Guilt By False Association

Click here for an example of the life's work of slain late-term abortionist George Tiller. But be warned that this image of what Tiller did on a daily basis is not for the faint of heart.
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Abortionist Dr. George Tiller was shot dead in Wichita Kansas today as he attended a religious service. There is no need for me to offer an opinion as to the fate of his immortal soul, because he now stands before the only One whose judgment on such matters counts. I know only his actions: he made his living by violence, and by violence he died.

Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion group which often protested at Tiller's abortion clinic, condemned the murder of Tiller in the same spirit with which they condemned the thousands of murders that George Tiller committed in his life time. "We are pro life, and this act was antithetical to what we believe.” said Operation Rescue Director Troy Newman. The lead suspect at this time is a 51 year old man named Scott Roeder. Apparently he believes in "individual sovereignty" (that is, he is a rebel against all government) and is a tax protester with a history of prior arrests. That is not the profile of a typical pro-lifer.

Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, believes that they "should never let a crisis go to waste". That is to say, whatever is in the news should be seized on as a chance to further whatever agenda they have anyway. I fear they have an agenda to clamp down on pro-lifers. Tiller's clinic was already a "free speech exclusion zone" where the government suppressed the free-speech rights of abortion protesters.

I see this as an excuse for more federal gun control and registration, more using the law against people who join organizations to advance political positions out of favor with the administration, and an attempt to silence free speech by labeling it a "hate crime". Here is the statist case: Your and my opposition to abortion incited Roeder, or whoever, to pull that trigger. Therefore if you speak out against abortion (or homosexual marriage or whatever else they want you to shut up about) then YOU should bear part of the guilt for the crime.

It is all rot of course. You didn't hear them accusing Al Gore of inciting murder when the Unibomber was on his crime spree. Indeed ELF is sabotaging old forest trees in ways that are dangerous to loggers right now, but you don't hear the media demanding that environmentalists quit their absurd scare tactics. That is because that manufactured crisis does not fit their template.

Everything about this case is a travesty. The way Tiller lived his life was a travesty. The way the government would not protect innocent human life from Tiller's scalpel was a tragedy. The way the government conspired to suppress the first amendment rights of the righteous souls who showed up to protest against the bloodshed is a travesty. The way Tiller's religious organization attempts to pass itself off as a church who honors the God of the Bible is a travesty. And the way Tiller was murdered was also a travesty.

I fear that the travesty to come is what the corporate-media-government complex is going to use this story to do.

Still Looking for a Candidate Against Lincoln

Most folks that I know think that bailout-supporting Senator Blanche Lincoln needs to be sent home (she lives in Virginia). Still, many are frustrated by the inability of the GOP to field a candidate against her who is at least as good as Senator Jim Holt was when he ran five years ago. I was for Holt, but the GOP establishment did not seem to think much of him. Soon they may have to back a challenger who is much less attractive.

Recently Tim Griffin withdrew from consideration in the race. Why he should ever have been considered a good candidate for United States Senate is beyond me. His chief claim to fame is that he was a Karl Rove crony for whom the popular Bud Cummins was pushed aside as a federal prosecutor. Hint to Republican insiders: Karl Rove is NOT popular among the general population, no matter how great you think he is in your sub-culture.

Because Griffin teased with the idea of entering the race, he could wear the mantle of closest Karl Rove associate, but another potential candidate, Senator Gilbert Baker, also has a close relationship with Rove. Plus, the fact Baker was GOP chairman rules him out as a "maverick" or "independent voice for reform" in the eyes of many voters. If he gets the nomination the perception will be he is a machine candidate, and those have little swing vote appeal. They only work when their machine is the dominant party.

Baker and the now disgraced former President of UCA, Lu Hardin were tight as ticks. There is a whole campaign worth of potential scandals involving their dealings. There may also be other trust issues. Baker’s district got ten times the GIF money of the others when the verbal agreement (when the legislature put him in a key position to distribute the money) was that it would be evenly distributed throughout the state.

I could go on, but enough about him. I can stop once I demonstrate enough evidence for my thesis, that the GOP has yet to find a candidate as compelling as the one they had five years ago. Let's talk about Curtis Coleman, the former Baptist preacher turned exec after trading in his wife for a younger woman. I don't care if it was 16 years ago, or if his ex would vote for him, people have a visceral reaction to that sort of thing.

But besides that, here are his qualifications for the U.S Senate: zippo. He has not even been elected constable. Sure he talks a good game- you can do that when you have no actual record of public service. But hey, if they are looking for guys who have never been elected to anything who think that the United States Senate is a good entry-level position, can't they at least find a never-been-elected-to-anything guy who has been faithful to his spouse? I know lot's of 'em. They even talk a good game, just like Curtis Coleman. There is a role for a "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" candidate, because right now there is so much skepticism for politicians. Still, a candidate like that needs to have lived a life more sterling than most of us manage.

That leaves Senator Kim Hendren. He does blow Holt away in the ability to make verbal gaffes, but between those and the surprise shut-down of his car dealerships, I don't see him making the race. His start is not that of a good candidate, not even as good as the one who ran against Lincoln last time.

