Anti-BVBL

After a rash of parent complaints, a principal at Swanson Middle School in Arlington cancelled a debate assignment where students were asked to take the Taliban point of view during a mock UN Security Council session.   Principal Chrystal Forrester and 2 other teachers, presumably the ones who made the assignment,  have said the assignment was “clearly a bad choice for a debate topic.”

An email was sent out to the parents of the Swanson 8^th graders with the following message, according to the Washington Post:

Recognizing the pain that has touched many of our families and neighbors due to the terrorist attacks on the United States and acknowledging the sensitive nature of the conflict in Afghanistan involving many of our dedicated members of the U.S. armed forces, we have eliminated this topic as part of the U.N. unit of study effective immediately,”

Read more…

The following  appears on the December 15 Agenda for the BOCS Meeting:  item A is detailed.  Item B is currently unavailable.

You may access the agenda at the following CLICK.  Choose current agenda.

 Sesquicentennial Celebration

A. RES – Transfer, Budget and Appropriate $77,353 from Non-Departmental Transient Occupancy Tax Funds to the Department of Public Works to Fund Expenses for 2010 Events and Programs to Support the 150th Sesquicentennial at County Historic Sites and to Match the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s STEM Educational Grant Request– Thomas Bruun – Public Works Department   

 

 B. RES – Consider Proposed Memorandum of Understanding Between Prince William County and Virginia Civil War Events, Inc. – Angela Lemmon Horan – County Attorney  

 

 Note: 

Item A deals with the Prince William County Committee.  It provides for  TOT funds to be transferred to Public Works and itemizes what each amount is allocated for. 

Item B is the Creston Owen group, Virginia Civil War Events.  No mention was made of a presentation.  The information appeared to be incomplete.

Interested parties should make every attempt to watch this section of the BOCS meeting.

Set aside the romanticized Quileute Reservation seen in the Twilight Series for a darker version of what is happening on some reservations.  Many native reservations are known for extreme poverty, poor living conditions, broken homes, lack of basic infrastructure, chronic illness, substance abuse, unemployment, and now gang violence.  Today’s New York Times featured some very troubling exposure to gang life style on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. 

CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO.  (NYT video does not embed easily) 

Tribal leaders are attempting to combat  gang behavior that has existed since the 90’s when funds targetting crime were severely cut back.  Lakota cultural experts have been hired to work with middle and high school age kids in the tribal schools.  The students are taught the language and the culture.  Yet once they leave the school room, the gang is on the outside.  Gang members have adopted the style and behaviors of inner city gangs but they have different motivations. 

The tribal lands gangs don’t fight for turf or big bucks.  They fight over scraps.  Robbery, looting, general theft, burglary seem to be the gang crimes.  Goods are then sold.  All gang behavior is self destructive to any society.  On the  Pine Ridge Reservation , it is estimated that over 5000 youth are gang members or have gang affiliation.  In a land already fraught with too many of society’s ills, gang presence is just not needed. 

From The Ledger:

The Justice Department distinguishes the home-grown gangs on reservations from the organized drug gangs of urban areas, calling them part of an overall juvenile crime problem in Indian country that is abetted by eroding law enforcement, a paucity of juvenile programs and a suicide rate for Indian youths that is more than three times the national average.

While many crimes go unreported, the police on the Pine Ridge reservation have documented thousands of gang-related thefts, assaults – including sexual assaults – and rising property crime over the past three years, along with four murders. As federal grants to Pine Ridge have declined the past decade, the tribal police force has shrunk by more than half, with 12 to 20 officers per shift patrolling an area the size of Rhode Island.

Somehow this video of gang membership is more disturbing than city gang video.  Perhaps it is the sense of dispair already existing on many reservations where social problems are at their highest.  To see young people whose ancestors were Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and other proud Native Americans emulating the dregs of society is just disgusting.

Stephen King

Best selling prolific author Stephen King and his wife Tabitha have donated $12,999 to bring 150 members of the Maine National Guard home for Christmas.   King is superstitious about numbers and would not donate the $13,000 he was originally approached about.  The Maine troops will eventually deploy to Afghanistan in January of next year.   They are currently stationed at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. 

