After the recent shoe-throwing incident, a few hundred Iraqis (including the brother of the journalist) demonstrated against Bush, America, and the Iraqi government for arresting the perp. These folks need to buy a clue. Just a few years ago that guy would never have had the courage to even look cross-eyed at a government leader or one of his guests. Under a real tyrant (e.g., the one we deposed and Iraq executed) he’d have been beaten, tortured, and probably fed his own feet for dinner. The prerequisite for this kind of childish display is freedom—something this particular Iraqi didn’t enjoy until the oh-so-evil Bush handed it to him. That irony is, I’m sure, lost on his ilk.
It comes as no real surprise that Obama has selected Duncan as SoE. He is, after all, in charge of Chicago’s public school system. It’s a rather disappointing choice, however. Why would you pick someone who presides over a system whose schools rank in the bottom 20-40% of the nation. The guy is supposed to be a reformer, but what has he accomplished in Chicago? The same thing Obama has accomplished in his short career as a state and U.S. Senator…nada. Why not pick someone from a district that’s actually performing well, like Arlington, VA or Madison, WI? Or, if you’re looking for someone with experience in real change, how about a district like Duval County (FL) which has seen significant—incredible, really—improvements over the last few years? Let’s take a look at what successful school districts are doing and put their superintendents in national positions rather than nominating someone who’s just as much an empty suit as the person who picked him.
A South Korean immigrant whose family was killed in the recent Marine Corps F-18 crash in San Diego has set an example of true Christian grace to which we should all aspire. Despite losing his wife, two daughters, and mother-in-law in this tragedy, his response was truly inspiring:
“I pray for him not to suffer for this action,” Yoon said at a news conference, according to The Los Angeles Times. “I know he’s one of our treasures for our country.”
Thank you Dong Yun Yoon—at a time when our nation is narrowly focused on the economy—for this reminder of what’s truly important. I can only pray that God will help me extend to my fellow man the grace and forgiveness with which He showers me daily, and which you so clearly exhibit.
A small town in Massachusetts is considering the idea of teaching children to fight back against armed attackers in the classroom.
Georgetown Police Chief James E. Mulligan told FOXNews.com the proposed technique was intended to be a “last ditch” thing to be used in cases where a gunman has been able to thwart police and get inside a classroom alone with students.
At least they’re moving outside the victim mentality which hampers real security in our schools. We should certainly teach our kids to defend themselves. This, however, is the wrong tack. A child with a book or backpack has a very low likelihood of thwarting a determined attacker who has a gun. The correct response is to allow concealed carry permit holders—staff and parents—to carry their own weapons on school campuses. As it stands, the only people in our schools who have guns are the bad guys, who ignore gun-free zone laws. Allowing responsible, licensed citizens to be armed on campus will only increase the safety of our children.
A breath of fresh air and sanity from across the pond. It’s sad that it took the massacre in Mumbai to bring about a piece like this in a major British paper. Maybe they’ll come around to reason after all. Some day.
Personally, I’m glad I have the Second Amendment on my side. I exercise it every day and wish more of my fellow Americans did as well.
A company in New Jersey is coming out with a small, single-shot “Palm Pistol” which is intended to be easy for the elderly or disabled to use. While I do believe this market segment has a need for reliable self-defense, this just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. A single shot just isn’t going to cut the mustard in many situations. Such a gun would certainly be better than nothing some of the time, but for just a little more money (less than $500) you can get a decent .380 semi-automatic which has a reasonable trigger pull, acceptable power (with hollow point ammunition), and low recoil. Those characteristics would provide a much better self-defense weapon for most of this market.
The controversial miniature figure, created by Seattle-based Will Chapman as part of his BrickArms military fighters line, is a bearded militant with a face-covering hood, a tiny toy assault rifle, a little grenade launcher and plastic bombs that can be attached to an explosives belt.
I wish they’d had these when I was a kid, because our good guys and bad guys were indistinguishable unless we painted them. Where can you get yours? Go to the BrickArms site. These are GREAT! While you’re at it, head over to Fireworks.com and add some bang to the action. (Disclaimer: firecrackers should only be used under responsible adult supervision. You could put an eye out or something.)
It took a genius from Harvard publishing a study in the British Medical Journal to tell us what radio talk show host Dennis Prager has been telling us for years. When I saw the announcement of this profound insight, I immediately thought to notify Mr. Prager, but see that he beat me to it.
Keep up the good work, sir (by whom I mean Mr. Prager, not the aforementioned Harvard genius). But, you know, your wisdom can’t possibly be worth much because you don’t have sufficient data to support your conclusion:
The study was only conducted in a single community, so it would take more research to confirm its findings.
(Aaargh! Why academics are so easily—and constantly—surprised by the obvious is a topic that would take volumes to cover. Maybe I can get a government grant to do a study.)
It’s not really news that the state of California is flat broke. It’s also not surprising—that’s what happens when you spend more money than you take in. California has some of the most generous social programs in the nation, programs it is increasingly finding it can’t afford. Now reduced-cost and free school lunches are on the block.
“Without quick action by the governor and the Legislature, districts will be forced to make a series of unacceptable choices to dip further into their own bare-bones budgets, serve less nutritious foods and not comply with California’s nationally renowned nutrition standards, or reduce cafeteria staffing,” Supt. Jack O’Connell said in a statement.
I know this will come as a shock to many truly compassionate people, but it’s not the government’s job to feed people, even children. That responsibility falls on parents. According to the Census Bureau (Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005, Current Population Report, P60-231, August 2006, hat tip to The Heritage Foundation) almost two-thirds of America’s poor have cable or satellite TV, a third have cell phones in addition to traditional land lines, and so on. The list of monthly expenditures on what are, in fact luxuries, by the “poor” is quite long. Good grief! My wife and I have never been poor, but we couldn’t justify the cost of a cell phone in our budget until just a couple years ago. But we fed our kids, and so should all parents.
The entitlement mentality is bankrupting California and is pushing the rest of the nation down the same path. It was a renowned Democratic president that once exhorted the American people to ask what we can do for the nation rather than the other way around. It’s a shame we value his popular image more than his words.