Tea Party Net Radio Tonight

Arkansas Unite Tea Party Radio Round Table. Tea Party Activists from around the state will check in. Catch it here at 9PM Tuesday the 26th (it will be archived if you miss the live program).

Krugman, Brantley, and Alternate Realities

Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Max Brantley quoted Krugman at length in a recent post, saying "Paul Krugman sees in California's financial crisis the logical extension of the bitter enders of the Republican Party, potentially a broader threat."

Leftist reality (or more precisely statist/corporatist reality) is apparently a very different place from where the rest of us live. Unfortunately they run the system. That's how Krugman wins the noble prize even though he is from the economic school of thought that gave us the bailout, while Ron Paul gets called a "nut" for being in an economic school of thought which saw all of this coming years ago.

So I am not sure where Paul and Max are posting from, but in my reality California is not controlled by the "bitter enders of the Republican party". It is instead ruled by their polar opposites- big spending wild-eyed liberals and the poster boy for liberal Republicans (ARRRNold). I refuse to call them "moderate" Republicans as the alternate-reality corporate media does. You see in their universe, people who are ok with innocent babies getting shredded and having their brains sucked out are "moderate" while those who think the law ought to protect innocent babies from such barbarity are "extreme". In my world, protecting innocent babies is a moderate position and slaughtering them is extreme. But I digress.

Governor Schwarzenegger actually borrowed billions for fetal stem cell research while the scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that stem cells from other sources have more promise. And he pushed this even as his state was sinking into the fiscal abyss. But remember, in Brantly world, these are the "moderates" and those who oppose it are "bitter-enders". But I digress again, sorry I just can't get over the fact that two people who live on the same planet can see things so differently.

Krugman and Brantley may blame the 2/3rds majority requirement of the California legislature for the failure to increase taxes even more, but the issues were sent to the people as ballot measures, and the majority of voters told Brantley and Krugman that they were wrong. The problem was not that they were under-taxed, but that government in California over-spends.

And indeed it does. California has one of the highest tax and regulation burdens in the nation. For years productive people have been leaving California for states that will let them keep more of the fruits of their own labors instead of confiscating it to provide money for crazy liberal universities, benefits for illegal aliens, and money for fetal stem cell research. You don't have to go very far to find such exiles, my own father-in-law is an example. Decades of that have taken their toll. The chickens of 40 years of statist liberalism have come home to roost and the result is bankruptcy- moral, fiscal, and governmental. That is the obvious lesson of California in this reality, but to Krugman and Brantley the problem is that those pesky peasants refused to vote even more taxes onto themselves so that their betters in government might spend it for the glory of their ideals!

Going from the mad thesis that California's problems are that it is too thoroughly controlled by Republican conservatives, Brantley quotes Krugman, "recent events suggest that the Republican Party has been driven mad by lack of power. The few remaining moderates have been defeated, have fled, or are being driven out. What’s left is a party whose national committee has just passed a resolution solemnly declaring that Democrats are “dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals,”

Again those two completely misread the mood of the heartland. There are only a handful of non-statist Republicans left in the party. There are a number of big-government interventionist fascists and also a number of liberal Republicans mixed in with members of those two groups who are posing as conservative-libertarians in order to deceive an increasingly frustrated electorate. At the state and local levels conservatives are more common, but somehow such types wind up being under-funded at critical points in their career and only the ones willing to "play ball" with the bad guys get backing by the national party.

Remember in Pennsylvania, Senator Arlin Specter beat Toomey in the GOP primary the first time only because Bush and the RNC jumped in with both feet to protect the liberal Specter. In Florida, the RNC establishment is doing it again, rallying around liberal Charlie Crist over Speaker of the House Mark Rubio. The RNC establishment consistently picks the liberal-statists over conservatives. Maybe Krugman and Brantley live in an alternate universe where the GOP has been taken over by conservatives, but in this one conservatives don't have a major politically party. Brantley talks like Bush and Cheney were some kind of hyper-right wingers, but I challenge you to name one major area of policy disagreement between Bush and Obama (Energy policy maybe, but little else).

The only objection I have to the GOP declaration that the Democrats want to restructure America to socialist ideas is that they should be honest enough to admit that they were doing the same thing when they had power. The Heartland is frustrated.

Some Gave All

It's Memorial Day. We are a nation born in sword and flame. Our ancestors shook off the world’s super-power of the day because they determined in their hearts that it is better to die free men than to live as slaves. And because of that idea their freedom was won. Because of those who died defending it through the generations, that freedom was kept. Now the torch of liberty is passed to us.

America is not just a patch of soil, a political entity, or even a certain group of people. America is an idea- an idea that men are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. An idea that men and women of virtue are fit to be their own masters, and that under God they need no other.

We cannot remain true to the ideas that birthed this country unless we know what they are. And how can we know what they are without reading the words of those who first forged these ideas into a new nation? With that in mind, I want to celebrate Memorial Day with a series of quotes from the Founders of our country.

