the environmental records of the communist and socialist systems he touts to save the earth are instructive.
After communism fell in Eastern Europe, some of the biggest revelations were about how vast the pollution was in countries where no one was permitted to own or care for land.
Getting rid of capitalism created the black rivers of China, filled Eastern Europe’s skies with unfiltered coal and diesel exhaust, brought deforestation that’s led to sandstorms in China, spilled oil that destroyed Siberian lakes, and poisoned land with mercury and nickel waste in large swaths of Eastern Europe and Cuba.
It also brought the still-dead nuclear devastation of Chernobyl. Diverse as these regions are, the lack of capitalism means there was no accountability or incentives to save the earth.
And, sadly, it’s still that way now. According to the Blacksmith Institute, the 10 most polluted places on earth are in Azerbaijan, China, India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine and Zambia, all of which have long histories of communism, socialism or nationalist isolation, the very alternatives Morales proposes to replace capitalism.
Morales’ attack on capitalism represents the real agenda for the radical environmentalists. They seek global governance and an end to private property, an unsalable concept given the record of communist countries. So they’re marketing it under a new brand name, wrapped in the greener concept of “saving the earth.”
Milking the West’s fascination for the exotic, Morales has the game down flat. “We feel that we have the ethical and moral right to talk about these things as indigenous peoples because we have historically lived in harmony with Mother Earth,” he said. “It is indigenous peoples who have defended this Mother Earth, Planet Earth.”
For that, he’s feted in the radical-chic circles of Manhattan as an indigenous font of truth — a real Aymara Indian from Bolivia and thus, wiser about conserving the planet than us ordinary mortals.
The patronizing attitude is obvious in statements like U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s:
“Indigenous peoples live in many of the world’s most biologically diverse areas. As custodians of these lands, they have accumulated deep, firsthand knowledge about the impacts of environmental degradation, including climate change. They know the economic and social consequences, and they can and should play a role in the global response.”
What’s really going on with the people Ban extols is something else: “Too often their real agenda is power — power to remake the economic and social systems to suit their own command and control goals, not to serve the public good as they so loudly proclaim,” Aldrich and Lehr wrote.
Romanticization of nature to promote state control hasn’t had it this good since the days of Rousseau’s noble savage. The only problem for environmental radicals, of course, is that sometimes the designated “savages” accidentally reveal the truth.
It is about power and money. Al Gore cares only about Al Gore and his pockets. The United Nations is no different. Nor is the drive by Media or the Hollywood elite any different, they are all Marxists who want control or power and the way to attain that is to remove self determination through capitalism from the “little people”.