According to DC Examiner:

The couple donated $12,999 toward the expenses of the trip.  King’s assistant, said that King thought 13 was an unlucky number.  “Steve is such a numbers person,” said Julie Eugley in an interview with the Bangor Daily News. “When we were approached for $13,000, he thought that number was a little unlucky. He didn’t want any bad whammies associated with these troops.”  Eugley dropped the extra dollar to make the donation an even $13,000.

According to The Digital Journal, the money was solicited by Operation Community Support, a not-for-profit Bangor-based military assistance agency. The Kings’ donation is the largest ever received by the agency, and was given from their personal finances – not their foundation, according to Eugley.

The donation from King, a Maine native, will fund two bus trips for the 150 soldiers.

Long known for his horror novels, novellas and short stories, King was seriously injured himself several years ago when he was run over by a van while out for a walk.

We have decided to keep an Open Thread up on the blog at all times so that people who have comments to make that don’t fit a Post topic, they will have a place to put it.  So when the Open Thread starts rolling off, we will post another one, realizing no one wants to travel to the bottom of the screen each and every time. 

Also, look at the top of the page, right below the black banner, in the far left hand corner.  Hopefully everyone recognizes this icon as the home symbol.  Clicking the home icon will take you back to square one and back to the first post.  

Hopefully, contributors will keep us apprised of community events here, especially during the holiday season.

Tuesday, December 8, Creston Owen, chairman of the newly formed Virginia Civil War Events Inc. presented his organization’s  plan to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of First Manassas. His organization, made up of volunteers, has a 9 day plan to draw tourism to the area. His primary goal is to bring people to Manassas and Prince William County and to keep them coming back.  The events sound grand.  Also speaking to the board were Ed Clark, superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park and Brendon Hanafin, the county’s director of historic preservation who both added background information.

Funding will be the county’s primary obstacle. Many popular programs have already shut down or throttled back to bare-bones operations because of fiscal hard times. According to the Washington Examiner:

Still, funding presents an issue, even this early in the process. The cost per year for the county’s support and the events is estimated at $95,000.

All of the county’s financial support would have to come from the transient occupancy tax, said Budget Director David Tyerar. The TOT is a levy on tourist facilities such as hotels, motels and boarding houses that offer rented guest rooms for fewer than 30 consecutive days. Three of every five cents go toward tourism-related items in the county.

Creston Owen made a wonderful presentation to the board. His enthusiasm, knowledge, historical background made me want to write him a check on the spot. I am convinced he could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. The county chair warned that money was very scarce.

What if Manassas ponies up and the county does not? What if the county gives hard earned county money to this group? How loud will the hue and cry be from groups that support the Senior Day Care Center or transportation for the seniors to go to the senior citizens centers (different from senior day care)? It seems like the county is between a rock and a hard place.

State of Virginia Sesquicentennial Website

The video speaks for itself.

Isn’t art supposed to imitate life? I watched that episode of Law and Order. The rhetoric sounded to me an ordinary day on at least one local blog. On the other hand, as you saw in the video, O’Reilly was named as one of the haters who stir up people on the right about illegal immigration. I am not so sure O’Reilly is all that vitriolic on this subject. He is actually rather tempered from what I have witnessed. However, his outrage and tantrum over Dick Wolf weakened his case.

The plot can be seen at this site. And to set the record straight, Law and Order SVU has only been on the air for 11 years. The show often incorporates current issues into the plot as the detectives try to solve crimes committed against special victims.

The Christmas displays at the Loudoun County Courthouse in Leesburg has become quite the center of controversy and political statement. That’s too bad. What ever happened to peace on earth, good will towards men? With all due respect for the 1st Amendment Establishment clause, some people are getting out of hand.

First off, to the Rotary Club’s credit, they have pulled out of the mix, withdrawn their application for a display which would have been a Christmas tree.

According to : Leesburg Today

One request that is no longer on the table is the Rotary Club of Leesburg’s Christmas tree that has graced the courthouse lawn for almost 50 years. Club President Ron Rogos confirmed Monday that the club has pulled its application to place a Christmas tree on the courthouse lawn.

Rogos said the Rotary Club Board of Directors made the decision Thursday, Dec. 3, electing to place the tree somewhere else, at a location still to be determined.