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?" Thomas Jefferson

"When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." Thomas Jefferson

"If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy." Thomas Jefferson

"A private central bank issuing the public currency is a greater menace to the liberties of the people than a standing army." "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." - Thomas Jefferson

The very definition of tyranny is when all powers are gathered under one place. - James Madison

"Republics...fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." --Joseph Story

"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains."- Patrick Henry

"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the
comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service, when it is
violating all His laws." --John Adams

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." -James Madison

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." -- Samuel Adams 1776

"Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" -- John Stark at the Battle of Bennington in 1777

I Can't Believe I'm Writing This

There is no television in the Moore home. However we had dinner at Mom's last night and she is a big American Idol fan. Since the story had an Arkansas angle, what with Conway's Kris Allen as one of the two finalists, I watched most of it.

My opinion's on this are no more informed than anybody else's, but here is my take (feel free to add yours).

1. Adam had a slightly better voice in the first round but Simeon was right, the theatrics did not have the same good feeling tone as Kris. Both were amazing. Score it either 10-10 or 10-9 Kris.

2. Adam won this round, Kris was really good but too flat or something. Again, I found myself agreeing with Simeon. He kind of reminds me of me- sometimes tactless and the only excuse he can offer is that it is the truth. Score it 10-9 or even 10-8 Adam. He really was that strong on it.

3. Kris won this round. Adam tried to do too much and a few of the notes ended a bit ragged. Score it 10-9 Kris.

Overall the score was tied, or even Adam was up a tiny bit based on margin of victory. Still, that third song was not only the last round, but both were singing their interpretation of the same song. That was the closest thing to a head-to-head and it was the song Kris most showed his superiority one.

For no extra charge: I would be happy to listen to a whole album of Kris right now. Maybe Adam has more range of style than he could show in that setting, but I would tire of listening to a whole album of what I heard last night, even if I would be awestruck by the first few songs. Also, the new judge gets too much caffeine.

Congratulations to Kris Allen, my winner. Later today we can see what American says.

There, I'm over it now.

Tangled Webbs in Arkansas Politics

Kathy Webb, the openly liberal State Representative from Little Rock who happens to be a lesbian.



Doyle Webb, the secretly liberal Chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party who happens to be a shyster.
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Doyle Webb spent a career in Arkansas politics proving that he is no conservative, but he does play one on TV, or at least in GOP county committee meetings around the state. Apparently his interpretation of the role involves a lot of satire. All of that is said to make it clear that I am not taking Doyle Webb's side of the "tangling Webbs" controversy. I am not taking his side, but rather the side of the values that he is ineptly attempting to exploit for political gain. I figure those values could benefit from some defenders who are not just cynically using them to dupe Christians into voting for Republicans despite their overall misgivings with the party. The people of this state deserve better choices than they currently get in state politics.

That being said, the media coverage of this is extremely ham-fisted and one-dimensional. That kind of reporting is stepping on blogger territory, so of course I will take exception to it. Micheal Wickline's story on it gave the Kathy Webb forces about 24 lines of quotes, compared to about eight lines for the Doyle Webb side, and he was the more balanced one! Ernie Dumas came on like a two-ton garlic truck in his editorial. I will freely quote from both articles.

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click TUESDAY below and scroll down for rest of article

Extremely Disturbing Reports from Notre Dame

Obama at Notre Dame. Protesters attempting to exercise their first amendment right to protest a staunch abortion advocate speaking at a Catholic university have been subject to instant arrest.

From Mart Ann Krietzner at http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=19337

I just spoke by phone with a friend, Sonny Torres, who went to Notre Dame this weekend with his wife Karen to protest the university giving Obama an honorary degree and a platform for promoting his policies which include murdering unborn children. Neither of my friends had any intention of getting arrested, but the Lord apparently had other plans.

After six hours of joining in the protests off campus, Karen and Sonny left to begin their long ride back to Virginia. But they got turned around and pulled into the parking lot of a credit union bordering the university campus to get their bearings. As they did, they noticed a group of police cars gathering and officers putting up barricades which appeared to mark the route of the Obama motorcade. So Karen and Sonny got out and Karen pulled out her sign, a half posterboard sheet, that read, "Shame on Notre Dame!"

A few minutes later a police officer came over and told them they'd have to move back 50 feet from the road which they did even though others were standing closer. As they walked back with the officer, they objected to being singled out and asked why those walking on the sidewalk weren't being moved back. The officer spoke into his phone and a minute later they were surrounded by cops and Karen was summarily arrested, handcuffed, hauled off, and charged with criminal trespass.

In the meantime Sonny, still in the credit union parking lot, watched as a growing crowd gathered, one person carrying a sign that read, "We're proud of Notred Dame" and another with a sign praising Notre Dame president, Fr. Jenkins. Sonny went over to the officer who spoke to them originally and asked why Karen was arrested and these people weren't. The officer claimed Karen "was belligerant" (if you dare to ask a question, you're "belligerant") and then threatened Sonny with arrest as well.

Sonny stayed in the parking lot another fifteen minutes or so and watched the officer sit in his car twenty feet from a group of about 80 people not 50 feet from the street, not ten feet, but actually sitting and standing on the curb practically in the street itself. Apparently none of those who came to worship at the feet of the abortion president was trespassing even though they gathered in the same place, even closer to the street, on ground forbidden to my friends because of Karen's sign, an unwelcome form of speech.

After talking to Sonny, I called the jail and spoke to Deputy Vawastowski (Is she a polish Catholic?) who told me Karen was charged with criminal trespass and her bail was set at $250. She could not give me the statute under which Karen had been charged and said she had no other information, but it would be on the arresting officer's charge sheet.

Now, let's recap this and make everything perfectly clear. Approximately 100 people ended up milling around in the same area as my friends, some much closer to the street within the forbidden 50 foot zone. But the only individual singled out for arrest FOR TRESPASSING was a woman holding a sign that said, "Shame on Notre Dame!" Those bearing signs of approval were unmolested. If this isn't a first amendment violation and a case of false arrest I don't know what is.

The Department of Homeland Security may have pulled their "right-wing extremist" report, but it's clear that pro-lifers are in the sites of law enforcement who will use any pretext to shut them up and make sure the abortion president won't be embarrassed by their signs. The deputies in this case acted like little brownshirts I'm sad to say. (My brother is a retired police officer and one of my heroes. It pains me when I have to criticize law enforcement officers who abuse their authority.)

I hope when you read this you're as angry as I am and will call the jail and protest the false arrest of my friend Karen Torres. The number at the South Bend jail is 574-245-6518. Ask them why they didn't arrest any of the other 50-100 people in the same area who were obviously trespassing as well if my friend was. If you call, please be polite, but express your concern that Karen's was singled out, a clear violation of her right to free speech.

The Sub-Culture of Power Seekers

Lord Acton


“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

“Remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.” -Lord Acton

Lord Acton lived over a century ago, but that amazing man was right then and he is right now. But why was he right? What is it about centralized power that leads to corruption? The question is an important one because our society has shifted from one in which political power was dispersed to one in which more and more decisions are made for us in a distant capital.

One problem with centralized power is that it attracts the kind of personality which enjoys exercising it. What I mean by that is that most of us have attachments to friends, family, and the places where we grew up. These emotional bonds are stronger than any desire to want to go to Washington and serve as a staffer for some Congressman just so we can walk in the corridors of power.

But not everybody feels that way. Some people so enjoy walking those corridors of power that they are willing to leave family and friends behind just to get close to the central location where the power is. And those are the kind of personalities that are increasingly flocking to Washington and making up our government. I am not at all sure that the type of person who so badly desires power over others is the type of person who ought to have it.

Of course I don’t mean to over generalize and challenge the motives of every person who goes off to the centers of power in an effort to acquire more of it. No doubt they believe their intentions are good. It is an easy thing for a person to convince themselves of the goodness of their own intentions. That is why founding father Daniel Webster warned, “Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

At any rate, once people of this peculiar personality type flock to the Capitol they meet others like themselves, and form their own little sub culture with its own morals and viewpoints. In other words, they feed off of each other. Just like in Hollywood, when you have a bunch of people who are willing to leave home, friends and family to seek the spotlight, you are going to have a subculture that thinks, values, and lives differently than the rest of us. They are going to feed off of each other’s weirdness.

When a small group in a central location has a lot of power, there is going to be an increasing tendency to see themselves as some kind of “elite” or “cream of the crop” and relate better to one another than to the folks back home. This is especially true if they are surrounded by people flattering them in order to obtain favors from the public treasury. Eventually, they will look down on the people that they originally came to “serve”. They can begin to think, “All the folks back home do is complain, while these lobbyists are so nice to me!”

The Founder’s solution for this was that power be divided and decentralized. Once we have had enough of the power-trippers, maybe we will return to that idea.

Superintendent Memo - Teachers to Teach Only Test Items

Mandated Lesson Plans – USE Only State Assessments AS Curriculum

Following is a note I received in an email that contained the following memos. Only excerpts are included because of length.

"I thought you might enjoy seeing what they’re forcing the (school district name) ______ teachers to do for lesson plans. They have been told that all their lesson plans have to revolve around the released items of the state tests. They can no longer use any of their own lesson plans of the past. According to (teacher) ____, some teachers are already freaking out and having to stay late just to fill out these cumbersome plans. Again, thank God I was allowed to retire. (Name of sender) ______"

(The rest of the text below is quoted excerpts from the memo sent out by superintendent)

Lesson Planning Guidance
SP specialists should work with building and district personnel to develop a lesson planning template that includes, at a minimum, the content on the following template.

There are several key items related to lesson plans that are nonnegotiable. These include:
· Lesson plans must be created DAILY
· All assessments [tests], formative and summative, must be ATTACHED to the daily plan. This is research-based “back loading”.

Lesson Plan Development
Step 1: Identify the state content and assessment objective that will be your primary teaching focus (others may be secondary focuses for review, maintenance, fluency, or integration).

Step 2:
Review the state sample or released sample test item(s) that measures the objective.

Step 3:
Evaluate that sample to determine what students need to know and be able to do to answer that item correctly – evaluate its level of difficulty. Determine that process of instruction that must occur in order to ensure that students will be able to demonstrate mastery of this skill on the state test.

**The level of difficulty of all teacher-made or teacher-selected assessments should mirror the format and complexity of state sample or released test items.

· Curriculum Objectives are the focus of All lessons and are written out completely.
· All Objectives and Standards listed correlate to the Curriculum Objectives and are written out completely.