“We are a service organization with a long tradition of doing good things. We don’t get involved in policy-making or political decisions; all we are is a service club,” Rogos said. “The best way for us to keep doing what we’re doing is put our tree up and put it up somewhere else.”

Seven requests have been received by Loudoun County since their vote to overturn the ban on all courthouse displays earlier this month that had been implemented by the Courts Grounds and Facilities Committee. Amongst the usual Christmas Tree, interfaith and creche requests are 2 requests that many citizens are very unhappy with. One such request is from Richard Wingrove representing Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin based group for separation of church and state. The request is to display:

…a six-foot mesh banner reading, “At This Season of the Winter Solstice, May Reason Prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural World. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

The above display pales by comparison to the next request from Sugarland Run resident Edward R. Myers.  Myers has put together a display that includes a parody of the 12 Days of Christmas: 

12 Day of Christmas” song to include “12 master debaters, 11 cunning linguists, 10 percent jobless, 9 niggardly noobs, 8-speech as gay tweets, 7 teabagger tools, 6-ting safety screws, 5 birther-control rings, 4 sucky health care, 3-dom disappearing, 2 many bills and a red FCUK to you too.” The FCUK is the trademark of French Connection United Kingdom.

The point, Myers said Tuesday is to force the Board of Supervisors to stop and think, noting that his signs, which he requested be hung on the fence around the courthouse in time for Saturday’s Leesburg holiday parade, are “like an onion with a number of layers.” In his application, Myers said he wanted his sign hung in celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights, Dec. 15, which includes the protection of speech.

“I think mixing religion and government together to make a commercial Christmas is idolatry. I wanted to make something that would offend the Board of Supervisors for being so dismissive of the [committee] that thought through this issue so carefully,” he said, “while at the same time having a public display that would not offend children.”

Because, Myers said, it is only what people put into the words themselves that would make anyone construe his signs as obscene.

“It’s a play on words, with an innocent veneer, that people with dirty minds might read into it,” he said, noting, “free speech is kind of a hobby of mine.”

I respect the establishment clause folks until they get outrageous.  These requests seem over the top.  Too bad it has to be all or none.  I see nothing wrong with Christmas trees, wreaths, mennorahs, frosties, sleighs, mistletoe,  and holly on public property during this time of year.  These are symbols of many holidays.  Manger scenes are probably best displayed at churches.  That seems more appropriate. 

The 2 displays that are causing such contention in Loudoun County certainly explain why the Court Grounds Committee chose to ban all displays.  Too bad people can’t exercise good taste.  They ruin it for everyone.  It might be their legal right to display offensive material but doing so defies wisdom and good taste.  Those 2 qualities, unfortunately, cannot be legislated or codified.

Is this the time of year to make a point?  Was the Rotary Club taking the high ground to pull out of the fray?  Should all displays be banned or should the county be able to use its wisdom to decide what is appropriate and what is not?  Will the voters make these supervisors pay at the ballot box next supervisor election cycle?

 It’s time for another Sky Event. (Dec. 13)

Tonight, if the skies are clear, those who are hearty enough to brave cold weather might have a real treat in store. Tonight is an annual meteor shower that is only increasing in intensity.

Before the Civil War, the meteor shower was sort of a dud. For starters, who wants to go out in the cold to watch the night skies?  Over time, however, this meteor shower has oncy increased in intensity. According to nasa.gov:

 

The Geminids are not typical meteors, also known as shooting stars. Most meteors are created when tiny particles from comets slam into the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate. Meteors fly through the sky every night, and when there are a lot, they are called meteor showers.

The Geminids are among the few meteors created from an asteroid, Cooke said. Several hundred or perhaps a few thousand years ago — scientists aren’t sure when — something caused what is now known as the 3200 Phaethon asteroid to start spewing debris. Perhaps something hit it. No one knows.

“The Geminids are kind of mysterious in that regard,” Cooke said.

What isn’t a mystery is the arrival of the Geminids each December. They are in different places in the sky, depending on the time and location. From about 9 p.m. until after midnight Sunday, look to the northeast.