· All assessments follow strict standards and contain sample test items in state testing format and level of difficulty (including both state tested content areas and feeder subjects/grades).

Following are excerpts from the Superintendent of a very large school district (Name removed) after teachers were told they had to do these lesson plans and that all lesson plans would be based on released items of the state tests.

Principals; 2/3/2009 11:16 AM
Could you please forward the attachment regarding the JBHM project? I hope this will answer many questions from your faculty. Thanks, _________(name of Superintendent)

Why are the principal and consultant in my classroom observing?
For principals to become stronger instructional leaders, they must be in classrooms and supporting good instruction. You will see both the JBHM staff and your principal observing in your classroom. These observations provide a springboard for discussions between the principal and the consultant on ways to improve instruction and student learning. [In other words there is no way of getting around teaching only the state curriculum with the principal and JBHM staff constantly overseeing your class.]

What about the struggling learner portion of this project?
….The Struggling Learner consultant will provide guidance and insight directly related to dealing with students in those sub-groups. They will be working with our coaches and specialist to analyze data. These consultants will also be in your classrooms observing lessons, levels of student engagement, etc. [Even more oversight of teachers just to be sure they are doing what they are supposed to do.]

DHS Janet Napolitano Developed National/international School Curriculum for AR & Nation

(If you are not aware, the curriculum used in public schools now consists of the standards and assessments – tests - mandated by the state. Teachers are not allowed to teach anything else. Teachers' lesson plan books are monitored and their classes observed to make sure they are teaching exactly what they are told to teach and what to test and when to test – just as communist countries do it.) See this link for a superintendent memo on lesson plans to prove this last statement. http://www.wpaag.org/Ed%20-%20Lesson%20plans%20mandated_lesson_plans.htm

Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported that Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor on the need of national common academic standards for K-12. 1

How many of you remember the national history standards presented in 1994? They were so biased and leftist in nature that they were rejected by 99 US Senators. In our social and political climate of today, how could anyone think that national standards would be anything but leftist?

But it gets worse. The paper reported only part of the truth. They did not report that "The purpose of the hearing was to examine how states can better prepare their students to compete in a global economy by using internationally benchmarked common standards."2 Either the paper or Ken James evidently considered international standards a little beyond the digestive level of Arkansans so that information was left out of the newspaper article.

Neither did the paper mention the fact that Obama's DHS Director Janet Napolitano was chair of the International Benchmarking Advisory Group overseeing the national and international standards (curriculum) which Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James advocated in his testimony and can't wait to implement in Arkansas.3 See the two quoted paragraphs below for details. (By the way the curriculum is already written so it doesn't matter that Janet Napolitano is working for Obama now. And people just like her will continue in her steps.)

(Remember Napolitano - She is the one responsible for the recently released assessment from the DHS warning law enforcement officials about a rise in so-called right-wing extremist activity, labeling returning veterans, and other citizens opposed to abortion, firearms restrictions, homosexuality, and spending that's out of control and associating them with white supremacists and violent antigovernment groups. – And she was chairman of the committee writing our school curriculum!) 4

"WASHINGTON – September 8, 2008 – Three of the nation's leading education policy organizations today united to ensure American students in every state are receiving a world-class education. The National Governors Association (NGA), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Achieve, Inc. have joined to provide to states a roadmap for benchmarking their K-12 education systems to those of top-performing nations.

"The organizations' work will be guided by an International Benchmarking Advisory Group consisting of education experts representing education institutions, the business community, researchers, former federal officials and current state and local officials (a complete list appears below). The Advisory Group's expertise and experience will help the partner organizations identify the need for international comparisons as well as provide guidance for benchmarking state education system practices in areas such as standards, accountability, educator workforce and assessments. The Advisory Group is co-chaired by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Craig Barrett, chair of the board at Intel Corporation. "5

Imagine the likes of Obama and Napolitano writing our school curriculum! Some of us have warned people for years that this would be the result of the government taking over education through testing and so called standards. We have been surprised that people have allowed all this without an outcry, without even a whimper. In fact, even most conservative legislators and governors supported it.

To view footnotes and to read this article online see this link: http://www.wpaag.org/Education%20-%20Push%20for%20nationa-international%20curriculum.htm

'Bout Time

Congressman John Boozman has at last signed on as a co-sponsor of Ron Paul's HR 1207, which would conduct a through audit of the Federal Reserve for the first time. Right now, they are under no obligation to tell congress who they are giving those trillions of dollars too, and they are not telling!

When Boozman voted for the bailouts over the strident objections of his constituients ist was infuriating. His reluctance to sign on to HR 1207 was like rubbing salt in an open wound for me. Finally, after 140 other members of congress have signed on (about 90% Republican and 10% Democrat) Boozman found time to sign on himself.

Better late to the party than never, but NWA is a very conservative area. I have to think we can come up with a congressman that will display more leadership on conservative issues rather that signing up only after it is clear that a bill or cause has overwhelming momentum. That's NOT when we need our Congressman to step forward.

Sen. Hendren Gets Hostile Reception from LR GOP

The Arkansas Project is reporting on some twitter feeds that indicate Senator Kim Hendren of Benton county was getting "eaten alive" at the Pulaski County GOP meeting last night. Hendren has announced he will run for U.S. Senate against Blanche Lincoln.

Hendren took heavy hits for voting for the tobacco tax, but I can't help but wonder if the long-time animosity that central Arkansas Republicans have had for NWA Republicans is also a factor.

World Magazine Features Huckabee

World Magazine is a Christian based publication founded by Marvin Olasky. Olasky pens a favorable cover story/interview with Huckabee.

Dirty Dealing In Benton County

News from county government in Benton County continues to be disturbing. Most of the controversy swirls around the actions of County Judge Dave Bisbee, a former State Senator.

Earlier this year Planning Department Manager Ashley Pope announced her resignation when Bisbee appointed one of his former primary opponents, Chris Glass, to a newly created post that would make Glass her supervisor. Glass had endorsed Bisbee in the run-off for the Republican nomination, a critical factor in Bisbee's eventual victory in that race. Accusations of Quid Pro Quo abounded. Bisbee tore up Pope’s letter of resignation in order to prevent members of the public from using the Freedom of Information act to discover its contents, but she went to the press with her story.

Then it happened again. Bisbee hired another one of his former primary opponents who endorsed him in the run-off election, Greg Hines, to run the county’s department of public safety. Again, one has to wonder if there was some connection between the endorsement and the county job.

In full disclosure, I supported the gentleman that Bisbee beat in the run-off, former JP Bill Adams. I am close to a lady who was one of his top campaign officials. She called me asking for advice after the primary election put Adams in a run-off with Bisbee. I advised her to have her candidate call the other defeated candidates and reach out to them. She told me a few days later that Bisbee has already sewn up their endorsements by offering them county jobs. At the time, I suspected that this was just sour grapes, but events have borne out her claims.

Then there was the ice-storm cleanup controversy. When the ice storm hit Bisbee rounded up every tree service the county did business with and sent them to work. Amazingly, the contracts under which they worked had a high per-tree rate and no volume discounts or caps. The contracts were written for situations where they had to take their whole crew out to cut down one tree, not the mass destruction of an ice storm clean up.

Come on. There have been ice storms in Benton County before. Couldn't they foresee such a situation? Didn't anybody read the contracts before they sent the crews out? Bisbee "renegotiated" the contracts after the fact. He told them that if the firms ever wanted to work for the county again they would give back the millions the contracts said they were owed. Most of the businesses caved and took the less than 33 pennies on the dollar which Bisbee offered.

One small service in Decatur, TNT Dirtworks, did not accept the after-the-work was done one-way “renegotiation”. They wanted the 1.4 million dollars they were owed under the contract. In response, Bisbee simply declared that he would refuse to pay the amounts stipulated by the county contracts for work performed.

Do I think the county overpaid for the work under the original contracts? Probably, though I was glad to have the work done in a hurry at the time. We may have overpaid, but our elected leaders contracted to pay that amount. In time, a court will make us pay up anyway, and we will pay many lawyer’s fees besides. But I am not saying we should pay up because we will lose in court, I’m saying we should pay because we gave our word that we would pay. Bisbee and company are turning what was a stupid but honest mistake into an even stupider mistake that lacks the redeeming quality of being an honest one.

No Honor Among Thieves on GIF Money?

Something is amiss in our state’s General Improvement Fund (GIF). GIF money comes from the interest paid on deposits of the state’s surplus tax collections. The state has such an enormous pile of excess tax dollars collected that the interest on the money alone was about $58 million dollars last year. This money was traditionally spent on local projects favored by individual legislators, sometimes called “pork”. An example might be that the state would pay for a new roof on a community center.

Getting people around the state to pay for a project that is solely for the benefit of their district has always been popular with legislators. That is why all calls to return the state surplus to the taxpayers in the form of a tax cut has never gotten traction. The ledge wants to over-collect and maintain a huge surplus in order to earn huge interest payments. The legislators then divvy that up in pork barrel projects.

Who does the divvying becomes really critical. In the days before term limits, a few “old lion” legislators manipulated the process so that they and their buddies got the lion’s share of the GIF money. In that system, northwest Arkansas got “used”. The legislators from up here were in the minority party, and the majority party had the idea that if someone else has more than they did, that was justification enough for the government to take it.

Finally in 2004 most Republican legislators made a deal with “outsider” conservative Democrats to break the grip of the cabal of favored (mostly liberal) Democrats. They then agreed to divide the GIF money evenly. This new group was often referred to as “The Brotherhood”. After “The Brotherhood” took over, every Senator got the same amount and every Representative got the same amount to spend. Given that there had to be a GIF fund, it seemed like the most-even handed way to do it.

The guys who used to run things did not like being out-voted, so they did what is becoming the American way- they took it to court. The court ruled that the whole way the GIF funds were distributed (which had gone on for years without challenge) was “unconstitutional”. After the ruling, the legislature made a change in their GIF distribution. A panel that represented competing interests would now divvy up the money. The pork didn’t go away in this system. Rather, the Governor and a few key legislators were able to determine who got the pork.

There was still an informal agreement among the legislature that the panel would honor legislator’s requests for funds so that the money was split pretty much evenly among the districts. It now appears that this deal has not been honored.