The Geminids radiate near the constellation Gemini. At around 10 pm, locate the constellation Orion. Then look above Orion and to the left. Hopefully you will see at least 2-3 ’shooting stars’ per minute. We could be getting a real light show tonight, or, if skies remain cloudy like they are Sunday morning, we could see nothing. It is all a crap shoot at this point.

You should know it will be here, at least once a week.  Elena and I are big Jon Stewart fans so he will appear.  This week he tries to rescue Gretchen Carlson’s IQ from an Offshore Account.   Stewart accuses Carlson of playing the troubled mom and says she has dumbed herself down.  She sure doesn’t come across as a valedictorian, a Stanford graduate nor someone who has studied at Oxford.  So why is she always playing like she doesn’t know which side is up?

This speech has been called historic by people not necessarily in the Obama camp.  I believe the looked at the speech as American rather than Democratic.  So much acclaim has been given to this speech, I decided to post it in its entirety.  It is approximately 4000 words long, twice as long as his inaugural speech. 

Part 1

Read more…

This morning, just before 6 am our time, President Barack Obama received and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Many people, probably including the president himself, were caught off-guard over when this award was announced last summer. President Obama had not been in office all that long.

How can this award be anything but good for the United States? A sitting president awarded the Nobel Peace Prize can only signal that the United States is a world leader whether in war or peace. It gives us stature. It de-fangs some of our aggression that we have had to exhibit because we are a world leader. We are obviously still at war and in 2 regions. Our resolve has been strengthened in Afghanistan.

The President was spoke well for the nation in his acceptances of this prestigious award:

Full text of President Obama’s Speech

This award is seen by some as somewhat duplicitous since President Obama has recently announced that 30,000 new troops will immediately be deployed to Afghanistan. Keeping the peace isn’t always free or without strife. World opinion as well as US opinion on this issue is dominating the news and blogs. Is it possible to deploy troops and be considered a man of peace? How can we reconcile these 2 opposite concepts?

TonightWUSA 9 NEWS had a fairly long story on the Woodbridge campus NVCC shooting. There were several articles with updates and interviews on their website. It is hard to imagine just how lucky we really were yesterday. According to one of the WUSA 9 articles:

MANASSAS, Va. (WUSA) — A former high school teammate says suspected shooter, Jason Hamilton, was a “quiet” person who ran varsity track in high school.

“We used to have pasta parties at his house before [track] meets,” says 19-year-old Jarrod Zong. He says he graduated last year with Hamilton from Hylton High School.

Hamilton has been charged with shooting inside a classroom in NOVA’s Woodbridge campus, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009.

“Definitely one of the nicest people on the team. Just a quiet guy. I ran with him four years. Athletically, he came out of his shell. I didn’t see it coming,” says Zong.

9NEWS NOW saw Zong drop off flowers on the door of Hamilton’s house at the 14000 block of Baneberry Circle in Manassas.

Zong says he ran track and cross country with Hamilton. He says the track team was a second family to the suspected shooter.

9NEWS NOW obtained the charging documents from Prince William County Court. The documents indicate that Hamilton brought a bag with a hunting rifle into the classroom. He shot and missed the professor, Tatyana Krvchuck, twice. Hamilton later confessed to his actions

Read more…

 PepsiCo has dropped the Tiger Gatorade drink. One can only assume it has to do with the 11 women who have come forward as paramours of Tiger ‘Cheetah’ Woods. Today Fox News’s Neil Cavuto explored why so many people have reckless affairs. Cavuto usually reports financial news. Today he digressed.

Cavuto’s  guest, Dr. Victoria Someone, suggestsed that the reason rich and powerful men have reckless affairs is because of narcissism and need for instant gratification. The rich and powerful have every need attended to and it becomes habit. She said that men who are extremely successful have a high testosterone count.

                                 Soon to be no more

That leads to the next question. Why do women play along with this behavior? What did those 11 women who were ‘mistresses’ of Tiger Woods get from their relationship? I refuse to believe all rich and famous men are fabulous lovers. So what is it?

The people on Anti surely will know the answer. What makes so many rich and powerful men fall into these brazen affairs when the price is so costly if they get caught? Often they lose both the power and lots and lots of money. The sensation seeking and risk taking seem to go hand in hand. Start with a list of louses. What do they all have in common?