It turns out that Governor Beebe and another key member of the panel (Republican Senator Gilbert Baker from Conway) both wanted the same thing. They both wanted a new interchange built in Conway where a new plant was going in. It seems that Baker used his role on the panel to siphon over 10 times his share of the money to a project in his district, and Beebe sent a matching amount to the same project. It appears that central Arkansas Republicans like Baker are cutting deals with the Democrats in the rest of the state and leaving Republicans in NWA high and dry. I am afraid it is starting to look like the bad old days, with a lot of tax money collected from NWA that winds up being spent in the rest of the state.

I'm Back

Let me start off nice n easy, tonight at 9 on Blog Talk Radio I answer the question "what is globalism and why is it bad". It will come on archives if you miss it.

Now is Time To Put Pressure on Our Arkansas Senators on Hate Crime Bill

The Hate Crime Bill passed the House this week. Arkansas Rep. Boozman (R) and Ross (D) voted against it, Snyder (D) voted for it, and Rep Berry (D) abstained from voting.

Now is the time for an outcry directed toward our two Senators. Sen. Edward Kennedy just introduced his federal hate bill, S. 909, which is certain to be moving rapidly to a vote . In 2007 five senators received so many contacts they changed their vote on the hate crime bill and voted No on it. In 2007, the margin in the Senate was not large enough to override Bush's veto. If the citizens convince the Senators before they make a commitment on the vote, we have a lot better chance of getting them to switch their votes.

Senator Lincoln co-sponsored the hate crime bill in 2001 and in 2007, voted to add sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes in 2000 and 2002, and voted against the federal marriage amendment in 2006.) However, the state hate crime bill has been rejected by the Arkansas legislature nine times.

Lincoln is not representing the citizens of Arkansas. Arkansas is the only state in the South where both senators, Senator Blanche Lincoln and Senator Mark Pryor, voted against the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage amendment even though an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a passed with 75 percent of the vote. See this link for documentation of these facts and more information. http://www.wpaag.org/Hate%20crime%20-%20Lincoln%20respone%20rebuttal.htm

The homosexual organization, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) self proclaimed as the largest gay and lesbian organization, rated only 11 senators higher than Lincoln and Pryor. HRC made this statement about the hate crime bill in 2007, which reportedly is same as bill in 2009, "The bill adds sexual orientation and gender identity... hate violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people."

This hate crime bill of 2009 expands the hate crime bill to add sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes. Here are the American Psychiatric Association's list of disorders which fall under "sexual orientation or gender identity." These would be federally protected under HR 1913: We keep hearing that homosexuals are born that way; and therefore, their behavior should be acceptable. Should all the following behaviors also be acceptable? Are they born that way too?

*Apotemnophilia - sexual arousal associated with the stump(s) of an Amputee
*Asphyxophilia - sexual gratification derived from activities that involve oxygen deprivation through hanging, strangulation, or other means
*Autogynephilia - the sexual arousal of a man by his own perception of himself as a woman or dressed as a woman
*Bisexual - the capacity to feel erotic attraction toward, or to engage in sexual interaction with, both males and females
*Coprophilia - sexual arousal associated with feces
*Exhibitionism - the act of exposing one’s genitals to an unwilling observer to obtain sexual gratification
*Fetishism/Sexual Fetishism - obtaining sexual excitement primarily or exclusively from an inanimate object or a particular part of the body
*Frotteurism - approaching an unknown woman from the rear and pressing or rubbing the penis against her buttocks
*Heterosexuality - the universal norm of sexuality with those of the opposite sex *Homosexual/Gay/Lesbian - people who form sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with members of their own gender
*Gender Identity Disorder - a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, or the other sex, "along with" persistent discomfort about one’s assigned sex or a sense of the inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex *Gerontosexuality - distinct preference for sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with an elderly partner
*Incest - sex with a sibling or parent
* Kleptophilia - obtaining sexual excitement from stealing Klismaphilia - erotic pleasure derived from enemas
*Necrophilia - sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse
*Partialism - A fetish in which a person is sexually attracted to a specific body part exclusive of the person
*Pedophilia - Sexual activity with a prepubescent child (generally age 13 years or younger). The individual with pedophilia must be age 16 years or older and at least 5 years older than the child. For individuals in late adolescence with pedophilia, no precise age difference is specified, and clinical judgment must be used; both the sexual maturity of the child and the age difference must be taken into account; the adult may be sexually attracted to opposite sex, same sex, or prefer either
*Prostitution - the act or practice of offering sexual stimulation or intercourse for money Sexual *Masochism - obtaining sexual gratification by being subjected to pain or humiliation Sexual *Sadism - the intentional infliction of pain or humiliation on another person in order to achieve sexual excitement
*Telephone Scatalogia - sexual arousal associated with making or receiving obscene phone calls *Toucherism - characterized by a strong desire to touch the breast or genitals of an unknown woman without her consent; often occurs in conjunction with other paraphilia
*Transgenderism - an umbrella term referring to and/or covering transvestitism, drag queen/king, and transsexualism
*Transsexual - a person whose gender identity is different from his or her anatomical gender *Transvestite - a person who is sexually stimulated or gratified by wearing the clothes of the other gender
*Transvestic Fetishism - intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing
*Urophilia - sexual arousal associated with urine
*Voyeurism - obtaining sexual arousal by observing people without their consent when they are undressed or engaged in sexual activity
* Zoophilia/Bestiality - engaging in sexual activity with animals

Hate Crime Bill Passed US House/Opposing Views Verbalized On Floor

The vote was 247 to 175 (57% to 43%)
229 Democrats and 18 Republicans voted for it.
158 Republicans and 17 Democrats voted against it.
8 Democrats and 2 Republicans abstained from voting.
http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/show/5506

Below article by Rev. Ted Pike

Despite compelling and passionate testimony by House Republicans, the federal hate crimes bill, HR 1913, passed today in the House of Representatives by a vote of 249 to 175.

In what Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA) called "an atrocity," the House Rules Committee on Tuesday imposed a "closed rule" on debate and amendments, limiting debate to 120 minutes. However, contest of the rule was permitted between both sides for one hour, giving Republicans a preliminary opportunity to lay out objections to the hate bill. They failed in their attempt to lengthen the debate, and the original 120 minutes of debate ensued.

Here are highlights of the Republican opposition:

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R, NC) said HR 1913 will open a new category of "thought crimes" in America, moving us "down a slippery slope" to loss of freedom. She said such has happened under hate laws in Canada and Europe.

Rep. Trent Franks (R, AZ) warned HR 1913 will end equality in America, giving special rights to federally favored groups such as homosexuals.

Rep. Roy Blount (R, MO) echoed Foxx's admonition that hate laws have taken away free speech in Canada and Europe.

Rep. Steve King (R, IA) repeated the warning of his amendment in Judiciary last week, saying pedophiles and many other deviants will obtain special rights and protection under HR 1913.

Rep. Mary Fallin (R, OK) referenced loss of free speech in Canada and Great Britain but also how the "Philly 11" Christians were persecuted under Pennsylvania's hate law.

Rep. Foxx returned, saying a federal hate law would preempt the 10th Amendment which delegates most law enforcement to the states. She said the claim that Matt Sheppard was murdered because he was a homosexual was a "hoax;" he was killed, she said as the victim of a robbery.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, TX) charged HR 1913 will divide America into groups of more favored versus less. He again cited USC Title 18, Section 2a, the foundation of HR 1913, which says anyone who through speech "induces" commission of a violent hate crime "will be tried as a principal" alongside the active offender. He said there is no "epidemic" of hate in America.

Rep. King cited the American Psychiatric Association which lists 547 different kinds of paraphilia, or sexual deviancies. King said all of these would merit special federal protection under the class "sexual orientation" enshrined in HR 1913.

Rep. Foxx testified, "This bill itself will spread fear and intimidation." She was referring primarily to Christian/conservative critics of homosexuality, Islam, illegal immigrants, etc. Such critics from the pulpit or airwaves would be increasingly silenced under the hate law's chill on free speech.

Rep. Hastings (D, FL), a proponent of the hate bill, brazenly agreed that HR 1913 would give a galaxy of sexual perverts special protection. He said that under hate bill protection they will not "live in fear because of who they are."

One particularly striking argument was made by Rep. Randy Forbes (R, VA). He said if Miss California had slapped the homosexual judge who derided her on the stage (and across the internet) under HR 1913 she could be indicted as a "violent hate criminal," facing a possible 10 years in prison. But, Forbes said, if the homosexual judge had slapped her, she would have had no special protection under HR 1913. His act would have been simple assault, a misdemeanor.

The testimony of Rep. Todd Akins (R, MO) was also unique. He said HR 1913 would actually increase hate in America. He said the American people, including young people, recognizing that they are now second-class citizens, with homosexuals receiving special federal rights, can only resent (hate?) those who have rights and privileges above them. He also said that with the legal system already backed up, the federal hate law will create havoc within our legal system, requiring judges to also become "psychologists," divining motives of offenders.

Rep. Mike Pence (R, IN) said the FBI statistics show that, far from hate crimes increasing, they have steadily declined over the past 10 years. There is also no evidence that states are lax in hate law enforcement.

Democrat testimony concluded with a special entry, followed by CSPAN camera, of Rep. Barney Frank (D, MA). He pooh-poohed the arrest of the Philly 11 Christians in 2004, saying that, although it was unjust, Republicans were irresponsible in not pointing out that the Christians were acquitted. Fortunately, Rep. Gohmert had the last word, indicating that the very fact that persons can and have been arrested for speech under state laws has a chilling effect on free speech.

Gohmert tried to send the hate bill back to Judiciary for amendments but was overridden.

It is now time for all who love freedom to turn their full attention to defeat of the hate bill in the Senate, where Sen. Edward Kennedy just yesterday introduced his federal hate bill, S. 909, which is certain to be moving rapidly to a vote.

Call 1-877-851-6437 toll free or 1-202-225-3121 toll. Names of Senate Judiciary members are posted here at www.truthtellers.org

Tell all members of the Senate: "Please don't vote for the pedophile-protecting federal hate crimes bill, S. 909. Please insist on Judiciary hearings to debate this very dangerous, freedom-threatening legislation."

HATE BILL ACTION PAGE:
http://www.truthtellers.org/actionplan.html